The CAMP in SCAMP!

Believe it or not, I finally found the time to blog about the OTHER half of Scamp - I know, I know, the camping part is what the boys will remember the most.  It's the life experiences they will treasure...blah, blah, blah - we all know I do it for the scrapbooking.  I'll be the first to admit that's why I go and yet it is the blah, blah, blah stuff that really makes Scamp, well Scamp!  

 It's the fact that even when you get heat exhaustion you have someone to look after you...

 It's being able to stay up late and read your favorite book by the campfire...

 It's having hot cocoa EVERY morning with your best friends...

 It's being able to do belly flops in the Toutle River...

 It's being able to jump over your brother's head when you think your mom isn't looking...

 It's discovering that you CAN save the tadpoles....

 It's about working together...

 It's about enjoying the sweet things in life - EVERY night...

 It's about throwing your mom a little wink when she's taking the 9,999,999th photo...

And it's definitely all about taking the time to float down the river with the three most amazing boys in the whole wide world!!!

Scrapbooking + Camping = Scamp

With how much I talk about Scamp you'd think it was an official scrapbooking retreat.  Well for me it is.  It is my favorite time of the year.  For anyone who doesn't know, and hopefully wants to know, Scamp is just as the title implies.  The boys and I head up to Toutle, Washington with a friend of mine and her two kids.  It is here that the kids get to camp, swim in the river, and eat smores every night!  While my friend and I scrapbook at every free moment.  Which we noticed this year, was less than we thought.  (We are very excited for the years to come, when the kids can cook their own meals...ahh I can see it now, they can put up the tents, cook, clean...they'll never even know we are there!)
This year I managed to scrapbook 44 (2-page) layouts (so 88 pages) which was an entire year!  I was very excited!  Here are a few of my favorites:

 This is a layout I used from a class I took at the CK Convention (It's mine and Jason's cruise photos)

This is my favorite.  This was a silly trip to a hat store in Seaside!! 

 Another layout of a different class that I was able to use

 I love this one.  The smores stick is actually a stick I found at Scamp!

This is one of my favorite titles.  It's hard to see in the photo but some of the trees pop up.  

Well this was the first installment of the Scamp blogs.  I am sure there is only so much people can take in one visit (plus I'm tired - the kids' photos can wait! hehehe)

This message will self de$!ruct in....

Covert Operation 10 will commence in 15 days, all secret agents should report for duty, promptly at 16:30 to the Special Agent in Charge.
Okay, okay....so in reality Kole's birthday is coming up and this year he wanted to do a secret agent/spy/Harry Potter/Pokemon/Scavenger Hunt Birthday Party.  I think I may have managed to get him to narrow down his choices, well at least I hope I have managed it, otherwise I may have to just tell him to deal with having a single themed party!
Since we all know I am a torturous mother I made Kole help make his invitations this year.  He was in charge of the envelopes and the secret note that had each kids code name on it!!

Kole used my scrapbooking stamps to make the envelopes look "official" 

 The outside of the card is supposed to look like an envelope, the flap actually opens but we wanted to make sure the kids saw their code names so we stuck the black piece of paper half way into the envelope.  

This is the inside of the invitation.  And here's the fun part, I scrambled a word by highlighting specific letters red, and if the kids realize they are supposed to unscramble it, AND if they figure out what the word is, they will get a special little treat!!  

I would tell you what the secret word is.....but then I'd have to kill you! 

:) 

30 Minutes of Free Time

I know, I know, who has 30 minutes of FREE time.  Actually this was a test.  I wanted to see how long it would take me to make 3 Mother's Day cards, and blog about it!  Viola!  30 minutes - provided I keep typing fast!  So, to all those anti-scrapbookers, here is a way to make super cute cards that will make your mom, mother-in-law, and grandmother smile!!

I had blank white card stock and simply cut out three of the same tags from my Cricut machine (if you don't have one and you live by me, come use mine!  They are a lot of fun!) I tied some ribbon through the tag hole, glued down 3 buttons, and wrote down 2 words!

Then on the inside I printed out the invite on my regular printer, cut it, and glued it to pink card stock (Mother's Day is one of the only times I can use up my pink paper!) and again glued down 2 buttons.  Now when the boys get home they can sign them, and we can get them mailed today!

Ahhh 28:32 - less than thirty minutes!!!

PS Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there!

SCRAP-tastic!

Warning: This blog is about Scrapbooking (Impending glossy eyes for all men, pets, and women who call themselves "non-artistic" - which I don't buy! 

By Webster's definition scrapbooking is - the hobby of creating compilations in scrapbook albums, such as keepsakes, pictures, periodical articles, etc. 

By my definition scrapbooking is - the desire to utilize the creative side of my brain, while at the same time using up at least half of the 10,000 photographs I have take of my kids. 

With that said, I hope everyone understands why I am blogging about a scrapbook convention; because it is the absolute best girls day ever!  From 7am until 11pm there are no kids, no husbands (love them but we all need a girls day from time to time), there are no dishes to be done, no laundry to fold!

It is a day just for us; a day to learn,  

It is a day to shop, 

It is a day to craft, 

It is a day to hang out and goggle about everything and nothing at all. 

  

So thank you Jen Kristy, and Melissa for a fun-filled scrap-tastic day!  Now if I can just get myself to put pictures into the layouts I did at the crop I wouldn't feel so bad; it was almost 3 weeks ago!