A Wild Safari Adventure!

This is a photo of my buddy Levi from this past summer. He came to stay for a week and we went to Busch Gardens one day. We had so much fun!



I picked up some grass at Michael's and thought it would add a nice 'jungle' touch. I also used a set from Jolees, which is something I rarely do. I just thought it added that cute safari look.

Finally - OLW

I finally got around to designing my One Little Word layout. I am really into pink right now - probably because it's almost Valentine's Day, but who knows. So anyway, here it is:


It's one of the flattest layouts I've done in a while, lol!

So to the word itself - I can't really say I have made any changes yet. I have been trying to scrapbook more, but I still haven't went out and done anything this year. 'Wicked' is coming to Tampa in February though and I am so determined to see it. I sure hope Kevin is well enough for me to go.

Yukky Night

I had such a mentally draining night last night so I scrapped. What else can we do when we are so very depressed?

So here are my layouts. The first is a scraplift and I am very mad at myself because I can't remember who I lifted. I have it in my mind that it is Donna Downey, but I might be seriously wrong.

Anyway, I just LOVE how she flowered the whole background! And what a way to get rid of some of the million tiny Prima flowers I have from years ago, huh?


This second layout is for the challenge over at ScrapMuse. We had to hand cut paper to make embellishments and add chipboard. I cut the leaves out of some old Prima paper. Cutting things is a little hard for me, but I managed!


Now I am off to scrap for a bit. Kevin is out with Ronnie and I am so enjoying being home alone!

6 Layouts In One Night!

I scrapped all night last night. Kevin only called me downstairs twice, so I got hours of scrapping in and I loved it! Unbelievably, I got six layouts done. I have never gotten that many done in one night before.

So now I am ahead of my goal. I plan to design at least two layouts a week during 2010 and that means I am ahead a week so far.

So anyway, here are my layouts:

This first one is of Moe while we were at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio. She HATES to get her picture taken and just won't smile, lol. So after a while, she finally gave in and gave me a smarta$$ smile and I snagged the photo real quick!


This is of my son while at his Purple Heart Ceremony. The photo was taken by Rebecca Droke, the wonderful photographer from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I must say that every time I looked at this picture I saw stars and knew I had to incorporate them somehow. I cut them all with my Cricut and then misted them with Glimmer Mist.


This one was created for a sketch challenge over at Amy's Creative Treasures. The sketch itself is from Pagemaps. This is what actually got me inspired to start scrapping last night!


This one didn't really turn out the way I had hoped and I am not overly thrilled with it. I do love the look on Kevin's face in this picture, but I'm just not happy with the layout itself.


And here is one of Breezy at the Japanese Tea Gardens too. I just LOVE this Life Stories line from My Mind's Eye. It has such a unique feel to it.


And this one is my favorite of the night. I actually started this layout a long time ago and put it aside for a while. When I got the Mudd Paste in the mail recently, I knew I had to add it to this layout. I was also VERY brave and actually painted the sun's rays onto this layout and I was so scared to do it. I'm glad I did though, because it really added to it (in my eyes anyway, lol).



I sure hope I can get to some more scrapping this week. It was just so relaxing getting so many layouts done!

No scrapping for me!

I made a goal to do a minimum of two layouts a week in 2010 and I haven't done a one yet. I have been sick the last week or so and have not felt well enough to even scrap. Kevin's aide is coming tomorrow, so I am hoping I can at least get one in. Wish me luck!

One Little Word

Deanna over at SM posted a link to Ali Edwards' blog post titled "One Little Word". It has Ali (and a bunch of others) picking a word for the following year. A word that you will try to live by, a word that will become part of who you are.

I really like this idea.

Click here to read Ali's post.

So I thought about it all morning and decided my word for 2010 will be 'SELF'.

From the moment that Kevin was wounded, I was no longer the Leslie of old. I totally immersed myself into being a nurse/doctor/caretaker/chauffeur/etc. EVERYTHING I did - I did for Kevin. I can honestly count on one hand the amount of times I did something just for me in the past 579 days.

Don't get me wrong - I don't regret it - not for one second, but it's time to get some of me back. Kevin has come so far now and I think he can handle (in small doses) me stepping back and doing things without him.

I'm going to try anyway, and that's what the premise is all about. Hopefully I can regain some of my sense of self in 2010. Wish me luck!

Yipee! BasicGrey!!

I ordered the new BG Origins from Croppin Paradise and as soon as I got my box I knew that I wanted to finally scrap the photos of my dad, Breezy and I at the ballgame this past summer. Once I started though, I couldn't stop. I did another layout of Breezy and you can just tell by the look on her face that she is sooooo tired of me taking her picture, lol.

I have more in mind using the BG - I just love this line!

I had to laugh on this one though. I didn't have a "Y" to finish off the word "day" so I took a "U" and a "J" and created one. It's a little larger than the other letters, but I still think it works.


I have to say that I really love the new font used on the BG alpha stickers in this line, but when I used them they really weren't very noticeable so I outlined them with a black marker. It made all the difference. I learned this from Tricia Peever over at SM. It's really such a simple thing, but it made all the difference.