The Sky's The Limit

My first page with Scraptastic's Nostalgic Summer kit showcases a photo of my son and his friend playing at dusk at a park in Mississippi. Their Cub Scout pack was camping nearby, and the "beach" area near the lake held an old fashioned teeter-totter. You don't find those things very often anymore, most likely because of the lawsuits that crop up after one kid jumps off and the other goes crashing to the ground! This was quite an interesting diversion for the two boys as I don't think either had ever been on one. They continued their fun as day faded into night.

A sticker sheet in the kit gave me both my title and the idea to create the kite embellishments. Tying each of those little bows onto the thicker jute string took a bit of dexterity but I love the finished look it gives to my kites. Not wanting those bows to come untied, I dabbed a bit of liquid adhesive onto their centers to keep them secure.

Some inking, a bit of pen stitching, and pop-dots when layering stickers, kites, and title letters added a little more interest to my design. In order to use both sides of that awesome patterned chevron paper, I cut out the middle portion of my page, flipped the cut-out to the opposite side and mounted it onto a slightly larger piece of kraft paper which I then positioned over the "hole" in my page. And there you have it...my frugal tip of the week!

Next week I will share another page created with this kit and a link to a jute flower tutorial that I used in creating an embellishment for that layout. I hope you'll join me.

Arrow Of Light

I was so proud of my son and his pack when they received the highest award in Cub Scouting, the Arrow of Light. They were each presented with a beautifully finished wooden wall hanging created by the grandfather of one of the boys. Cradled in the cup hooks attached to the hanging is an authentic arrow.

Here is the page I scrapped with photos taken at the ceremony:

The Simple Stories Awesome collection had the perfect papers for my rustic-colored, boy-theme photos. I added a little banner made with a trio of triangular paper-covered chipboard flags alternating with buttons. The numbers on the notebook represent the boys' pack number.

It was an exciting time for the boys as they joined the older scouts for meetings and activities. But sadly it did not last for Kevin. School was becoming more challenging and time-consuming and night time activities were difficult. Finally, he asked to quit scouting. He didn't find it fun anymore. Great memories of good times and camp-outs will have to suffice.

Pinewood Derby

As soon as I saw the Faded Jeans Scraptastic kit, I knew that one of my pages this month would highlight a scouting event! Anyone with Cub Scouts will understand what a great kit this is for scout activities! The blue hues and yellow are well matched for their uniform and neckerchief. Going through my photos, I found the perfect picture.

On my Pinewood Derby page I mounted the blue patterned paper over yellow cardstock, adding photo corners all around. Next I layered blue and yellow patterned papers above and below a ticket border. Then I adhered several of the kit stickers to chipboard and used them to decorate the top half of my page, leaving room for my title.

The tags here are purely decorative! I love using them this way...sticking out haphazardly and tied with twine. 

Blue and yellow is such a great color combination. Don't you think so?

Catching Up

School's out for summer! (Can't you hear the Alice Cooper anthem?!) A little more than 9 months ago, Kevin was heading off to his first day of 5th grade. I snapped these photos of his smiling face and scrapped them recently. Supplies: Patterned paper, cardstock stickers-October Afternoon, chipboard-Maya Road, chipboard letters-American Crafts, acrylic accent-KI Memories, and buttons.



A couple of years ago, we evacuated for a hurricane, spent an interminable two days in a hotel and couldn't wait to get home, even though our house had no electricity. Home sweet home! Supplies: Patterned paper-, acrylic shape-Maya Road.



Now that Kevin is a Boy Scout, I'm missing the twice yearly family-centered Cub Scout campouts. Sniff-sniff. These pictures are from our last campout before his "graduation". Supplies: Patterned paper-Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, Ribbon-KI Memories.



Our little Super Hero shows off his web-throwing skills as Spiderman. Supplies: Patterned paper and journal block-October Afternoon, Bingo card, month card, and letter stickers-Jenni Bowlin, cardstock sticker-Sassafras, chipboard letters-American Crafts, brads and ribbon.



Whew...still going strong and scrapping from the stash.

Rustic Fall Centerpiece

The Cub Scouts, working on their Citizenship activity requirements, created these adorable stick vases for the residents of Sunrise Assisted Living facility, and arranged them on their dining room tables before the evening meal.



It's one of those projects that requires lots of preparation. Gathering the hundreds and hundreds of sticks and twigs and cutting them down to appropriate sizes took hours! But the end result was worth the effort.

Basic Instructions:
*Collect sticks and twigs, cut to various sizes appropriate for the jar selected.
*Clean empty jar, removing any labels. (Plastic peanut butter jars are perfect.)
*Wrap jar with a rubber band, twice if needed for snugness.
*Insert sticks under the rubber band, until the jar is completely covered.
*Secure sticks with hot glue, slightly above the rubber band.
*When the glue is cooled, scoot the rubber band up and over the band of glue.
*Hide glue and rubber band with ribbon tied around the stick vase.
*Finish with real or silk flowers.

Campout Snapshots

(Archiving LM Blog-October 24, 2009)

Over the last few years I've taken all the requisite camping photos...the tent, the campfire, the boys in their Cub Scout uniforms. This year I tried to be less conspicuous and more observant at the same time, and came out with some wonderful shots of my son and his friends. I particularly like the one where three of them are huddled at the end of a dock overlooking the lake, immersed in talk. I would have loved to hear what they were saying!



Instead of trying to get the entire pack during their tug-o-war contest, I focused in on a smaller group to capture their expressions. They were having so much fun.



And Kevin requested this last shot. He remembered posing exactly so a previous year and wanted to recreate the picture. I think he had a great idea! With the rails acting as a yardstick, comparing the two photos will give us an idea of his growth from one year to the next.



Now comes the fun part, deciding on scrapbook papers. There's Camped Out by Bella Blvd., Nutmeg by Cosmo Cricket, and Autumn Bliss by My Little Yellow Bicycle, to name a few. Decisions, decisions, decisions!

DIY Flower Leaves

(Archiving LM Blog Post-August 17, 2009)

There was something missing. I had layered three patterned papers with a journaling block, ticket stub, tag, big plaid heart, little bird, and three flowers. And in the middle of each bloom were fancy flower centers: a Maya Road chipboard button, a Jenni Bowlin milk cap, and a star sticker, each brushed with a generous amount of KI Gloo. Pretty flowers, yet there was still something missing! Then it came to me. Why not add leaves? Never mind that I didn't have any ready made ones on hand. Dimensional leaves would add a bit of extra color to the page and finish it off nicely. I had the perfect paper at hand. The backside of one of the sheets in the Collage Press collection that I had used for my layout was a nicely muted green. I went about cutting several little leaves and defined their edges with inking. Then I creased each one down the middle, tucking them underneath the flowers, adhering only the inner edge to the page so that they would remain dimensional. There you go! A quick and easy homemade flower accessory!

Camping Photos

The scenery:



The scout :



It was a beautiful weekend!

The Great Outdoors

We had the most beautiful weather for our Cub Scout Pack's annual fall camp-out! Days were warm and slightly breezy, while nights had the perfect amount of chill to make the campfire and snuggly sleeping bags well appreciated. For the first time, Kevin and I slept out both nights!

Little Black Creek Campground, Lumberton, MS was our destination and the drive from home took almost 2 hours. We pulled into the camp ground just as the sun and temperatures were dipping. I hurriedly set up our new tent not far from the fire circle and set off for my dinner duty, browning Texas toast garlic bread over one of the BBQ pits. Spaghetti and meatballs rounded out the meal. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing by the fire and by 10PM a bored little boy was ready for bed. None of his Bear scout buddies were arriving until the next day so going to sleep seemed like the best way to hasten the arrival of morning. Tucked into his sleeping bag, he was soon asleep, but I couldn't figure out which was more comfortable, in or out, and spent most of the night alternating between the two. I missed my mattress and by morning, my back ached! A trip into town for Aleve was put on the day's agenda.

We did a little cheating before bed and in the morning by driving down to the restrooms in the van. Tee-hee! Well, hey...it's uncomfortable walking such a distance when you really have to go!

After a breakfast of donuts, milk and cereal, other campers, including Kevin's best friend, began arriving and filled in the rest of the campground with tents. Morning activities included sack races, egg toss, and tug-of-war. I'd swear those eggs were pre-boiled as they bounced and rolled around in the grass when the kids missed a toss. Lunch consisted of hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, cookies, and chips. Then, it was on to afternoon activities, which were both instructional and fun!

At the first station, the boys were taught elements of survival...what to pack for a wilderness adventure, using a compass and making a map, rope tying, shelter building, and how to make a sling for an injured camper using just sticks and a tarp. Another station taught them the basics of building a fire: the four necessary ingredients (tender, kindling, fuel, and oxygen), what to use to start a fire (matches, magnifying glass, or flint and steel), fire safety, and different fire construction methods. The third activity was canoing...always a favorite! Then they learned how to cook potatoes in the embers of a campfire by peeling, cutting, and wrapping them in foil. Yum! Since Kevin is not a big potato-eater, his leftovers became my afternoon snack. There's something extra tasty about potatoes cooked over a fire.

Saturday nights at the camp-out are always the best! First we enjoyed a dinner of salad, BBQ chicken, and potatoes with all the fixings. Then the kids separated into dens for a scavenger hunt in the dark. A pack tradition, one of the men dresses up in a bear/wolf/where-wolf suit and jumps out at the kids. They scream and carry on and run around like a pack of wolves themselves, even though they've been expecting it all evening. Finally it was time for s'mores, those roasted marshmallow, chocolate, and graham cracker goodies that can never be duplicated at home. No problem getting the kids to bed this evening...they were worn out!

Sunday morning was big breakfast day: pancakes, eggs, bacon, biscuits and grits. Then it was time to clean up the grounds, pack up the tents and gear and head on home. Yep...I was ready. I love the great outdoors, but am so ready to sleep in my own bed again!

A memorable quote:

Kevin (overheard while he and Christian were playing inside our tent): "Let's pretend like we're relaxing!"

LOL! Why pretend?! Isn't that what camp-outs are for?!