Green Bunny: Super Logan

The color scheme on this one was a lot of fun. I love these pictures because it was the first time Logan wanted to be "Super Logan" and have his blankie for a cape.

Green Bunny: Love Birds

I LOVE this layout! The top picture was the first one ever taken of Dan and I. The bottom picture is us, re-creating it, 10 years later.

Green Bunny: Little Blue Pool

This is...by far...one of my favorite layouts!

There is just something about chubby arms and that little blue pool that create a recipe for pure joy. This was the first time I combined both color and black & white photos on a layout and I love the outcome.

Green Bunny: Week In The Life

Another amazing project from Ali Edwards. I LOVED capturing our life for a week. All the 'stuff' that makes us the McCabe Family. I did my first Week In The Life album in May 2010. I tailored mine after Ali's for the first go round and used her Designer Digitals templates to set up my album. I basically followed her format exactly as I got my toes wet in this process. It is an 8.5x11 format. I used Photoshop Elements 4.0 with the digital overlays and the divided pages are baseball card protectors. Not sure if I will use the same templates this year or try something new. I'm a big believer in "if it ain't broke..."

Ali has set her week in July this year. With Dan traveling, our anniversary, and Carter turning two, it didn't seem like the ideal week for us. I'd like to capture an 'ordinary' week (if that exists). I am going to set aside a week in August (currently looking at Aug 15-21). Consider yourself invited to join in during either time period. Visit Ali's Week In The Life page for even more inspiration.

SERIOUSLY...Give it a try! Last year, I took 80-100 pictures a day (Don't be overwhelmed by this number...that incudes 4-5 pictures of each subject to make sure I got atleast one good one...blurries...etc). It was easier than I thought it would be. I tried to capture several aspects of our lives: foods we were eating, the way our street looked that time of year, our shoes, toys, clothes, dog, the boys wrestling, the boys reading, the boys playing...I also included receipts, packaging, lists, pieces of mail, etc. I kept my Itso bin (mentioned in a December Daily post) on the kitchen counter with a file folder for each day of the week to keep track of everything. At the end of each day, I uploaded all the pics to a dated folder on my desktop. That way, I didn't have to sort through 1000 pictures at the end of the week and try to decided what happened on each day. I also kept a spiral notebook in the Itso bin to write notes and stories from each day. My mama brain NEEDS notes!

It is so fun to look back at last year's album. SO much has changed in just one year (no more bottles, Carter is walking, Logan is potty-trained, the toys have changed). Imagine looking back in 10 years and seeing what your 'reality' was. A glimpse of what used to be. LOVE it!

My hope is to continue doing one week a year and shifting a couple months each time in order to include different months/seasons over the years. I think I'll be able to fit two to three 'years' in one album. May 2010 was 16 pages. Take a look:

The right page is a printed 8.5x11 photo. I used Ali's digital overlays to create the collage and then printed them up on scrapbookpictures.com. I added the patterned paper once they arrived in my mailbox.

A couple of 6x12's for some variation...

The baseball page protectors were a fun size to play with. For the photos on those pages, I created a 5x7 canvas in Photoshop and added four 2.5x3.5 photos in collage format and printed them through scrapbookpictures.com. Just a small amount of cropping when they arrived and they were ALL the SAME size!

Inspired yet? I hope you'll join me! This is a great little book of memories for your family. Feel free to leave any questions you have in the comments section too!

Green Bunny: Some Kind Of Wonderful

It is official: The first day of Summer.

C'mon sun...c'mon sun!

Here's a layout of the (no exaggeration) only sunshine day we've had so far in the Pacific NW. I DO see a glorious ball of bright in the sky this morning, so maybe it was just holding out until it was officially summertime!

Green Bunny: Notes to my Boys

Sometimes, one photo (usually of nothing incredibly spectacular) will send me into an emotional-please don't ever grow up-mommy tailspin and I feel the need to write about the little things in life. The quirks that I don't want to forget about my boys. Here are two such layouts:

I definitely encourage you to keep track of the little things that make your kids tick. Someday, you'll really wish you could remember that silly thing they used to do! Another idea I had for preserving all these delicious childhood moments can be found here: You've Got Mail...Kids.

Green Bunny: Alki

As promised in a previous post, here is a two-page layout featuring a 12x12 photo. LOVE!

If you are interested in playing with oversized photos in your scrapbooking, you should definitely try Scrapbookpictures.com and Persnickety Prints!

Green Bunny: EGGS

Here's what I love about this layout: The 6x6 picture! (This is a 12x12 layout.) I ordered the main picture of Logan with his green eggs from Persnickety Prints. They will print various photo sizes including 12x12 (which I have also done...maybe I'll show that one off in a future post).

Another great site for enlarged scrapbooking photos is ScrapbookPictures.com. Both sites currently have the same pricing: 79 cents for a 6x6, $1.99 for a 12x12 and everything in between. I also ordered some great 2x2 square photos of our Bermuda vacation and gave them a classic thin white border. They arrived in my mailbox ready to scrap...no cropping involved.

I have ordered from both companies and received great quality prints with no problems.

What a fun way to get a new look in your albums!

Green Bunny: Friendly Frog

Decided something bright & cheery was just what the doctor ordered for those of us becoming a little pruney in the Washington rain...

The paper is Sun Kissed Adventure by Bo Bunny. All of the items on the bottom half of the page were part of the patterned paper with one exception...I added the frog sticker at the bottom. I used regular lined notebook paper for the journaling. I am trying to embrace my handwriting more. I also left a thin white border around the photos to really make them pop on this colorful paper.

Here's to some sunshiny memories coming soon!

Green Bunny: Our Boys

Just finished this one up a couple days ago. I love the idea of journaling about what the boys are currently doing. It will be so much fun to look back and remember the little quirks. I also email the boys all the little things they do and say. If you missed the You've Got Mail post, you should check it out!

Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse!

Carter was all about Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when he turned one in July. We hosted a backyard BBQ with lots of fun decorations and food...




I made the invites using the Cricut Mickey and Friends cartridge and two circle punches. I also downloaded a Mickey font for the inside info.



Amazing Mickey cake made by Sarah!



Specifically planned this party in the AM so we could have Mickey mimosas (a fabulous idea from a friend)! I found a small Mickey cookie cutter for a couple bucks on eBay and used it to cut Mickey out of cantaloupe to add to the mimosa glasses. I also used the cutter for fruity pebble treats (pictured below). Sarah created the deliciously adorable cupcakes...great to have a friend who bakes!



I framed an invite and placed it on a plate stand on the table along with a stuffed Mickey, sunflowers, and the mickey-shaped fruity pebble treats. Some of my bright Fiesta pieces came in handy for the color scheme.



This party was so colorful. What fun! I went with Mickey-themed supplies for the kids' table, but was able to purchase bright reds, yellows, and blues for extra plates, napkins, balloons, etc. Solids are much cheaper and more practical for future use.



I had saved this HUGE Disney store shopping bag (because I knew it would come in handy someday) and used it to decorate the play area with some multi-colored balloons. The sandbox was a birthday gift for Carter.



I made this banner that matched the invites for Carter's high chair.



The birthday boy with his banner & cake. I made the Mickey balloons behind him for the guests to take home. What a blast! I definitely suggest a Mickey (or Minnie) party if you have a young one. Look for great ideas on Disney.com and Disney Family too.



Green Bunny: Little Photographer

Somehow, this layout takes me right back to the moment more than others do. And what a wonderful moment!

The summer Carter was born, Logan was two and a half. He was obsessed with cameras...taking pictures...having pictures taken of him. Saying "cheese" was a frequent occurrence. I put together a backpack for when he came to the hospital with grandma and included two disposable cameras. I thought it would be fun to see this experience through his eyes. He LOVED it and actually did a great job.

These are a couple shots from his camera...his view of the day his little brother was born...