Precious Memories

Ron & I spent Labor Day weekend visiting Raegen, Heath, Ava, and Rachelle.....so special to be able to spend time with our family.  

Since we had the day off on Friday, we drove down Thursday after work.  We arrived too late to play with Ava, she was already in bed.   Grandpa wanted to take Ava to the zoo early Friday before it was too hot....it was still very hot!  This was actually only the second time that Grandpa had been to the zoo with Ava, the first time was at the Topeka Zoo when she was only 6 1/2 months old.  Grandpa & Daddy have been busy golfing during our previous visits to the Sedgwick County Zoo the last couple of years, silly boys!  Ava loves her Grandpa and was happy that he was taking her to one of her favorite places!  She definitely has her favorite animals that she likes to visit and those that she doesn't care to see....didn't like it when Grandpa wanted to see the penguins!  She likes to feed the sheep and goats, as long as they don't get to close.

Getting too close for comfort! 

Grandpa saved the day!

Adorable photo!  Feeling safe with Grandpa.

Painting the barn....with water!

It didn't take long before the heat was getting to all three of us so we stopped for a drink and snack before continuing with our tour.  It was fun to discover that Ava likes to visit the reptile exhibit, maybe because it is cool inside and a nice relief from the heat.  We also visited the tigers and viewed the new baby tiger & his mother through a video that had been set up in the vet nursery.    

Grandpa offered to take us to lunch at the mall.  A great place to cool off, eat lunch, and let Ava play in the children's play area and ride the assortment of rides.  

Riding in the back with the honey bear!

Little Reader

I decided to play along with a sketch challenge from The Paper Bakery for my latest layout of Ava.  I love scrapping with circles and knew I wanted to use the sketch after seeing it on one of my favorite "go to" blogs...Ashley Horton.  I know I will find great inspiration any day of the week!   Thank you, Ashley!

Although I don't scrap single layouts very often, I decided to go ahead since I only had two photos of Ava trying to "read" one evening while visiting in Topeka.  I used the Twinkle Twinkle Little Girl collection from My Mind's Eye.  I purchased it to use for layouts of Ava and still have plenty left....love the pink & brown.  

Thank you to The Paper Bakery for the wonderful sketch this month.  

Adding more layouts to Ava's First Year Album

I have been very busy trying to catch up on my darling granddaughter's first year album.....getting closer! One thing that has helped is the fact that I purchased a better printer to be able to print my photos at home....yes, I know it is costing me more money, but this is how I like to scrap!  Pick out my photos, find a sketch, print photos to size, then scrap!  I have scrapped more since purchasing the printer than in the precious 6 months!  

In the first layout, my son in law, Heath, had taken a serious of 20-25 photos Raegen feeding Ava her first pickle while her Aunt Rachelle held her and watched Ava go back for more!  She really didn't seem to mind the taste of the pickles.  I decided to only scrap 8 of the photos and love how it turned out!  

 

My second layout was scrapped using a sketch from Allison Davis, a free download during the month of May of 2013.  It is my turn this month to host the Sketch Challenge and I decided to use a sketch by Allison, which happen to be some of my favorite sketches.  Also, love the layouts of her sweet boys.

I liked the sketch so well, I decided to scrap another layout using the same sketch.  I changed it a little and didn't add the banner across the top, instead I added tags under the left photo and added a button banner.  

My newest layout is of my son in law, Heath, and Ava playing one evening after work.  The photos aren't the best, but still very special.  This is probably one of the fastest layouts that I have finished for a long time.....trying to get faster as I go along!  Before long, actually in a little over 5 1/2 months, I will have another grandchild to scrap layouts for.....so excited.  We are heading down this weekend to find out what the sonogram revealed, a boy, or, a girl!  

I am almost finished with Ava's first year, I just need to add her first Christmas and first birthday....then add more to her second year, which is close!  

Wishing everyone a blessed weekend!  

Catching Up.....a little!

 I thought it would be a good idea to decide which of the many photos of Ava I need to get scrapped before the new baby comes in January.  I have had some extra time off at the dental office due to the doctor having eye surgery, decided this would be a good time to get get caught up on my scrapping. 

One of the layouts that I finished this past week was scrapped with photos taken at a baby shower in September 2010, Ava was seven months old at the time.  I had previously scrapped photos that were taken of Ava in the motel room the night before the shower and wanted to scrap photos of the baby shower to go on the opposite page.  For those of you that have followed my scrapping, know that I like my layouts to match, not necessarily everything, but at least the colors.  I will also scrap with the same paper, or coordinating paper on the opposing layout.   

The sketch for this layout came from Allison Davis.  I changed it a little and added another photo to my layout.  Be sure and stop by her blog for more inspiration & ideas!  You will have to scroll down to the June layout to see this sketch.

Ava & her mommy & daddy spent part of her first summer with us....we loved having them with us!  Heath had taken a job working at the elevator and we couldn't turn them down when Raegen ask if we would mind having them stay with us for a couple of months!  Of course not....how soon are you coming?   It was great going to work every day knowing that I would get to spend the evening playing with Ava, such a fun time!

Grandpa & Rachelle were just as happy about our summer visitors.  Although the time went fast that summer, we loved having them with us! 

My second layout was scrapped using another creative sketch by Allison Davis.....love her sketches.  We have visited friends in Cheyenne, Wyoming every summer since helping them move to Cheyenne in July of 1993.  Raegen has always enjoyed our visits to Cheyenne and was thrilled when we invited them to go along.   Although we didn't take Ava to see all of the activities offered during Cheyenne Frontier Days, she did attend her first free pancake feed, first parade, and toured Frontier Park.  

A good week of scrapping for me.....I finished a third layout!  This layout was scrapped for a Summer Camp Challenge to use weaving on a layout.  

The title for this layout came from the front of Ava's T shirt.....My Little Black Dress!  Love the weaving and colors!  

Have a great week and thanks for looking!  

New Printer

I have been wanting a new printer for some time and ordered one back in December.  I kept putting off hooking it up for fear of doing something wrong.  Well, last week I decided to go for it and have now scrapped the my first photos printed with my Epson R2880.....love it!  I realize that it is more expensive to print at home, but, for me, it is worth it!  To be able to print photos of any size, and, at any time I feel like printing is totally worth the extra price.

The photos on the layout were taken in September 2010 at the Topeka Zoo and scrapped for a July Color Challenge to use teal, tan & white.  Most of the paper on this layout is from MME's Stella Rose Collection with other scraps that I had leftover from other projects.  The adorable elephants and buttons were from a RAK that I won from a friend, Susan...they were the perfect element for this layout. 

This was Ava's first trip to the zoo.  I'm sure the adults were more excited that it was her first zoo trip than she was......guess she just didn't realize it was such a big event. 

Ava is now 3 1/2 years old and one of her favorite things to do is visit the zoo.  She loves the animals and would go to the zoo daily if mommy would oblige her wishes.   

Wishing everyone a great weekend.  Thanks for looking.  

Your Are My Sunshine

I scrapped this layout yesterday of my favorite little Sunshine, Ava Riley!

I have been saving these photos to scrap for quite some time, she was only 18 months old at the time and is now 3 1/2.  I wasn't sure how I would scrap them until I read the title for the June Title Challenge, You Are My Sunshine, a members only scrap board.  I have had the whole month to work on my layout and just now getting it finished!  

I used a sketch by Allison Davis, one of my favorite scrappers, and love the finished layout!  If you like to use sketches and need inspiration, stop by for a visit.....www.allisonrdavis.com. I like the simple, clean lines of her sketches and fun layouts of her family.   Allison & her family have a scrapbook store in Springfield, Mo., which is on my bucket list to visit in the near future.  

I chose to use the colors in the photos, white, black & yellow, adding the teal for additional color.  The paper is from the Stella Rose Collection by MME with added scraps left over from another project.  The chipboard & say cheese sticker is also from the Stella Rose Collection, the Sunshine chipboard title is from Pressed Petals, and the other two sticker are from Studio 12.  I added the teal washi tape at the last minute for more color.

Wishing all of you a great week.  Thanks for looking!

Ahhhh! Summer has arrived

in Kansas and it is very hot!  Maybe that is why my newest layouts were Christmas related, thinking it might cool me a little by catching up on the last three years of Christmas photo cards that we received each year.  

I love these cards and hate throwing them out, or just sticking them aside and never really looking at them again....they are wonderful reminders of how our family and friends change from year to year.

As you can see, the first layout if from 2010.....so very special since this was my granddaughters first Christmas.  Ava was only 10 months old and has brought so much joy to our family....a true blessing from God. 

I added the "Peace on Earth" card, loved all of the little people and thought it went well with the other photos. 

                                                                                          

My last layout is from 2012!  I am now current

with my Christmas photos.....wish I could say the

same about all of other photos!  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope it cooled you 

just a bit!