Scrap Happy

I just finished a book that I think has revolutionized the way I think about scrapbooking. I have always been a very FRUSTRATED scrapper. My style in everything (clothing, house decorating etc...) has always been simple. Kind of Pottery Barnish. But, I get in trouble when I see all these people with cute houses full of stuff, or girls with adorable accessories or scrapbook pages with tons of embellishment. I think to myself, "Why don't I decorate, dress or scrapbook like them?" Thus, the frustrated decorator, dresser and scrapper rears up her little head!

Well, the amazing book I just read titled, "Clean and Simple Scrapbooking" by Cathy Zielske has finally make it okay for me to be simple in my scrapbooking. Cathy is a graphic artist by trade and so she scrapbooks that way - graphically, cleanly, simply - and her pages are amazing. The other tidbit that I picked up was that the most important things on the page are the picture and journaling. She picks her picture and then journals AND then she does her layout making sure there is plenty of room for her journaling. Sometimes she even journals an important moment and then finds a random picture to fit.
So, after reading this book and coming to an "Aha" moment, I've completed two pages in two nights - usually it takes me MUCH longer with much more agonizing - and I'm not frustrated to boot! I'm completely okay that my last two pages are simple. After all, the photos are great and the journaling is what is most important!
Below is my layout from the day that we met friends at our Bi-Centennial Fountains. The kids had a blast (a LO of Brooke from this day will be coming shortly). I think the pictures are hilarious of Connor. He had so much fun and it shows.

Credits:
Kit: Carrie Stephens' Sunshine and Rainbows
Fonts: Black Jack Regular, Garamond

Lemonade Stand

Today was our first lemonade stand ever. I don't even think I ever had a lemonade stand as a kid. If I did it wasn't a very memorable experience. But Brooke has been bugging me for a month or more to have a lemonade stand. She has been making menus of all the food which included candy, cookies, brownies and chips. I quickly cut that list to just brownies and thankfully it didn't even phase her. I think she enjoyed the planning of the stand almost as much as she enjoyed running it. She is definitely her mother's daughter. For the rest of the details you'll have to read the journaling from the page below:

Journaling: Your first lemonade stand. You’ve been asking for weeks
to have one - ever since your friend Mary Everett had her
lemonade stand. I’ve been putting you off because I
thought it was too much hassle, but since Daddy was home
today I thought we could tag team this project. He made the
signs and I made the lemonade and brownies. You dressed up
and ran down the street to get Mary Everett. You had such
high hopes for this lemonade stand. You just knew that every
car that passed by would stop to buy a cup of “pink or yellow.”
It was sad for me to watch your face fall each time a car would
pass and you would yell, “lemonade stand”, or “pink or yellow”,
but the car wouldn’t stop. They just waved and kept going. I
thought to myself, “How selfish and uncaring. Are people just
too busy to pay attention...are they too self-absorbed to take
just a moment to make a child’s day a little brighter?” Just as
these thoughts entered my mind though, I was greatly relieved
that customers began stopping to buy a cup or two and then
giving you tips because you both looked so cute! Pretty soon,
though, the excitement wore off and the customers stopped
coming. Mary Everett went to play with Connor but you stayed
at your lemonade stand, determined to sell a cup or two more.
People would walk buy and ask if you were selling alot. I’d try to
put a positive spin on it but you aren’t one to embellish the truth.
You replied, “Not so much,” to their question making it very
clear that they should buy a cup to help your flagging spirits.
I have to give it to you, Brooke, you really impressed me today
with your presistence and determination - even in the face
of discouragement! One day those characteristics are going
to serve you very well, so don’t ever change that about yourself.
And remember...if life gives you lemons, make some
sweet lemonade! 2007.July.2

Text: Garamond
Kit: Summer Flutter by Brenda Kempf

I know, I know, ... it's been a while since I posted a layout but in my defense it's been a pretty busy summer and I've just had very little time to scrapbook. However, last weekend I got together with some girlfriends to scrapbook and I started on this LO. It took quite a while to get anything going but once I started back in it just seemed to flow.

This layout is of a day that we spent at Glenn and Tish Goodwin's farm in Mt. Juliet. They have a wonderful pond where the kids just had a blast fishing. This was really Connor's first time fishing and I think he was born to be a fisherman. I only caught one little fish but he sat patiently with Nolan, Glenn and Tish's son, for more than an hour just waiting on a bite. It was so cute! Brooke of course was all caught up in the excitement. It was so funny to watch Glenn who isn't used to active and dramatic little girls. Brooke was running, screaming and hollering with excitement all the while Glenn was tiptoeing around and whispering so as not to scare the fish away :) However, for all Brooke's antics the kids and their friends caught several fish that day.

Journaling:
From L to R:
Brooke had no qualms about sticking her hands into a bucket of dead bait fish. I thought it was pretty gross myself but I certainly didn’t want to inhibit her with my qualms!

Mr. Glenn teaches Brooke the fine points of fishing. He thinks she's a real country girl.

Credits:
Papers and Elements: Jessica Bolton's Home Life Kit
Font: A Little Pot