I'm Taking the Summer Off

I"m taking the summer off from scrapping. BUT, I'm going to take a ton of pictures this summer to scrap in the fall and winter.

I need to get some house work and yard work done and get my ass of this couch.

So here are the last few pages that I have made....

I'll be back in September.....

June is Almost My Favorite Month

July is my absolute favorite month and August is second...but June is not far behind!!!

Because June means the school year is almost over....and it's almost SUMMER!

I've been slacking on my scrapping and blogging in favor of outdoor activities and dreaming of summer. And so far it's been a pretty nice spring and I have been trying to enjoy it.

Spring is like practice for summer.

So my official last day of school isn't until June 23, but there are so many end of the year tests and activities, that this is the downhill slide and all I have to do is ride it out. I am trying to stay low key and prepare my students for their exams and just enjoy the last few weeks. (we'll see how long that attitude lasts)

But, I do have a few layouts to post. This first one is from one of those spring days when we were trying to make the most of the good weather. Jerry went kayaking and I took a walk around Lincoln Woods. For this LO I used a new Collab kit from Bubblescrap Designs and Connie Prince Designs called Boy-sterous. It is available at Scrapbook Bytes and Scrapable. The photo mask on the blue paper is by Dogs Day Designs from My Life and Scrap.



This next one is of my neice Willa in her basketbal uniform. I made this LO with the May Mega Collab from My Life and Scrap called Mama's Kitchen.

And finally this one is of my dear friend's beautiful daughter Marie. For this LO I used The Sweet Life, by Bubblescrap Designs.


So that's all for now....maybe I'll scrap a few more LO's before the summer laziness really hits me!

Lazy Day

I took the day off to get some stuff done around the house and in the yard. So far all I have done was eat some cereal and clear a couple of episodes of Lost and United States of Tara off my DVR list. I have a few LO's that I have made in the past week, so I figured I'd delay the working part of my day a little longer and get them posted.
Here's two I made with the new Mega kit from MLAS called Let the Sunshine In.

And this one I made with a picture I stole from my daughter's Facebook page. I used a kit from Dream Big Designs.


So now I WILL GET DRESSED AND GET SOME WORK DONE!

Sometimes I'm Busy Doing Nothing

It seems like when all the girls were living at home and I was working full time I had a million things to do and I got most of it done. Now, I have all the time in the world to do things, and I cannot really say that I am getting much of anything done. I have been saying for weeks that as soon as the pollen stops flying, I will wash the windows....and...any day now, I will clean up the mess in the cellar....and...As soon as I get a chance, I will finish the book that I took out from the library about a month ago...and...before the school year ends, I will correct that pile of projects that I collected from my students in April...and...when the weather warms up, I will plant some flowers and do some weeding.

BUT, what I have been doing lately is... a lot of nothing.

I go for walks, I go out to eat, I do a little bit of scrapping and I watch a LOT of TV...I watch whatever is on...basketball, hockey, baseball, Lost, American Idol, House, Old Christine, In the Middle, Modern Famly, 2 1/2 Men, Big Bang Theory, Pacific, United States of Tara, Grey's Anatomy, Glee....I'm sure there are more...but this list is sad enough. I love the mindless numbness of sitting and watching.

Maybe it's all about getting old and slowing down. I'll be 50 in a couple of months, and its been a busy 50 years. I've really had enough of being busy and I think I will just sit around and do whatever the hell I feel like doing for a little while.

But, I do have some LO's that I did in the past month. Sadly, It's been almost that long since my last blog. Oh well, like I said...I've been busy!

For these first two I used a kit from Bubblescrap Designs called Freshly Squeezed. I stole these pictures from Katie's and Laurie's Facebook pages.



For this LO, I used a another one of Bubblescrap Designs kits called Here Comes the Sun. (another stolen Facebook picture)

And for this one I used Bubblescrap Designs kit called Advent of Summer.

And last but not least, I have this silly LO that I did with a new kit from Rucola Designs called Over the Ocean.

Now that my blog is updated (this took me a couple of days to finish!) I think I need to rest.

Maybe I'll be back in a few days.....

Gotta Get Organized

I'm becoming a little disorganized now that the weather is improving and I've been trying to get my butt off the couch and outside to get some fresh air and exercise.

So it's been a loooooong time since I have posted on this blog and I have a bunch of LO's to post.

I stole this picture of my neice Willa from my sister's facebook page. I used a blog train freebie called Sun Fruits.

This is my sweet little friend Victoria Marie. For this LO I used a template from Kate Designs April Brag Bag, wordart is a blog freebie from @Jacquie, the kit is Garden of Dreams by Tempus Fugit and the font is Alabama.

Here's another picture "stolen" from my sister. This one is of my parents and I used the kit Reduce, Reuse, Recycle by Rucola Designs and Bubblescrap Designs.

I used the same kit for this second LO and I used a template by Kate Designs. These are pictures of some spring cleaning and repairs I had done by my husband, brother and cousin. Gotta love having boys around to do all the dirty work!

And here's another set of pictures from my sister. I used Rise and Shine (Scrapbook Bytes and Scrapable) a new release by Bubblescrap Designs.

For this next LO, I used one of the last Christmas pictures I had to scrap and I used the kit from Kate Designs April Grab Bag called Retro.

Here's another picture of precious Victoria Marie. For this LO I used Little Ones from Bubblescrap Designs. She has her kits at My Life and Scrap, Scrapable and Scrapbook Bytes. I scraplifted this from a LO by justbnsharon called Sweet Angel Kisses in the MLAS gallery.

And finally here's a LO of my Godson McKale and his friends at a baseball game. For this LO I used a blog freebie from Mawkinberd's Nest.

This past week was vacation week and I went to NC to visit my daughter and grandkids. My other two daughters and my son-in-law went there too and we had a fun week hanging out together. I took about 400 pictures, so I will have a lot to scrap with in the next few weeks.

I hope I can manage to balance some scrapping time with some fresh air and exercise time!

Sun, Sun, Sun....Here It Comes

The rain finally stopped and the sun came out today!!! There's no school tomorrow and the weather for the weekend it predicted to be sunny and warm. It doesn't get any better than this. (Well not until June 24th!) I have no plans, but plenty to do if I feel like it, so I guess we'll see what the weekend brings.
Here are a few LO's I did with the newest Bubblescrap Designs release called Sugar Coated.



And here's one more LO I did for the project 52 journaling challenge at MLAS. For this LO I used the MLAS December Mega Kit called Elegant Christmas.

OK, so I think that's all I have for this week. I have to work on more LO's now so I can blog again next week.

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!

We are in the middle of the Great Flood of 2010. I'm going to go out and take a few pictures of the river and get Jerry to take me out to dinner. The poor guy has been in the basement for two days now, and every once in a while I check on him and he says he's all set, so I go back to my computer and TV. I'm glad cleaning cellars is a "boy" job!
Actually it's not really so bad for us because we just have some water in our basement and we (I mean he) had to pump it out and use a wet vac. We always keep most of our junk off the floor so it's just a matter of cleaning up the water.
There are people all over the state that are in much worse situations. I've seen some pictures of cars covered with water and houses and businesses with 2-3 feet of water in them!
But, I'm sure he's getting tired because it stopped raining about 8 hours ago and the water is still coming in! Maybe I'll take a shift and let him get some rest.

I'll finish this post later...

I'm baaaack...

Here's a link to some pictures I just took of the Blackstone River. One of my favorite restaurants is conveniently located right near this section of the river, so I did get to go out to dinner!

And finally, here's another LO I did of our weekend in Maine a couple of weeks ago. For this LO I used a new kit from Bubblescrap Designs called Basket Surprise and I think it is supposed to be released tomorrow at MLAS. AND tomorrow is Thrify Thursday, so there will probably be some great sales going on!
I have a few more LO's to post, so check back again in a couple of days. I'm off to man the pumps.

It's was a nice restful weekend. I got some scrapping done and Jerry did everything else. What's not to love about that! He is working on being "the best husband in the world" and I for one am not complaining. I think his 30 years of husband training are finally paying off.
One of the LO's I did was for a journaling prompt at My Life and Scrap. I had to write about a life altering event. And for those of you who know me, you know I could have written about one of my medical issues, or the birth of my children or granchildren (especially the first born in each of these categories) hahaha.....but I chose to write about attending and graduating from college.
I am really enjoying these prompts and at the end of the year, I'll have a book....All About Me.
For this LO I used Bubblescrap Designs Spring Cake.

Here's another LO from our trip to Florida in February. I am running out of pictures again, and will have to hunt through my stash of old ones, or maybe I'll have to take another trip!
For this LO I used a new kit by RebeccaPSP called Melancholic Bliss.

And here's another LO with the same kit. These are some pictures I took of my Godson McKale last weekend when we went to Maine to visit my sister and her family. McKale had a blast playing in the yard all day Saturday and it was soooo fun to watch him.
I have a few more LO's to post, so I'm sure I will blog again in a few days...for now I have to check on when my dinner will be ready...

I Finally Have Some New LO's

I don't know why I haven't had time to blog. I can't really think of anything that is keeping me that busy. I worked late a couple of days last week, but I haven't been exercising and Jerry's been doing most of the cooking and cleaning, so I really have no excuse. I think I am becoming a VERY lazy old lady!

I have a few LO's to post, but I have to wait for the kits release date. I guess that will force me to blog a few more times this week.

I did these LO's with pictures that I "stole" from Katie's facebook page and a new kit from Rucola Designs called Rabbits and Chickens. It is due to be released really soon (maybe tomorrow). So be sure to stop in the shop at MLAS and check out this kit and all of her others.



I found this template freebie at the MLAS shop. Kate is going to take some time off from designing to spend more time with her family, so you might want to get some of her great templates before they are gone.

Today I Am Counting My Blessings

No matter how tired I am, or how crappy I think my week is going to be, it's never as bad as I thought is would be and it's always worse for some of my co-workers. So this week I'm trying to keep a good attitude, be a supportive friend and count my blessings.
We are in the middle of a commisioner's visit (inspection) at school, but the kids have been handling it well and have been mostly cooperative. I know this is going to cost me lots of money at the end of the week, because I feel like they all deserve some treats as thanks for their good behavior. But...believe me, even in high school some cookies or donuts will buy me some good behavior for a couple of weeks. So it will be well worth it to have snack-time on Friday just to say thanks to the kids.
This week I worked on a couple more Christmas LO's and this one makes me laugh, even though it wasn't really that funny at the time. I used Bubblescrap Designs newest kit called Oh The Boys and it is available now at MLAS.

And this one makes me laugh too. But only because my grandkids are so cute and this is was such a fun day. One more month and I get to visit them and I can't wait!
For this LO I used another one of Bubblescrap Designs kit called Cheerful Holiday.

The new challenges are up at MLAS and the template challenge is my favorite. You should give it a try and here's the link to the free template and the challenge.

Rainy Saturday

It's a crappy rainy day, so my goal is to get caught up on my scrapping and school work and clearing off my DVR list. So I'm pretty sure at the end of the weekend I will be well rested and ready for another crazy week of school.
I signed up to do a few days a week of homework club, we're being visited (inspected) by the state department of education, and we have parent conference night. So it will be a long and exhausting week at Woonsocket High School.

I'm posting a few new LO's that I worked on in the past week. This first one is from our vacation in Florida in February. I used a new kit from Rucola Designs called Adventura Mejicana. It is due to be released on March 15 at MLAS. It's full of really bright colors and fun elements and I loved working with it!

I used the same kit for these next two LO's, but I also used a template from Dogs Day Designs. Every week at MLAS Carolyn releases a free template and suggests a theme for the P52 photo challenge. This is actually from week 5 so I guess I'm a little behind schedule. But, I'm trying to get caught up and I'm just kind of doing the weeks in random order as the pictures opportunities present themselves. These are some pictures I took last weekend when we had great weather! I'm really happy that we took advantage of the day because this weekend is going to be a complete wash-out.

For these next two LO's I used a new kit from Bubblescrap Designs called Oh the Boys. This kit is due to be released on March 16 at My Life and Scrap and Scrapbook Bytes.

Here's the template for week 9 of project 52. As I write this, it is still free, but after the week it will be $1.00 and there will be a freebie for week 10. So check in each week and try the challenge. I think it will make a great photo-journal in the end!

My Head is Spinning

My head is spinning...work is crazy. It's not the kids so much as all the other BS. Every day there is a new initiative, a meeting, or someone who wants to change something. I just want to go in and teach....but all this nonsense keeps taking me away from my classroom and interrupting the flow of teaching and it's making me cranky. (well maybe just crankier than usual)
I am getting really tired of all of it!
I come home and try to lose myself in my scrapping and I have a bunch of new LO's, but I can only post this one for now. In a few days I will have some some LO's with new kits from Rucola Designs and Bubblescrap Designs. They are both due to be released on the 15th, so I will post my LO's then. They both have such great kits and I have a lot of fun working with them.
For now here's one LO I did for the color inspiration challenge at MLAS. The challenge was to use only the colors black, white and yellow. This LO is bright and colorful, but I will never forget how scared Jerry looked when he came down from his parasail! This is a new kit from Bubblescrap Designs and Dogs Day Designs called Yellow Inspiration.

So check back in a few days for a few more LO's.

I Will Not Give Up

I dug in my heels and worked my butt off this week. I think I'm one of those people who will not believe it can't be done. So.... I will not give up on my kids and no matter how limited their abilities are, I will figure out a way to teach them some algebra.
I will try to rally those who can, to teach those who can't, and we will be a team. I had a couple of bad days and a couple of good days, so to me, it was a good week.

Today I had to explain to a class of 15 and 16 year olds that chickens did not give birth to baby chicks and that the eggs they sell in the grocery store are really unfertilized chicken eggs, that if fertilized would have "hatched" into chicks. They looked at me in disbelief and wondered how the eggs could possibly ever get fertilized. That was a conversation I refused to have and I told them to google it and tell me about it tomorrow. These city kids have a really narrow realm of experiences and every day I am surprised by what they have never heard of.

Here are my latest LO's. This one I did with a kit from Bubblescrap Design's called Spring Cake. I love these pictures of my beautiful daughter and nieces. They are growing up so fast, and it was so nice to see them together at Christmas all grown up and chatting about their lives.

Here's one of my grandaughters Julianna and Cadence. Jules had her hair crimped and she looked so cute. She really is a great big sister, and Cadence is lucky to have her to look up to. For this LO I used Bubblescrap Designs kit called Take My Breath Away .

I participated in a photo swap challenge at MLAS.
I sent a picture of my mom to Vicki and she made this LO for me. I really love the way it came out. It reminds me of what a great time I had hanging out with my mom in Florida. She really had a lot of fun and I enjoyed watching her.

Vicki sent me a picture of her cat Rex and this is what I did with a kit from Rucola Designs called Fresh & Wet. It was fun to make a LO for someone else and kinda different for me to scrap a picture of a cat.

Here's a QP from My Life and Scrap. You can get it here.