Scrapbook Samples & a GIVEAWAY!

I've been waiting for the hubs to fix iphoto on my laptop so that I could upload pictures again. I'm happy to say, I can finally do that now! So....I wanted to share with you what I've been up to in my spare time the last few weeks. Then, I want to offer you a chance to win a GIVEAWAY:

"Fun in the Sun" - My handsome little dude struttin' his stuff out at the lake

Love the flip flop stamp - such a cute detail!

"Caleb" - This page completed Caleb's first 12X12 photo album! Love his sweet little baby face in that picture!

"LoveLoveLove You" - Some old pictures from a trip to the zoo last summer that I love and wanted to scrapbook. Finally got it in a fun layout.

"Look-a-likes" - I wanted to keep this page very simple because it was really to document how much my kids look a like in this photo!

"St. Louis" - Pictures from our trip last year to St. Louis. Someday, I'll get around to scrapbooking ones from this year!

And HERE'S your opportunity for a GIVEAWAY: I made this page for the hub's grandparents. I loved the pictures and the layout, but could not come up with a title. So for now, it's title-less. 

To enter this giveaway, please 1. become a follower and 2. Come up with a title for this page:

Here's the words to help with the context:

The giveaway deadline will be Tuesday, September 7th - I will choose my favorite title for the page, but I will randomly pick a winner so everyone has a fair chance of winning - the winner will receive a Scrapbook goody bag (I don't have a picture)! I will announce both next week!

Looking forward to hearing what you come up with!

Creative Itch - card making

From August to May, during Preschool, I didn't do a SINGLE crafty thing in my scrapbook room other than school stuff. Every Sunday night, I spent hours coming up with crafts, cutting, making newsletters, and using up all my creative juice on school related projects.

So now...my creative itch is coming back, and I'm so glad! I've got SO much scrapbooking to catch up on! But before I get to that, I have to say that I've started making cards. I always thought it was a great hobby, saves tons of money and practical (not to mention, a lovely personalized gift), but I never really did it for some reason. Well, after spending $10 on 3 cards last week, I decided I could make BETTER ones at home! It's been addicting. Who doesn't love homemade gifts? I sat down and wrote out all the cards I'll be mailing out through the end of the year, and got to work! And, I don't need to spend a penny on it cause I have so many scraps/stickers/paper to last a lifetime PLUS I'm repurposing some of our old cards that I've saved over the years. How thrifty of me!

Anyway, I was so proud of these silly simple projects, I thought I'd share:

Some Anniversary Cards:

And the birthday cards:

More birthday cards, inspired by in joyful retrospect, who is WAY more talented in card making than I, you should check her out!

That's all for now, but I'll definitely be making more! My ultimate goal is to make a few generic ones as well (I love the birthday cake one - so great for extra scrap paper!), that I'll NEVER have to buy a card again! We'll see! Hope you enjoy!

And don't forget....you have until Sunday to enter my FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY

Answered prayers and a Scrapbook Event

Thank you to everyone for you kind words, and especially, your prayers.

The power of prayer is awesome. Within hours of asking for prayers, they were being answered. The hubs and I sat down and made a list of things we could do to save money and earn money. This is what we came up with:

Ways to Save Money:

1. Have the hubs stay home in the am on Tues/Thurs and work pm so we can cut out paying the sitter - The hubs is going to discuss this option as a temporary fix with his boss. This will save us apprx. $180 a month.


2. Possibly pull Faith from preschool and see if our dear friend would watch her along with our son (who she is already watching) - This is a last option, but it would save us upwards of $50-80 a month.


3. Ask the director for discount on Faith's tuition, after all....I AM the head teacher there - I will be discussing this option this week.


4. Call Student Loan providers and discuss repayment options - I did this thinking I didn't really qualify for anything, just wanted to see what the options were....turns out, they told me I could pretty much pay back whatever I want per month or not pay anything for a year!!! We dropped our $275 a month loan payment to $75 - saving us $200 a month!!! WHAT A BLESSING.

Ways to Earn Money:

1. Get another job - Last night, I applied for two jobs with Lifetime Fitness in the Child Care Center. This would be an answered prayer, because it's part time, I would never work past 9pm, the kids could come with me to work, AND I'd get a free membership....this would earn and save me tons of money!!


2. Sell some stuff - I am working on putting stuff together for a Mom2Mom sale. This week, we're going through our house and posting stuff on Craigslist to sell. And, I'm hosting a Scrap Swap on Feb. 27th (I just came up with this idea the other day....and I think it will be amazing. Even if it only makes me a few dollars, it's gonna be really fun.

(if you live in the Metro Detroit Area and are interested in this event, please let me know!!!)

God is good. Thank you for your continued prayers as we work on our financial situation.

Speaking of Scrapbooking...

So, even though I haven't found the time to enjoy my new scrapbook room yet, I'm still on the high of having my own space. A few times over the last few days, I've just walked in to stare at my room and imagine all the things I could do in the future with the room.

So, I'm totally a nerd cause Scrapbooking is my escape, and I'm not afraid to admit how much I love it. It's very theraputic for me, and I love having the memories forever to share with my kids one day. A few people have asked me in the past to share my scrapbook pages and even send them in, but I've never really been motivated to do so because it's my own. My scrapbooking has for sure evolved over the years, I've been doing it before it was ever an official hobby with a title. But, there are a few pages that are my absolute favorite, and I've decided to share them since I can't sit down and actually make new ones right now.

'Precious Moments' This is one of the first pages I ever made for Faith's album that I remember being really proud of...I did all the letters and pictures by hand. And I love all of Faith's little part.

'Seasons' I stole this idea I believe from an idea book, but I love the way it turned out and the way it shows Faith's first four seasons and how she changed. What a cutie!

'The View of Love' Also one of the first pages I made...I hate the pictures themselves, but I love the simplicity of the lines and colors.

'It's a BOY' There's something I love about this page, maybe because it took me forever to finally put together just right and sew all the buttons....and I loved the accent paper

'Remember' This is a more recent page I made, wanting to remember life lessons I've either learned the hard way or seems to forget on a regular basis. And one of the first times I got to use my Cricut machine!

'Mister Personality' I love these two photos of Caleb...and I loved the way the layout and journaling complimented it...and the colors were perfect. It just makes me smile.

'Sibling Love' A newer page, I love the distressed look...sanding is one of my favorite techniques! But I love these photos I'd taken of the kids for our Christmas cards.

'Caught Reading' This is probably my absolute favorite page. The layout itself is simple and subtle, but I love that it's not straight, I love the detail...but even more, I love this picture (that was actually taken with my phone!) of Faith reading to her babydoll...cutest thing ever!

'Daughter are Special, Especially mine' I kinda love the business of this page, it's fun but doesn't take away from the fun photos. Very modern, and makes me think of summer when I look at it.

There ya have it...a few pieces of my heart and passion. Let me know what you think!