So this layout doesn't showcase my best scrapbooking (in my defense, it's an older layout), but it is so relevant to what life is like now with M, and what life will be like in a few years.  I couldn't give up such a great opportunity to discuss it (or her), with you!  She is a bright, beautiful, sassy young girl. The hands-on-the-hip says it all!!  She has a bit too much of  "that" twinkle in her eye- you know, the one where you know she's up to something.  I have a feeling its not going anywhere either; me and Adam are going to have our hands full! Unfortunately, I've been told she gets it from me- guess its true when they say "the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree". Lets just hope when this apple falls from the tree, it falls softly- few bruises, and hopefully with no worms. Hmm, that could be a whole new thought to ponder!! I hope when M comes home with her biker boyfriend and sleeves of tattoos, her dad and I can remember our childhoods, where she's coming from, and go easy on her (and her biker boyfriend).

I created this layout 4 years ago (she was a sassy little 4-year old here!) I can't believe I would do such a tedious task, but each word is made from INDIVIDUAL rub-on letters. So, I'm sure you can imagine how long it would take to make the journalling on this page! The rub-ons were on vellum, and the black letters are 'Heidi Swapp' chipboard letters.  Speaking of- why can I not find Heidi Swapp stuff around anywhere anymore? I love(d) her embellishments, but they seem hard to come by these days. I have many more new loves, but if I find her stuff anywhere, you can be sure I will be stockpiling!

First of all- look at that sexy man!! Now, look at my husband, lol, just kidding honey, I meant you... So, me and Adam went to this concert together last year.  We felt so unbelievably old there! We were undoubtedly the oldest people there who were not chaperoning younger kids.  So we jumped around with all the middle-school-aged kids (ok, not quite), and had a really fun night! My husband is such a trooper for coming with me- definitely one of my favorite bands.  I first stamped the background cardstock I used with the stars, and used some glittery paper out of my 'DCWV- The Glitter Stack' cardstock pack. I added to the bling on the paper with some more bling, with the border rhinestone adhesive strips. A little bit of black lace ribbon, some 'thicker' letters, and a touch of journalling finished off the layout. What a great date night this was with my sexy husband:)

 This layout is one of very few single-page layouts. I tend to gravitate to double-page layouts, as I like the symmetry between them; the connection it gives them.  I am an "organized" scrapbooker, if I can dub myself as one, or if there is such a thing!!  I absolutely love the eccetric-type scrapbooking, however unfortunately, its just not really my style.  So, my single-page layout was created with pictures from Wilderness Village- our first camping trip of the season last year.  It was pretty darn chilly out there, so we spent a lot of time in the trailer, which I am perfectly fine with, as long as I'm camping!  Good thing we brought lots of coloring and
stuff for the kids to do. Anyways, I did some very simple embellishing on this page, with a random metal heart trinket, fancy paperclip, and 'office depot' (lol) punch tag, and a stamp to add a smidge of journalling to the page.  I really like when one item or embellishment does enough for a page that you don't have to add too much to it, for it to feel "done". That was how I felt with the tag, as I wanted the different element it brought to the page to draw the eye to it. Notice that baby bump (ok, small mountain)? Wow, that feels like forever ago that I was pregnant!!

 I took these pictures of the kids when we went to Nana & Papa's wedding, the first weekend of Sept.'10.  C was only 2 weeks old! We stayed in a fantastic hotel in Fairmont, with warm pools, a gorgeous view, and a ground-level room that walked out to this! The patio took you out to this nice little garden-esque area, so I took advantage of the scenery and snapped some shots of the kids before the wedding when they were all dolled up. It was a fabulous 4-day vacation; one we are looking forward to repeating this fall!

 To create the title 'Picture Perfect', I used pink 'thickers' and clear/white stickers over top. I used 'Quick Quotes' ribbon, and random buttons. The cardboard-looking tag is a cute addition, that I picked up at a great little scrapbooking store in Calgary.  I'm not sure of the brand-name on the paper- but loved both the flowers paper, which I have other coordinating papers for, as well as the simple brown and white paper used as the backdrop for the layout. 

 The girls were, and still are I suppose, elated to have a little baby brother! M is my big helper, while A likes to smother him. With kisses, and hugs that is. The smothering minus hugs & kisses will come in a few years... These layouts were also done on the scrapbooking retreat I went to last September. 

So, I packed for this retreat thinking I would not need very much in the way of embellishments (as my son was with me, and I thought I wouldn't get much done!) So, I started running low on embellishments I hadn't used on other layouts.  I improvised and used a piece of cardboard, that I tore up, to add some fun to the pages.  I then was out my piece of cardboard that I stamp over- oops! But I like how the pages turned out, so guess it was worth it!  

 I also used a few pieces of ribbon, some random buttons, brads, and the 'Happy Everything' tag by '7 Gypsies'.  I matted the pics on torn paper, and used a 'K&Company' rub-on to give the tag some color. My kids sure are easy to scrapbook- they are so precious and cute! (Well, a bit dishevelled here, but I had just given birth the day before, so its dad's fault!!)

 

 Oh my sweet little boy!  He is such a blessing for me and my husband.  We had about given up on trying to have our 3rd baby, when I found out I was pregnant with him!  God works in such amazing ways...  I went to my first scrapbooking retreat in September 2010- I focused my time on making C a baby album. I actually had little Mr. with me, and he was an absolute angel the entire weekend! I bought some matchy-matchy stuff to do a few of the pages. I used the 'teresa collins; chic bebe boy' collection- including the paper, ribbon, square journalling cut-out, transparency, and some of the letters. I added a bit of bling and used some random letters to complete the layouts.  I really liked playing with the transparency, something that I'd like to experiment with a bit more for future layouts.

 Some old layouts I did- I think these are from 2007! But, I like the pictures- especially my eye-ball and Adam's chin!! The clips have paper pieces adhered to them, with writing, and then are heat embossed. I crumpled the paper that the pics are matted on also- something I haven't done in a while, but it gives a really neat look to the page.  These are very simple pages, which is just what I wanted for them- the simplicity allows the pics to shine through! Which means you can pay attention to how good-looking my husband is (and my eye-ball).