Making Kisses

Nothing to lead into this blog post...the story says it all, so here goes:

Erica often gives kisses freely (she's such a love bug), but occasionally she withholds them, saying she's all out. Of course that breaks our hearts because we want kisses when we want them! She's caught onto the fun we have with her and plays with us now. One time in January I asked for a kiss, she said she was out. I asked how that could be because she loves me so much? She said, "Wait a minute and I'll make some more." Then all of a sudden, she put her finger to the temple of her head and blew a raspberry. Then she ran over and gave me a kiss. I was laughing so hard and asked her what she was doing. She said, "That's how I make more kisses, mom." Just like that...so matter of fact...and then she made more!

The papers are K & Co, the rubon letters and ribbon are WRMK and the chipboard is mixed up from 3 or 4 different sources (and painted). And I totally lifted the layout from here...I just loved the lines and blocking!!!

1-pg vs 2-pg layouts?

Let's get you thinking about your scrappin' again...You can tell from my layouts that I prefer multiple photos (Jeff's influence). Do you scrap more 1-pg or 2-pg layouts. I used to only scrap 2-pg layouts...I should say about 90-95% of my layouts tend to be 2-pg layouts. A couple of things happened that has changed that a little:

First, I create monthly layouts as a class for a group of ladies. It started as 1-pg layouts, and after a few years, I went to 2-pg layouts because most of us scrapped mostly 2-pg. Then last year a few ladies asked me if I would go back to 1-pg layouts because they were getting stressed about finding enough photos for the layouts.

The second thing that happened was me finding AC Bailey last year...check out the gallery and all the talented ladies on the Design Team. They are SOOOOO inspirational, as are the challenges they create for us. Since very few layouts are my own design/creation (I'm a HUGE "lifter"), I've found myself creating more 1-pg layouts based on their designs.

Put these two things together and I think I'm down to about 50-50 on 1-pg vs 2-pg layouts. This layout is based on a layout I found on Jenn's blog (she's VERY talented, too...check her out). As I was putting it together, I decided I had too many pictures for one page, so I turned it into a 2-pg layout. It was the perfect design to be a 1-pg or 2-pg layout. Thanks, Jenn, for the inspiration!!! The papers are Kaiser's Squadron, as are the epoxy brads. I added some K & Co stickers and tags that coordinated nicely (had to hunt and pack in the tags since some of the designs had a few too many flourishes and lace elements...but I think it works).

One Photo Layouts? Or Multi-Photo Layouts?

How many photos do you like to put on a layout? Jeff likes more than one...in fact, he prefers as many as possible on a layout. I usually try to put more than one on a page. BUT, I did a layout this weekend for a challenge and had only one perfect picture...no, I didn't exclude others that were not perfect. I just had ONE picture, but it was PERFECT. As I put the layout together, I knew Jeff would be OK with this one only having ONE picture.


Here's the layout...not bad for one picture, huh? The challenge is part of AC Bailey's Stimulus Challenge. We are supposed to do a layout with B&W pix (this one is actually Sepia), stamped or hand written titles (I used a tutorial at this blog...isn't it cool?!?), and hand made embellies (I cut and pieced some elements from the papers...it's the best I could do, sorry), and ribbon and buttons. Everything is from the AC Bailey May Kit of the Month. The kit screamed vintage and with a sepia pix of Erica and her Grandpa, it was perfect. By the way, Jeff agrees...one picture is perfect for this layout!

Happy (early) Mother's Day

I got this from a friend and just HAD to share it. Unfortunately I can't give credit on where it's from, but I've seen it before so it's been around a while. Now, let's hope I can do this right as I've never posted videos before. Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms!!! And those who aren't, enjoy this anyway...I can see some of it from my childhood, and I bet you can, too.

Can I do this???

As I posted a few weeks ago, I recently started running with a friend of mine (Erica's God Mother). I am VERY SLOW...I don't even want to tell you how long it took us to finish the 5K in Feb (I think I already said my mile pace was in double digits, though). Anyway, we signed up for a running group with a trainer. The pace groups are based on your 10K pace. WHAT?!? I have never even run a 10K. How do I know what my pace is?!? So I started in the slowest published pace she has listed: the 11 minute mile group (or as I call it, " the All Others" group because the next slower person is 9:30). Fortunately two more ladies joined after me and I have company now...I'm more of a social runner, so running by myself was really not much fun.

I also started running with a neighbor on Mon and Wed right after work. She's VERY organized...plans everything. Now I know I'll be running at least twice a week...can't let Tracie down!!! I feel a little bad, though...she's a better runner than me and I know I'm holding her back. Hopefully I'll build up my strength and will be able to keep up with her a little better.

And speaking of keeping up. The trainer that heads up the running group I'm with also does individual training. Her website says she has a waiting list. So I asked her about it last night...here was the conversation:

Me: "So I see you have a waiting list for training."

Lisa: "Well, that's a loose waiting list..."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Lisa: "Two people dropped yesterday, so I have room...do you have a particular race in mind?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Lisa: "I only train people to reach a goal for a particular race"

Me: "Oh...well...I really wanted to run a 10K this year, but that seems wimpy. And the Humpy's Half Marathon (in August) seems like it's a bit aggressive for me at this point."

Lisa: "There's a Half Marathon in Jan..."

Me: "Really?"

Lisa: "...in Phoenix..."

Me: "Really? Wow...that might be perfect, 'cuz I like to take a winter break each year for a Spa trip to Scottsdale..."

Lisa: "Check it out and let me know what you think..."

O...M...G...am I gonna really do this?!? I know I posted on the "Me Work" layout that I wanted to do one, but that was kinda just out there...I didn't really think I'd start REALLY training for one. WOW...I actually think I'm going to give it a try!!! Wish me luck...and my Spa buddy (Kelly) will hopefully be able to do the spa with me around the same time and take some pix!!!

I'm A Lrjik

I've shared some of Erica's work before...here's one I can't resist sharing. Apparently she was asked to draw a picture and then tell a story about it. Erica really wants a dog, but we've been telling her no because I'm allergic to cats and dogs. Maybe if we lived somewhere warmer so the dog could be an outside dog, it might work...or maybe I can convince Jeff to get a "hypo allergenic" dog...

You know this one will be scrapped, right???