Throw Back Thursday

I would very much like to play with paper, but it doesn't look like this weekend will be the weekend.  It's been Homecoming Week for the two high school boys - I sent the Senior off today in a toga.  Saturday is the dance and even though they're boys, there's still stuff to be done last minute .  Sunday is spoken for as well.

I have the SCT Single 2 Doubles class.  Each week I download the sketches and examples and cut files and my fingers itch more and more to do something!  

This is one of the last layouts I did during the SCT Easy, Detailed, Expert Class.  I used Week Four's sketch, which is basically the left side of the layout.  I wouldn't necessarily stretch four photos over two pages, but this poor guy has, maybe, three layouts to his book.  And he's eight now.

I used My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Boy, which was in a Smaller kit.  The line was released in the summer of 2010, so the line was either in a late summer 2010 kit, or beginning of 2011.  I wanna say it was in a January, 2011 kit.  

I really liked this sketch, and the resulting layout, which was the "Easy" example in week four.  It was an easy layout to stretch to two pages.  It was an easy layout to get to "work."  It made layering easy - something I feel like I struggle with.  It's a sketch I could use again.  I could get more photos, though I'd probably have to straighten the photo blocks to do so.  But so what.  I love getting miles pages out of a sketch.

Happy Thursday,

We Are

Half, more than half actually, the family (in two separate groups) spent the weekend in the mountains checking out color and generally getting out.  The two who didn't go had homework and evening commitments.  I am grappling with this fact of life - that our outings, are more and more, not going to include everyone.  At some point I'll accept that, but this isn't that week.

• It's pretty hard to take your "bad day" rant seriously when you look and sound like this
• Late arriving gifts just mean you get to extend your birthday celebration longer.
• Sixteen
• Pre-run pep talk/planning
• He finished in the 22 minute range (I didn't get his official time.)  This, so far, has been the largest of the meets.  I could not get over the sheer number of schools and runners.  It was insane.  I'm talking thousands of kids from as far away as Durango - six hours southwest of us.
• Group One's outing - Pearl Lake #KarlieCamo
• I'm not sure who's more excited for the dog getting in the lake, the 8 y.o. or the dog
• If there's water, she's in it.  The weather and temp of the water make no difference.
• Steamboat - glorious colors
• I'm pretty sure if there's an old barn you are required to snap a photo
• Group Two's outing - Friends somewhere around Guanella Pass (photo:  the Girlie)  She's known one since she was in kindergarten, one since she was a sophomore in high school and one is a former roommate from freshman year in college.  
• They enjoyed the color (and big horn sheep spotting) in their own way
• New color!  Should be done today
• She's kidding herself if she's not looking at her clothes budget

Happy Wednesday,

Stash Busting

I didn't do squat this weekend.  Saturday I rolled out of bed and on to the couch.  Hubby and the boys were prepping our house, and my in-law's house, for painting. I did jump up and down in First World Problems' fit when our cable went out and they wouldn't be out until Tuesday to look at it.  T.U.E.S.D.A.Y.  Ah, Poldark's Season 2 premiers on Sunday.  I need the TV.  NEED.  IT.  Luckily, for my family, the cable was back up Sunday - having resolved whatever problem it was having on its own.  Whew.  Crisis averted.

Sunday, I rolled from the bed into the car for a nine hour car tour of the Colorado Gold.  If you follow me on Instagram (lascholz), you saw some of the beautiful sights.  We headed west and north.

All that is to say, my scrappy items stayed firmly put in their totes under the kitchen desk.  I need some inspiration to get rolling on the Scrapbook and Cards Today Single 2 Double class I'm enrolled in.  I'd say "class I'm taking," but that's a verb and implies action, so far I'm in noun mode.

I headed over to Pinterest and just searched "Doodlebug," one of my favorite manufacturers.  I figured I'd see something there to move me.  Sure enough, first layout on the page.  It's a grid.  It's colorful.  It's got my attention.

Besides Doodlebug, there are several, if not all companies, providing some sort of paper that has a grid of graphics.  Some are journaling cards, while others are graphic grids like the above sheet from Doodlebug's Sweet Things line.  I really like these sheets.  The only problem, my only use is to cut a strip out for a border, or cut individual graphics for my layout.  It never occurred to me to cut some portion and use it like an actual grid.  The designer who created the page above, just chopped off a portion of the sheet and put two photos down.  Total head slap moment.

Now this Doodlebug Halloween layout isn't using a graphic grid sheet; the designer created a similar feeling by chopping down paper to create her own grid.  (An excellent use for patterned paper, by the way.)  However, this could be one of those graphic sheets and you simply cut out enough of the grids to slip in a 4 x 6" photo. Embellish.  Boom.  Done.

This layout features block from Doodlebug's Puppy Love line framed in Polaroid Frames.  Same idea here as the original - cut out various squares and/or rectangles to insert any size or number of photos.  Amongst the paper blocks, this layout features seven photos.  I'd guess they are 2 x 2" photos.

Those journaling card sheets would provide you the same effects, just for larger photos.  Actually, it's an excellent use of a journaling card sheet, when you've cut one or two cards out for a layout, but still have the remaining sheet left.

Whether you use a graphic grid or journaling card sheet, you can embellish as you would by adding dimensional stickers, brads, ribbon, clips, enamel pieces, etc.  Just see the above examples for ideas to spark your own.

Go.  Create.

Food for Thought

I haven't posted recipes in a while, but not because I haven't been cooking, but because I haven't done much original cooking.  That happens when you don't plan meals for the week until you're already at Wednesday of said week.  For one reason or another, I haven't done my usual Sunday planning/Monday shopping and that means cooking on the fly.  It's that "crap, what am I gonna make."  It's food without thought.

Cooking on the fly, for me, usually means cooking from what I have on hand.  One night I needed a side and had some languishing sweet potatoes in the pantry.  These Savory Roasted Sweet Potatoes were the ticket.  They had good flavor and were super simple.  I diced them a little too small, and will leave them larger so the insides are nice and creamy.

We didn't make arrangements for the annual Palisades Peaches, nor did we attend the Peach Festival.  We were those crazy people driving around town looking for a pop-up peach stand to get our yearly "hit" of sweet, juicy Colorado peaches.  We gorge ourselves on them and then put up the remainder, in some fashion, when we can't possible take another bite.  This year I saw this Peach Butter recipe in my inbox and thought, "There's what I'm doing this year."  At initial glance, I liked that it was a small batch recipe; I don't need eight quarts of Peach Butter.  I haven't had the processed product, but it was awesome when I was bottling it.  Lots of great spice, like any fruit butter, but the sweetness of the peaches was there, too.

I have my grandmother's Chocolate Chip Cookie (CCC) recipe, and that's pretty much the only CCC I make.  I typically bypass those recipes on Pinterest, too.  But for some reason these Big, Fat, Chewy Chocoalte Chip Cookies called me to stop.  The ingredient list isn't much different than most CCC recipes, it was the prep that intrigued me.  So, i pinned it and then made them.  While my grandmother's will always be number one, these were good and big - which my kids loved.    They were chunky with chips and quite chewy.

Our Birthday 'Palooza was a brunch.  So I asked those with birthdays what they liked and did my best to get a dish for them.  Eggs Benedict is one of those items I don't make at home, but will order when we're out.  Luckily, I'd pinned this Eggs Benedict Casserole which is perfect for serving to a large mass of people and getting a Benedict fix.  It was simple.  It was something to prep the night before.  It was good.  My only complaint is the hollandaise, which is THE thing in Benedict.  I'm not sure what exactly it was missing, it was bland and didn't have that bite, but I'll keep the casserole, and try a different sauce.

Funeral Potatoes, also sometimes called Crack Potatoes, are a must at a brunch or breakfast.  I liked these because they didn't call for a condensed soup.  They were creamy and cheesy, and I really like the crunch of chips and Parmesan on the top.  I opted to use dehydrated potatoes (a pantry staple here), re-hydrated, instead of frozen.

I was looking for something different for a weekend breakfast for hubby and I.  I had potatoes in my pantry that needed using, so I found Baked Cheddar Eggs & Potatoes.  I cut the recipe in half, since it was just the two of us.  The recipe calls for red, but I had russets, so I just made sure I diced them small enough to cook well.  It was tasty with lots of herbs, and a good bit of crunch on the skins of the potatoes.

When you're not taking time to plan a menu, you tend to go for short cuts and make too many runs to the store.  The night I made Macaroni Taco Bake was not only an in-law dinner night, but the 17 y.o. needed to carb-load for a meet the following day AND I didn't have a plan.  My "plan" came at 2:30 when I was frantically flipping through a Taste of Home looking for something fast and easy.  This recipe met both those needs, but it was also good.  Warm and comforting.  I grabbed an extra box because I was serving eight.  Next time, when I've actually planned it, I'll make the mac 'n cheese (instead of the box) and finish the recipe as it stands.

Here's to hoping for a more inspired menu planning session this week.

Happy Friday,

Throw Back Thursday

I mentioned earlier this week I had to pick up my temporary work space in our dining room to accommodate guests at the birthday party.  I'd love to take it down to the basement, but that is the staging area for some inventory and sorting that hubby is doing.  In other words, he's taken over what progress I've made down there.  I haven't pulled my goodies back out yet, but I did sign up for the Scrapbook & Cards Today Single 2 Double Class.  I think Week Three will be out tomorrow, so I'd like to sit down and play this weekend.  That should work, but. . .well, it's life.

I still have a couple layouts from the last class that I haven't shared.  If you haven't counted, the layout above is the 10th layout that I completed during that one class - the SCT Easy, Detailed, Expert Class.  I've used five kits, this one makes six and countless odds and ends from my stash.  Not bad for one $20 class.

The above layout is using October Afternoon's Very Merry line, which came out in 2009.  If I remember right, the Very Merry line was in an over-sized, one-time seasonal kit which Apron Strings offered from time-to-time.  They were known as Blue Plate Specials.  The photos are from 2008.

We celebrate St. Nicholas Day, which is what's going on in the photos.  This layout will go in the family album.  It's also the First St. Nick's Day for our, then, newest member of the family who is just three months old.  I believe this makes four layouts the poor thing is actually in.  He's eight now.  I have set his photos from that day, along with more from this kit, to eventually do a layout just for his book.

I used Week Five's sketch from the SCT EDE class, which is the left side of the layout above, flipped 180 degrees.  More or less.  I flipped it to extend the extra photos to the right, but could have left it and extended photos both left and right.  I wish I could say I tried something new, but no.  I stayed in my comfort zone.  It happens.

Happy Thursday,

We Are

We are having a hot spell . . . or were. . . Monday and Tuesday with temps at or above 90.  Summer always overstays its welcome here.  Today, though, as I opened curtains and blinds there was more gold in the trees and a scattering of fallen leaves in the street.  Fall is here and it won't be a long one, unfortunately!

 

• Finished up a weather unit by being weathermen and predicting the weather based on previous patterns the kids tracked.
• When there's a lot of laughing, A.  LOT. of laughing, in some far corner of the house, it must be a new SnapChat filter.
• A meet that was nice and close to home and had him shaving a minute off his previous run.
• Birthday number Eight for this one.
• The birthday boy and Granny holding a most prized gift
• Two of the three Birthday 'palooza participants
• Creating.  This time in watercolor
• Colorado Evenings
• The first of two meets this week.  This one, the course was challenging.  The weather was hot and humid.  It knocked the stuffing out of some finishers. . .literally.  Probably the only time that there is some gratitude (if you can call running seven miles a day something to be thankful for) that your school sits on a hill and any way you and your team do training runs you're going to be running hills.  Thanks to those hilly runs, this dude finished strong.

Happy Wednesday,

Sketches on Tuesday

September is our busy month for birthdays, with three in just my little family.  So, this past weekend we held our 'Palooza Party to celebrate all three.  We hosted a brunch and invited both sides of the family, which makes the guest list over 20.  That meant I needed more than my kitchen table and the back patio (the weather was perfect for breakfast outside) to have for people eating.  That meant I needed to clear off the dining table, which had been transformed into a scrappy table.  So, I blew the dust off my supplies and loaded everything back into my totes.  

I'm hoping it's only temporary.  I signed up the the Scrapbook and Cards Today Single 2 Double class to inspire me to drag it all back out later this week - I have to say, though, I'm kind of enjoying the tidy look in the dining room.

However, Becky Fleck of PageMaps does the sketches for the classes at SCT, and sketches are a way to get rolling without necessarily needing the accountability of the class.  Currently, I need the accountability, but not everyone does ;).

That being the case, I headed over to PageMaps, and opted to start looking in September 2015, where I found this sketch.  I love the grid.  I love the three photos, but obvious room for up to three more (maybe even six, if you take up the journaling spot with photos.)  I like there's plenty of options for filing all those spots in whatever manner needed.  It is also an easy sketch to stretch into a two-pager.  There's enough room to make the photos larger, whether that means larger squares, or going vertical.

PageMaps designer Marla Kress interpretted the design pretty close to the sketch.  She opted to use just one journaling spot, that crossed two spots on the sketch and kept the title block without further journaling.  She also enlarged the mat under the photos (the sketch shows a block that doesn't encompass the photos.)

Guest Designer Ivonne Morales from Revista RL Scrap Design Team also stayed relatively true to the original sketch.  She opted to put her journaling in one of the patterned paper blocks, directly beneath the title.  She matted the three vertical blocks individually, rather than the larger block on the sketch.  

I don't always need a class, but I can never go wrong with a sketch.

Go. Create.

We Are

Some serious connectivity issues have kept me from regular posting.  By the time there's internet, it's later in the day and I've lost my "window."

Life is just plugging along.  The trees are changing.  There are little dabs of yellow here and there.  A smidgen of red on some.  It's awesome.

• When you look forward to certain days, but others can't appreciate them because they're not in medical classes
• When it's in her genes
• If it counted, we could all eat for free
• When your kids were little and you worried when you didn't hear them. . .apparently there's no set time for that to stop. . . 
• And you wonder if you've gone wrong somewhere
• First-ever batch of Peach Butter. 
• Meet number two - the "herd" is about half what the first one was.  It's still crazy.
• Official time 23:45
• The runner, himself
• When you find someone sleeping in your bed.  She only growls like a bear.

Happy Wednesday,