lots going on at Just Two Midwest Girls!

Have you checked out the Just Two Midwest Girls blog lately?  Even if you haven't had a chance to play along with our fun challenges, there's lots going on over there!  Heather and I have been sharing lots of awesome inspiration and projects all month!

*Heather's awesome layout that included a mini album on the layout!

*Pretty project inspiration using journaling cards.

*My Tiny Memories in a Tin Mini Album.

*Currently loving... which shares some links to Heather's and I's current favs.

*And today, I'm sharing our first entry for "Diary of a Scrapbooker."

Whew!  It's been quite busy over there!  Hope you will check some of it out!

xoxo,

Kelster Jean

crafting and life-ing.

<recents from my Insta feed>

click to enlarge.

(top)

>My guy.  He makes me smile every day of my life.  Even when I turn into a monster cuz I'm sleepy and threaten to make him sleep on the couch.  (haha. Sorry baby!)

>Murphy likes to fool people with his cute good looks.  Really, he's the biggest troublemaker in the house.  His new favorite hobby is teasing the dog...

>have fun and scrap on!  (Enough said).

>I created a quick Pinterest-inspired card last week for my Grandpa's birthday.  This is the only photo I have of it.  He loved it!

>Some days, I feel so fancy!  I wore my newest thrifty find and felt cheery ALL DAY!  Also, the bathroom mirror at work is perfect for selfies! 

(bottom)

>The best our "nice photos" get.  We took this at a secret rendezvous.  Shhh!  Yeah, we're badass!

>So many crafting photos in my feed lately!  Washi tape and beer, that goes together perfectly, right?

>Baby, you're a FIREWORK!  One of the main reasons I love the 4th is because I get to exhaust the use of this song lyric.

>  Remember *smashing?  I've been getting into that again....I'm loving it!

>One of my Thursday three photos.  I tried to include the dog this week but she would NOT stop licking me!  So this is the best I get.

>A happy craft table.  Very sad, though, that my local scrapbook store is closing down so no more group meet-ups.  We will continue: someway, somehow!

Follow me on Instagram at @ kelsterjean

xoxo,

Kelster Jean

 

 

birthday wish list.

(click to enlarge)

T minus 1 day until I can start referring to my age as "the late 20s."  I've been dropping subtle little hints to Alex for a while now as to what I might want for my birthday.  (haha, yeah right).  More like "Baby, add that to my list!"  I wouldn't be all too upset if one of these beauties showed up at my doorstep!

 REALLY THOUGH, I'm just happy we both have Friday off to hang out and maybe find some trouble.  Time with my hubs will always be numero uno on any wishlist!

one/two/three/four

five/six/seven/eight 

xoxo

Kelster Jean

a look back: The Memories of Us mini album

 

Anyone else spend some time looking through old albums and projects?  I've been doing this alot lately.  It's interesting looking back at the early days of my scrapbooking career and seeing how my style and documenting has changed.  (I'll admit: some of it makes me cringe, but oh well).   I found this little mini book that I originally shared here.  (Elizabeth Kartchner left a comment on this post.  I am beyond honored!)  I had a good laugh at the randomness of this album.  Really, why did I think that "me with someone else" was a great concept for this album?  Regardless of the silliness of the reason, I am happy I took the time to document these photos.  I was extremely pleased to see that some of my favorite people in the whole wide world were in this album.

You can see the full album here.  I decided to go back and re-photograph this album, and also re-wrote my blog post that it was featured on.  This will be happening alot in the near future as I realized that most of the content on my blog needs to be restored.  I could just go back and delete it all, but I really love reading the self that wrote these posts.  AND, if anyone pinned my projects or posts, it makes them un-usable and I don't want to do that to my readers and followers.  This is a HUGE project and undertaking for me, but I'm hoping to have everything restored by the end of the year.  (Wish me luck!)

What is your favorite project that you've looked back on?  Share links in the comments so I can take a peek!

xoxo

Kelster Jean

 

trading nuggies for marriage advice.

I know I sound just like my Mom when I say "What happened to my sweet little boy brother?"  It's hard to believe that cute little guy up there is now married and well on his way to starting a life and family of his own.  Yep, I've swapped giving nuggies (spelling, anyone?) and harmless teasing for marriage advice and praise.  (Ahhhh, I'm growing up TOO!!)

 

 

These two rolled into town for a short road trip/honeymoon celebration/meet the family.  I really already LOVE this girl like she's my sister.  She's beautiful and intelligent and super talented in the photography department (yeah free lessons!).  The best of all is seeing her with my brother and how well they compliment each other.  She brings out an even better and brighter him, which is how marriage is supposed to go down.  Watching them interact reminded me so much of me and Alex when we were young and in love.  (Well, we're still young AND still in love, but you get the gist).  I tried schooling them with my best marriage wisdom: number one key is learn to compromise cuz you'll be doing lots of that, apologize quickly, and try to be up when the other person is down.  This, I have learned from own marriage, are truly important!  And when all else fails: take a day off from everything, sit in your underwear together, watching movie re-runs and eating popcorn and ice cream! (haha!)

 

As a marriage gift, Chicago offered them lots of beautiful weather and adventures.  One of them, a boat ride on Lake Michigan, we got to tag along for.  If you ever come to Chicago, THE BEST way to see Chicago is on a boat ride through the Chicago River into Lake Michigan.  DO IT!  You'll get the best view of this beautiful city EVER!  Every day they were in town the weather was beautiful.  Even this day, it was supposed to rain like crazy and cleared up!  Of course, when they left, they took the wonderful weather with them and it poured like crazy most of the day yesterday.

Now that it's back to normal life, it's major catch up time!  I will be posting my Just Two Midwest Girls project on Tuesday, but if you want a preview, check out this video I shared on my Instagram.  Heather has also been AMAZING with keeping up with our blog while I've been away.  Check out her project for our challenge and some journaling card inspiration to get you to play along!  I'll also be revealing this month's prize, so stay tuned and make sure you follow our the Just Two Midwest Girls blog!

xoxo

Kelster Jean

Murica!

"Let's celebrate America's freedom by blowing up a small portion of it!"  This is how my hubby describes the celebration of America's independence.  He also refers to our country as "Murica!"  In all seriousness though, while we don't bleed red, white, and blue all the time, we are definitely aware and appreciative of how good we have it in this country.  We love where we live and we love our freedom.

Usually I play along with tons of other scrappers that create red, white, and blue-themed projects around this time.  But, since the holiday just absolutely crept up on me, that didn't happen.  Oh well.  So instead, here is a layout I created in July 2011 of me and two of my siblings.  My brother is in town for the holiday and we'll be partying it up tonight with all things Americans love to do: barbequing, swimming in the pool, eating good (and unhealthy) food, sitting around a fire, and yes, even watching some fireworks (and blowing some off).

I wish everyone a safe and happy fourth of July filled with lots of happy memories!

xoxo

Kelster Jean 

have fun & scrap on.

found on Pinterest, original source here.

Sometimes I have mixed feelings about scrapbooking.  Some days I love it so much. LOVE documenting my memories and creating gifts to help others document theirs.  LOVE the pretty paper and products.  LOVE being a part of this world.  Then there's some days, where I just want to get rid of all of my stash.  Sell it all to the highest bidder and never look back.

I've kind of felt like that this week...AND last week also.  There's been so much happening in the scrapbooking world lately, it's all been a little hard to digest.  If you're not a scrapbooker, you might not understand.  I promise you my worries are not silly.  (Although I am a bit of an exaggerator...)

Sometimes, it takes some not so fun things happening to remind us of how good we got it, right?  In case you are totally confused at this point, I'll just put it like this.  Stores will close, large companies will take over small companies, options will be limited.  As long as we are taking the time to document our memories and tell our stories, does it really matter where we get the product from or who designs and sells it?  I have no doubt this hobby will live on as long as we keep doing what we're doing...with passion.

How are you feeling about all the recent changes in the scrapbooking world?  Please share your thoughts in the comments.  I'd love to hear them!

xoxo,

Kelster Jean