Is it July yet?

Did you feel that?  That was the door of softball season closing and summer vacation beginning...well except for tennis and dentist appointments and weddings and ...well, I'm sure July will pass me by just as quickly as May and June did.  LOL!  What a whirlwind those two months always are for our family.  It seems like we just never ever get a chance to stop and breathe but it is totally worth it to watch my girls play ball.  I just have to brag a little about how stinkin' athletic my kids all are.  I know they didn't get that from me so I have to give some credit to their dad. 

I remember listening to my mom yelling and screaming and cheering at games and as a kid I was a little embarrassed by it.  But then as an adult watching my little brother play football, I was right there with her.  If you've ever been to a game with me, you probably sit a little farther away than you normally would.  But that's okay.  I am still gonna yell until my voice is gone and I'm going to jump up and clap like a total spaz when one of my kids does something awesome.  I just can't help it! 

I also coached the Jr. High girls again this year and I just love those girls so much!  I have been so very blessed to be able to be a part of Lexi's softball life and this season was no different.  Now that the season is over, I find myself missing all that teen girl drama and all of the laughter they bring into my life.  What a truly wonderful thing it is to be involved with them!

But alas, the season is over and now I am hoping to get my blog back on track, though I won't make any promises because it is still summer vacation.  So let's see, what have I been up to lately? 

Well, I've been scrapping again and I was invited to join the Scraps N' Pieces creative team which just has me completely tickled!  I even have some goodies for you a little later in this post. 

I also have decided to beat this black thumb of mine into submission and started some flower beds as well as a vegetable garden this year.  We will see how it goes but I am dang determined to see my plants flourish. 

I started knitting again.  I haven't knit anything in months and the other day this wonderful bag of yarn (thank you, Gayle!) was just calling my name so I have started working on a sweater I've been wanting to knit for a long time.  The worst thing about that is that I just get into a zone when I knit and suddenly it's four hours later! 

What else?  Let's see...I have been reading like crazy.  When Andy works night shift, I don't sleep very much so I have been reading until 4 or 5 in the morning.  I started reading Ariana Franklin's books and am currently reading the 4th book in the Mistress of the Art of Death series.  I have to tell you that she truly draws me in.  This is the 5th book of hers that I've read and I can't put them down.  They are so good!  Check them out.

So do you want to see some of the pages I've been making lately?  Here we go...

Ugh...you gotta start somewhere, right?  Well, a couple of weeks ago I stepped on the scale and cried.  Literally.  And the STS Word Of the Week Challenge this week was "Motivation."  Perfect.  So I decided to scrap about it.

Kit:  Bouncing Beach Balls STS Blog Train & Gymnastic Shapes by AMD

This is one of the girls from my softball team.  At the end of the season I always try to do a fun photo day where the girls can choose their own poses and just be silly.  These are the pics of this particular girl.  I also made this as part of the Template Challenge at 9th & Bloom.

Kit:  Callie's Dream by Chris Greiser

One afternoon I asked Andy what was on his bucket list.  He only had one thing.  One thing?  For real?  Yeah, I'm still wondering how that happens.

Kit:  Au fil du Temps by Fanette

I spent an evening watching some friends of mine play softball and I was blown away and completely humbled.  This is a layout about my friend, Dana, when she hit a triple...pretty freakin' amazing if you ask me!

Kit:  Numb3rs by Pink Reptile Designs

Let me introduce you to Izzy's BFF, Devynn.  We {heart} her.

Kit:  Got A Feeling by A+ Designs

Lately I've been really feeling like there's more out there and so I assessed what my dreams have been throughout my life.  It seems like they are always changing and it seems like there is always something more I'm working towards.

Kit:  Boardwalk by Designs by Helly and By Becca

And as if you haven't seen enough of the family photos we took a couple of months ago, I made yet another page with them.  I just really truly love how they turned out especially since all we did was hang a sheet, throw another on the dining room floor and started shooting. I did this as part of the Inspired Impressions Challenge at 9th & Bloom.

Kit:  My Family by Agnesingap Designs

I was fortunate enough to win a kit from Scrappily Ever After this month so of course I had to scrap a page with it! 

Kit:  Daddy's Little Girl by Scrappily Ever After

I am also participating in the This Scrapper's Got Talent contest at STS this month and this was the layout I made for the second week's challenge.  The challenge was to use a specific amount of elements and to implement white space into the layout.  What?!  These are two of the things I struggle the most with so I was biting fingernails and doing and redoing this layout over and over.

Kit:  The Great Outdoors blog train by STS

This is the layout I made for the first week's challenge.  It was a template challenge with a twist.   We had to use all the pieces of the template but we had to change it up so that we weren't just using the template as it was.

Kits:  The Boy by Scrappin Serenity, Nightengale by Scraps N' Pieces, Monochrome Pop by Christin's Creations, and Something Beautiful by Amy Dane Designs

In May, Izzy and I spent a night on the town together.  We went to a dance recital and then to a movie where she promptly fell asleep 20 minutes in.  LOL!  I always enjoy spending one on one time with my girls and each one of them brings such awesome joy to my life that I can't imagine without them.

Kit:  Flamboyant by A+ Designs

These lovely people are my great grandparents on my mom's side of the family.  I love these photos and the legacy they represent. 

Kit:  You Light Up My Life by A+ Designs

And on the other side of my family is my dad's brother and 3 of my cousins. 

Kit:  You Light Up My Life by A+ Designs

Last year for Kaylee's birthday she wanted to do a photo shoot so Aunt Brenda and I made a trip to Bozeman for some fancy schmancy dresses and boas and then I took Kaylee out for her shoot in West Yellowstone.  She is such a beautiful girl and so this is one of the photos from that day.

Kit:  Flamboyant by A+ Designs

I made this next page as part of a speed scrap challenge and is one of the few photos I have of Kaylee playing ball this year.  Whever she had a game in one town, Lexi had one in another.  It was a rare occassion for me to be able to see her play. 

Kit:  Make A Wish by Secret Stash

This was Kaylee's favorite photo of herself this season so I decided to showcase it as part of the Use It or Lose It Challenge at STS.  For this challenge, we are given a few pieces and we have to use each of them to create a layout.  This can be challenging but fun at the same time!

Kit:  YW UIoLI Mini by Designing Divas

I have been feeling some frustration lately (to say the least) with our lives and in a moment of needing to put it on paper, I created this layout (also part of the Trendsetter Challenge at 9th & Bloom).

Kit:  While My Little One Sleeps by Designs by Helly

This is another of the photos I took during our fun photo day softball practice.  I love love love the way this one turned out.  I created this as part of the Challenge of the Week challenge at STS.  The challenge was to create a layout without using any paper or embellishments.  Only the photo and a title.  So I grabbed some textures and went to work on the photo. 

When I first saw this kit it literally made me laugh.  What a great way to poke fun at being a housewife in a wonderfully sarcastic way.  Loved it.  This was also part of the Template Challenge at STS.

Kit:  The Good Wife by Alissa Jones

I participated in another challenge last month that was about capturing someone being vintage them.  When I saw these photos of my little brother, I knew exactly where I was going with the challenge!  LOL!

Kit:  Worlds Apart by Designs by Helly

And finally, I'd like to introduce Scraps N' Pieces latest creation called Girls Night Out.  {Applause} I opened up this kit and there were so many awesome options that I had a really hard time deciding just which direction to take for my layouts.  This kit covers everything from shopping to knitting to movies to spa days and the list goes on and on.  There is seriously so much stuff in here and you just need to go check it out!  It's even on sale for $2.50 for the first week.  And if you buy the kit, you can get the matching cardstock pack for a measly $1.00 when you use coupon code SNPGNO.  Just sayin'.

Here's what I made with this kit so far:

Can you see the endless possibilities?  I also decided to make you a freebie with this kit because it's been so stinkin' long since I blogged that I thought I better offer you something besides my good looks and great sense of humor!  ROFL! 

Simply click on the image to download (link fixed)!  Enjoy!

And if you'd like even more freebies and layout inspiration from this kit, check out the Scraps N' Pieces blog! 

Have a great day!

Comments

[Rachel]

I don't usually download quickpages, but this one is really neat. Thanks!

[HighDesertGal]

The link to your cute QP does not seem to be working. Am I doing something wrong?

[GRL]

Delicious all of it! <3 you, Wendy~