Getting my scrapbooking groove on with Anthology products!

    

     I've returned from my first Summit, and met SO many wonderful people and heard SO many stories of LIFE-CHANGING health results.... now it's time to play with scrapbooking goodies again, as I document some of the wonderful experiences OUR family has had as a result of my Youngevity Distributorship.
     One of the first goals I had set for myself was to be able to buy a larger dirt bike, a golf cart, or similar item for Wesley, to help keep him entertained this summer.  I mentioned this to a family member during the graduation party of our niece,  & they said "We have one for sale!"
     I cannot believe that I managed to keep it a secret from Wesley.  Michael had no problem, but I was so excited that we were able to do this for him, and that MY income paid for it!

      He has enjoyed his time buzzing around the house this summer and into fall, and I can now do more 'My new ride' layouts for him!  I also have enough photos of his various 'rides' through the years that I can easily do a THEN & NOW or THROUGH THE YEARS layout or mini album.  I cannot wait to see what we can purchase for him within the next year or two!
     If YOU would like to join me in this wonderful adventure, simply go to www.scrapstreams.youngevity.com and click JOIN in the upper right corner of the page, or visit me at www.facebook.com/groups/AnthologywithDaleRoseStream, and I'd be glad to get you started.  It only takes a few minutes to get YOUR FREE company replicated & maintained site started.

My new venture with Anthology by Lisa Bearnson, and Youngevity products.

    

     With one local event on the records, and a busy summer ahead with ( a surprisingly EARLY Memorial Weekend this weekend, our son's cub scout campout next weekend, the end of the school year with all it's activities, graduations, etc.,   I will be trying to fit in progress on my little home based business.
     Merging and/or expanding fb pages, updating my blog, contacting friends and family as well as the public in order to tell them of the wonderful opportunites with Anthology, as well as the Health and Wellness benefits of the 90ForLife products that we are now utilizing, wow... it's a bit overwhelming.  Thankfully, there are SO many people in the Anthology/Youngevity FAMILY, yes, it feels like family, who WANT to HELP us succeed with this venture and transformation!!!
     Speaking of transformations, I have also signed up for the Healthy Body Challenge, and hope to lose 20 pounds, and rebuild some of the muscle that I have lost from no longer wading upstream for hours a day while streamshocking for Salmon and Trout, or setting and lifting nets every day.  Those nets were loaded with the wonderful bluegill, pumpkinseed, perch, large and smallmouth bass, dog fish, etc that we are so blessed with as part of our natural resources here in Michigan, which I was BLESSED with helping to manage for over 10 years.... How I miss my job with Fisheries Division. 
     But as people say, one door closes (my former relationship with a beloved scrapbooking and paper crafting manufacturer) and another one opens.... the new relationship with Anthology by Lisa Bearnson and Youngevity's family of products.
    Okay, am I getting a bit too sentimental?  Oh well, that's me.  What can I say?  I'm a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and SCRAPBOOKER.
    If you would like to learn more about Anthology by Lisa Bearnson or Youngevity, please contact me at:
                                                               231-845-2906
                                                   scrapstreams@yahoo.com
                                            www.scrapstreams.youngevity.com
                  https://www.facebook.com/groups/ANTHOLOGYwithDaleRoseStream/

Creating layouts with 3 Birds kits at local crops: Part Two.

      This layout was created during the Crop & Craft for Missions fund raiser.  It's rare that I get even one page completed during the local fund raisers, since I'm not only there as a vendor, but I also ESPECIALLY enjoy chatting with friends and walking around throughout the day to see what others are creating.
     Another blast from the past in terms of kits, but here it is combined with 2014 photos and more of the earlier 3D embellishments offered by 3 Birds.
     This Labor Day Michael and Wesley walked the Mackinac Bridge with THOUSANDS of others, as part of the Annual Bridge Walk between the two peninsulas.  I chose not to go, thinking it would take about 3 hours to complete the walk, and I didn't want to hold them back.  Plus, if I went, I wanted to take my beloved Dakota with us.
     It turns out that they completed the walk in under an hour!  I also believe that they said others brought their dogs with them for the walk, so I WOULD be able to take Dakota... I told them that it sounds like we need to go with them next year.
     As usual, Michael & Wesley took a side-trip, this time to Sleeping Bear Dunes.   Wesley had seen the signs for it on their way to the bridge that morning, and since they were done early enough, off they went!
     They got home late, especially when you consider that Wesley's 1st day of school was the next day, but they really enjoyed themselves.

Using Inspired Inc Top Page Layout Kits... installment 3.

     Today's installment covers a different type of walk than Wesley, Dakota and I usually take.  This particular day I decided to take Dakota to our local dog park, 'Bark in the Park'.  Rather than merely going inside the doggy park to roam around and play with others dogs if present AND well behaved, we decided to explore part of the adjacent walking path which winds through the woods between the dog park, local cemetery and the Lincoln River.

    This is another situation where I needed to create a companion page in order to include all or at least most of the photos that I wanted to use.  I searched my stash of papers, cropped corners to match those of the kit pieces, and used some of the remaining kit items to pull the pages together.
     I also had to adapt the layout to fit the number, sizes, and orientation (vertical vs horizontal) of the photos I wanted to work with.
     I'm not crazy with the outcome, due to the fact that the blue camera pattern paper is busier than I usually use, and more of it is exposed therefore making it more visible, but the theme works well with this story, and the blue and black coordinate with Wesley's clothing and Dakota's coat.
    

Completing more projects utilizing kits from 3 Birds: Part One.

     During two of our local fund raising crops, Crop For A Cure & Crop and Craft for Missions, I was able to crank out a few more projects by using some of my huge stash of kits by 3 Birds.

     This is one of the many diecut page kits that 3 Birds has offered since I discovered them around 2009.  Since I am a 3D embellishment lover/hoarder as well, and have so many pieces which coordinate with their color schemes over the years, I took advantage of the situation to create a quick (it usually takes me hours to complete a layout), balanced and fun layout.
     Not only was this our first vegetable garden at this home, it was Wesley's first opportunity to grow his own pumpkins.  We were quite surprised to see that we were able to get not only one or two, but 4 pumpkins.  The pumpkins were small, but it was a nice learning experience for Wesley as well as Michael and I, as we learned a bit about how well some things may or may not grow in relation to its location in our yard, the amount of rain we did NOT receive this year, and the cooler than normal temperatures we also experienced during this odd summer season.
     We planted 3 types of tomatoes, locating them on the West side of the raised bed so that the corn was less likely to shade them out.  What we learned about the tomatoes:  they grew like MAD in relation to the other plants, and therefore are going to have their OWN bed next year!
     The peas tasted WONDERFUL and were the family favorite, with us fighting over the few that we were able to harvest.  The tomatoes growing like weeds shadowed them out, plus we definately need to plant more pea plants next year.
     The corn didn't do diddly.... too little heat as well as rain (yes, we watered the garden almost daily)
caused our corn to only grow a few feet, not being any where near 'knee high by fourth of July'.  Local farmers struggled with the same problem, but we were able to buy a fair amount of locally grown sweet corn from the 'Larsen Girls', granddaughters of my scrapbooking friend, Judee Larsen.
     I accidentally picked one of only 2 peppers that grew this summer, upsetting Michael a bit.  I didn't check the label of that particular plant before picking the lovely green pepper which was calling my name.  When mature, it was supposed to be red....oops.  I got to enjoy it since it never fully ripened, and Michael was no longer interested in it.
    Next year we plan to build at least one more raised bed like this one which Michael and Wesley built for me.  As mentioned above, we will definately be giving the tomatoes their own bed, perhaps with corn getting it's own private 'suite', and lots more peas being planted.

Completing lots of layouts by utilizing Inspired Inc Top Page Layout Kits: Part 1

     It will take several postings in order for me to catch up on posting my many projects which I have attempted to post since last year's struggles with my blog, but please be patient with me.
     One of the topics that I have been trying to cover were the MANY pages that I was able to complete by utilizing the TOP PAGE LAYOUT kits, presented on HSN by Lisa Bearnson, who has created this line by working with several different product companies/manufacturers, and offering them under the name of Inspired Inc.
     I have been using kits for YEARS, especially after discovering 3 Birds on HSN.  They are one of the many companies that Lisa Bearnson (cofounder of Creating Keepsakes Magazine) has partnered with in order to create and offer some great products for us.
     Wesley's 10th birthday party last winter was one of the events/topics that I was able to document utilizing the many kits available through Inspired Inc., either through single shipments or autoship.  I opted for the Autoship program, thus I received 3 more deliveries of 10-12 two-page layout kits every few months.  The original kit was offered in the spring/summer of 2014, with the other shipments coming in June or July, September and November.
     Each follow up shipment was organized by a theme, such as Holiday Happenings which was shipped out in November.
     Some or all of these images may have appeared in earlier postings (actually begun months ago but unable to post them until later dates due to blog problems), but I want to cover the fact that I was able to complete so many projects by taking advantage of these kits    
     I don't usually go sledding with the guys, but not only did Dakota get to go (meaning additional opportunities to document her joy in participating in a snowy play date), but it was Wesley's birthday party, which I ALWAYS document.

    

     

 

     I was also able to scrap some of the activities that Dakota and I did with Wesley, either school related, Spring Break entertainment and treats, or how we spent some of our lazy, summer days together.

  Wesley's 'spring break' saw unusually cold, snowy weather, but there's ALWAYS justification for ice cream! When I saw the mint and black in this kit, I knew it would work for my photos, being the colors of my mint chocolate chip ice cream, but the other colors in the photos didn't work so well, so I simply turned my photos to b/w and wow... what a great improvement!  I used some of the stickers from another Inspired Inc kit to record the "Who, What, Where & When" in the upper right hand corner. 

     Wesley is outgrowing his battery powered dirt bike, but it still provides the occasional fun adventure!  When Wesley accompanies Dakota and I on our walks in the neighboring cemetery, I often ask him if he wants to practice his soccer dribbling and other skills, or ride his bike or dirt bike rather than just walking with us.  He often entertains himself in a manner common among kids or particularly boys, by finding a 'walking stick' or other natural items to distract himself from the fact that we are getting some fresh air and exercise.
      The 'All Hallows Eve' kit was all I needed for this year's family Halloween portraits!

Our family dressed up as Star Wars characters this year; I didn't get to go trick or treating because I had to set up for the Crop For A Cure the following day.

 For the layout below , I used the "Thankful" kit plus I added the "autumn" & leaf borders and a few individual pieces from the 3 Birds Best of Fall kit seen below.

     Rather than using this kit for a traditional Thanksgiving event, I used it to document how thankful we were to be able to borrow a neighbor's GOLF CART to pull our leaf rake, since our lawn mower is on the fritz.  Again, my photos are not all the same size, orientations or numbers, but it worked really well!