Tuesday Ten

Ten more reasons for me to smile...

1.) This cute little guy (okay not so little anymore, but still cute all the same!) is heading back to school soon....

2.) This new Ben Affleck movie (that was filmed in Boston) is coming out soon. I am so excited!!

3.) B & I saw this movie recently and we loved it!

4.) I just finished this book and I have to say it is the best book that I read in a looonng time.

...and currently I am reading this book, that I have been anxiously awaiting for.

5.) I just bought this CD and it is very country...and I really like it. He was the opening act at the New England Country Music Festival.....

6.) ...which is where I also saw Darius Rucker...

....and Jason Aldeen....

...and (the headliner) Brad Paisley...Yes, I was this close to him!

7.) Pocket Money starts back up on NESN in just a few days...woo hoo!

This gal adores the host "Fitzy".

8.) Despite a few bad games lately, I still love JB!

9.) AND one of my other favorite players, Jed Lowrie, is doing awesome!

10.) Patriots regular season football is starting in a couple weeks. The preseason games have gotten everyone all hyped up and we are all so excited to see (even if only for a few minutes a game right now!) the amazing Wes Welker. Love this guy!

I have also been scrappin' too. Trying to finish up the last couple of LO's for the Kelly Purkey online sketch class that I was taking. Hopefully, I will be able to share soon. I have been having photo editing issues. Really hoping to get that fixed soon.

Til then...Happy Scrappin'

& TFL!!!!!

Continuing to get my Scrap On with Sketchbook 2-Week 2

I wanted to share the next three LO"s I have created based on Kelly Purkey's awesome sketches.


This one is all about the 'Berry Sweet' goodness of our love of strawberries. This was a different kind of LO for me. Pictures & embellies on the bottom half and the top half is more plain and simple. I have to say the simpler, cleaner look LO's are always so much harder for me. I like lots of 'stuff'! Somehow though, for the LO's this week, basic is better.

For this LO I actually used Christmas paper. This paper is from Pink Paislee's Christmas line from last year. These are a few pics of B with his cousins from earlier this Summer. I take pics of them together every year (they still let me!). They are growing up so fast!

This LO is all about the trophy that B did not win. Yes, you read that right, did not win, at his Summer camp award ceremony. B was okay with it that. He was even congratulating all his friends who did get awards. Such a good boy! After the ceremony, one of the councilers asked us to hold on a minute, when he returned he had a brand new backpack, filled with back to school supplies. He said "here is you award buddy!" and gave him a hug. He was so happy! We all were. What a great award for such a great kid.

Three more LO's completed. This makes me so happy! Really enjoying being back in my scrappy groove. Tomorrow shall be my day of rest and then Monday I will get my next sketch and I will be at it again.

TFL!

Happy Scrappin"!!!

Sunday Sketch

Everyone knows I love sketches. I really find it amazing how each person looking at the same sketch as me, can come up with a completely different take on it. But, that is what I love about it too! Very inspiring indeed! One of the places I check out once in a while is Page Maps . They have some of the greatest sketch ideas. The sketch I used for the LO below was featured as a 'Sunday Sketch' over on the Pink Paislee blog.

My son is a real Mama's boy and I love it!. I will take it for as long as I can. LOL! I literally threw this LO together with scraps I have had forever. Really! The background paper is the new basic Grey Basics, but the rest are bits and pieces I had from one of my favorite old Scrapworks lines, some KI lace paper and even an old red bling star from TC's old Extreme Boy line. I love the result! These really were scraps that I could not bear to part with when I did the old 'heave hoe' to my scrap supply room a while back. Yup, they were definately worth the save!

Here is the sketch I used. Most sketches to me, always seem girly, but I always find a way to make it fit a boy page.

Speaking of Sketches, I am eagerly awaiting the latest sketch from Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 2 class class I am taking....I am having the best time!

Happy Scrappin'!!!

TFL!

Gettting My Scrap On

I have really enjoyed getting my scrap on lately due to 2 things, one being Kelly Purkey's (along with the Studio Calico Design Team) Sketchbook 2 class and second being Janna's 52 Weeks of Stres Free Scrapbooking. I fall into a rut sometimes and just need a little "kick in the mojo", if you know what I mean. I have completed 4 LO's in the past week. The first 3 are based on Kellys sketches. As I have said before, I love a great sketch as a starting point. I am always amazed at all the different ways that others work from it. Here is my LO for Sketch One. A couple of pics of B and my nephews and our "Silly Band Swap". Good times indeed!

For the second sketch, I used this random (adorable I must say) pic I took of B (taken with my phone none the less!) at the beach a couple of weeks back. It is one of my favorite pics of him at the moment and I wanted the LO to reflect how fun it is.

This is for the third sketch from the class. I really do love my nephews like they were my own kids. I loved these black and white pics my sister had done of them last year and thought that they would be perfect for this simple LO.

With the LO's above and the one below, I was able to complete 2 more of Janna's challenges. One challenge being:

Try to do 2-3 layouts this week! Serious!
YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Check! I definately got this one done...thanks to Kelly's class and the other challenge I completed was this:

Try out my easy 5 x 7 scrapbooking! (which you can check out HERE)

Here is my take on it. If you know me well enough, you know I love the Boston Red Sox and you know that Josh Beckett is my favorite player. Josh was injured earlier this year and did not play for a while. He is back now, but in July he was making a couple of re-hab starts with our triple A team in Pawtucket, RI. We were able to check out his first re-hab start. You don't know how excited I was. It was a great day indeed!

PS- I am still using my Teresa Collins Sporst Edition papers for all my sport pages. I LOVE this paper! Perfect for me and my love of NE sports!

I am so happy to have gotten so many pages done! I still have all day today AND tomorrow too. Maybe I wll a get a few more done, now that my mojo is back.

How about you???

TFL & Happy Scrappin'!!!

Tuesday Ten

Ten things making me HAPPY...Right Now!

1.) Tony Stewart gets the pole for the race at Pocono and finishes in 2nd!

2.) This past Sunday we decided to head down amd check out Patriot's training camp. That just happened to be the day that Wes Welker was cleared to practice. Yes!

3.) with so many players on the DL for the Red Sox, I am so HAPPY to see Jed Lowrie (and Josh, of course) back!

4.) Steve got me a new camera as a (belated) Birthday present. Look at this great pic I got of him with a couple of the Patriots cheerleaders!

5.) I just really like this pic of my favorite kid. Oh wait, that would be my only kid!

6.) I am getting really excited for my upcoming trip to Vegas for Inspiration Unlimited!

7.) Nothing makes me happier than fresh scrap supplies and I love me some Scarlet Lime!

8.) Just started this online class with Kelly Purkey & the Studio Calico gals and I am already inspired!

9.) I really like Eminem's new song . Though not your typical upbeat top 40 tune, I just can't help but sing along. Something about Eminen always draws me in. I don't know what it is...

10.) These pics by Chris DeRoy are so AWESOME! The first one I ever saw was this one:

Then this one:

Then this one:

Just so freakin' COOL!

TFL!

Til next time...Happy Scrappin'!!!

Movies vs. Books / Books vs. Movies

I am a huge fan of reading and a huge fan of movies. I love to be entertained! Don't we all? I have been an avid reader all my life. A book worm, you might say. I just love a great story. I love to picture the places, the people and the scenarios. So, I am always intrigued when I find out a film is coming out, based on a book I have read. I guess those are the key words 'based on'. Basically, that means, same name, same characters and usually the rest is up for grabs. Below are a few books that I have read recently and the movies that I have seen after the fact.

The first is Dear John. Again, I love a great story. Nicholas Sparks always has great stories of love and heartbreak and this one did not disappoint.

The movie on its own would have been pretty great, if I had not read the book. Sometimes it was right along with the book and at other times it was totally different, including the ending. So, I was a bit disappointed.

I really enjoyed The Blind Side. This was a great true story. After reading this I was really looking forward to seeing the movie.

They changed a few things in the movie. I am not sure why, but all in all the movie was pretty good. Plus, who doesn't love Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw?!

Next is The Lovely Bones. This was a tough book to get through. It's a different kind of story and it is not your typical happy ending.

I did not know how well this story would play out in a movie format. At first I was really pleased with the movie, but the more I thought about it, I changed my mind just a bit. The movie left a bit out too. I know that movies can not include everything, but I think if I had not read the book, I may not of understood a few things that were going on.

Last, but not least, is The Time Travelers Wife. This book took me forever to get through. Not that I did not enjoy it, but the way that the story goes back and forth and back and forth, it just took me a bit longer to read.

Steve and I watched this movie together. He found it to be strange and hard to follow. I had to fill him in on a lot of things, to help him follow the story. I wondered if I had not read the book, if I would have truly understood what was going on myself. Even though I even thought that they left some things out of the story, I really enjoyed seeing the characters come to life.

So I guess my final summation would be that the book is always better. I love to see the characters come to life, but there is just something about reading a story and having your own vision in your mind. Call it a nerd thing or maybe the bookworm in me, but I love the places that books take you, that the movie portrayals never can.

I (heart) Josh

We headed out to the Paw Sox game yesterday with one thing in mind....seeing the amazing Josh Beckett make his first re-hab start on his way back to the Red Sox starting line up.

We made good time in getting to Pawtucket, RI and headed straight to the stadium...

We were greeted outside by the adorable mascots 'Paw' & 'Sox'.

Loved this huge statue of 'Paw' out front.

This was a cute little photo cove they had at the park.

Batter up!

It was really a nice stadium.

But, again, the main reason we came (along with hundreds of other people) was to see Josh Beckett pitch.

Good times!

Good times indeed!

After the game we stopped for a couple of souveniers. Love the Paw Sox symbol. the bear paws hugging the red sox. How cute is that?

And really? How hot is Josh? He had a great day! He pitched 4 innings (wish it had been longer!) didn't issue any walks and struck out four against Syracuse, throwing 42 of 68 pitches for strikes. He topped out at 96 miles per hour on the McCoy Stadium radar gun. Amazing and it can only get better!

So glad we were there to see it.

Totally Awesome!!