back from hiatus

i guess i kind of took an unplanned hiatus from blogging. march just seemed to slip away from me. so this post may be a bit photo heavy. but i wanted to post some of my latest pages and i'll start with the most recent and work my way back.

i love the photo on this page of jake and me. it was taken 2 weeks ago. as some of you know, jake is in a 15 month program for troubled teens called Teen Challenge in Branson Missouri. he has been there since last july and is doing absolutely awesome!!! his freshman year he became extremely rebellious and would not obey ANY rules. (many more details but it doesn't matter any more). after MUCH prayer and seeking we made the heart wrenching decision to send him to Teen Challenge. After just one week he was a changed person. he said that "the peer pressure was just too hard to break away from when you are right in the middle of it" and he thanked us for sending him there. my boy is becoming even more amazing than he was before he started rebelling. he is growing and maturing in the LORD and his dad and i could not be more proud of him. we only get to see him every 2 months so we cherish our time with him!! i think this photo captures the sparkle in jake's personality and that is why i love it so much!

the photo on this page is of jake, jd (my husband)and jd's father taken in 2010. i was waiting for just the right paper to come along to scrap it. when i saw the map paper in the march studio calico add on i knew it was perfect for this photo. i love the new Crate Paper Story Teller line and the Studio Calico March Kit was full of it. here are the last pages i sent to jake. the first two i used the SC March kit and the last is a page i did in 2007.

i usually do a few pages to send to jake and then a few to give to my mom for the scrapbook i am making her. this one is of her father who was an awesome photographer. the photo was taken in the 1940's and the the SC march kit could not have been more perfect for this page.

happy wednesday! and i'll be back soon.

that sure is a lot of white space...

on my scrap table that is.

i guess it is time to mess it up again. ;) i plan on scrapping most of the day today and i'll post what i make later. but in the mean time here are a few of my latest pages.

this page i made using the february studio calico kit plus stuff from my stash. i love the photo. it is of my mom and her cousin and it reminded me of the old tv show "The Little Rascals". hence the title.

i also used the february SC kit for this layout of jd and me.

and then for this page i used the februray jbs kit.

studio calico + jenni bowlin studios = a scrapbookers heaven (at least to me)

happy tuesday!!

stay tuned next post = calvinball at jbs

that look...

that i love even though he is angry. i was going through my past layouts to pick one to send to jake this week and i came across this one:

the photos were taken in 2007.we were at the beach and jake had done something we had asked him not to do.so we put him in time out. i captured these pics with a telephoto lens. i think he looks adorable even when he is angry. just don't tell him that! ;)

here is the same boy 5 years later.still with the adorable looks. at least i think. but then i'm his mom.:) happy monday!

a video

yesterday ursula blogged about the dangers that the internet pose to our children. i fully agree with everything she said and i left her a comment that said this: "jake had access to way too much! we tried to monitor him closely, but he found a way around our blocks. social media and being "connected" are so so dangerous for our children! it is too easy for them and for those who would try to corrupt them!! the temptations are just too great. i am greatful for where he is now!" while i was reading her post, a song was playing in the background and it reminded me of a video jd and i had seen a few years back and it relates to this subject so well. the song is: Everything by Lighthouse and here is the video (the videos resolution is not that great, but the message is very clear):




whew so powerful!

i have posted this layout before and it says: be careful out there my beloved son. the the scripture that is up in the cloud is 1Peter 5:8 which says: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith... thanks ursula for the post. it is always good to be reminded of these things. thanks so much for stopping by and have a great weekend!

punching and smashing...

wow, those are some pretty harsh terms to use for creating, but that is exactly what i did to make these:

i used four of the new jbs punches for the page above. my favorite is the jester border punch. the others i used are the ticket border punch (just to the right of jakes photo),the tab punch and the bird punch.

this is where the smashing comes in. i finally caved to the whole smash book thing. but i am using mine as more of a warm up book to get my creative juices flowing. i watched a video made by dina wakley for nat kalbach's creative summit. in it dina showed us ways to get motivated to create by using a warm up book. the above photo is one of the pages in my smash(warm up)book. i'm thinking of using this image on a scrapbook page and now that i've practiced i think i want to changed it up a bit.

here is one of the first pages in my book.the great thing about these books are you can do anything you want and not worry if it is going to mess up your scrapbook page. total creative freedom. i love that! thanks so much for stopping by and i hope you have a creative weekend! just don't punch or smash anyone.;) leave that for the paper.

a page and a boy

have you all seen the new customer gallery at jbs? they have a contest going on, that you can read about here. this is the LO that i submitted:

in other news we just got back from seeing this boy:

and he truly is a new and excellent creation in Christ! here are a few more photos from our visit:

happy monday and thanks so much for stopping by!!

Downton Abbey : Season 2 - Trailer

i am so excited that Downton Abbey starts in just a few hrs. i love period peices and this one might rate right up there with the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice on my list of faves. the 1st season was wonderful and this season looks as though it is going to be just good. it's on in 2hrs and 50 min! happy sunday!!