Load Day 3 and 4

Day 3's layout

Sources:


Templatesbykate
Paper - GM designs
Ribbon - ami collifello - round with ribbon (Pixel gypsy design)
font - CK leisurely

Day 4 Challenge: "Create a layout with cardstock only, no patterned paper, no embellishments, no doo-dads. You can use letter stickers or stamps or letter rub-ons and a pen and ONE other thing (but not patterned paper)".

I pretty much did followed this challenge - before even reading the prompt. Yey me! It's a daily adventure to see how I'm going to use the VERY limited time I have to actually scrapbook. On the surface it would seem I have a lot of free time - I am at the laptop it seems all day long. However I also have this little one attached to me - literally - most of the time. Scrapbooking doesn't seem to be lending itself to one finger typing. I did have Drew load Photo shop on to the laptop but I haven't been able to coordinate all of the flash drives and photo CD's and all that to actually use it yet. Maybe one day soon?

Anyway, enough of that - I did manage to finish this layout with only a few comments from Drew - yes I had to come back twice (11:30 to put the stickers on and scan and then 12:00 to upload) after thinking I had Mitchell down for a little bit. But no. Mitchell has this thing with not wanting to sleep in the evening (any time after 5pm?) and also with major power feeding. He also won't stay with Drew for any extended length of time. What can I say - I know he loves me and only I can provide for him right now? I know that all too soon this will change and he'll "love" other people too. Somehow that doesn't quite sound right...

Here is Day 4 - Simply irresistible

I think I'm going to go back and see if I can move the letter stickers. I couldn't space them out as much as the original design once I got going but now I'm thinking....

Sources: Bazzill Basics paper, letter stickers unknown and chipboard letters? dollarstore.
Scraplifted from scrapbooks etc July 2007 p 104

And to answer the other Cardstock questions:

1. In terms of base coloured cardstock - I tend to match the photos but my favourites tend to be neutrals 9 black, white and tan of some sort.

2. Yes I try to match some elements of the photo with the cardstock.

3. Sometimes I mat sometimes I don't. I'd say more often I do.

4. I'm an 8.5 x 11 more often if I want to print out the journaling on the paper or run something through the computer. I'll often put the 8.5x11 on a 12x12 background after I've printed. If I have more photos I tend to be a 12x12.

5. If I had to choose one colour cardstock - I'm ALWAYS using white. For journaling, for matting for background. That would have to be it.

There you have it!

TFL!

Freak Fests!

It seems we've all been having our little freak fests this past week - hopefully we are on to calmer seas now. On Wednesday Drew was out and Matt was at play practice so I was on my own to get Marlee into bed. Quite suddenly I was exhausted so I thought I'd pretty much go to bed while snuggling with Marlee in our bed. She doesn't tend to quiet down well this way though and I was getting increasingly frustrated. Then Matt got dropped off and it got a little worse. Since I couldn't snuggle in two places at once I suggested he come to my bed too. But he doesn't like music to sleep to (and neither do I) although Marlee does. And the list went on. Finally I just had enough, sent Matt to his room and stomped off (quite literally) to Marlee's room to sleep. This naturally got her quite upset and after I'd taken a moment, I called her in and apologized. I forget sometimes how sensitive my Marlee-Moo can be.

Fast forward an hour when Drew got home and wanted to discuss the next day's plans (did I mention we were going to see Smitty???) which I was just too tired to discuss. So he turned on his heals and left.

Then fast forward to Friday when I failed to communicate and be available for communication (as I couldn't hear my phone) regarding picking Matt up from his play practice. After a long unneeded (is that a word?) discussion - conclusion? Yes My bad. But Drew did have a bit of a freak fest. My fault but he still had one.

Now on to yesterday - Matt woke up too late to eat breakfast with Drew and was not happy about it. He CRIED for 20 minutes! Then in the evening he was"angry" (again crying for 15 minutes) because I said we couldn't go ahead and have Drew's birthday cake without him (he was late golfing) - even though I had said earlier we would have some.

So, other then Marlee it seems we all had some freaking we had to get out of us. We have all seemed to survive - let's hope we are done that for a while.

It seems to be a combination of control (or lack of) or not liking or dealiing well with change. Now the question becomes how do we deal with it?

He slept on his own!

whew! I just got a few hours where Mitchell slept in the stroller bassinet - inside! This is like the second time that this has happened - he has slept outside at the park but most of the time here

• dusted the first floor
• put away my and household laundry
• finished zucchini cake
• tidied first floor
• tidied master bedroom
• sorted some clothes given and loaned to Mitchell
• drain treatment (again!) for the master sink
• reorganizedMarlee's closet to allow space for (some of) Mitchell's things

And where were the kids during this? Playing with Bendaroos, making a scavenger hunt for Kyra with the playdough eggs and then playing with playdough. And now, we are doing tidy up and about ready for lunch and Mitchell is about done his! Let's hope the afternoon goes just as well!

May LOAD "Just so you know"...

So I love that my husband reads my posts. And then I forget that my husband reads my posts. He came downstairs yesterday and asked if I was insane? And I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. And then, Oh yeah.

So, why did I join LOAD with a newborn? Well first off I joined over a month ago when the registration fee was discounted and I didn't have a newborn. And I thought I could do anything. And I had forgotten what it was like to have a newborn. But now the time is here and hey, I'm still going to give it a try. Why?

Because I like to scrapbook. I like to preserve memories. I'm enjoying getting into the digital layout and trust me - some of them are VERY fast. Am I going to totally hold myself to the Layout a day challenge? I hope not. Some days are difficult. But I also find this relaxing. I enjoy being creative. Will I try to do it mostly during the day? Yes. Do I want it to negatively effect our lives? Of course not. Lately it just seems if I don't have the "push" to do it, it doesn't get done. And I miss it. LOAD reminds me that I can do a little bit each day and be happy with the results. I can let go of some of my perfectionism and just "do it".

And remember - I like simple, I like sketches and I like scraplifting.... It is still our photos and our memories. Still might think of a better "s"...

Happy Birthday Drew!

Happy 38th to my Doo!

We had a rather low-key day. Drew left early to go for a 17k run (way to go!) and then came back to french toast and bacon by request. He speedily ate his down and then picked up Matt from his sleepover to take him to church so he could be there early for the play. Cierra and Mitchell and I then rushed to get to church on time and watched the performance. The kids did a great job - even better then yesterday. They seemed to be more confident and clear with their voices.

After church we stopped at the library quickly and then headed to lunch at Drew's request. He got a cool Adidas Star Wars t-shirt from Melissa and money to go towards his new barbq thta he'll be picking out soon. Otherwise he got wine gums from us. Both families were with us and we of course seemed to take over the place. We got home just before 4. Matt wanted to have a play date however no one was available so we all just hung out. I got some computer time! The kids and I headed to Macs for some milk. No one was hungry for dinner until later so of course they all got to bed late. As you can see, very low key - but I hope he was okay with that. Oh - and we didn't get the cake done in time so it will be iced and ready for bedtime snack Monday. It will be an interesting birthday creation - just wait and see!

May 2010 LOAD!!!

Yes I'm insane. I am going to make another go of it and try to do a layout a day for the next 31 days. With a 5 week old infant. Crazy. At least it felt like it yesterday when the little guy got no more then 10 minutes sleep at a time between 5 pm and midnight. Ahhh! It does make working on the computer a little difficult. Thank goodness for digital quick pages and templates. They will be my saving grace.

The format has changed this time around and involves looking at a blog rather then daily emails (that is if you want to follow the prompts - I don't usually as I often have something else in mind). I'd like to try to answer the questions though - it may lead to inspiration for another day.

Today, we are "to pick three adjectives to describe your scrapbooking, or what you’d like your scrapbooking to mean, represent, or include. Create a page with these adjectives as titles or journaling, or just incorporated into the creation of the page".

My immediate thoughts are "simple" and "sketches" as I don't like to get to busy on a page and I can't seem to create much on my own - I am a definite scraplifter - hey maybe that should be my 3rd word (and it goes with the "s" theme lol!) I'll continue to think about that.

Here are my pages for yesterday and today.

Day 1

Source: Katie Pertiet, Friends designerdigitals.com

Day 2:

Source: DAGI (http://dagiblog.blogspot.com/)

TFL!

April 2010 Recap

Better late then never! Here's a quick look at everything that took place this month!

· Exercise – pretty much nil. No lifting over 10 lbs, no stairs etc. I started walking the kids to and from school a few days a week at the end of the month; Drew is running on a regular basis with G
· Books, Magazines Read – Early Potty Training; The Christmas Box, The Timepiece, & The Letter by Richard Paul Evans
· Entertainment – TV, Movies, Live events seen – Sherlock Holmes movie; Couples Retreat; LOST, NCIS; Parenthood; Barbie Mermaid movie; Magic Show Gr Theatre; The Time Traveler’s Wife; 30 Rock; 19 Kids and Counting; A Perfect Day; Blue Smoke; Michael W Smith concert at Queensway
· Special Events – Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival; jewelry party
· Travel – n/a
· Significant/ unusual purchases, gifts / changes – got Samantha a Wimpy Kids book with some cash (idea from Everybody Loves Money)(with Melissa and Jan)
· Health – recovering nicely from C-section