The Daily grind and Making Memories

(wiping the sweat from my brow)


Okay, we've done it. We got our local park and recreation guide, I noted the sign up dates, and I jumped online first thing registration morning to get Morgan signed up for swimming lessons. Phew. In the class. Not on the waiting list. Why must it be so hard? I'm just trying to get my girl some skilz! There's such competition for extra-curricular activities. I guess we all bring it on ourselves by trying to be the first one through the gate.


One reason I wanted to sign Morgan up for lessons is because I should do so every summer. Until. The more skills the kids have, the better. We spend a lot of time camping at lake, the ocean, pool time in the backyard... I just think it's something that should be a required part of childhood. The second reason? The second reason I signed Morgan up for lessons is to give her something to do. Why?


The girl is driving me nuts.


Okay, I said it. I did. She cries all day long. All day. I gave her a big cup when she wanted a small cup. She wanted this type of cracker, not that one. I didn't give her enough. I gave her too many. The apple slices were supposed to be big. She wanted to go outside. She wanted to go inside. She wanted one more dandelion from the yard. blah blah blah... if the kid can find a reason to throw a fit, she DOES.


Terrible Twos. Heard of that one.


I have also heard that the three's are even worse.


I NeVER hear anything about the 4's. Why? WHY. Why didn't someone prepare me? Because the four's at my house are definitely the worst. Ayiyiyiyiy.


And then there's Payton.


And she's watching everything that her sister is doing and taking notes.


The next few years are going to be tough.




In other nutty news, I join the crowd. For some reason, I somehow volunteered myself to make 7 ballet costumes for Morgan's first ballet recital. 7. Costumes. With fabric. And sewing. Why I did this I have no idea. Morgan goes to the Redmond School of Dance, and for some reason, the school doesn't come up with costumes for the 3-4 year old group. It's up to the parents. And nobody was stepping forward to do anything. So I jumped up and volunteered. And I am now freaking out.




The song is "the bear went over the mountain". Okay.


Because the program is only about 2 minutes long, I decided to push for something inexpensive. So I thought the kids could all wear their pink leotards, tights, and shoes.


I then decided to get brown and pink tulle, and tie the skirts. So it kinda looks stripey. I also found some bear headbands with the ears and I'm going to put a velvet bow in the middle. And the headbands came with bear hand gloves.


I know it doesn't make sense right now, and frankly, I'm working on the first one and it isn't as I envisioned either.... which is why I'm somewhat freaking out. So if anyone has any advice, tell me. TELL ME. I need all the help I can get.




Anyway.... that's it on the home front. Oh wait. One more thing.




Steve didn't get the captain's position. And he's happy about it. Is that weird? I am still not sure what to think about it. I honestly don't know if he really wanted the job or not. He keeps telling me that he has 19 years before he retires. He doesn't see himself climbing the "corporate" ladder higher than a Captain. He isn't interested in an office job. So he wasn't sure if now is the time to move to the top position. He just wants to look forward to going to work, so I am all for whatever position that means he's in.




Scrappy stuff. I am smokin' the June kit from Studio Calico. I can't stop creating with it! I have already outdone myself with the quantity of projects I have finished for reveal night. And I still have product yet! This has been such a fun kit, and I'm not just saying that because I work there.




Lastly.... have you checked out the Making Memories blog? I was asked to participate in a 4 product challenge with two other designers, using the Noteworthy 2 line. It was an honor to be asked and I had a lot of fun with the challenge. This is what I did:

We were given three pieces of paper:

Circle Flower Die Cut

Double Sided Ledger Circle

Double Sided Stripe

And this is what I decided to do:

(From my MM blog post)

I often struggle with wanting to use both the A and B side of a piece of patterned paper. This was the case with the double sided striped paper from the Delaney collection. I wanted to use the stripes as the background, but I also wanted to use a little bit of the pink on the reverse side. I thought both sides complimented the colors in my photos so well. What I ended up doing was trimming two 1 inch stripes from the right side of the striped paper. I then layered the flower die-cut circle and the double sided ledger circle over the space I trimmed out so that you can’t see the space. I used those two strips of pink paper on either side of the ledger circle paper, B side.

Because of the design on my layout, the orange strip covered some of the flower detail on the circle die-cut paper. To showcase it I simply trimmed the flowers from the paper on the lower right and layered it over the top. I added some orange glittered die-cut flowers on part of the floral pattern to add more glitter to the layout, which complimented the glittered alphas that I used. In addition I trimmed a tip of a flower on the upper part of the circle, and tucked the orange and pink strip underneath it.

After adhering my photos, ribbon, title, and cutout work, I finished off the layout with some hand stitching around the strip. I just love the finished look that hand-stitching gives to a scrapbook layout.

Again, it was an honor to participate in this challenge!

Have a great day! Davinie