Finish Line Scrapbooking

It's no secret that I love Stacy Julian and her Library of Memories photo system and simple story-telling scrapbook style. But I think one of my favorite ideas gleaned (is that spelled right?) from her is Finish Line Scrapbooking. I have created each of our Walk to Cure Diabetes books in this style and I think it is perfect for using lots of photos, making them shine, and best yet, creating a finished album QUICK! Last weekend I had to use up 50 free prints from Shutterfly so I ordered 49 photos (plus an extra) of Kenny's All Star season last summer. We spent a few moments in the the scrapbook store yesterday choosing 5 papers for his book. And I was good, really good, I only got the 5 papers! Progress for me ;) So while he is at a training camp for Tae Kwon Do today, I am going to finish line scrapbook his entire all star season! It will be a huge weight off my shoulders as I generally get overwhelmed by the abundance of photos we take during baseball season.

I have a couple of other scrappy projects churning around in my head as well as plans for this baby -

I have BIG plans for this project and I am very excited about it! Ken just shakes his head anymore when I come home with things like this. And don't mind the baskets and baskets of laundry that need to be dealt with... I am hoping they will clean, dry, fold, AND put themselves away while I am creating. A girl can dream, right?

Looking forward to a fun day of crafting mixed in with a bit of housekeeping to keep things lively around here. What are you working on?

xo, Jen

Oh Blog, we love you, really we do... and a kit peek too!

We don't mean to neglect the ole blog... but what can I say? We are just so super busy with life stuff that it gets pushed to the end of the to do list everyday. I'm sure many of you can relate. So here we are in 2010! And Amy and I were most fortunate to be able to scrap together on the first days of the new year. It was fun and relaxing and like old times and I had to stop myself from tearing up many times sitting at her kitchen table because the boys would have laughed at me. They are kinda like that ;) I grabbed the December and new January Two Chicks to travel to Texas and had so much fun creating with all the goodies found in each. But January...can I just say I am in LOVE with this kit??? It is my favorite color schemes and packed with so many goodies. Gotta love it! I whipped these pages up in no time. This kit is very versatile and has lots of colors to mix and match. I found it was perfect for a year in review with Kenny. I even let him do his own journaling too. One of the Teresa Collins papers had this great Dr. Seuss quotation that was more than wonderful for Jackson's Kindergarten Dr. Seuss' Birthday party at school. He is just so darn cute, don't ya think?And a completely different look on this one - I LOVE double sided papers. These are photos from Natalie's wedding a few months ago and I love them. I had fun making this little paper pinwheel as a page accent too. So easy to customize with any paper line!
My other favorite newlywed couple was the inspiration for this page. They are such a sweet couple and Ken and I love to watch them love on each other!

So, lots of goodies in this kit! Head on over to Two Chicks Designs and get one before they are gone!

xo, Jen

The time is flying ...

and so are the kicks and punches in Dallas. Yup Jennifer has given up another weekend of crafting in order to take her Tae Kwon Do superstars to another tournament. Seems it was worth the sacrifice since both Jack and Kenny were rocking the tournament - both taking medals in forms. Gold for Jackson in his division and Silver for Kenny in his division. They are awesome!!

As for me - I am here in Texas where there was some rocking sporting going on as well. Jason ran in the Race For Wishes fun run this morning. A 5K run to benefit Make a Wish Foundation. He came in under 26 minutes which is more than respectable for his very first 5K run!

I have been busy making things to be sent off to Canada but during breaks I was checking out my favourite blogs ... have to share this post from Stacy Julian. I love this idea and am going through pictures tonight while Jason and I watch a movie.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

It takes a village ...

Every year the museum here in Midland has a Gingerbread village. They have all kinds of different houses from schools, families, Churches, Scout troops and groups like that. Well this year my friend is in charge of the village and she asked me to spread the word. I did the best I could and it will be exciting to see how many houses will be up when the display opens. I delivered 2 of them today.

The first one was made by my Wednesday night kids at Church. Since every year our Church puts on a big One Night in Bethlehem event, I thought it would be fun for the kids to make a Gingerbread version. When we met last week they made all the animals, the Shepherds, Wise-men and of course the 1st Family. I let everything dry and set and then put it all together. It turned out to be very cute ....
Since I grew up having a Gingerbread house every Christmas I thought this was a fun way to have one and share it as well. So I called up my friend and asked her if her 2 youngest (one Rachel's age and one who just turned 4) would like to join Rachel in creating a masterpiece. And they did. The 3 of them had fun decorating their house and are very proud of their creation. Sarah was much more into the aesthetic look of the house and was not all that happy when her little sister and Rachel were throwing items all over the place. In the end the three of them were pleased as punch and full of the treats meant for the house!

Here is how it turned out ...
I have been crafting away here getting ready for Secret Santa at A Peek Into Yesterday as well as getting ready to send gifts home to the family. I will have some pictures to share soon - but some have to be kept secret so no surprises are spoiled. In the meantime here are a few fun things you can try ...

A cute and quick gift for a coffee lover ... Treat Cup
Any kid would think this was fun ... Money Book
Rachel and I think these would be cool on our Christmas plates ... Yule Log

Happy Crafting!!

Hello Y'All ....Eh? ...

Yup it's me ... the blog's Canadian living deep in Texas here. I know Jennifer has been doing a bang-up job keeping this blog going. But I am still here and I am crafting too ... just not taking too many pictures.

I am searching for fun projects. AND I have found one ... and I think Rachel and I might try this next weekend (this weekend we are making Jennifer's tree water colour). So there is no cute picture of Rachel showing off her cool creation - but there will be one soon. In the meantime go check out this super cute wreath project ...

Oh and I have done a bit of crafting ... check out these pictures from Rachel's 2nd grade program ... I helped paint the backdrops - there were 4 of them ... 3ftx10ft ... I also made the brown hat - it is a basket with seeds all over it. And the little girl that Rachel (wearing a green weed hat) is hanging onto is wearing a sewn and stuffed seed around her neck. OK so not major crafting - but the kids were into it!! The program was titled Parable Problems - He's got everything under control. Rachel's class did the parable of the Sower - hence the seeds and the weeds and there were flowers and birds too.

Kid Art

It has bothered me for awhile that there is a GIANT lack of true art happening in our classrooms these days. I believe there are so many opportunities for learning through creating, but sadly that is not the case when it comes to testing and budgets and the list goes on and on. Kenny had an amazing art teacher in first grade back when we lived in Colorado and ever since then it has gone downhill. :( So instead of being frustrated anymore with the loss of art class in school and the lack of affordable art classes where we have lived, I have attempted to do "art" with the boys when I can. It was hard in CA, we had very little space to store supplies and we always felt like we were on top of each other, but not anymore! We have storage space and willing little boys to create.

I found this blog a few weeks ago and I have been amazed at the fun things this woman does with her kiddos. Fun and easy things!! I have a list a mile long of projects I want to do with the boys from her site. So this weekend we started. I loved this project so gathered up all our supplies and a new set of watercolors and went to town this morning. It was a great project for all 3 boys and that is really important in my book. I want them all to be involved. I LOVE how they turned out and the boys are so proud!!! Using painter's tape was perfect! It didn't stick or tear the paper at all when we pulled it off.

Perfect for even the little guys who LOVE to fill the entire background with colors.
Kenny preferred to use his pastels over the paints. A different look for sure, but he liked the way it turned out too.
They sprinted off after this picture to put them on their bedroom doors. I highly recommend this project! I'm thinking these could make great gifts for grandparents too. ;)

the most wonderful time of the year!

Ever since Amy and I took Cut the Crazy out of Christmas at Big Picture Scrapbooking last year, I have been thinking more actively about this season of the year all year long. Does that make sense? I guess what I trying to portay is that it is never too early to start preparing for the season of Christmas in an effort to make the season more meaningful. So to do our crafty part, we will posting lots of fun ideas for you and for us for this season. Just a few moments ago I stumbled on a new, oh so wonderful, blog that is jam-packed with ideas for making fun and inexpensive gift ideas! And the best thing is, she is hosting a handmade gift guide for the holiday season. I will be spending lots of time pouring through her posts looking for fun ideas for my friends and family! You should join me ;) ;)