Project Life 2013 - Week 1

Despite the craziness of this time of year (Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, baseball, birthdays, etc.) . . . I have been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with my Project Life so far  . . .I know it's only the beginning of March, but trust me . . . it's not hard for me to get behind!

Today I'm just sharing my first week because I'm not happy with the way my pictures are coming out on the blog . . . I'm going to play with taking photos of my other pages and try to post better pictures tomorrow. . . . . so I apologize for the awful glare and reflection in these photos . . . if any of you have advice for photographing PL pages and not getting that awful glare, I'd love to hear any helpful hints!

Week One was so busy so it ended up being 2-1/4 pages . . .




I'll get better pictures and post more later this week.  Thanks for stopping by . . . and make it a fancy day!
Jeani

That's my Boy Scout!

I'm so proud of my son (well, I'm proud of both of them, of course, but in this post I'm highlighting my eldest!) . . . he recently bridged over to Boy Scouts . . . he has been in scouting for 5 years, starting out as a Tiger Scout in 2008 . . . this last weekend we attended his first Merit Badge clinic and he earned 2 Merit Badges . . .

Plumbing . . .


and Photography . . . this is one of the pictures he took and had to present at the workshop . . .


Awesome, huh!?!!?  Love that kid!

I've been working on my 2013 Project Life . . . getting pictures ready to post tomorrow . . . so come back and check 'em out!  Until then . . .

 . . . make it a fancy day!

 Jeani

Valentines cards & a "fancy day"

The boys and I made Valentines last night for my hubby . . . their cards cracked me up . . .
Here's Joe's card to his dad (it says "Let's sniff out awesomeness" on the outside . . and on the inside "I found it! The real awesomeness comes from you!"

Love the way he had the dog's head sticking up above the card base . . . . can you can tell he likes to hang out in my scrap room with me? LOL!

Josh's card - he loves camoflauge and hunting - says "Shhhh . . I'm hunting awesomeness. Hey! I have him in my sights." They crack me up!

And here's my card:

Love the Studio Calico male and female wood veneers. . . I lifted my card idea from Steph Washburn (saw her card in the Studio Calico gallery). Here's a close up of the heart . .

I die cut 2 hearts from chipboard and glued them together and then die cut a piece of my That's Amore (CTMH) paper and adhered it to the top of the heart and covered the whole thing in liquid glass.  Then I die cut a smaller heart out of my felt (Papertrey Ink has THE BEST felt - love it!).  I popped up my banner with popups to add just a little more dimension. Fun, huh?!?!

Finally, have to share a little funny from my sweet little Joey . . .

 . . . when I dropped him at school the other day, he said . . ."Mom, do you have any meetings today?" I said, "Nope . . not today." Joe replied . . . "Well, then have a fancy day!"  How stinkin' cute is that?!?!?  Love that kid!

Thank you for stopping by . . and "have a fancy day!"

Jeani

Klondike Derby

My oldest son (age 10) just bridged over to Boy Scouts on Monday at the Blue & Gold Dinner . . . here he is getting the last of his Webelos 2 pins before bridging over . . .

and here he was tonight . . . . . . backpack packed and ready to go on his first camping trip with his new troop . . .

As we drove through the ranger station up at the Heart O'the Hills Campground we noticed the snow level . . . just above the campsite . .  you can just barely make it out here . . just above the left side of the roof . . .  below the cloud line . . .

. . . .  it's the Boy Scout Klondike Derby tonight/tomorrow . . . and it is COLD - dropping down to below freezing up on the ridge tonight!  Did you catch the sign in the window of the ranger station . . .

. . . hmmm . . . I don't remember seeing that BEFORE I signed the release form!  The road was closed up to the ridge because of the avalanche danger.  No fear . . the campground the boys are camping at is about 50 feet beyond the ranger station . . . Hurricane Ridge is another 15 miles or so up the mountain.  No avalanches down where they are (I hope)!

I left after they got their camp set up . . . one of the boys was already making hot cocoa for all of them . . .

I'm sure they are having a blast with the other 80 scouts that are up there . . . and I'll think of him when I'm sleeping in my nice, warm, cozy bed tonight.

Thanks for stopping by . . . .

 Jeani

New use for old supplies

I have had this set of rub ons for . . . . at least 4 years.



I had used only a couple of the rub ons and just didn't see myself using the rest . . . but I hate to throw things away.  Project Life to the rescue!  I grabbed a few of my grid PL journaling cards and some die cut shapes and . . . voila . . .



. . . now I have a handful of cute embellishments that I will actually use!  I'm still not sure what I'll do with the last 2 girly rub-ons, but I'll try to think of something!  Can't wait to get these "new" goodies in my PL book!

Thanks for stopping by today . . .

Jeani

Happy New Year . . .

I've never really made new year's "resolutions"  . . . but this year I am setting a couple of goals for myself with regards to my scrapbooking . . . just certain things I want to be better about . . . one of those goals is to post more often (I'm shooting for at least once a week) on my blog . . .

The other goal is to start using up some of the scrap stuff I've been hoarding . . . I'm always buying new products when they come out and some of it sits for way too long . . .

No more!!  This year I have made a goal to start using those older paper packs, embellishments, etc. and to dig some of the dozens and dozens of stamp sets out and USE THEM!!!  What a concept, huh?!?!

I have found that a great way to use my products is through Project Life . . . I totally heart PL!!! Here is one of the pages from my 2012 pages (I'm struggling with getting my pictures the correct size . . . I'll post more tomorrow when I have better light to take photos and more time to mess with them - sure think this could be WAY easier with all of the technological advances we've made - if anybody has any quick and easy picture posting advice I would greatly appreciate it):

For my new 2013 PL book I am not buying a core kit (I did for 2012 and it was a great way to start). . . instead I am going through my oldies but goodies and I have joined 2 different monthly subscription clubs . . . Cocoa Daisy's stamp subscription club ($14.50 for a minimum of 3 beautiful, acrylic stamp sets mailed to your home every month - I LOVE THAT!!) and, more recently, the new Project Life monthly subscription kit through Studio Calico (OMG . . . love these kits . . . .  $24.99/month for a great fun pack of PL cards and embellishments not to mention their website loaded with information, videos, etc. about PL) . . .

I'd love to hear your thoughts and your crafty goals for 2013.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

Jeani

Beautiful Thailand

I just got back from a 2 week trip to Phuket, Thailand . . . Wow!  Really . . there are no words to describe the country, the people, the culture  . . . it was AMAZING!  My mom, sister and I went over for my brother's wedding.  Here are a handful of photos of some of our adventures:

We only spent one day at the beach - Nai Harn Beach - beautiful!

My sister & I at the Fish Spa - yikes - look at the grip she has on my leg!

We had to take an elephant ride . . . don't have to do it again, but we can say we did it once!

Ellen and I with our cold drinks after the elephant ride:

My brother and Nu during the wedding ceremony - awesome!

My brother with his son and step-daughter - such a beautiful family!

My brother, sister, Mom, Nu and I at the wedding reception - such a great time!!

Bo, Nu and Sam

The sun coming up as we swam in the pool on our first full day in Phuket:

The beach at the gypsy village in Rawai:

Pina Colodas by the pool!

We went up to Big Buddha and were all blessed by the monk - very cool!

Patong - or "Crazy Town" as we called it - wowzer!

Finding our chairs at Nai Harn beach:

Mom, El and I sipping coconut water at a very cool bar on the way to Kata:

It's been raining (really hard) on the Olympic Peninsula the last few days . . . . *sigh* . . . I miss Thailand and my brother.  Can't wait to go back again.

Now I need to get busy and get an album together of my trip . . . I saved everything (currency, receipts, ticket stubs, etc.) and took TONS of pics . . .so I just need to put it all together in an album so I can show everyone what an amazing trip it was!

More later!

Evening boat ride . . .

on Lake Sutherland tonight . . . we took the boys and their cousin for a boat ride . . . it was beautiful . . .



Heading to Seattle tomorrow to take my niece home . . . back this weekend to post photos of our adventures and some more Project Life pages I've completed.

Thanks for stopping by . . . enjoy your day!

Wrapping up some old layouts . . .

I created these layouts several months ago (emphasis on "several") and finally got around to finishing them with journaling, etc. yesterday - woohoo!  Here they are:

Joe's 6th birthday - we always celebrate with just family on the actual day if it falls during the week, which Joe's did last year.  Then we have the big party on the weekend with friends, etc.  This was our quiet little family celebration, complete with Snuggie and all :-)

I love these photos of my brother, sister and I that we took in a Scottish Pub in Victoria, B.C. (a quick hour ferry ride from my home in Port Angeles).  We had a great time that day . . . and these photos make me smile remembering it!  Mom was there too, but she isn't in these photos!

Last one today . . . my sweet Joey . . . I had this sheet of paper and a totally different photo of Joe set up to scrap but it just hadn't been working for me so I never finished it.  And, totally separate . . .  I've had these pictures of Joe sitting on my scrap desk for (dare I say) a year (is it just me or does anyone else do this - ack!!) . . . I put the two together (paper and photos) and it just worked perfectly . . . I added some embellishments and some alpha letters and I am sooooo happy with the finished layout!  Isn't he just the sweetest little bug!

That's it for today . . . still hoping the sun will come out for camp this afternoon.  I'll try to get some good garden shots tomorrow morning (they would be better in the sunshine!) and post.

Thanks for stopping by . . . enjoy your day!

Cub scout day camp week

We're busy with Cub Scout Day Camp this week but I'm going to try to get to some posts since our camp doesn't start until 3:00 each day.  I've got some garden photos to share also . . . I'll try to dig up some before photos so you can see how far we've come . . . whew . . . almost done with that project!

I've been busy . . . cleaning my scraproom, painting my greenhouse, working in the yard and keeping up with my Project Life.  I've even manages to complete 5 layouts that needed journaling or embellishments so now I'm ready to start some new projects - oh yeah, besides stripping and staining my kitchen cupboards that is.  Yikes!

Stay tuned for new posts this week.  Lavendar Festival in Sequim this weekend . . . my mom, sis and niece are coming over.  Never a dull moment here on the Olympic Peninsula!

Enjoy your day!