Birthday Boy

My last several posts featured layout using Doodlebug's Sugar Shoppe line and today I have a couple of layouts to share using Doodlebug's boy birthday line "Hip, Hip, Hooray." I adore this line! It is perfect for little boy birthday photos, and the cute little monster washi tape and stickers are so adorable!

I was so excited that I got my hands on this line just as a mini miracle occurred and I found photos of Blake's first birthday that I thought had been lost. Blake will be 10 this year, and we thought we had lost them just after his first birthday so it's been many years since I'd even seen these photos. They turned up on a CD that was labeled as something else that I thought was unimportant--at least until I checked it out to see if I should trash it or not. Thank goodness I checked!

Anyhow, here are two layouts about his first birthday: (Side note--I can't believe how much he looks like Claire!)

This first layout is simply called Birthday Boy and is about his birthday cake smash.

The journaling reads: For many years Blake, we thought these photos of your first birthday had been lost. Amazingly though, they turned up on a mislabeled CD recently and I was so excited to see them! I loved watching the video of you poking at and daintily picking at your first birthday cake until you realized how good it tasted. Once you knew you dug in with excitement and made a real mess. I’m s glad to have these memories back! September 2005"

And this one titled "Birthday Gifts" about the presents he received that year. For some reason my photo shows this layout kind of crooked, but I promise it's straight in real life!

The journaling on this layout reads: "You received lots of fun presents for your first birthday Blake, but I think one of your favorites was the mop and broom set we picked out for you. You always liked to play with the real versions--imitating me as I cleaned--and you were very excited to have your very own miniature set! --Sept. 2005"

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Rodeo Hoedown

So every year our elementary schools have a hoedown around the time of the big Houston rodeo. The kids learn and practice their dances during PE and then all the parents are invited to come and watch the kids perform. The kids wear their western gear to school and have a lot of fun doing their dances for and with the guests. It's one of my favorite school days of the year. These are the photos we took before school for the 2013 hoedown.

The papers here are from the Carta Bella Giddy Up Boy collection, the awesome cow print Washi tape and copper pearls are by Queen and Co., and the chevrons, title, and accents were cut with my Cricut and Silhouette Portrait machines. The title uses the Old West and the First Few Years cartridges. The horseshoe is from the Create A Critter cartridge and the wagon wheel is from Tiny Treasures. The hexagon punch is from Creative Memories and the Border punch is by EK Success. 

The journaling reads: "I loved going to the school for this year’s hoedown day, it is a great Texas tradition and one of the best days of the school year! It was really fun having all three of you boys participating, especially since it was Spencer’s first time as a kindergartener! Each of you boys looked great in your western wear and did a fabulous job with the dances you learned. I loved having the chance to dance a little bit with each of you too! Spring 2013"

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Rodeo Clown

Because we live in Texas I was super excited when Carta Bella came out with their Giddy Up Boy and Girl lines! They are just perfect for some of the events and activities we do around here! Particularly our trips to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

I haven't had a chance to play with the girl line yet, however, here is one of the layouts I made with the boy version.

Other than the Carta Bella papers and stickers I also used some copper colored pearls by Queen and Company as well as my Cricut for the title and star accents. The title was done using fonts from the "Old West" and "The First few Years" cartridges. The stars are from the "County Fair" Cartridge.

The journaling reads: "Going to the Houston Rodeo is always a great day. One of the highlights this time was meeting a rodeo clown and posing for these photos with him. Later that night we got to watch him as he distracted angry bulls away from the cowboys. You boys thought it was great! March 16th 2011"

Have a great Thursday!

He is Eleven Now

Well, he's actually closer to 12 now, but this is the layout I did a few months ago about his eleventh birthday. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he is going to be 12 pretty soon, that he is coming into his teen years, and that he starts Jr. High next week. Honestly, seeing him reach these milestones is hitting me harder than sending him off to kindergarten did. I'm sure I'll survive. It helps that he is super excited for it all! 

In contrast 11 was easy. He was at complete ease in a great situation in his 5th grade class with wonderful teachers, he loved moving into Boy Scouts,  he was having fun with his extracurricular activities, and life seems easy and good.  All he really wanted for his birthday was a camera and some Legos....which he got. He's such an easy going kid :)

The papers here are by Bella Blvd from their very fun "Birthday Boy" line. The buttons and Washi tape are by Queen and Company, letters by Heidi Swapp and Echo Park. I drew the red star in inkscape, then converted it to an SVG file and cut it out on my Silhouette Portrait. I thinned a little red paint with some water and then poured it into a spray bottle for the paint splashes.

The journaling reads: It’s hard to believe it but you really are 11 years old now Ty! We had a good time celebrating your birthday together with your siblings and your grandparents. I think you were most excited by your new Legos and your new camera as well as knowing that you now move up from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. You were also excited to have your favorite kind of cake, cheesecake, which also happens to be my favorite kind of cake too! November 2012"

Enjoy your Wednesday!

2 Silly Jokers

From knock-knock and crossing the road, to what-do-you-get-if-you-cross jokes--we have heard them all around here the past year or so. Blake and Ty have entered the age of loving everything to do with telling jokes! Most of the time they are pretty funny, and you are both getting better at making up your own. 

This layout uses the "Boy Crazy" line from My Mind's Eye. It's a favorite of mine--no suprise with three boys in the house! It also uses Some Queen and Co. Washi tape and buttons, Some boarder punches (Hexagon one from Creative Memories--Zig-Zag from EK Success), and American Crafts, Echo Park, and Pink Paislee letters. 

The journaling reads: "You two boys just love to tell jokes! Almost daily I hear one or both of you say “Mom do you want to hear a joke?” Sometimes you get them from books, sometimes from school, and sometimes you make them up (they don’t always make sense though). One of my favorite ways to foster this new love is to slip jokes into your lunch boxes along with a note from me. It is always fun to hear your reaction to them when I pick you up after school! I love my two jokesters! --Spring 2013"

Have a great day!

Lego Aces High

Aces High is a computer flight simulator that the males in my extended family find quite fun. They like to fly together as a group, reenacting flight missions from WWII. Over the past couple of years my boys have become old enough to participate and enjoy the male bonding that goes on during these missions. After the most recent gathering with their grandpa, Blake decided to immortalize their fun in a Lego rendition of his favorite parts of the simulation. He created an airplane, tank, and ground gunner. All his own designs!

I used the Echo Park "All About A Boy" line for this layout. I cut out the airplane and tank using my Cricut and the Art Deco and Boys Will Be Boys cartridges. The title was done with my Silhouette Portrait using the font airstream, and an alphabet from Kerri Bradford Studio--Weathered Door. Some Queen and Co Washi Tape, some Cuttlebug embossing, and some small punched airplanes (Creative Memories) finishes off the layout. 

The journaling reads: "Blake you love to “fly” with grandpa when you do Aces High together on the computer. One day you decided to build a Lego version of your favorite part of the simulator. You designed your own airplane, tank, and ground gunner. I was blown away by your creativity and ability to turn what you did with grandpa into a Lego creation. I love your creativity Blake! Fall 2012"

Have a happy Monday everyone!

They love Lego Hero Factory

With my boys it seems just about every toy they play with is Lego related. Lego Ninjago and Lego Hero Factory are among their top favorite lines with Lego Harry Potter and Lego Star Wars coming in close as well. Creating their own designs currently trumps recreating what they made with the instructions, so lately we have had a plethora of "original" designs coming through. Each time they finish a new one they ask me to take a photo of it so that they can still remember what they made after they take it apart again. This time Ty wanted to remember this new villain he created:

Once again, this is the fun All About A Boy line from Echo Park. The fun gears are all stickers from this line and I thought they were perfect for a Lego layout. The twine, washi tape, and rhinestones are from Queen and Company, and there are a few random stamped stars from some old Chatterbox stamps I have. The border and the title were cut using my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot 2.0. The weathered font I used for the word "Lego" is one of my new favorite alphabets. It comes from Kerri Bradford Studio. I love this alphabet and I'm sure you will see more of it in the future!

The journaling reads: "Ty, you just love to build new things with your Legos! Lately you have been having lots of fun building new characters with your hero Factory Legos. -Fall 2012"

Have a great weekend!

Your First Cub-Cake

Marc and I are in our fourth year of helping make a cake for the annual Cub-Scout Blue and gold banquet. This year however, was Blake's first time! We had a lot of fun designing and making this Lego semi truck cake with him! It's our "fanciest" cake to date and I love how excited you were Blake with the final result!

(Now only 5 more years of cakes to go--we ought to be real experts by the end!)

This layout uses the very fun All About A Boy Line by Echo Park. It's a new favorite of mine and I LOVE the colors and stickers in it! Perfect for layouts of all my three boys are up to! 

I cut the the main portion of my title out directly from my background paper with my Cricut using the font on the Birthday Bash cartridge. I then backed all the letters with various papers--some of them embossed with my Cuttlebug and the Lifestyle Crafts Zig-Zag embossing folder. The white sub-title was cut on my Silhouette Portrait using the Simply Glamours font--I really like the results of die-cutting this thin and scripty font!. There is also some Queen and Company Washi Tape and buttons here.

The journaling reads: "Making your cake for your first Blue and Gold banquet was a group effort Blake! The theme was transportation so you decided you wanted to make a semi truck. You have had a fascination with them lately so we weren't surprised by this! I helped you bake the cake and then dad helped you cut the cake into the right shape. We frosted it and you helped add the wheels and the logos I cut out from frosting sheets. In the end we all had a lot of fun and it looked great! You won an award for the “Legoest” cake! Spring 2013"

Thanks for visiting today!

Your Crazy Hairstyle

Lately Spencer can frequently be found trying to "style" his hair in the bathroom sink. He thinks it is awesome and funny. It all stemmed from this incident documented on the layout below.

The journaling reads: "One morning after your bath Spencer I helped you towel dry your hair and this is how it looked afterwards—crazy! I took you into the bathroom so you could see yourself in the mirror and you thought it was so funny! Now you like to slip away and wet your hair in the bathroom sink so it will stick up funny again. You think it is an awesome hairstyle! Spring 2013"

This layout uses the Boy Crazy collection from MY Mind's Eye. This line is one of my recent favorite scrapbook lines. It's just perfect for capturing my crazy boys! There is also some Queen and Company Baker's Twine, Buttons, and Washi Tape. The title was cut out on my portrait with the Cairo font and embossed with my Cuttlebug.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Such a Silly Boy!

So, I took a little time off from blogging. Sorry about that. I just needed a short break just to rest, regroup, and decide which direction I wanted to take my scrapbooking work after Creative Memories filed for bankruptcy and the department I used to design for was laid off.  It was a nice break. I had more time with my kids for all of the end of the school year craziness that always seems to hit hard in May. I also had more time just to relax, visit with friends, spend time with Marc, work on some projects around the house that needed doing, and just recharge my creative batteries for awhile. 

Now I'm feeling ready to jump back in, do some more scrapbook work, submit to publications again, and run my blog. Thanks to those of you still here and actually reading my blog--I appreciate you sticking with me!

Today I'm finally sharing this layout about Spencer and one of the funny things he randomly does. Spencer has a huge affection for anything that has letters--so it was no surprise that he really loved our game "banana grams." What was a surprise was the way he decided to stick the individual letters in between he toes one afternoon. He thought he was hilarious for thinking of it.

The papers here are again from then Echo Park Scoot collection, washi tape and buttons are from Queen and Company, and lots of the elements (and the title) were cut out on my Silhouette Portrait machine.

I really love this little machine. It's really tiny so it takes up very little space in my craft room and yet it can do so much!

The journaling on this page reads: " Spencer, you always find new ways to surprise me! This time is was by your rather unconventional use of our Banana grams game. You recently started learning your letters and so seeing you play with the letter tiles from the game was not unusual. However, seeing you suddenly decide to wedge them between your toes made me laugh out loud! You can be so silly sometimes!"

Thanks for still stopping by!

Play All Day

I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to scrapbook with girl products lately, that has not however changed my love of awesome boy scrapbook products! I was instantly in love when I saw "Scoot" by Echo Park. It was an instant favorite and I picked it up the first chance I got. It was perfect for scrapbooking these photos of Spencer playing with his all time favorite toy--trains!

The title was cut out on my new Silhouette Portrait. I opted to get the smaller machine as I already have a nice supply of Cricut machines and space has become an issue lately in my scrapbook room. I mainly wanted it for it's cut and print feature which does work really well! It's been a fun little addition to my die cutting machine addiction. I also cut out the little arrow cut with it.

I also had a lot of fun adding little bits of Queen and Company Washi tape, buttons, and pearls. I really love Queen and Company embellishments and find they work just as well for boy pages as they do for girls--even the pearls!

I also used another new tool on this page, my new date stamp by K and Company. I love that is has some super fun phrases as well as the date stamp!

The journaling on this page reads: "Spencer, one of your all time favorite toys is our wooden train set! You have loved it for quite some time and can frequently be found play with it! You especially love the Thomas the Train characters! I love it when we sit down together and build a giant new track together. It’s one of my favorite things to do with you!"

Enjoy your day!