White Sands National Monument

Here's another layout of our trip to White Sands Monument. I got so many great pictures that again, I needed something that would fit a lot. This is another Becky Higgins sketch and more blocking. I love her style. So simple but beautiful. This layout is really about the story and pictures and only has 2 little strips of paper to tie it together.

Just some little things about New Mexico

I decided to do a special album of our month long trip to New Mexico. The boys and I (and Martel occasionally) did so much stuff that I have enough to fill one! After spending way too much time trying to figure out the first page of the album, I came across some of the pictures of the "funny" things in New Mexico. Then I remembered a layout by Jennifer McGuire and for the life of me I cannot find the link to share her layout with you.

One of the places we went was this GINORMOUS scrapbook store in Roswell. (see the picture of the alien street light?) I gave Martel the whole "I bet they have specific New Mexico things that I won't be able to find anywhere else" speech and he fell for it. Actually, he's really supportive of my scrapbooking. He saw this very bright paper with the colors and symbol of New Mexico and wanted me to buy it. I have to say, that it's perfect for this page.

Let the Good Times Roll

The Stallion Springs Community Church had a carnival the day that Martel left (originally) for Las Cruces. The boys and I decided to go check it out. They had a great time playing all the games and running around like the crazy boys they are. I had a great time just being a spectator. :)

This is another one of my Page 4 All Seasons monthly kit that I hadn't gotten around to using. The colors and the circles of the layout fit perfectly with my pictures.

So Happy...together

The Turtles are running rampant through my head right now. Everybody with me.... I can't see me loving nobody but you. It's no secret that I adore my husband, but that's how it should be, right?

Anyway, I actually took this picture of me and my husband at the Mesilla Valley Maze in Las Cruces. We spent the morning there with the boys doing all the "pumpkin patch" things.

This one actually wasn't a sketch but inspired by the colors and my scraps.
One more tip. I love the Prima crystals and pearls but they can get a bit pricey so what I do is cut them up and only use a little bit of the swirl on each layout. That way my one swirl can last for at least 2 layouts. That and I stock up when they're on sale.

S'mores N Snores

Here's a super easy layout that's cute as can be. For times when you have tons of pictures that you want to include (but don't want to do 15 layouts) trim them all to a uniform size and "block" the page. I also had a lot to say so this Becky Higgin's sketch out of a Creating Keepsakes magazine was perfect!

Note: my band new pack of Thickers only had 3 s's so I'll be needing to get another pack to finish my title which should be S'mores N Snores.

Summer fun at the water park.

I admit it, I'm a bad mom. I'm really not into holidays and things like that. My husband and I don't like to make a big deal about them (read teach our kids that it's all about the presents etc). Since Leo's birthday is in August, my girlfriends and I take the kids to the water park and I call that his birthday party. I'm an August baby too and when I was a kid, my mom did the same thing, took 3 of my friends to the water park. I thought it was great and I'm sure she did too. No party to prep for.

This is my version of Prima's Build-A-Page-November. In my last post I mentioned that I use sketches for my layouts. To go a bit more into my process, I see a sketch I like (like this one) and then print my pictures to fit the sketch, or my adaptation of said sketch. Once I get the pictures and the sketch worked out, I go through my paper and see what papers and embellishments I want to use. (paper/embellishment collections I keep together in a bag) Then I toss the pictures and the sketch into the bag with the paper and I'm ready to go. I usually do this in the evening while chatting with my husband or watching TV. Then, when I feel like scrapping (or go to a crop) I just grab a bag and it comes together in a jiffy. This layout here only took about 10 minutes from start to finish.

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles

No trip to Los Angeles would be complete without a stop at Roscoe's. Jen wasn't too sure about fried chicken and waffles on the same plate, but I think she enjoyed it. I know I always do. This is my take on Creative Scrappers sketch #75. Many people ask me how I manage to get so much scrapping done and all I have one word for you..... sketches! I'm getting so bad now, that it's really hard for me to scrap without them.