I'm trying to get back to some regular posting.  This is a hard time of year for me. I, like everyone else, has many other things to do. Well, I'm making my best effort to keep the blog content coming! 

Today I am sharing my reveal for ScrapStuff'z Inspired By.  This month's inspiration is a replica of the original Mayflower.  

I found so many ideas from this photo.  The colors, the lines, wood, but ultimately came away creating a page about my son, his Marine Science field trip, and my thoughts on the day.

We are fortunate to live near the ocean. As part of the ecosystem studies, his class went on a Marine Science Field trip to learn about the ecosystem in the ocean. Fo my son, it was not so much about learning what his peers were learning that day. It was more about participating in the same activity as his peers, in his own way. He may not have been able to ask and answer questions, but he was able to touch the sea life, and watch the videos with them. He was able to socialize with his peers in an appropriate manner. For a day, he got to be like everyone else.

I took these photos in a moment when the rest of his class was not around. It was a quiet moment for him to get his bearings.  He loves looking at the water. He was so calm and engrossed.  I kept the LO feeling the same way by minimizing the design and products used.  I did use some travel and summer themed products that I had, but used them in a way that enhanced the mood as well as the theme. I love using spray mist. It was a great touch for this page as the water was spraying up form the boat, with droplets all over the windows.  The chevron tape creates a feeling of movement. The colors I took form his clothes in the photos, as well as the blue form the inspiration photo.

So there you have it. I love this page, in all it's simplicity, it has a lot of meaning.  We can't wait to see how you are Inspired by this photo as well.  You have until Nov 30 to link up your pages.

Supplies:

CS-Bazzill

PP-Fancy Pants

Stickers-Simple Stories and Fancy Pants

Washi-Echo Park

Wood Veneer-Studio Calico

Alphas-Fancy Pants and American Crafts

Fun Fall Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to our Fall Blog Hop. A groups of online friends decided to throw this little party to showcase some of our favorite fall projects.  You should have arrived here from Robyn's blog.  If not, please go back to Mandi's blog to begin from there. 

I am doing something different today.  I have completed most of my scrapbook pages over the past couple of years.  I went through my books and pulled out all of my fall LO's.  I wanted to see similarities and differences from page to page.  But what I really wanted to look at was both how my pages have changed, as well as how my family has changed.  The funny thing is, the fall activities didn't really change.

This LO I created after taking one of my first classes at BPC.  I remember it being one of the first times I used a single photo, as well as using multiple fonts and a long title.  It's still one of my favorites, and no, I never found another photos of the boys playing in the leaves this year.

Now this is more like it! Our neighbor's tree always was the first to lose its leaves. The boys would wait until this Dad was done raking THEN jump in the pile. They would spend hours goofing around, burying each other and being silly.  

I tried my hand at creating a cohesive 2 page LO using design principles I was learning. Here I tried hard to have a visual triangle.

Another of my favorites.  Finally the leaves fell on our side of the street. He took his toy rake to help me make a pile to play in.  

I wanted to keep the focus on the photos and try using smaller photos. I created a photo collage and filled in the odd spaces with fall themed stickers.  The stitches in the top and bottom corners draw the eye to the center, the photos.

These three are from the Scrapbook Generation Super Saver Sketch Club last fall.  I love this kit in particular because of the way the embellishing came together so nicely.  I had a lot of fun putting them together and the papers were perfect for out fall outing to Honey Hill Orchard.  Each page is a separate part of the day.  Apple picking, choosing our pumpkin, and the petting zoo.  Can't beat that all in one place.

This was our first time going to an apple orchard in the fall, We chose Johanssen Farms. They have a complete pumpkin patch, hay rides, train rides, apple orchards as well as the barn sticked with cider, donuts, pie...you name it. We had such a beautiful day and we decided to make it a family tradition.

I played around with stitching and contrasting color. The colors in the photos were vibrant. I wanted to highlight them.  Looking at this now, I see the blue sky first.  I think if I were to do it over, I wouldn't choose the green background.

This is my latest fall creation.  These trees are all in my neighborhood. I've been wanting too take photos of the beautiful colors for a while. I finally had a sunny day and was able to do so. 

I printed the photos using a white border. I liked the frame.  I also used bits of some bark that I found on my walk underneath the round embellishments.  I used and layered bold print papers because I loved the colors in the tonal print. The title is a play on words, which is something I have found I do often in my titles.

Thanks for taking a look and following my journey through fall activities and layouts.  If you aren't already a follower, please follows me! I post regularly about my crazy family life. I promise you'll find something humorous in every page.

From here you need to go see Laurie's blog. Thanks for hopping with us and I hope to see you stopping by again soon.

Curious George

Good Morning! It's Wednesday and that means its time for a new challenge at Child's Play Challenges.  This week we are sharing the Classic Book Challenge: Curious George

I love Curious George.  I think he's funny.  Oddly enough, we call our younger son Curious George sometimes....

One minute he's playing by himself. The next, he's wandered off to see what he can get into in the kitchen...Curious George for sure...

It worked out nicely that the LO is divided. The left side, 'content', the right side, 'curious'.  I used a scrapbook generation sketch and minimal embellishing to keep the focus on the photos.

Come play along with us this week at Child's Play Challneges. We love to see what you create.

Supplies:
PP-Fancy Pants
washi-MME
Wood Veneer-Studio Calico
ink-VersaMagic
chipboard-Scenic Route
alphas-Simple Stories, Sassafrass
buttons-random

1,2,3 Puff!

Good Morning. Is it really November? Wow this year has gone fast. I guess I better get started on all those projects I said I wanted to finish before the end of the year.

Well, I have something to share today.  It's Classic Toy Challenge week at Child's Play Challenges. Today's photo is an old favorite:  Xylophone

Here is what I created.

I used the different sized strips down the left side of the page, like the different sizes of the plates on the toy. The background  paper made me laugh. It so suited the photos and the explosion of tissues everywhere, but it also made me think of the explosion of sound when a toddler is banging on the toy.

Keeping is short and sweet today. Thanks for stopping to take a look at my creative view. Now head on over to  Child's Play Challenges and play along with the Classic Toy Challenge

Supplies:

PP & stickers-Echo Park

Stickles

Alphas-Thickers

Staples-Making Memories