Life's Trivialities

Broken

A two for one today!! I used the latest JilliBean sketch AND the latest Sketch Support Add-On sketch in today's little share!

Broken; the experience of getting her fractured wrist re-set and casted on an early Friday morning! I still have to do the layout about the process which resulted in the broken arm... The JilliBean sketch is perfect for cell phone pictures which don't always turn out the best. It's also a perfect space for the ribbon add-on's from Sketch Support!

Please pardon the fuzziness in the above picture, it is intentional. Though I know personal info is easy to come by on the big wide web, I don't need to make it blantant, especially in regards to my children. I included a piece of the wrist bands that were put on us as part of the "ribbon". A nice way to use some related memorabilia in the layout.

Another award ribbon, this one littler. Mizzy Moo deserves a lot of praise and award ribbons for her bravery over this whole incident! She truly was a trooper. I used a technique I learned in a Nicole Samuels misting class to use Thickers as masks for the "brave" rectangle. And that die cut from Die-namics!! Sigh... I placed an order of much coveted dies the other day... Bliss...

A lot of little details on this one! Thanks for popping by!

At The Alley

Bit late posting this today... We had a bit of a mishap around here...

Yesterday Mia fell off the monkey bars and broke her wrist. Unfortunately, it's the bone the pivots around the other one and the fracture was displaced. So not only did she have to have it reduced but she has a full length cast which means no freedom of movement at the elbow. She's an absolute trooper and so incredibly brave. Few, if any, tears were shed. She was more distraught about the full length cast than the pain!

Today is the Nikki Sivils challenge over at Sketch Support. We were graciously each given a kit of Nikki Sivils product of our choosing to use. I chose the Exit Here collection. It's so diverse, it's awesome! Though it's a "travel" based theme, I used it for a bowling layout.

I modified the sketch somewhat to suit the pictures that I had. The colors perfectly compliment the colors in the kids' clothing.

Thanks Nikki for sharing your fantastic product with us!! The Doghouse Diva's also used Allison's awesome sketch with the new product. If you haven't seen it already, be sure to hop over HERE and check out their work!

 

EggSpert

How was your National Scrapbook Day yesterday? Did you get much accomplished? Assuming that was the objective. It needn't have been. But that was mine; to get a lot done. Foolish thought really... Michael was out of town with Nikolas at a swim meet (another story). So I had The Midget. And she had a soccer game. We had to have Mexican for Cinco de Mayo. There were many more reasons to be out of the house than there were to be in it, at my scrappy desk.

I did get two challenges done however! This one for Jillibean with one of the three sketches and one for Basic Grey using one of the two sketches. You know I'm a sketchy kind of gal!! I'll share the Basic Grey one another day this week.

I fussy cut a few of the butterflies from some Jillibean Soup paper, others are cardstock superimposed upon the "hole" cut with some Tim Holtz dies and the white butterflies are from SEI. I made little antennae using memory wire!! Love the flutter on the page!

I spent an inordinate amount of time figuring out how to tie a note this weekend... Ugghhh... Ridiculous really. I mean, how hard is it to tie a knot? Shouldn't be that complicated now should it? Well it is if you want it to sit properly on the page and don't do such things on a regular basis. Good thing this was after a visit from 'Rita! Margarita!! LOL!! It wraps things up nicely on the layout me thinks.

I'd love to see what you did for NSD!! Link me up if you've blogged it!

 

 

Dear Santa...

I know Christmas is a while away yet. Although, the way time is zipping by, I'm not so sure it's really all that far away... We talk about Santa a fair amount in this household. Mostly the kids bring him up. Mia speaks of him the most. In regards to things she wants. She knows all too well that she isn't going to get everything her little heart desires. But she does understand that the man in red spoils her. He hears what she wants and usually delivers. Anytime there is a big ticket item that she has eye on, we hear about how she's "getting from Santa" XYZ or whatever the desire of the moment is!

I played along with Basic Grey's latest sketch challenge. I did so using the Nordic Holiday collection. I picked up some amazing deals while at Scrappy Boutique and this amongst those steals.

As little as I've scrapbooked lately, my usual deviations from sketches don't apply at this point in time. I realized when I sat down at my desk yesterday that it's 3 weeks since I completed a layout!! Crazy... Though, with our absence for one and a half weeks for Spring Break amongst other activities, I guess it makes sense.

A little close up! I had fun mixing all the layers of this collection! Now I'm off to start editing all the pictures I took whilst away... Mental note to self, install PhotoShop on the new laptop! I have to re-edit all the pictures I put on the blog...

Thanks for stopping by! Oh, and if you haven't already, check out my earlier post about the blog hop! You have until midnight tonight to enter for the Grand prize that Allison is offering and a drawing by me (and the kids) for one of her two latest sketch books!

Daddy-Daughter Dance

These two have a special bond. Made even more so by the BIG (much anticipated) event tonight! Michael saved this date for her, just her. We rescheduled all kinds of plans around this special evening; the Daddy-Daughter Dance! She has been waiting WEEKS for this special night! She even napped, of her own will and testament, this afternoon (with the door open).

Her Daddy went out and bought her something very special. Made especially for his little girl and nobody else! He put it on her himself and she was tickled pink!! I think the significance of such a gesture was unrecognized by Mia. One day, when she's older, she will understand. Or, perhaps, once she gets to the dance, she will get how truly touching it was that her Daddy bought her a corsage for her first (EVER) Daddy-Daughter dance.

We curled her hair, put on make up, she is wearing my pearls (gasp!!) and he is in a sports coat and tie! I tried to make her little ringlets. Tried... No matter what I did, it was going to be beautiful and she was going to love it. I love that about Mia! Granny and I took her to the salon and had her nails painted; silver fingernails and pink toes. She even bought a special dress and shoes for the occasion!

My handsome husband!! Although, tonight, he is HER handsome Daddy. She told him so!

Showing off her corsage and finger nails! My absolutely beautiful daughter!! On the inside and out!

Mum: "Where are you going Boo?"

Mia: "To the Daddy-Daughter Dance, of course!!"

They were supposed to go to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. The wait was 30 minutes so alternative arrangements were made. Of which, we will wait for the details. I'm tempted to sneak over to the middle school and peek... I can't help myself...

 

Kindy Concert

Today was the much anticipated Kindergarten Music Concert. I was fortunate to be able to take the morning off so that I could witness Mia's musical debut! It was a beautiful spring morning and the kids definitely had a spring in their steps as they took their turns coming on stage.

Mia was surrounded by friends and classmates. The taller kids of the kindergarten pack. Again, luck was with me and I managed to sit on the same side of the stage as Mia was. She also got to stand next to her "special friend" Hudson. There is a special bond between these two! She is learning early about boys and how to get what she wants from them...

Mr. Brady always does such a wonderful job with this concert, picking upbeat memorable songs and putting hand motions to them. My pocket camera battery died just in time for the concert. I somehow never remember to charge that battery... I was able to take video of two of the songs. With no finesse at all... The video function on my Nikon is an accessory to the camera, which I have not bothered learning to use. These videos prove that!

I can't figure out how to web ready the videos and they are HUGE files... Perhaps I'll figure it out later and upload.

Thank you Mr Brady and all our star kindergartener's for such a spectacular performance!!

Two Birds, One Stone

I was lucky to be selected as a guest designer for my absolute favorite kit company, 3 Scrappy Boys. I happened upon them years ago when in search for my first design team spot. I didn't make the team but I certainly have made some good friends and found a kit company that works for me, my budget and my scrappy preferences.

Heather sent me the March Trio to play with. If you haven't ever been privy to these kits, I recommend you check them out. Each month the trio comes with three fantastically matched paper lines from 3 different manufacturer's, cardstock to match and bountiful embellishments. It's a great deal!

I created this layout whilst playing along with the latest PageMaps sketch contest. You can find the sketch over on the PageMaps blog at this link HERE.

I just LOVE this Ruby Rocket line!! I had heard of Ruby Rocket but never really seen anything by them. Paired with some new My Minds Eye and the fantastic embellishments in the kit... Sigh... A crafter's dream!

I flipped the sketch and rearranged things a tad. The general resemblence is there.

The kit came with some American Crafts raw chipboard sticker letters. I heat embossed them with some Tim Holtz distress embossing powder in order to match them with the colors used on the layout. I had originally wanted the yellow for my letters... I still might... Might have to go shopping...

Thanks ladies for the inspiration; Heather for her generous kit and Becky for her sketch!

Sketch Support Card Sketch

Yup, I did it again! LOL! I created a layout from the card sketch up at Sketch Support. I'm a guessin', you aren't a tad bit surprised. I did contemplate the idea of making a card... I really did!! But the thought never evolved into much more, it remained a thought.

I am trying to incorporate some of my old stash in with my new goodies. Or, just plain old use up stuff... It's so easy to grab the new goodies and run. It's all sitting within arms reach of me at my scrappy desk. The older it is, the further away from the desk it gets moved. And the further from my memory and recollection. Something about the purples in the Echo Park really remain vivid in my mind however and were an instant "speak to me" when I saw this sketch and opted for this picture.

Be sure to pop by the Sketch Support blog and peek at all the other wonderful creations over there. Some of the ladies actually made cards!! Can you believe it?! LOL!! The sketch can be downloaded from the blog HERE.

 

First Day

This one is based on the latest Little Yellow Bicycle sketch challenge. I can never turn a sketch challenge down!! I just love the primary colors in Head of the Class and all the matching embellies! The big white star (outlined in black) is from the packaging of the fabric banners. I love to re-purpose the packaging!

Just a little close up... The punctuation that the black gives the bright, primary colors really makes this page stand out. I still always think of Christine Middlecamp when I do this, it is so classically HER. A trademark of hers, of sorts...

I am hoping to be selected as one of the three finalists!! Fingers crossed, eyes crossed, nose crossed!! LOL!! Maybe?! I don't know... Would be awesome... And IF I am, I'm going to need your vote!! IF...

Thanks for stopping by!

A Girl and Her Granny

When my parents came for Thanksgiving this past year, I got this fantastic shot of Mia and my Mum. The picture speaks volumes to me. And what better way to showcase it than with the lovely colors from the latest Color Combos Galore palette?

The inspiration for this month's palette is a tribute; to create a project focusing on paying tribute to a very special female in your life. It's clear the mutual admiration in the picture. My Mum will always be very special to me. No matter what. As will Mia be. They both inspire me and drive me to be the best person I can be. Each in differing ways.

The bonus inspiration is to draw your own challenge and let you know what I did. Easy enough; there are hearts, just as there are in the picture. The scallop trim is to mimic the edge of the plate.

I love how the dots and the chevron work so well in punctuating the picture with that purple and white vertical stripe in Mia's shirt.