More layouts

I flew up to Oregon yesterday to spend some time with my Mom.  I plan to squeeze in some time to give a little squeeze to Lily, the newest member of the family, can't wait to meet her.  Mom and I also plan to see Wicked in Eugene on Sunday with Gale, Liz and Glenda so I'm really looking forward to that, it will be my third time seeing the show.  Photos to follow next week, probably on Wednesday.

I've been scrapping away still so since I'm out of town I thought I would share some more completed layouts with you.  You can click on them to see them larger if you want to read the text.

These are for the family book...

 

(I scanned our actual tickets from the movie for this one.  A variation will also go in Simone's book)



And these are for Simone's book...


(I scanned her birthday button, love how it turned out)



(I LOVE how this turned out, actually bordering on slightly obsessed.)

(again with the scanning, this time the actual cookies she made with Grandma, LOVE!)

 

(the thought bubbles worked so well here since I didn't have room to put all the journaling I wanted)



In summary, clearly I have found a new appreciation for my scanner.  When I used to paper scrap things like ticket stubs would have been included so it's been fun figuring out ways to include those bits and pieces into my digital layouts.  When they are perfectly square or round, it's easier to erase the background.  I do this so I can float it on top of the papers I use and then add a drop shadow for realism.  The cookies were another challenge, for those I had to use my Wacom pad that Larry gave me for my birthday last year to draw ever so carefully around the cookies to erase the background.  It was challenging to get a crisp line so I'm still working at it, luckily one was scalloped so it hid my boo-boos a bit better.

Anyway, see you all next week.

Polaroid Magnets

So I saw this idea online on how to take Pantone chips and turn them into magnets.  It was on a blog How About Orange.  If you haven't seen of this blog, you really need to check it out.  They post some really cute DIY ideas and they have a really cute aesthetic to their site.  I thought the idea was cool because I've been looking for some cute fridge magnet ideas now that we have a magnetic fridge but I wasn't sure Pantone chips were really my thing.  Then I was scrolling thru the pins on Pinterest and saw this link for the same idea but instead of Pantone chips she used tiny Polaroid pictures.  I knew this was the magnet project for me.  I mean what could be better than tiny little photographic life memories dotting our fridge. 

The process seemed pretty simple, she even provided the Polaroid template.  I opted to scale mine down to 1" wide, I thought it would be a bit easier to see than .8" wide.  I had a really hard time limiting myself on the photos that I wanted to use.  For awhile there I think I had 25 picked out, I ended up with 15.  I figured I could always add more over time and maybe even rotate seasonally.

Here are my finished magnets, please forgive the glare from the stainless steel, it did not like having its picture taken.  Click to see larger if you need too.

I am totally in love with these magnets.  They came out even better than I had imagined.  I love the way the color of the prints came out, it almost mimics a Polaroid shot, not that it was intentional, just a really happy accident.  I love that even though they are so tiny you can still see the photos.  I love that taking the time to paint the edges white makes them look that much more realistic.  I love that Simone likes to play with them and now wants to hang everything up on the fridge.

I love them so much that I want to share them with you, so if you want three of your own, I'd be happy to make them for you.  Just leave me a comment by this Saturday, April 30th telling me what memories you want immortalized in magnet form and then send me the .jpg files.  If you need my email address just leave that in your comment too.

Easter

Our Easter celebrations started off on Saturday, our Club had a pancake breakfast and egg hunt for the members and their kids.

A chance for a rare shot of me and Simone that actually looks cute.

Some love from Daddy

They had a craft table set up for the kids

They made bunny ears and a cute sunflower pinwheel

They had 3 different sections to hunt eggs based on age.  Simone was in the middle pack and was able to get 8 eggs.  She stopped after 6 so we had to count to see how many she had, then she went back for 2 more.  I was a bit more prepared to take photos this time, I did my best to keep up with her, but man is she fast!

Look how excited she is...

When we got home she showed Grandma Delaine all her loot and ate all the candy she got.  Delaine is staying with us for a few days while Mary and Mark are out of town.  It's been nice having her with us.  Simone has had a blast 'helping' Grandma and showing her all of her cool toys.

When she went to bed I set out her Easter Basket.  It was a very Dora Easter this year.  She got a Dora coloring book, two books, a set of DVDs, a pair of Dora crocs and a Boots Beanie Baby.  Oh and a white chocolate bunny just because you have to have a least some candy in your Easter Basket.  No we weren't  being Scrooges about it but between the school egg hunt and they gym egg hunt and the jelly beans and chocolate kisses I have out she has had a ton of candy lately.

Easter morning, she was very excited to see her basket of goodies.  Yes, I know her pj's don't match but when a 3 year old puts on her jammie's that's what you end up with.

Boots, Dora's best friend and exploring partner

She found the Chocolate Bunny, as if there was ever any doubt that she would skip over it.

Excitement over the coloring book

How cute are those shoes.  They will be perfect pool shoes this summer.

"Swiper NO swiping", acting out bits from the show.  She loves to yell at Swiper.

Grandma Teri sent a little something, super cute Dora snack bags, a craft kit and a $1.00 bill 

Larry made breakfast, the best Eggs Benedict in the world.  He used Meyer Lemon's for the Hollandaise sauce and it was so good.  And yes my croissant was cut in half, JUST like they do it at Chez Nous.

Later in the day Larry and Delaine made her Easter Bread.

Simone got in on it too and really wanted to help Daddy braid it.

So she helped

Grandma Delaine imparts words of Easter Bread wisdom on Simone.

Hands down the best Easter Bread ever, I think we ate half a loaf just standing there.

This is pretty much the way Easter went.  It was a very quiet, lazy day for all of us. 

Simone watched her new videos and played with her toys, Delaine read and took naps, Larry kept busy making the bread and I did some scrapbook layouts and worked on some upcoming blog posts. 

It was a really great Easter, I hope yours was equally nice and relaxing.

The Easter Countdown

We dyed Easter Eggs last night.  I didn't have any vinegar so I had to make a quick trip to the Nugget to pick some up.  It's just not the same if you don't use vinegar, the colors come out so much better.



Waiting for color...

Simone had so much fun coloring the eggs, didn't quite grasp the idea that you needed to 'gently' place the eggs in the mugs using the stupid wire thingy they give you but what can you do she's 3.  She dropped and egg in once and the stuff splashed up into her face.  It must not have gotten in her eye because the wining didn't last that long, but it sure scared her.

 The blue and green came out the best, you can tell by her reactions

Counting the finished eggs, in both English and Spanish, thank you very much!  (my kid is SO smart...)

However, when it comes to actually looking at me with eyes open when I'm trying to capture that ever so pure and angelic moment, we have some issues

Now she's just being sarcastic...

With a 'What' thrown in for good measure...

There's that freshness test again...

Larry bought the Paas kit this year and picked out a Pirate Princess themed kit.  It came with these cute egg holders and stickers to decorate the eggs.

Oh oh...we had a casualty...

All in all the egg dying experience was fun this year, my hands didn't get dirty so that's a bonus, of course I was busy snapping all the pics.  One thing I need to remember is I never make enough eggs but my thought is do I really want a dozen + hard boiled eggs?  I mean how much egg salad can a family eat?  I suppose there's always spinach salad. 

In case you were wondering Simone uses both hands equally.  She prefers to complete tasks with her left but writes exclusively with her right hand.  I'm not sure if this will stay the same over time but I guess it can't hurt to have two usefull hands instead of one dominant one.

Oh and I had to throw this photo in, we had donuts this morning and the donut holes were SO good...

We're going to the club tomorrow for a Easter Breakfast and Egg Hunt for the kids so I'll be back on Monday with shots from that and Easter itself.

Happy Easter everyone!