Reality....

set in on Saturday at my sister's place. I was able to almost complete the comp idea books (2 out of 3 complete before I ran out of tacky tape). I was able to make 4 pages for Joelle's baby album and I got the chance to head to FBG to shop Scrapdoodles (www.scrapdoodles.com). I also made my page for the sketch contest. Now here is the kicker- I have entered this contest every month and loved every sketch I made and Christie has never entered. This month, she had this epiphany in the middle of the night for a great idea for the sketch. She had this picture of her oldest son holding a large black snake. She was going to use that and have the snake be the flower type embelishment. Now, when I first heard her idea--I was skeptical at best but lo and behold--her page rocked. It was ultra original, very well though out and had cute embelishments (red rhinestone eyes for the snake, gold slithering tongue). Oh well, woe is me this month. I liked my layout but not as much as hers. She might actually have a chance to win this one. It is that great. But the real joy of the day, I had a great time and go to see my nephews and just have fun. Pics to come soon.

So excited....

I just love that Christie is now home in VA where she belongs (near her family). This Saturday we have an all day crop day scheduled. I have so much to do so I need to really prepare for this day in advance so I can get the most benefit from the time. Here are some of the things I plan to do:

• PageMaps Sketch Contest Page (Dani's back to school pic or perhaps Family pic?)
• Recipe Lunchbox with Recipe Cards (gift for my mom-Xmas)
• 3 Idea Books (Gifts for Sis, Theresa-BFF, and one for me)
• Baby Book for Baby Shower Gift- Joelle @ work (baby boy-safari theme)
• Baby Wall Art for Baby Shower Gift- Autumn @ work (baby girl)
• Christmas Pages (behind and I need more Christmas papers)
• ClipBoard Calendar (need to buy chalkboard paint for this)
• Pre-Made Halloween Party pages, Thanksgiving Pages for 2009
• Pre-Made Christmas Pages for 2009, New Years Eve for 2010.

Think I am a little ambitious....? LOL

New Page Maps Contest...

This is the new page contest for PageMaps.com blog. I am excited to try this one out. I just got Dani's school pics back and this might the perfect way to showcase her pic. The theme and interpretation is completely open. Contest closes November 8th. Can not wait to set aside time to scrapbook again. With our financial situation tight and my contract ending so soon, I really want to spend time making most of the gifts for family this year. I see lots of scrapbooking projects in my near future. :-)

And the winner is.....

Not me again. Oh well. I still have fun doing these contests and the sketches have been inspiring. I really liked the winner's layout. Tessa Buys. To see the layout again, look below. I will anxiously await the new contest coming out on Friday this week.

My take on the October Pagemaps Sketch

I really love doing this contest each month once I realized it was even out there and available. Here is my take on the October sketch. This is my handsome nephew Jaxson Cole. He is 6mos old and this is an impromptu home photo shoot my sister took of him. He was so animated and all over the place. She finally got 1 or 2 good shots out of the 100+ pics she took. I love this little guy. I flipped the sketch, used stars as my embelishments instead of tickets and added the cute journaling to highlight the photos.

ok, so I am behind....ok, so a lot behind.

My hubby always asks me "how is it possible to get behind on a hobby?". Well, the answer is easy. Really and truly, easy. Especially when that hobby is scrapbooking. I loved to take a ton of pictures everywhere we went and for every occasion. As my daughter has grown, I take less and less. It saddens me that I do not have as many exciting things to take pictures of. Dani already has her first crawl, her first steps, her first run, her first of every holiday. She has outgrown so many things. I realized scrapbooking my nephews' pages how much the kids have all outgrown. How did time fly by so quickly? And I realize, I wish I was behind in life as well. Sometimes, we go to fast and never truly appreciate the little moments in life. I would do anything to capture Dani's 1st look of awe the first time she saw a Christmas tree and really understood the magic of the holiday. The look of love on my face the moment I met my daughter for the first time. Some of these moments I will never get back. They are gone forever. But the ones I did capture, every last one of them--all deserve special scrapbook pages. And so what if I am behind. More time to justify scrapbooking when I am.

Speaking of, I am spending a scrapbook day with my sis this coming Saturday, October 10th at her place. The kids can keep each other company, her hubby can watch the youngest son and her and I- well we can get busy making each moment count. :-)