So I found an old accordian album that I had done in October, 2007. Obviously, my kids have grown a lot since then, plus I had another one. LOL! I looked at it for awhile, and then decided that I would flip it over and make a new one on the opposite side! I could keep the old, but add the new!

This was the 'old side'...

And here is what I did with the 'new side'....

I used Echo Park's 'This & That Charming' line for this project, one of my favorites in the last few months, because of the greens and browns, which are always some of my favorite colors to use. It is a line that is mainly geared towards boys, however I made it work for both my boys AND my girls!

Closeups:

Something old can be new again, without ripping it apart and getting rid of what you have done in the past. Now I have 2 sides that I can put on display up in my entrance.

I caved in to the chevron!!!

I will be the first to admit, trends in scrapbooking are very cool to look at, but I don't always try them right away.  I don't like trying them just because everyone else is doing it....  I like to try them when I feel like my layout is calling for it.

This layout called for it.

THE CHEVRON


Obviously, I love the look of the chevron, as my blog is decorated with it.... but I had yet to use it on a layout!

I loved these pictures of my boy.  He found this helmet fascinating, and wore it around the house for a day or two.  I kinda wish he would wear it 24/7, as he is one accident prone child.  I think it stems from his no fear attitude. LOL!

Once again putting EP's This & That Charming to work!

I also played around with a fun sketch from Sketchabilities that was great to get some mojo flowing this morning!  I used Simple Stories 'Fabulous' for this one!

TFL and have a great weekend!!

Some other people's children....

..... make some beautiful scrapbook pages, and sometimes make me feel like I'm starting something fresh and new.  Sound strange?  Probably...  haha!

I recently took some pictures while out on a boat ride with friends of ours... they have 3 beautiful children, and I was so happy to get some great shots of them.  I finished 2 layouts of the girls, and hopefully will get to do one of their boy shortly.

First we have Makenzie, one of the most content babies I have ever known. She rarely cries, you hardly know she is around, a dream baby to have when you have 3 kids age 4 and under.

(Simple Stories Fabulous Collection)

Tekoa is the older daughter, and such a pretty girl.  Full of questions, full of spunk.... I just love her energy!!!

(Echo Park This & That Graceful Collection)

I hope everyone is having an amazing summer, visiting with family and friends, enjoying your children whether it's in the yard or at a beach.  We have had some pretty beautiful weather, lots of sun and heat... which has meant a ton of beach time!!!

He is Amazing!

I was thrilled last week to attend our school awards ceremony, and watched as my Jackson received the 

Most Improved Student Award!

Jackson struggles with school, and works very hard to get his work done even though he doesn't always understand it....

I am so proud of him.

Echo Park's new This & That 'Charming' line was perfect for this photo of Jackson at the beach.  I cut apart some of the border strips for the banner flags, and pop dotted a few of the embellishments as well as the banners.  Adding depth to my pages is always something that can bring them even more to life!

I hope everyone of my Canadian friends had a wonderful Canada Day!  We had a great day with family and friends, celebrating with the rest of our beautiful town down at the beach and finished it off with some amazing fireworks.  An amazing day!

One Year Ago Today....

I remember June 27th, 2011 so vividly.... It was by far the hardest day of my entire life.  Leaving your child as they cry for you, laying on a huge operating table getting hooked up to iv's and machines that will sustain his life.... nothing prepares you.  Nothing.

But, the day was also the best day of my life, because Dr. Rebeyka and his amazing team, fixed Braydens little heart.  His life has changed drastically, he has become such a ball of fire it amazes me and everyone around us.  The energy that this child has, that he just simply didn't have before, is astounding.

This child that a year ago couldn't go through the day without having up to 6 hours worth of naps some days, and was still in bed at 7pm, wasn't able to eat because he had no energy or appetite and couldn't gain weight, and couldn't breathe properly because his lungs were compromised.... the little angel that was in congestive heart failure and nobody caught it.  This child has done a complete 180 degrees and eats like a horse (and eats EVERYTHING), only has one nap a day, has almost NO down time the entire time he's awake because he's running everywhere and climbing everything...  He has gained close to 10lbs and grown inches....  This child is my heart warrior, my hero....

This experience isn't over, because we don't know what the future holds.  We don't know if or when another surgery will happen.  For now, we keep him on his medications, watch for signs, and just enjoy every single moment watching him grow and thrive.  But looking at what has happened over the last year, I know that he will be fine.  No matter what happens or how many trips to the hospital we end up making.  He will be fine.

Lost Treasure!

I’ve mentioned before how hard it sometimes is to find something in this little town suitable to alter… so when I happen to find something in my own home that I have forgotten about, and nobody wants it anymore… it’s pretty exciting. LOL!

This little chessboard/gameboard measures about 9″ square, has a removable lid, and had dividers inside for other game pieces. Nobody has every played with it, some of the pieces were missing, so I put it into the ‘Chelsea Pile’ to see what I could do with it.

I brought home some of the ‘This & That Graceful’ line from Echo Park (by Lori Whitlock) because I really fell in love with it while at the store for the Grand Reopening weekend. I thought I would try and turn it into a little pretty keepsake box for Makenna to put into her bedroom for all of the little notes she brings home from school from her friends.

Items Used: Bingo Paper, Dots Paper, Lace Paper, Quilt Paper, Element Stickers, Alpha Stickers and then some glue, some popdots, some scissors, and some ribbon…. that’s all it took, and I love the end result.

She absolutely loves it.  Her favorite part is the little sticker die cut in the corner, because I have sung ‘You are my sunshine’ to all of my kiddos while they are growing up.

Congratulations to LIITD!!

I just returned from a wonderful trip down south to Winkler, MB!  I packed up and headed down kind of last minute when plans allowed me to go, and was there for the weekend of the Grand Opening of the new LIITD store! 

When I walked into the store on Friday when I got there, I was blown away.  I couldn't get over the fact that it was in reality, a REAL storefront, and everything was so spacious and bright, nicely spaced out and organized.  

What got to me the most, were the little touches.  The DETAILS.  Lori has a thing for details, and they make the store totally and completely HER.  You don't feel like you are walking into WalMart to the scrapbook section.  You feel like you are walking into her second home, full of knick knacks and personal items.... it's amazing.

Here are some pics that I took before it opened for the day!! :)

 This is the room where you can sit and scrapbook for small crops, so nice to have it right in the building!!

Thank you for letting me a part of the big day!!!

You can read Lori's blog post about it HERE!