FUN - Days 4, 5 AND 6!

Obviously I am not very good at posting daily am I?! (ie: I started this post yesterday and never finished it!!!) Well, Sam has been fed and is down for a wee nap, my other boys are gone for the day, I'm on my second cup of coffee and I have maybe 15 minutes before I need to grab a shower! So, here are some more FUN ideas to make up for the past couple of days.


#1 - FUN foods - what kinds of foods do you remember enjoying from your childhood? What was a special treat or reserved for special occasions? AND, which foods remind you totally of summer?


*popsicles...especially the homemade kind on plastic sticks


*freezies - love the long ones


*big hunks of watermelon eaten outside


*toasted marshmallows, hot dogs and s'mores over a backyard fire


*milkshakes and smoothies with crazy straws


*icy lemonade and lemonade stands


What other fun foods can you think of (no really...I need some more ideas!!!) Let me know!


#2 - Another thing that I think is fun is dollar stores...especially Everything for a Buck or Dollarama where everything really IS just $!! I like to take Grayson there and have a look around. He gets a couple of new toys without breaking the bank, and I usually find a few trinkets myself!


Why not take $1 or $5 or $10 (whatever you can "blow") and take a trip to your local dollar store. I bought all these scrapbooking embellishments for just $10!

I loved the colors of the chipboard letters so I had to have 4 different kinds, and the decorated brads were too cute to pass up. Now, it's true I use mostly Creative Memories products, but if you find something fun to add some variety to your pages or to make some cute cards with, go for it! There are no rules in this hobby...that's what is so great about it! (Just please make sure any products you buy for use in your scrapbooks are acid and lignin free!!!)

#3 - This whole site is full of FUN ideas for you and your kids! Lucky for me, Grayson has still been going to his dayhome since Sam was born, but today is his last day since Mel (our fabulous dayhome provider) is going on holidays, so Mr. G. will be home with me for a couple of weeks. Now since my back is still not 100% and Sam is a greedy little feeder (sometimes every 1.5 hours during the day!) I thought I should have a lot of little activities ready to go to keep G. busy. I got a tonne of good ones from this "Let's Explore" site and am looking forward to trying our quite a few over the next two weeks.

So that catches me up on posting my FUN ideas! Now I have to catch up on some FUN scrapbooking projects using one of my favorite tools -punches! I am working on a layout to be displayed (I think I will use CM Everyday Display instead of a shadow box) and one where you "create" your background paper by using up your scraps with your punches! Cool! Will post as I finish up.

I'll leave off today with a few new photos that I love...my good friend and gifted photographer Tracy McLeod came to photograph Sammy as a newborn and do some family shots. They are all precious and I can't wait to scrap them! Here are just a couple of my faves!

Have a great Friday and Happy Scrapping!

Noreen

PS...I changed the look of my blog to reflect some of my favorite fun colors. Lime green rules! I'm also going to try to add a slide show and re-organize some of my blogs and websites to make better sense (if I can figure it all out!)

FUN - Days 2 and 3

OOOPS...didn't get to post yesterday...someone (namely Sam) didn't want to be put down all day long!


BUT, I do have TWO fun things for today!


First...FLIP FLOPS! I have to tell you that Stacy Julian asked us to buy or create a fun and crazy pair of flip flops to wear while we were doing the online class. Well, I wear flip flops regularly around the house anyway! They are nothing special - mostly from Old Navy or Wal-Mart and cheap like borscht, but I love 'em! I seem to have one of every color, and during the summertime especially I love to wear the bright ones! I love to see that pop of bright color when I glance down at my feet, and all the better if I have bright toenail polish on as well! Here are a few that are in rotation right now:

And speaking of color, my second fun thing for today are these plastic plates, bowls and cutlery from IKEA:

Again, so cheap ( $1.99 for 6 plates or bowls or cutlery sets etc.), but so much FUN! I bought them for Grayson, but I pull them out to use for myself anytime I am having a little snack. I love the stauration of color, and the royal blue, turquoise and lime green are my favorites! (Hey that one of my favorite color combinatons as well!)

It's a grayish sort of day here, so I need an extra boost of color...lunch on a turquoise plate please and I think I'll wear my polka dot flip flops!

Happy Scrapping!

Noreen

What's Fun to you?

Stacy Julian asked us to think about our definition of FUN this week...what does FUN mean to you? I haven't come up with my definition yet, but I am mulling it over! I decided I would try to think of at least one FUN thing each day for the rest of July. And I will try to post them for YOUR consideration as well! Hopefully it will inspire us all to have a great, FUN summer!

First up, a no-brainer...SCRAPBOOKING! It is such a fun hobby, but if you are finding yourself booged down with guilt or overburdened by the time factor, challenge yourself to set a timer for 30 minutes, grab some product you never use and like NIKE...JUST DO IT! Send me your page so I can post them as FAST AND FUN layouts!

Here's a FUN layout based on a Stacy Julian challenge:


Goggle Man, by Noreen Smith. 8x5 x 11 layout. Creative Memories paper, Sharpie pen.

Bonus FUN idea for today: USE FUN COLORS...visit http://kuler.adobe.com/ and try out some new fun color combinations. I made some using MY favorite fun, bright colors...
search "noreensmith" to see them. And why not wear a fun, bright color yourself!

Happy Scrapping!
Noreen

Having some FUN this summer

So in the midst of everything else that has been going on, I signed up to take an online class through Big Picture Scrapbooking taught by the fabulous Stacy Julian! It's called "Have More Fun" and that's exactly what I have been doing!

The class started last week and so far we have done three challenge layouts, a mini album, had lots of fun online chats, started a project with a book called "Wreck This Journal" (SUPER FUN!!!) and are now onto another project using an Altoids tin!!! All the projects have been fast and easy, and are designed to make you rediscover the fun of scrapbooking instead of worrying about designing THE perfect layout or getting "caught up". It has been very satisfying and I am actually thinking everyday about how I can have more fun in my LIFE..not just in my scrapbooking. (Let's face it, this past year has NOT been that much fun for me, and life is too dang short!) In the spirit of fun, did you kow that tomorrow (7-11) Slurpees are free at participating 7-11 stores? And did you know that you can find out all about the HISTORY of the SLURPEE online? (Thanks to fellow BPS'er Tamara for this info!) What fun!

So here are just a couple of my fun projects:

This was Friday's 30 minute challenge...grab some photos and don't worry about decorative products, perfect layout etc, and use a one word title. I completed this in just 22 minutes!!

This is the mini-album project we created. I used photos of baby Sam and made a little album of his first hours/days. Each page has a little pocket for additional photos or journaling. Sweet!

I am having so much fun, and I'll definitely keep posting what we are working on. Go have some fun!

Happy Scrapping...

Noreen