Another from the Family Album

Seems every family has that one kid. My youngest is mine - she's been hilarious practically from the day she was born. That's her on the left. I always called her Comicus when she was little. Cracked us up ALL the time. This one. Missing front teeth, goofy pose, crossed eyes.... what a clown! She still does this stuff even now that she is a mom herself. (But you didn't hear that from me!!!)

Ran across this old black and white on the internet the other day and nearly wet my pants laughing at the comparison. OMG Monty Python! I knew that pic reminded me of something!! I don't know. Maybe you just had to be there. 

Still laughing. 

Family Album 80s

Finally! A project I've been dreaming of since my first days of scrapbooking. So pleased to be working on the family photo books. Up till now, I've scrapped the grandkids and have many, many albums full. However, the grands grew up, they have cell phones and not cameras and the pictures are not as plentiful a they once were, sadly. But not to fear, I have gazillions of photos of my own kids that need to be addressed and I'm so happy to be getting them into scrapbooks. :)

I decided on Simple Stories, the gorgeous Vintage Lemon Twist collection for this one (the album is Simple Stories, Snap!, in yellow) The photos do not do it justice. Might I just say, I've never ever been a fan of yellow, but something about this collection screamed at me and I fell in love before it was even released. I waited and waited (quite impatiently) for these products and can't begin to tell you how beautiful they are. Here is my cover design. 

Introduction page. 

One of my all time fave pics of the hubs and kiddos. I'll be sharing more pages as I work on the album. I have all my photos in chrono order so the books will also be done this way. I highly recommend it, but then, I'm an organizer by nature. Can't help it! ;) 

I hope you enjoyed this little peek. More to come. Thanks for stopping by the studio!

Halloween album

You guys! I am so happy to have actually put together an entire album of the kids' Halloween pictures. I gathered all I had in the closet and, while it wasn't nearly as many as I thought there would be (or hoped for) I have combined them into one album to enjoy anytime I want to. Yay!

When the kids were little, I tried to make as many of their costumes as I could. We spent lots of time in thrift stores - an absolute treasure trove for costume finds!!!- and I did a lot of sewing over the years too. I am proud to say, I passed on the tradition of thrifting and sewing to my own kids whose work you will see in these pictures as well. So glad they picked up some of my crafty. 

I used the Simple Stories, Snap! binder in 6x8 with the Spooky Nights collection for this book. Here are just a few of my fave pages. 

Cyndi's first Halloween. I made her angel costume with some of the fabric left from my wedding dress, and the halo from cardboard and aluminum foil.

Sally's first Halloween. She loved her cheerleader costume I made, but she wasn't happy when I asked her to put the candy down for the picture. LOL I machine embroidered their names on their jumpers and made pom poms from crepe paper and chopsticks. This was before we changed the letters in Cyndi's name after her great grandma pointed out that Cynthia has the y first, so Cyndi should as well. And so it has been ever since.

Cyndi's butterfly fairy princess costume was a fabric panel that she loved and had to have. We bought Christopher's devil horns hat and pitchfork and made his flaming cape from a fabric panel, and Sally wanted to be a doll so we used her own clothes and added makeup. 

This was another super fun costume year as we spent a lot of time thrift store shopping. Sally's was the absolute best. We found EVERYTHING at the thrift store - wig, hat, stole, coat, and even the glasses. She was quite the hit! Cyndi's gypsy costume was also an awesome thrift store find; skirt, blouse, vest, chains, belt, and bracelets. This time, we made Christopher's Chinaman costume from a pattern and he wore one of the girls' jelly shoes. We made a cardboard hat with a long, yarn braid down the back. 

Moving on to the grands now, Jeffery was the perfect Charlie Brown with his round, blonde head! If only we had thought to add the curl at the front, it would have been even more awesome. LOL We bought the brown corduroy shorts, and added the black zigzag to the yellow shirt with fabric paint. 

Jeffery's second Halloween was a thrift store find. We hated that awful purple dinosaur, so when we found this Barney costume, we modified it a bit with fabric paint and used Halloween makeup to make his green face and eyepatch, and black paint for his hair to make Bad Barney, Barney's Evil Twin. This was Jeffery's "mean" face. To cute to spook, right?! 

The most we spent on this costume was just the teeth, cape and makeup. Didn't take a lot to put together the costume he wanted! He totally loved the teeth with the fake blood on his chin.

Grace's first Halloween. Cyndi made her little black satin dress and she was SOOO PROUD to show me her pretty costume. She loved things on her head so the baby witch hat headband was perfect. And candy. Oh yeah, she loved grama's huge candy bowl.

Her second Halloween she wanted wings. These purple ones perfectly matched a dress she already had. She made the perfect purple butterfly princess. 

This was the first of several times Jeffery chose a pirate as his costume. The other kids costumes were purchases, but Jeffery had a vision and put together his own pirate costume with thrift store finds (except the hat and eye patch). He wore a red bandana, ruffly blouse, and vest he found at the thrift store, and hoop earring. He did a great job for 9 years old. Unicorn, Grace; Pirate, Jeffery; Devil, Selena; Alligator, Olivia.

These aren't really Halloween pictures, but I loved the science aspect of their experiment to make slime, and the goggles and gloves make for a cute Mad Scientist costume with their girl scout vests. 

Another costume handmade by Cyndi. Hat, wig, and rifle accessorize the Little House On The Prairie-type dress. Grace enjoyed being historical ladies for her costumes. She has also been Laura Ingalls Wilder and Amelia Earhart. I don't have pictures but I might have to fight Cyndi for some. haha

Brielle's adorable butterfly costume.

Cyndi and Pat dressed as Antony and Cleopatra. 

This pirate costume is another one that Jeffery put together himself through thrift store shopping. I love what a great job he does finding pieces that fit his vision. And his pose doesn't hurt the look either. Grace makes the perfectly adorable witch in her fluffy hat and accessorized broom.

Alice in Wonderland, made by Cyndi.

Devil, Ninja, Grim Reaper, and Fairy. Costumes and makeup by Sally.

Another non-Halloween Halloween costume. I swear, this kid. What a hoot. She is so hilarious. I almost wet my pants laughing at this picture. It's just a ball shoved under her shirt and a groucho nose and glasses. Just super funny!

This gorgeous witch costume was sent to Brielle by one of her aunts. So sparkly and beautiful!

The kids' last Halloween costumes. I guess they had to grow up sometime, sadly. This is Emmy practicing her "mime in a box". Adorable.

I am so happy to have this album completed with all the kids' pics in one place. It has only taken me 20 years of scrapbooking to actually do this project. Hope you enjoyed this little look at some of the best. Next up - Christmas pictures! Eeek. 

Have a crafty week, friends!