"Happy Birth-day Baby" Layout

Happy Wednesday again.  I need to get this layout blogged so I can enter it into a Challenge over at Sketch Thursday blog.  It's due tonight. Granddaughter was only 30 minutes old when this photo was taken. She looks bigger than the 7lbs.1oz., 19" long she was.  Her curly red hair was the surprise of the year; a hit in nicu.

The sketch I used is below. Scrappers interpret sketches differently (for proof of that just go to their blog and check out the sketches their Design Team did using the same sketch)... I'm always surprised.

...but I took a 'sameness' approach on this one because I love punches and the act of punching and always say I'm 'punch drunk'... I had so much fun doing my design and punching the strips on the right, the 'punched' ribbons, the punched edge of the peach photo mat and the punched hidden journaling cardstock.

The 4 strips on the right, the white hidden journaling cardstock and the yellow strip under the photo are done with an EKSuccess punch.. The Photo mat edge is punched with a Martha Stewart edge punch. The ribbons in the upper left corner are also done with an EKSuccess punch. 

This is the sketch I used:

Thanks for looking.........now I must go clean up my messy room.......eeeeek!

Simple Play

Last week when I was caring for Granddaughter I wondered what she would do if I made a tent. Not being the creative tent making person some are I grabbed a quilt and laid it over the jogging stroller and a counter stool.  Hey; at her age fancy isn't necessary. 

I crawled in it and started calling for her. She found me with glee and we started playing in and out of it and peek-a-boo.  Her giggles are infectious. After we'd been at it awhile my hubby got in the act.

So many people comment that babies have more fun with the box a toy came in than the actual toy. Tupperware cupboards, pots and pans and a spoon and a metal lid are fun, simple play that can keep a baby contented - for a bit.  Discovery in and of itself is great play for a baby.

We adults seek out simple play also: a walk in the park or on a beach, a swim on a warm afternoon, talking face to face with a good friend, reading a book, to name a few. With daily lives so so busy in most of our lives we need to find simple play. I believe our essence needs it and a baby or young children can be inspiration for simple play.

"Gama"

I'd crawled out the other side before she went in and came around

to surprise her......she's giggling.

That was fun. (see her two teeth?)

Now.......go play simple and have a good day.

'New Life' Layout

Happy Tuesday all.  I spent yesterday scrapping. When I retired I announced that Monday would be my scrapping day....all day....in my room....the solitude of silence filling the air. Well the best laid plans don't always happen and Mondays do not always turn out to be Scrappy and sometimes when I'm in there I have tv on. I like to put on movies that I've seen before and can just listen to.

I am (finally) scrapping birth/very early pictures of my Granddaughter. I have one more to do and then I will put all the wonderful pictures I printed into my 2010 album, following the three layouts, using the Photo Sleeves I've spoke of before. I really like the idea of having my Scrapping albums be Photo albums also....the best of both worlds.

This layout of Granddaughter is one of my favorite to date. I love pink and green together, love that picture of Granddaughter taken in nicu about 1 hour after she was born and love the softness, ethereal feeling I created.  I used sketch #214 from Sketch Inspiration and will share it on their web site today. I'm also entering it into a challenge on scrapbook.com called "one picture challenge".  No prizes involved...just for fun.

So, information about this sketch: I cut the baby clothes and the baby (gave it red hair) that are on the lines (they're all so so cute-see the tiny hangers) from the Cricut Cartridge New Arrival, cut the title font (New Life) using the cartridge Storybook, embossed the light green piece of cardstock using my Creatopia heart roller unit, the butterfly and ribbon at the bottom are from Creative Charms. I really like their dotted ribbon...it doesn't unravel. The flowers came from my stash as did the pin.

I will add her name to this layout tonight; as you know I don't share her name here. 

So here it all is:

I wish I was a whizz with Photoshop: I could lighten that picture some.

Some closeups:

                                                            The Sketch I used:



"Precious" Layout

So I got my scrap on a little in the past 7 days.  I've used one of the pictures in this layout before but a Grandma can not throw away a darling 5x7" picture of her Precious Granddaughter.  I'm entering this layout into a  "Two Picture" Challenge on Scrapbook.com.  I used a sketch from Sketch Inspiration for this layout. The sketch is below. As you can see I turned it because my main picture is horizontal orientation, not vertical.

I have had that burlap in my stash for years and have been waiting for the right picture to use it with and felt this was it.  The font used on this layout is from the Cricut cartridge called Songbird and the branch spray is cut using the cartridge Home Accents.  I decided to cut the branch spray several times so as to have different colors of flowers.  Using my Gypsy I designed it so I could use scraps of papers from my Scrap Pile.  I love using my scraps as I don't feel like I'm wasting hard earned (easily spent) money. I've included a picture of the cutting mat before I removed 4 of the sprays.

A few Close-up photos:

I had already removed the main branch before remember to take a photo.

Angle shot to show a little dimension. (my blogger scrapping friend Frank inspired me to try this).

The Sketch:

Have a good Monday and a scrappy day and week.  

Cakes for Cancer

The company my daughter works for has a fundraiser every so often to raise money for the Relay for Life with proceeds going to American Cancer Society.  Somebody brings in a dessert and it is auctioned off with the proceeds being the donation. Our daughter came up with an innovative idea which hubby and I helped her with. She actually had most of the supplies and on Wednesday I baked 12 small chocolate cakes (while hubby took care of Granddaughter, cut cake boards and assembled boxes for them).

Latter that night daughter and I plainly frosted the cakes and she put the pictures of employees in various stages/situations (pics taken 10 years ago or taken at company outings or parties) on the top of the cakes. The pics had been printed on special paper.  On Thursday an hourly email went out with pictures of the two cakes up for auction that hour. I hear there was a lot of laughter, and department camaraderie created by the cakes. How great.

Even greater is that $353 was raised thru this effort. The highest cake went for $50.  Many of the employees expressed their delight in this and about the auctions - and said the cakes were tasty. It was a lot of work but baking cakes is a cinch compared to fighting cancer: I know as I've done it. I hope the money does help find cures.

The cakes.......all ready to be boxed up and off to work.

...about 9 p.m. and getting tired.

and getting silly...

this is what happens when the team member making frosting takes the beaters out of the bowl and instead of turning beater off hits "hi". You should have seen my shirt!

Thankfully daugthter did cleanup. 

Many of daughter's co-workers emailed her thanking us for our time and effort...very nice.

Have a good weekend all.