master"PIECES" of my LIFE

yes, halloween happened

already, BUT i'm just getting to post about it now.  my ghouls consisted of PINK supergirl and captain commander Rex (from star wars the clone wars - for those of you who don't keep up with this sort of thing or don't live with a boy between the ages of 5 - 9).

    

here is PINK supergirl and captain commander Rex at the school parade on friday.

    

notice captain commander Rex doesn't have his helmet at the parade.  I got sebi the mask that came with the costume, but he kept talking about wanting a helmet.  the mask wasn't good enough 'cuz it doesn't go over his whole head!  geesh!  who knew?!?  well, after looking in two halloween stores, target, toyrus and even in tomorrowland in disneyland, i gave up on the helmet idea.  well, matt only got informed about the whole helmet thing at the umptheenth (is that a word ?!?) hour and in true dada fashion could not diappoint sebastian.  so sometime on friday he found the helmet at toysrus, which sebi & i had seen mind you, i just thought it was a toy not for wearing since it ginormous (another word- look it up).  anyway, the thing is pretty cool, it talks certain commands or you can turn on a microphone so your voice comes out all captain commander Rex.  sebastian wore it for all of two houses trick or treating & then it ended up in the wagon... too cubersome to run from house to house with...forgotten.  that was money well spent.  actually it was, since he still plays with it now.  anyway we went out trick or treating with our friends & neighbors.  here's the whole gang.  i love that the girls are holding hands.  i love that you can only see one of trevor's eyes.  not sure how i feel about sebastian's helmet since that could be any kid in there for all we know. 

  

of course lets not forget auntie fabianna who's with us every year!

  
  

just a couple of things i need to mention for future reference.  lexi's pink & blue hair extensions (the blue is in the back can't see it from here) are from her make over experience in downtown disney a couple of weeks ago.  i still need to blog about our annual disneyland trip.  lexi also received "tinkerbell & the lost treasure" dvd when sebastian got his ginormous (still a word) helmet.  since we had just met tinkerbell in pixie hollow it seemed appropriate.  we have met the princesses for a few years now, but this was our first stop in pixie hollow....but i'm getting ahead of my posts....more on this to come w/ my disney post.

back to halloween.  so part of my business restructure this past summer was to integrate a theme kit every month on top of my monthly technique workshops.  as expected the theme for october was halloween.  here's a peek at the kit & the samples i produced.

  

 

    
 
this was two years ago.  2007.  our last year trick or treating at the old house.  dublin.  cinderella.  spd red power ranger.  you can read more about this fun halloween here. 

meet harry

or {hary} as sebastian wrote on his report.  the 2nd graders at sebi's school have to give their 1st oral presentation and it had to be on a ghost or spider they created and hence har{r}y was born.  he wasn't born without incident mind you, since these projects of course involve much parent participation.  so a mangled manicure from black spray paint, and 2 blisters from hot glue gun and a sacrificed towel to protect everything around har{r}y's creation later.... we welcomed our new furry friend.  according to sebastian har{r}y was born in washington not in danville, california and likes to play video games.  who knew?  but i love sebi's response to the last presentation prompt: "something i'd like you to know about my ghost or spider is"....   and i quote "hary is a black widow spider because he has a red under belly."  and so very true my friends.  har{r}y has a red felt hour glass on his under belly.  can you tell we're a spider family?  if this or this wasn't proof enough.  i wish i could be a fly on the wall when he gives his little presentation.  i told him to try to make eye contact with his audience as he spoke and not simply read his paper with his head down.  so in true sebastian fashion he almost had it all memorized last night so he didn't have to read at all.  but i know once you get in front of the whole class it's waaaay harder to remember anything.  sending good {{{vibes}}} your way buddy.  and here's the man of the hour w/ his new furry, har{r}y, friend. 

october workshop

this month's workshop focuses on journaling.  i can hear the growns from here.  c'mon gals!  anyway, like most workshops we'll create a 2 page 12x12 layout as well as a 1 page 12x12 layout.  the 1st double spread layout involves a pre-class assignment where a custom title & journaling can be created using a word editing program.  although i use my own handwriting nowadays more often than not, the computer comes in handy many times.  i also encourage for other members of the family to also help with the journaling.  i always enjoy seeing my family's (new & old) personal handwriting on things.  when i first started "formally" scrapbooking 7 years ago i always used the computer- ya know, the don't want to ruin a layout w/ my handwriting thing, when in actuality personal handwriting adds so much character & emotion to a layout.  but....there's something to be said about all the cool things that can be done on a computer. 

 
i also used labels on the photos to show another way to document the story.  i used a TON of photos 'cuz i just couldn't narrow it down (& i still have others i didn't use- so you can imagine).  i had a lot to say & show apparently.  you can also use 4- 4x6  photos (2 on top; 2 on the bottom) or 6- 4x4 photos (3 on top & 3 on the bottom) or any other mutliple combinations....

for the second layout i used a nursery ryhme as a prompt to jump start my journaling.  songs, poems, sayings are all great spring boards to get our journaling communicated in a creative manner.  notice i used a couple of different stamp sets also instead of stickers or handwriting.  this gives it a very custom & unique look.

 
i also included hidden journaling with a pull tab.  this is a creative way to include sensitive & personal content with privacy.  although mine isn't exactly private in this case it turned out to work well with the design of the layout.  the hidden text is my blog entry from when this happened.  you can see it here.  this is one of the many reasons i blog.  to communicate the story when it's fresh in my mind & then i have instant journaling when i go to create a scrapbook layout.

 
so basically the moral of the story is to use different journaling techniques.  from the tools: computers, pens, pencils, stamps, etc.  to the supplies: ledger paper, cards, notebooks, labels, tags, stickers, etc.  to the prompts: {who, what, when, where}, stories, repetition, poems, songs, etc.

i know journaling tends to be the last thing done on a layout and it's often neglected or rushed.  when i look back at my old books i tend to focus & be most interested on the story & the pictures.  i know all the embellishments & bling are fun when we're creating and it keeps it fun & motivating, but you'll look back for the memory.

supplies:

 6~Jenni Bowlin Studios Town Square 12x12 patterned papers

1~Jenni Bowlin Studios Town Square 12x12 die cut patterned paper

2~Prism 12x12 card stock ~ cream

4~Jenni Bowlin Studios Memo Book Journaling pages ~ red

2~7 Gypsies photo carousel tab sheets ~ manila

assorted stamps {7gypsies, autumn leaves, jenni bowlin, narratives, stampin' up!}

assorted punches (creative memories, stampin' up!, mcgill)

don't forget to write!

 

napa & kids

napa

so this past weekend we ventured up to napa with some good friends & it was quite lovely.  and no we didn't bring the kids along (i'll get to them in just a little bit).  and yes that's two weekends in a row that we've been away sans children.  poor planning on my part but done accidently.  i didn't even realize until matt pointed it our a few weeks back.  so anyway, here we are at cakebread cellars where we started our saturday journey.  not too shabby.  i have to say all in all we were very responsible & we didn't get crazy.  very unusual with this crew.  we ended the weekend on sunday with spa treatments at silverado where we stayed.  i could have spent aaaaaaaall day there.  sonoma mission inn is still my favorite spa but this is also perfectly relaxing & restful.  one of the many great things about wine country is all the eye candy around you at all times.  so here's some of the stuff i captured.

here's a giant sunflower in the gardens at cakebread.  it's one of the owner's garden and it was beautiful and i'm sure she has plenty of help maintaining it.  here are some of the sunflowers out to dry.

cakebread was also doing some cross marketing with a local art gallery (i forget the name) but here is one of the pieces they had at the cellar.  i love stuff like this.  it's just FUN!

and considering we were there during {crush} it didn't seem very crowded, but we also stayed away from all the big commercial wineries so that probably helped.

and this is where we got a little bit silly.  that's wendy's "run- bear!" face and of course matt doesn't need any coaching on this kind of stuff.

i can never play along 'cuz i'm too busy laughing....

and i'm also convinced that mr. bear is a direct ancestor of mocha.  wouldn't you agree? 

and although i fully enjoyed both weekends away i do have to say it was hard to be away from the kiddos two weekends in a row.  i can't believe i'm saying that & i'll remind myself at 4:45pm when i wondering if it's too early to have a glass a wine as i'm tired of the other kind of whine.  anyway, it made me feel a bit disconnected from the kids & i don't like the feeling.  we missed 2 of sebi's basketball games, which apparently he's playing fabulously in.  we missed a birthday party lexi attended and another party sebi attended.  it's nice to take some time alone with matt and do some adult things, but these kids are little for such a short time and then they'll be busy doing adult things of their own.  i really try to live consciously and enjoy life for what it is today 'cuz these kids amaze me & make me proud all the time.

lexi

lexi is truly surprising me how she has fully engaged in the academics of kindergarten.  i know that the social aspect of it would be right up her alley, but she's embracing the knowledge part of it full on.  her kindergarten class has a pet named chappy and each child gets to take him home overnight.  we had chappy stay over a week ago and part of the process is to write about your adventures with chappy.  i'm thinking to myself, "yeah right, this is work for me 'cuz there's no way that lexi can write anything".  well bite your tongue cynical mother.  i looked through the binder and saw that about half the kids wrote their own & the other half the parents did.  so then i'm thinking well....but not totally confident.  so lexi takes chappy on a play date adventure & as soon as she gets home she gets the binder ready to do homework.  mind you lexi has been ready to do homework for 2 years now since sebi started doing homework.  her kinder class hasn't started homework yet at this point so she took this on big time!

 
in her eyes it was her first homework assignment.  she got her letter chart & with some help about what some letters were she wrote her own story!  it never even crossed her mind that i would do any writing.  this was all about lexi.  go girl!  chappy sat by her side as she did the work diligently.

i'm so flipping proud of her and the work she produced!

and lexi's day finally came yesterday.  she came home with her first homework packet & she couldn't get to it fast enough.  we have a standing play date on wednesday so lexi & i went to pick up her friend emily at her old preschool and she held on to that homework packet the whole way, proudly showed her old teachers and as soon as she got home sat down at the kitchen table to work.  her little friend drew for a little while but then became interested in lexi's work.  i was worried this might be a distracting work environment until i made copies of the worksheets for emily & both girls worked on their own together.  the girls whipped through all the worksheets & i giggled when i read the notes from the teacher.  it talked about how there's about a sheet per night and this should not take more than 5 minutes per night and that homework shouldn't become a stuggle, etc. etc.  well lexi polished it off in one sitting.  the only problem?  she's going to want more homework tonite as sebi works on his own so i'm gonna have to create some lesson plans for lexi.  this is a good problem to have.  love it and love this little girl! 

sebi

sebastian had his first field trip last week to the jelly belly factory.  i was a parent chaperone and i've always heard this is a great trip/tour.  it did not disappoint.  candy factory, do i need to say more?

 
but my favorite part of the day was when sebastian just came up to me in the middle of the trip with all other 2nd graders around and just gave me a big hug for no reason.  he loves that i'm involved.  he loves when i help out in his classroom.  he loves to have me around.  i cherish this right now, 'cuz i know that's probably not always going to be the case, but with sebastian i wouldn't be surprised if he's the kind of teenager that seeks his mother's advice.  time will tell and for now i just enjoy his sensitivity.  when i told him i was leaving when the kids were safely back in the classroom, he asked me to wait and ran over to give me a hug goodbye.

i love this boy with all his craziness and little boy energy and silly mouth sometimes, but it all makes him who he is & he's a fabulous individual.  we had our parent teacher conference w/ mrs. donovan yesterday and she couldn't say enough nice things about sebastian.  she started by saying "i love this little boy".  seriously what else could we ask for?  yes, there's reading and writing and math and respect and all that great stuff that we send our kids to school for but if the teacher loves him, it's 'cuz all those other things are aligned properly.  this is what i took away from the meeting.  sebastian is a funny boy with a fabulous disposition who everybody loves and is always happy.  although i'm paraphrasing these are her words.  and i know this as his mother, but it's wonderful to hear from the the only other person who spends the most time with him right now besides us.  he makes me proud.... A LOT.  

la jolla

the jewel.  the spaniards were right when they named it the jewel by the sea.  that's where we spent this past weekend.  la jolla.  our good friends from back east included us in the wedding celebration of their daughter & now son-in-law and it didn't disappoint from any direction.  we ate, we drank, we talked, we shopped, we had fun.  it was wonderful to see our friends again.  i think the last time we had been together i was pregnant with sebi.  i'm hoping the next time isn't so long in between.

and since a post isn't complete without a picture AND i didn't bring my camera and/or take a single photograph this weekend (i know can you believe  it?), i'll post the only thing missing from the weekend.

 

that's right we left the kiddos home & enjoyed a very adult weekend.  although a family vacation in the san diego area would be fun between legoland, sea world, the zoo & the beach.  i think that might be in our future some time. 

new catalog release!

memory works has just unveiled the new catalog releasing this fall.  historically memory-works has released a brand new full page catalog every spring in april & in the fall they simply release a product supplement about a third of the size.  this is the first full fledged fall (say that five times fast) catalog that memory-works has produced.  why the change?  the manufacturers are dictating the changes in the product lines, discontinuing products and adding new designs after the bi-annual craft & hobby association (cha) trade shows.  the trade shows run in the summer & winter so it seems like perfect timing for a new catalog to come out right after when the products are hitting the marketplace.  this new catalog is once again jam packed with exciting products with trend aware papers&embellishments and technique driven tools&supplies.

check it all out here.

a couple...

of layouts.  i created these a couple of months ago but they are just getting put away now so i thought i would post them for funsies.... & there lies the real root of the problem.  i should be cleaning my scrap area..or..watering the plants outside..or..finishing that last load of laundry i always leave in the dryer on laundry days..or..decluttering the kitchen counters..or..you get they idea huh?  procrastination.  it's not good.  and it sits on my shoulder somedays as i tell myself  "a couple more minutes & i'll do something productive..."

  

 

in my defense though...i did work on the yearbook and some memory-works biz this morning so it hasn't been a total bust.  and besides, in a couple of minutes....

september workshop - repurpose

so after my summer sabatical i'm back, teaching scrapbooking workshops and hopefully adding other fun stuff to my repertoire.  september's technique is repurposing and it ties in nicely with my current class on big picture scrapbooking with jenni bowlin.  you can read more about that here.  it's simply a coincidence but also convenient, although jenni's class is a very broad spectrum of repurposing & reinventing (sidebar- i really dig the decorating aspect of it), while my personal class only focuses on repurposing on actual scrapbook layouts.  in class we'll learn about archival integrity and how we can incorpoarte non-scrapbooking products into our layouts safely & consciously.  i'm a big proponent of archival mist, but since it is quite pricey, i'm selective about when to use it and when it's really not necessary.  in the two page layout above the unconvetional items include: 1) shipping tags, which i use in many different ways; i love these guys,  2) a page from a dictionary, purchased at the dollar tree; garage sales or thrift stores are also a great location to find old books that you can disassemble & alter without any guilt,  3) i also used excess landscape/vista photographs to diecut my title; i always take waaaay too many of these type of pictures and never know what to do with them,  4) and souvenirs like plane ticket, hotel room confirmation & stationary, which provides much of the journaling details. 

in addition we'll also create this one page layout.

  

here i incorporated doillies, stationary paper and acrylic jewels intended for jewelry &/or fashion.  it's fun to come up with different ways to use found items or less expensive items or all that stuff we collect when we travel, but don't know what to do with once we get home.  i don't do it on every layout but when the mood strikes or the perfect items appears i love it! 

here's a list of supplies for this workshop:

• 2~Prism 12x12 card stocks ~ medium brown

• 1~Prism 12x12 card stock ~ dark brown

• 10~Avery shipping tags ~ natural

• 1~Dictionary page ~ assorted

• 3~Doilies ~ white assorted

• 1~Stationary sheet ~ navy

• 5~3-1/4” blue cardstock circles

• 13~acrylic jewels ~ assorted

happy labor day!

 

great weekend.  great life.  great country.

back 2 school

 

so the kids started school last week.  here they are with the principal, who instills a fabulous community feeling at montair elementary.  lexi started kindergarten, while sebi began 2nd grade.  i'm so proud of them.  luckliy lexi got a morning kindergarten, which we weren't sure about until the school posted the teacher/classroom assignments the friday before school started.  not only did she get a morning spot but she got who is revered as the "best" kindergarten teacher.  i hate to say that, 'cuz they are all good, but there's always one that everyone talks on & on about.  it's actually a shared classroom so she has 2 teachers, one week on one week off.  the other teacher is one sebastian had one day a week when he was in kindergarten & i really enjoy her.  enough about the teachers, lexi has adapted without skipping a beat.  she's already made some friends & wants playdates, she talks about what she's learning with an air of superiority (she's a big kindergartener now, c'mon), and she loves all the back to school clothes that came with the big move to elementary school (somethings will never change).  any concerns or worries i might have had about her being ready have been squashed.  can u tell she's in her element?

 

sebi also has a fabulous teacher for second grade and he seems to have adapted wonderfully without going through the testing phase.  i think we have his first grade teacher to thank for that as well as all the preventitive maintenance matt & i did beforehand.  OR maybe he's just growing up.  either way we're very proud of him as well.  matt & i were just discussing last night how he seems to have matured.  he takes care of his sister, he speaks more eloquently and just seems to "get it" way more than before.  this BIG boy will always be my baby boy though whether he likes it or not.

     

back 2 school nights were this week & sebi's teacher gave him a rave report, quieting any doubts or concerns matt & i might have had.  we're not worried about him academically since he tends to be a fairly bright boy, it's that he's too smart for his own good sometimes & likes to see how far he can push a situation for leverage.  (i say future lawyer by the way).  But apparently his teacher hasn't seen any of that.  she loves his SPARK as she put it; love to hear that.  when she says it's time for business she says he responds immediately.  love to hear that too.  the funny part is we never even asked lexi's teachers about her transition.  lol!  clearly she's the lower maintenance child in this category, 'cuz we all know overall low maintenance is not how we would describe lexaliscious (as my good friend coined her).  in my defense though, i was a bit preoccupied as a room parent in her classroom to make sure all the proper forms were filled out.  not sure yet how i ended up a room parent, but at least i'm sharing the job w/ 2 other great ladies.

 

one VERY happy family.  two good kids, two proud parents (& one hairy beast at home~can't forget mocha)......