Trip Through Time

The layouts I've created with this month's Scraptastic kit are a real trip through time! They span several years. The page I'm sharing today features a snapshot from Chuck E Cheese, back when my middle son was about 5 or 6 years old. It was one of those pictures that pops out of the machine, printed on flimsy paper, with that accidentally distressed and already faded look. After years of sitting in a box, it was even worse. I rescued this one, scanning, adjusting and reprinting it for use on my page.

I even had saved one of our old tickets and tucked it alongside the photo.

There we are, cheesy grins and all! I can't believe that little boy is now a junior in college!

March Layout and April Peeks

Yikes...I haven't yet shared my work with March's Scraptastic kit and here we are with the April sneaks. This month has been just flying by!

If the weather cooperates I'll have a trio of pages and a card to share tomorrow or early next week. Meanwhile find my first page with March's kit below, but first check out what's in store for April:

Worth Wondering Kit

Such pretty colors!

Let Me Go Kit 

My FAVE! Check out the bike and globe, the chalkboard flags and all the flair! Awesome colors!

 This Life Noted Kit for April

Fabulous, as always!

And now for my first page with the It's My Life kit for March. This layout is about my youngest son's observations while riding in the car to his grandmother's house many years ago. He was in awe of the beauty of the sun, clouds and sky, and his expressions of wonder were so very precious! I wrote his words down at the time, and when I found them recently, I just knew they needed to be on a scrapbook page. Although I had not taken a photo at the time, I did find of Kevin from around the same age.

(Photographed with phone camera.)

The divided circles were inspired by this gorgeous pieced quilt:

When browsing Pinterest, I find myself pinning a lot of pieced quilt designs. They draw me in with their colorful, pretty patterns, and then they inspire my scrapbooking!

Baby Pages!

The newest Dear Lizzy Daydream collection was perfect for scrapping the photos I took on the day of my niece's baby's baptism. Ahhh...it was so nice to hold a little baby again, especially one that isn't keeping me up at night! Hahaha. It's been quite a while, but I've evidently not lost my touch. When the little guy began to fuss, I was able to lull him to sleep. 

Punched banner shapes from several papers from the 6" x 6" paper pad were used to embellish the large hot air balloon (totally inspired by the die-cut on its right). It was a bit labor intensive...but so worth it! 

  

My second page is a little bolder, with freeform scallop borders at the top and bottom.

A bit of penstitching along the paper edges gives definition to most of the elements.

Who would have thought I'd be scrapping baby pages? It was a nice change of pace! And I sure had the perfect paper collection for the task. 

Both of these layouts were featured on the American Crafts blog last week, along with directions for each of the pages. :)

Amazing Days

Today I'm sharing a page created for the March gallery at American Crafts. Check out their blog at the end of the month for a whole page of inspiring projects! This is one of my favorite layouts as of late, and it features all sorts of American Crafts products, including some cool new DIY Shop elements, the kraft security envelope and tags! 

How To: Splatter DIY Shop background paper with Heidi Swapp Color Shine. Cut papers from Crate's The Pier collection and punch edges with Knock-Out punch. (Save scraps!) Tie envelope and tags with twine. Paint and antique cloud wood veneer (Dear Lizzy Daydreamer). Adhere papers, photo die-cuts and stickers to the page as shown. Tie anchors onto twine. Cut title from paper and add to page along with Thickers. Add punch scraps for clouds and waves. 

With all the dreary weather we had been having lately, I needed a summer fix badly. What better way to get one than to scrap a beach pic! Hmmm...well, a trip to said beach would be even better, but we'll have to wait for that. Meanwhile, I can relive the memories.

The Forecast: Cold and Rain

Mardi Gras morning 9 am, and the rain was already coming down. As predicted, it was going to be a wash-out...and a cold one at that.

I decided to go ahead and whip up a batch of pancakes since we weren't going anywhere. While doing so, I called my sister to commiserate. We usually meet out on the parade route and spend the day together with our families. That wasn't going to happen today. When she picked up the phone, I teasingly asked her when she was leaving the house for the parades. Hahaha. Just kidding! It was then that she told me her plan...and she wasn't kidding.

Next thing you know, we're hopping out the car at Prytania and Marengo, with bright orange ponchos over layers of warm clothing. My college-aged niece stayed with the car, keeping it warm and ready, in a too-close-to-the corner spot while we headed to St. Charles to catch the Rex parade...and some throws if we were lucky. We arrived just as policemen on horseback were clopping down the street, ahead of the main event.

(All pictures taken with my phone camera. This wasn't a day to bring out the good one!)

It was a cold 36 degrees and the rain continued, but we were there...Mardi Gras day on the Avenue!

The crowds were lighter than normal, but heavier than I expected. We weren't the only crazy ones! This interesting set-up was behind us.

 Across the street, ladders sat empty on the muddy St. Charles Avenue neutral ground. On a nice day, they would be filled with babies, kids, teens, adults. Today, they just make a pretty picture.

I can only imagine what these white uniforms looked like at the end of the parade! Hello Oxyclean!

After a few floats, our hands were freezing, but we had a mission: to catch 3 doubloons, one for each of us, and one for our dad. Only then could we call it a day. Of course, as soon as we snagged that third doubloon, we looked at each other, and agreed...just a little longer; this is too much fun! ;)

Moments later, numb from the wet and cold, we finally surrendered and went back to the car to thaw and head home.

There have been cold Mardi Gras days. There have been rainy Mardi Gras days. But not since 1899 has there been a Mardi Gras Day with a daytime high as low as today. And we were there. :o

Mardi Gras Buzz Kill

I grew up going to Mardi Gras parades, tons of them. Every. Single. Year. Both of my grandparents lived in uptown New Orleans, within walking distance of the parade route, which made it so easy! Now that we're suburbanites, it isn't as convenient, but we still have our favorite krewes and if the weather cooperates, we get out there in spite of the drive and lack of bathroom facilities. But this year is turning out to be different.

First of all, the other Mardi Gras aficionado of the family, Kevin, had a dental procedure on Thursday, and he hasn't been quite up to parade-watching. In fact, he has eaten very little in the last 3 days. 

Then there's the weather forecast for Fat Tuesday, with highs in the 40's, and rain expected to turn the neutral ground on St. Charles Avenue into one big mud puddle. Wet and cold and muddy...no thank you!

So it looks like Mardi Gras Day will be spent at home. The last time I didn't venture out on the big day was in 1993, after the birth of my middle son...three days earlier. Yeah, I skipped that one too. ;)

Anyway, here's a layout with a photo from a previous Mardi Gras Day, one that was bright and sunny!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!