click together

patterned paper: ek success (floral), treehouse designs (stars), sandylion (dots)
letter stickers: sei ("s"), ki memories ("lick"), ek success ("pals," "fun")
phrase stickers: ek success
letter stamps: fontwerks
stamp: jenni bowlin ("date")
other: photo corners, acrylic stars, rhinestones, ribbon, date stamp, mini index card, foam tape, decorative scissors

i was going to scrap these pictures anyway but i decided to do this week's dare (#58) over at the dares site. i used to have a ton of decorative scissors but i pared it down to the essentials -- pinking, scallop, deckle -- which are quite useful.

the journaling is on the mini index card (which i got in japan) and it reads: you know how some people just "click"? that's chloe and ian. they don't see each other for months but when they do they're inseperable. they were meant to be friends!

he is his mother's son

how do you console a kid who's upset about his straight-a (okay, one a-), mostly outstanding effort report card? i was hoping, hoping, hoping ian would be okay with his report card. but the second he saw that, despite the a in reading, there were areas he could work on, he started to cry.

now, i know this is his initial gut reaction to most things he perceives as negative. in fact, it's an area we're working on at school because he has the occasional teary breakdown in class. given time he usually gets over it and it'll cease to bother him. so i went on and on about his excellent report card, effort is what matters, there's always room for improvement, blah, blah, blah.

but what he said after my spiel made me cringe because it was like listening to my inner self 20+ years ago:

me: so why are you sad?

ian: because it wasn't perfect ...

i've gotten to the point where i really don't care what his grades are; i'm much more concerned about his emotional state. when he's 30 years old it won't matter one iota what his grades were in first grade. but you can't convince my 6-year old that grades aren't the most important thing in the world (much less that it's hardly that important at all), and that i want him to have other things in his life that bring him happiness.

haunted house

can you tell that the door is slightly open? i think it's pretty amazing that they can teach young kids (especially my son) to draw dimensionally to show depth (like the path leading up to the door). ian will never be an artist in the traditional sense of the word, but i hope he starts looking at the world in a different way through art.

african masks

kindergartener no longer

cardstock: via (i think it's hammermill)
patterned papers: hot off the press, colorbok, marcella by k, paper fever, die cuts with a view
date stamp: fontwerks
line stamp: fontwerks
letter stamps: psx
stamping ink: colorbox
word stickers: marcella by k

5.5

cardstock: bazzill basics
patterned paper: anna griffin (green), scrapworks (aqua)
letter epoxy stickers: k&co
letter & number stickers (black): ek success (rebecca sower)
number stickers ("5.5"): american crafts, ki memories
oval sticker: target
punches: carla craft
letter stamps: psx, image tree (ek success)
date stamp: provo craft
number stamp: cavallini
dotted circle stamp: hero arts
stamping ink: close to my heart, color box
acrylic paint: delta
index card: office depot

i haven't scrapbooked in awhile, and (as usual) this layout took awhile to complete. i've been intrigued by the "freestyle" movement in scrapbooking lately because it looks so freeflowing, creative, and expressive. but for an anal-retentive obsessive-compulsive like myself it's an extremely difficult method of creativity. i always use a ruler and my body and mind are accustomed to right angles and a linear look. i have an extremely hard time just "going with the flow" and putting things down on paper, layering, and embracing the "imperfections" of this style. although aesthetically pleasing to my eye, i can't actually accomplish the look myself. therefore, this layout turned out only "half way there" in my opinion. it's stuck in limbo between my usual look and freestyle. i feel like it's too empty ... i may have to sleep on this one awhile longer and tackle the embellishing later on.

anyway, the layout is about ian's half birthday and what kind of life he had at that age. i just loved this picture of him shooting a squirt bottle at me from behind a window.

t ball

cardstock: bazzill basics, paper accents
patterned paper: bobunny press
letter stickers: doodlebug (round), making memories (white)
letter & number stamps: psx
stamping ink: color box (white, blue), artnic (red)