joe nuxhall miracle field {a scrapbook layout}

There's a baseball legend that grew up right here in our little hometown of Fairfield. He was a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, one of the youngest men to ever play the sport. He later went on to become a beloved baseball announcer but he never forgot his roots. Joe Nuxhall gave so much back to Fairfield, not only money but time and energy. His sons still live in our area and still help out with our schools. Not long after he died, an organization was formed to help our city build the Joe Nuxhall Miracle Field .

This isn't your ordinary baseball field. It's a place where children with special needs and physical limitations can play baseball with little to no assistance. In a word, it's AMAZING. 

As a mom of four healthy, active boys, it was humbling to stand on that field. As I watched them running and playing, I was so very thankful for the many blessings we've been given. I am so proud of my "adopted" hometown-and this very cool place. 

Happy Thursday friends!

have you ever...{a scrapbook layout}

Disappeared from your blog for months and hoped that people would still be around when you came back? :)
Saw a picture in the pile of photos you took from one a event and all you could think was, "I need to scrapbook that"?
Clearly, I can answer yes to both of those questions. To say that life has been a little crazy would be a huge understatement.
I took a new role at work in March of this year (right about the time I started disappearing from this blog). Within a month of my joining, the team of 4 people went to just one-ME. I've essentially been doing the work of 3 people all summer long. I'm not complaining or whining. Just stating facts. I've had some time to think lately-got some news at work that made me really think about how I was spending my time. Let's just say I won't be working through lunch anymore and that my kids will no longer be competing with my laptop for my attention on the weekends.
And I'll be back to posting at least once or twice a week here. I have lots of layouts to share. :)
I mentioned before that sometimes you see a photo and all you can think is "I have to scrapbook that". That was the case with this picture.

It's a photo of one of my oldest sons teaching my youngest son how to dribble a basketball and you can see their shadows in the background of the photo.

I immediately had the title in mind and got to work.

The journaling is all about how Brody is learning so much about growing up in the shadows of his older brothers and how the 3 of them are such great examples to him.
I kept everything about the layout really simple to focus on the story and pictures.
Love that chevron paper. I used it on a few different layouts. I was totally bummed when I ran out of it!
Happy Monday blogger friends!

our summer in a layout {a scrapbook layout}

I know, it's not Monday, but better late than never, right?
Last summer, we had so much fun-much of it in our own backyard! I don't really want to do 15 layouts about bike riding and our bouncy house, so how do I capture that in one layout?
Thanks to my PhotoSheet program, I created a series of 2x3 photos highlighting some of the fun we had. I took Simple Stories Summer Fresh line and went to work.

I used some of the word/phrase stickers to create a banner.

And the letter stickers from the kit to create a title.

A whole summer of bike riding and backyard fun in one double layout. I think the kraft cardstock really helps tie it together.
We're taking the boys to Kings Island amusement park this weekend and I'm hoping to get some scrapping time in on Sunday afternoon.
Have a great weekend!

a scrapbook layout in less than 10 minutes...you are my sunshine {a scrapbook layout}

How do you create a layout in less than 10 minutes? Let me explain...
Despite my serious and well documented Thickers addiction, sometimes I just don't want to spell a title out. I really love the Simple Stories 4x6 cards for just this reason. So many of them can be used for titles-they are super versatile and don't need a lot of work to make them look good.
For today's layout, I simply cut it out from the sheet (it was on a 12x12 sheet with 5 other 4x6 cards) and rounded the corners. Boom. I had my layout title.
Since I am using a collection kit, I just added 2 strips of  patterned paper with contrasting patterns and overlay on  my photo and this layout was literally done in minutes.
Clean, simple and fast. I'll be back Monday with a layout that wraps up a whole summer of fun in a double layout.

hello my name is the moose {a scrapbook layout}

Hi there! I'm back from vacation -we headed down to Santa Rosa Beach again this year, love that place-and I'm feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the world again. I have a ton of scrapbooking to catch up on (1 1/2  Scrapbook Generation kits and another that will ship next week-yikes!) but I'm not stressing. Maybe because I can still sort of hear the ocean waves crashing in my head. LOL.
So, I have to share a funny story about our trip. As we were packing to leave I checked and re-checked all the drawers in the kids rooms to be sure they didn't leave ANYTHING behind in Florida. Unfortunately, I wasn't nearly as diligent in my own room. As we were driving back, I begin to get a sinking sensation that I might have left behind my favorite black dress. "Did you happen to throw my black dress in your bag?" I asked the husband. Nope. The closer we got to Ohio, the more items I begin to think of that I didn't remember packing. In the end, I left behind a whole DRAWER full of clothes in the beach house we rented in Florida! The woman who owns the house was kind enough to FedEx them to me (lucky clothes got to spend an extra week on the beach!). BTW, the house we stayed in was AMAZING, private pool, 3 bedrooms, a Wii for the kiddos, and super nice owners-if you want the details, please send me a note and I will get you the owner's info.
Anyway, back to scrapping, the Moose actually enjoyed the beach this year and cracked us up with his ability to make friends everywhere we went. He's not a shy one. :)
His outgoing personality inspired this layout.

 He always introduces himself as "Brody Moose". Ha ha. Love that kid.
Happy Tuesday!

spring break @ voa {a scrapbook layout}

Thanks so much for all of the nice comments on my last layout. I have met some of the nicest people through this hobby!
Today I have a double page layout to share. I used my very favorite scissors, Cutterbee scissors, to fussy cut the sun and kite for this one. I use the yellow and black handled Cutterbee scissors, the ones that have the teflon coating. They are super sharp and nothing, I mean nothing sticks to them. Love them for intricate cuts.

I'm still using the Simple Stories kit-I got a lot of mileage out of this kit. I used Simple Stories Sn@p alphabet stickers for the title and some WRMK twine for the kite.
I cut the sun from one the 4x6 cards that came with the kit:

I added some pop dots to give it some dimension and have it "pop" off the page.

The kite was a bit more challenging. It was on one of the patterned papers. I cut the tail off and looped some twine around the pop dot I used to adhere it to the layout. Then I used other colors of twine for the bows in the tail.

 

Forgot to add that I used Swiss Dot Bazzill cardstock as the base. Fun stuff.

I'm super excited because I just got the shipping notice from Scrapbook Generation that my first Super Saver Sketch Club Kit is on it's way. I can't wait to play with it this weekend!! I'll post photos here on the blog once I get it.

they are the fabric of my heart {a scrapbook layout}

Got in some serious scrapbooking time this weekend. I finished working with a Simple Stories kit that I'd been hoarding for a bit. So all the layouts you'll see this week will feature that line.
This one is a one pager, with one 4x6 photo. All the materials are from Simple Stories, except the letter stickers and heart stickers-those are from Jillibean Soup.

Super happy with how this turned out. This one is currently on display in my craft room.

Close up of title:

And of the heart banner:

Just looking at this makes me happy.
Happy Monday friends!