Grad Nite

In 1990, I went to Disneyland for Grad Nite with my high school friends. It was so much fun! 34 years later, Trevor went on the bigger and better version of Grad Nite, with 18 hours straight at Disneyland and California Adventure. I used the photos he shared (faces covered with fireworks for privacy) to make this page. 

Grad Nite (affiliate link)

Since most of the photos were taken at night and feature pinks and purples, I did my best to merge those colors with the traditional red, yellow, and black that all Disney-themed scrapbook supplies use. The pop of light blue from the supplies by PhotoPlay help bridge the colors. I'm really happy with how this page turned out. 

A Taste of New Orleans

For the past few years, Trevor and Logan have been making increasingly fancy desserts every time their Scout troop goes camping. They've made all sorts of things, from scratch, that one would not normally associate with A) camping; or B) teenage boys. But they outdid themselves in December. They had access to the professional kitchen in the lodge at Camp Herms, so they cooked a New Orleans-inspired dinner for the whole troop. Jambalaya. Sweet potato fries. Beignets. All from scratch. To say it was a hit is an understatement. 

A Taste of New Orleans (affiliate link)

I wasn't on the trip, so I am very grateful to Steve for taking photos. Not only of the boys, but of his bowl of jambalaya as well. And I'm doubly appreciative that Steve packed home leftovers so I could try it too. Trevor and Logan are great cooks - the food was delicious! 

Speaking of Steve, today is his birthday. The first time I celebrated his birthday with him, he was turning 27 and we'd been dating for about five months. This year, he's 48 and we've been married for 19 years. Time flies when you're having fun! Happy birthday, Steve. I love you!

Trevor's Eagle Project, Documented

I blogged about Trevor's Eagle project right away, but now it's finally in the album 13 months later. 

 

Trevor's Eagle Project (affiliate link)

I really struggled with this page. I wanted to show a lot of pictures of Trevor's two workdays, but I also wanted to include the before and after photos from the installation. That meant a double-pager. Once I finally got the photos the way I liked them, I went back and forth with the colors. I switched out the papers countless times before settling on the khaki with a small black border for the photos and the green patterned paper as a background. It took awhile to figure out how to do the title. I added the journaling and thought I was done. 

At the last minute, I decided there was too much empty green space. I added the 12 flags along the left that list the points of the Scout law. I liked the way it looked and decided the layout was definitely done. I scanned the page and put it in the album.

I liked it in the album, but when I saw it on my monitor, it looked really unbalanced. I added the 7 Scout ranks on the right and I'm much happier with the page. 

Outdoor Adventure, March-August 2022

Trevor's Scout troop is very active and he goes on almost all of the outings. It's rare that I make scrapbook pages about his individual trips, and even rarer to document his participation in service projects, trainings, or meetings. Instead, I like to combine activities onto a layout. 

This page has one or two photos from the weekend trips he took in March, April, May, June, and August, as well as the week at summer camp in July. Together, they are a good reminder of fun times with his Scout friends. 

Outdoor Adventure (affiliate link)

I've been holding onto that background paper for a long time and I've finally convinced myself to use it. I love the pine tree print. The reverse has pinecones, which I also love. The colors were too perfect with these photos to hoard the paper any longer. Out of the stash and into the album! 

North Carolina 2022

The BYSS World Series is over and I'm happy to report that my team, the Scrappin' Banshees, swept it 3-0. The last game was really close, but we pulled it out! Now that it has ended, I'm back to my regular scrapping, at least until their next contest starts. 

First up, this page about our time in North Carolina in January. As is the case with most places we visit, we loved it and could have spent much more time exploring. There's always so much to see and do. I picked photos of some of our favorites to include on the layout. Steve and I are each on the page twice. Trevor appears four times. Can you spot them all? Look closely!

 

North Carolina

In putting together the layout, I started with this sticker set from Paper House Productions (affiliate link here and below) and built the color scheme around the title sticker. I layered that over a heart I cut from cardstock. I added Black Diamond Stickles to the state sticker, which I paired with the flag and the cardinal. 

North Carolina, we'll be back!

Last Day of 10th Grade

Trevor wrapped up his sophomore year of high school on June 9. I used these custom papers to make this page showing Trevor on his first day (shorts and t-shirt) and last day (jeans and sweatshirt) of 10th grade. I left plenty of space for journaling to record some of the things I most want to remember from this year - like his GPA, the fact that 340 high schoolers essentially had the entire community college campus to themselves, and that California offered free breakfast and lunch to all students for the first time.    

Last Day of 10th Grade (affiliate link)

I used this page for the 2-photo square on my BASH-O card. My first win!

Fall at Solano

I've mentioned before that Trevor attends high school on a community college campus. Back in November, I spent four days at his school listening to the 12th graders pitch their Senior Project ideas and providing feedback. During my breaks, I walked around and admired the beauty of the campus with its fall colors and dramatic skies. I had the place to myself. Ordinarily, it would be highly unusual for a college campus to be completely empty, but a pandemic has a way of changing things. Out of an abundance of caution, all college classes were remote, so the only people on campus were the high schoolers, who were in their classrooms. 

Of the many photos I took, I chose nine for this layout. 

Fall at Solano (affiliate link)

A fun fact about this page: literally every single letter spelling out SOLANO was cobbled from another letter. The S is actually an 8. The first O is a zero. The L is a Z cut into pieces and rearranged. The A is an upside-down V, with a chunk of the Z as a crossbar. The N is an upside-down U. The second O is a modified Q. I was ridiculously pleased with myself to have made 80ZVUQ spell SOLANO.  

Magic the Gathering

Like many teens, Trevor enjoys playing video games. He is also a big fan of board games and card games. When he was 12, one of his fellow Scouts introduced him to Magic the Gathering (MTG) and he was instantly hooked. 

Magic the Gathering (affiliate link)

I had a lot of fun making this layout. The background paper is actually a sheet of white cardstock; you can't see it because I pieced the brick paper to cover it completely. (The brick paper had rooftops along the bottom that I didn't want on my finished layout.) For my title, I printed the MTG logo onto the cardstock I've been using for colored pencils. I journaled on metallic silver paper; I was pleasantly surprised how well the Micron pen worked on it. The final touch was adhering two very inexpensive Magic cards to the layout as an embellishment. 

If you have a tween or teen in your life who might be interested in MTG, I asked Trevor to put together this list of ideas for a beginner. Thanks, Trevor!

COVID Hair

Two to three months into the pandemic, COVID Hair was affecting practically everyone I knew. On each Zoom call, I saw hair that was much longer, grayer, or straighter than pre-pandemic. I saw a lot of blog posts and videos about how to cut hair at home. It was very interesting to see how different people reacted to hairdressers being closed. 

It's been even more interesting seeing who immediately headed back to the stylists the moment they reopened and who kept their COVID Hair. Steve and Trevor let their hair grow for the better part of a year, then each went to get it cut as soon as they were fully vaccinated. The before and after photos are dramatic. 

COVID Hair (affiliate link)

While I am really glad both Trevor and Steve are back to having short hair, I've actually kept mine long. Steve likes it long and I'm enjoying the chance to braid it or wear it in a long ponytail again. I'm not sure when I'll cut it shorter, but I'm sure I will eventually. 

What was your experience with COVID Hair? Let me know in the comments!

Confirmed!

Today's layout is about Trevor's confirmation in March. I've shared two other pages from that day - one about Trevor and his mentor and another about what our first visit to in-person church in over a year was like with all the COVID restrictions. 

Confirmed! (affiliate link)

For this layout, I used two photos from the ceremony, one of the palms decorating the entrance to the church (he was confirmed on Palm Sunday), and a screenshot from the live broadcast of the service on YouTube. It shows the special hymn we chose as well as comments of congratulations posted by friends and fellow congregants watching online.

I briefly considered making a fourth layout about the occasion (I know! Who am I and what have I done with Cindy?!) comparing my own confirmation with Trevor's. But ultimately I decided that didn't need to be in the album. While we were both confirmed at the same age and with the same denomination, the similarities pretty much stop there. Besides the glaring fact that Trevor's confirmation occurred during a pandemic, his was a ceremony for 1. My group had 12. I'm the one on the right with the pink-trimmed dress. 

While I won't be making that layout, I am strongly considering making one with photos from my mom's (and her mom's) confirmations. It would be really cool to have a page with 4 generations of Lutherans. I know I've seen a confirmation photo of my mom and I think there's one of my grandma somewhere too. Mom, next time I visit, let's look for those photos!

15th Birthday

Trevor's 15th birthday fell during finals week. Coupled with the pandemic (California was not yet fully open and Trevor was not fully vaccinated yet), we were limited in how we could celebrate. But we did what we could to make his day special.  

15th Birthday (affiliate link)

The upside to having a low-key celebration at home is that I didn't have to struggle to decide which photos to include. One with the cake and one opening presents, with a mention of the special meals he chose in the journaling, told the story. I'm really happy with how this layout turned out.  

Last Day of Ninth Grade

Remember the custom scrapbook papers I used to make thank you cards for Trevor's teachers? I used two of Scrapbook Customs' customizable papers to make this layout about Trevor's last day of 9th grade. I absolutely love these papers. This might be the fastest layout I've ever made, since the papers did most of the work for me!

Last Day of 9th Grade (affiliate link)

This post has all the steps to order scrapbook paper featuring your own school colors, name, and mascot. It also has a coupon code you should use to get 10% off everything at Scrapbook Customs. I can't wait to play with more of their custom papers! 

Team Pfizer

I used the leftover papers and sticker from my Canceled by COVID layout to make this page about our COVID vaccines. The deRosier family is #TeamPfizer. Steve and I have been fully vaccinated since mid-May and Trevor since mid-June. 

Team Pfizer (affiliate link)

I'm really happy with how this layout came out... almost as happy as I am that our family is fully vaccinated and can get back to spending time with friends and family, eating in restaurants, and traveling!

Celebrating 49

Today's layout features seven photos from my 49th birthday. We celebrated with a quick shopping trip, a daylight visit to Bancroft Gardens, and a picnic and walk at the park where Steve and I got married. It was a beautiful day and we had a really nice time. 

49 (affiliate link)

I'm happy with how the layout came together. I love the colors, particularly the striped paper, the flowers, and the sparkly number stickers. I also love the faux-panoramic photos at the bottom. Instead of making a collage with two 2x3s printed as a 4x6, I arranged the photos as two 2x6s before printing. I'm definitely going to use that technique again. 

Church in the Red Tier

We have been to church for in-person worship exactly once over the past 15 months, for Trevor's delayed confirmation on March 28. (The rest of the time we've been attending from home via livestream.) Our county had just moved from the very restrictive Purple Tier (Widespread) to the slightly less restrictive Red Tier (Substantial), which allowed for in-person worship at up to 25% capacity. Besides the blocked off pews and mask requirement, there were dozens of other changes in place to help keep everyone safe. These included things like self-serve communion, signing in for contract tracing, closed drinking fountains and bathroom restrictions, a stationary offering basket vs. the usual passed plates, and signs reminding us to stay 'at least one polar bear apart.'

Church in the Red Tier (affiliate link)

Trevor recently had his second vaccination, which means we're closing in on the day when the family is officially considered fully vaccinated. Our county has been at the Orange Tier (Moderate) for a couple of weeks, and today California is ending the tiered system. I don't know that we'll be returning to church right away, as online worship has worked well for us. But when we do it, will be interesting to see which changes from the COVID era remain in place.  

High School Teacher Thank You Cards using Custom Papers

Today is Trevor's last day of ninth grade. His teachers, principal, and counselor have gone above and beyond to make this difficult school year productive and memorable. I wanted to make cards to thank them for everything they did for Trevor and the rest of the students. There was only one place to get the PERFECT papers for those cards: Scrapbook Customs. Did you know that Scrapbook Customs sells individual sheets of school-themed papers that you can customize with your school colors, name, mascot, and logo?! 

I always assumed that in order to get custom papers, you'd have to order at least 25 of the same design. Nope! At Scrapbook Customs, you can order single sheets of custom papers. They are surprisingly affordable. And high quality. There is nothing not to love about these papers. 

To get your custom paper, simply select the paper you want, then choose the colors, school name, initials, mascot, etc. There's even a line for special instructions. Here's what my order for the ADORABLE mask paper looked like.  

The folks at Scrapbook Customs sent me 10 awesome custom papers featuring Trevor's high school's name, colors, and mascot. I saved a few of the papers to use for layouts and other projects and cut the remaining papers apart to make these cards. 

Here's a closer look at each card I made. Everything you see (except for the white card bases) is cut from one of the ten sheets of paper from Scrapbook Customs:

Unfortunately (for me), I don't have an affiliate link for you to get your own custom papers. Fortunately (for you), I do have a coupon code for you to use! Enter Cindy10 at checkout to get 10% off the (already amazingly low) price for custom papers, or anything else you find on their site. 

I hope the rest of you are as excited about the possibilities of custom papers as I am! 

Trevor and Stu

When Trevor began confirmation classes, our pastor asked him to talk with me about selecting a mentor. In my mind, there was one obvious choice. Stu has been an important part of our congregation since before Trevor was born. In fact, he was the assisting minister at Trevor's baptism! Stu is strong in his faith and always willing to serve. Like Trevor, he is quiet and reserved. Trevor and I thought Stu would be an outstanding mentor. Spoiler: we were right.  

As fate would have it, COVID-19 meant that our family, Trevor's godparents, and most members of the congregation watched the ceremony live on You Tube rather than in person. Stu was with us in the sanctuary, making him the only person besides Steve and me to be at both Trevor's baptism and confirmation ceremonies. 

   

Trevor and Stu (affiliate link)

This is the last layout I made this layout for the National Scrapbook Day event at Victoria Marie Designs. Specifically, it is for Frames, Tags, and Labels Challenge. While I do use labels occasionally, I almost never use frames or tags on my layouts. For this page, I thought the tags worked really well to label the two photos showing Trevor and Stu together in 2006 and 2021. I'll be making two more pages with photos from Trevor's confirmation- one about the actual ceremony, and a second about what attending church in person for the first time in a year was like.

SPL

One of the primary differences between Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA (previously known as Boy Scouts) is that Cub packs are adult-led while troops are Scout-led. A team of adults (including the Scoutmaster, who is the most visible) work to support the Scouts, but much of how a troop is run depends on the youth leadership. 

Scout troops are divided into patrols, groups of 6-8 boys who elect a Patrol Leader. One Scout is elected as Senior Patrol Leader. He, with help from an Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, is in charge of the troop as a whole. Having a good SPL makes a huge difference in how a troop operates. 

Trevor was elected SPL for a 6-month term starting March 1. Most of the leadership he's provided has been via Zoom (although we returned to in-person meetings this week!), but he's done two in-person outings. The photos below are from a map skills and orienteering event held at Briones Regional Park.  

SPL (affiliate link)

This topo map paper from Scrapbook Customs couldn't be more perfect! It's designed so that the North arrow points up, but I opted to turn the paper 180° so that the arrow would point to the title. Fortunately, a capital N has vertical symmetry and so it works perfectly.

I'm entering this layout in the Big Ol' Title challenge by Victoria Marie Designs. I had to do a bit of surgery to make the L. It's actually an I with the tail of a Z. It's not the only place I had to 'make it work.' The green paper I wanted to put below the journaling wasn't long enough, so I pieced two strips together. You can see the seam almost directly down from Trevor's feet. In addition to helping set the theme, the busy background paper does a great job of distracting from both of these flaws. 

UCD All to Ourselves

Back in November, we took advantage of Trevor's mid-week day off school for Veterans Day and spent the afternoon at our alma mater. We'd intended to walk the full length of the Arboretum and back, but it was blocked off midway due to maintenance. That turned out to be a good thing, as we decided instead to walk through campus. There are always new things to see when we visit - a building that's popped up somewhere, creative bike parking options, a food truck court - but the different things we saw this time greatly outnumbered all previous visits. A pandemic will do that.

Most notable was that the campus was almost empty. Most classes were online only and many students opted to remain at home or in off-campus apartments. We saw a few students here and there, as well as several dozen open dorm windows, but the campus was empty in a way we'd never seen before. Most buildings were closed and there were signs all over the place outlining COVID-19 safety protocols. Huge tents were erected near many of the classrooms. We were amused that these open-air metal structures each had at least four fire extinguishers.

    

UCD All to Ourselves (affiliate link)

If this layout seems familiar, it's because I used the same sketch as for my I Love Bunnies page. The challenge actually required us to make two different layouts from the same sketch. I've never done that before. It's fun to see how changing the color scheme makes two layouts with all the same elements feel different from each other.

A few things to point out about this layout: First, there are 7 photos on this page, grouped to make the two 4" x 6" photos on the sketch. I use photo collages all the time, but I don't think I've ever placed two separate collages on the same page. Next, my favorite white pen to the rescue! There were only 2 lowercase L's on the sticker sheet, so I used my pen to change an exclamation point into another L for the title. And finally, the leaves. I punched them from a different plaid paper from the same collection, so they match the background paper perfectly. 

Solar

Steve has spent the better part of a year designing, building, and installing solar for our house. It's been a labor of love, but one with lots of unforeseen obstacles. I'm proud of him for working so hard and not being defeated by the challenges along the way. 

Solar (affiliate link)

I made this layout for the Color Inspiration Challenge at Victoria Marie Designs. This is the color palette we had to use. Again, it was ok to substitute or interpret as desired:

It took me awhile to figure out what to do for this challenge. But once I thought about that packet of die-cuts, the page came together quickly. I proud of myself for (temporarily) letting go of how literal I usually am when scrapbooking, as evidenced by the popsicle on its side! I wanted that color there and decided to just go for it. Very out of character for me! But that's the whole point of a challenge. Mission accomplished.