MIAMI UNIVERSITY

This is my latest project for Use Your Stuff.  The theme for this project was "Back to School, Back to Work."  I decided to go literal for this layout.  In June, I had to take my daughter to a volleyball match in a town almost an hour from my house.  In true teenager form, she did not want me there to watch since I was the only parent from her team there.  So rather than sit bored in my car for hours waiting on her to get done, I decided to go a half hour down to road to my alma mater; Miami University.  I spent my time wandering around the campus, eating at my favorite restaurants, shopping at the book store.  I had a lovely trip down memory lane, and was back to the volleyball game in time to watch the final match of the night.  To pull this project together, I used a variety of papers from my stash that I thought not only looked collegiate, but also contained Miami's school colors.  When placing my papers, I was inspired by my former design team's, 2 Broke Girls, sketch.

GETTYSBURG

This is my latest project for Sketches in Thyme using the following design.  For this project, I decided to feature pictures of a recent trip my family & I took to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  I teach American History.  I love stories.  And no place in the USA conjures up more stories than the Battle of Gettysburg.  My favorite spot at the Battlefield is featured in the pictures on this layout; Little Round Top.  A teacher from Maine holding his ground at all costs on the slopes of this hill not only changed the dynamics of the battle, but also the course of the American Civil War. Standing in this spot always gives me chills. Not to mention, the scenery is breathtakingly gorgeous. To pull this project together, I used a variety of papers & cardstock stickers from Doodlebug's "Yankee Doodle" and "Patriotic Parade" collections.

SOCCER IS LIFE

This is my latest design for Let's Scrap using the following sketch. When I saw the circles on the sketch anchoring the pictures, I thought of soccer balls.  Why?  Because soccer season is about to start in full force.  Like the title of this layout says, to my daughter, soccer is life.  She loves the game with every fiber of her being.  So for this layout, I decided to feature pictures of her during a tournament this past Spring in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  I'm not sure we have ever been so cold at a soccer tournament.  And another first that occurred (shown in one of the pictures with a tag in the pocket), she played in snow.  Despite the elements, it was a fantastic weekend complete with a penalty kick shoot out to determine the winner of the tourney.  To pull this project together, I used a variety of paper from Doodlebug's "Goal Collection."

SAY CHEESE

This is my latest project for "Use Your Stuff" using the theme "For the Love of Children" as a guide.  I instantly thought of Disney World when I saw the challenge.  Where else in the world can an adult wear mouse ears, and no one thinks a thing of it?  So I decided to feature pics of my girls at Disney World trying to get the "Sword In the Stone" sword out of the anvil.  Once they were done trying to dislodge sharp objects from rocks, they jumped on the carousel in the background.  And even more magical, my youngest (who has a food allergy) got to eat a huge popsicle that was safe for her.  It was truly a great day to be a child (and the parent of a child) for everyone.  To pull this project together, I used papers from Simple Stories "Say Cheese III" collection along with mouse ears cut from my Disney Alphabet Cricut cartridge. 

VACATION TIME

This is my latest project for The Memory Nest using the following sketch.  I decided to feature pictures of my daughter, my husband, and I during our latest trip to Panama City Beach, Florida.  My daughter is getting to the age that she is not wanting to pose for pictures for me anymore.  (Although she takes a zillion selfies a day...)  But every once in a while, she cooperates.  These are a few of my favorites I took when she was a willing picture participant.  When I saw how good the surfboard picture turned out, I decided to dip into my paper stash and use Carta Bella's "Beach Day" collection since the colors (and surfboard paper) accented these pictures perfectly.

ADORABLE

  This is my latest project for The Memory Nest using the following sketch.  My Mom and I had a garage sale a few weeks ago.  One of the treasures I found going through boxes and boxes of baby clothes was the little whale bathing suit my daughter wore when she was a baby.  I have been diligent about purging things, but I could not part with this  swimsuit.  As I was taking a trip down memory lane thinking of my chubby baby getting ready to take a "swim" with her Dad, I decided this tiny piece of lycra would be the perfect subject matter for a scrapbook layout.  I absolutely adore Bella Blvd's "Secrets of the Seas" collection for both boys and girls.  With the sketch calling for small squares, I thought using pieces of some of my favorite patterns from both lines would be a perfect way to accent the picture of my happy girl getting ready for a swim in her whale one piece.

THE OCEAN IS CALLING

This is my latest project for Let's Scrap using the following sketch.  I'm starting to think I did not get enough beach time this summer because I have been having a blast dipping into my ocean archives and finding pics of my girls playing in the sand.  These pics are from Isle of Palms, South Carolina; one of my favorite places on Earth.   This particular beach is about 20 minutes from Charleston, SC so we would get our sand fix in the AM and go into the city for dinner and our history fix in the PM when it wasn't so blazing hot.   To this day, one of my all time favorite pics of my oldest daughter is the one featured in this project of her holding the star fish.  To pull this beach theme project together, I used a variety of papers from Authentique's "Seafarer" collection.