Very Mary

American Crafts Kids

Our projects are up on the American Crafts Studio Blog! This month we used the Kids line. Check 'em out here. I especially love this: awesome piggie card.

And coincidentally, I noticed my friend Heather used the Kids line for a super cute layout! Don't you just wanna lift it? I know I do...

Table of Contents...

Behold my first Table of Contents page! The first one I have ever created because...

this is my first completed album! Well, hold yer applause, ladies and gentlemen. Because I see now that I need to make changes to it after adding those extra pages to my album - oops! Luckily, this being a very simple page, it's an easy fix. But right now I am too busy trying to pat myself on the back to be diverted by mere edits :)

You'll notice the majority of the pages in my wedding album use a super simple page design featuring an enlarged 8" x 12" photo. Keep this format in mind if you want to make a quick album that highlights your photos.

Super simple, super clean pages using Classic Stripe patterned paper from the Luxe Designs Classic Black line. I didn't even have to piece the paper. I used one sheet, trimmed it in half, and attached half to the bottom of one side of my double-page layout, while attaching the top to the other side. Easy. And then I added a line of stitching just for fun (can you see it between the black and white?), and mostly because I cannot complete a page until it has been subject to the needle.

Supplies: Patterned paper: Luxe Designs (black and white), Cloud 9 (pink), chipboard letter and rhinestone crown (Heidi Swapp), ribbon (Wal-Mart)

Fourteen Months

Dear Sadie,

At fourteen months, you are teetering on the edge of toddler-sized independence: you are *almost* walking. We beckon you sweetly, "Walk over here. Walk to Momma. Walk to Dadda," but you grin slyly and turn away. If we try to tantalize you with something irresistible, say a pad of Post-it Notes or a striped sock, you drop with a plomp! and speed-crawl. With the help of an overturned laundry basket, you zoom duck-footed across the kitchen floor at break-neck speed, and I watch, horrified, but I still clap for you and shout, "Yay!" because you are quite obviously pleased with your newest accomplishment.

You have incredible hearing, and the second you hear the rumble of an airplane, it doesn't matter if you are indoors or out, you point into the air and say something that sounds a lot like, "GOOMBA GOO!" When you are outside, you scan the sky on a continual basis, so you can shriek and point even before you hear the airplane itself.

You met your Nannie MacAskill this month. I thought you might be shy, but in the space of one afternoon, you were all ready crawling to Nannie and pulling on her pantleg to say, "Pick me up!" You loved that she listened intently to all your stories, and she was quick to look everytime you pointed out an airplane. Nannie MacAskill and Nannie Fran took care of you for TEN DAYS while Mommy and Daddy went on vacation! I didn't have to be there to know that you were spoiled, spoiled, spoiled. But that's okay with me and let's be honest here: you deserve it! Both Nannies told us what a good baby you are. You slept well, you ate well, you smiled a lot, and I am sure they will miss hearing your little voice calling out from your crib in the mornings.

You love music, and your absolute favorite toy is Leap Frog's Fridge Farm, which to your extreme delight plays music at the push of a button. "Hi! I'm Farmer Ted. Listen to my banjo!" The first thing you do every morning is crawl to the fridge and push the button. Over and over and over. You find it very annoying if I open the fridge in the midst of our banjo music, and you push the door closed with both hands. And then you push the button again, and while you bounce to the music, you watch me to make sure I am dancing too. Square dancing is the best way to start the morning. Farmer Ted also plays banjo music in French, which I secretly think you prefer. But don't tell Daddy. He flunked French. 

You've added the word "milk" to your vocabulary, and today, you said the words, "Go away!" and though I wasn't sure if I should congratulate you on that, I was still immensely pleased with your new linguistic capabilities.

This month and always, we love and adore you.

The Wedding Album

I've got my wedding on the brain (it's totally possible that I am procrastinating on editing the rest of my Alaska photos)! And I also have a fully completed wedding album! My first completed album! I showed some sneak peeks of my "Wedding-Album-in-a-Day" class earlier on my previous blog, but since then, I have compiled my class pages with any wedding pages that I had finished over the last four years and put them all into the album! Did I mention that it's the first album I have ever completed? To celebrate, I'll be sharing wedding pages here, and I'll also be adding a wedding album to the sidebar.

And just a sidenote: our wedding photos were taken by the fabulously talented and super nice team at www.f8photography.com: Trish Boyko and Matt Ling.

I used a black and white color scheme with splashes of red throughout the album. The red was generally in the form of red satin ribbon, and I tried to use the ribbon in a different way on every page. I also added tulle and vellum on several of the pages to soften the look and add some visual and textural interest.

Supplies: Patterned paper: Doodlebug Designs (flowers), Luxe Designs (dots); Ribbon: Doodlebug Designs, Wal-Mart; Sticker, Charm, Rub-on, Rhinestone Brad: Making Memories; Stickpin: Darice

And hey, what about the 4th of July giveaway??? It's going to Sara:

Happy 4th of July! Love peeking on your blog to see your AMAZING LO's!!

Posted by:Sara | July 04, 2008 at 05:24 PM

Sara, can you shoot me an email with your address?

Wedded Bliss

Today, we are celebrating four years of wedded bliss. I remember so much about that day, but what stands out the most was how happy I was. It was the happiest day of my life. And now, looking back, I can see that it was just the first in a series of happy days. Knowing everything I know now, I would do it all over again, without a moment's hesitation. Thank you, Derrick, for making my life a sweet and wonderful place to live. I love you.

20,320 Feet

Should the weather gods have chosen to cooperate with our humble cause, they would have parted the low-ceilinged clouds for a view of Denali, the "Great One." The highest peak in North America (elevation: 20,320 ft) is so elusive that staff of The McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge will ring your room if the mountain becomes visible anytime day or night, keeping in mind that it never really gets dark at night, just dusky.

We were prepared to run barefoot through the parking lot in our PJs, camera in hand, but sadly, there was no need.

We consoled ourselves with a gourmet dinner at The Mountain View Restaurant, where the waiter informed us that he had only seen Denali four times in the last four months! Mountain View??! Grumble, grumble...

But! The food was exceptional, and had I not been so caught up in eating, I would have taken more photos!

It all begins in Talkeetna...

Technically, the journey begins in Anchorage 115 miles south, however, by the time we arrived in Anchorage, I was exhausted - functioning on three hours of sleep - having purposely kept myself awake on the plane so I could watch The Other Boleyn Girl. When exhaustion sets in, I get lazy and my camera stays in hibernation, so...I have no photos of Anchorage and its many charms, however, we heard multiple times during our vacation that "the best thing about Anchorage is that it's so close to Alaska," so I think perhaps I didn't miss too much? The highlight of our shortlived stay in Anchorage was dinner at The Glacier Brewhouse, where I discovered that seafood chowder is indeed edible and, actually, quite tasty. Nothing like Campbell's.

In the early morning, we boarded a glass-ceiling train for the two-hour trip north to Talkeetna, home to less than 800 people and close enough to Denali (Mt. McKinley)  that we saw several climbers, who were waiting out the overcast weather before their initial ascent to base camp.

At Talkeetna's single stop sign, the Talkeetna Spur Road intersects with Main Street, all three blocks of which are lined with several historical buildings built in the 1920's and still used as the general store, hotels, and restaurants. We ate lunch at The Roadhouse, a rustic little bakery/cafe/hostel, where the tables are shared and the walls are papered with Alaskan ephemera: maps of Denali, old black and white photos, posters from climbing expeditions, and numbered flags from sled dog races.

Colorful little Talkeetna is said to be the inspiration for the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska in my all-time favorite television series Northern Exposure. But sadly, no moose walking along Main Street. Just as well, the tourists would have swarmed him and waved carrots in his face.

We strolled the block beyond The Roadhouse, where the pavement abrubtly ends in gravel and worked our way through each of the shops advertising t-shirts, float trips, flight-seeing, arts and crafts. Several stops along the way, and we had seen "beautiful downtown Talkeetna."

Hello, Alaska!

Rested and relaxed, we have returned from the wilds of Alaska with a pile of photos and an even larger pile of laundry. And while I didn't want to advertise that we were gone away for ten days, I didn't intend to abandon my blog completely. Sorry! I had planned some things in advance to post while we were away, however, internet connections were patchy at best and rather time-consuming, and since this was the first time Derrick and I have been away sans bebe, I figured I better not spoil his jovial mood by hovering near the keyboard, swearing at the dial-up service.

An account of our trip to follow in the next couple of days. For now, I am trying to get organized, so I'll leave you with a few photos and a promise to be back shortly.

Some Good News

Oh, just a lil' something to grin about today: Chatterbox DT Finalists

Happy 4th of JULY (and a Giveaway)!

Once again, I printed out the comments, cut them apart and threw them in a hat. Derrick drew a winner, and it is.........................................................ERIN!

"you have the cutest style ( :

totally cute piggy bank, too.

remember to email me your address for some fun music!

Posted by: Erin | June 29, 2008 at 10:19 PM "

I am still in the process of getting organized. It is a monumental task especially since I am very easily distracted. Can't you tell? For Friday Freebie, I am giving away ten packs of Me and My Big Ideas Soft Spoken embellishments. Six from the Urban Bling line and 4 from the Chester line. Comment here if you want to add them to your stash!