Fall Professional Photo Shoot

Hi all, I'm sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. I went to Vegas with hubby for an Autism conference and since I got back, Caleb has been a real handful. I think with Mommy and Daddy both being gone and my MIL watching him, he has regressed a bit on some things.

I also recently joined the local YMCA and have been there alot .. especially in the pool with Caleb. He is normally scared to death of water so when he LOVED the pool, I was SHOCKED! So of course, I take him there any chance I can :)

Regarding scrapbooking, hubby has been gone ALOT. I SO need a break. I'm hoping to crop with a few friends this weekend at Archiver's :) :)

Here are some pics of Caleb that were taken last Friday at a park right by our house - Fishers Heritage Park at White River. Thank you so much to CJS Photography. You did an OUTSTANDING job! I can't wait to scrap these.
And there will be more to come!





Til next time,

Another School Layout

I scrapped at Archivers with Michele last night. Another school layout *sigh*.
I know, I'm sick of them, too. LOL
I have ONE more to do and then I'm done for a while. YAY! Then I'm going to scrap pumpkin patch pics :) Double YAY!


First Day of Preschool 2011-
Background paper, chipboard, fabric, clear & cardstock embellies - Little Yellow Bicycle; Small blue alphas - Prima; "2011" - American Crafts Thickers. Also used blue pen to add dot circles and lines to my paper.. it definitely brought the layout together. It's amazing what such a simple thing adds :)

Thanks for looking. Have a great weekend!

Family & Field Trips

I have been CRAZY BUSY!! I mean, unbelievably NUTSO busy!
In addition to be sick (all three of us have sinus infections), hubs has been out of town all but one day the past few weeks, we've been doing alot of church things (small groups, etc).
Also, Caleb had a field trip to the pumpkin patch w/his school, etc etc.




Sunday we had a family get-together at my parents house. They live on a few acres with a pond and it's really just GORGEOUS property. And since we were altogether for the first time in over a year and a half, they had a professional photographer come out and take pics of all of us. It was my Mom's idea for us to wear Colts gear (which, if you know my Mom, that's pretty shocking! She's not a football fan, LOL).
Here's a pic of the three of us :)


I'd love to say I've been scrapbooking my little heart out but other than some Christmas cards and a few kit layouts, I haven't done much.
And life isn't going to slow down anytime soon.
Next week the inlaws are going to come in from Kansas City and watch Caleb while hubs and I travel to Las Vegas for an Autism conference. I'm hoping to sneak a date night in on Saturday night.. praying it works out :)
I'm going to scrap at Archivers this Saturday night with a friend.. hoping to get something done and maybe, just maybe, I'll have something to show you on Monday :)

Til then, have a GREAT week!

Busy!!

We've been very busy lately (and SICK) so I haven't had time to scrapbook. Hopefully once I get over what it is that I have, I'll be back to scrappin' again.
September 9th my friend Michele and I took Caleb (and her son) to the VIP kids carnival in Zionsville. It's JUST for special needs kids. LOTS of Autistic kids there. Caleb had a BLAST!! All the rides were FREE and he rode his first REAL amusement rides ever! Here are a few pics. It was raining so they aren't the best. But I'm still going to scrap them :)

First face painting:




Mommy won Caleb his first pet (goldfish). Unfortunately, Mommy also killed it (but Caleb didn't really care or understand anything about that).
This is Caleb & Michele:


And then Saturday we did a walk for Autism called "Answers for Autism". I have pics from that as well but they are on my cell phone and I cannot find my USB cord. I'll upload those later and I know I will also be scrapping them :)

I hope to get at least one layout done this week. We'll see.. It's going to be a busy one.
Hope yours is GREAT!

School Days

Yesterday I cropped a few hours with friends Michele & Heather at the NJS crop in Anderson. We didn't stay as long as normal and my mind was elsewhere so I only got one layout done but, I actually like it :)
I know I did a school layout last week but that was from THIS year. The layout below is from his first day of school LAST year.
Expect more to come as well. I still need to do another layout from each year. I took LOTS of pics and also have pics that his teacher from last year gave me of him playing in the classroom :)



"School Days"
Kraft & navy blue cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper, cardstock star, journaling box & banner flag: October Afternoon; plain chipboard Thickers sprayed with navy blue Glimmer Mist; EK Success border punch; fabric apple brad: Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby)

The journaling box is tucked under the photo on the left and just talks about how we moved to Fishers when we found out Caleb was on the Autism spectrum and how great the school system/early childhood program is. How much he loved his teacher Ms. Heather and school, etc. in the 2010/11 school year.
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Have you seen this new "Hoot Hoot" paper stack from Hobby Lobby? LOVE IT!!!
I've been really into owls the past few years so last night this one caught my eye. And of course, I HAD to get it.. there was one left and it was 40% off! This will be perfect for Fall layouts!
I loooove Hobby Lobby!
And.... I may or may not have bought some Christmas decor there last night :) :) tee hee



Well, that's it for now. Have a great week!

Ready!

This cute little boy started his third year of Preschool on Monday.
We were thrown a curveball in early August. He didn't get the school/teacher we were originally told he would have but so far, the new school/teacher is working out which is a BLESSING because I have been SO worried. Change is hard for most Autistic kids.. Caleb is no exception. But he's been coming home happy and seems to love it :)





I went and cropped at Archivers last night and here's a layout I did about his first day of school. Not too thrilled with it.. it just doesn't feel DONE but I am learning to leave my layouts alone if I ever want to get caught up on Caleb's albums (I'm about two years behind at this point).
Besides, who am I scrapping for?
ME! (and Caleb/future generations).
Not to be on design teams, not to impress anyone else, etc :)
Sometimes I think I forget that.


"Ready!"
Kraft cardstock: Bazzill; Red paper: Core'dinations; patterned school paper & diecuts: Simple Stories; Red corrugated alphas: Jillibean Soup; EK Success border punch & tag punch

Journaling reads: "This is your 3rd year of preschool.... You are a school pro by now.. You {heart} it so much! On this day we went outside an hour before the bus came... you were so excited! You kept asking "Where's my bus, Mommy?" You are so cute!"


No crop this next Friday night for me as we have other (really fun) plans.
But Saturday is my monthly NJS crop. I (hope) I get at least 2 layouts done there.
Til then, have a GREAT Labor Day and, a great week!!

Chicago & Baby PMS

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great week!

Last weekend we went on a very impromptu trip to Chicago. We basically woke up on Saturday, hubby asked where I wanted to go/do.. I threw some things out there and voilah!, Chicago, here we come! Other than Caleb being a little sick and uncomfortable (tummy issues), it was a great weekend. It was definitely a fun little trip and I have a bunch more pics that I'm sure I'll end up scrapping :)

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Friday night my friend Michele and I went back to Archivers for their Friday night crop. All I did was talk (and shop) so I didn't get much done. But here's a layout I completed.
You gotta love finding an SD card (while searching my camera bag in Chicago) from almost four years ago full of pics of your super cute 16.5 month old. An SD card I thought was gone FOREVER. Love it!
So of course, I had to scrap some of the pics. This is Caleb in one of his "Baby PMS" modes. Where one minute he was the happiest kid and then all the sudden he was crying. I don't remember the reason why he was crying (I wish I did... bummer). There's something to be said for scrapping pics soon after you take them, LOL. Ah well.. still scrap worthy :)

"Baby PMS" - cardstock: Bazzill; scallop strips: Sassafras; "baby" alphas: AC Amy Tangerine; "PMS" alphas: cut out from Making Memories "Jack" paper; chipboard accents: Little Yellow Bicycle


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Monday Caleb starts his 3rd year of preschool.. he is SO excited. And I have lots of tagging to do for an upcoming consignment sale.
And I have TONS of work I need to do on this horribly messy scraproom. Lord help me, LOL.

I am pretty organized but very MESSY!



Where I sit:

Where friends sit when they come to scrap:


Have a GREAT week!

Another One!

I'm on a roll! LOL

Last night my friend Michele and I went to a crop at Archivers for a few hours. Here's what I came up with.



"Happy Day"
Background pp: Basic Grey; Clouds, banner and strip paper: Jillibean Soup; Twine: My Minds Eye; Buttons: Epiphany Crafts; Mat cardstock: DCVW; Other: Sapphire Glimmer Mist

Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend! We are off on a (very) impromptu trip to Chicago :)

Monthly Crop Layouts

YAY!!! I FINALLY scrapped!!!
Other than one I did for my friend Michele, these are my first layouts in over SEVEN MONTHS!! So I'm rusty.. be kind, please (but don't lie to me if they suck, LOL)

So my monthly crop was Saturday and I'll admit, I talked more than I scrapped :)
My friend Michele went with me and we just couldn't stop gabbing. She got like 10 layouts done and I got three :(
(I hadn't been to an NJS crop in over a year so I had alot of catching up to do with some of the girls.. LOL)

Anyway, here is what I accomplished. I apologize for the really cruddy pics. I still haven't figured out my PSE 9 editing software that I've had since Christmas (yikes!)


"Two of a Kind" - this one I let the patterned paper do all the work. Very simple layout about my son and his best friend at his Birthday party.
Paper: Fancy Pants & Bazzill; Alpha stickers: Doodlebug; Photo Corners: WRMK; used my Cuttlebug to cut the stars


This was my paternal Grandmother, Grandma Martin. She died when I was nineteen. I didn't know her well at all because I was estranged from my Dad until I was eighteen but I've heard alot about her from him and other family.
This layout took me four hours. I am NOT kidding. I stuck all the bling on by hand after the batteries in my Imaginisce bling tool died. What a PAIN IN THE BUTT!! I will definitely be buying Prima bling swirls from now on. It's worth the $6.99 to just plop it on there in a few minutes and be done with it, LOL.
Anyone want to buy my bling tool? Great idea but FAIL. Definitely NOT worth the time it takes. Even when the batteries ARE working. And my right hand is STILL hurting from using that tool!

Paper, bird diecut, flower stickers, all paper for roses & "Treasure" sticker: Colorbok "Flea Market" line; photo corners: Making Memories; other: lace doilie, Imaginisce bling



This is a scraplift of a local friend, Sarah Mullanix. I changed it up a bit, added the 5, etc. Love these pics from his Birthday party :)
Paper: Scenic Route, Imaginisce & Bazzill; Alphas: Doodlebug, The Paper Studio & Sandylion; Other: bakers twine, Love Elsie ribbon


Michele and I left the crop early to go to Big Lots for cheap, GREAT scrappy goodies and when we came out of the store, it was storming REALLY bad. What a crazy drive home that was (the crop was about 52 miles from home)
On the way home we heard about the tragedy at the Indiana State Fair.
God bless the families affected and the men and women who bravely pulled people from under the steel mess. I am very proud to be a Hoosier right now.

Speaking of the State Fair, we went last week. We rode the train from where we live in Fishers all the way down to the fair in Indy and Caleb was just SO happy with the train ride. I think that was his favorite part :)
Here are a few pics from the fair. This was a very impromptu trip.. we didn't know we were going til thirty minutes before we went. So after I shot the first picture below, my camera batteries DIED. I kidd you not. And I was stuck carrying around my camera ALL DAY at the fair. What a pain, LOL.
So the rest after this first one are from my cell phone:







Thanks for looking. Have a great week!!

Flea Market

Okay so I won't lie. I've never been a big fan of Colorbok. Their stuff has just always seemed really cheap to me.
So imagine my surprise when I fell in LOVE with the Flea Market collection at Joann's yesterday. And, it was 40% off! (as is ALL of their scrap stuff right now.. except storage).
I have the PERFECT pictures of my paternal Grandmother I'm going to use with this collection. And I think I will scrap them on Saturday at my crop :)

The above picture doesn't do it justice. You HAVE to go to Joann's to check it out in person. Unfortunately for me (but great for my pocketbook), alot of the embellies were gone already (Castleton/Indianapolis location). But I managed to snag two different paper pads (which are to die for), the fabric labels, the journaling spots (they call them diecuts) and the fabric strips.

So go check it out. If you love vintage-y birds, flowers and pink, you won't be disappointed.

I'll be back next week to post my scrappy layouts from my crop :)

If you love The Girls' Paperie and have a Tuesday Morning near you...

RUN, don't walk to your nearest store! The Girls' Paperie is no longer in business so it's hard to find the older lines but Tuesday Morning has bagged kits for $19.99 that are worth double+!

I got the "Toil & Trouble", "On Holiday", "Tinsel & Twig" and "Paper Girl" kits. (thank you Daddy for the birthday money) :) :) :)
You get ALL the embellies and stamps for each line plus the paper!!! Can you believe that!?!
("Toil & Trouble" actually came with two of several of the embellies and "Tinsel & Twig" did not come with ANY paper but, it was still worth the price. The stamps alone retail for $10).

Anyway, check it out :) And if you are the Indy area, the Carmel location has the most kits left. E. 96th street has a few but Carmel definitely has the most (all except the "Toil & Trouble".. I took the last one of those).

Okay, I'm done enabling.. I'm off to try and scrap a little bit. Have a great night!

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Today is my 37th Birthday!!

And guess what!?, I'm okay with turning 37.
I've lost alot of weight and am starting to feel really good about myself. Better than I've felt in five years.
And my surgeon has given me the go-ahead to start trying for baby #2 next Spring. So I am anxiously waiting for that :)

Anyhoo, my friend Michele came over today and I scrapped my first LAYOUT in over seven months.
Not of Caleb though.. of Michele's son, Elijah.
What a cutie-pie he is, that Elijah.. SOOOOO precious, too. He is "Aunt Jenny's" favorite one-year old :)
It's a very simple layout using the Imaginisce "Animal Crackers" line and my Mickey/Disney Cricut cartridge.
Here's a cell phone pic (2) of the layout that Michele took.



And then here are some flowers I've been making a ton of (again, cell phone pics - sorry)



Sunday, Michele and I are going to take a mini card class at Archivers. (YAY) and on Aug 13th we are attending a twelve hour crop with my old NJS gang. Can't wait! I can't wait to get some layouts done! I got Caleb's birthday pics back today from the printer and can't wait to scrap them.
I hope everyone is having a great week. Until next time,