Scrap Girls Digital Scrapbooking Adventures

Picture Perfect

I get RSS feeds from many different design blogs. One thing I have noticed is that SO many of the photos depict perfect order; everything is all neat, tidy and of perfect design. I see so many digital scrapbooking layouts showcasing lives that seem so unreal they make me feel absolutely incompetent.

Do they really live that way? Are their kitchen counters are always free of clutter? Are their beds really made with countless pillows perfectly placed atop of impeccably matched sheets? Do they actually have living rooms furnished with such absolute coordination and even vary the decor as the season changes? Ok, they may straighten up before the photo, but it seems beyond that. Even if my bed was made, the sheets don't match.

Why do these blogs making me feel so bad?

When my kids they go to their friends "perfect" houses they are so afraid of breaking something. They feel uncomfortable. Our eclectic home is comfortable and relaxed. We don't stress over keeping it perfect, that is not our priority.

However, when I pick up my kids from their friends' houses I repeatedly hear from parents... "we love having you child over" or "we like getting the kids together because your child is such a good influence on mine". My kids hear that too and feel really good about themselves.

The more I think about this, the better I feel.

My teenage daughter had a bunch of friends over for her birthday. One of the girls was telling her that she has the coolest house she has ever been to. My daughter was beaming. After the party she repeatedly hugged and thanked me. Now THAT is cool!

You know what? I’m going to keep focusing my time and effort on my kids, not my stuff. For me, I'd much rather hear what wonderful kids I have, than what a well matched, picture perfect house I have.

Here's a peek at one of the "coolest" thing at our house, the zipline.

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Layout Ingredients: Posy Paper Mini, Christmas Past Collection Biggie, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Doodlelicious, Brush Set: Henna Frames, Sage Collection & Go Green Collection .

Growing Up

My youngest daughter just turned 3 in March and we finally decided to make the transition to a "big girl bed". Being the youngest of 4 children, there was no hurry to take her out of her crib before now. It was the first time that there wasn't another baby on the way that needed the crib!

But the time had finally come for her to take that big step in growing up. She and my other daughter (age 6) share a bedroom and their birthdays are only 9 days apart. So we decided to give them both new matching bedding and accessories for their birthday this year.

When I set out to choose the sheets, bedspreads and pillows, I had such fun! It felt like I was designing a digital scrapbooking collection, with various paper backgrounds and a few embellishments. I finally decided on the perfect set and the girls love it as much as I do. The colors feel so young and lively and vibrant, just perfect for a couple of lively and vibrant young girls!

Today, while Lauren was taking her nap, I sneaked in and snapped a picture of her in her new bed. While it's a little hard at times for me to accept that she's not a little baby anymore, I am happy that she is growing up into a beautiful little girl.

Supplies used: Garden Plot Collection Mini (colors changed), ScrapSimple Type Shapes: Circles 8301 Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Stitch and Holes PSE 8302 Mini, ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Stitch 'n Holes 8302 Running Stitch Mini, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Stitching And Hole 4101 Mini, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Chipboard 6401, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Chipboard Shadows 6401 Mini, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Stucco 6401 Biggie, ScrapSimple Alpha Templates: Painted Chipboard, Messy Glitter Embellishment Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Paper Tears 5001 & ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Urban Living Glitter 5501.

I Believe

A few weeks ago I noticed a robin had built a nest atop our front door light. I carefully climbed the railing, using the brick to steady myself (not recommended) and peaked inside. There, I was excited to see a single blue egg.

I returned from work that day to find that beautiful blue egg, broken on our front step. I immediately felt sad for the mother robin and assumed we had seen the last of her but the next day she returned.

This time I took a mirror and used it to look inside the nest and there lay a second egg! Since this revelation we have been trying to use the back door as much as possible and have watched as the egg was hatched and the little bird has grown.

I had put my feelings of loss on that mother robin and yet, there she is, busy tending to her tiny newborn. Today, I realized that much the same as we are watching over this little bird and as its mother is watching over it, my Heavenly Father watches over me and that He values me more than a whole flock of birds!

Layout by Janine Buckles using Photoshop Elements 5.0 and these digital scrapbooking products: Brush Set: Grungelle, Prayer and Praise Collection Mini & ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Photo Clusters 2.

That's Me!

When I was a little girl, my sister and I used to play a game on rainy days when we couldn't go outside. We played it with the Sears catalog and it was called "That's Me!" We would flip through the pages of the pretty models in the latest fashions and pick the one that was most like us. In the game you couldn't pick the same thing. Whoever put their finger on the picture first got that model.

It was a silly game, but the catalog was BIG and it would take us hours. It's funny, being sisters and being so close you would think we would pick the same things, but almost always we picked different pictures. Today as grown women we are still very close and still very different. I think we might still pick the same type of pictures if we played it today, smiling and laughing ourselves silly.

Layout created with these digital scrapbooking products: Potpourri Collection Biggie, Yesteryear Collection Biggie, Junk Love Collection Biggie, Pressed for Time Embellishment Biggie & Brush Set: Embellish I.

Tournament Champions!

Have you ever been passionate about something in your life only to have life circumstances steer you away from that passion? As a young person, I loved to play soccer. I can vividly remember being one of the star players on my very first team at about age 9...and that was all it took. After that, I played every season until I graduated from high school and loved every minute of it.

Sadly, with my high school diploma, came the end of my soccer days. I went off to college, found a new passion...graphic design :)...(which led me to digital scrapbooking, yeah!)....got married, had kids and life has been very busy.

Although my life has in no way slowed down, I came across an opportunity this year to play on a city soccer league with a friend of mine. I was apprehensive to commit because it had been 13 years since I had played, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Although, my skills have diminished considerably and I can't run as fast, I had SO MUCH FUN rediscovering this former passion.

As things would have it, we were recruited to a pretty good team and last week, our team won the tournament! So, now I am challenging you to go out and rediscover a lost passion of yours. It is worth your time!

ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Photo Transfer Frames