Our Very Own Captain Underpants

Disclaimer: I asked Christopher if he wanted me to scrapbook these photos since he's in his underwear, and he was excited for me to do so. I plan to pull out that fact when he is a disgruntled teen wondering why the HE** I scrapped this:)

This was a from scratch layout by me for a challenge on the Jessica Sprague class...
Journaling: We’ve never read Captain underpants, but
I think Christopher certainly qualifies here
for a junior sidekick.
Whoever thought only girls have
the market on fashion sense should take a
closer peek: jeans on the head
fire cape (compliments Grandma Carol), &
underwear to complete the ensemble.

Supplies: Sweetshoppedesigns.com Carnival kit (exclusive to Now We're Rocking class members), and #6 from Jessica's 100 list (See http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/hundreds-of-scrapbooking-ideas/ ). The fire is a standard (I think) custom shape with a gradient...any tips on how to make it better would be most appreciated!:)



Again, a challenge for Jessica's class...the cover and journaling pages were ready-made by Jessica...all I had to do was add my journaling, I added a couple photos to the front cover (hers was bare), and assembled the pages. I don't have her permission to share the link for the album pieces and instructions, but I know it originally was a freebie over at CK (I think)...comment on her blog at http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/ if you are interested and we'll see if she's still distributing it to non-class members.

I called this 3 pages for my one-a-day goal for January:) It took quite a while to figure out which pictures to print, add titles to a couple photos, turn a couple sepia (and recolor parts of one photo), and assemble the whole thing.

One more photo to go tomorrow and I'm at 31 for the month!:)

TFL,
Cheri

Make a Wish

It's week 2 over at Now We're Rocking with Photoshop over at www.jessicasprague.com:


Suppklies: KPertiet: red Cotton Easter (recolored orange), King Me (stripes), Graph Notes Paper, Stick Pin Round Tag, & GraphicSunPrintsOV-4a (screened to omit black sections we recolored)
JSprague grunge mask and circular template with journaling area
Asman, Selfish, and Century Gothic fonts

I am learning so many cool things in this class! Whee!! This might be the fastest I've ever scrapbooked a set of birthday photos too:)

A Visit from Jack Frost

Another challenge from Jessica Sprague. The idea was to take a photo today and scrapbook it right away. A secondary challenge was to do the layout in 30 minutes (you could have all your digi supplies open and ready to go). I suppose if you take out all the design decision time, I made it, just barely. I won't tell you how much time to add for all the pre-thinking I did, lol:) (and oh yeah, the photo was taken a couple weeks ago, sh, don't tell)

Supplies & Journaling:
Flakes and Gessele fonts
SG BHA zipper emb. templ. & MRE Star Bright style & TKA Weather or Not zipper pull
500 ml snowflake brush
Jen Wilson Being collection papers
KPertiet paper reveal
Journaling: Most days are filled with the same basic routine, but I’m so glad I stopped to smell the roses, as it were, today. When I let the dogs out this morning I was immediately struck by the beauty of winter nature. Jack Frost had been very busy in the night painting his frosty pictures all over our yard. It was bitterly cold, but I braved a couple steps out in the backyard to take some pictures to remember. Winter gets a bad rap sometimes, so I’m glad of the reminder that it has its beauty as well.

The Borg Siblings

This is my m-i-l with her 6 siblings.

Supplies:
twopeasinabucket.com Rhonna Farrer Vintage Label papers and snapshot frames.
Jessica Sprague "Now & forever"
Shabby Princess "together" from holiday sampler freebie
Selfish font
green paper from Erica Hite's "Love Always" collection at scrapgirls.com
sketch by Thorunn
Passport embellishment (layer your own) from Brandy Hackman at scrapgirls.com (I created the warped text Christmas for the inside).

Thanks to Sarah C, I know how to do the wavy text, but it didn't work very well for this layout.

TFL, and have a great weekend!
Cheri

Now We're Rocking! (Jessica Sprague ROCKS!)

You may have noticed my absence this week...I've been so darned busy with Jessica Sprague's "Now We're Rocking" with Photoshop class, I've neglected my poor blog:) See www.jessicasprague.com for more information on her 3 Photoshop classes...they are worth EVERY penny!

Here are my first 2 layouts from class:

This one is mostly a scraplift of Jessica's week 1 layout...it's easier to learn the concepts by just blindly following along, hehe. I did turn the layout on its side since I had a vertical photo instead of horizontal.

We learned coloring a photo sepia, then selectively showing the original color through, columned fully justified journaling, corner rounding (using a brush), etc etc:)
Credits:
* Blue paper: from the Impressions: Idea kit by Trish Jones (SBG)
* Torn paper template: from the Paper Reveals Layered Template No. 2 set by Katie Pertiet (DD)
* Journaling paper: from the Crush Bubbles kit by Trish Jones (SBG)
* Alphabet: from September Afternoon kit by Meredith Fenwick (SBG)
* Grungy-edged frame: from Distressed Diva kit by Trish Jones (SBG)
Valentine brush from Jason Gaylor http://designfruit.com/jasongaylor/blog/ (FREE!)


My 2 DS on an amusement park ride...and the journaling is about the way my oldest DS tries to include everyone...I love how the "love" word art in the lower left plays on the "ride of a lifetime" when they are on the amusement park ride.
2 papers from Carnival kit (exclusive to January 2008 members of the Now We're Rocking class), selective recoloring. I used a blending mode on the dots paper. Love word art from Brandy Hackman's Stylize collection, BVA plaid brush & DMI bitsy thin brush at Scrap Girls. Blue background paper is trishjones paper 8 (same as in the first layout but recolored) with AHANS grunged overlay.

Journaling: Christopher, I’ve been so impressed with how you always include others in your play. You have gone out of your way, several times, to include others at preschool, especially if they are new or sad. You helped draw Alexander out of his shell, and little Chloe looks up to you like a second big brother for helping her feel welcome her first day.
Lately you have taken to inviting people to our house too. You invited Pastor Linda to come watch your favorite video (curing intermission at the church’s play) and the beautician to Michael’s birthday party!
May you always keep this beautiful trait of inclusiveness in your life!

TFL!
Cheri

I think I'm Still on Track with Layouts...

Journaling: What is this silly costume? A red-capped mushroom? A flower? Who knows what went through my silly head when I put the toilet seat cover on it. Mom reassures me the cover was brand new and had not actually been on the toilet seat. Whew! Good clean fun:) circa 1975
EHI Love Always papers, HAT, & small buttons (www.scrapgirls.com)
EHI stitched "happy" button special (freebie)
Rogers, Maggie (QK), and Sceptre fonts


More from our visit to meet my cousin Paul when I was 6 wks old (journaling on other pages). My Mind's Eye and Lil Davis product.

I'm going to do 3 pages on our midnight venture out to purchase the final Harry Potter book this summer. This is the intro page with the memorabilia on it; the 2 page spread with all our pics is still in progress.
Supplies: Club Scrap shimmery paper, miniature hourglass, Jolees Boutique wizard robe and hat, Heidi Swapp ghost clock and EKSuccess (I think) clock hand punches, Scrapworks metal round HP letters. Unknown source for watch faces over the round letters (OMG I couldn't believe they were an exact fit!). The brochure was from the store and the ugly, garish bracelet signified I was one of the first in line (well, 60, but out of several hundred) :)

TFL!

Real Men Can Scrap!

The "You better not pout" on yesterday's layout was DH's idea:) He's a great scrapbooker, but only does a page every 3 years ...here's a sampling, since he doesn't seem to have his own blog:


This was Jeff's scrapbooking debut, in 2002...We went geocaching with our beagle, Reuben, and he had a great time bounding around in the woods. I scrapbooked the same page, albeit much less effectively. I wanted to focus on the autumn colors, Jeff wanted to focus on "Adventure Hound" himself as a comic book canine super hero. He used all my supplies, found it all himself, one day when I wasn't home and surprised me with it!


2005: Commemorating our trip to Great Britain. Jeff made the background paper from maps he found, online I think (he'll correct me in the comments section if I'm incorrect), and created the Tube signs himself in Paint Shop Pro...he did all the journaling on the right and everything. This layout was a present, maybe for Christmas, for me that year.



2007: (Ok, he was roped into this one a year early at the Memory Bound Halloween party, so don't expect any more from him for a full 3 years this time!) There were various SB supplies out on the table and all the spouses at the party had to create a page. The owners had taken our photos of us when we arrived and printed them really quick to be available an hour or so later for this game. I hurriedly took a picture of this page tonight with the overhead lights in the kitchen, so it's kind of a poor quality rendition...note the cats in the lower left, lol.

TFL,
Cheri

Trying Desperately to Stay Awake for Santa

I did this one in response to a challenge on
scrapgirls.com to scrap a conversation...this one came
immediately to mind, and I wanted to get it typed down
before Mom & I forgot what all her little notes about
it meant anyway.

I can't cut & paste the journaling b/c I had to
"rasterize" the type on the digital page (to make it
more legible...for those interested, you can use the
Edit/Stroke command to essentially outline your text
with the same color, thus thickening your font!! I was
so psyched when I figured this out...I came up with it
all by my little self, lol). ANYWAY, the text should
be legible on the right side alone page, and IMHO is
worth reading:)

Supplies:
ASO Glitzy Christmas (scrapgirls)
MST Bubble Buttons (scrapgirls)...the acrylic "page
pebble"
MRE Star Bright (SG)...the glitter style on "Santa"
LD Deck the Halls font
University Ex and CK cursive fonts

TFL,
Cheri

Silly Sloth

Another layout from our summer trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha with my parents. I have never seen a sloth eat before, and this one seemed to be playing peek-a-boo with us while it ate:) The journaling, in it's entirety, can be seen here: http://scrappingabyss.blogspot.com/2007/11/in-september-we-went-to-henry-doorly.html
Supplies: Carol Wilson Fine Arts Inc zoo paper, raffia, MM leaf charms & foam stamps, Delta paint, ? zoo alpha stickers, Rocky Mountain paper (R side, which I painted freehand with the triangles to coordinate with the left side).


My cousin Paul and I in 1973...I am 6 weeks old, he is 7 weeks (and huge compared to me!) Supplies: CI papers, Prima flowers, MM buttons & metal word, PSX border stickers.

TFL,
Cheri

Somebody Just Turned Two!

Michael's 2nd birthday was Saturday! We celebrated with a Scooby-themed party (he loves dogs and since he has an older brother, catches just enough TV that he has become enamored with Scooby Doo). All Michael's favorite people were there (well, except Santa, lol). The party was at 3:00 so some friends of ours could come, and we found out how long Michael can go without a nap. And hey, he was in remarkably good spirits for being tired. He finally sacked out in my lap right in the middle of the party, around 5:30. Luckily he'd already done cake, ice cream, and presents, so the only thing he missed was the pizza:)

Recipe Pages

Well if Pauline reads this, she'll see her last (I think...there might be one more blank side on the project itself) recipe pages, but otherwise, it'll be a surprise when Jeff delivers them on Tuesday:)

The top one is for the immensely popular Oreo Truffle Balls that I've never heard of until this year:
Ingredients

* 1 package Oreo cookies, crushed
* 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
* 1 package white almond bark
* 1 package chocolate almond bark


Directions

1. Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together.
2. Roll into walnut size balls. Chill.
3. Melt approx 3/4 package of white almond bark.
4. Stick a toothpick in an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted white almond bark.
5. Allow to harden on wax paper. Takes about 15 min.
6. While waiting, melt about 1/4 package of chocolate almond bark.
7. Decorate with drizzles of chocolate and white almond bark.

Christopher and I pronounce them DELICIOUS!

The second 2 photos are the outside and inside of the Wassail recipe page. This was a new thing Pauline made for our Christmas Eve celebration together, and again, Christopher pronounced it delicious!:)

TFL,
Cheri

A Little Comic Relief

Even I am getting bored with scrapbook pages day in and day out here, so I'm going to offer my own version of "Feline Friday" TM (see http://ofcatsandcardstock.blogspot.com/ for more information).

This silly stray/feral cat lives in the vicinity of my grandparents' (87 and 92 years old, thank you very much) farm in rural SW Iowa. It has taken to sitting on their porch railing outside...who knows, maybe there is a glimmer of warmth from the house, or merely shelter from the north wind. The silly thing even takes naps up there perched precariously. Now the kicker is, the doorbell is RIGHT THERE! Yep, you guessed it, the darned cat rings the doorbell, possibly by accident (well at least the first couple times), up to several times a day.

So if you happen by and want to visit, chances are, Grandpa & Grandma are home...but if you ring the bell, they just might sit tight, b/c it's probably just that darned cat again.

TFL,
Cheri

Colorful Gray

It's been an Amy sort of week for me, scrapbooking wise:)
Those faithful blogging readers will remember this portrait I took of Gray in December...here it is in true living color!

Journaling:
Name aside, Gray is quite the colorful boy. . .flaming red hair, bright personality, twinkly turquoise eyes. . .he has also been known to get into some colorful trouble--no, certainly not this innocent looking boy! He even looks better in colorful clothing. I find it difficult to imagine this one going through an all-black or all-neutral phase as a teenager. Gray adds a rainbow of fun to his family and they love every minute of it! December 2007

Supplies:
Tekton Pro and Susie's Hand fonts.
Thao Cosgrove's Passion Collection & Pen and Ink brush set (www.scrapgirls.com)
Brandy Hackman's Stylize word art (Scrapgirls)
feather brush, source unknown, free on the internet

TFL,
Cheri

Super simple layout for my friend Amy...I used photo corners and kept it simple so she could take the photo out and frame it for awhile if she wants to. Were it not professional, I would have probably added a rubon title/something to all the white space in the photo.

Recipe Flip Book

Click on this image for a much larger version.




This should fulfill the challenge to make something
for someone...I actually made part of this for
Christmas 2005 for my m-i-l. The intent was, 1/2 would
be for recipes we like that we thought they would also
(that part was given to her with the base in 2005),
and the other 1/2 she would provide some of her
favorites for.

Anyway, she decided she wanted them all to be recipes
of ours, so then I had to think up more:) And it took
2 years to actually finish it, well, you know how
things go, lol.

The base was a class I took in Pella, but I designed
each page.

The newest page is the strawberry pie one with the
scalloped shape on it (cut with CR) and meant to look
pie-ish:) I'll post 2 more new pages tomorrow when I
can photograph or scan them.

I wasn't officially tagged, but I'm joining in anyway:

1. Name your 2 favorite scrapbooking topics: my boys, travel

2. What are the 2 best places you've been to? Italy & Great Britain

3. Name 2 things you do every day: get out of bed, brush my teeth (even check my email doesn't make the list when I'm on vacation or super busy)

4. Tell us 2 things that pretty much everyone knows about you. I have 2 sons and I scrapbook.

5. 2 places you wish to visit: Of places that I haven't been: Florence, Italy & Switzerland

6. 2 things you may not know about me are: I’m an only child and I'm left-handed.

7. 2 nicknames you've had at some time in your life: Loodi and Cher (not really my choice there, but hey)...oh, I know another good one: Turkey Bird (lol)

8. Name 2 of your favorite drinks: Coke Zero, margaritas (about 6 per year)

9. The question Janet added is this: What are 2 interesting (in a good or bad way) jobs you’ve had in your life? I'm not sure how interesting any of my jobs have been: My first job ever was babysitting...........for a purebred mother bulldog and her almost newborn litter of pups. It was a super hot Iowa summer and either the family didn't have AC or it was on the fritz. One of my duties was to make sure the mama didn't accidentally sit on or roll on any of the babies (apparently mother bulldogs don't have enough mothering instinct or something!:) And as long as we're sticking with firsts: My first "real" job was at McDonald's as a HS senior...cured me of any love for fast food for the rest of my life!

10. Ok, here's my question: Name 2 resolutions you've either already broken or 2 that you've kept so far. (And if you didn't do resolutions this year, think up something to comment on, lol)

I will tag my DH (since some days I'm pretty sure he's the only one out there reading this) and Jen (I better send her an email letting her know she's tagged!)

Cheri

2 for Amy's scrapbook

I do some scrapbooking for my friend Amy (aka "my friend with 5 kids")...here's a couple for her books:


My DS#2 is in the front of the stroller, and you can just barely see DS#1 in the left photo. Supplies are Chatterbox papers, CI "wax seals", and Prima flower.


This one fulfills another challenge by Rosalie http://fivetulips.blogspot.com
to use up some old, old stuff. This was a page kit from some crop probably 5 years ago (no kidding). I thought it was cute but had nothing to use with it, so there it sat, neglected, in with my blue patterned papers, until now:) These photos are of Amy's oldest, Sydney, from 1996...so not only did I use "ancient" SB supplies, I used older pictures too!

TFL,
Cheri

2 more: Jeff took the boys to see Thomas for the 3rd year in a row (I missed this year b/c I was working at the ER). Michael absolutely adores Sir Topham Hatt (whom he calls, simply, HATT), as you can see. Supplies: Karen Foster and Reminisce papers, Sandylion chipboard and stickers.


Journaling section 1: More of our garden produce! Gourds and Indian corn for decoration at home, church, & sold to friends & neighbors. Our garden (rented) on E. 14th St.
Journaling section 2: Mona came over to tell us what she had seen out her window late the night before. Our house was dark, she saw a couple guys tiptoeing, up & down, tip, toe, tip, toe up the steep hill of our far yard, pick up the gourds decorating our railroad ties in front of the flower garden, every last one of them, and tip, toe, tip, toe, back down the hill to their “getaway” car. We were sad/mad, but mostly just shook our heads and laughed. What the hell were those men going to do with those gourds anyway? They wouldn’t even smash satisfactorily like a pumpkin!

Supplies: Scenic Route papers, Prima flower, button, EKSuccess letter/number stickers

TFL! Cheri

A Layout a Day...

I am in a challenge to complete a layout for each day this month, so I will challenge myself to post them all here too:)

The photo/layout at the center was our Christmas photo this year. It's a digital design of mine, using www.scrapgirls.com "Blue Christmas" by Durin Eberhart and Brandy Hackman's passport embellishments, and LD Deck the Halls font. The background (which is traditional, ie "real" scrapbook paper) is from Heidi Grace and has soft, fuzzy parts like the 1980s stickers:) I also used some snowflake buttons.


This has to be the quickest page I've done in a year:) Just our Christmas letter and some MM papers. It'll be a nice year-in-review page in our album.


I'm working backwards to 1994 here. We used to go to a couple dog shows a year to scout out potential beagle breeders...that's her at left on the newspaper article (OMG look at the cute little beagles!!) And there's Jeff at the center right, videotaping me taking a picture of him (can you tell we were in college?! Cheap entertainment, lol). Most supplies are Karen Foster, and the title is from Cecelia Dossey at thescrappinpath.com and cut on the CraftRobo.

TFL,
Cheri

The Hanging Chair (aka Indoor Swing)

My friend Rosalie is doing a list of scrapbooking challenges for our local group. This layout is for the challenge to scrapbook a favorite holiday memory.

Journaling: Who knew furniture could be so fun?! I
fell in love with a similar chair at a family friend's
home so Mom & Dad (I mean Santa) scoured the stores in
Omaha until they (I mean he) found this one and its
stand at another store.

I still remember Christmas morning, seeing the chair
in the living room, thinking how magical Santa was to
fit it in the sleigh...it was like an indoor swing.
Even Grandpa Charlie tried to sit in it...it swung and
he ended up on his bottom-oops! (He wasn't hurt)

Supplies include Basic Grey paper, Heidi Swapp
chipboard, ribbons, and rubon, MM metal charms, and
unknown source for the Santa paper clip. Oh, and Queen
& Company brads.

New Year's Day

I have always wanted to do those old-fashioned photos at an amusement park. Well I finally convinced the rest of my family this summer at Adventureland! The first two are for our scrapbooks and the last 2 are going to be framed and hung.

We had a fairly quiet New Year's Eve & Day here. DH & DS played Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii, little DS played with various Christmas presents (of his own and his brother's), and I scrapbooked a little:)

I hope you all had a Happy New Year's too!