"cool!!"

The Story:

We had our pool put in about three years ago and I have to say it was a terrific investment. The boys are in it constantly during the summer. They swim morning, noon, and night. It is a wonder that they don't get sick of being waterlogged. Each year they all turn a golden brown as the make up games and contests in the water. They do not tire of it. As they grow up, I know their stongest memories of summers will center on that pool.

The Layout:

I used BoBunny Popsicle line for this layout. As soon as I saw the paper I envisioned this layout. I loved the feel of movement created by the waves, but I had a bit of a dilemma because I would have really liked to have had two sheets and the store only had one. After dealing with the disappointment I chose another paper in the same line to use as the background.

I precision cut the waves and used Stickles to glitter the white lines.

The lettering is from the same BoBunny line. At the last book club meeting one of the members shared some stickers that she used Glossy Accents on. They were adorable. I found some Glossy Accents in my stash that I had gotten at a crop and I didn't realize I had. I decided to break it out. I covered the lettering with Stickles and then used Glossy Accents over it.

The bubbles are tiny seed beads. I glued them into place and then put Glossy Accents over them to seal them into place. I am not sure how I feel about the bubbles. I think they are a little too much, but I'll learn to live with it!

"Wildlife"

The Story:

Dale and Nancy's boys spent last week with us. You may wonder what our house was like with six boys running around. . . Noisy? -- At times. Wild? -- In the pool. Chaotic? -- Nope, because we ran it like school. There was a strictly followed schedule and rules for the good of the group. Everyone behaved well. They didn't even argue. . .much. Vacation Bible School kept us busy in the mornings which helped. On crazy hair day I glued everyone's hair straight up and added green gel to match their shirts. They looked like wildlife just let out of the zoo. I am just glad they didn't act like it!

The Layout:

At Anna's encouragement, I joined Book Club at Simply Scrapbooks. I have been to two meetings and have discovered that it is a wonderful gathering of extremely talented scrapbookers who have a great time sharing their work. I am humbled to be sitting with women who have such diverse knowledge and ideas. I received my first kit this month and found it to be very challenging. I wasn't feeling the paper, it just wasn't speaking to me until I shot the photo then everything fell into place.

The paper was cardstock and an embossed dotted sheet. We were also given a Die Cuts With a View sheet of safari paper which I chose not to use.

The gal (I wish I knew her name so I could give her credit!) who put the kits together cut out all sorts of words out of cardstock on her Cricut for us and I chose Wildlife. I inked the edges so that it would stand out. I layered Die Cuts With a View Chipboard letters over the Cricut title These letters were from the same line as the safari paper I didn't use.

The journaling is done on a 7 Gypsies journaling card that I cut and inked heavily to match the layout. The clear embellishment on the top is an old, old border from My Mind's Eye Bohemian line. I found the little wooden tag at JoAnn's in the notions section. I needed a Tim Holtz brad to fasten it to the paper because he has the extra long brads.

The little lion and monkey chipboard pieces are from the Die Cuts With a View safari line.

The boys names are attached to the paper with the new Making Memories Vintage line pins. I stitched them to the page to hold them in place.

I wasn't too sure about the kit when I got it, but I really did enjoy the challenge. It pushed me outside my comfortable little bubble in which I select only paper that draws my eye and speaks to my style. I used something that I would not have given a second glance and made it my own!

"Happy Birthday, Sarah!"

The Story:

My niece, Miss Sarah Elizabeth, is turning one. I can hardly believe it! Last year I flew to Tennessee to hold her when she was just 24 hours old. I love buying pink everything. I carried with me a suitcase filled with girlie clothes, blankets, shoes, bows, hats -- there was hardly any room for my own stuff! I have five nephews and she my one sweet baby girl. When my sister-in-law, Dawn, asked me to make the invitations I could not refuse. Anything for my Miss Sarah!

The Layout:

I almost never make cards, but I do regularly make invitations. This one was a bit of a challenge. The theme of the party is Sesame Street with an emphasis on Elmo and Big Bird. I could not find any Sesame Street paper or stickers in any of my local craft and scrapbook stores. While I was in at Simply Scrapbooks one of the fabulous gals suggested I try Party City. (I'd like to give her credit, but I'm sorry I don't know her name yet.) At Party City I found a set of thin "Look and Find Elmo" books that came four in a package. They were meant to be party favors, but I took them and cut them apart and used the pages for the background paper.

Elmo was downloaded from Google Images. I printed him on photo paper, 2X3 - 9 to a sheet, and cut out each one. I used foam pop-dots to make him 3D.

I loved this invitation because it challenged my thinking. I didn't have paper and stickers to rely on. I had to really look at what was available and make it work for me.

"Bright Eyes"

The Story:

The first thing most people notice about Alex are his huge, brown eyes. They catch attention in photographs. He can work those eyes through the full range of emotions: joy, despair, thoughtfulness, hilarity, fascination, irritation, indignation, peacefulness, . . . He's growing into them, but they will always be the trademark of a boy that I love with all my heart.

“I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart.”
-- Pope John XXIII

The Layout:

I bought some Sassafrass Lass Paper Whimsies awhile back and have been itching to use them. They form the border along the side and top. I love the Sassafrass Vintage Yummy line. The paper and embellishments are so cool and retro. Their ecclectic look grabs my attention whenever I spy it in the store.

I used some old We Are Memory Keepers brushed brass letters for the word "BRIGHT" and I just pulled a mix of smaller letters out of my stash for "EYES."

I stitched red embroidery floss around the layout to tie together the printed paper and the lettering.

The brads and buttons are from Pink Paislee and Sassafrass, but I also pulled some from stash.

"Heather and Tom"

The Story:
I have known Heather for 13 years. Her mother, the fabulous Delani Bair, and I taught next door to each other for eight years. Delani went through three pregnancies, tons of laughter, and a few tears in that time with me. I am one of her greatest admirers. All these years later, her daughter, Heather and I found ourselves teaching at the same school. She in fifth and I in first. I have prayed for Heather that God would direct her to a mate that would appreciate her flamboyant and colorful personality and sweet and sensitive nature. . . Finally, the desire of her heart is realized. His name is Tom. On July 18th our Heather will be marrying and moving 2500 miles away. She will be missed more than you can possibly imagine, but knowing she will be with her true love makes it a tiny bit easier.

The Layout:
I made an 8X8 album for Heather to put candids from the wedding in. I used the Making Memories Wedding Line. The colors are black, white, and silver.

I added pictures of two of my favorite elements. The silver bird is an embossed bird from Ashley's NSBW Mini Album. (No, I did not get my book completed! Shame on me!) It went perfectly with this album. I used a couple of Ashley's Mini Album ideas in this book. (Thanks, Ashley!)

The other element is some hanging baubles. I used thread, metal tags (Making Memories,) and beads to hang these embellishments from the crocheted lace.

The album is an old SEI album that I covered with paper. It was a creme colored album with an odd argyle design down one side. I have had it forever and had always hoped I'd have an occassion to cover it and use it as a gift for a friend.



I am hoping to be a little more faithful to my blog this summer. I have had a fast a furious end to the school year and start to my time off. Things have settled down now and I am ready to swim, sun, and scrap.

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." ~Henry James

P.S. I won't be posting this to Facebook because I don't want Heather to see it before the shower on Wednesday. Shhhh!

"Brothers Are. . ."

The Story:

"Sometimes being a brother is better than being a superhero." -- Marc Brown

Brotherhood comes quite naturally in our home. Aaron, Andrew, and Alex get along remarkably well. They have their moments as siblings will, but they are extremely close. Living in the country has given my three boys the opportunity to be bonded to each other. They are "best brothers" -- that's Alex's term.

On this particular evening I caught the boys sharing a jovial disposition. Maybe it was the fact that summer vacation is a few days away, maybe it was because Daddy picked up Pizza Hut pizza on his way home, maybe it was just the pure bliss of sharing an evening together. . . whatever the reason, I caught my three wiggly boys being "best brothers." How much more perfect could these moments be?

The Layout:

I used new Breaking Free paper line by My Mind's Eye. The piece that caught my eye was the journaling piece: "Brothers Are. . ." I loved the look of the tape on it. It was displayed in the front of the store as I walked in the door and my eyes were immediately drawn to it. Great marketing, gals!

Many of the accent pieces are the coordinating cut-outs from My Mind's Eye that go with the line. The ticket strip is also from that same line.

The background paper is Library Ledger from Rusty Pickle. I bought several sheets of this when I was in the store because it is a very versatile piece of paper. I am sure it will pop up over and over again on my pages.

The fabric "A's" are from American Crafts Thickers. I love the texture of the fabric on those letters.

The metal number 3 is from Making Memories. I loved the look of the brushed silver. The metal arrows are from 7 Gypsies. I paired those three arrows with the large metal brad from my stash. The little metal stars are from my stash as well.

I am making a conscious effort lately to use something from my stash on my pages so I can use up great stuff that I have had forever. This thereby justifies the new purchases that I make! Okay, I'm dreaming, but it does make me feel I tiny bit better!

"the littlest bird"

The Story:

My nest has three birds. I'd say baby birds, but they are not babies anymore. With Aaron off to junior high and Andrew in the throes of intermediate grades, Alex is the littlest bird on his way to second grade -- He'll be in my nest for awhile longer. . .

Alex is a funny kid. His kindergarten teacher told me all last year that, "He needs his own show!" His first grade teacher, who teaches right next door to me, has come over so many times this year laughing to tell me something funny he said. Without trying at all he can make us all laugh until we cry.

A couple of weeks ago he came into our room and hopped up on the bed between us and laid down. "Mommy, it's time to get up." I couldn't pry my eyes open, even though the alarm was going off. I opened one eye and looked at him and said, "I can't get up, you go to school and teach my class."

"Okay," he said. "Where do I find the Daily Warm-Up." Cha-Ching!

Later that morning before first bell rang he was on one of the computers in my room and I was headed to the workroom for something. He looked at me and said, "Hey, I thought you were going to sleep in." I bit the inside of my cheek on that one!

The Layout:

This layout uses Doodlebug paper for the background and that adorable bird paper from Basic Grey Lime Rickey for a photo mat.

I grunged the edges of the photo in Photoshop and brushed over the Ali Edwards words, "i just love you."

The little bird is the anime bird from Quickutz. I used my brand-new pink Quickutz Squeeze hand punch that I got as a gift on Scrapbook Weekend! Have I mentioned how awesome Scrapbook Weekend is at Simply Scrapbooks? :)

The plastic frame is from Making Memories, also picked up from Scrapbook Weekend. It was in the prize package I won.

In my quest to reuse packaging, I cut the black strip from a container that held a box lunch that Dave bought me a couple weeks ago. That container was cool because it had about three different textures that makes it extra handy for reuse. I made the stars from the clear packaging that my new Binderie from 7 Gypsies came it. I cut them on my Sizzix and stitched on them with red twine.

When I get packaging I think I can reuse, I cut it down to sizes manageable for storing. Recycling and reusing is challenging and fun.

"the boy and his dog"

The Story:

When Lizzie showed up on the property she was barely four months old, skin and bones, and filthy. (It took four consecutive baths and an entire bottle of dog shampoo to get the stench off of her!) Clearly, she had been dumped. It was heartbreaking, but the last thing in the world I wanted was a puppy. We had Roxie (The Princess) what more could the boys want? I told them the puppy could stay until we had her cleaned up, fattened up, doctored by our vet and spayed, then she'd be a great dog -- for someone to adopt from the SPCA. (Sure, Momma, whatever!)

Days stretched into weeks and weeks stretched into months and I watched as she slowly became a part of the family, albeit a part of the family who chewed shoes, piddled on the floor, and shredded paper. The boys always took her part, defending her to me when I would freak out over pieces of tissue lying all over the living room. "Mommy, you have to be patient. She's just a puppy." (That's a direct quote!)

Sometimes doing the thing doesn't make sense, turns out to be the perfect decision. . . Although she's really the boys' dog, Lizzie has made us better as a family -- all of us, including Roxie. She's ours. (Why I fooled myself into thinking she wouldn't be, I will never know.) We're hers and I think that was the way it was supposed to be all along.

The Layout:

This layout was inspired by one of my scrappin' gal friends, Anna. She posted on her blog (nest happenings) some information about crafting green. It really got me thinking seriously about the amount of packaging we have in scrapbooking that gets dumped into landfills. Scrapbooking has to be the ultimate art form for reusing materials like plastic and cardboard. So I have been saving my packaging and trying to figure out how to get it onto my pages. I have a few ideas mulling around in my head and this is the first that I finished.

The plastic is from Tim Holtz charms. I filled each bubble with a trinket and attached the whole embellishment to the paper with brads. The paper is Sassafras Vintage Yummy and I stitched on the layout with embroidery floss.

I hope this layout will inspire you to look at your packaging in a new way before you toss it! Thanks for making me think, Anna!

National Scrapbook Weekend

"And the only thing that does any good is to hop in a cab and go to Tiffany's." -- Holly Golightly



It was a fantastic weekend at Simply Scrapbooks! I do not know how Laurie and her awesome staff manage to top themselves each year, but they did it again. . . It was "Breakfast at Tiffany's" all weekend. From the Tiffany blue decorations, to the fabulous food, to Ashley's adorable acrylic Make and Take book, to the juicy give-aways, to the darling vintage hats, to the marvelous Theron and his Quickutz demos. . . it was a sublime way to spend a weekend. . . "Cross my heart and kiss my elbows."



It was a memorable weekend. I want to give a shout-out and thanks. . .

. . . to my two best scrapping pals, Debbie and Kathy, for that perfect combination of friendship and scrapbooking.

. . . to Ella and Sylvia for being great tablemates -- these gals know how to have a good time.

. . . to Pam and her little furry friend for keeping us all in stitches. Poor Jana!

. . . to Carrie and Kristi for modeling both proper and improper embossing techniques!

. . . to Jana for the pinky promise -- I won't forget!

. . . to Wilda and Courtney for their tech savvy advice and sweet compliments -- I'm sure I'll be in contact!

. . . to Laurie for hosting another perfect weekend.



I completed five layouts and they are below. Each one has a story behind it and I'll share over the next few weeks.

Just, so Andrew!

My Andrew is so many things. I am not sure I know a more expressive personality. He has been fiercely independent since he got up and started walking at 9 months. He is who he is, so just deal with it already. I theorize that it could be that middle child thing -- sorry to you middle children -- he needs to be seen and heard. Over the years my photos of him are so "in the moment" and one doesn't ever have the same feel as the next. I love that kid! He colors our world in such a big way.

I shot the photos for this layout last summer -- ah, glorious summer! I had intended on scrapbooking them at Spooktacular, but got so caught up in the ATC fervor that I put them aside. Those of you who were there know I was into my ATC holder. For the last week I have been slowly getting ready for National Scrapbook Weekend -- okay, I can admit it, I was unpacking some of the stuff that has been sitting since Spooktacular. It was like Christmas! So it is actually a good thing that I never unpacked. I ran across these photos and they matched perfectly with paper I picked up at the store last weekend.

I actually picked up the yellow Chatterbox paper first. It is a sunny yellow and the circles are flocked. I matched it with two pieces from The Paper Company Studio - Celebration Line. The stripe has a bit of glitter on it and the green is called "Dotted Circle." I cut the lettering on my Cricut using the font "Socket." I love my Zip Dry, but I had a little trouble adhering to the flocked paper initially. I had to hold it down a bit and give it a chance to set. The heart charm I picked up somewhere and it was in my stash. I have been making a conscious and conscientious effort to use some of my stash and scraps lately because, you know, I bought it, I saved it -- I need to use it!

Aaron's Notebook Cover

Aaron is taking "Preparing for Adolescence" at church. It is a six week course that gives the sixth graders an introduction to the changes that they will be going through in their teen years. Parents take the class with the kids and it has been great, so far, at focusing our conversations.

I find myself slowly (and rather reluctantly) wrapping my brain around the fact that Aaron is going to junior high next year. I know every mother that goes before tells you don't blink an eye because it seems a moment and their childhood is gone. I am now that mother. The one who will tell you that the pre-teen years have come much to soon. (Pity Party over. . . for now.)

One of our assignments for our class this week was to make a cover for the notebook. Aaron and I picked out some Cosmo Cricket paper and I had a bunch of leftover embellishments, like stickers and accents that coordinated. Aaron picked out the ones he liked and decorated his cover. With so little paper, I am sure you would be surprised by how much glue he went through -- shocking!

I cut Aaron's name on my Cricut using my fancy new Sure Cuts A Lot program. I layered the letters over each other and staggered them before I cut. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Sure Cuts A Lot! It has rocked my Cricut world! If you haven't heard of SCAL, it is computer software I picked up from eBay. It allows me to cut any (yes, any) true type font, including dingbats on my Cricut. No need to buy cartridges anymore, no need to change cartridges to cut different letter styles, AND you can turn text to cut 12 inches! I paid $58. If you buy it, I don't want to know if you pay less. :)

My Playlist Book

A few weeks ago I was cruising Ali Edwards' blog. (She is amazing!) She had an adorable layout with a "playlist" as the subject. The playlist was music on the ipod in her baby daughter's room.

I love my Nano and I have a serious iTunes habit. I decided to use Bisou paper and chipboard accents to make my own playlist book.

Cover: For the cover I used chipboard and I copied and pasted the album from iTunes into a grid. I printed it on photo paper and adhered it to the chipboard. I created a frame in Photoshop using some circle brushes that I downloaded for free from a website. I printed this on an overhead. I put a piece of vellum between the overhead and the album cover grid. (Since taking the photo I have colored in a few of the circles with permanent markers.)

Pages: Each of the pages is chipboard. I cut apart three different sheets of Bisou paper into different sized squares and rectangles. I pieced them together and glued them over the chipboard. I printed the playlist songs and the journaling about each song on vellum and glued another picture of the album cover next to each entry. (I thought that I could print new pages as my favorite music changes over time.)

Hello, My Name is Laura, I am a Flairaholic!

I am hooked on Facebook! I know, I know, it is a blackhole for time, but I have had so much fun reconnecting with old friends and keeping up with relatives who are spread out all over the country.

One of my favorite applications on FB is Pieces of Flair. They are the FB version of all those little buttons we used to wear on our jean jackets in the 80's. They are so much fun to collect. The application has some annoying limits -- I have way more flair than space to display it all in!

I created this layout on Kraft paper. I copied and pasted the flair buttons into a publishing program and printed them out on photo paper. Then I glued the photo paper to chipboard and started cutting -- yes, by hand. I attached the flair to a scrap of old denim. I overlapped and popped some of the buttons using foam squares. The chipboard accents and journaling rectangle are from Bisou and the nametag I picked up for free off of a digital scrapbooking website. (Sorry, I don't remember where I found it.)

Just Plain Fancy

The name of my blog comes from the children's book, Just Plain Fancy by Patricia Polacco.

The story is about an Amish girl who finds an odd egg which she gives to one of her chickens to hatch. When the bird emerges the girl discovers it is a peacock. She tries to keep her "fancy" new bird a secret because she is sure her community will shun him. This funny and lighthearted story's message is about appreciating all of God's creations, "plain" and "fancy."

One of my friends has described my scrapbook style as "just plain fancy." My scrapbooking reflects the mood I'm in. Sometimes it is plain, sometimes it is fancy!