BIG CONGRATS....

to my friend, Lea Millora Sanders, who made the first-ever Bind-it-All Design Team!!!! If you haven't seen her work you are missing out on some fabulous projects. You can meet her over on the BIA Blog and check out some of her beautiful work on her own blog!

CONGRATULATIONS, GIRLFRIEND!!!! I'm so proud of you!

First Day Jitters

Gracie's first day of Kindergarten. She was so excited about finally starting school and could hardly wait to have homework! Title here is Roxy plus shadows, and Abigail Grand. Also used the cc school shapes, Rev index tab, bottlecaps set, and Archiver's exclusive filmstrip border die. The apple for the shaker was cut with the Cricut. Papers and cc shapes from the School Days Quickitz by Scrapbuggy.


These itty bitty shapes are the perfect size for lining up to make a border...

.....or cutting from shrink plastic and making shaker filler! Are these cute, or what?? Shrinking will reduce your shapes to about 1/3 the original size. Remember to color or punch before shrinking.

School Days QuicKitz from Scrapbuggy

This kit is such fun to work with. I love the cute school papers and the school shapes cookie cutter dies are adorable. Here I've used the shortkutz die (school days), apple, scissors, pencil and schoolhouse along with this month's QK Club star tag die and the bottlecaps set. The school bus border is by Cricut.

Another page featured in the Scrapbooks Etc. Newsletter!

Wow, another page from my gallery at Scrapbooks, Etc. is featured in the newsletter this week! :) Little Miss Grace in her tutu is "tutu cute". Scroll down to see this page in the "Dance Pages" feature. Click on the image in your newsletter for a link to my other galleries on the Scrapbooks Etc. website.

Jeffery

Again from the Scrapbuggy Sonoma Kit In case you hadn't figured it out from the Hawaii book, I really love leaves. :) The QK leaf dies this month are beautiful and there are so many variations.

Journal and bookmark

Another project using the Sonoma Quickitz by Scrapbuggy. And guess what. This one is for ME! For a change, I altered a book for myself, and I really love this one. The papers are scrumptious and the kit includes so much. It's an awesome value, besides being a gorgeous kit.

Altered notebook and matching bookmark

inside front cover (normally I would have added the cover sheet over the top of the brad, but the brad was an afterthought so I placed the leaf over it--also, if you noticed, I changed the ribbon on the cover to match the ribbon on the bookmark which is why it's different from one pic to the next)

inside back cover

Fall is here

For this layout, I used the September QuicKitz, "Sonoma", from Scrapbuggy. Scanning really can't capture how pretty these papers and colors are. If you haven't tried the kits yet, by all means start with this one. You won't be disappointed!

It's official -- fall is here

Wow. Do you realize today is officially the first day of autumn?! Crazy how fast the year has flown by. I don't know about you, but it seems the older I get, the faster they go. Not only is it the first day of fall, but that means you have only 13 weeks left to finish your holiday projects and Christmas shopping. Scary, isn't it!?

I love the changing of the seasons. Having lived here in Washington all my life, I don't know if I'd love the changes as much if I lived where they aren't as drastic--like SoCal, for example. I can't imagine warm weather over the winter, you know. Living here, there's no doubt when one season has given way to the next.

And today is definitely fall. Our temps have been in the upper 80s and suddenly today we are expecting a high of 63. Randy even turned the fans off in the living room this morning. (Which I will turn back on in a few minutes now that he's gone to work. LOL)

Enjoy your day!

Lovin' from the oven

Thought I was done with the cooking pages, but found these as I was putting photos away and had to scrap them. :) For this page I used leftover papers from the Baking Together QuicKitz from Scrapbuggy. Love the colors!!!

Quickutz used here are:
Mary Jane Cookie Cutter Grand alphabet

Biography Classic alphabet

CK Typist mini alphabet

Nesting cookie cutter hearts

Love shapes cookie cutter heart

Cookie

Rolling pin

Spatula and oven mitts from the Chef's costume dies

I've been blog tagged--read to see if I've tagged you!

THE RULES
* People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs
* Tag 8 people to do this quiz.

1.How many songs are on your iPod?
Don't own any type of mp3

2. What music would you want played at your funeral?
Judy Collins singing Amazing Grace. I've told my family this for years so they should know this by now. ;)

3.What magazines do you have subscriptions to?
Better Homes & Gardens, Country Living, PaperCrafts, Scrapbooks Etc.

4. What is your favorite scent?
Hmm.....don't really have a fave but I sometimes wear Calvin Klein U or Mary Kay Belara

5. If you had a million dollars that you could only spend on yourself, what would you do with it?
First I'd buy a car, then I'd remodel my kitchen, hire a personal trainer, then buy a whole new wardrobe after I lose all this blubber. LOL!!!!! The rest would have to sit in the bank and earn interest. I don't think I could spend it fast enough to run out with piddly dreams like those, ya think.

6. What is your theme song?
I can't think of anything that could be my 'theme'

7. Do you trust easily?
I've been told I do, so I guess I must.

8. Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think?
I think I generally think before I act. (did you get that? LOL)

9.Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
Other than the way our country is going to hell in a handbasket, you mean? Not a very pleasant thought to say the least.

10. Do you have a good body-image?
Not really.

11. Is being tagged fun?
Since you asked.... when there are just a couple of questions and I only need to tag a couple of people it's more fun for me. Most of the people who are tagged along with me are usually the only ones I know who blog! LOL

12. How do you spend your social networking (Facebook, etc.) time?
Mostly on my blogspot blog and a couple of scrapbooking message boards

13. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
Premium Mini Saltines YUM

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
A very smart, kind and talented lady!

15. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head?
I can hear the bells, from Hairspray! Get it out, will you please!

16.What’s your favorite item of clothing?
Cozy velour lounge pants (aka jammies)...aaaaahhhhh comfy

17. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
Actually, I like Rice Chex better.

18. What would you do if you see saw $100 lying on the ground?
If there was nobody around that it might belong to or anyplace to turn it in, I would pick it up and keep it.

19. What items could you not go without during the day?
Computer, my glasses, and bottles of water.

20. What should you be doing right now?
Thinking about what to fix for dinner.

I don't think I know 8 people who blog regularly, so I will tag Jayne, Darla, Cindy and hope they haven't already been tagged!! :)

PHOTOS RUNNING OUT OF MY EARS

The other day I spent a good couple of hours or more putting away photos that had been piling up and piling up, just waiting to be put in photo boxes. I have no idea how they got away from me like they did, but that's a long time to be putting away pictures. Particularly when most of them were already in order by year, if not by month too. How does that happen when I scrap nearly every single day!? I can't even imagine how many more there would be were it not for all the ones I've already scrapped!! LOL!!!

I had felt I was really making progress this year until I filled up the photo boxes again. Yikes. Will I ever get to the pics of my own kids???

Ok in all fairness, the Sea World page is the kids', but it's one of only a handful I've done of the kids' childhood pics, so far. I plan to change that very soon though. The next project is the last of the baby books....number ten.....my own girls' book! Yay. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Now what did I do with those pictures?!?....... just kidding. ;)

Gracieface

Grace wearing her mom's hat. Just a few shots I took to try the close-up on my then-new camera. How could I resist that chubby little face? :)

Sea World

When the kids were little, we took a road trip to California to see my sisters, just me and the kids, by way of Colorado, where Randy's family lives, south then west to San Diego. We went to Disneyland, San Diego Zoo, Seaport Village and Sea World. I LOVE to drive. We put 4,000 miles on the car in those three weeks and had a blast. Here are a few of the pictures from that trip using the exclusive Cali the Orca die from Scrapbuggy!

Other QuicKutz dies used for these pages are the small scallop and small waves borders, and Roxy Classic alphabet.

Cyndi just turned 6, Sally was a month away from 5, and Christopher was 3 months shy of 5.

Get wet?

Bet you thought I was done with the hibiscus die for awhile, didn't you. Well so did I. Then I saw the print on Gracie's swimsuit in this pictures and you guessed it....hibiscus! Here she was "running through the sprinkler". That was her plan when she put on her swimsuit, that is. Here she looks like she's trying to psyche herself up to it, but I don't think she even got wet that day. LOL!

Altered Album Cover

For the Hawaii book, of course. :)

Hawaii album is done! Yippee :)

My sisters and I sharing a silly moment. We have a lot of those, this just happens to be one mom caught on film. LOL

More of the sights:

The huge shirt is size 28XL and sells for $200. This is on display in one of the shops at the International Market Place.

My sister posing with Elvis. She's a huge fan, her house is full of Elvis stuff. And her email address is ElvisLivesOn.

Sue and Dad posing with the Copper Cowboy.

Tiki idol in one of the shops.

The fam having dinner at Chili's. Kathy always the goofball sticking out her tongue.

Donkey Balls banner outside the candy store. Sue couldn't walk by without getting a picture of the sign. That's just Sue. And Dad just shakes his head. LOL

Sue and I at the Cheesecake Factory.

Taking a water break after spending the day at the beach.

More Hawaii pages

The Original Big Kahuna, Duke Kahanamoku, was a six time Olympic medalist in swimming and water polo, and was the father of international surfing. Duke's Barefoot Bar and Restaurant is in the Outrigger Waikiki hotel where we stayed. From Duke's you step right onto the sands of Waikiki beach. I scanned the menu and printed smaller versions for this page. These vintage photos are on the walls of the restaurant.


This is the view of Diamondhead from the bar. Isn't it awesome. Upper left, me and my sister, Kath; lower left, my sisters Kath and Sue after a couple of mai tais. The drink in the photo on the lower right is the Tropical Itch. And, oh my, is it yummy. It is served with a backscratcher. We went back to our room with two backscratchers each the first night. :)

L-R: Sue, Kath, Dad, me, Mom. The International Market Place directly across the street from our hotel was one of our favorite spots to just wander and look and spend our tourist money. LOL Besides fun booths to look at, the trees, plants and waterfalls were just gorgeous.

For the border I used the leafy vine and added my own "foliage" using the A's exclusive tropical leaves.

Photo Op

P & O are MaryJane; the rest is Chocolate 4x8. For the speakers I used the 2x2 retired television die and just cut off the rabbit ears.

One night on our way back to our hotel, we heard the music to Michael Jackson's, Billy Jean, coming from the lounge downstairs in mom and dad's hotel. As we got closer we peeked in and saw this old man who had to be at least 95! singing and dancing to Billy Jean. It was a hoot! We applauded when he finished.

Earlier that same night we were at the mall and this fire dancer was there performing. We were up on the mezzanine but I thought I'd see if I could get pics anyway, even though it was dark. They came out totally black on my camera, but I left them on the card. When I got home and lightened them on the computer I was thrilled to see the fire dancer!

Waikiki Beach

I know, I know, it's not pink and green and orange to match the rest of the album. But with a photo this dramatic, I had to use a dramatic color scheme--I love how it turned out.

Title font here is Magnolia. I love the tall swoopy letters in this font! Border made from flourishes and A's exclusive tropical leaves. I used Ranger Inkssentials white pen to mark Waikiki on the Island of Oahu in the Hawaii state dies.

Hawaii #6 & 7

I think hibiscus is one of the most beautiful flowers there are. And I love that these gorgeous flowers are all over the city! They fill planter boxes outside businesses and are plentiful everywhere you go. I took these pictures outside Subway on our way in to pick up some lunch one day. LOL!

Tons of A's exclusive tropical leaves, tiny dots border from the squares and dots set, hibiscus (of course!), leaf, and lots of inking. Title fonts are B monogram, Biography, and Sonja.

Unfortunately, my stitching program had a difficult time with the dots on this page, sorry. Regardless how well or not the stitching came out, scanning just can't do justice to these pages. They really turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself. TFL!