Orange-y Delicious!

Here are a few of the pages I've been promising to show you! There are more to show but I'm not satisfied with them. For example: one is a ghastly Disney page, and two are still works in-progress.

I used the April Mosh Posh kit for these layouts... tried to make myself use nothing but the kit. It was a challenge since I'm used to adding stuff from my own stash of supplies. But, I know that if I am chosen to be on the Design Team there I will need to stick to the kit with only minimal additions. So, I did add a few bits of my ribbon because I love the texture it adds. But I have to say it was fun to restrict myself to the amount of supplies in the kit. It made me get more creative and forced me to use everything available to me... including my pen! I love doodling and drawing on my scrapbook pages.




This second one was tough for me. I wanted to add all of these photos on one page. I didn't want to sacrifice a single one because I felt they told a story about that day. I also wanted to add snippets of all the beautiful patterned papers. I envisioned the page being like a mosaic of the textures, colors, and sights in nature. I think it's successful in that it's very earthy, albeit a bit busy and eye-sore-ish. I tried, I really did, to simplify the page... without any luck. I think I need to just accept that that's what happens when you add a billion patterns and photos!! Haha. The thing that really irritated me was that my journaling looks so muddled on that orange floral. I thought it would be tame enough to write on. It's OK for me now, but when I'm eighty we might have a problem. Try it: if you squint, you can read it! :)




Alrighty then. These are two pages. Many more to come God willing. ;) And some digital pages, too. I just bought a whole bunch of new kits from Little Dreamer Designs. I love their stuff. I'm attacking some of my pregnancy photos to make a seperate 8x8 album devoted to lots of belly & everything cravings, gas and... you know. I want to remember this stuff but have it in an album of its own so that way some poor unsuspecting person looking through my main albums won't see something like this:
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AAAaaaaakkkK!

Oh, I'm sorry... were you unsuspecting? See. Now you know what I mean. LOL!

Well, have a delicious evening. I sure will. What with a turkey sandwich & chips for dinner and Medium at 10, life is sweet. :)

I'm heeeere! I'm here!

Don't worry my dearies... I am not gone! :)

I've been very preoccupied the past few weeks. I'm working on some freelance design jobs which is really taking 80% of my brain right now. It's funny, but this is what I used to do full time before Ben and it came so easily to me. Now that I'm only doing it now and then it's so much harder and takes a lot more brain power! Plus, the added difficulty of working when my very active toddler is trying to get my attention. Not so easy. Anyways, I will be in the midst of that job for at least another month... but I am getting better at managing my time. And taking advantage of Grandma's free babysitting services!

Also, have you been outside lately? It's wonderful weather here in South Florida. Today, not so much (it's 85 degrees today), but it's been in the 70's... just ideal. Ben and I have been spending a lot of time park hopping and hanging outside. The computer has only been my friend for work and yes, the occasional digital scrapbooking adventure.

Speaking of digital scrapbooking, I am REALLY into it! I know that I can use my computer and design skills to really dive into it. I am excited about exploring my abilities in drawing and design to create original elements and patterned papers. I think I can do it! I certainly want to try. It would be so much fun. So, I've been gathering up supplies (textures, my illustrations, color inxpiration, etc.) and dabbling in Illustrator to sharpen my abilities. Hopefully within the next month I'll have a few freebies here for you all to enjoy... and you can help me grow as a designer by testing out my stuff. Sound good? :) LOL!

I'm also very into regular scrapbooking. The next kit at Mosh Posh is too cute:

I love the colors and all the chipboard. Can't have enough chipboard!!! I have to clear off my half of the dining room table (the other half is hubby's, he sits there with his laptop) and get to scrapping! My pace has certainly slowed down the past month, but I'm getting back into it. I was having fun trying to fit as many photos on one page as I possibly can... and then it got not fun, so I abandoned a couple of pages mid-creation.

Anyways, off to go upstairs and get ready for church! Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!!!!

One more new digital layout...

Don't worry guys, I haven't gone COMPLETELY digital even though it is all I've been posting lately. I'm just on a huge digital kick right now. It's so much fun. I'm even working on creating my own digital papers and elements. Fun, fun, fun. Did I already say fun?

I've been busy paper scrapping too but, once again, haven't photographed them. The weather has been so beautiful here the past couple weeks. Ben and I have been busy outside almost everyday. So, whenever I seem to think to photograph my layouts, alas, it is night (and I use the daylight to get good photos). Please be patient with me... they are coming. Maybe this weekend.

Today Ben seems a little off... not sure if he's fighting the arrival of that cold it seems everyone has right now. But I'm babying him and we're chilling here at home today for a few hours. He's on the couch watching the beginning of his favorite movie ever: CARS. I say beginning because it's really only the first 30 minutes of the movie that interests him. The rest: eh. So, to keep his brain from rotting completely, I don't think he's ever watched the whole thing.


This page was in response to a template challenge at The Creative Life. It's the first time I've ever used a template. It saved me a lot of time, that's for sure. I like the way it forced me to do something different that I might not have thought of on my own. Credits= shabby princess: harvest spice stitching festival green button; Corina Nielson for Memory Makers: (blue paper, safety pin, butterfly, hanging tag); Scrapartist.com: artsy fartsy kit (blue/green circle paper); Little Dreamer Designs: The Sweet Life kit (green flower, floral frame, striped paper) & These Little Moments kit (fabric scraps); Jen Wilson Designs: template; and finally... butterfly trail created by me.

I did it! I did it! Digital layout!

Oh, this one was so much fun to make. It's a moment that I love to remember... there's nothing like capturing that first taste of ice cream. I bought a few digital kits from some of the sites I listed in my column... anyways, they were loaded with goodies! I did this page in about an hour and a half or so. I used mainly the French Countryside kit I bought from the Shabby Shoppe. Then I added some stitched flower stems from a free kit I downloaded from Shabby Princess called Harvest Spice.

I've also been busy with paper scrapping, but I haven't gotten a chance to photograph the pages yet. Next time I update I'll post those, too.

Better go! Off to meet a friend at the playground. But I have to swing by for some coffee on my way there. I'm actually in the mood for a big cup of hot coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. YUM! Catch you later!!!

Doing the digital thing.

I've dabbled in digital scrapbooking. Tried it out with a few free kits and supplies I scrounged up on the internet, and it was fun. I was somewhat interested in doing it again, but never did any more pages. Fast forward to this past Friday when I decided to take the plunge and print out those 2 pages I did digitally. I sent them in to Costco and picked them up an hour and a half later... and WOW. They looked awesome! It was incredible how much they looked like a "regular" scrapbook page once they were 12x12 and in my album with all the rest. So... I think I'm going to do more pages digitally. I could never give up paper & paste scrapbooking, but it's so appealing to be able to sit down at my computer and create a beautiful page... without any mess. The dining room table can stay clean!

So because I've decided to officially enter the world of digital, I've been "shopping" for great supplies and a few kits. I've found a whole bunch of awesome websites and designers that I want to share with everyone, so I'm adding a new column to link to their pages. And stay tuned because this afternoon I'm downloading some supplies. I hope to have some new pages up for you to see very soon!

Until then!

Petrified Lizards and other tall tales...

Funny things that aren't really funny at all:

* I still haven't brushed my teeth today. Isn't that funny? Or, stinky?

* Yesterday, at my mom's house, Benjamin brought something to my mom and handed it to her. She then handed it back to him and told him to give it to Mommy. On his way over to me she said to be calmly: "Brook, don't scream." I immediately knew what was in his hand by the shape of it jutting from his chubby fist and bolted! "Benjamin," I cried, "follow Mommy to the trash can!" The look on his face was a combination of puzzled and curious. As I power-walked to the kitchen all I could think was: don't put it in your mouth. Then he walked to the trash can and tossed in the dead, mostly dry, lizard. Funny, huh?

* My son has started screaming at me for no apparent reason. I mean bloodcurdling-banshee-gonna-pop-a-tonsil screaming. I think it's because he can't communicate what he wants to and it infuriates him. I am trying to be humorous about it. I think the terrible twos have really begun. ha. ha.

* I have three dryer loads of laundry piled on my couch waiting to be folded.

* My favorite pair of jeans has erupted with one of those knee-holes. You know, the kind that actually sorta looks trendy when it starts? Well, now it's a hole as in HOLE and doesn't look trendy anymore, just raggedy like can't I afford to buy another pair of jeans already? And you know what's (not) funny? I can't!!!

Ok, so if my not funny funnies isn't awful enough, how about some scrapbook pages? I've been creatively stuck for a week and then I kind of went crazy and did 8 pages. Some are awful, but a few really shine. Here are a few... the rest are in my gallery at Two Peas (the link is on the top right hand side of the page under my photo). Enjoy!