So, I go to one of my aunt's houses and she has this camera sitting on her table.  Oh, man!!!  My uncle said I could borrow it after my kids were out of the house, LOL!  Anyway, now, I am REALLY in the mood for a camera.  When I went to go and talk to the people at Best Buy and they mentioned a few things to consider when buying a camera.  First, the Canon dSLRs have a live feed through the digital screen in a certain setting of the camera - which is not listed in any of the reviews as I remember reading them.  Second, Best Buy does offer classes to learn how to better use your camera and all of its settings.  They can come to your home or you can set them up there at Best Buy (and both options are not that bad in price).  So, keep your fingers crossed that nothing comes up in the next four months that I have to spend any other money!!

A bit of Whimsy!

And now, for a bit of whimsy!  :)

I whipped these cards up in no time flat!  The bases that I've been using are pre-made (pre-scored with envelopes in the package), because I haven't quite adventured into making my bases when I can get them so cheap from Hobby Lobby!   This card features two punches from Stampin' Up.  I absolutely adore Stampin' Up's punches.  They're even better now that they are made in pocket size for storage, but I love them no matter what.  The "notebook" punch was used down the side of my coordinating green (from the scrap pile) and then the scallop was done to border the paper from a stack that came with an organizer from "the book man" at school.  I also used some chipboard that I got in a mega stack at Hobby Lobby in their line of products.  Of course, it was half off!  I also love to accent in ribbon - just a simple knot around the stem of this leave and done!

This card, I used paper from the same stack (Paper Block) and scalloped the edge at the bottom.  Again, a simple flair of chipboard accented with ribbon and DONE!  Since I don't get to do much boy stuff - it seems to be that my cards are becoming very girly - Likey likey!

The dragon fly card uses a technique I LOVE to do.  I scallop the card front and then scallop the paper I am going to put on the face and leave some room to see the base of the card.  That Stampin' Up! border scallop punch really got some action today!  Here again I used the chipboard from Hobby Lobby and the paper from the Paper Block stack I purchased.  Thanks for checking in to see what's new - be on the look out for the next scrapbook page to come!  :) Melissa

The Children's Muesum!!

I love to take the boys to the Indianapolis Children's Museum!!  It never fails that we learn something new, have an unbelievable adventure and are exhausted by the time we leave.  This layout features pictures that are actually taken at the end of our trip - so smiles are forced! The layout is so simple because I used things from Close to My Heart's Stardust Paper Pack.  The green background paper, card stock to mat the pictures and quote as well as the border sticker at the top, line sticker at the bottom and the Discover sticker.  I chose to "hang" the quote sticker by using Stampin' Up's Hemp twine and two brads.

 I adhered the twine in the middle of the quote with a glue dot (which I would not advise to do again) that is still sticky where the twine doesn't cover.  I learn something new with the things that don't quite work! 

These pictures are from the glass exhibit.  I continued using the Stardust package.  The border sticker and the star sticker in the center is from the package or the coordinating stickers that go with it.  Because the pictures were so busy, I didn't want to do too much, but yet wanted to keep the "theme" of my paper the same so the pages flowed together as you look through my album. 

The last page features pictures throughout the museum and again uses paper from the Stardust Package, just a different choice of paper than the green.  I again used the coordinating stickers to embellish the layout.  These pics are also matted in a card stock from the same package.  I love using packages from CTMH - they've got everything you need. 

Here is a close up of the stickers I layered on to my page.  These stickers are not as thick as chipboard; however, they are about as thick as some of the thin cardboard packaging you get with some products.  I'd like to think of these stickers as "thickers" because they're heavy duty.    I can't say it enough I love me some CTMH. 

First Day

As the start of school approaches, I thought it would be a good idea to share what I did with my oldest son for his first day of Kindergarten.    This paper is from the DCWV premium "Grade School stack."  I like to pick these up from Hobby Lobby or Jo Anne's when they are on sale.  Because my loving son has Aspergers, nothing can be too serious at our house.  He loves to play - so that is why we have quite a few silly shots of him.  Since they so encapsulate who he is, they're quite appropriate to document his life. 

I used some of my old Creative Memories star stickers from a random package as well as a school bus sticker.  Kindergarten was preprinted on the background paper above; however, I used letter stickers from the beach layout I did previously to title the page on the right.  I also used some of my old phrase stickers that I bought from Hobby Lobby a few years ago.  I'm trying to use up the old so I can buy new and tell you where I've gotten it at!  :)

This layout will go opposite the previous one.  The stickers are from the old School days package from Creative Memories.                                                I hope you have enjoyed my layouts.  Feel free to copy them, or deviate from them.  More soon!  :) Melissa