"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.