The 5 Stages of {TIME OUT}

Back in 2008 I got my very first DSLR and my life changed forever.  I fell instantly in love with my Nikon D80, mostly just because I was finally able to shoot photos the way I saw them in my head.  I started taking classes and practicing constantly and my photos improved tremendously.  When I would look at my old photos I would feel sick because here were all of the perfectly good moments that I had captured with crummy photos.  I didn't even scrapbook most of my photos from 2008 because I just wasn't inspired to.

Recently I looked back at some of those old photos and found these pics I took of my son one day when he was in time out.  Not my best work but these photos of my mischievous 2 year old are so precious to me. 

As I started looking at the photos and picking my papers and embellishments the 5 stages of Grief came to mind.   He went through all five stages within his 2 minute time out and I have the pics to prove it!

Denial.

Anger.

Bargaining.

Depression.

...and finally, Acceptance.

I have to admit that sometimes even though the most precious moment is unfolding right in front of me I will opt to not grab my camera because the lighting isn't right.  I love all of the beautiful, perfectly lit, properly composed photographs I have been able to take of my children over the years.  I consider myself blessed to have the talent and the opportunity to become a photographer.  I also consider myself blessed to be able to share this talent of mine with other families.  Looking back at these photos I realize I also cherish every crummy photo I have taken of these wonderful little people with whom God has blessed me. 

...even a crummy photo of these little cuties makes me happy:)

So fun...

I had such a wonderful time helping Cullen with his school project last night.  We raided my studio for some products to use in making his autobiography.  I remembered I had cut down some papers to use as backgrounds in the school yearbook so I pulled those papers out and we started covering the pages of the mini album. 

I took every opportunity to teach him things.  It was amazing watching his little mind working as we made the album.  Once we were finished with covering the backgrounds we started to put the pictures in the book.  We went back into the "school days" drawer to see if I had anything good in there.  He saw the library book style pockets and asked what they were.  I folded the edges in and them folded the bottom up to make the pocket and he realized instantly what they were.  One of the requirements of the project was to included specific information about each school year.  He decided he wanted to put the info on the cards and store the cards in the pockets.

 

Then he had an idea.  He looked up at me all excited and said "you know those little rectangles at the tops of folders. Do you know how to make those?  We could label them K, 1st and 2nd... you know the ones like this."  and he started to show me with his hands.  "Put one here, then one on the next page here and then one on the next page over here."  I was so excited to see him being inspired, coming up with a cool design element just out of the blue.  Anyway, of course I have a file folder tab punch.  I showed him and he got super excited.  We grabbed a few more punches, the book, photos, the small cutter, all of our paper scraps, a sheet of letters and a sheet of stickers and we went up to the kitchen.

He did his journaling and we checked to make sure he had all the info that was required.  We put the pockets on the pages and the cards inside them.  Then I had to go get Hadley so Cullen added his name to the front, all by himself and he did a really good job!  As he added some elements he punched out with the other punches and some stickers from the sheet I just kept telling him how good he was at scrapbooking.  He turned to me and said "Mom, I'm really way better at sports... all sports." 

The Road Less Traveled~ Webster's Pages Composition & Color

 Here is a little travel journal that I made using a manila folder and the new Webster's Pages collection~ Composition & Color.

 The idea for this journal came to me as a solution for a problem I have.  Since I am a "want to be" photographer and an avid scrapbooker I kind of have a hard time relaxing on vacation.  I am always behind the camera taking photos of everything in case I need them for a layout.  I always end up forgetting to shoot something.  So this little book is my solution to that very problem. 

Before I even leave on a trip, and this can be a day trip too... not just big vacations... I can think about any photos I really want to make sure to get and that list will go right here...

 

in this pocket.

I can also think about layouts I might want to create either before the trip or during.  I can quickly jot down any ideas and slip them right into this pocket...

...right here:)

Then I can easily go back and add to my list of photos to take if I need to.

I can also keep notes for journaling and slip them into that pocket... over there.

It is all organized into one little bundle that is easy to slip in my purse.  

So now I can just sit back and enjoy the priceless looks on the most precious little faces as they explore our beautiful world.  

I know that when I get home to my studio to scrap these memories that I will have everything I need: photos, layout ideas and journaling notes!

{The End}

Sweet & Sassy

 Here is a layout I designed using the Lost&Found 3~ Ruby collection by {My Mind's Eye}

I used some of the grey toned papers paired with hot pink accents to create this beautiful layout about my brand new daughter, Hadley.  She may be a new little baby but I can already tell her personality is sweet and sassy!

 

I knew I wanted my title to incorporate different lettering.  I used letter stickers from Echo Park's Be Mine collection.  I chose small pink letters for "sweet" and larger letters for Sassy. 

 

I liked the large black letters but I felt they needed a little something so I added tiny pearl bling to the letters.  Above is what the letters looked like before and below is the after.

I really love the results!  I also used some hat pins as an embellishment on the pink flower.  I love the look of these but one thing has always bugged me about them.  They don't come with a piece for the bottom, you know a cap for the bottom of the pin.  I was trying to come up with some fun ways to use the washi tape and solved my own problem.  I cut the washi tape down the center and used a piece that was about an inch long and wrapped it around the bottom of my pins.  You can see in the photo above the end of the pin with the washi tape before it was completely wrapped around the pin.  Below is what the washi tape looks like on the role, before I cut it down the center.

 The base for my title block and my journaling block are these cute pages I tore out of this Spiral Journaling Book by Making Memories.

 Here is the finished title for my layout.

Sweet & Sassy ~ just like my baby girl!

The Best Things in Life Aren't Things

 So true!  The best things in life aren't things.  I designed this layout using the Lost & Found Ruby collection by {My Mind's Eye.}  I love the pinks... well, because I am a total PINK girl but also for this time of year with Valentine's Day just around the corner.  When I think of Valentine's Day I think of my 3 little valentines.  I saw the "BEST THINGS IN LIFE" sticker on the MME sticker sheet and right away in my head I finished the sentiment with "... aren't things."  I love titles with different texts, they are so visually interesting so it doesn't bother me that I had to find a way to finish my title myself. 

To create my title I used the Floral & Lace Glitter Paper shown above.  I cut off the edges that had the red glitter accent on them as well as the little box out of the lower right corner.  I placed a piece of the Grey Quatrefoil Embossed Paper on the back of the opening.  Then I popped the sticker off of the page using foam adhesive and used some Theresa Collins rub-ons from my stash for the "aren't things" part of the title.

Aubrey and Cullen were having fun in front of the camera but Hadley just wanted to be snuggled.  I was able to get a few cute shots of her in her car seat but the warning label was really distracting.  I sanded the edges of the photo and proceeded to add embellishments to cover up the distracting element.  You can see the finished results below.

 I used some tape and buttons from the collection.  I also removed the sticker from the center of the metal accent and added an "h" for Hadley to the metal piece.  I then decided to also add my other kids' initials to the LO near their photo.  I chose a grey "c" for Cullen and used another pink "a" for Aubrey.  I stepped back and looked at the LO when I was done and saw... CHA!  I hadn't realized before but my kids initials are CHA... love it;  (for anyone who may not know CHA stands for Craft & Hobby Association.  They just had there big winter release show in early January so everyone has been talking about CHA... at the store, on the blogs, on podcasts, etc.)

 I added this little cluster of embellies around my journaling block,  I used lots of stamps and some dies to make my own embellishments. 

The sticker sheet from this collection came with some really fun word stickers.  I used them here next to this photo of my big kids.

 When I was adding the year to my LO I realized the sticker sheet didn't have a 0, only numbers 1-10.  I looked all through the whole sheet trying ti find a 0 and instead I found the little heart.  Just goes to show you that sometimes the best design elements actually begin as a mistake or a problem.

Here is the finished LO!  I hope you've been inspired:)

Organizing my life... Project Life!

Several years ago I order this Becky Higgins kit for Project 365.  I really didn't plan on doing Project 365 but I liked some of the stuff that came in the kit and figured I would sometimes create 12x12 LOs and sometimes use the pocket pages and create sort of a hybrid album of quick & easy memory keeping and the beautiful layouts I love so much to design.

So the kit sat on the shelf in my closet in my studio until today!  I have been hearing so much about Project Life that I decided I would finally try it.  I am really excited to get going on this new way of memory keeping.  Of course I will still be designing regular layouts for my "jobby"  (job + hobby)  and I will be posting them here.  But I will also be keeping track of the goings on of this family of 5 in my Project Life album this year.  I can't wait to get my pics developed and get started!

I will always remember...

Just days after Hadley was born I went over to my mom's house for the day.  I wanted Nana to get to spend some time with Hadley and I wanted to get photos of them together. After all, Nana was 88 years old and even though she was in pretty good health you just never know.

I am so glad I took these photos of my Nana holding Hadley in her little sitting room at my mom's house. Just a few weeks after this photo was taken Nana went into the hospital.  She hadn't been feeling well at all and wasn't getting better.  She was mostly incoherent and in a lot of pain.  After several days in the hospital it became clear that my Nana wasn't going to recover so my mom brought her home so that she would be close to family when she passed.

She passed away on New Years Eve in the afternoon with my mother and older sister by her bed.  Hadley and I were on our way out the door to go visit and sit with Nana when I received the news that Nana had passed peacefully and had gone home to Jesus. 

We buried her today.  I will miss her so much.  I am so grateful that she got to meet Hadley before she passed away and I'm even more grateful that I took this photograph.  One day I will tell Hadley about her great grandmother and how Nana loved her so much.  Seeing them together in this photo just validates how important photography and memory keeping really are to me.  This was a beautiful moment and I get to re-live it all over again every time I see this photo.  I look at it and I can hear Nana saying "Oh, Megan.  She is beautiful.  Such a blessing."