The Guys, using Mr. Snowman by Mandy King

I won’t say I’m over winter kits, but they’re obviously hard for me to use, living where I do. So I have become a master at throwing themes out the window, or using them in ways that I’m sure my poor designers never intended. I don’t think they mind to much though 🙂

I loved this woodsy paper and I was determined to find a use for it. I’ve already scrapped our only snow experience together. This paper would have been perfect for yesterday’s page, but I didn’t get the kit until after I’d scrapped that already. So I decided to ignore the fact that the trees are covered in snow, and use it for a different outdoorsy page. And I loooove it!

Inspired by- This page by lori, which uses a similar kind of BG paper.

Journaling reads- Jason and John taking photos on the levy. November 26, 2014

Credits: Mr. Snowman collection by Mandy King

Library of Memories album- I think I’ll make two copies and put on in the Louisiana book, and the other in Jason’s album. That’s where I put a similar page that I did a couple of years ago of the two of them taking pics together.

*I am a Creative Team Member. This means that I receive free products in exchange for making and advertising layouts for designers. However, the opinions expressed here are my own. The enthusiasm expressed here is definitely my own. See more of my CT layouts here.

Three again

Over the weekend we went to the Great Northwest to pick up the Little Man for the summer. The Awesome Family is complete once again!

Past reunions 2012 and 2013.

Gone

It’s been a little over three months since my cousin Jon passed away. I haven’t had the heart to make a page about him, though I have lots of stories I want to scrap one day. So instead of doing a LO about him, I started out with a picture of something he gave me and took simple journaling from a FB post.

Journaling reads- Unpacked the candle holder Jon got us for our wedding. He’s been on my mind all day. I can’t believe he’s gone. It still doesn’t feel real. April 7, 2014

Credits:
Lost and Taken by Zoey Pearn

This page was done for the “No Longer There” challenge at The Nerd Nest. Go check it out and make a page for your chance to win an awesome ebook.

Five pages | Lilypad Challenges

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a challenge at a digiscrapping site. Franky, with recent changes in the rewards points for several sites, they’re just not worth it anymore. I don’t want to wait three months to get my gift certificates, and I want to get more than 5 cents for completing a challenge. /end rant.

I was all set to finish up the Month of Challenges at TLP, but when I realized I’d be out of town the last few days of January, I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete them. But there’s always next year! (and I might go back and do some of them anyway)

I decided on the spur of the moment to participate in this month’s TLP challenges. I was able to knock them out pretty quickly (except that darned haiku page!) It feels good to do challenges again. It feels especially good knowing I’ll get a 30% off coupon next month. I’m obsessed with Just Jaimee’s monthly kits and I want to collect them all!

You can see two of my challenge pages in this post. Here are the rest-

The first challenge was to use products from this month’s BYOC. I’m in love with that huge word art.

Journaling reads- Still my favorite after all these years. Palm Beach 2005

Credits:
Inspired papers
So Messed Up paint
Imprint on Me brushes (some altered) by Just Jaimee

The next challenge was to use the word “wish” in a page. It was a no-brainer to use this pic of the Little Man blowing out his candles last summer.

Credits: September 2013 Storyteller by Just Jaimee

This page was So Hard! We had to write the journaling in the form of a haiku. I am clearly no poet.

Journaling reads-
Random silly acts
Sitting with Grandma today
Caught with the camera

Credits:
September 2013 Storyteller by Just Jaimee
Made with the new Template Builder actions by Mommyish (which are AWESOME)

 

The next challenge was a Template Challenge. Do you sense a “silly” theme going on with these pages?

Journaling reads- I love that, even after not seeing each other in almost a year, they immediately start horsing around like no time has passed. Fort Lauderdale International Airport June 1, 2013.

 

And for the last challenge we were asked to lift a LO from the fabulous Shanna Noel’s SC gallery. I picked this one. Loved the script-y painted title and the paint smears behind the photo. My page tells the story of the surprise we threw LM for his birthday.

Journaling reads- [Little Man] didn’t know, but we had big plans for the day. Daddy asked for help “taking out the trash”, and ended up taking him to the movies instead! But that wasn’t all- when they got home, there were more surprises… Zombie Farm cupcakes and birthday presents! We usually celebrate his birthday on his last weekend with us, but we decided to change things up this year. He was so surprised! It was awesome!

Credits:
September 2013 Storyteller by Just Jaimee
Careless and Painted alpha by Allison Pennington
Lifted from “silly” LO by Shanna Noel

These were fun to make. I’m already excited for next month’s round of challenges!

Five Pages | Summer

I went on a page making spree last month, and I’m just getting around to sharing all of them. Here are five more pages about last summer. All of these pages were made using mostly freebies.

As soon as I saw the little origami bird in this kit, I had to snag it and make a page right away. I’ve ben looking for ages for origami kits! Of course I could have made the same page with a non-themed kit too. But who could resist that cute bird?

Journaling reads- Charles made the sweetest little origami bird for me. June 9, 2013

Credits:
Starter Pack by Anna BV

I love the phrase card that inspired this page. It’s a sentiment we definitely embrace.

Journaling reads- It’s ok to be happy with a calm life. We had some really great adventures this summer, but some of my favorite times were when we were having quiet time at home

Credits:
Happy Calm by Bella Gypsy
Camera and heart stamp by Cathy Z
Template by Simple Scrapper
Wood styles by Just Jaimee

So I’m pretty sure this one is going to piss off LM. That face! But it was such a cute story I had to scrap it.

Journaling reads- We stopped at a fancy coffee shop one morning and Charles ordered a frappuccino. He was surprised to learn it had actual coffee in it.

Credits:
Be Mine by Lisa Rose Designs
I Feel Like faces by Dream Big Designs
House Blend Journal Cards by Danielle Young Designs
Garden Party alpha by Forever Joy Designs
Stamped Alpha brushes by Mommyish
Clear styles by Bekkah E.

I mentioned before that I want to get more family photos into our albums. These two photos don’t necessarily have stories, but I like them a lot. So why not scrap them anyway?

Also I cannot express how much I adore these plain glitter styles. You can make them any color! Now I want to glitter everything!

Credits:
A Lovely Day by Sugarplum Paperie
Careless and Painted Alpha by Allison Pennington
Glitter styles by Mommyish

And one last page from our trip to the water park. I will eventually make pages with more photos and words, but I wanted to scrap this photo by itself for our Family album.

Credits:
Hello Sunshine by Zoey Pearn
Pretty Awesome flair by Bella Gypsy
Template Revisited 19 by Scrappin’ with Liz

You can see more of our Summer 2013 adventures here.

Five Pages | Inspired by Freebies

My scrapping budget is pretty tight right now. Moving is expensive! Luckily I’ve rediscovered one of my very favorite sources for freebies- Quality Digiscrap Freebies. I’ve been super inspired to make all kinds of LO’s. I’ve made a ton of LO’s without spending any money.

Sidenote: I absolutely believe in supporting the industry and I do so whenever possible. (Y’all don’t even want to know how much money I spent on scrapping in January). But every family has times when budgets are tight, and this is definitely one of those times for us.

You can find free digiscrap supplies all over the internet. I think most of us did a lot of freebie mining when we first started out. But that tends to taper off as we keep scrapping. Our hard drives are only so big after all. And the quality isn’t always fantastic. It can be pretty overwhelming to sort through everything that’s out there.

That’s why Quality Digiscrap Freebies is so great. You get a lovely curated list of fabulous freebies. You won’t love all of them, but with at least three new freebies showcased every day, you’re sure to find some great kits and templates to suit your style.

Here are a few of the pages I’ve made using supplies I found on QDSF. Everything on these pages, with the exception of the Becky Higgins template, was a freebie. Most are still available, but some freebies have an expiration date.

The first page is from last year’s trip to the Morikami. Jason’s beer came with the cutest beer cozy ever, a tiny kimono! So being the super sophisticated people that we are, we proceeded to set up little photo shoots with “Kirin in Kimono” all over the park. Hilarity ensued.

Journaling reads- The Adventures of Kirin in Kimono. We met Kirin in Kimono at the Morikami. We had many adventures together exploring the park. We walked in the woods, checked out the koi pond, listened to the Tico drums, and made new friends. We even found Mi-Chan in the scavenger hunt! A fun, relaxing day was had by all. Looking forward to hanging out with Kirin in Kimono again really soon!

Credits:
Celebrate Life by Studio Basic
February 2014 template by Little Green Frog

The second page highlights a silly text exchange between me and my sister. And yes, I told her if she made faces at me that I’d put them all over the internet. 😛

Journaling reads- J got a new phone and was texting me to tell me all about it. We were both excited for the better camera. Then the conversation took an ugly turn….

Credits:
Well Duh, We’re Sisters journal cards by La Belle Vie Designs
Everyday Life flairs by Megan Turnidge
Template by Becky Higgins

As soon as I saw this cowboy themed kit, I knew which photo I needed to scrap. Despite having grown up in Nashville, we are strictly city people. I have never in my life owned a cowboy hat, unless you count my sparkly green St. Patty’s Day hat. But my uncle Mikey actually did once own a cowboy hat, that he used to like to terrorize me with. (See how my mom gave me ice to chew on? That was to keep the screaming at bay). I hated that hat. Well I guess we all have our childhood traumas… which in some cases lead to anthropomorphizing alcoholic beverages (see above).

Journaling reads- This horse on wheels was one of my very favorite toys when I was very small. I used to love it when my mom would take me to Shelby Park to ride around and feed the ducks.

Credits:
Country Strong by Jenn Barrett
Everyday Stroll template by Zollio

So this next page is pure silliness (like the previous ones weren’t). Yes I like scrapping squirrels And no, I can’t spell squirrel to save my life. I mess it up Every Time. But whatevs.

Journaling reads- Jason is the “sqirrel whisperer”. We were walking around the park and this guy came right up to him. He was probably looking for food, but we’ll say Jason has magical squirrel attracting abilities.

Credits:
Go Take A Hike kit by Jadyday
FB freebie template by AK designs

For my last LO, I did a family portrait page. I would like to do more of those this year. I’m usually a “story first” or “products first” scrapper. But I have so many photos that are nice, but don’t necessarily have a deeper story. Most of them are photos of our extended families, especially Jason’s. Which leads to almost no photos in our “family” scrapbooks. So I’m going to add “scrap more family photos” to my ever-growing list of pages to make.

This one shows a picture of Dad and Jeannie, me, Jay, and my mom taken after Jon’s memorial service. I’m sure the church ladies thought it was incredibly tacky for us all to sneak down to the basement and start snapping pics. (and they’re totally right). But I almost never have my whole immediate family in a room together, so I wanted to take advantage of that. Better than doing selfies with the urn right? Though he might have thought that was funny… I hereby give permission to anyone who wants to take selfies with my urn. Just don’t knock me over trying to get that great long arm shot 😛

Credits:
Addiction add-on by Fanette and Mel designs
Fuss Free Freebie template by Fiddle Dee Dee

Okay this is an almost 1000 word post, so I’m going to stop here. Thanks for looking, and be sure to check out Quality DigiScrap Freebies!

For Jon.

Last week my cousin Jonathan passed away. He was only 33. It was a complete shock to everyone. It still doesn’t feel real.

Some of my very favorite childhood memories involved hanging out at Jon’s house. I would spend time there every summer. We built forts out of blankets and couch pillows. We roamed the neighborhood. We rolled down hills. We played kickball. We did all the normal things kids were supposed to do.

I spent a lot of time watching him do things. Playing video games, baseball, skateboarding, and basketball were not things I was into. But he loved them, so I was there, cheering him on. He reciprocated by watching Jem and the Holograms with me, and playing endless girly pretending games that I would make up. Many involving cats and horses. We played a million games of Monopoly. We played GI Joe and Voltron together. He was He-Man and I was She-Ra, and we saved the world a lot.

We didn’t get along all the time, but he and his brother, Trey always took up for me. They might not remember that, but I always will. When we would play kickball or baseball in the neighborhood, the rule was “If you get tagged, you’re out. Except Jennifer. She can keep running”. I was quite slow and clumsy, so this was a great advantage 😛

Our longest lasting game was Jon Dog and Jennifer Cat. We had many adventures together, including starting our own circus. I would boss him around (of course), and he would perform tricks. Many years later at a family gathering, I mentioned those games. He claimed to not remember, but I think his amnesia had something to do with a woman he was trying to impress who happened to be there…

We grew up, and eventually grew apart. The last time I saw him was in June 2011 when we were in Nashville for a couple of days. We celebrated his birthday. I asked Jon and Trey to take a picture with me on the front porch. It was the first one the three of us had together in a really long time. I’m so incredibly thankful to have that picture.

He will be greatly missed.

I want to remember: West Virginia edition

Last weekend we travelled to WV for the wedding of Jason’s younger brother and his new wife. We had an amazing time, and it was so great meeting more of his family and adding pieces to the “Jason puzzle”. I’ll post pics as soon as I can get them together, but I wanted to get the words out first.

Some things I don’t want to forget…

Some of the best flights we’ve ever had. I have a much higher opinion of Southwest than I had previously. (although they have been some of the last to implement the new policy that allows electronic devices on takeoff and landing, which was disappointing).

Sitting at a restaurant in the Atlanta airport eating burgers and watching planes take off.

Seeing snow for the first time in almost eight years (over 20 years for Jason) and running around laughing like little kids.

Kissing my husband in the snow for the first time ever!

Getting totally stressed out in Pittsburg due to unexpected tolls, and the city’s complete inability to make change for anything over $5.

Riding the tram to see the gorgeous view of the skyline and river.

Having coffee and a brownie to ward off the chill.

Staying at one of the best hotels so far in Morgantown.

Marveling over mountains like we do every time we visit.

Dinner at the Black Bear.

Feeling very grateful for fantastic weather- no new snow and not too cold, we came between cold snaps.

Seeing the ice scraper in the rental car and thinking it was a vacuum cleaner attachment.

Forgetting to pack Jason’s ties, so making a mad trip to Walmart to replace them, only to find out he was severely overdressed for the rehearsal dinner. (my fault, I “made” him wear a tie :P)

Searching for the perfect pepperoni rolls.

Trying on Furby hats.

Driving to the site of the rehearsal dinner and completely missing it the first time because we were distracted by the ice on the lake.

Being late to pretty much everything.

Jason’s cousin’s sons who were completely adorable and crazy rambunctious.

Seeing Jason with them and wishing for a moment that I could give him those experiences  with our own kids.

Finding that “snug” runs in the family.

Sitting across from the priest at two different dinners and literally biting my tongue for fear of curse words spontaneously erupting from my mouth for no reason. (People in my life know how much of a potty mouth I have in everyday conversation, but I didn’t let a single f**k or s**t or even d**n slip out)

Feeling like a complete failure as a parents when we realized neither of us had pictures of the Little Man on our phones to show off.

Meeting so many in-laws!

Having drinks with Steve and Jacob after the rehearsal dinner. (one of my favorite parts of the whole trip)

Observing many similarities between the brothers even after such a long absence.

Seeing Jason all dressed up and looking fiiinneee.

Second mad dash to Walmart after discovering that my feet have mysteriously shrunk and shoes no longer fit.

My first Catholic wedding, which was incredibly lovely.

Helping the bride with her butt (i.e. her train)

Wishing for a minute that we had had a religious ceremony for our wedding.

Remembering our wedding and realizing how different weddings are after you’re a married person.

Having a blast at the reception.

Finally figuring out the name of the champagne we drank after our wedding.

Drinking my first honey whiskey.

The morning after my first honey whiskey (ok maybe don’t want to remember that one)

Seeing Jason so giddy with excitement over seeing family again, and not wanting the night to end.

So much more, but this post is getting out of hand, so I’ll leave it at that, the very best memory of all. This weekend meant so much to him and I’m so glad I got to be there with him and share in his happiness.

Grandparents

Yesterday was National Grandparents Day, so I wanted to take a moment to remember my grandparents. I would really like to do some more pages about them. They were all such interesting people and I learned so many things from all of them.

Both sets of grandparents at my parents’ wedding. Paw and Maw, Pawpaw and Nanny, I miss you all so much and I think about you every day.

I can’t talk about grandparents without mentioning my Granny and Pawpaw Anderson. While not my family biologically, they are absolutely Family in my heart.

Happy Grandparents Day!

From the vault: Cousins

I’m clearing out my Projects folder and moving my completed LO’s onto my EHD. Along the way, I found a bunch of pages that I haven’t blogged yet. Here is one of them 🙂

This one was from last month for a challenge at SBB. I used a FB status update as the journaling. My mind was on family a lot during that time.

Journaling reads- Thinking of you all and hoping for the best. Wish you were little like this so I could give you candy and it would make everything ok. Now you’re all grown-ups with little ones of your own, and I’m far away. But I’m thinking of you, today and always. Love you.

Credits: Project 2013 February by Connie Prince