...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

SUPPLY LIST

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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...HAND OVER THE EGGS...

The year was 2020 and it made absolutely no sense to buy anyone fancy Easter get-ups, so instead, I opted to make everyone a t-shirt. I suppose I decided I had nothing better to do with my time, so why not? Also, it wasn't like anyone was going anywhere, so I could make them take photos as well. Win-win for me.

I had made layouts of this day before, but those layouts got lost when my hard drive crashed and I hadn't put them anywhere else, so I don't even know what the originals looked like. I liked the blues in Gingerscraps' Free With Purchase kit for March: March Into Spring, and because I had just created a couple of layouts about the girls, I decided I should focus on one of the boys that I don't always scrap about.

This kid, like his dad, loves deviled eggs. He can't get enough of them and I'm pretty sure I could get my husband and Lex to wrestle over deviled eggs if I really wanted them to. Anyway, when I was trying to find designs for the t-shirts, I thought this saying would work well for the kid who'd do almost anything for his deviled eggs.

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: March Into Spring by Gingerbread Ladies (Tinci Designs)
COLLECTION: March Into Spring by Gingerbread Ladies
FONT: Easter Season

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...PLAYGROUND FUN...

I've mentioned it before, but ever since I can remember my family would take the same vacation every other year. My parents went in on a timeshare with my grandparents, so my grandparents went on the year we didn't. To this day, my parents now go yearly as they took over my grandparent's portion some years ago. 

As a married woman, with a family of my own, we don't always make this trip these days. When my kids were younger, it was something we did most of the time - but these days we try to do some different things. Sometimes we can also afford this yearly vacation with my family, sometimes we can't and that's okay. 

We took a small day trip to see a geyser on one of these trips. It was about a half-hour drive from where we were staying and for 3 small kids, even that can get long. After the geyser, we decided to stop at a park. I can't remember, but I think we may have had lunch at the park as well. Anyway, after 'lunch' we let the kids loose on the playground. It seemed necessary at the time.

Scrapping pages about my now adult children when they were little is always a little bittersweet. It's a bit of a mind trip to look at a little face in a photo while you're talking to the adult version of this person. But focusing on the positive side of it all, I'm getting the old days scrapped a page at a time, so there's that.

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Captured Moments 6 by Tinci Designs
COLLECTION: Raindrops & Rainbows by Gingerbread Ladies
FONT: Kidsplay

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...PHOTO SHENANIGANS...

Sometimes, it's hard to choose which child to focus on for a layout - especially when it comes to holiday layouts. But by some miracle, I always make a decision. This time it was Nate's turn.

St. Patrick's Day is kind of a favorite of mine for no real rhyme or reason. It's just fun and though I don't really go all out every year, I try to do something fun each year. A couple of years ago, I bought shirts for each of the kids. I didn't make them this particular year, but I still tried to make it fun and fit personalities a bit. I got the same shirt for Lex and Nate, but Lex was living out of the house AND misplaced his shirt so on the actual holiday, he briefly came home to borrow a shirt from his dad and then he was off to his own adventures.

Anyway, back to Nate. This kid rarely smiles for photos, he gets it from his dad. But that doesn't get him out of pictures, I just take them and scrap them the way he is at this moment in time. Maybe one day he'll decide it's easier to smile, maybe not. Just know, he's a happier person than he lets on and he's just miserable because I took him away from his regularly scheduled life to take photos.

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Summer Project 7 by Tinci Designs
COLLECTION: Luck of the Irish by Gingerbread Ladies
FONT: Silly Games

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...BO PEEP...

It's almost springtime (although in my neck of the woods, Mother Nature can't decide between Spring and Winter), which means it's time for all the fun and spring-themed digital scrapbook collections to start coming out.

I really love the pastel colors of Spring and I really don't know if Spring or Fall is my favorite season. They're super close faves in my book. So, I'm excited for the warmth of Spring and the beauty that comes with it.

Aimee Harrison just released a collection called, Bo Peep and it's such a fun collection. I wish I wanted to do more with it, but I'm happy with the direction I went anyway. I decided to create two layouts with this collection and they are of the same event, however - I made a page for each of my girls so they are different layouts, but they will coordinate nicely in the family album. 

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: KISS Layered Up by Miss Fish
COLLECTION: Bo Peep by Aimee Harrison
FONT: DK Blue Sheep

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Antique Love by Gingerbread Ladies (Tinci Designs)
COLLECTION: Bo Peep by Aimee Harrison
FONT: Easter Season

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...PARK DAY...

At the end of the school year, a few different grades from our elementary school take a walking field trip to a nearby park. The kids always look forward to this day and I can't count the number of times I've made the short little walk myself to join my kiddos on this outing.

The baby of the family had his perhaps last park field trip last Spring and once again I made the trip. However, this day ended up a little different than originally planned. My bestie needed someone to watch her youngest for a few hours. He is the same age as my little guy, but attends a different school and his school got out early on this particular day. Though I knew ahead of time that my friend's son would be joining us, I didn't tell my son. I wanted him to be surprised.

Though the weather was colder than normal, these boys had a blast together and it was an important day as my friend (and kids) would be moving shortly afterward. Because of the situation, I took some photos of these boys who've been friends pretty much since birth. 

Scraps N' Pieces newest release: You've Got a Friend in Me seemed like a perfect match for these photos and I created the following layout.

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: Template Pack 122 by Scraps N' Pieces
COLLECTION: You've Got A Friend In Me by Scraps N' Pieces
FONTS: Best Friend (Journaling) and Dirty Duo (Photo Caption)

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...SNOW!? FINALLY!!!...

Though I really hate the snow and the Winter, I do enjoy the aesthetic pictures and views that come along with it. Winter-themed scrapbook kits fall into that category. And, I guess, as long as I am warm and indoors, I can survive the Winter. 

I immediately fell in love with Boomer's Girl Designs' newest kit, I Love Winter, as soon as I saw it. The cute little character elements just make this kit. I immediately thought of pictures to pair with it, and I was super excited to find that the colors in the kit matched the photos I wanted to use.

SUPPLY LIST

TEMPLATE: November Templates 4 by Tinci Designs
COLLECTION: I Love Winter by Boomer's Girl Designs
FONTS: Snowfun (Title) and Snowberry (Journaling)

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