Write. Click. Scrapbook October

Well, it's been a while since I've shared a Write. Click. Scrapbook. layout on here. But let's just say, after a year and a half of being a mom, I finally have my act together enough (mostly) to post and blog a layout in a timely fashion! Just in time for the next baby:) 

This month's theme at WCS was Everyday life, so I decided to document a sweet routine in our life right now. Every night, Steve reads Ellie a book in her rocker, usually Goodnight Moon.  I kept the design simple to focus on the photo--a little moment I always, always want to remember. 

Check out the rest of the gallery right here!

What is YOUR favorite moment in your daily routine right now?

Then and Now

Happy Tuesday, everyone! We had a wonderful Rosh Hashana and made it back to New Jersey in one piece. Now I'm trying to juggle (1) a busy week at work, (2) a lot of menu planning for upcoming holidays, and (3) the "alternative Pride and Prejudice" novel I'm in the middle of.  Which I'll have to tell you more about later!

I'm popping in today to share a recent layout!

On this one, I compared a recent photo of me and S (and Ellie) with an old wedding photo.  I wrote about how much in our life has changed in the almost FIVE years since we married, and how much has stayed the same.

I used a lot of Elle's Studio on this layout, and some of Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper's sweet bows. 

Life is not always perfect or easy, but I'm so happy to have the family I have--then and now.

What is on YOUR mind this Tuesday?

XOXO Kisses

I had SO much fun making this layout. It pretty much includes all of my favorite things--gold Thickers, bows, cork cameras, Elle's Studio tags, badges, etc. AND pink, yellow and aqua together, my favorite color combination.

LOVE the look of the pretty gold thickers!

You can see a close-up of the jounaling below. It's basically about how Ellie bumps her head against mine when she gives me a "kiss." She actually doesn't do this anymore, so I'm glad I have the memory recorded!

And here's the full layout!

SO tell me, what are YOUR favorite patterns/colors in scrapbooking?

Simply Wonderful.

Being a mom has been the hardest thing I've ever done--it's was hard to get here, and I often worry that I'm not doing/savoring/worrying enough. But at the end of the day, I really love her, and love being with her.

I may not be the perfect mom, or have the perfect schedule, or the perfect anything. But you know what?

Source

So true.

I made this layout a while ago, and I wanted it to express just the pure joy I feel about my girl.

And a close-up:

The title is made out of a K & Co. sticker. Can I just say that I LOVE products that mimic the Silhouette? A lot cheaper, and no complicated technology to use! (I may try to the Sil one day. But it would involve a lot of money and time I don't have at the moment!)

My girl is simply wonderful. She gives me "kisses" that are really head bops, hugs me all the time, and started waving her finger as a "no" if I offer her a food she's not the in the mood for. Love:)

What's simply wonderful in YOUR life right now?

How Wonderful Life is.....

I don't know what it is about the month of February, but it is ALWAYS nuts for me.  Granted, last year I was having a baby, so that explains some of it. And then there's the twenty eight day factor. But no matter what it is, this month is always crazy for me, and this one has been no exception!

I have so much I'm dying to share--Purim photos, Ellie's birthday party, and lots of things I'm mulling on. But today, I want to share a layout.

I made this one some time ago, but am finally getting around to share it now. I love this line from Moulin Rouge and wanted to use it on a layout about my daughter.

Do you see that tiny face???  Ellie is now entering toddler mode of wanting to do things herself, throwing things on the floor, and running in the opposite direction. Good times:)

A closeup:

I used some odds and ends for this layout (loosely based on a Studio Calico kit, I think) and included hidden journaling in the envelope behind the photo. Although I usually use label stickers to write on, I added in a few Kesi Art label stickers just for the design (and speaking of those stickers, I am OBSESSED with them so if you have a source in America, let me know!)

What is the craziest month of YOUR year?

Dream Come True

I made this layout eons ago, but realized I still hadn't shared it here. I used one of Studio Calico's retail collections and loved the soft, sweet colors. Perfect for a small, sweet girl:)

The journaling is as simple as it gets here--because the title says it all.

She is my dream come true;)

And speaking of culinary dreams come true, you have to try these unbelievable cookies right now. You can even add dried cherries if you're in the mood:)

If you need more convincing than that, here you go:

What dreams have come true in YOUR life?

And on a more serious note, say a prayer today for this wonderful woman whose dream has become more complicated right now.

Lovely Girl

Scrapbooking.

Ah, that hobby I used to enjoy for something like forty minutes EVERY DAY. 

Wasn't that long ago. But man, it feels like a while!  Adjusting to this new scrapbook-every-once-in-a-while-in-between-working-on-project-life thing has been tough. Whenever I start a layout, it feels a little rusty at first, since it's been a few days (or weeks) since I've had the pleasure of pushing around the pieces and making them feel "just so."

And the biggest adjustment? Is learning that I can't buy supplies to the level I used to. It's just too overwhelming to have so much stuff, and since I'm making way less layouts each month, more things are sitting around. So I've lowered the 'ol scrap budget, and have been trying to show restraint:)

Today I do have one of those few and far between layouts to share! 

Here's a close look:

And the full shebang. I titled this layout my lovely, lovely girl which is something I like to whisper to my E when she's drinking her bottle at night. 

The photo is a faked instagram--I wanted to get the look, but didn't have a smartphone just yet, so I used a fun filter online, cut the photo into a square, and backed in with black cardstock. Voila!

I love the soft colors in this layout--I think they're so "me."

How often do YOU get to scrapbook?

I love you near and far

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend!  I'm here today to share a recent layout with my favorite blog readers:)

I created this layout a few weeks ago with a pretty, girly Studio Calico kit. I wrote about my feelings as a working mom. The main message I wanted to get across was how much I love my girl--near or far, rain or shine.  I hope that if she reads it when she's a mother, it will remind her that these decisions are not black and white and never easy.

I used lots of girly embellies here, as usual. Not sure what I'll do if I have a boy one day!

I had so much fun playing with the supplies here--the sequins, the plain wood, the textured Thickers, the soft colors....love:)

I love how scrapbooking lets me write to E in the future even though she's so little right now. 

What's one thing YOU wish you could tell someone today?

Write. Click. Scrapbook. August

Well, I'm mildly in shock that the summer's almost over.  I feel like it's barely begun!  That's one of the sad things about working a traditional job; summer carries on the same as every other season. I do enjoy the vacations, sunny days, and frequent iced coffees though:) 

Today I'm here to share my Write. Click. Scrapbook. layout for August!  The topic was summer, and I immediately thought of Carvel. A new (kosher) one opened near our house, and the last time we went they were pushing the Girl Scout--ice cream combination. Which I don't need much convincing on, after all.

I used some Studio Calico bits and pieces for this one: 

And the full view:

Clearly, I still need to find the "sweet spot" for photographing layouts in my new house. Soon, soon.

What's YOUR favorite part of summer? 

I Carry your Heart

 I carry your heart with me (I carry it in

my heart) I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
I fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet ) I want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

-e.e. cummings

I love this poem. Always have, and I hope, always will. I think it just sums up so many emotions. I've used this poem (or excerpts of it) on a few layouts so far, and I'm sure it will pop up again in the future. Here, I used it to sum up my feelings as I carried bunny, who is now a smiley, bouncy little Ellie.

A peek at the title--I'm a *teeny* bit obsessed with lullaby thickers in gray. Love.

Another peek--the rag is from Inspired Lovely on etsy and I've used just about every leaf in the package from Amy Tan!

I also broke out my vintage typewriter on this one--hopefully I'll get to do that again soon!  While this layout is a few months old, I'm just now working on my first layout of the new house, a watershed moment. I haven't scrapped in weeks due to the move and craziness and while it felt a bit stilted at first, it feels wonderful.

My scrap area may be messy, chaotic, and filled with maternity items needing to be put away, but I'm loving it:)

Do YOU have a song/poem/quote that you use multiple times on different layouts?

Write Click Scrapbook June!

Happy Thursday, folks! I've missed you all--between unpacking, work, forcing my husband to help me choose between drawer pull options, a 24 hour stomach virus, and a possible case of baby conjuctivitis, things have been a wee bit crazy at Chez Starr. 

In the meantime, though, I do have my June layout for Write. Click. Scrapbook. to show you--finally! This one is about how I love to spend time with my E-bear by getting right up close to her face. I love her eyes light up and she gets so interactive!

Speaking of interactive, I had a magical moment getting Ellie ready for her bath today--I was trying to make a farty/bubbly sound with my mouth that she loves, and she was cracking up. Not just laughing because she was being tickled, but because she found something funny! It was a new level of interaction for us, so much fun:)

Here's a close-up of the layout:

Love the veneer arrows, washi tape, and garland! Lots of new Studio Calico goodies in this one. What's the latest scrappy item YOU picked up lately?

Cute, Cuter, Cutest

Happy Friday everyone! Friday is now the day I get to spend cuddling with my girl all day, so I have extra love for it:)

I have a layout to show you today--finally!  I created this one a few weeks ago with the April (? the months are running together!) Studio Calico kit using some photos of E.

Cute, cuter, cutest indeed. This kid cracks me up! And it's crazy how much bigger she is already in just a few weeks.

Here's a close-up:

After a long scrapping slump, I've been trying hard to focus on just having fun. No rules. No expectations.  If I make something truly horrific-looking, then so be it.  It took a little while, but I feel like I'm really enjoying crafting again.

What's YOUR favorite way to spend Fridays?

And on a separate note, how do you feel about the sizes of photos on this post--too large?  Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Write Click Scrapbook May!

It's a new month (or at least, 7 days or so into a new month?) and time for a new Write. Click. Scrapbook gallery!  The theme this month was "everydaily" so I decided to record a very everyday occurrence in the Starr household--Ellie's stretching.

When I was pregnant, I would often feel this weird sensation as a little limb not-quite-kicked, but still determinedly stretched against my belly. As soon as E was born, I realized what had been going on in there: lots and lots of stretching. Girl likes to stretch when she wakes up in the morning, after a 5 minute nap, and anytime she finds herself on her changing table.

I had fun whipping up this layout to document the stretching-good times!

I used my April Studio Calico kit for this one and added some nibs from my stash. I also decided to get on board with the hand-cut arrows trend. This layout was just calling for them!

For the photo, I used a professional shot by our awesome photographer, Rina. 

Go check out the rest of the gallery right here!

In other scrappy news, I've held out for a while, but it's happened--I'm starting to want a Cameo.  I've been resisting because (a) I don't love gadgets, (2) it's a lot of work to learn how to use a new tool, and (3) it's a lot of money for a fad. What's winning me over are the scripty titles and dreamy quatrefoil cutouts.

What do YOU think? Is a Cameo worth the money or not?

Project Life: The Stuff

Project Life has been coming along for me, although I have gotten behind (only one week behind now! Woohoo!) I don't love feeling "behind" in scrapbooking, but I do love having a record of the little things we do each week. Jury's out on Project Life until the end of the year, I think:)

But in the meantime, I do want to share the things I use on each Project Life spread. In the interests of convenience, I've been using the Design A page protecters for each week, along with the Clementine kit (I mostly use the journaling cards).

For each spread I create a "title card" and use this fun Smash rolly stamp:

And then I use tons of label stickers as captions for the photos:

I also love to add fun bits of washi tape:

And staples from my beloved Tiny Attacher!  (I'm generally not a tool person, but you need this one--trust me.)

Here's an example of a weekly page (I only do one side--keeping it simple, folks!)

And sometimes I like to mix it up with atypical embellishments. I was feeling nostalgic about E's moving up a size (goodbye, newborn ensembles--sniff sniff!) so I took a bunch of her tags and added some confetti and sewed them into a page protecter.  It adds something different and some color and I love it!

So there you have it--my Project Life as of right now. Do YOU get that "behind" feeling from PL? If so, how do you shake it?

A Friday layout for ya...

This has been on heck of a week--S has been working late, which hasn't been leaving a whole lot of time for eating dinner, let alone scrapbooking or blogging. I'm even almost 3 weeks behind in Project Life, which stresses me out, even though I promised myself I wouldn't let this project stress me out! Ack.  

But I did find a few extra minutes to share  a layout I created a few months ago about Summer CHA. Hard to believe we're almost at another summer CHA!

Here's a close-up:

And the whole enchilada:

And now, I'm off.....for a Shabbos spent snuggling my munchkin, actually eating dinner with my husband, and (hopefully) finishing my book!  Speaking of which, I'm thinking about doing a post explaining what exactly we do all day on Shabbos--any interest in that?

What are YOU wishing you had time for today?

When your heart is Broken (thinking about infertility)

If you haven't yet, please read this article. I wish I had it to pass around when I was going through infertility.  Reading it took me right back to what that time felt like,and reminded me what comments were comforting and what were painful to hear.  And the whole don't-tell-me-to-just-relax thing? AMEN.

One of the toughest adjustments I had to make in my pregnancy was to figure out how to relate to my "infertility buddies"--to back off? to offer support? to explain what worked for me in a helpful way, but not a boastful way? to not mention the baby at all? I still don't exactly know how to navigate this.  If you know me and we discuss this issue, please don't be afraid to tell me what you need, and what helps or hurts you. Because I would never, ever want to add to your pain.

I shared this layout a long time ago, but I pulled it out again today because it's all there. The pain and the bitterness and the longing of those days, the sadness each and every month.

Are you going through infertility? If so, what would YOU add to this article? And if you love someone going through this, how do YOU handle it?

Back with a layout!

This past week was our first "regular life" week, with S back at work after paternity leave and me doing drop-off and pick-up all by myself. Oh, and watching the little one on my own at night while S works late. Let's just say I'm pretty proud of myself of making this far into the week without any crying!

I had a post up on the Write. Click. Scrapbook. blog yesterday about photographing babies. Go here to check it out!

Speaking of baby photos, I finally made E-bear's one month layout. Here's a little sneak. . . .


And the full shindig:

I had fun using my most favorite color combination, yellow + pink + aqua. = bliss in my mind:)

And I just had Ellie's 2 month photoshoot last week, even though (true confessions time) it's really and 2 and a half month photoshoot. Oops.

She was very pumped to celebrate the two month mark:



And possibly a little perplexed as well.



So tell me, what's YOUR favorite color combination?

Layout and Pesach Bonanaza

Passover is still going on and we have been enjoying the time together! I've been off this week and little E has started to become acquainted with her "baby school," which I'll talk more about in a later post if y'all are interested. I have a lot of feelings about sending her to someone else's care, but I do think this is the best arrangement for us for now, and I'm trying to follow my "one little word" and actually take things one day at a time.

I wanted to share some older layouts today that have been sitting around gathering dust. This first layout is about the different seasons in life--at the time I created it, I was struggling with infertility and job-hunting. Now I have a baby and a job, so the season has definitely shifted!

There's a pull-out pocket containing more journaling. Man, I love those Lullaby thickers. Need about 700 more packs.

This next layout is about one of the items on my unofficial "bucket list," which is writing a book. One day, one day. Maybe when E starts napping?

This last layout documents our "second wedding." See, we were that unorganized couple that realized two days before our wedding that we needed to fill out forms and all for our religious ceremony to be legally valid. Oops. Add to that the fact that it's considered a special thing in Judaism to not see each other the week before your wedding (maybe it's a "protect the groom" maneuver--ha!), and I didn't want to risk losing any specialness, so we decided to just do a second wedding at City Hall after our first wedding.

Sounds like a great plan, but just try to get married in the 3 days before the deadline for filing taxes jointly. Long lines, people. But nevertheless, we got civilly married, jeans skirt and all.

I used Lawn Party, my most favorite Studio Calico kit to date, on this one. Yum.

Before I go, I wanted to answer a few Passover questions. Many of you wanted to know what's up with all the tinfoil. Basic answer is that the surfaces you eat and prepare food on during the year aren't kosher for Passover. So unless you get all new countertops (which might not be the worst idea, come to think of it....) you just cover up the surfaces with foil, and you have yourself a nice and kosher, albeit spaceship-looking, kitchen for Passover. We block off cabinets and fridge shelves so that we don't accidentally eat something tasty looking that's probably better than matza:) And we do keep special dishes and platters and everything just for Passover.

And before I really go, I couldn't leave you without a picture of the munckin. Here she is looking all business with her stuffed bear. Oh my heavens.

So tell me, how many old layouts do YOU have lying around?