A new twist on Independence Day

Today was the first day of Kindergarten...they start several days after the rest of school so the teachers can meet individually with the kids and parents. Today had an underlying theme of "independence."

• First she got up at 5:15 instead of when I usually wake her up at 6:00...she said it was because she was soooo excited about school.
• Then she wanted to dress herself (she usually does, but she got her clothes out herself)...she turned around at me in the room with her arm and hand straight out and said, "No, mamma, I can do it myself!"
• I was planning on taking her to school for pictures and to check out the routine, but she wanted to go on the van from day care (not).
• As we pulled into the parking lot at school, she asked me to stay there so she could go by herself (double not)...then she proceeded to run to the school once we hit the sidewalk.
• And finally, when I went after school to meet her and see the routine, she said hello, but then didn't want anything to do with me. Wow, what a big kid!!!

We promised her that if she didn't cry all day, we'd take her to Chuck E Cheese's for dinner...we BOTH met the challenge. On the way home, she crashed in the truck before she could even finish her lolly pop...it's hard work being such a big kid!!!

Big Shot

Do all of your scrapbook pages have pictures? Until now, all mine have. As you read in previous posts, Erica is learning how to shoot. This layout is the story I told about her first day out with the "baby gun." I just HAD to scrap that can!!! So I cut it and put it in a slim jewel case (thanks, Marie for the great idea!). I used some really neat cardstock that's black on the front and colored on the bad (Black Magic by Core'dinations). The paper behind that is by Karen Foster Designs and the letters are from Creative Imaginations and outlined in white. I just love how it turned out...thanks for looking.

Crop for Cancer - Relay for Life

I am participating as a vendor at our local Relay for Life event on Oct 4 called Crop for Cancer. This is an all day crop to raise money for the American Cancer Society. For more information or to register (spots are going quickly), please contact the organizers thru this link.

30% OFF SCRAPBOOKING SUPPLIES

Check this out...AC Bailey is having a 30% discount on EVERYTHING in the online store Fri and Sat, Aug 15-16. Make sure you enter code BTSS so you get the discount. Regular shipping is applied on these orders. Take advantage of this sale!!! Click HERE to start shopping. The first of every month is FREE shipping...so make sure to sign up for the frequent buyer club to earn a gift certificate on your purchases.

What inspires you?

How are you inspired to scrapbook? I have several inspirations:

1. Crops where I can meet friends and just have a good time being productive
2. Sketches or other layouts that give me inspiration on color, layout, theme, etc
3. Challenges that pull me out of my standard style of of scrapbooking
4. The perfect pictures that just scream to be scrapped!!!

So here I sit...two days away from my monthly crop where I have a 2-page layout class as part of the agenda and I haven't gotten the layout done. So where do I start after I get past the stress of not being prepared? Here's one of my favorite sites for inspiration: Page Maps

Whether you scrapbook 8-1/2 x 11 or 12x12, 1-page layouts or 2-page layouts, this is a GREAT site. And they have at least one completed idea for each "map" shown. What I really like about "maps" is how you can modify the map to meet your needs or style. You can swap a large photo for multiple smaller ones (I like more than one photo on a page), you can swap journaling for another picture or embellishment if you don't like to journal (but you really should!!!), you can rotate the layout(s) 90 degrees, etc.

So I haven't picked a "map" yet, I'll knuckle down after I post this...maybe. But here's a layout I did for one of the May layouts using one of the Becky Fleck's Dec 2006 pagemaps...I REALLY changed it up because I added newspaper articles, a copy of Jeff's certificate for being a volunteer coach at the Junior Olympic Development Training Camp, and a copy of the first check he received for Trap Shooting...a whopping SIX DOLLARS. Oh, and take special note that the article and picture in the bottom right corner includes a 2008 Olympiad...Cory Cogdell is representing the US in the Olympics this weekend for Women's International Trapshooting. The preliminaries are 5pm AK Time on Sunday, with the finals at 11pm AK time that same evening. Go Cory...she's a fellow Alaskan!!!

Welcome!

Let me start by introducing myself and my family to you. I have been married to a wonderful man for over 10 years. His is my biggest scrapbooking supporter...and enabler. We are blessed to have a beautiful daughter, Erica, who is almost 5 years old. I started scrapbooking about 6 years ago after a 3-week vacation to Africa. Can you believe, of all the photos we took, I was in TWO of them...that's probably no surprise to most of you. After I completed the album about our trip to Africa, I had enough time to finish getting ready for the arrival of our daughter...and now she's my main inspiration.

You know my expensive hobby is scrapbooking...Jeff's expensive hobby is trap shooting. He keeps asking me when I'm going to scrapbook him and HIS hobby...maybe when I'm caught up with Erica (do we ever really get caught up?) or when I'm not feeling inspired by Erica (ha...like that'll ever happen). So what has he done to try and improve his odds of being scrapbooked? He's teaching our daughter how to shoot. I'm still not sure how I REALLY feel about it, but he's VERY safe and as a certified 4-H instructor, I know he's doing all the right things. He was also selected as a volunteer instructor two years ago for the Junior Olympic Development Training Camp. So I have every faith in the world in him and his training abilities.

Two weeks ago Jeff and his dad took Erica to the gun club to shoot a BB gun (aka "baby gun" as Erica called it). With their help, she took aim at a Coke can and tore it apart...well, maybe most of the holes are from Jeff and his dad. But then they came across a friend of their who was with his girl friend's 9-yr old daughter and a PINK .22 rifle. They helped Erica with her aim and she NAILED a target. Figuring it was a fluke, they tried again...same result. So Jeff bought her a .22 rifle of her own...and convinced her that this GREEN rifle was better than PINK. We went to the gun club last night and I watched her shoot for the first time. At a distance of 20 feet, she shot at 6 metal silhouette targets. Before I could even get set with my camera, she had already shot the first target off the 4x4 wood block. WOW!!! We were there for about 30 minutes and she probably shot 80% or better at the silhouettes. Jeff's already looking forward to the Summer Olympics in 2020...