Gone, gone, gone, she been gone so long...

Does the sudden reappearance of a person long-since disappeared make anyone else want to sing a little Chilliwack?

Anyone?

Ok, it's just me.

Ahem.

Anyway, I've been away from this blog for four years, but lately, I've been missing that feeling of sharing and connecting over crafty stuff.  So here I am.

Much has changed in the last four years.  My relationship of 10 years ended, I sold my house, I started dating for the first time in my adult life, I bought a condo, I lived alone for the first time, I started teaching at a new school, I became the leader of my department, I had to put down my beloved little Molly-dog, I met my soulmate, he and his dog Bear moved in with me, we got married at Disneyland, I opened a little Etsy shop, I started my master's degree, we bought a travel trailer, we got a little dog - Bowie - to add to the brood...and that's just the good stuff.

It's amazing how much life changes, isn't it?

Anyway, some things are still the same.  I'm still crafting.  I'm still Mom to a cat who tolerates me.  I'm still a hot mess when it comes to organization. 

But I will leave this first blog post with some evidence of my attempts to change that last one.  I'm forever waiting too long to put birthday and other cards in the mail, so I've recently made up some cards to have on-hand.  

Oh, look!  Terrible photography!

Obligatory oblique-angle shot.

And even a couple of baby cards...

Why did I assume my friends would have boys?

But so far, I've been right!

And I've even got stamps!  So far, 2017 is coming up Teris!

Special moments with ______________.

Don't you just love the layouts that chronicle important moments of your life?  I know that there's a lot of emphasis on scrapping the "everyday", but some moments just can't be replaced.

Like this one, where I met my new niece last October.

Oh, little _________.

Based on Creative Scrappers Sketch #186 by Juliana Michaels

When your parents first named you, I thought they were crazy.  But honestly, I find ________ kinda catchy.

And you can bet there'll never be another one in your class.  You'll never have to be _________ A.  Just plain ol' ______________.

Yep.  Lucky ghost-girl.

Super-shiney-sparly-prettiness.

 My friend Leena got married last summer.  And wedding photos?  Means beautiful-shimmery-flowery-sparkly-scrappy goodness.

As in, so-shiny-I-can't-find-a-way-to-photograph-this-without-a-glare goodness.

Swoon.

Coral. Hmmm.

Remember when I mentioned that coral is a tough colour for me to scrap with?

Well, lo and behold, I have a top that photographs as coral.  Plus, I won a coral-based s.e.i. paper pack last year at a crop.

Add that to Creative Scrappers sketch #177 by Kristine Davidson, and you get:

 I'm thinking I can get used to this new colour palette.

And maybe I need to take more photos in that top.

I wanna be little again.

Here's a fun little layout of my niece and nephews at the park last summer.

What you don't see is that I wanted to name it "Not too big for the slide-rs".

No, I'm not jealous.

But I would have slid the heck outta that slide, I tell you what.

Rock in the Rain

Sometimes, Cliff and I get to do some pretty cool stuff with his work.

One of the highlights of last summer was the Rock-It festival.  All day.  In the rain.  Rockin' out.

Based on Sketch #184 by Kristine Davidson at Creative Scrappers

 Right on, man.

I mean, live music and I get to use that little black umbrella that's been in my stash for years?

It doesn't get any better than this.

Out of my comfort zone.

Sometimes, you just have to do something out of your comfort zone.  Don't you agree?

Speaking of which, here are the last two layouts that I finished at the crop in February.

First, here is my best friend's beautiful little girl, Kiele, and the thank-you card her Mommy gave me:

Based on a sketch by Kristin Davidson in "Creating with Sketches" (top of page 23)
and made from my February Counterfeit Kit!

The balance in that one is unusual for me.  It's almost-but-not-quite symmetrical.  But, that's why I love working with sketches.  Kristine Davidson is a creative-boundary-pusher-genius!

Here's another one that was a little out of my comfort zone.  This time, it was in the use of product.

Based on a sketch by Kristine Davidson in "Creating with Sketches" (bottom of page 23)

Theresa Collins?  Butter-cream yellow?  Paper with un-cover-upable vintagey goodness?

I've always loved them, but have never been sure how to scrap with them.  I think this begins my foray into wonderful new territory.

Also out of my comfort zone?  Skydiving and close-talkers.

But I think I'll stick to vintagey-goodness.