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!

My kiddo...

... should interview for the position of Easter Bunny. I'm dead serious. Even though he's clearly NOT a bunny (although he is cute) he could whoop the Easter Bunny's tail. My kiddo is the best stinkin' egg collector I've ever seen.

We had our first ever Easter Egg Hunt this past week with our Mommy & Me group and the kid was so into it. As I stared out into the field dotted with pastel eggs I was worried he wouldn't have a clue what to do when they blew the whistle. Standing in the crowd of other moms and tots I felt like we'd be lucky if he even could get to an egg before all the other kids grabbed them away. But oh, were my worries unfounded. That whistle blew and I bent down to hand Ben his basket, but he was already gone. I turned around to find him and saw him running back to me with an egg in each hand. Being the proud mama and scrapbooker that I am I immediately dropped the basket and fumbled for my camera. Before it turned on Ben had two eggs in his basket and was galloping back to me with two more in his hands... and a third nestled safely under his happy chin. Just like that he had 5 eggs.

And this is where my chest puffs up and I get all chocolate pudding inside. My boy. Such an egg collector. *sniff*

I mean, Ben was like a pro out there. It's like egg-hunting is in his blood, streaming through his veins. Pure instinct: FIND EGG, PICK IT UP, PUT IN BASKET. Repeat until tiny little plastic basket is overflowing, then pretend you're eating the eggs. Cuz brightly colored eggs are yummy, right? Totally!

Busy, Busy Brookie!

I have been quite busy with scrappy things! I printed some more photos and BAM instant inspiration... just having new photos in my hand. I decided to take the time to bring each photo into Photoshop CS2 and get them printed in the sizes I needed them. I created a 8x10 canvas and dragged my photos into it... then I color corrected them and cropped them. When I picked them up from the printer all I needed to do was cut them apart. It was a huge time-saver in the end. I also found it's much cheaper this way, too. Anyways... I have posted my new layouts to the scrapbooking gallery at Two Peas (see link on the right column) but wanted to share a few with everyone here.


This first one (above) was a challenge for me because I had so many photos I wanted to include... but I forced myself to keep it to one page only (I'm not a fan of 2-page spreads because I hate having to do two pages with the same papers, etc... I guess I'm just too ADD-like to focus on two pages). Another challenge was the colors. The yellow swing, blue jeans, brown mulch, green trees, faded red... it's not that there were too many colors it's just that I don't have many papers in these tones. I went deep into my reserves and found this old Basic Grey plaid paper... it was perfect. Then I decided to make blue a focus and the back side of a Fancy Pants "free spirit" paper was the ideal shade. Finally, a scrap of green floral (Autumn Leaves I think) added a spash of "life". I used the wonderfully yummy MM ledger paper for the title plate along with my Martha Stewart letter stamps. I was glad it all came together! Despite all the patterns it doesn't feel overdone. And, oh, isn't my boy so cute at the playground??? *squee* I just love that little guy!

This one (above) is an old baby photo of yours truly. I let myself really play with this page and did some hand-journaling & words. I even did my journaling on the big white space on the photo with a special non-smear pen. The striped paper is Basic Grey and the polka Dot is Sassafras Lass. The buttons... well, yes, I did go crazy with them! But there was this freaky shirtless guy in the photo right behind my little baby head. I never even noticed him in the small original photo, but this 5x7 one made him very noticable. My solution was a halo-like mass of buttons. I quite like it. ;)

Lastly, this page... I went way out of my comfort zone. I really pared it down and let it speak for itself without a gob of embellishments and patterns. My baby photos had so many conflicting tones and didn't really "match" but I wanted to keep them color because I DO want to remember that green dress and yellow jacket. :) I decided to group them in an organized way in the center of plain white textured cardstock (gotta love Bazzill) with a splash of coordinating color on the bottom. The brown felt flower and vintage button were a perfect accent. On the top I added a quote in a very neutral color... then it was time for a title... and I BLANKED. I didn't want to add anything to it! But I felt it needed some sort of direction in time and space... so I went with these great white chipboard Thickers by American Crafts. A simple title indicating the year of my birth seemed to sum it up just dandy. And it was complete!

I love this page... it's really made me re-think my need to fill pages to the brim with STUFF. I definitely have a new fondness for simple scrapping and will be more likely to do it again and not feel the urge to add and add and add. :)

Anyways, baby Ben will be up from his nap pretty soon here. Better go! I will update later with some super cute photos I took at the Easter egg hunt this morning. Until then!

Musical Brothers

Here's a recent page... it's pictures of my hubby (bottom photo) and his brother playing music together. They're both very musically talented and I didn't really have much to say about the pictures other than that... so I used some stickers to tell the story. The circle where the title is was hand-cut to fit the available space. I used Love, Elsie rub-ons to make the title. The felt shapes are Fancy Pants... I attached them & the buttons by stitching them to the page with DMC floss in a few colors. The chipboard accents are Scenic Route. The patterned papers are Scenic Route and Basic Grey.

I haven't been very busy or inspired lately when it comes to scrapbooking. I think I need to get some new photos printed, maybe that will trigger the creativity? I'm working on a special project for my mother-in-law right now, so it's kind of a nice change of pace. Maybe next week I'll be back to my old scrapping self!