stop the insanity.

***ETA: Texas girls, I'll be teaching make and takes from 1-3  on Saturday, June 13 at Crop Paper Scissors in Waco. I will be using Jenni Bowlin Studio, October Afternoon, and Lily Bee products. I'd love to see you there!! ***

being trapped in a teensy house with two sick, coughing, tired, grumpy babies is NO fun. i think i'm slowly going crazy.

for example, harper and i made this this morning.

she calls it her "pet parade". the only way i could get h and s to stop fighting for 5 seconds was to get them to get all their animals out. i lined them up as slooooowwwly as i could. this kept their attention for precisely 5.5 minutes and then the screaming started again.

moving on. last week i got a comment by a reader on one of my posts.

they wanted to know if i could share my very first layout and also my favorite layout.

so i went and got harper's baby album out of her room. 

i looked through it and couldn't remember what the very first layout i made was.

technically, i made J several scrapbooks when we were dating. but i am NOT sharing those. teehee.

here are a couple of the first things i made once i really got into scrapbooking.

i remember being SO proud of these. so proud.

they took me so long to make!!

and as for my favorite layout that is such a hard question.

they all mean so much to me. my favorite changes with regularity.

but if i had to pick just ONE, i guess i'd say this one.

there was so much going through my head when i made this.

so much fear and uncertainty.

so much i wanted to tell him and i just didn't know how.

i remember him picking up this layout and reading it and saying thank you and just hugging me. and i was so glad that he found it and read it, b/c these were things that i just couldn't get my mouth to say out loud.

i'm so grateful for this question, it gave me the idea for an entire blog post!

if you have anything you'd like to see me blog about, please ask!!  i'm always looking for new topics and creative things to share.

hope you are having a beautiful Sunday and that you are not trapped in a teeninsy house with two snotty sneezy babies. b/c it's about as fun as it sounds!!

on to do something else faaaascinating, like making another pet parade.

good times.

xoxo

here's a super simple layout i did last night. 

it was for a challenge at 2peas to scrap a page with a one word title.

it didn't photograph well, sorry about that. the b/w photo is not dark like this on my page. i need to become a "flat scrapper" so that i can scan my layouts!!

journaling label and tag behind title- my minds eye andreavictoria line

chipboard flowers- basicgrey

paper flowers (layered on top of chipboard)- sassafras blossoms

alphabet- american crafts thickers

cardstock- bazzill swiss dot

pen- american crafts precision pen (.01)

Comments

[Beth D]

You have a gift for this, girl. Beautiful layouts. I hope your babies feel better soon. Any chance they will take a nap? Happy Sunday.
Beth Ann

[Carla]

I haven't left a message in a while but I wanted to check in with you today to say "Happy Sunday-it will get better"

The paper on the Tiny Hands layout is still available at Hobby Lobby! I saw it yesterday when I was there for letters and Thickers.

Last night I was at Krogers and was looking at the magazines and picked up Simple Scrapbooks and was thumbing through and bam! There you were! I jumped up and down like a mad woman and DH is staring at me and I said "Look! Its..." and DH said "Stephanie - that's cool!" He does listen and pay attention to me! Then I turn a few more pages and BAM! Its Jimmy! Look at you go girl - I just want to be published once and there you go twice in one magazine! Thanks really though for making me feel cool because I "know" the person who the layout belongs too! Congrats Stephanie :)

[Stephanie Howell]

you are a total and complete DOLL! thank you, sweets! xoxo

[C. Rayevich]

thanks for sharing some of your 1st layouts. i dig out my old albums every once in a while and check out how much my style has changed (and how much my "baby" has grown :)
hope everyone fells better!
xoox

[Lexi]

you made my day! really. I peeked at my blog and you had left me a comment--Thank You! Just started a blog to share my scrappy stuff ( and pics of the boys w/family) so seeing someone comment as "famous" as you makes me smile :) It's always a bit of a risk to share what you make creatively, but if you like, go for it, right??
My 2 boys are the same age as yours and I always think that if we lived close together our kiddos could be friends...at least WE could be and scrap (yea right!)while they run around like maniacs and play :)
we are battling the snotty noses here too--good luck!
thanks again for the kind comment!

[Stephanie Howell]

you are welcome, lexi. your entry was wonderful. have a beautiful day!! xo

[Michelle LaPoint Rydell]

You do such beautiful work! I found you thru Studio Calico. Your Before You Go layout is so special. I can see why it's your favorite!

Have a beautiful Sunday!

[Harriett]

Oh now i have to find a way to get down to Waco from Ft. Worth in a couple of weeks! A make and take with you! Wow! How fun.

[Stephanie Howell]

You must come!! xoxo

[Jennifer Stewart]

Darn it, I'll be in Houston teaching at a weekend retreat on 6/13. Darn it. :( Wish I could come to CPS!

I love that favorite layout, too. It's just perfect.

Love,
Jen

[Sherry Cartwright]

Oh, I hope I can pull it off to be in Waco on that day to enjoy the make and takes. And to meet you --- I've been a fan of your beautiful layouts and memories.

[lisa truesdell]

big hugs on the cranky sicky girls. =( hope they are better soon!!

i love that your first pages still look like you, even though your style has evolved. very cool. =)

[Stephanie Howell]

ha, thanks. i actually still like them. =)

[Army Duck]

Oh the before you go page made me tear up..

I'm so happy for you that your time apart is nearly over.

Have a great day :-)

Cassandra

[waleska]

too funny (well, not really) I just posted about my boys fighting too... it must be in the air. oy!
anyway, love your pages. I hope you day and babies get better soon. have a great week :)

[Elisa Nishimura]

One of those say, huh!?!
Thanks for sharing your early and favourite LOs.
You got my full sympath regarding kids' fights, my 7 and 3 year old are at it all the time. When my kids start fighting, I just get them into the car and drive them to the playground, the botanic gardens, or the weather being bad, anywhere with sells ice-creams. :-)

[Amy Lapi]

super cute LOs! i hope your girls get well soon.

[Rachael Gentry]

This is an awesome post, so cool to see your progression!! And your fav LO seriously made me tear up... i love it!! I love you blog! Its is one of my favs :-)

[Maggie]

Hi Stephanie - I love your blog and have been reading for quite a while. Since you mention it, I do have a question I have been meaning to ask you. You've refered to Austin, TX quite a few times and even your interest in moving there some day. Well my husband and I are thinking about moving there in just over a year and we are going to drive down there in August to visit (we are from MN). What are your favorite spots in Austin? Food, entertainment, anything. We don't know anyone in the area so any reccomendations would be great!

[Jennifer.T]

Thanks so much for sharing some of your first layouts, they are so pretty! And I love the "Before You Go" layout, I have the Simple mag that it was published in! Which reminds me I need to get the very last Simple mag, I noticed while flipping through it at my local newsagent that you have a couple of layouts published in that issue too.
PS: I SO wish I was a texas girl, I'd sign up for your class in a heartbeat :o)

[Danielle (vtpuggirl)]

Love seeing your older pages, I have some just like that and I spent forever on them too! Sorry about the illness/sickies. Maybe they will sleep good since they have picked at one another all day? I don't know if it works like that exactly when you have more than one. Wish I lived closer, I'd love to go to a LSS, the make & take would be the icing on the cake.

[Karen M.]

hope your chickies will feel better soon! love seeing your first pages. nice how they evolve, huh? i look back at mine and still love them too!

[Ginny C.]

Hope the girls are feeling better. Have you tried a long, warm bubble bath? For girls that is, then maybe they'll sleep & you can take one. Thanks for sharing your first layout. Mine looks like sticker sneeze - boy did I love those stickers, made my own patterned paper! How many days until Jimmy is home? I know each day must feel like a week. Have a great week.

[Stephanie Howell]

we are shooting for somewhere around july4. thank so much, ginny! xoxo

[Kristen]

I called you a little bit earlier to see about getting together this week. Call me when the girls are un-snotty or if your sanity is about to snap, I'll brave the snot... It will definitely beat talking to boxes. Oh yeah, I've been doing a lot of that! I'll have to come up for the scrap class. Do I need to register for it or anything?

Oh and Michael told me that he and J will probably be on the same flight in. I'm excited that I'll know at least one other person in the gym!

[Ann]

Oh thanks for sharing! While those are great layouts (especially for being new), it's amazing to see how you've really made scrapbooking more about you. I was reading recently about a baby's nursery and the person who was decorating it said they don't like to go matchy-matchy because they like the room to look like it developed over time. That's what I think of when I see your newer layouts. Each one seems to be a little bit of everything you love. But, that (while it might not take you as long to complete as it did in the beginning) it was through time that you collected the skills and the materials. It's unique and beautiful. I really love your work - it's so fearless.

[april foster]

2 words: little people
Amber and I played with them non-stop from the ages of 1 till the ages of 4 or 5. We would line them up (we had about 100 of them) and then each would get a turn doing something, like riding a car or sitting in a desk, and then each person in line behind would have to move up one place before the next person could do the activity. Seriously saved my mom's sanity I think. We would do it for hours....hours i tell you. You must invest in about 100 little people and teach the girls how to line them all up....heehee
Thanks for sharing your favorite layout. It makes me feel good in a tiny way that it was a SC kit...like i somehow contributed to your prized possession and that makes me happy. love ya!

[Suzanne Burkey]

I enjoy reading your blog.

[Stacy Aannestad]

Stephanie -- boxes. Dig up any box you don't mind destroying and make things with them. Get the girls to help you make a castle. When my son was seven and had chicken pox (talk about being BORED), and my husband was out of town, I dug up every shoebox in the house that wasn't needed and we duct-taped those babies together into a wonderful (very gray) castle that was perfect for his Star Wars action figures. It totally saved my life because we couldn't leave the house! And he was NOT stellar at entertaining himself. And we had watched every single video we had soooo many times.

LOVE your layouts -- and your honesty! Hang in there, girl! I'll be praying for y'all!

[Danielle]

Stephanie~
I've been wanting to ask you this for a long time... Do yo have an suggestions on how to get into designing? Do you get paid for it? Or just get free scrap supplies? or how does it work? There are some days when I feel like I could totally do it... and do it well... and then there are days when I look at layouts and sigh. but then I think about the difference between scrapping with all name-brand awesome supplies and it makes all the difference. Those are the pages that I love. So tell me all you can about how I could get into something like this. On a smaller scale obviously at this point. I live really close to Cocoa Daisy (just one town over) and my friend used to work for Tricia. That's how I initially found your blog. Ok that's all my rambling. I'd love any suggestions! PS I have some recently scrapped pages posted on my blog right now.

[Mary Ann]

Loved seeing your early layouts.
Counting the days with you :)

[Jill]

Your favorite LO is one of my favorite LOs!

[jenney]

I'm horribly behind on blog commenting but I just wanted to thank you for the scrappy (and life) inspiration that you share with us. I've been in a major scrappy slump lately and after reading your mother's day post, feel totally inspired to scrap again. Thanks, girl!

Hope your girlies get better fast!

[Emily]

Your "favorite" layout is absolutely incredible!! I can't tell you how many times I remember saying goodbye to my dad and having that same sad look on my face as he left. You are such a strong woman!! Hope your girls are feeling better soon!!

[jules p]

sorry your kiddos are sick. bless your heart. prayers!

[Jen]

Love the old ones. I was looking through my first book the other day and thinking how dated they looked. I wouldn't change them for the world though because they are a reflection of me at that time....even though it was only 4 years ago.
Also love your layout for 2peas! beautiful!

[Lexi]

Hey Stephanie--our LSS is filling boxes for soldiers this week and sending them so they can have a little bit of home for July 4th. (Hopefully your own soldier will be here by then!) Anyway, I was sure you had first hand info on some things to include that the average person might not think of, so I wanted to ask :) My husband's uncle was an IED "hunter" in Iraq just over a year ago so sending these boxes are a bit extra special now that he is home. Sending boxes should be special TO EVERY AMERICAN for the sacrifices these men & women are making for our freedom.
Thanks--
L

[Stephanie Howell]

what a sweet, appreciated idea, lexi. could you tell me where the boxes are
going? there's a major difference btwn. what soldiers in parts of
afghanistan (where there is NOTHING) need vs. the build up areas of Iraq
(where there are PX shops, coffee shops, etc).

[Melissa Priest]

How cool is it that you will be teachining make & takes in Waco when I am going to be back home visiting my family! Just might have to make a detour at the scrapbook store!

[Stephanie Howell]

heck yes!!!

[Lexi]

Oh my..I don't know where exactly these boxes are headed. Good question. I am THINKING Afghanistan because the list we were given was quite lengthy and diverse, but I'm not 100% sure. I was just wanting to throw in a few "extras" that they would appreciate. I am taking my 2 boys to shop with me today--I want them to have a part in it and know my 3 yr old will think it is VERY cool. He saw his first "soldier" memorial weekend and couldn't hardly finish his dinner he was so excited. Walked right up to him and said, "thank you for fighting for my freedom." It was SO VERY sweet and made me teary :)

[Jonnelle]

I just adore how you used the buttons on the flowers in your "fave" layout!! And so sweet is that story about him reading it:)
Do NOT become a flat scrapper! Teeeheeeeeheeee;) Love your dimensions that you add, such unexpected little yummies!

[Stephanie Howell]

so so SO sweet. here is a good link:
http://www.anysoldier.com/WhatToSend.cfm#Computers

[Lexi]

Thanks so much Stephanie! Right before we left to go to the store little man wiped out on the driveway so we made a hospital run to make sure he didn't need stitches! (thankfully he didn't!) Life was littles, I tell ya! So we'll go shoppping tonight or tomorrow! Thanks again!!

[virginia]

haven't been able to check in a while but this is an awesome post - i love love love that you shared how your style has evolved over time, the great part is that the style is still yours - very inpiring.