Graduation Album (and a trip down nostalgia lane)

My sister asked me "How do you get through this graduation stuff?"
I should be a pro by now.
We are on our fourth high school graduation.  Two more to go.
But I seem to get weepier with every one.

In fact, I have a confession.
I cried at the park the other day.
It was a gorgeous May afternoon so my daycare child and I started out on a stroll...and soon found ourselves at a nearby park.  One where I had spent an incalculable amount of time when my children were younger.
Memories flitted by, almost painful, as I remembered chubby cheeks and sweaty arms and squeals of delight and brown bodies swinging across the monkey bars.  Picnic lunches with Capris Suns and subs and potato chips wolfed down so the play time could continue. Two children walking by my side on the way home, talking earnestly, another lagging behind, three skipping on ahead.
Oh, there are many things I would do differently - such as fret less about a messy house and play instead that millionth game of Candy Land.  But I am so thankful that I got to be a stay-at-home mom, and I would never change the amount of time that I spent with my kids.
So yes, it's an emotional time, a nostalgic time.  But we get through it because it's what's SUPPOSED to happen.  Our kids are SUPPOSED to grow up, graduate and continue their life journeys out from under our protective wings. So we cheer them on, while inside a tiny part of us weeps.
 Here's the first page in the Scrapbook I (almost) finished creating for Matthew:

So proud of this young man and all of the awards he has won during his high school years.  The four cords for graduation are for Highest Academic Honors, National Honor Society, Forensics, and Tri-M Music Society,

And if you have an extra 2 minutes and 43 seconds, here's his graduation speech:
Matt Recites His ABC's...kinda...

Off to his grad party now.  Thanks for stopping by!
Marie with a :)
PS  More of his scrapbook pages are on my facebook page:
Isom Cre8tions on Facebook

Lasting Memories/Starting the Matt Book

I have hopes of completing a scrapbook for AS3 before he graduates in 2 weeks...not sure I'll accomplish my goal but I did manage 3 layouts for it this weekend.  This first one uses the challenge from Lasting Memories

 

Couldn't get much easier than this layout...it took only 45 minutes including deciding on paper and photos! Can you spot the "metal?"

I love these cork letters from Close To My Heart!

Yes, there's my metal...a Tim Holtz clock :)

This second layout is from Homecoming. I always have a tough time taking pictures of layouts.  Anyone got advice for improvements?

The paper is from the Roxie collection (CTMH) and the flower is from a Hero Arts wooden stamp (I, um, think...)  The stars and heart and mini envelope were created with punches.

This mini CTMH calendar continues to be one of my favorite stamps...it's so versatile.  Unfortunately, it's not available any more.

And finally: a picnic in the park layout :)

Here's a photo of the bride and groom per Sharon's request :) Check out her blog - you'll love the work and the wit.  (We don't have any of the professional photos yet :)

Bride and groom with bride's parents. Yep, that would be the HH and me.

Thanks for stopping by,
Marie with a :)

What To Do When You Can't Sleep

Hmm, what to do when you can't sleep?

How about create scrapbook layouts of your teens and then totally embarrass them by posting on FB?

For Matthew's layout,  I used Scrapbook Challenges sketch #219 for the volleyball page.

Ugh, another one of those "won't turn" photos...I guess you'll have to turn your neck to see it : )

For Michelle's layout, I used a sketch from Twisted Sketches (#69).  I often use the Twisted Sketches but forget the "twist" portion - which in this case was a flower...easy enough to add.

Thanks for taking a look,

Marie with a : )

Simple Layout (for the Jay book) and new blog

Jay's dad came by and picked up what has been done so far on "The Jay Book" so that he and Sherry (Jay's wonderful mom) can complete the journaling. I still have lots of layouts to complete before Friday but I hope to have most of it done! I was pleasantly surprised by Terry's reaction (Jay's dad) - he seemed really pleased with the scrapbook.
On another note - many of you check this blog merely for the craft projects and have to sift through my ramblings...others of you are deranged enough that you tell me you LIKE the random thoughts...so I have decided to create a second blog just for my ramblings. That way those of you who prefer no ramblings can be spared...the new blog is called It's A Wonderful Life and you can click the link to view (but I won't have posted anything before late tonight...) The address is http://www.maries-stories.blogspot.com/ The hyphen is a must unless you want someone else's ramblings :-) I am thankful for all of the wonderful comments and e-mails I have received. Marie with a :-)

Simple Ephiphany

I'm a slow learner. It just dawned on me after completing pages 26 and 27 for Jay's scrapbook that I prefer simplicity on my scrapbook pages. It makes sense...I prefer simple and uncluttered in my home (not that I always accomplish this!) so why should my pages be any different? This layout was so quick and easy! I used the cover to a hat box to make the half circle and kept the two pages clean and uncluttered. Now if only I could do that with my craft room. Then again, I just learned a new term from a high school friend who is in the mental health profession...reframing. Instead of thinking of my craft room as a disorganized, chaotic MESS, I will think of it as my Creative Sanctuary :-) It looks better already.

Another little parenthetical thought...I am loving Facebook! A few months ago, I said that I was a little leery about the entire FB world. Since that time, I have met up with several old high school friends through Face Book. It has been so much fun to see what everyone is up to...a cyber reunion :-)

Jay Layout 12 and over 200 cards sold!

After completing an order for over 20 of this "Fun in the Sun Card", I have now topped 200 cards sold since starting Isom Cre8tions last month :-). This layout (the next two photos) are of Jay's 18th birthday. He had a scavenger hunt birthday party and his dad made the cake. I used Creative Scrappers sketch 51 for the second page.

And below is the glued down version from layout #9 that I posted a couple of days ago...decided to remove the butterfly and make a few minor changes so that it was more masculine :-).

Marie with a :-)

Jay Layout #8

I love the CTMH Rustic Trail paper! I used it for this layout and my daughters were amazed to hear me say that I had created a masculine layout I liked :-) The next layout is going to include pictures of my oldest daughter so I decided I can get a way with a little "whimsy" on that one.

And finally below is another picture of Matthew...I'm still learning the ins and outs of swim competitions and I have a long way to go - I find a lot of it confusing. His team had "qualifications" today or something like that, and Matthew assured me that he wouldn't be swimming in the actual competition tomorrow because this is his first year of swim and he didn't think he would qualify. Wrong. He had his best time ever for the back stroke and indeed qualified. His long time friend, Ben P., qualified for both of the events that he swam! Unfortunately for me, we have a wedding of a very dear family friend tomorrow so I will likely miss the competition.

I think I have been getting by on 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night lately and I'm definitely overtired and acting like it - oversensitive and weepy. So I better get some sleep tonight or my family might have me committed.

Hope you have a beautiful weekend,

Marie with a :-)

Jay Layouts #6 and #7

Because the first page of this layout had so many photos (I do find it challenging to create a layout with more than 3 pictures...but I couldn't pass up any of these family pics!) I intentionally kept the second one "clean."

Couldn't get a very good photo of this layout.

I thought this frog stamp was so cute...but when Alyssa saw this layout she said "Isn't that a girl frog...look how long the eyelashes are!" Ugh.

Marie with a :-)

Jay Layout #4

Well, it's been slow but steady these past two days...at this rate, I might just finish in time. I am leaving the journaling for Jay's parents, which makes it a little (more) challenging.

Another challenge for me, is that I have decided that "bulk" isn't good for the scrapbooks so I have pretty much quit using buttons and other bulky items. I did think that this paper I used was pretty enough without adding anything to it! (Oops, did I say "pretty?" Didn't mean it...after all this is a MASCULINE scrapbook. I meant to say "handsome." Yeah, that's it...the papers are so handsome looking that I didn't need to add anything...LOL. )

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Marie with a :-)