:: projects abound ::

Oh blogger friends, how I have missed you.  I am alive. I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Something did happen, though.

School started.

and not just for Charlie and me........

first day of preschool

But first she had a birthday....

This time of year is so crazy! It seems most things get neglected. I have managed to get in a bit of craftiness here and there....

this week we camped...there was an insert

I'm taking a class at BPC called "Project Life Lessons".  One word -- awesome.

here it is without the insert

left

right

insert front :: the food

insert back :: the beach

I've even spent some time in my art journal. This Bob Dylan quote made me do this:

And I even made a few layouts...

all about brushing teeth....

and playing in the water.
that background started white....and then i got out the gelatos and stamps
those letters were white...you guessed it...gelatos (so fun)!

Yep, she still loves Batman. She really wants to be him when she grows up.  However, she has discovered that Batman isn't real (he is just in the movies - gasp!). So....now she wants to go to California, so she can "be" Batman in the movies, when she grows up.  Or today.

I. Love. Her.

Scrap Your Story :: Almost 4

It's FRIDAY!  That means so much more now that I am back to work! :-)

This week is a theme week at Scrap Your Story, and we are scrapping birthdays -- could be a party, or an age theme, too!  I have never scrapped a birthday (I know, right?).  I also don't really do holidays (Gasp!). I have no idea why. Mostly, I'm an everyday scrapper, and those "big events" freak me out or something!  But I did make this:

Yep, ladies and gentleman -- it's a two pager and 8.5 x 11!!  I used to scrap exclusively in two pages.  I just couldn't make a one pager happen until about 2 years ago. And now I'm usually one-pagin' in. And I cannot remember the last time I used the smaller size!  This was fun!

For this layout I was once again inspired by Ali Edwards. I am taking her Hello Story class over at Big Picture classes.  One of her prompts included using a "fill in the blank" as a way to tell the story. I made several modifications to fit my sweet B. and interviewed her.  FUN! She will be 4 later this month, and I wanted to capture what she is like right now.

I grabbed a bunch of photos from July that I thought really showed off her personality, and made a collage in photoshop. I cut a little hole in the middle (because the collage turned out that way) so that the patterned paper could be seen in the middle.

For the story telling part, I wrote everything with my own handwriting, then filled in the blanks (her answers) with alpha stamps.  I made them a bit wonky so it looks more like a child (or I messed up once and then decided to make the rest match, you pick which one you think it was) and I used some of her voice by writing the words as she says them, not as they are spelled.  I added some hearts with an Ali Edwards stamp and a little paint, and then a few paper strips and wood veneer hearts. Done!

We are packing our things to go camping this weekend.  We haven't been all year, but the weather is going to be so great this weekend we cannot resist!  Have a great weekend!  Hope you find a little scrappy time, and hope you join us at Scrap Your Story!

:: firsts ::

So many "firsts" this past week :

• first hair cut
• first time registering for school (4-year old preschool)
• first time school shopping

These are all significant things. They are each a step that deepens my understanding that my baby is no longer a baby, or even a toddler (as if I couldn't tell from the outgrown shoes, long legs and thinning face).  She is a Little Girl! I have to admit that I am sad about it. But, I have to be happy about it. Have to! Every stage is just that, a new stage to experience and enjoy.  Before I know it she will be tying her own shoes (won't that be nice?), reading books (magic), and eventually we will have the same shoe size!  I realize, of course, that the shoe thing is a long way off, but I also know from raising my older daughter that this 'long way off', comes so unbelievably quickly (and how awesome it will be to have twice as many shoes)!

Over the next couple of weeks we will have a "home visit" with her teacher, attend open house, and she will go to school for the first time. She will have a teacher named Miss Amy, and she will continue to become more and more independent. And I will embrace it, be proud of her, and  never let her know I'm quietly grieving the passing of that baby stage. I only want her to see me be excited with her.

Because, after all, it is magically exciting.