Official

William is now official: He has his birth certificate, social security card, and I finally (a couple weeks ago) got his birth announcement finished and sent out (pretty much grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunt/uncle only, please don't be offended if you didn't get one!)



I copied this idea from tiny prints and added the "all boys" from my scrapbooking stash...Mindy Terasawa. The dog in the photo is Michael's favorite stuffed animal in the whole wide world. His name is "Little Mouth", so dubbed by Jeff b/c the embroidered mouth has come undone. Michael put him in the car seat with William for a nice nap when William was only a few days old.



I finished this one a couple weeks ago for the Jen Wilson Designs challenge that week: journal a conversation between you and someone, include a framed photo of you and the person (I chose the unusual photo treatment b/c the windows behind us were totally blown out, ie white and very distracting)), repeat everything else on the layout twice, including the title, choose a repetitive design (eg. the background I chose has a repeated pattern).

JWD A Little Love papers
JWD Project 52: Repeat After Me title
JWD Grunged Detail Starters
JWD Hand Coloured (and Glittered) Bloom Starters
Katie Pertiet frame (from free Scrapbooks Etc. kit)
AL Libretto font
Journaling (from a letter from my grandmother): Grandma’s letter to us shortly after William’s birth (and yes, that ’s Michael in the photo): Just imagine if you didn’t have an automatic washer and dryer, disposable diapers, or an indoor bathroom, and milked cows and raised chickens. Ha!I am totally appreciative of modern conveniences, believe you me!But some things never change. . .Grandma said her 3 children acted up the minute she got on the phone. Yeah, that happens ALL the time! Phones ARE cordless now though. . .

Well we spent our weekend celebrating Christopher's 6th birthday (actually the 19th). 8 kindergartners, 1 pre-K, 1 2nd grader, a 3 year-old brother, a baby brother...OMG was our house full! Christopher chose a penguin theme, and as soon as I wade through about 300 RAW photos (don't hold your breath; it'll take awhile), I'll post some pics from the parties. Oh yeah, we had the children's party in the early afternoon and the grandparent/aunt/uncle/cousins/friends of ours party in the early evening. Whew! TG Grandma stayed overnight; b/c Mommy, Daddy, and William SLEPT IN this morning to make up for it!

Thank Goodness for Challenges

If it weren't for challenges on various boards and groups, William wouldn't have nearly this many scrapbook pages yet:)



Jen Wilson Designs is having the most awesome challenges again, and for HUGE prizes if all 12 of your challenge layouts are on time. This one had to be a timeline, include something denoting time (eg. a clock), and have the color blue somewhere on it.
Photos by DH and Kristina Botts
JWD Spoon Dipped Solids (blue)
JWD Time Flies (clocks)
JWD Flourished Swirls (bottom right swirl)
JWD Paper Date Starter
JWD Urban Bohemian (W)
JWD Rough Beginnings word art
Anna Aspnes Make Your Own Timeline
AL Uncle Charles font
Katie Pertiet sanded overlay (subtle grunge at edges)



For this one, we had a sketch to follow, had to include one photo "straight out of camera" and another that had been edited/manipulated, journaling, decorative edge, big title, and the subject matter had to be "addiction."
Journaling: They say mothers can be addicted (in a sense) to their babies. I’d agree with that. I crave the quiet moments with you (not a lot of those in our loud, busy household), I love the feeling of your tiny body in my arms, or the warmth of you snuggled up on my shoulder, your beautiful baby scent, the sweet sounds you make while nursing, and the earnestness of your adorable little face as you look into my eyes.
JWD Academy Elementary Solids
JWD Rekindle (Adore)
JWD Nostalgia No. 1 (this is a moment to remember)
JWD Laundry Line rough remnants, William paper, messy mended circle
JWD Cowabunga frame
JWD Grunge Edges
JWD Beginnings Photo Masked Starter
Brandie Valenzuela Grungelle brush set
Melissa Renfro Sparkle Curls
Amanda Sok Clipped Flowers
Misty Cato Date Bits 8



This one was a scraplift challenge at scrapgirls.com...I scraplifted TysMommy
I just love her page!
Keri Schueller Vintage Nursery dots paper
Thao Cosgrove Stitched Framery Emb templates
Brandy Hackman Sassy's Pumpkin and Hopsack (squares paper)
Syndee Nuckles Alpha Beads Emb Templates (string)
Amanda Sok Alluring Autumn (brown paper) and Frosted Glass 6401 style
Thao Cosgrove GraphX brush set
Ariadna Wiczling Feather (tan paper)
Cheryl Barber Stitching & Holes 4101 style
Matura, Amienne fonts
The challenge was to change something or add something to the scraplift:
Since I chose the more graphic patterned paper up top, I chose a more graphic brush below. I played around with it b/c didn't want the graphic look too strong, so lowered the opacity and added Amanda Sok's Frosted Glass style to soften it.

TFL,
Cheri