LO Share - Sleepytime

Boy, it has been awhile since I have shared anything!  Life has been busy.  Good, but busy.

Yes, I let my baby sleep on his belly.  It was the only way he would sleep.  He's still a belly sleeper!

Paper = I don't remember
Letters = Chip Chatter, BenzillaScrapping, Paper Studio
Dymo Tape
Shipping tag
Star Brad

LO Share - Eric

Here is a quick, cute layout I did of my younger brother and (now) 015.  My mom & nephew are also in there.

Paper - DCWV
Letter = Chip Chatter
Chipboard cutout heart = Paper Studio
Journal BlockZ = Benzilla Paper Version  and Digital Version

LO Share - But I'm not sleepy/News from the Studio

Good morning!  It looks like we will be having a beautiful, sun-filled day today. We had a line of nasty storms go through a couple of days ago, so it is a welcome change!  We are also preparing for the upcoming nuptials of the eldest child of the bunch.  That is a very weird experience for me, but one that I am delighted to be included in.  The festivities start tonight.

We are continuing to settle into the new house and find our new rhythm.  It has been a lot of yard work and painting and unpacking.  In fact, it is almost time for the boys to have summer with their dad.  I can't believe it has flown by so fast.  It always makes me feel sad and like I have squandered the time.  I know I haven't really, it is life, and they have to learn that, but I'm also learning more and more every day just how precious it really is.

Yes, I was creepy and used to take pictures of them sleeping.  Probably wouldn't get away with that now.  015 always insists he's not sleepy and that sleeping is a waste of time.  It can become a serious issue around here.  But I think he's slowly starting to understand that it is a necessary evil.  The top picture, the most recent, he was probably 9.  I honestly can't remember why they both ended up in my bed that night.  Probably bad dreams.  When you are living those days (of not sleeping because someone kicked you all night) it is hard to keep in mind that they are precious days and it is bittersweet when you look back on them and miss them.

Cry LO

This was a layout I did a couple of years ago from some miscellaneous photos I had of Ben as a baby/toddler that I thought were cute. 

Paper = MME (plaid might me Chatterbox, but I don't remember)
Paint strip from hardware store
Letters = ChipChatter
IconZ = BZ, you can find on the store here
Clip = I don't remember (sorry!)

I love the bright, warm colors, and the blue complements it very well.  I also like the clean, graphic look of the grid, which made it a very easy layout to put together.  Embellishments are simple, which allows for more pictures on the page, and for the pictures to really shine and tell the story.

News from the studio

Good morning!! Most of the boxes are unpacked, and I think I even finished my first layout in the new house, but it has been slow going.  We've been busy planting trees, bushes and flowers, painting the living room, and finishing up track season.  Now that I have my minions at my disposal again, perhaps things will move along faster!  Can't wait to get the studio built!

LO Share - Birthday

 

I really am starting to love pocket pages, especially for events where I have so many pictures I want to use.  Anyway, this is for my younger son's birthday.

 

Paper = Birthday/Celebration stack, I think MAMBI or MME

Letters = Assorted, Chatterbox, Chip Chatter, Li'l Davis

Journal BlockZ = Benzilla (paper) or (digital)



Hooligans Flight Team/George Baker Aviation Flight Clinic CD covers

We go to Florida every spring to practice formation before the airshows start.  A group then flies down to Sun 'N Fun to be a part of the show, and just hang out with other enthusiasts.  I get to be the team photographer and share them with everyone.  Each year I try to come up with different cover art for the CD.  Just something to make it a little more special for the guys.

LO Share Preschool Graduation

I'm not sure I like how this turned out.  I wanted to use the cap and gown, but not sure it has the look in real life that it did in my head.  I may eventually redo it and not use them and just store them in a memory box or something.

News from the Studio

We've moved!  We are city dwellers again, if you want to call it that.  Found a nice, quiet community to move to, now the boys will be safer when they run.  We have a double-lot right on the edge so people are close, but not too close.  Needless to say, the studio is a wreck.  Actually most of it is in the storage area of the garage!  Hopefully soon that will be built out as a real studio.  Stay tuned.  In the mean time, lots of boxes to unpack and everything to try and figure out where to put it!  While I love the layout of this house so much better (and the fact that it has a garage), it seems smaller, even though we have WAY more closets. Go figure!  Hopefully I will be able to create soon!  Until then, have a blessed day!

LO Share - Preschool

Just a very quick LO of my soon-to-be 015's preschool class.

Journaling cards are old time cards from a plant where my brother used to work (they closed down)
Stickers & Market Tag (I don't remember, I'm sorry!)
And an old shoestring.
Paper, I can't remember that either, I'm so sorry!

Studio Update

Greetings all!  Well, the studio/house rearranging was a success.  Looks like just as I was getting used to things being the way they are, we will be changing soon.  More to follow on that next month, as I don't want to jinx anything.  Needless to say, time moves way too fast these days!

As I'm sure you've noticed, there has been lots of new stuff put up on the store on Etsy, and the Amazon store has also been doing really well; thank you to everyone for their continued support!  I understand that with today's economy, we all have to be wiser and choosier about how we spend our money, and I am honored that sometimes it is with me.

It is a dreary day in Indiana, but I know spring is just around the corner.  Try and stay cozy warm, and hopefully next time when we talk there will be exciting news to share!

LO Share Preschool

Here's a cute little LO I did for my son's preschool class picture.  Really just fairly simple, but I like that.  

Paper = Bulk from Michael's
Journal BlockZ Mulitcolored
and Journal BlockZ  NoteZ 
Sticker, I don't remember, sorry.

LO Share - First Day

My older son's first day of preschool.  There were a lot of ups and downs.  He loved it, and then he hated it, and then he loved it again.  He really did learn so much, and made a lot of friends.  That backpack carried so much!  Every day, we would make sure everything was ready to go, there behind the couch.  I really loved the extra time it gave me with the younger one.  Hard to believe they are 014 and 012 now!

Supplies:
Cardstock = Bazzill Basics
Paper = Bulk from Michael's
Flashcard = 7Gypsies
Stickers = ??
Journal BlockZ

Card Share - Christmas Assortment

OK, I know Christmas was a month ago, but who can resist!  Papers are DCWV or Stampin' Up. 


Thanks so much for looking!

 Christmas Journal BlockZ

 Christmas WordZ are no longer listed, but if you are interested, message me michelle@benzillascrapping.com and I'll be happy to make a private sale for you.

 Christmas BingoZ are no longer listed, but if you are interested, message me michelle@benzillascrapping.com and I'll be happy to make a private sale for you.

 Felt Tree from Hobby Lobby, Star is Making Memories.

 Not sure on the letter stickers, tree is from Making Memories.

 AlphaBetZ 

CoasterZ are no longer listed, but if you are interested, message me michelle@benzillascrapping.com and I'll be happy to make a private sale for you.

Or, here are some others that would also work really well, NoteZ,  Black DotZ, and Pink DotZ.

25 Card Share

This is a very cute, simple card I made for my brother and his wife's anniversary a couple years ago.  The paper is Basic Grey, the 5 is Chatterbox, and you can find the Valentine's BlockZ here and the 2 from AlphaBetZ here.

Enjoy, and thanks for checking it out!

Project Share - Type Tray

Here's a little project I made for Gadget a couple years ago for Christmas.  Not my usual thing, but I totally love it!  Found the tray at a flea market.  It's like a living scrapbook on the wall.  Pictures of him and the kids mostly, but a few of the back of his head, because that's usually what I see when we are out doing things.  He has since added all sorts of stuff to it, which I find very endearing.  Coasters, wine corks, bottle caps, etc. of different places we've been.

LO Share Labelmaker

When 014 was about 003 we got a labelmaker.  He already knew how to spell a lot of words, and was a beginning reader, so he put his talents to good use.  Not everything was spelled correctly, but it was so cute!  To this day, he still likes to be able to categorize things and make them "fit" into nice, neat little boxes!

And yes, he did write on the toilet paper roll.  With marker.  I have no idea what it means.  He also had his own code.

Paper = MME
Letters = Chip Chatter, Paper Studio, MM, Benzilla, Chatterbox
Stickers = Pebbles, Benzilla

LO Share - Zak-isms

All kids have quirks.  One of 012's is a very unique language that has taken years to decipher.    When he was younger, it could drive me crazy.   Here are the ones on the layout...

last day = yesterday
this night = last night
rubber ducky sailboat = I'm frustrated/I don't like that

Now that he's older, he's started using sound effects, that sometimes, most times only he can distinguish the difference between.  "use your words" is a very common saying around here.

We have the angry elephant, the annoying ferret, the screech owl, the fiery dragon, etc. 

If you haven't done so already, I encourage you to scrap your little, or not so little, one's quirks.

Paper = MME
Letters = Chip Chatter, MM, Chatterbox, Li'l Davis
Stickers = MAMBI, 7 Gypsies, ??

LO Share - Monster Book

Simple, fun little layout I did over one of my favorite childhood books.  I got rid of it based on the urgings of someone else.  I regret that decision.


Paper = DCWV
Letters = Paper Studio
Journal Block is an old time card from the plant where my brother used to work
Flowers = Prima
Brad = MM

Thanks so much for looking!

LO Share WIshes

Here's a layout I did awhile ago using some older pictures of me.  Just a simple list of some things I wish for in life, not in any particular order:

• Inner Peace
• Family
• Friends
• Good career
• Lasting relationship
• Travel to Asia and Africa
• Cook more
• Eat more healthy
• I can't read the next one!
• Grow in my relationship with Christ
• To see my boys as adults
• To see my grandkids

Supplies:
Paper = Basic Grey
Letters = Paper Studio
Gems = Paper Studio or Prima
Butterfly??
Ribbon

LO Share - Sweet Tooth

Here's a fun, sweet layout I made of my boys and their delight with all things chocolatey and sweet!

Paper = MME and target dollar spot (orange)
Letter = Paper Studio & Dymo
Flowers = Prima & not sure on the green felt
Ribbon = felt trim from Michael's
Stickers = 7Gypsies
Heart Clip = Staples
Rub-on = not sure
Journal BlockZ = BZ Round and RoundZ

Update from the Studio

Hello all!  I know there has not been a lot of new news lately, very sorry about that.  I have been very busy with house projects, trying to sell the house, studying for CMT and whatnot that it seems this has taken the backburner.  But I have managed to do quite a bit of digital work and I'm excited about that and hope to have it finished and for sale soon.  I think you're going to like it!

In the mean time, I hope that you have enjoyed all the cards, layouts and albums I've been sharing lately.  They are all so much fun and make me want to own a time-stopper so that I can do more and more every day.  As someone very wise once told me, you can do anything you want, just not everything.  The trick is in the choosing.

Mini Album Share - MCT Geek Girl

This was  a fun mini album I made for myself a while ago.  In the IT industry, MCT is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, which was my primary focus for a number of years.  Enough that I even got a vanity license plate for it.  Yes, I will not lie, I really was a geek!  Inside are just a couple of Journal BlockZ to detail what you will find, and an IconZ (digital version here) to tie it all together.  From a memorabilia standpoint, it has my certification test results for every test I had to take, class certificates for the ones I had to sit, and student evaluations for the ones I taught.  On the ribbons I pinned some of my lapel pins, A+, MCT, MCSE, and inside there is a trading card page that has my certificate cards in it.  Overall, I think a nice way to remember my career in IT.

 Letters = ChipChatter & Paper Studio

Ribbon = Misc.

Paper = DCWV

Card Share - LOL

Another cute little card that I made from the DCWV techno pack paper & MME paper.  Nice thing about these, other than being adorable is they are flat, so you can mail them without troubles.  And they are fast.  Super fast!

Thanks for looking!

Let's Play Card Share

This is such a fun card!  The Let's Play piece is from a DCWV collection, I think it was called the Tech Pack or something like that.  Everything was electronics themed (cell phones, video games, emails, etc.) The paper is MME and just made it so cute!

Thanks for looking!

Card Share - Love and Hearts

Well, love is still in the air around here... :)  Here are a few more cards that I whipped up one night...

Cardstock is Bazzill Basics, paper is all Basic Grey, and the stickers I think are Creative Imaginations, but I'm not positive on that.  And some Dymo labels, because I love them!

Thanks for checking them out!

Card Share - xoxo

Here's a sweet, cute, quick card to make for anyone that needs (or wants!) some x's and o's!

Paper is MME, I don't remember who made the sticker, maybe Phrase Cafe?  And then I just did some pen outlining on the heart to tie it to the sticker, and help it stand out.  And as usual, all from scraps.

Thanks for looking!

News from the Studio

Good morning!!  Hope this fine, fall morning greets you well.  Action Items from last post:

• Stopped working on mom's album page.  I moved 3 rooms of the house around so that we could get better "flow" as the realtor would say.  Now each boy has their own room, but I lost my studio.  I'm now a part of the living room.  Not entirely sure how I feel about this.  It makes it hard to do any work, because I don't want it to look messy.  But maybe it will be worth it in the long run.  I did, however, finally strip down the poster boards from her funeral and get those pictures filed away in the proper categories.  So that is good.  The realtor has encouraged me to reduce the clutter so all 3 of us have been going through things, and it has resulted in 2 trips to the Goodwill hut, and a couple of trash bags, and even some things sold on Amazon.  So I think that is good too.  Just a few touch up items from the move and then he can come out and take new pictures.
• Started working on my next kit.  Not sure when it will be done for release.

Looking forward

• Started working on a canvas for my secret sister at church.  She is a delightful lady, and the mom of a good friend of mine from high school.  I'm going to take their last name, and then using those letters, plug in their kid's, kid's spouses, and grandkid's names.  I've sketched it out, with some help from 014 to get the names all in their nicely and it looks a bit like a crossword.  Can't decide if I should do fancy letters, or block.
• Continue working on new kit
• Work on a mom page

Card Share - Sweet

Just a cute, simple, sweet card I made for an anniversary, or just because!

Paper = Basic Grey
Heart = Resin Charm for a mini tree
Sweet = DCWV Tech stack, I trimmed out just that word from the paper

Thanks for checking it out!

News from the Studio

Good morning all!  Action Items from last post:

• Digital Santa's Helpers and PaperPakZ are done - I know the blues look off, but I promise the correct color is the printed out one.  Amazon also has the kit
• Started working on mom's pictures.  It is so funny to see baby pictures of her.  I hope someday my boys look at mine with the same fondness.  Just sorted through the baby pictures and tried to get in some semblance of an order.

Looking forward

• Getting 1 page done of mom's album
• Work on my next kit.  Wonder what it will be???

Card Share - J & J

This was another fun, quick anniversary card for friends of mine, using their monogram.  Simple and cute!
Paper = Basic Grey
Journal BlockZ = Benzilla Print and CutZ

Letters = Assorted (Paper Studio, Spare Parts & not sure on the big O).

Thanks for checking it out!

News from the Studio

Good Morning everyone!  I've been a busy little bee around here!  I'm sure you all saw this last week, but in case you didn't, I have a new Christmas CollectionZ available out on the Etsy Store, you can just click the link to go there.  It is a good sized kit, lost of fun elements and bright colors.  I don't have all the digital work done yet, but I'll be making papers for it soon.  If you prefer the Amazon store, it will be there soon as well.

I also started, last night, a task that I've been putting off a bit, starting my mom's albums.  It is just so big and overwhelming, so many pictures, I've just not had the energy and I don't really know how to go about doing it. Then I just told myself that it is no different than my pictures and I just have to dive in there.  So that is what I did last night.  I pulled out a box of her childhood pictures, and just tried to start getting them into some sort of chronological order.  Because there are so many, I've decided to do pocket pages as much as I can.  She had also started working on some of it, and I will preserve those pages as is.  They are 12" and so they will fit nicely.  Plus, even though they won't be the same style, I do not want to loose what she did.

So fun stuff ahead, just bits and pieces of the elephant at a time.  I think it will be OK.  And I'm excited about it now.  Which is cool!

Enjoy the autumn weather we've had lately and I'll check in with you again soon!

Card Share - 25

This is a fun little card that I made for friends of mine who were celebrating their 25th anniversary.  Simple and beautiful all at the same time!

 

Paper is Basic Grey

Chatterbox Number

AlphabetZ are found here

Journal BlockZ are here - Only the digital is still available in the shop, but there is a print and cut version included in that. 

Thanks so much for looking!

Mini Album Share - Kike

Now, before you go getting upset with me over this name, first off, I have to say, I never, ever knew that it was a slur.  Someone told me after I made it.  This was made for a dear friend of mine who is from Spain, so secondly, it is a nickname for Enrique.  And they would pronounce it Key-Kay.  So please, don't turn away...  This was a fun little book that I made when she had her first son, Enrique, as well as a card, and a little formula bucket that I altered and then stuffed with little goodies.  Enjoy!

I used so many things, I will try to remember:

formula pail

lunch bags

ribbon from craft store

small baby supplies

MME paper

ChipChatter Letters

Pebbles Stickers

Buttons

Paper Clips from Staples

Paint Chip from hardware store

Basic Grey Rubons

Imaginese Rubons

Phrase Cafe Stickers

Ice DotZ

Bazzill Basics Cardstock

 Journal BlockZ Day Notices

Journal BlockZ Shapes