Homemade Brownies!

So this layout was inspired by two different challenges, both of which I was too late to enter! (Story of my life these days!) The first was for a February challenge at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge, where they asked us to scrap childhood photos from a group we were in, like Brownies. Well, we are currently living in my mom's house, and she left behind some albums with these gorgeous photos of me in my Brownie uniform circa 1981. I hope you don't think I'm vain for saying this, but I think I could have been the poster child for Brownies - I just look so darn cute here! (This was my cute phase - the following year, I got an awful hair cut and started growing the most terribly crowded teeth you've ever seen. I was very self-conscious, for good reason!) Anyway, missed the deadline for that challenge, but put aside the Brownie photos to scrap later - I even found my old badges, if you can believe it! Then along came the challenge at Use It Or Lose It, where my friends Jenn and Jenn are part of the DT. Their challenge was to alter a piece of paper, turning it from drab to fab! Well, I've had this Sorbet and Chocolate patterned paper from the CTMH Twitterpated pack for ages, and haven't found a use for it. The Sorbet (orange, really) kind of went with the orange on my Brownie scarf, so I pulled out this sketch from Page Maps:

and went at it! I had a stamp set that matched perfectly (CTMH's Thoughtful Seasons) and did a resist with some Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist, so the orange shows a bit, but not as overwhelmingly as it did before. This sketch was also great for using up some scraps leftover from the pack.

A close-up of the journaling (I just did some notes about what I remember about being a Brownie):

And a close-up of some of the chipboard buttons I had to match the set:
When I had this layout on my table, Ailis became curious and asked what Brownies is about. That's how I got to thinking about my journaling. After I finished describing what I remembered, she said, "That sounds like fun! Do you think we could have our own, like, homemade Brownies?" I thought that was pretty cute, and it got me thinking about starting up a group here. A couple of days later, I brought Brenna to Strong Start and was talking about it to a friend there, who is going to coach soccer again this year, and... long story short, I think I volunteered to be a soccer coach! Ack, I used to despise soccer as a kid, with the kind of loathing I usually reserve for broccoli and cauliflower!!! The things we do for our kids, eh? I'm looking forward to it, though, it'll be our mommy/daughter thing.

Speaking of doing things for our kids, I kind of volunteered to do the hockey thing with Nolan this weekend. Jason's been in Kamloops for work, and I think he has to go back next week. Then on Thursday, he and Nolan are off to Edmonton for the last tournament of the year, phew! Anyway, I thought the poor guy could use a break and hang out with the girls at home for the weekend. But, Nolan's practice is at 8 am in Williams Lake, so we'll have to be up and out of here by 6:30. Bring on the coffee!

Oh, and speaking of hockey, Jason brought Nolan down to Surrey/Delta for a big tournament last weekend (they stayed in Surrey, played in Delta - also a long story!) His team lost most of their games, but the manager's brother owns a diamond mine (seriously? Who OWNS a diamond mine?!) and comped the team 40 tickets to the Canucks game!!!!! Not only that, but when Jason and Nolan were walking around after the first period, some Canucks rep asked them if they wanted to sit BEHIND THE NET!!!!! Yep, they had a blast (Canucks lost, but what else is new?)! Anyway, my husband really needs one of those man purse things, because he left our camera in the car. He borrowed his brother's camera, but whether I'll ever get a copy of those photos remains to be seen.

Whew, is that a long enough post for ya? My fingers are seriously cramping, time for a hot shower! Have a great weekend, everyone!!!