A very special project

A year and a half ago, when I was oh so very pregnant, I got a whim to create a mini album from a pile of pictures I had of my Grandparents when they were first married and all the special days of their 50+ years together.  My grandparents not only helped raise me when I was very small and my father was navigating the trials of being a single dad, but they were also the single most defining presence in how I hoped my life would turn out.  They had decades of love and commitment under their belt, 6 fantastic children with 6 equally as fantastic son/daughter-laws, 9 grandchildren, a few bonus grandchildren as some of us married and 3 beautiful great-grandchildren.  We were spread from one end of the country to the other, but when Grandma called and said there would be a party (there was always a reason for a party with Grandma!) we all knew better than to not be there.

The day after I printed these photos and less than a month from the day I was due to give birth, my grandmother unexpectedly passed away.  It is the single most devastating loss I've experienced in my 32 years.  Every time I tried to pull out the pictures since, I've been overwhelmed with the loss all over again as I try to wrap my head around the fact that my youngest, Allie, will never have the bond with my grandmother that my other two babies can always cherish.  Then a few days ago I received a very special package in the mail.  I'd won a give-a-way sponsored by OohLaLa Vintage Treasures  and when I opened the HUGE package of goodies, out spilled a beautiful little pin that reminded me of a piece of jewelry that my grandmother passed down to me.  I just KNEW that this was the push I needed to pull out these pictures again and start work on this very special-to-me mini album!  A few of the pieces are also from an embellishment explosion of a package from my friend Tanya just sent me!  :)

I'd like to share 3 pages so far that I've completed.  The cover was inspired by the DT project at Paper Hoarders.  It is to scrap something you are thankful for.  Thankful doesn't begin to cover how I feel towards my grandparents for showing me just how good life can be if you stay committed to nourishing family bonds.  This is a new look for me, I've never worked with vintage/shabby chic scrappy supplies and still not entirely sure I'm pulling it off LMBO!

The next page was inspired by sketch #180 at Creative Scrappers.  I really ran with the sketch so hopefully it's close enough to still count.  I was working with 6x6 size instead of 12x12 so I had to trade the big circle elements with smaller embellishment clusters and I didn't have room for a title at all.  Plus I gave glimmer mist a big ole' workout on this one!!!

The third page (there are more to come in the next few days) was inspired by sketch #58 at Sketchabilities.  I tried to add a few more of the fun details I see in the vintagey layouts online, but not sure I've got the knack of it quite yet.  I'm getting there though!!! :)  I'm also sharing this one with the StuckOnUSketches diecut challenge of the week: Leaves!  The leaf tucked into the cluster is cut out of green mulberry paper from my Cindy Loo cricut cart.  

Have a spooky birthday!

My hubby has the fun of having a birthday smack dab on Halloween.  It takes some real juggling on mommy's part to make sure his special day is celebrated to the fullest and to make sure the kids get a normal Halloween fun time experience too.  Needless to say Nov 1st comes with a much needed scheduled nap each year!!  LOL. Here is a layout I just finished for this week's Paper Hoarders DT project (include a Halloween shape) of my hubby celebrating his birthday with the fam and the kids enjoying getting to wear their costumes to dinner.

It's another 8 1/2 x 11 and involved a whole lotta improvising on the embellies.  I dug deep for some of the pieces and have decided I am definitely running low on Halloween goodies.  I made the pumpkin out of oval punches after giving up on finding one on my Cricut carts, only to find one...oh, about 2 seconds after I'd glued it down.  DOH!

I ♥ Him

Hi all!  Bet you'd thought I fell off the planet!!  Things have been mucho busy at the Skinner casa lately.  The baby (well we technically can't call her a toddler I suppose since she refuses to toddle!!!) still isn't walking at nearly 21 months and the doctors have started running us ragged in the search of why and a fix.  They still think it's likely a case of WON'T and not CAN'T, but I decided it was time to be a little more proactive now.  If it's stubborness then physical therapy won't get in the way of her doing it when she's ready and if it's a developmental delay, then it can only help.  I'm still crafting at least once a week, but just haven't been online enough to catch up on blogging.  Now that we have gotten into the swing of the changes to our schedule, things are calming down.  :) :)

I won't leave you without SOMETHING crafty to show, so here is the latest project for my DT post at Paper Hoarders.  The challenge is to create something for Sweetest Day.  Team 1 (cards, altered projects, etc) had their go with the challenge last week and Team 2 (LOs) show their stuff this week.  If you'd like details or to see the rest of the projects just click on over to our fearless leader, Tanya's blog (the post should be live sometime Friday).  I used the Echo Park-Life is Good line :) :)