Almost Father's Day

I'm having a hard time believing that the year is almost half over! In just 2 weeks, school lets out for the summer. Donovan will no longer be a kindergartner...he'll be on his way to first grade. Unbelievable!

This Sunday is Father's Day! Hats off and big hoorays to all the Father's who are making a difference in their children's lives just merely by being present!!!

Father's Day always makes me sad. You see, I never really had the relationship that I wanted with my dad. The first time I remember meeting him, I was 10 years old and he was married with 4.5 children (his wife was pregnant). I later found out that he had 2 other children (so 8 of us in all and believe it or not, we're all pretty close knit). I always wanted to be a daddy's girl, but I didn't have the opportunity and I never will since my dad died the year I graduated from college. Even as a grown, 30-something year old woman, I still feel a slight tinge of jealousy toward women who have the opportunity to have a wonderful relationship with their fathers . I always get a lump in my throat whenever I hear Luther Vandross's song "Dance With My Father" because it's something that I never had the chance to do...and will never do in this lifetime.

I'm happy that my boys don't have to feel that way. They have an awesome dad who loves them so much. He works very hard to not only show his sons the way a man handles business, but also the young men in his school and on his basketball team that look to him for guidance. He's a great mentor, a disciplinarian...and a roller coaster ride (LOL). I can't tell you how many times in a day I hear fits of giggles followed by pleas of "do it again daddy"! As soon as they hear him arm the alarm on his car, they drop whatever they are doing and bolt to the front door. I'm sure even the neighbors can hear the loud "daddy's home" squeals!

I made a few projects in celebration of the man in my life.

First up is a card that I made for Bella Blvd's winter CHA booth. I posted it here before, but I thought I'd post it again since I made it for the boys to give to their dad on Father's Day. I used Bella Blvd's ROCKIN' line, Man Of The House. This is one of my favorite product lines--as you know I live in a house full of testosterone and need lots of awesome masculine supplies in my stash.

The guy here is actually an old SEI iron-on. I ironed it onto a transparency and them traced the pieces onto patterned paper, cut them out, and adhered them to the back of the transparency. It took a lot of patience (something I have very little of on most days), but I like how it turned out.



The next 2 projects were created for the June issue of Bella Blvd's newsletter. If you don't receive the newsletter, just head over to the website and sign up. Each issue is loaded with inspiration and all of the latest Bella news!

I took these photos of the boys and Troy this past Easter and have been dying to scrap them. Although they aren't the "perfect" shots, I love how comfortable they all look together.

I used more products from the Man Of The House line (the houndstooth paper is from Camped Out).

close-up of the title

I was still able to keep this layout masculine although I added a flower. I simply took out the yellow layers (the flower was yellow and brown), scrunched it up for dimension, and added a chipboard button tied with jute to the center.

Finally, I created this simple layout of my little man, who will one day be a father himself. I wanted to keep this layout simple, but colorful and the color blocking helped me to achieve just that.

I snapped this picture of Xander at one of Donovan's soccer games. He such a boy...wild and destructive, ornery yet sweet!

here's a close-up of the flower and pleated ribbon


I layered alphabet stickers in different colors to add a dimensional effect without the bulk.


Hope you've enjoyed these projects about the men in my life! Until next post...happy scrapping!