30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 15

I am thankful for giggling and goofing off with my girlfriends.

That is all.  

It is simple.

It is true.

It is something women need: girlfriends to lean on and giggle with!  :)

Until Next Time,

SCRAP ON!

~Cyn~

BLESSINGS - Gratitude Entry...

Tonight is a fun night for me - GIRL'S NIGHT OUT!  I get to go to Jessica's house to hang with my good friends, eat fondue, scrapbook and enjoy some great conversations.  4 of my favourite things to do!

Sophie is in bed right now, Nathan is reading in his room and I am putting together a bunch of stuff to work on tonight.  I have so many albums that I am working on right now.  I have Sophie's album - for her first year that I have to finish.  I have her second year album to start!  Yeesh!  I am also trying to get all my Skyline pictures scrapbooked so that I can take them up to Skyline this fall for our 10th Retreat!  Woot! Woot!

I am also working on Nathan's school album, the Places We Go album and the Things We Do album.  Add to it, the Book of Me that I told myself that I would finish one day.  Too many projects and so little time to work on them!  But, as I work on all these different albums, I get to re-live the memories and remember what the kids were like in each of the photos and I will also get to show off the pics as I crop them down and get them on the pages.  I really need this tonight!

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Now, onto another topic near and dear to my heart....FRIENDS!!!  A couple of days ago, I posted to twitter: "Friends help make life bearable for the SAHM".....

I completely and utterly agree with this because I would be a mess if I didn't have my friends.  If I didn't have friends to call when I was having a rough day or to hang out with on a regular basis, I wouldn't make it through the summer months with both kidlets at home, I wouldn't make it PERIOD!  I appreciate my friends and I *think* my friends appreciate me.  I am an extrovert.  I like to be around people.  I like to exchange stories and laugh and cry with people.  I have never met a stranger.  No matter where I am, I can meet a new acquaintance or strike up a conversation.  That is just me.  

So, in case I don't say it often enough, THANK YOU FRIENDS!!!  I love y'all!!!  

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So, tonight, think of me as I take my 12 of 12 photos with my 5 good friends here in McDonough, eat a bunch of food that I don't normally get to eat, chat it up and scrapbook the night away!

Until Next Time,

SCRAP ON!
~Cyn~

Are ya FEELING SCRAPPY???

I sure am!


Jayne, the owner of Feeling Scrappy, has decided to bring back the Sketchapalooza classes and I posted about them earlier.  I am completely psyched about it and in my first post about the classes, I forgot to mention that I am on her Design Team for the Sketch class starting June 4th!  I am!  I promise! 
I even created a sketch for the class!  Jayne encouraged me to look through my old pages that I hadn't used sketches for and to take a favourite and draw it out!  So, I did!  She liked it!  She liked it!  I am going to try my hand at a couple more too, I think. 
Anyway, I am pretty excited about the class.  Afterall, Jayne took a sabbatical from the classes for a little while and took care of family and it is so good to see her back out here doing her thing!  Way to go Jayne!!!
So, are you going to join me and take the class or what?!?!  You know you will love it!  I may have to do a little *Challenge* during the class for a special little package from me!  I think I will do that!!!  
Just go to her blog - I linked it on the sidebar of this blog and buy the class!  You won't regret it!  
Here are a couple of my layouts from previous classes.  They really are for everyone and some of my very best layouts came from taking these classes!

Seriously, you really should think about it!  I will be there cheering you all on and encouraging you!  See you in Class!
Until Next Time,
SCRAP ON!
~Cyn~

Simple Woman's Day Book - Week 17

FOR TODAY - Thursday April 26, 2012

Outside my window...it is sunny and gorgeous out.

I am thinking...that I really need more pictures of Nathan.
I am thankful...for Tim Hortons Coffee this morning. I slept terribly last night!
In the kitchen...I can hear the dogs munching on their food.
I am wearing...my penguin pajamas that light up.
I am creating...some layouts for a friend.  Should look fabulous when I am done with them.  
I am going...to volunteer this morning in Nathan's classroom.  I think he really likes that I can do that for him. Ah, the benefits of being a stay at home mommy!
I am wondering...what Ben and my parents are up to in Canada this morning. I am jealous that he is up there getting all the Tim Horton's coffee he can stand while I am down here with the kidlets doing chores and taking care of things.  Oh well.  At least he has some time away.  
I am reading...smut....romantic and almost erotic fiction!  Some of these freebies I got on Amazon for the Kindle.  I love that Kindle!  It is the best thing since sliced bread!
I am hoping...Ben has a nice time in Canada before his training in Michigan starts on Monday.  He needs some time with his family.
I am looking forward to...this weekend when Elizabeth comes for a scrappy retreat here at the house. I think Jessica is coming too.  Should be a nice getaway for her and we will get some scrapping done!
I am learning...I need to eat more often at home.  I find that through the day, I forget to eat and that leads to a grumpy mama.  So, I need to start forcing myself to eat, even if I am not hungry!
Around the house...it is all quiet.  Sophie is still in bed and Nathan is getting himself some cheerios for breakfast. The dogs are finished eating their breakfast and I can hear the fan in the bathroom going (noise barrier for Sophie).
I am pondering...going back through the years to get the photos put into a family album for each year.  Should take me a while, but using the We R Memory Keepers page protectors will make it easy.  Project Life has really opened my eyes to this "easy" way of scrapping!
A favorite quote for today...found this on pinterest.  That site is a huge time-suck, but it is pretty fabulous for quotes and all kinds of crafty ideas and do-it-yourself stuff too.  Love it!

One of my favorite things...my Kindle
A few plans for the rest of the week...watch Grey's Anatomy tonight, scrappy time with my girlfriends, maybe some outside time with the kidlets and some serious laundry to get done!
A peek into my day...

Working on the page next to this one today.  Maybe I will even get the photos from this week uploaded to CVS to be printed.  Who knows right?  Today is going to be a good, good day!

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Want to join us? Go here


Until Next Time,
SCRAP ON!


~Cyn~

Project Life 2012 - Getting Started!!!!

So, in January, I started to take a photo a day to do this 365+1 album.  Taking a photo a day is sometimes hard to do especially when you forget your camera! 
A couple of days, I used some backup photos that I had, but for the most part, I took a photo a day and will continue for the duration of 2012.  The Becky Higgins Project Life kits were all backordered and I had to wait until February to place my order on Amazon.    
When they finally became available again, in February, I ordered the Project Life Cobalt Core Kit, The Big Variety Pack #2 of page protectors and the Cobalt Cardstock package.  It all arrived and I posted this pic to twitter:    

Then, life and the retreat planning for Skyline got in the way of me actually getting started.  Life happens, eh?
UNTIL.....last weekend at the ScrapShare North Alabama Retreat. Here's how it all went down:

1. Before I left for the retreat, I spent a day going through my photos from January 1, 2012 until April 8, 2012.  
2. I copied the photos I wanted to use into a separate folder labelled 365+1. 
3. I renamed the photos with the date they were specifically taken on or the date I wanted them for: 1-1-12, 1-2-12, 1-3-12, etc. 
4. Then I took the pictures to CVS and printed them on matte paper.  

Now, I "cheated" on a couple of days...but it wasn't too bad.  I think I only missed 3 days from January 1st to April 8th!  Not bad if I do say so myself!  An example of "cheating" is:  January 3rd is my Mum's birthday, so I used a picture of her and I on her wedding day back in November 2011.  Since she is up in Canada and I am here, I couldn't get a picture of her on the 3rd. I used a picture of Sophie in her jammies for one of our "Jammie Days" that we have from time to time.  The photo itself was taken a couple of days before the actual jammie day.  So, it was close in time. 
So, fast forward to the retreat: 

1. I spent the first part of the retreat putting the photos in order and figuring out which of the page protectors I needed for each week.  I realized that I take a LOT of photos vertically. Yikes!  I may have to order more of the vertical page protectors or maybe a couple packages.  
2. Cut all my Cobalt Cardstock (which was 12x12) to 4x6 sizes.
3. Cropped down the photos I had to fit horizontally (if they were vertical) and adhere them to the cardstock.
4. Started slipping all the photos into the page protectors.
5. Last but not least, JOURNAL.  (more about journaling in a separate post). 

And so it begins....my journey with Project Life.  I will be posting some more things about Project Life in the coming days, weeks and months. (Note: To look at all my Project Life Posts at once, you will just need to click at the bottom of this post "Project Life" and/or Project 365 and it will bring up all the posts I have written about this topic.)  
If you are interested in more info about Project Life, go check out Becky Higgins' Website.  She has a bar across the top of her site that allows you to see all her products, her blog, among other things. Great stuff over there, I promise!  

For those of you wondering how the retreat went?  It was RELAXING and FUN!!! Here we are "Charlie's Scrappers"....Jessica, Marta and I hamming it up at the retreat.  

Until next time,
SCRAP ON!
~Cyn~

Oh, IKEA, How I Love Thee.....

My good friend, Dawn, has a little area in her bedroom that she has used for scrapbooking in the past.  Right now, it is a little messy and not functional at all.  So, today,we took a little trip into Atlanta to IKEA to get her some organizing stuff.  

It was a total spur of the moment trip that we could have put off until next week, but we figured "the laundry and cleaning can wait".  So, off we went with 2 toddlers in tow to Ikea.  

Can I just tell you how much I LA LA LA LOVE Ikea?  I mean, REALLY, I love it!  The organizational section and office/work areas are, by far, my favourite.  You know, I thought I would be so tempted while I was in there to spend a huge amount of cash, but I bought the things I needed for our house (scissors, an egg timer for Sophie's potty training and a can opener) and I bought one zippered box for my Expedit shelf that will replace the one I busted last month (oops).    

I did find the desk that I would LOVE in MY scraploft....

I was also able to find a "big girl bed" for Sophie ^^^

Now, for Dawn's Scrapbook Nook, ended up getting an 8 cube Expedit and 2 bins with zippers for it.  Hopefully, her sister will help her put it together so that next week, I can head over to her place to help her organize and make her scrapbook nook more functional.  

That is one thing I absolutely love to do: organize.  

The cool thing about organizing:  First, it looks like a tornado has come through and trashed the place,  Then, when it is all said and done, man does it ever look awesome!  I promise, I will take photos before and after!!!  

Can't wait to see what we can pull off in there! :)

Until next time,
SCRAP ON!
~Cyn~

January 19th 2010 - 365

I met with Beth and Jess at McDonalds for breakfast this morning with their kidlets.
You can totally see when you take their pictures that they are "Scrapbookers Kids".....both R and S turned to look at the camera after the first shot.
Sophie will learn to pose and smile SOON, I hope.

I am so thankful to have new friends, but even more thankful that they have children that are close to my children's ages! This is a weekly occurance - the meeting at McD's to let the children run off steam in the playgound. Then we cover them in hand sanitizer and head home for naptime! It is a great time to get out with the girls and chat while the kids play. What fun we ALL get to have. On top of that, I found out today that McD's coffee isn't too bad! I am shocked! It isn't comparable to Timmy's but at least it isn't like Starbucks and causes me to cringe every time I take a sip! So, yay! Add to that the Cinnamon bites and the entire morning awesome (I have to tell you that I didn't even feel sick after eating there like I usually do = success!!!).

Off to put the princess to bed, afterall, she is tuckered out! Thanks R and S for getting her tired!
~Cyn~