Lots and lots going on!

Wow there's lots going on right now! My goodness we've been busy. We've just gotten back in town from visiting Josh's parents in Atlanta. It was a very nice visit, and a special highlight was that Jon and Christine, Josh's brother and his wife, were there too! It was good to see them again! We also *tried* to go swimming at the fantastic Y while we were there, but apparently now babies not only have to wear swim diapers (which they both were) but also a plastic liner over the diapers and then a swimsuit! After being there about 15 min. we were approached by the lifeguard and asked not to swim if the girls didn't have the plastic liners. Who knew? Certainly not us! That kinda ruined my day, but oh well. I got over it. Now we're getting set to go back to the lake this weekend. We're going for Dad's b'day, and I really need some down time. Hoping to get some!

In scrappy news, there's also a lot going on! I stayed up til 2:30 or so last night working on stuff, and I'm so pleased to say that I finished 5, count'em F-I-V-E, layouts!!! That's definitely a record for me! But I've also learned that while I'm rolling along not to mess with the mojo. So I just kept going on! Love it when that happens!

Here's some of the work I finished up. And I'm SO excited to announce that Color Me Daisy is now up and running!!! Yay! If you get a chance, hop on over there and say hello! So far I've finished 3 layouts for the debut kit, and it's a really fun kit to work with!



Great Grandmothers

I caught the rare moment when both my girls were sitting still AND sitting in their great-grandmothers' laps. Makes my heart smile.

Lil Fish

My little Caroline is quite the little fish, although she'd probably rather I call her a mermaid! LOL!

Friends

My DEAR dear sweet friends. We all got together last week one last time all together, as Tennyson and Zack have now moved to Atlanta. They will be SORELY missed!

On another front, I entered Treasured Scrapbooking's 2008 Treasure Hunt, and I'm proud to say I passed the Eligibility Round! Woohoo! Ya gotta start somewhere, right?! And now we're on to Round 1. This round's requirements were to do a single page LO with one photo, scallops, and felt. Oh, and the journaling had to start with "Today I..." Here's what I cranked out (also in my marathon scrap session last night)!

Right before my eyes



(the buttons are really shiny IRL, not dull like in the top picture.)

I went about this LO in a totally different sequence than my usual routine. I was thinking about the sentence starter while I was doing laundry, and somewhere in the midst of my pondering, I began to think about Sarah Kate and how far she's come. I actually came up with the journaling first, then found a picture, then decided which papers to use. The journaling reads, "Today I watched you grow up before my very eyes. You're no longer the struggling preemie clinging to life in an isolette. You're not the baby cooing and rolling over anymore. And now, as of today, you're not Caroline's crawling shadow either. Today you became a toddler, wadling your way into a new adventure. I don't mean to make more of this milestone than necessary, but then you've come such a long way in such a short time. It's so exciting, but so bittersweet at the same time! 5/29/08" I really like this LO. It's pretty sentimental to me.


Okay, so now if you're still hear reading this mega post, I want to announce that Simply Obsessed is having their 1 yr.old Birthday Crop August 8th-10th. We're totally going to PAR-TAY!!! I'm so excited about what we've got planned! It's gonna rock! AND not only are Jaime and Shauna going to give away amazing prizes, have specials sells on limited edition birthday kits, BUT they're also giving away Party favors BEFORE the crop. Yep, you got that right, you can get free goodies BEFORE the party even begins. All you have to do is go and register with the site (take a look around, cause it's a great place), and then copy/paste the b'day blinkie on your blog with a little blurb about the crop! It's that easy! You don't have to buy anything or DO anything other than sign up, post, and then of course you've gotta go back and tell them you posted or email them at simplyobsessed@yahoo.com (cause they'll need your address to send you your goodies, of course!) So there's no excuse NOT to get some free goodies BEFORE the crop, and then join us on the 8th, 9th, and 10th to be challenged! Can't wait to see you gals there!

Now, if you're STILL hanging with me, I want to celebrate my 100th POST with a little RAK. Leave me a comment and I'll draw a winner Aug. 1st! Thanks for reading this crazy little blog! It's just me, giving you a glimpse into my little life, sharing my passions with ya!

And now, my hands are tired from typing, so I'm outta here! :D

Colorstory 6 layout

This is my entry for CS 6. This month's challenge was to capture summer crispness using marine colors of teal and royal blues with accents of lime and orange. Well, I had to substitute the orange for yellow because Sarah Kate's life jacket is so blatantly yellow. I also LOVE this picture of her. She's upset because the "big" girls went out on the SeaDoo and left her behind. I caught it accidently, and just shot it without trying to do anything fancy. But I love the way it turned out. I really like the perspective. I was sitting right beside her when I took it, and I like that it's from her vantage point. So there you have it. My submission for CS 6. I believe that I'll be featured as the Guest Designer for CS 7, but don't quote me on that one. Still not exactly sure. I haven't heard from Kim.

Lake mini-album

I was so inspired by some of the pictures that we'd captured, that I immediately came home and started making this mini for my friend. They've done so much for us over the last 2.5 or so years (really, you don't even understand how much), and I wanted to repay them somehow. So I made this little album, so they could remember our fun weekend at the lake. I used Scenic Route's Grafton line, and a Maya Road album I had sitting around. I kept the embellies to a minimum knowing that 5 little people's hands would be all over it, but I did some pen work and journaled little snippets that I remembered about each child. I also left the back page blank in case she wanted to add anything else. So...there you have it. My little mini for Tab. Thanks for being such a blessing, friend! Love ya! :D

Lake--Round 3

So here's the last installment of our lake fun! Thanks for hanging in there with me! When you're there for 10 days AND you love to take pictures, there's a lot to choose from! The final weekend we were there, we had friends up! And what a blast we had skiing, wakeboarding, swimming, riding the SeaDoo and Waverunner, going on boatrides, and playing at the island! With the exception of a few injuries (Anna's broken foot, and my huge wipeout that left me bruised) I'd say it was almost a perfect weekend! I can't wait to do it again!

Lake--Round 2

The first part of the week it was just me, the girls, and Dad and Kathy. Here are some of my faves from that part of the trip.

My favorite of Caroline:


throwing rocks on the island:


Sarah Kate on the boat.


digging on the island.

Lake Pictures Round 1--4th of July

As it turns out I only got 4 shots on the 4th, and that's all. Kathy bought the girls these precious headbands, and the girls were so cute in them! Sarah Kate wasn't that thrilled by it, so I had to snap quickly. Caroline kept hers on until she broke one of the stars off. But it was fun while it lasted!







Caroline really like hers, and yeah those are mosquito bites on her shoulder. The first couple of about 50 (atleast). Now she looks like she's got chicken pox because of all the bites she got.


My sweet grandmothers holding the girls on the dock. Both girls were running fevers thanks to cutting teeth, and their great grandmothers used it as an excuse to hold their girls. Like they need one! But I was excited to get both great granddaughters in a picture together with their great grandmothers! What a priviledge and a blessing!

As promised

Here are my July LOs for Simply Obsessed. I thought that the more masculine themed paper would be a problem, but I was surprised at the pictures of the guys in my life that needed to be scrapped! And then there's the much needed masculine b'day card. I'm always searching for good manly card, so I made one. 3 guys in our world have b'days this month, so I'll be using it for sure!

"All-star"

The LO I did with the sketch I made (my first official sketch ever!) Josh did a great job this season playing softball! I know he had at least 2 in-the-park homeruns, and maybe more. We weren't able to get to all of them.

"Already 5"

At Jon's wedding, I couldn't believe how fast Ben was growing up! And finally, he'll allow us to take his picture!!

The b'day card


And I'll be back soon with pictures from the lake. I've just got too much on my to-do list to get them all up here right now! So stayed tuned, they're coming soon!

Day #9

Well this is day #9 of our 10 day lake vacation. We'll be going home tomorrow, and I must say that it'll be nice to be home. I've LOVED being on the lake, but it's also hard to be away that long. I think my girls are ready for their own beds. Anyway, I just wanted to tell everyone we'll be home soon, so stay posted for my Simply Obsessed July LOs, a TON of lake pictures, and more!

Yet another toot!

I'm so excited to announce that I just received confirmation that I have made the Color Me Daisy innaugural design team!!! wooooohoooo! I'm really excited about it, and can't wait to get started. As soon as the site is up and running, I'll be sure to give y'all a link. So stayed tuned for much more information about this one! It's gonna be great! :D

Another toot!

Woohoo! I'm so excited to say that I won the ColorStory 5 Shabby Chic challenge! Woohoo! I'm really excited that I won! I get to play with a kit from Bad Girls and also get to be featured as a Color Story Guest Designer in the coming months! Yay! I'm really excited and just wanted to share! :D

Happy 4th of July!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July! We're at the lake, and I'm so excited that my girls are going to get to spend today the way I did growing up--carefree, sun-drenched, and water soaked. They're too young for fireworks, but when I was a kid, there was always the anticipation of dusk, fireworks, and sparklers. There were the ones that popped in the air and little parachute men glided down. And then there were the ones that snaked their way across the table. Oh such fun memories of the 4th and the lake. I look forward to the future when my girls will get to do these things too. Tonight will be Caroline's first trip to watch the fireworks over the lake. We'll put her in her pjs and life jacket, then go on the pontoon to the point, where they'll have a multi-million dollar display. I CAN'T wait! She of course has no clue. But I can't wait to see her expression. She'll either love it or be scared. But I'm definitely a "traditions" girl, and it means so much to me that my girls get to experience some of the same ones that I did once. Tonight's just the first of many.

I hope all of you have a safe and happy 4th!

PS--I'll post my SO July LOs soon!

CS6 and a tiny toot!

Hey there! I just wanted to let everyone know that CS6 is up (Colorstory Challenge, that is). This is the colorboard and the sketch. PERFECT for summer pictures! I still love the idea of taking inspiration from interior design and incorporating it into scrapbooking! LOVE it! I hope everyone will give this one a try! I know I will!

Also, I have a tiny little toot! I won the June challenges contest over at Backporch Memories!!! Yay! I entered 2 different LOs. You've seen them before, but I thought I'd post them again. They're still 2 of my all time faves!


Mesmerized


Savor