...SUNDAY SILLIES...

I went a bit off-topic with this Free With Purchase during INSD at Gingerscraps' collection, but I'm still excited by the finished product. I didn't know what I was going to do with the collection at first, but I finally found and/or thought of photos to use with it, and it was so much fun to visit early parenting years. 

One thing I've always been grateful for in this motherhood journey is that my kids get along really well, for the most part. My oldest two were just like twins, and they were each other's best friends for a long time, especially when they were little. These photos are just a small example. Shaylyn just wanted her friend in her photos; she didn't like the idea of me taking photos of just her. These days, I think her attitude has shifted slightly in the other direction.

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TEMPLATE: Dreamy Days by Gingerbread Ladies (Tinci Designs)
COLLECTION: Dreamy Days by Gingerbread Ladies
FONT: My Silly Willy Girl

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...MOUNTAIN VIEW...

Working with any outdoorsy-themed kit makes me long for summer and mountain views, and I get mad that I don't have that view daily.

Aimee Harrison's newest collection, Mountain View, is one such collection, and I wish camping trips were longer or that summer were longer...something. Even though I can't have my way, I can relive some of these good memories when I create layouts with this collection. I was able to create two with this collection. One for Ailey and one for Zach. 

AILEY {PAUSE}

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TEMPLATE: Captured Moments 6 by Tinci Designs
COLLECTION: Mountain View by Aimee Harrison
FONT: Time Goes By So Slowly

ZACH (KING OF THE MOUNTAIN)

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TEMPLATE: Lost At Sea by Gingerbread Ladies (Dear Friends Designs)
COLLECTION: Mountain View by Aimee Harrison
FONT: Fun Mountain

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...MOTHER'S DAY 24...

 

For a long time, I didn't take Mother's Day pictures with my kids. It's probably only been within the past five years or so. And, I have my little sister to thank for that. Growing up, I never realized that she would be teaching me lessons throughout my life, but that's exactly what's been happening as we both get older.

Gingerscraps April 2025 Monthly Mix was the perfect collection to use for last year's Mother's Day photos. I also give full credit to the journaling bit element that served as my inspiration for this page.

The photos on this layout are a bit bittersweet as I realize more and more how quickly my kids are all growing and how most of them are all taller than me. I'm pretty sure by the time they're all done growing, they'll each be taller than me. I guess that's what I get for marrying a tall dude.

Simple Blessings is the perfect springtime kit, and it can be used in a variety of ways. It really is just a beautiful kit all around.

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: 2024 August - Lots of Photos 8 by Tinci Designs
COLLECTION: Simple Blessings by Gingerbread Ladies
FONTS: Veggie Mars

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...ROFL...

I struggled with this next collection a bit. While I knew which photos I wanted to use, it was a bit difficult getting the layout to come together. Trying to keep a similar color palette throughout was the hard part, but in the end, I worked it out. 

I immediately thought of these photos for this collection. For my grandmother's 90th birthday, each of her kids and their families had a color to wear...my mom somehow ended up with red. And during the course of the day, my sisters and I sat down to get some photos together; however, my little guy and my little sister's little guy thought they needed to be included in some form. My nephew was being super silly, and it gave us the following photos. 

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Life's Laughable Moments by Gingerbread Ladies (Dear Friends Designs)
COLLECTION: Life's Laughable Moments by Gingerbread Ladies
FONT: Laughing Happily

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...I SEE ME...

There are plenty of photos of my kids throughout the years that would sit in a box labeled 'favorites' if I actually did that kind of thing. As it is, they are sitting in folders on my computer by year, month, and date. So sometimes these 'favorites' can be hard to find. Thankfully, my memory is still mostly okay, and I can recall approximate dates most of the time.

This is the case with these photos that I used with Scraps N' Pieces newest release: Reflection. I immediately thought of these photos when I saw the kit preview. It helped that I was prepping for Ailey's upcoming birthday, so she was forefront on my mind. And yes, these photos are somewhat blurry - that's what happens with a moving target. 

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TEMPLATE: Template Pack 123 by Scraps N' Pieces
COLLECTION: Reflection by Scraps N' Pieces
FONT: Rearview Mirror

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...WICKED...

It's time for another confession...

With all the acting I've done and the musicals I've seen, I'd never seen Wicked. I knew that it was a Wizard of Oz story, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Eric and I weren't even going to see the movie when it first came out. We figured we'd get to it eventually, but it wasn't high on our to-do list. However, Tanis and Nate made plans to see it one day, and because neither of them could drive at the time, they'd be roping Eric in to drive them. Eric decided he didn't want to drop them off, just to get home and go back to get them, so we decided we'd go see the movie with the boys.

What none of us realized is that we got tickets for a 3D viewing of the movie, and I think it was actually kind of cool to see it that way. Eric and I have some negative thoughts about the musical as a whole, but we do think the movie was good, and we will definitely have to see Act Two when they release it.

And once again, I was just window shopping at Sweet Shoppe Designs when I saw a Wicked collection, and I knew I had to scrap about our day, and I made a page for each boy, because that's what I do.

TANIS

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Lots of Memories 14 by Tinci Designs
COLLECTION: Wicked by Studio Flergs
FONT: Oz's Wizard

NATE

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TEMPLATE: November Templates 4 by Tinci Designs
COLLECTION: Wicked by Studio Flergs
FONT: Wicked Dream

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...WILD...

I have a confession...

Throwing birthday parties for my kids is not a highlight for me. In the beginning, I would just throw a family party, and those were just fine. Plus, we lived in areas where my kids didn't know a whole lot of other kids, and it just worked out.

Once we moved into our own home in an area filled with kids, my kids suddenly wanted friend birthday parties, and it was not something I looked forward to. Entertaining kids is not really a forte of mine, I'll be honest. However, I don't like to disappoint my kids either, so I'd try to figure something out when a friend's party was requested.

Kiddo #4 has a birthday that usually falls around Easter, so I'm usually trying to get Easter figured out as well. Throwing a party in that same time frame was hard, but thankfully, on this kid's 6th birthday, he just requested a zoo theme. He actually wanted to go to the zoo, but we didn't have the budget for that, so an animal party it was. 

We played a Bingo game, and I had found some other animal type games to play as well. As a last minute thought, I made a lion and elephant mask, and they turned out be a hit. 

When I saw Boomer's Girl Designs' newest release, Zoo Babies, I knew those cute little animal elements would work well with my son's birthday party pics. I went to work and enjoy the finished product. I also think it's really cool that my kid is still good friends with 3 of the 5 kids that were at his party that day. 

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Artsy Blocks 17 by Miss Fish
COLLECTION: Zoo Babies by Boomer's Girl Designs
FONTS: Wildy Sans (Journaling)

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...HERO DADDY...

On the whole, we're not super adventurous around these parts. We're comfortable with safety, and we all tend to live in our own little worlds within these four walls we call a home. However, we have some relatives who live a much more exciting life, and one of those relatives is my brother-in-law. Some years ago, he decided to volunteer his time as a firefighter. He is now doing it part-time and really enjoys it. Because of this, he gets to participate in some fun community things like welcoming the elementary kids back on their first day of school, among many other events. 

When I saw that Adrienne Skelton was releasing a collection called My Hero: Firefighter, I got excited. Because I do a yearly slideshow for my mom for Christmas, my sisters send me pictures throughout the year to be included. This means I had a few photos of my brother-in-law with his daughter, my niece, that I knew I could use with this collection. And I'll admit there is a very tiny part of me that wishes my husband was some sort of front line worker, however, the bigger part of me is content with our relative safety and I'm grateful for those that do put their lives on the line every day and for the family that support them. 

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Autumn Blush by Miss Fish
COLLECTION: My Hero: Firefighter by Adrienne Skelton Designs
FONT: Fireflies

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...I'M FEELING 22...

I'm not a Swiftie by any stretch of the imagination. I enjoy a few of Taylor's songs, and I can appreciate the effort that she's put forth to become who she is, but that's about the extent of it. However, child #1 absolutely loves Taylor and is pretty obsessed with her. 

When Tanis was born, Taylor was only 11 and nowhere near becoming a household name. Yet, somehow, the stars all aligned perfectly, and Tanis was able to celebrate his 22nd birthday on the 22nd of the month in 2022. So, of course, the 'theme' of his 22nd birthday was Taylor Swift. I made cupcakes with the colors of each of her albums, and the cupcake toppers were the album covers.

The pictures have sat for a few years, waiting to be played with. Then, out of nowhere, I noticed a kit at SweetShoppe Designs that was perfect: Swiftie. I bought it almost right away. To be honest, I'm not entirely happy with the end result, but it's okay. Another page completed and, perhaps, I'll rework it one day. I also have another idea for this collection, maybe one day I'll get to that as well.

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Artsy Blocks 17 by Miss Fish
COLLECTION: Swiftie by Meagan's Creations
FONT: KG Feeling 22

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...ZACH, THE FEARLESS...

From time to time, I do scrap for my own enjoyment and not just to fulfill my creative team requirements. 

I was perusing the store at Sweet Shoppe Designs and ran across a pirate-themed kit that I knew I just had to have. Our most recent cousin's camp theme was pirates, so I knew I wanted this collection to scrap about some of our adventures. There are a lot of photos I have to dig through to create a page about everyone, so I'll get to that eventually, but I decided to start off easy with some photos of Zach that I knew I wanted to play with.

He got into the part of pirate quite easily and even climbed a tree. Thankfully Ailey was around and was toting my camera with her and she took these fun photos of my tree-climbing pirate. 

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Summer Project 7 by Tinci Designs

COLLECTION: A Pirate's Life by Digital Scrapbook Ingredients

FONTS: Pirate Jack (THE) and Pirates Writers (Journaling)

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