Happy Halloween

As I have mentioned before, Halloween was not really one of my favorite holidays.  There was the time I was jumped for my candy and the time that I dressed up like Olivia Newton John when I was in elementary school (where a boy tried to tease me and I gave him a good whack!). 

AND there was the Halloween where I almost poisoned myself.  Bleach inhalation!  I was the new girl at school...middle school to be exact.  The popular group there was very strong and I was intimidated.  Preppy was in...and then I entered...I had the classic Farrah Fawcet flippy hair and wore Def Leppard concert shirts.  I made friends quickly enough, but a life-long friendship was forged or shall I say stained that October.  Marcia was charming and pretty and she invited me to her Halloween party.  In order to give me a costume, I decided to bleach my jeans...go all Madonna.  Well, sitting over a tub filled with bleach can really go to your head. Never mind wearing the jeans. Marcia and her mom needed to take care of me a bit that day.  I think I was pretty memorable...even if it wasn't in the best way.  She still tells a great story about that day.  But from that day on, Marcia and I were always together!

So I guess Halloween isn't all that bad!  I actually have found a new appreciation for it being a mom.  The kids get so excited...they had a school event on Friday so the costumes have already gotten good use:

No fairy or princess here!  Ella is a leather (well, vinyl) clad Batgirl.  Can you tell that Nathan picked out her costume?  And she looks up to him enough to keep it?  I didn't mind because it will go great with Pink Paislee's Hocus Pocus...

Speaking of Pink Paislee, I am up at the blog today!  Sharing this layout along with a sketch...

I used Hocus Pocus here...which is a fab collection!  Go check out the blog for details and be sure to leave me some love.  Everyone needs love right?

Hope you have a memorable Halloween!



Is time flying or what?

Halloween is just days away and we are already talking about Thanksgiving and Black Friday...how can that be!  Seems like time is going by quicker and quicker the older I get.

I haven't even scrapped all my summer pictures.  And I have a ton of back to school ones too.  I better get going before I feel weird scrapping so far out of season. 

Speaking of back to school, Nathan is doing great in kindergarten.  I can't believe how much his handwriting and fine motor have improved in just two months.  And he is beginning to read and can write sentences...of course, he has an amazing teacher and goes to a great school...giggle!

He goes to a friend's house before school each day.  For years, we have talked about our kids being the same age and experiencing the same phases...it is so cool to be able to see the boys as friends now! 

I used the ultra-cute Midterm line by Bella Blvd on this layout!  They sponsored Scrapstreet.com Magazine for the month of November and were very generous with the product.  I am still scrapping even though my assignments are done...I just dig this stuff!

Speaking of great stuff...the November kit from My Scrapbook Nook is full of new Cosmo Cricket...here is a sampling:

I am so excited about this one!

And the Nook has an adorable mini kit available right now!  The November member special is up in the store now and it's the Blackbird collection from My Mind's Eye! It's an incredible deal worth over $30 but is selling for $21.98.

Can you tell why I would love if time slowed down a bit?  Well, at least on the weekends!

Home, Our Home

Such a good feeling...I literally want to rush home from work so I can be here, with my family.  It feels good to feel settled.  To have pictures on the walls and family photos on display.  I feel grounded again, like I made it through something.

I still have to take photos of the inside and share them, especially after all the talk I did.  But I finally got around to scrapping the outside ones!  I used the Crate sketch as a springboard.  Didn't win the challenge, but I did end up with a layout I like!

I really, really enjoy Crate Paper...they have the greatest muted patterns and the chipboard inspires so much.  I have another grid here...I am digging that look lately.

Can't you tell?

Off to bed...lovin the king sized mattress too!



Krafty Love

and I don't mean "crafty love"...nope, I am talking about my addiction to Kraft paper.  I can't get enough of it!  The perfect neutral background, yet it never feels stark or cold.  I scrap with it 90% of the time.  It is not that I have anything against black or white...Kraft just sings out to me.

Another new addiction in my scrappy life is my Hipstamatic photos.  Is is bad that I have a fab digital SLR camera, yet I reach for my iPhone a ton? The retro effect seems to give so much feeling to the photos.  The results are unexpected and fabulous!

Combine both things and you have a layout that just fell together in minutes.   Gosh, I love when that happens!  I used the October kit from My Scrapbook Nook...my monthly vice!

I really like how the Hipstamatic photos come in squares...allows for an always popular grid pattern!  To make this layout, I simply laid out my photos, varying the colors.  Then I reached for scraps...I needed to balance the weight of the photos on the left side so I added the large block of red.  (By the way, red polka dots are another reliable go-to).  I like to ground my design so I used matching strips of striped paper...I think it makes it cohesive.  Then I just filled in the spaces of the grid like the bottom where I put the rub-on.  I could be very addicted to Lily Bee's rub-ons!

Add in a large block of journaling to explain the randomness of the photos.  I just put together a variety of images from the summer!  It was nice, but still missing that ONE thing...so I added the banner.

Yep, banners are a staple too!

I can't help it...I love what I love and I love it forever!

Everyday Things

Finally finding times for everyday things...like making dinner in my kitchen and getting errands done-feeling like I accomplished something.  Steve and I have a clear weekend coming up and have plans to take the kids to do something fall related.  It is about time!

One thing we did a ton this summer is go to the library.  We needed a cool place to hang out and I loved that it was educational too!  I brought my camera one day and caught some photos of them.  I wonder if people think I am nuts?  I stopped today in the vegetable aisle at Stew Leonards and took a picture of the colored cauliflower with my camera phone.  I had no idea cauliflower could be purple.  So I take pictures!

Here is the layout.  I used the new Old School collection by Pink Paislee.  This line is quite awesome to work with...the colors and patterns.  I am in love with this "days of the week" paper!

To create my heading, I cut out the words of this die-cut:

and I layered from there!  The canvas borders are some of my favorite things!  I actually used my kid's library card sleeve on this layout to give it an authentic feel and to have a piece of history with the library's name on it!

I have been scrapping regularly for a while now and have been experimenting a bit.  A simple joy that makes me happy!

What are your everyday things?

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Seven years ago...I had the wedding of my dreams.  Not because of the setting, the dress or the details, but because of who I finally found.  Steve and I were married on a gorgeous October day, much like the one we had today.  I clearly remember walking out of the doors of the old historic barn and the music playing.  Don Henley's For My Wedding.  I was fixed on him and him alone.  For a moment, I didn't hear or see anything else.  I was clear. 

Jump seven years and I have to remember that moment more often.  Stress gets in the way and you forget...I stopped in the grocery store the other day and saw a single woman getting herself dinner.  I remember those years of my life very well.  I love the freedom and had a complete world.  But I wondered if I would have a family, children, if I could trust again.  It jolted me to recall those old feelings because I now have what I always wanted.  A secure relationship with a guy who loves me in spite of me.  It is the real deal and it is okay to live in that.

I made this layout recently using a wedding photo.  Seven years ago, digital wasn't so big and my awesome photographer Andrew Daigle used film.  I am still in love with the photos he took.  He captured real moments like the one shown.  I had just joined Steve at the end of the aisle and our minister started talking about the gravity and importance of marriage.  We are surrounded by his best friends, men who are still influential in his life and mine.  The journaling tells the story.

We celebrated it in the best way possible.  With a long snuggle fest with the kids.  It is the best gift he can ever give.  And it all started on October 18, 2003.

P.S.  I told the kids this morning that we were married 8 years.  Steve called me on that one...LOL!

Doing it Differently

I sit here typing as my first batch of cupcakes are cooling on the counter.  Nathan is having his kid birthday party today and some serious Super Hero training will take place at my house.  We are very diligent about celebrating each of our birthdays with a family get together.  It is not about the presents, a lot about the cake and mainly about making that person feel special.  We do this for every member in Steve's family too...sisters, mom, stepdad, brother in-laws, cousins.

This is a change for me.  Growing up, my "first family" had small birthday celebrations but they stopped at a certain point.  It has never been in our family dynamic to get together as adults even though there are small children involved.  I so wish we would because it would be a perfect excuse to see each other regularly.

Don't get me wrong, I have tons of great first family memories.  The ice sculptures my dad would build every winter, him teaching me to ice skate, annual trips to Maine, playing Battleship...there are lots. 

So I am trying to do some things differently.  Isn't that what my mom and dad would want me to do?  Take the good we learned and learn from the rest.

My first family was at my 40th and we stopped to take a rare photo of all of us!  These had to go on a layout!



I used the beautiful October kit from The Nook...Lily Bee Catching Fall is sooo pretty!

Well, those cupcakes won't get frosted by themselves...Happy day!

Non-Halloween

well...just for today.  For years of my life, I hated Halloween.  I have this thing about feeling stupid so I don't like to put myself out there.  That and I was once jumped on Halloween.  I grew up in a questionable apartment complex and there were some shady and unsafe sections.  I was about 10 and trick or treating when someone in one of those demented bald-headed masks and a cloak grabbed me from behind.  He tried to take my candy, but little did he know that you don't mess with a chick who loves her chocolate.  I happened to have a hard candy apple at the bottom of my sack and I proceeded to hit him with it.  I was not giving up that bag of candy.  He ran away and I got home safely.  I can't think about Halloween without recalling that memory.

I enjoy it now as the kids love it.  What makes them happy makes me happy!

I really went off track...I am really here to post a non-Halloween layout I made using the new, ultra awesome Hocus Pocus collection.  It is obviously a Halloween line, but the colors, graphics and shapes fit many topics.  So I used it to showcase a real life moment.

Both of my kids have great pouts and I have been lucky to catch it on film!  See what I mean about Hocus Pocus working well with this topic...the skeleton and Hocus Pocus words...It is a fab collection.

For more details, head over to the Pink Paislee blog!

Off to hit the hay and hope I don't have nightmares about my Halloween jumping!

What Makes Me Smile

I have been harried lately...swirling in a pile of to-do lists and social engagements.  Instead of complaining, which I can do from time to time, I decided to focus on the small things that make my life wonderful.

1.  I get to see this face, randomly throughout the school day.  I run into him and start to beam.

It makes my day.

2.  Ella is getting it...I see her stopping and thinking more before she acts.  I watch her trying to do the right thing.  She is a great kid full of that certain something and I know she will shine.

3.  Random, off key songs sung by Ella.  She adores preschool and all the music proves it.

4.  It has been colder here at night and in the mornings.  Both of my kids wants hugs to warm up.  I like it.

5.  My kitchen and dining room are done and fully decorated.  I feel at home there and it is great. 

6.  Steve and I went back in time this weekend.  Spent time with old friends.  It was nice to be the Stacey and Steve of yesterday, even if it were only for a short time.  It was also awesome to catch up with Steve's group of friends.  People I consider friends as well.   There is an ease and comfort there that is refreshing.  I wish we all got to experience it more often.

7. My dad's shoulder surgery went well.  I so want him to have a great quality of life again and this continues him on that path.

8.  I have many ideas and thoughts about creating.  I just want to do it for the right reasons.  My scrap space is in good shape and I think it will be great for the mojo!

9.  There are plenty more examples, which means life is good.  Time to live it!

And the Winners Are...

Thanks for all the comments on my entry for the Elmer's Crafting Supplies contest!  It was fun to use their awesome products and to have the chance to support a cherished charity, the Autism Society.

As a part of it all, I am able to give away three prize packages full of pretty fabulous crafting goodies!  I used the Random Number picker thing and this is what I came up with!

Congrats to the following ladies!

KarenB:  Congratulations on being selected to participate, and good luck!! It's a gorgeous LO :) I'd love to join in the giveaway (I'm a new follower, from the Nook) Thank you :)

Amy Coose:  Great LO, Stacey and an awesome giveaway!

Danielle:  What a fun challenge for you...and you ROCKED IT!! (Fun give away too!)

Ladies, please send me your full names and mailing information at stacey@scrapstreet.com so I can pass it along to Elmer's!

I will leave you with a new layout that uses last year's fall pictures.  I am craving some fall activities but we have been soo busy.  There is nothing like the pumpkin patch.   That field of orange makes me smile!  The pictures here are from the scarecrow festival that happens each year in Old Wethersfield, CT.  My kiddos love it!

I used the really lovely October kit from the Nook to make this layout!  I am loving the Lilly Bee fall colors and Leah did an awesome job filling the kit with fun goodies!  

Off to set up my scraproom...can you hear me squealing from there!



Six years

Before I start I wanted to remind you to be sure to visit the post below before Sunday and leave a comment...Elmer's prize packages are up for grabs!!!


Six years since Nathan blessed my life.  I will never forget the moment he was born...the moment I held him for the first time.  He is a pure joy in this world with his big huge heart.  I told him last night that I am proud to be his momma (that is what he calls me). 

This is the face I get to look at:

I used a mixture of new Jillibean Soup here as we did an article about their CHA release.  Gosh, I love those eyes...both Nathan's and the ones on the paper!  I handcut the stars from a sheet of paper and scattered them around!

If you are visiting from the Nook, be the first to comment to get an extra point.  I have been working with and loving the October kit and will have layouts to show you in the next couple of days!

Other than that, I have been celebrating birthdays and working on the house.  I actually have some things up on the walls and it feel really good! 

At least that won't take six years....

Elmer's Crafting Challenge Giveaway!

Yes, that means free stuff for you, coming right up!!

A couple of months ago, representatives from Elmer's contacted me through email and asked if I would like to participate in the Elmer's Crafting Challenge. I quickly agreed because their crafting supplies rock and the prize is a meaningful one!

Here is what arrived.  And this is only a small sampling!

Here is the challenge that was issued to me:

Use the new Elmer's CraftBond and X-ACTO crafting products within this kit to create a craft that matches the theme of your blog by October 8. It can be anything from a family-oriented scrapbooking page layout to a trendy piece of home decor (if you need a little inspiration picking a project, just let us know)! Elmer's will make a $1,000 donation on behalf of the winning blogger to the national educational-based charity of her choice! Don't forget to share your craft with your readers and have fun giving away the three Elmer's prize packages we promised. Good luck!

I decided to make a layout that focuses on all the ways my family plays, creates and explores.  That is what scrapbooking is for me...  Here is my project!

To complete this layout, I used the very cool circle cutter from Elmers...think of it as a compass circle cutter but even better!  I love to add circles so this tool is perfect!  I am so in love with the cutting board they sent...it is a little bigger than 12X12 so you can fit your whole project on it.  The vibrant pink helps me to line things up...this mat will get used every day!  I incorporated their glue dots, foam tape and glitter pens on this layout as well.  See how I colored the cardboard in...I will be using these pens a ton!  Everything is made with the scrapbooker in mind!

I am so honored to participate in this challenge!  If I am chosen to be the lucky winner, I would ask that the donation be given to the Autism Society of America.  I am a special education teacher and have worked with many students with autistim over the years.  My students are gifted, unique, amazing kids who have taught me so much!  It is a cause that is near and dear to my heart!

HOW YOU CAN WIN:


I have been granted three prize packs from Elmer's and X-ACTO to giveaway. Each prize pack contains:

X-ACTO:
4-pack Decorative Edge Scissors
Self Healing Mat
Retractable Craft Knife
Craft Swivel Knife

Elmer's CraftBond:
Scrapbooking Tape: Repositionable
Extra Strength Glue Stick
Wet & Dry Dual Tip Glue Pen
Permanent Tape Runner

In order to "win, please leave a comment on this blog posting. If you don't have a blog, don't worry. Just log your comment as "Anonymous".  Give leave a name.  Local, national and international entries are welcome. Also, if you aren't already a "Follower", please sign up today. Spread the word! Let your crafting friends and family know that I will be picking winners over the next couple of days! Good luck!

What a Week!

I am exhausted...LOL!  I really had the best birthday, mainly because I have a great husband who totally went out of his way!  He gave me a fabulous party on Saturday night and invited my friends and family.  It was special to me to see everyone in one place and to see how much support I have in my life. 

I still can't believe I am forty.  And yes, I know that age is just a number, but I am having some mixed feelings.  I made a layout to explore what has been going on in my head and thoughts!

Here it is!

The journaling:

I used the packaging from the Jillibean Soup corrugated buttons to make the white papers on this layout!  They make great masks...

I sprayed and then cut the shape out, leaving some of the color around the edges...Then I layered it on my layout! It was fun and adds a unique shape!

I taught a class about the specifics of this layout over at My Scrapbook Nook...go check it out here!  I used the October kit to make this one!

So, here I sit, in need of finding myself at age forty.  Is that possible?  LOL!  Hopefully, I can use some life experiences to help this process along!

Happy Sunday!