Disney Scrapping!

This month, we've begun challenges again at DisneyScrappers (if you love to scrap things Disney related - come and check us out!) DisneylandDiva has just posted our 6th challenge, and I'm WAY behind! But I've just finished pages for challenges #1 and #2.

Challenge #1 was an Under the Sea Challenge! There are many choices for undersea themes at Disney parks -- characters from Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo appear all over the place! My first Challenge #1 page showcases the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage! We were very excited to get the opportunity to enjoy this attraction. The Little Guy loved it!

In addition to the theme, the challenge called for Waves or Bubbles on the layout.

For my layout, I started with one side of  Sketch Savvy's two-page sketch #11. I had seen a number of Nemo themed pages done digitally with portholes around round pics and wanted to reproduce that here in paper! You can't really see these clearly but there are Fancy Pants Summer Soiree waves and bubbles stamps on the page. Plus some bubble details, EK Success Nemo dimensionals... The papers are mostly DCWV Endless Summer Stack and a little Colorbok cardstock. I was actually really happy with how this came together!

For Challenge #2, the theme was "Caution! You May Get Wet!" -- there's a lot of places in the parks where you can get good and wet! My page focuses on a spray area in A Bug's Land at California Adventure -- the main Bug's Land spray area is called "Princess Dot Puddle Park" but I think the area where these pics were taken might actually be called "Irrigation Station" - but I realized that AFTER I had made the Puddle Park page and darn it, I like the little Princess Dot! So... that is the way it will stay! The extra challenge beyond the theme for this one was to use red or orange and a circle element.

For this one, the paper is K & Company . The sketch is, again, from Sketch Savvy #58 I am seriously addicted to Susan's beautiful sketches! I could not resist these EK Success/Jolees Dimensionals - the pill bugs are from one, and the Princess Dot is from another. The Alphas are Basic Grey and Sassafrass, and there's a random bit of Cosmo Cricket Jack's World in there, too!  Plus more bubbles and bling!

I am so happy that I ordered my Disneyland prints JUST in time for the restart of Tammi's FABULOUS Disney challenges, and I'd love to invite you to join us!

Tuesday Tidbit

Last week we took a look back at some amazing Depression era photos. This week I have a poem from ee cummings to share with you. Hope you're having a beautiful day!

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

 

What we're reading

My bloggy pal Doris the Great is playing along with "What We're Reading #5" this week and I decided to play, too!

I'm always reading and I'm usually reading several things at once. Most of the time I've got one non-fiction and one fiction going at any given time and a pile of magazines in my car just in case I'm stuck waiting somewhere with the kids... plus usually a novel underway with the kids.

At the moment I'm reading Original Intent by David Barton. On paper, from the library. And its due back tomorrow, and apparently my library ID is blocked because I have overdue kid junk to take back so I can't renew online. ~~sigh~~ I also picked up the new Heinlein biography but haven't actually done anything with it.  It would appear my brain is in summer mode.

I am also reading a rather trashy (in terms of dirty content, not quality of writing) novel by Alison Weir - who usually writes English Monarchical Non-fiction. (On my Nook)

I've read most of her non-fiction work and her two previous novels and enjoyed them all and honestly I am enjoying this book about Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England. But it's not quite what I was expecting. Still, light reading is just what I needed! Be warned - There is a lot of sex in this book - as in, I had to check to make sure I was reading Alison Weir not Phillipa Gregory.

And finally a FANTASTIC Sci Fi Serial (at least, it's fantastic so far) -- Energized by Edward M. Lerner published in Analog Science Fiction Magazine... or to be more accurate - I devoured the first two sections and impatiently await the next issue of Analog to appear on my Nook so I can read on! You can read an excerpt here.

Oh and the Little Guy and I are reading The Marvelous Land of Oz (the second of L Frank Baum's Oz books)

So, what are YOU reading?


PS I took a silly What Austen Heroine Are You? Quiz on one of the links above and it says I'm Marianne???? MARIANNE??? Are you kidding me?

Ladies, do me a favor, go and visit  Operation Beautiful from which I borrowed the following:

20 Ways to Love Your Body

Courtesy of NEDA and Margo Maine, Ph.D.

1. Think of your body as the vehicle to your dreams.  Honor it.  Respect it.  Fuel it.
2. Create a list of all the things your body lets you do.  Read it and add to it often.
3. Become aware of what your body can do each day.  Remember it is the instrument of your life, not just an ornament.
4. Create a list of people you admire:  people who have contributed to your life, your community, or the world.  Consider whether their appearance was important to their success and accomplishments.
5. Walk with your head held high, supported by pride and confidence in yourself as a person.
6. Don’t let your weight or shape keep you from activities that you enjoy.
7. Wear comfortable clothes that you like, that express your personal style, and that feel good to your body.
8. Count your blessings, not your blemishes.
9. Think about all the things you could accomplish with the time and energy you currently spend worrying about your body and appearance.  Try one!
10. Be your body’s friend and supporter, not its enemy.
11. Consider this:  your skin replaces itself once a month, your stomach lining every five days, your liver every six weeks, and your skeleton every three months.  Your body is extraordinary–begin to respect and appreciate it.
12. Every morning when you wake up, thank your body for resting and rejuvenating itself so you can enjoy the day.
13. Every evening when you go to bed, tell your body how much you appreciate what it has allowed you to do throughout the day.
14. Find a method of exercise that you enjoy and do it regularly.  Don’t exercise to lose weight or to fight your body.  Do it to make your body healthy and strong and because it makes you feel good.  Exercise for the Three F’s: Fun, Fitness, and Friendship.
15. Think back to a time in your life when you felt good about your body.  Tell yourself you can feel like that again, even in this body at this age.
16. Keep a list of 10 positive things about yourself–without mentioning your appearance.  Add to it!
17. Put a sign on each of your mirrors saying, “I’m beautiful inside and out.”
18. Choose to find the beauty in the world and in yourself.
19. Start saying to yourself, “Life is too short to waste my time hating my body this way.”
20. Eat when you are hungry.  Rest when you are tired.  Surround yourself with people that remind you of your inner strength and beauty.

Halloween in June

If we can have Christmas in July... well then, why not a little Halloween in June :)

I've got two Halloween pages to share today, done at last weekend's crop. Both feature the Echo Park Happy Halloween collection. And both are pages of the kids' school Halloween parties!

 Check out the giant lego guy - I loved that costume! Mine is the Viking (Middle Child). These Echo Park Halloween papers are just so darned cute!

And here's the little guy at the Kindergarten party in his Musketeer glory. He happens to be running around in that Musketeer tabard right now (having watched Mickey Mouse's Three Musketeers this morning).

Fun stuff!

Scrapping the Night Away

Saturday night I headed for Archivers for a crop with some girls from my local scrapping group. I had a good time, I got some pages done. We had a yummy dinner and by the time I left I had a splitting headache. I suppose that's a take-the-good-with-the-bad sort of thing.

For all my excitement to print my Disney pics, I guess I'm being a little hesitant about jumping into them! I love working on them but I want them to be great, and my Disney scrapping group is about to start challenges again.  I have only done a couple of Disney layouts so far since I got them, and none at the crop this weekend.

Before I ordered my Disney photos, I ordered a TON of photos from 2010.  I have been working at getting those organized and ready to scrap and making some real progress on that front! Here are two pages from Last May...

For this layout, I once again delved into my old Crate Paper stash. They're just so pretty! The pics are from a one-day Cub Scout Day Camp event that middle child (and my nephew) attended last May. He was pretty excited about BB Guns, Hatchets and Archery! And he made a neckerchief slide that he still wears regularly that day.

For this Laser Tag page - I used the Sketch and Color Palette from The Color Room Release #61...

I took the color scheme to my scraproom to look for matching papers and this Cogsmo background paper seemed to work beautifully, with some coordinating cardstocks. I fussy cut the big cogs, added that cute little Fancy Pants sunshine pin (which totally looks like a teal cog in this use!) and a little bling, white paint and ribbon, and this is what I got.

Tuesday Tidbit: Color Depression Era Photos

I've decided to start a new 'feature' - Tuesday Tidbits.

On selected Tuesdays, when I remember, I will post some piece of poetry, art, or some thing of interest online.


Today, if you haven't seen these amazing photos from the Great Depression, you're in for some amazement! They are so beautiful, and capture such a glimpse at this era! I think we've all become so used to the poor quality of film processing from the 70s that we have forgotten how remarkably high quality good film photography could be - decades earlier.


Captured America

Hope you enjoy!

May: Project 12

The time has come for our monthly installment of Project 12 - each month a handy-dandy sketch s provided to make a page overviewing the previous month's events. For me this doesn't replace my usual scrapping of events and goings-on for the month just passed but provides a fun overview. Using this month's wonderful May Sketch from Page Maps/Scrapbooks and Cards Today... I've put together this month's Project 12 page.

This month's photos include - the Little Guy's Kindergarten Graduation, a pic from the first time all three of our boys were in uniform together - the Little Guy's first pack meeting, a photo from our bakstage tour of Chick Fil A, The oldest with his brand-spanking new driver's permit, and a photo from Mother's Day... For this - I used the Crate Paper Toy Box line and some brown cardstock, and a little bit of ribbon. Another busy month gone by and journalling yet to be done.

Let there be light!

 Today a present arrived for me from DH -- all new OTT lites for my scrapping space -- OTT bulbs to replace the regular bulbs in our light fixtures, plus a great Pod Lamp for me!

DH says it looks like Luxo Jr and EVE had a baby - LOL

Summer Scrapping

Today it's beginning to feel like summer.

This morning I packed away the little guys' winter gear - no more thermals, no heavy sweatpants or fleece. And pulled out the tub of hand-me-down shorts and shorts from last year to fill his drawers. He was so excited he was singing and dancing about 'shorts and short sleeves'

We're picnicking in the park with friends at lunchtime today, can't wait!

The other thing summer brings is some free time for scrapping! So here's a couple of pages from this week... and I'm heading for a crop on Saturday. So there will be more then, too!

 "Born for Battle" -- For this first page -- it's pretty simple. The Middle Child competing in a Heroscape tournament at our friendly local game store. I pulled out the black paint for this one... keeping it simple. The background paper is from Serendipity, the other papers (and the brads) are Basic Grey. The heroscape title is cut from some game packaging. The central border piece is a Close-To-My-Heart Kraft border.  The label-maker journalling seemed to work, it felt masculine and sort of industrial.

"Blossoming Reader" -- For this page I turned to Sketch Savvy sketch #56 (thanks Susan!) and a whole lot of Echo Park: A Walk in the Park  I adore these pics of the Little Guy when he was first learning to read - "Pig can Jig" and Bob books and other readers... now, a few short months later - this morning he read a National Geographic Kids magazine and a library book about Jellyfish. 

Finally "Sweet Summer" -- I took these pics last year and was so surprised to find Oldest out playing in the sprinklers and the kiddie pool with the little guys! Not much more of that to come, I suspect. But such fun while it lasted. And look at my beautiful grass! We had beautiful grass the last couple of years but I think we may have lost most of the grass to the winter this year :(   The papers here are DCWV: Tahiti Beach and more of those CTMH Kraft borders.. I'm not sure I love the title but hey... it's done! And I do love the sunny yellows!

So more scrapping to come! Off to pack a picnic.