Just discovered...

crops can be kinda fun! I went to my first at a new sb store here in town and it was SO much fun! Well, I think it really helped that 2 of my friends went with me--I don't know if I would've been brave enough to go it alone. We were even served homemade lasagna and to-die-for desserts from a little bakery a few shops down. Total class act and I actually got a page completed and a mother's day card and a good start on a second page. I will definitely do more crops there!

So I decided to scrap a page of the elusive kid. These days I'd have better luck taking a picture of a rare endangered species deep in the amazon. The journaling on this one reads "some days you're the most easygoing kid, laughing & joking, & other days the storm rolls in and we scramble for shelter. Ah, the teen years!

I love funnelcake!!

These are a few more pics from our little weekend getaway last summer. We decided to steer clear of Atlanta and Six Flags and the crazy crowds and went down the less beaten path to Valdosta. (A friend of mine RAVED about Wild Adventures down there) So, as we pulled into the parking lot, we got a little worried when we saw this tiny little roller coaster that looked absolutely ancient. We already bought the tickets at home so we were kinda stuck and thought we'd just have to give it a try. This little park was SO much fun!! No lines, awesome rides, and enough to fill the day but not TOO much if ya know what I mean? The thing I remember the most about this day was dying to get my hands on a funnelcake and then seeing the goofy face my hubby made when he shoveled a huge forkful in his mouth. It was the end of the day and we were all tired and hot and he still found it in him to make us laugh!

So I have some crazy scrappin' plans this weekend with friends and plenty of LOs to keep me busy--we'll see what I come up with. I'm usually a solitary scrapper so it might not be much!

I love rainy Saturdays...

It's weird. I know. I just realized it this past weekend. Rainy Saturdays mean no pressure to do ANYTHING. No feeling bad we didn't drag our mountain bikes out, dust them off, and use them for the first time in a year. No regrets we didn't get out to the lake AGAIN. No yard work. Just a perfect excuse to stay inside, stay in our jammies most of the day, and do whatever we want. So I had no guilt about scrappin'!! I'm still inspired to work with pics from our vacation so I just kinda go with what I'm feeling. I'm really into nature shots right now and that's probably a good thing since I have some awesome pics from the zoo that just make me happy and I want to capture in my books. I realized something else this weekend. I LOVE just scrappin' what I want to and not worrying about whether I have the last 14 years of my son's pics behind page protectors. It's important, don't get me wrong. I just don't feel the pressure to get it done. After all, 3 years ago none of his pics were on a scrapbook page. I'm ahead of the game!

These are a few more shots of seal pupping season at the children's beach at La Jolla Cove. Jeff and I just stood there amazed as this little guy(or girl??) flopped up the beach and planted a big one on a buddy and then made the most hilarious face!! Totally looked like bragging or rejection-we weren't sure which!!

Happy Friday!!

I finally got some time to scrap yesterday! yippee!! I can be downright stubborn sometimes. I know, this is not news to anyone who knows me. I had it in my head to use the pics on this LO in color. I just flat out refused to print them in sepia or b/w. I really don't know why. Guess I just loved the contrast between that bright blue sky and the rocks with that setting sun glow that would all be lost if I converted them. Well, do you have any idea how HARD it is to coordinate papers in these colors??? This one frustrated me for several hours yesterday until it came together and now it's one of my faves. It was too fun using up some paper I bought at Target eons ago and of course, mixing anything with BG--as my friend Terry says--" always classes anything up". I'm challenging myself to step out of that comfort zone and try techniques or products that I normally don't reach for. On this one I used a little sugar coating on the flowers. Rebecca, if you read this, thanks for pushing me over the fence on the glitter :) I've also been dying to use my new fiskars threading water punch that I was lucky enough to find thanks to a whole lotta internet hunting! It's beer brewing weekend for us so I might get a chance to scrap again this weekend while the guys have their own fun!

It's been a long couple weeks!

Glad to be able to find a minute to upload another LO I did a few weeks ago before my patio/french drain nightmare began. Now that all the dust is settling around here I can get back to the real fun! Expect to see a ton of SD layouts in the next few months. I'm still super excited to scrap them and I mean it--I have a TON of pics! This one I'm particularly proud of as I FINALLY used some CTMH paper I bought almost 2 years ago and it was the perfect paper for this! You never know what you'll use so I never feel too guilty about building the paper stash!

Back from San Diego!!

So I'm not updating this as much as I would've liked but I HAVE been productive these past few weeks and that's what really matters, right? The San Diego trip was AWESOME! Absolutely gorgeous weather every stinkin' day and I had a relaxing time away from daily stressors around here. I only wish I could've spent another week or so exploring but I'll take what I can get. So, I took a TON of pics out there and now have a gazillion LO ideas running through my head. I started with pics that really spoke to me and finished a couple LOs this week. If I keep this up, I might actually scrap an entire vacation in the same year I took it!!!!

Some shots from La Jolla Cove

Just taking a minute to share some pics from our San Diego trip. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous and I've had a few opportunities to see some rare things. It's seal pupping season out here right now and La Jolla cove had a ton of them on the beach. Yesterday, Jeff and I arrived just in time to see a seal birthing. Totally bizarre. You just don't get to see that every day!

I've been checking out a few LSS and seeing the sights! Perfect time of year to visit!! Everything's in bloom, it's warm but not too warm, sunny(I actually got burned the first day)and all the kiddos are in school so no mass groups of tourists!!!

Summer's on its way!

And in the spirit of all things summer, here is another layout I did this morning! This is my son Chase (now 14) at Lake Nacimiento in Cali. We used to drive down on the weekends from Monterey since it was the closest body of fresh water to drop our waverunner in. He was such a cute little toe head! The grass is starting to green here and it won't be long before I'm back in serious bad hair-day humidity! Looking forward to it!

A little Art-Deco anyone?

Did this one yesterday. I had these pics laying around since last July and I was in the mood for something a little tropical. These were taken with a disposable underwater Fujifilm camera and they're not half-bad. Chase had a good time taking pictures of himself underwater and for once, I didn't have to worry about destroying my camera at an amusement park! Guess you can see I'm already thinkin' about summer...

The Power of Persuasion

After nearly a year and a 1/2 of occasionally posting LO's to my fave scrapbook site I was invited to join a critique group. I have to say I've never really wanted to put myself out there like that for the harsh reality of what people really think of my schtuff but this has already been an eye-opener for me. The original of this LO is below but after taking my group's comments under advisement and banging my head against my craft table for awhile (never recommended) I made some necessary changes to this and I'm so much happier with it now.

I'm thinking this is the start of a fantastic learning experience (or the start of a severe frontal headache) but either way I'm hoping to churn out some great stuff this year! Another special thanks to these ladies for pushing me to produce the best that I can!