Sharing is nice!

Finally! Here are the pages I was talking about. The third page needs one more thing before I'm finished with it. I can't find my sandpaper anywhere! These are two I wanted to share...

Doing a few pages about myself feels really good. I LOVE doing pages about my son, but I've been enjoying recording my own memories, too. After all, someday when my memory is fading I want to be reminded of who I am as well. :)

Well, I'm off to air us out. We've been inside all day... I honestly don't have the energy but Benjamin is going bonkers! We're still dealing with colds so I'll have to find a remote playground somewhere and let him run around. Better go!

P.S. I updated my scrapbooking gallery with layouts (old and new), so if you have time, check them out. The link is on the right column.

Ugh! The COLDS, the TEETH...

Did I already say UGH!? First Ben gets the sniffles, then I get a kind of annoying sore throat... and it all goes downhill from there. Now Ben is cutting his eye teeth on top of a miserable cold and that's not good considering he is the worst teether... it just takes forever to cut through and he refuses to drink or sleep. I now have an awful cold with body aches, sore throat, cough, runny nose, the whole shebang. Hubby called me from work this afternoon with some great news: he has the cold, too! UGH!

Ok, so enough complaining for me. On to more exciting things! I finished the pages PLUS more. One leetle bitty problem though... I didn't photograph them yet. I intended to get that done this afternoon during Ben's nap (HA) but alas, naps were not had. I could scan them, but it takes me forever and the colors just don't turn out right. So, maybe tomorrow?

For now I will share a few happy things:

THIS scrapbooking kit from Mosh Posh! Yummy yum yum. It gets my creative juices flowing. I just love the combo of pink, red, and bright blue. The blue is the part I really love. Now I can do valentine-ish lovey dovey pages with photos of my guys without completely immasculating them! I can't wait for these supplies to be delivered to my doorstep next month.

Me and my sweet baby boy in the Western NY snow, a few days before Christmas. We had so much fun playing in (and eating) the snow. I just love snow, it's so beautiful and sparkley... but maybe I love it so much because I don't have to live in it. I just get to visit it!

And finally, this set of 4"x4" decorative scrap blocks I made for my Grandma Rowe. They have pics of her 5 kids on the sides. Most of the supplies are K&Co. She loved them, they made her cry... and that's pretty good considering she's not usually sentimental like that! :) It made me feel super good to give them to her.

Well, that's all from me. I'm going to go cuddle with my hubby on the couch and watch more hilarious American Idol auditions!

Fastest week of my life!

Wow! This week just flew by! I can't believe it's already Friday... and I'm glad it is. My hubby and I are going out to eat with another couple tonight, sans children. We're going to a great place for seafood right on the water. It's been a cool day and very breezy so it should be wonderful there because it's outdoor seating. I'm looking forward to a dinner where I don't have to worry about feeding Ben and myself at the same time. I'm also looking forward to the Mojito I plan to order. YUM-O!

As far as being creative, this week was not so great. I did get 3 pages started. STARTED. They are all sitting there on the table unfinished. I guess I was sort of scattered because I had all of these ideas and just wanted to get them out there so fast that I wasn't patient to finish what I started. This weekend my mission is to seal the deal on those pages. Get 'er done.

Well, I'd love to chat but I have three bathrooms to clean. It's an absolute must. I HATE cleaning bathrooms, but if I don't do it it certainly won't ever happen. Hubby doesn't seem to notice that kind of filth! But my scrapping stuff all over the dining room? He notices that! Gotta love men! LOL.

I hope to post those layouts I was talking about sometime this weekend.

Been Scrapping...

This past week I did a few pages with my January Mosh Posh kit. I loved this kit! Blue and green are my favorite colors (these particular shades of blue and green are great together) and lately I've been having a lot of fun using black accents on my pages, so I was psyched when this kit arrived on my doorstep.

Anyways, the first page design was lifted from Kelly Bryan's LO in the Mosh Posh DT Gallery. The second page was inspired by a technique I've seen where strips of ribbon or patterned paper are used to create a sort of sunburst pattern around the photo. It's something I always wanted to try because my ribbon collection is getting out of hand! I was glad to use some of it up!

I'm really trying to loosen up when I scrap and not be so precious with my supplies. I'm bad about agonizing over cutting up papers and using things up, but now my stash is growing so big that I realize that's what I bought it for: to use it. Duh! I know it seems so simple, but I have to let go of the fear that I'll mess up or waste and just go with the flow. Sometimes mistakes can turn out to be a good thing in the end! Right?

Yummy things...

Sakura Souffle pens! I love pens and hoard them, so these recently caught my eye.

I haven't purchased any yet, but they look like tons of fun. They are opaque and can be used on dark or light paper which is always nice. But here's the best thing: they puff up into a soft foamy texture. Welcome back the 90's puff paint craze, only less messy and archival safe (or at least it seems). I guess these pens can be used on almost anything, but obviously I'd want to use them on my scrapbook pages. My only concern is that this fragile texture might stick to or be crushed by the page protector.

I think I might go out and buy one to test it out before splurging on the whole colorful set. ;D I LOVE finding new things to try.

I don't know why...

I think I'm going to keep up with a blog! But, I've had a few in the past and really loved having a place to express myself. With this blog I'm hoping to use it more as a place for creative sharing and inspiration for my artistic ventures.

I am a stay-at-home mom to my 18 month old son, Ben. But before my days of diapering and playdates I got a BFA in studio arts (with a focus in painting) and worked as a graphic designer, Visual Arts director, set designer, and freelance mural painter. I really enjoy crafts and art making. My current obsession is scrapbooking. Ever since Ben was born I felt such an urge to hold on to the memories of his babyhood and tell the story of my own life for future generations (and myself!). It seemed like every day held such a special moment and I was worried I would forget all of those special times. Also, I've always been drawn to using photos in an artistic way. Since I was a little girl I've used photos to create mini books, mostly as gifts for family. So, I think I was destined to be a scrapbooker, a keeper of memories. It's my passion.

So, I hope you will enjoy my little blog!