Enjoy the Season!

2012-01-29T16:19:00.005-05:00

It's my turn to host a challenge for the Nook's New Year Crop. (pssst...it's not too late to join in!) All of the challenges have to do with the number 10--like Ten resolutions, Ten embellishments, CK's top ten 2011 trends, etc. So for my challenge, I challenged everyone to create a banner using 10 items, only 3 of which could be the same shape. It could be any type of project--a layout, card, or an actual banner, just as long as it had 10 pieces.

Here's my example using the
Nook's January kit (sorry it's sold out).

"It's a Love Thing"

I included more than 10 pieces:

1. 3 half doilies
2. 1 "remember this" pennant (Elle's Studio from my stash)
3. 1 small rose bud
4. 1 heart
5. 1 tea kettle
6. 1 "all smiles" pennant (MME from my stash)
7. 1 spoon
8. 1 "love to you" circle punch (SRM sticker from my stash)
9. 1 misted fabric flower (from the Nook add-on section)

The deadline is next Sunday, Feb. 4th at 12pm NOON PST if anyone wants to join in. You can find my challenge and its full description HERE. I'll also randomly draw a winner next Sunday, so you have all week to play!

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday! I'm currently in the middle of a new Nicholas Sparks book. ;) Hopefully I'll have it finished by tomorrow.

2012-01-28T20:17:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I've been reading in all my spare time, which is kind of a joke since I don't seem to HAVE much spare time. Actually I've been watching less TV and reading more. It's been kinda nice. So far in the month of January I've read 3 books. I can't remember the last time I read 3 whole books (for fun) in one month.
This one was just okay. I read it because it was the 3rd book in the trilogy and I wanted to finish the series. The first two books were much better. But now Josh wants us to get a German Shepard. ha!

This book I LOVED, mainly because it's setting is at a lake and the writer OBVIOUSLY has spent a lot of time on a lake. She made wonderful word pictures that had me imagining and even dreaming I was at the lake. Is it summer yet???

And this book was a mistake for me to read. I grabbed it without knowing anything about it only that I liked the author, and I was majorly depressed the next day. Let's just say it's about twins, teenagers, and a car wreck, subjects that have dramatically impacted my life. I cried A LOT throughout the book, but had to finish it. At least it has a happy ending. ;)

So now I've picked up several more books for reading. On my list are Hunger Games and the other 2 in the trilogy, Heaven is For Real, Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks, and several more by Kristin Hannah (that aren't about twins or wreckage). I'm also thinking about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but I haven't made up my mind about it yet.

If you've got any other reading suggestions, I'd love to hear them! I've decided that I'd like to read more and may have set a goal at reading 2-3 books a month. Of course we'll see how that works out, but so far so good. ;)

Well that's all I've got for tonight. Come back tomorrow for my Scrapbook Nook challenge. ;)

And PARTY we did

2012-01-26T21:35:00.005-05:00

My poor Caroline has been counting down til today for a week and a half. That's because we were SUPPOSED to have her 1st "real" birthday party on MLK Day, but instead the whole family was sick with the stomach bug. She was sooo upset that I had to cancel her party. But today was the make-up day, and so "party" we did! :)

We had her party at Pump It Up! which we wouldn't necessarily been able to do if it hadn't been for a Double Take Deal (kinda like a Groupon) for it, but I'm so glad we did! The kids had so much fun, and were REALLY tired after all that bouncing, running around, and climbing. Caroline wanted a Super Hero theme focusing on Wonder Woman, Bat Girl, and Super Girl. And it's REALLY hard to have to create a party theme when there are no paper goods that match! So I used a book or 2 from around our house, and included her vintage WW lunchbox, then (at the suggestion of the party place sales clerk) hit up the 4th of July stuff for some stars. Regardless, we had a great time! I'm so glad we finally got to celebrate with all her little friends!

Happy (almost) Friday! :)

Bella embellishments!

2012-01-26T13:36:00.007-05:00

And now that you've seen the new Bella collections, how about some embellishments to go with them? First are these super cute crocheted flowers that I can't get enough of.

And here's a sneak of how I used some of them.

And then there are these super cute flags. I had sooo much fun pinning them to my projects!

To see more peeks and projects using the crocheted flowers and flags, check out the Bella Blvd. blog today!

Bella sneaks #3, #4, and #5

2012-01-23T14:30:00.005-05:00

Hi there everyone! I'm back playing catch up with a few more sneaks from Bella Blvd. Last week our family came down with a serious stomach bug and I wasn't able to post then, so I'm posting now. ;)

First up was the Baby Girl collection. Here are my sneaks, and you can click on the link to see the full reveal.

and

Then came the We're Expecting collection (a supplement to the Baby Boy and Baby Girl collections).

Bella Blvd. is also debuting washi tape and once again they're partnering with Unity Stamp Co. to create Itty Bitty stamps.

And just today Bella revealed 3 new colors (pink, navy, and purple) to the Sophisticates line as well as FIVE new chipboard elements!!!

I'm really super excited to see everything that Bella Blvd. is coming out with! AND the peeks aren't over yet!! They'll continue through the rest of this week! How awesome is that?! I'll be sure to keep you posted on what else is in store!

I just love CHA reveal week(s), don't you?!

More from the Nook

2012-01-20T10:18:00.004-05:00

Hi there! I've got more to share with you from the Nook's January kit. I've really been enjoying this kit! I like that I can do winter pages, or Valentine pages, or just every day sort of pages. In fact I've done one of each so far!

Here are a couple more Valentine or love themed projects.

"They are My Heart"

I decided to go a little bold with my mist this time, and blew it through a straw to get that gigantic splatter. It was really fun! But I think next time I'll use a coffee stirrer straw instead of a drinking straw. I kind blew pink mist EVERYwhere! heee!

"Hugs and Kisses"

A fun card I created using Shellye's card sketch. You can see her sketch and other takes on the card HERE.

And then I also created a winter page using a quick pic of me and the girls when it snowed last Christmas (2010). It's funny that they thought Christmas wouldn't come this year (2011) because we didn't have snow. I tried to explain to them that we NEVER have snow! Last year was just a treat! :D

"Me and My Snow Babies"

And this one was created as a part of the first challenge in the New Year's Crop, WHICH btw, is still going on. Check it here. Challenges 3 and 4 are up this week. And Saturday Challenge 5 will go up. You have all week to do the challenges, so you have plenty of time to squeeze in a challenge or two. ;)

Also up this week is the new Paper Issues theme. Our current "issue" is LOVE. If you have any sort of paper craft that has a love/Valentine theme, then link it up!

Hope you have a Happy Thursday today! I have lots of errands to run, including a big box that needs to go to CHA and another box or two that need to go to publishers. ;) I. Am. Blessed.

Happy Birthday dear Caroline

2012-01-17T09:47:00.006-05:00

***photo heavy post***

Happy birthday to my dear sweet Caroline who turns SIX today! Goodness where has the time gone?! Here's a look back.

Daddy's girl
(and no that's not McClain)

LOVE that face!

always walking to her own drum

You're my outdoor kid.

I still love that you wore nail polish that day.

birthday princess

day before THE haircut

1st ballet recital

with a VERY faded blankie

1st day of school--SO proud!

Your newest love--all things super hero

at Disney

and your 1st lost tooth

You are such a blessing to our family like none other. You bring us many smiles, lots of laughter, the clamor of feet that are always running, early morning risings, and all sorts of wonder. It's so fun to see the world through your eyes! You're always thinking, wondering, questioning.

And this morning on the way to school, out of the blue you asked me one of the sweetest dearest questions you could ever ask from way back in the backseat. "Mommy, what is a Christian?" And as I explained (again) about sin, how it separates us for Jesus, about forgiveness through Him, and living a life dependent on grace, seeking Him daily, you acknowledged for the first time (that I know of) that YOU too are sinful ("A lot of the time, Mama"), and that you wanted to be a Christian too. My dear sweet precious child, I love you more than you can imagine. THANK YOU for making me a mommy! THANK YOU for your child-like faith that simply believes. And THANK YOU for the joy you given me. I love you so very much! Happy birthday precious one! :D

Bella Blvd. sneak peek #2

2012-01-17T09:41:00.005-05:00

And it's BUTTON DAY!!! Check out these adorable new buttons from Bella Blvd. Shapes ones, shiny ones, and even printed wooden ones! Aren't they all so pretty? I can't wait to get my hands on these!!!

Be sure to check out the Bella Blvd. blog for more up close pictures as well as a couple of beautiful layouts featuring these buttons!

Bella Blvd. sneak peek #1

2012-01-16T14:21:00.004-05:00

It's Monday and that means it's time to start the sneak peeks of the new Bella Blvd. collections that will be debuting http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifat CHA next week. (And for those of you who don't know CHA is a BIG DEAL in the crafting world. ;) )

Here's their first new line, "Baby Boy"

Swoooon! I love this collection so so much! I've had the privilege of working with it, and I just can't STOP! The colors are adorable, and I love love love the little animals with it. ;)

Here's a peek at what I've been up to. ;)

SO. What do you think? Pretty cute collection, huh? If you want to see more sneaks and each sheet of the whole collection, then check out today's post over on the Bella Blvd. blog!

Cards a Bella

2012-01-12T08:45:00.006-05:00

For my Bella Blvd. assignments this time around, I chose to make some Valentines Cards out of the new(er) collections. And one thing I love about V-day cards are that they allow you to be silly, cheesy, corny or whatever you want. They're a fun way to say "I love you". And while I didn't get too crazy with these, I did enjoy featuring the cute animals that come as a part of the Cute Cuts with each collection.

I don't think I posted a couple of other Bella cards either, so here they are. And they seem a little more appropriate now since they're calling for us (us?!) to get snow tonight.

One last note...Don't forget that we're having a crop over on the My Scrapbook Nook boards. They're crops are my favorite! You can check out the first two challenges here. Two more will go up this weekend. ;)

Happy Thursday!

Project Life--sorta

2012-01-09T10:23:00.006-05:00

Before I jump into my Project Life photos and stories, I want to say thank you to those of you who left such sweet comments on my last post. It was most definitely a challenging day that was immediately followed by the worst cold (for lack of a better term) I've had in quite a while. So it was a hard weekend. But thank you so much for your thoughts, prayers, and kind words.

Now, on to my Project Life post.

I've decided to join the bandwagon of sorts and attempt to do Project Life, a way in which I'll attempt to capture our everyday life in photos and stories, one week at a time. And I'll be truthful. I'm NOT going to do your average PL. I may not capture every week, I forget to journal, and it may end up being a monthly thing. But what PL does do is it makes me be purposeful.

So many times I hear friends of older children say, "Write it down, you'll want to remember that someday." And while I thought that scrapbooking and doing layouts would do just that, I'm finding that I only scrap the good photos. Or the ones that might get published. So I'm doing Project Life in order to capture the small moments, the pictured that will most assuredly be not as stellar, the stories that make me laugh, cry, or I just want to remember. I may not take a picture every day, I may not have a story to share from every day, but I WILL be more purposeful. I will capture the essence of our everyday life.

So....here goes....

Today I'm sharing my PL pictures and stories here on the blog because my page protectors haven't come in yet. They're back-ordered. But I want to at least START the year faithful to my PL posts. ;)

Jan 1: we drove 6+ hrs. home from the beach. No photos, no stories to tell, just 6 long hours in the car.
Jan.3: Fanatastic day!! The girls played dress-up, super heroes, and invited all their Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop pets, and princesses to a birthday party for Thomas the Train @ the newly constructed train track in the living room. They played so well that they didn't even argue or fight while cleaning up!

Jan. 4: Sarah Kate loves jewelry, this we all know. Here I caught her in my bed. "I'm just organizing your jewelry for you mom." Yeah right. ;)

um...yeah. Good thing we had such a fabulous day the day before, because apparently Caroline was supposed to be in school. I'd completely lost track of days and dates, so yes, we missed the first day back to school. whoops!

Jan. 5: the day at the hospital (see post below for all the details) I actually got a picture of SK and Holly because I was testing out the different white balance settings on my camera. So here they are in the waiting room. Yes, I took my daughter to the hospital when she was still dressed up in her favorite princess dress complete with overly pink, out-of-the-lines lip gloss. ;) So her!

Jan. 6: playing with my little buddy outside while the girls napped after school.

And earlier in the day we had some twirl time. Sarah Kate can be quoted as saying, "He wants me because I'm so beautiful." as she gestured to her latest fashion ensemble (seen below).

Jan. 8: because everyone plays football in the kitchen with their shirtless toddler, right?

And that's all for my Proj. Life this week. If you've read to this point, then you deserve a medal.

But before I go I have just one more thing to say:

Happy Championship Monday!! :D

I pray I brought Him glory

2012-01-05T14:08:00.004-05:00

I don't often get "preachy" on my blog, mainly because that's not my main intention for keeping one, but today I need to share. Whether I hit "publish" on this post or not, my soul is stirring and I need to write it down.

*****

I did something today that I didn't think I could do. I didn't think I was ready for it, but it was sort of thrust upon me and I didn't want to chicken out. Though at first I did TRY to chicken out, I still found myself loading everyone up in the car and going anyway. I was led. My heart and flesh were saying "no, not yet. I can't take it right now" but like I said, something else, Someone else, was moving my feet and directing my actions.

You see, my phone rang just as I was about to lay down to take a quick nap (it'd been a looong night with McClain since his molars are coming in). It took me so long to get to it that I actually missed the call. But I called her right back. On the other end my dear friend was frantic. Someone had unexpectedly gone into labor and she was rushing to the hospital to meet them. That part was normal enough, but it was what she continued to explain that had me shaking in my boots.

This poor mother was about to give birth to a baby that wouldn't live longer than 5 to 10 minutes if that. And my friend wanted to be there to do what she could to help ease the pain and burden of this grieving family. And she called me. She'd called me A.) because she knew I'd walked those same footsteps almost 5 years ago. But B.) she knew I had a nice enough camera and so-called "know how" to try to capture what few moments and memories could be caught. So even though my heart was saying "no", I found myself saying "I'm on the way" and loading everyone up in the car.

Interestingly enough, earlier in the morning as I'd dropped off Caroline at school the radio DJ had quoted a verse, a well known verse, but he did so in a completely different way than what I'd understood it to be until now. (God was setting the scene for the rest of my day. I just didn't know it yet. ) The verse was Romans 8:28.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who've been called according to His purposes."

And what the DJ pointed out, earlier in the a.m. mind you, was that not all things are going to be "good" for us, Christians included. Some things will go bad, horribly bad. But rather this verse reminds us that God is faithful enough to not let even the bad things go to waste and remain hurtful, pointless experiences. Rather He allows them to be used for His glory. And this was one of those times.

I'm not going to lie. It's one of the hardest things I've done yet--taking pictures of/for a grieving family with their tiny little infant who was already in heaven. And I wish I could say that I'd spoken to them boldly in my faith, or that I'd shared with them my story of how I'd been there too. But I can't. Because I didn't. I hid behind my camera, as I so often do in my too-self-aware/socially awkward state, and just snapped pictures. And since I'm completely confessing here, at one point I thought "at least you'll have pictures of your little one. I don't even had that." And then I was immediately mad at myself for thinking it. But that was just it. That was my gift, if you can call it that, to them. To a mother so heavily sedated that she won't remember, to grandparents who are grandparents with no one to spoil. At least they have pictures.

And God faithfully continues to use my wounds, my "bad" experiences, for His glory. I have to trust that He'll use those pictures for His glory as well. Who knows if I'll ever see or hear from these parents again. I know they have my number. And just as I am here typing all of this out, Bible splayed out so I could accurately quote the verse, my SK climbs up in my lap. "Read to me Mama. Read to me what you're reading." And so I did. I got the privilege to read to my child a verse I'd clung to when I was pregnant with her and her twin sister. He's still using my experiences to bring His children, MY children to Himself. What a sweet sweet joy in the midst of so much pain.

It shouldn't have surprised me then that she flipped through my Bible at random and landed on the next verse either. Psalm 89:1 "I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations."

The next generations...I pray for that family, that they'll find healing and peace; that they'll find Jesus, His love for them and His faithfulness in the midst of such great sorrow and pain. And I thank God for His faithfulness to me, to MY generations that crawl up in my lap and ask to be read to from His Word, and for allowing me to be a part of His story.

And now I'm going to click publish before I lose the guts to do so, and just let this hide away as a draft forever.

Nook News

2012-01-04T17:44:00.004-05:00

In case you haven't noticed or been around the message board much, there's a lot going on at My Scrapbook Nook right now.

First up is this gorgeous January kit featuring "Head over Heels" by Lily Bee. I'm LOVING this kit! In fact, here's my first layout with it.

I was inspired by this week's Sketchy Thursday sketch, even though I didn't really adhere to the sketch all that much.

"Dance & Twirl"

Yep, that's my girl. She's just doing her thing in the front yard, not a care in the world, not a care as to who drives by and sees her. It's something I love about her. She does her thing. ;)

Also coming up at The Nook is this new 5-week crop. We've made it super easy, there's only 2 challenges per week and it spans over the course of January and in to February. Check HERE for more information.

And lastly, I've started taking pics and stories to keep up with my Project Life album. The top story from this week? How I mixed up my dates and completely missed the first day back-to-school! LOL! Yep, I did.

And that's all for now, otherwise I'll be late to work! Happy Wednesday everyone! :D

Faves of 2011

2011-12-31T17:13:00.001-05:00

2011 was a good year for me scrap-wise. I was very blessed and fulfilled several of my goals: I made the My Scrapbook Nook DT, I also made the Bella Blvd. DT, and I finally, after countless attempts, got a layout picked up for publishing with Scrapbook Trends. So overall, I count it as a very successful year. Like I said, I've been very blessed and I don't take that for granted.

So without further adieu, here are my favorite layouts from 2011, from the ones that I can show for now. ;)

"Baby it's Cold Outside"

Documenting McClain's first snow,
and one of the several that we had this past winter, I
like the title on top of the tags, and the
snowflakes on the side.

"Sweet Adoration"

Quite possibly my favorite of all the favorites,
I LOVE these pics of Caroline and her
Baby Alive doll Kayla, especially since she's
grown out of the doll phase for now.
And I really love the vintage feel to
the whole page.

"Me & My Boys"

I really love that even though it's supposed
to be a "boy" page, I was still able to add pearls,
eyelet lace, and flowers. I like the combination
of girly embellishments meet a boy page.

"Lil Buddy"

Aww...he's still my lil buddy, but look how
bald he is! This is EXACTLY why I scrap. I
also love the string, the pinwheels, and of course
the October Afternoon paper on this one. PLAID!

"Hello Spring"

This was one of my assignments for
My Little Shoebox, working with a sketch provided
to us by Aphra, and I still really like the
way it turned out.

"Everyday Life"

Again, I think this is one of my favorites not
only because I like the design but because these are
NOT our everyday moments anymore.
These dress-up days that used to happen every
single day now only happen now on Saturdays.

"Deep In Thought"

Okay, I'll admit it. I really like the photography
on this one. I love that I captured her mood.
I also really liked this line from Pebbles--all
those different shades of pink and peach.

"Unscripted Moment"

Not my really typical style, but another moment
that I'm glad I captured. I was channeling
my inner Maggie Holmes on this one and I'm
happy with the way it turned out. I had fun
creating the masked/misted portion of the title.

"Sweet Summer Memories"

Quite possibly my favorite summer themed line,
I LOVE the colors and distressed
feel of this Simple Stories line. It worked so
perfectly with our pics from the lake.

"Fond Memory"

At the risk of sounding like a broken record,
I'm so glad I re-scrapped this pic in order to get
the journaling right this time. The picture
says it all, and I wanted to reflect on it more
the 2nd time around. Also, I'm really liking
layered/staggered paper look right now,
and of course doilies too.

So those wrap up my 2011. LOTS of fun memories caught on film. Apparently it's the everyday day-in and day-out pictures I like best, since those are the ones that are most represented here. But then that's what scrapping is all about, so I'm very proud to have documented these. They're so indicative of our life as we know it. And of course it's been a fun journey--both in life and in the scrap world. Looking forward to a wonderful 2012!

She's a Shutterbug

2011-12-28T12:50:00.005-05:00

Just a quickie to share a rare 2-page LO I did of Sarah Kate. She'd gotten a Barbie camera for her 3rd birthday and it was almost scary how quickly she started snapping, posing everyone, and saying "say cheese" (which I don't do btw). I mean, within seconds she was clicking away. And almost 2 years later, she STILL carries that camera around taking pics of everything...ahem... just like her mommy. ;)

This one's created with a lot of Bella Blvd. and a ticket from my My Mind's Eye stash.

Oh--and guess what I get to play with this next week??!! THIS! I'm so excited!

Hope you're enjoying the aftermath of Christmas! :D

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T06:34:00.001-05:00

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God."

John 1:1

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
which is Christ the Lord. "
Luke 2:11

I hope you and your family have a very MERRY Christmas!

A couple of Christmas Wishes

2011-12-22T09:42:00.005-05:00

I have a couple of cards posted on the Bella Blvd. blog today. I made both of them with the holiday line, "Christmas Wishes". I really love it because not only does it include traditional colors, but bright and bold ones too. Right up my alley! :D

This card has so much depth and is so front-heavy that I actually had a hard time getting it to stand up! LOL! For this one I wanted to play with layering, so I piled on the elements--an accordion flower thingy, a chipboard tree, and then a wavy banner with the sentiment to top it off. I also accented the tree's details with a little sparkle because I love cards that have a little shimmer to them. The picture really doesn't do it justice.

And for this one, I played with one of my punches and the idea of repetition. It ended up creating a quilt-like effect that I really like. Since the background was a little busy, I kept the rest simple by adding the blooms, a die-cut, and a quick sentiment.

And now I wish I could say that these two are in the mail, or that I have ANY cards in the mail, but I can't. It's one thing that I never got done. Oh I have cute picture cards sitting on my counter. I even have a few envelopes addessed. But that's as far as I got. :( I had wanted to add some twine and a stamped sentiment to make them a little more festive since the picture I used was one took in August. . BUT they're still sitting there. Maybe I'll send out a few at the last minute. For now, these Bella cards posted on my blog will have to do.

Gift card holder tutorial

2011-12-20T15:12:00.004-05:00

***Please scroll down for Bella Blvd. blog hop***

If you're in the same boat I'm in, then you're running a tad bit behind this holiday season. The quick and easy gift that's sure to please is a gift card, and we're giving several this year. The only problem is that ours didn't come with an envelope. SO, I saw some really cute gift card holders that my friend (and cousin) Gretchen made, and thought I'd make my own. The only problem is that I wish I'd had some specific dimensions to go with them so there wouldn't be any "thinking" to it. SO, I've provided you with some just to keep your holiday as easy and stress free as possible.

And seriously? The great thing about these gift card holders is that they took me MAYBE 5 minutes to make. And that's with all my little interruptions who are all home from school now. ;) So here ya go.

To start you'll need one 12x12 sheet,
your trimmer, a score board (or you could
just measure), a corner rounder, some adhesive and stickers

First start off by cutting a 4 x 12" paper strip
then on your scoreboard, score the following lines.

At the 7 1/4 line, cut your paper.

Then round the 2 corners of the shortest side
(the side you just trimmed).

Use some adhesive to attach your gift card.

Folder your card holder at the scored lines.
Then cut a 1" strip of coordinating paper.
In this case, I just used the opposite side.

Wrap the strip around your card holder,
and use a sticker to "seal" the ends.
Voila! A super quick gift card holder.

And if you use double-sided paper, then you can
always make one from the opposite side as well. ;)

So there you have it. Maybe that will help simplify life a little for you. I hope it will. Now to go take that pile of laundry that needs to be folded!

Happy Tuesday!

2011-12-19T06:00:00.010-05:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to the surprise Birthday Blog Hop for Stephanie Hunt, the wonderful owner/creator of Bella Blvd.

You should have arrived here from my dear friend STACEY's blog. If not, then those that are just joining in will want to go to start of the hop at the Bella Blvd blog.

To create my card I used the "Hello Beautiful" collection, which I still love, along with the aqua sheet from Sophisticates, and the sentiment is found on the Sophisticates miniature stickers.

Even though it's Stephanie's birthday, Bella Blvd. has some gifts for a few of you lucky readers as well! We all know how generous and giving Stephanie is, and she would never have a fun blog hop without a few giveaways up for grabs too. All you need to do to be entered to win is leave Stephanie your birthday wishes in my comment section. We'll pick TEN winners from TEN different blogs, and we'll announce the lucky winners on Friday on the Bella Blvd. blog!

Now hop on over to Katherine McElvain's blog, your next stop on our blog hop!

And again, Happy Birthday Stephanie!

Our family rules--DIY Subway Art

2011-12-16T22:38:00.005-05:00

Hmmm...I'll be honest here. With the holidays coming up I'm finding that my scrap time has considerably taken a backseat to all the other activities of the season. But still wanting to blog and post something creative, y'all may be getting tired of seeing my little ones, I realized that I never posted this. It's one of my favorite Cricut Circle projects/assignments that I created back in September. BUT, the good news is, it's a great time to share it with you now. Soooo...I give you my version of the popular Family Rules subway art.

The first time I saw the Family Rules subway art, I knew immediately that I wanted to make one for our family. The many, MANY fonts that I have with all the Cricut cartridges I've collected help me make just that. And while the order of importance isn't necessarily the same, these ARE values and sayings we DO say around our house (ahem..."Obey Right Away" gets said almost if not daily. ;) ), and we DO act silly and most definitely dance crazy. So it's a fun little token that hangs in our kitchen so I can see it everyday.

To make it, I layered strips of paper on top of the canvas in an attempt to distress it a little. In retrospect I would've skipped this step. Then I cut LOTS of phrases and fonts in many many sizes then fit them onto the canvas. It was a lot like working a puzzle. When it was finally the way I wanted it, I spray-painted it black. Once dry, I peeled off the letters and was left with my very own subway art. And I love it, imperfections and all. So glad I ran across it in my old picture files.

Thanks for letting me share! Hope you all are enjoying your holiday season!

The December Bella Buzz

2011-12-15T14:43:00.003-05:00

The Bella Buzz Newsletter is up and ready. Check it out here. And here's a sneak peek of what's in store. Looks wonderful, doesn't it?

Saturday Sketch and a girls day away

2011-12-10T22:46:00.008-05:00

This past Saturday was Sketch time over at the Bella Blvd. blog, and I made a project with it.

Here's the sketch:

And my card:

I was really drawn to the title portion of the sketch and the way the tags were positioned, half-hidden and staggered, so I used that as the inspiration for my card. I cut out 2 mini flashcards from the "Petite Pieces" paper, then added the chipboard "merry"on top to complete my sentiment. And to give my card a little added oomph, I used strips of miniature heart pattern (found on the "Quadrants" sheet) to make a bow like a Christmas present. It's really fun taking layout sketches and turning them in to cards. I should challenge myself to do it more often, because I really like it!

Also on Saturday, the girls and I got away from the boys a bit and went and saw a production of Beauty and the Beast. It was really fun because we knew kids in the cast, and they were amazing performers.

Me and the girls before we left for the show.

A shot after they're human again. We knew Chip, and 2 girls who were in the ensemble.

And then of course Caroline with Belle. She goes back and forth between Mulan and Belle as her favorite princesses. I love that gap-toothed smile.

And THAT is how we spent our Saturday. Lots of fun! :D

16 months

2011-12-05T03:32:00.004-05:00

I know I haven't been entirely faithful about blogging McClain's milestones each month, but it IS a way (the only way) I'll remember later on so I'm going to continue to post them when I remember to.

So here's what he's up to at 16 months:
--eating us completely out of house and home. And here I thought the girls were big eaters. But Little Man can put down 8 silver dollar-sized pancakes easily.
--Nilla wafers are the best bribe around. He loves them. I mean, L.O.V.E.S. them. Totally recognizes the box, insists on holding it throughout the grocery shopping trip, and pounds his chest (saying Please) for me to open them.
--is definitely able to make his wants, wishes, and needs known. I'm always amazed at how well little ones can speak without actually knowing how to talk yet.

--loves balls and dogs. Those are his two biggies. So what's he getting for Christmas? More balls and perhaps another stuffed dog. He's taken Sarah Kate's stuffed Barbie dog and claimed it as his own already.
--loves playing ball and fetch. He'd play it all day. Peek-a-boo is up there too, but not as much as it used to be.
--loves to read books. He's found one in particular that has a ball on one page and a dog on the next that are the only 2 pages he likes to read! lol!

--he's turned in to a Daddy's boy. Why, oh why, do they all like him more?! (j/k) But what's totally cute is that he's confused and calls Josh "mama" too. All day long while Josh's at work, McClain will say "dada". But then once he's in his sights it's "mama" all the way. TOTALLY makes me laugh.
--besides ball, dog, mama and dada, he also says "mo" for more, hot, hat, and I think he said what sounded like book this afternoon. But not going to count that one yet. ;)

That pretty much sums him up--balls, books, Nilla wafers, and of course that smile I can't resist!

You are my sunshine

2011-12-02T11:13:00.004-05:00

Hi friends! I've got a real quick scrappy share with you today, because if you must know today's Dec. 2nd and I'm already feeling overwhelmed. There are still pumpkins on my front porch, and no sign of Christmas is anywhere in sight. We've attempted 3 different times to go get a tree and that hasn't worked out either. And if I'm being REALLY honest, I'll admit that I feel like I'm failing in almost all areas of my life right now--mother, wife, caretaker, housekeeper, cook, friend...the list could go on and on...

SO, it's no surprise to me that I'm still working on and blogging my projects from the November My Scrapbook Nook kit. Here's the most recent project.

You are My Sunshine

Yes, I've already scrapped one of these pics. But I just really love them. That, and the colors match the kit so well, couldn't NOT scrap them.

Well, I need to get back to what I should, if only I knew what to tackle first! At least it's Friday! Can you tell that I'm in need of some sunshine? perhaps some SON-shine. Not necessarily from my son but from The Son.

Have a good one!

From This to That

2011-11-29T12:06:00.006-05:00

Every other Saturday on the Bella Blvd. blog, we post a 12x12 sketch that's intended to be used for layouts. BUT since I'm a card designer, I get to the fun challenge of taking that layout sketch and turning it in to a card.

It goes from something that looks like this:

To a Thank You card like this:

Bella Blvd. supplies: Sophisticates collection: Sprinkles and Lace MacIntosh, Miniatures stickers (red dot); Socialite collection: Cute Cuts (yellow gingham) , Alpha+Bits; Making the Team collection: Chipboard Icons (stars)

It's a hodgepodge of Bella collections, and I guess when I made this card I still had Disney on the brain. I used my Cricut Expression and the Mickey and Friends cartridge to create a thank you card for my parents since they went with us on the trip. which I've since forgotten to give to them. oops! But anyway, this is my most recent Bella Blvd. project. Be sure to check out the blog for LOADS of inspiration!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

All about family

2011-11-27T13:38:00.006-05:00

Our Thanksgiving was all about family again this year as we traveled down to Georgia to spend time with Josh's side of the family. It's HUGE compared to mine. His grandparents are the patriarch and matriarch of a family consisting of 4 children, 10 grandchildren (not including their spouses), and 16 great grandchildren. Here are a couple of pics from the day. And note that not everyone could be there this year so this isn't the complete group.

The big group

The Misner clan

These are most of the great grandkids. We're actually still missing 5 of them.

The 3 babies of the group. Two of them are only 10 days apart and MJ's not too far behind at 10 mos. old. And they're all 3 as white-blonde headed as you can get. Thus the glare and bald looking babies. Can you tell that no one had had a good nap? We were doing good just to get them to sit still together.
These two were inseparable. SK loves Emma as much as Em loves SK. They're just too cute together. And SK eats up all the attention for sure.

And before I go, I need to say thanks to Callie, Josh's cousin, for taking all the group shots. Thank you for your patience and super duper I've-got-camera-envy camera and lens. I really appreciate the work that went in to some of these shots! :) Thank you!!! I now have a picture of the 5 of us that's current! :D

That's all I've got for today. I worked Black Friday 4am-noon and then again yesterday, and I'm BEAT! So I'm also thankful for Sundays--a day to worship, rest, and recover.

Happy Sunday to all!

Mr. Charming and Chef Mickey's

2011-11-23T16:29:00.005-05:00

I've just finished up two more layouts with the Scrapbook Nook November kit and wanted to share them with you really quickly. This kit features Echo Park's Times and Seasons collection.

I'm really loving all the navy that comes in it. So perfect for all those boy photos I've been needing to scrap. It works great for some Disney shots too. Consequently, each of the photos on these layouts just so happen to be from our Disney trip a couple of weeks ago.

Mr. Charming Indeed

This picture was taken at Disney, but it's not necessarily a "Disney" layout. I caught McClain playing with his sunglasses, which he refuses to wear, and he thought it was hilarious--kinda like playing peek-a-boo.

Everything here is from the kit and add-on paper selection except for the and Oct. Afternoon green mini alphas and mini clothespin.

Chef Mickey's

And this second one chronicles our meet-n-greet with all the main characters at our character breakfast. Right now I'm lovin' the look of strips of paper and so that's what influenced this design.

Thanks for letting me drop in and share a few quick layouts with you.

Hope all you U.S. girls have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Card Sharks!

2011-11-19T08:39:00.004-05:00

My challenge went up yesterday for the Scrapbook Nook's Card Sharks contest. It's a Bingo inspired challenge.

I made my card with the hot-off-the-presses November Nook kit.

Hop on over to the Scrapbook Nook blog and check out it out.

In other news, we're off to Nashville while Mom watches the kids. Josh surprised me with a unexpected anniversary trip! :D I can't wait!!!

Have a great weekend!

A decade later

2011-11-18T11:29:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago today I married my sweetheart.

A decade sounds like a long time, but where did all that time go? It's honestly gone by so much faster than I dreamed possible. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that began about 5 years ago and we haven't caught up yet. hee! Regardless, it's been quite the ride. And although there have been major ups and downs, the Lord has blessed us. He's blessed us more than we both deserve. And His patience and faithfulness have most definitely seen us through.

There's so much I love and admire about Josh. And it's the little things that I think I love most. I love that he can name all the Disney Princesses and isn't afraid to admit it. I love that he regularly does the bedtime routine, including reading bedtime stories and going over memory verses with the girls. I love that when he's home, he's HOME, present with us and in the moment. I love that we text and email silly, mushy, little sentiments almost every day. And I appreciate that he loves to surprise me (even though I don't like surprises).

And it's the little things like the fact that he's going to see Breaking Dawn with me this weekend rather than watching the Ole Miss/LSU game. (We know how that'll end anyway.) But usually he'd still like to watch it. He's the eternal optimist. Always has hope. Even when it comes to this year's football woes. But instead he's chosen to go to the movies with me. Because my usual Twilight-movie-premier-goer-friend moved to Florida last year. And he doesn't want me to go alone. I love that about him.

Happy 10 yr. anniversary, babe. I love you!

Free digital printables from Bella Blvd.

2011-11-18T11:23:00.000-05:00

Go and check out the Bella Blvd. blog today! Stephanie has designed some adorable digital printables, and wants you to have them. For FREE!

Here's a sneak peek that she made using them.

Wonder FALL

2011-11-13T13:56:00.001-05:00

which kinda takes the place of WonderFUL. I created this card as a part of my Bella Blvd. assignments, and I really love it. But then I just really love fall too. To me, it IS full of wonder. I'm so blessed to get to marvel in God's creation each day as I drive around our beautiful little city that's tucked in between such beautiful mountains. The mountains are exploding with color thanks to the gorgeous leaves this time of year really inspired me to create this card, "Wonder FALL".

I used Bella Blvd.'s "Finally Fall" collection along with my handy dandy Cricut Expression (Destinations and Give a Hoot carts) to complete it.

It just so happens that THANKFUL for FALL is the new challenge posted over at Paper Issues too. So if you have a project, anything made with paper, that is either Thanksgiving, Thankful, or has to do with Fall, then link go link it up!

Hope you have a wonderful and restful Sunday!

Nook News and a thank you

2011-11-10T14:27:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone! There's been a lot going on at the Nook lately, and I've got several announcements and then a big thank you.

First up are the blog hop winners:

Congrats to our winner of the 3 month sub to our gorgeous kits......Kim H!!!! Woot Woot!!!

Here are the 6 random winners pulled from the comments off the blogs:

Zarah: Thicker Prize Pack
Janet Z: 1 Kit
Jenessa: Thicker Prize Pack
Stephanie Eaken: 1 Kit
Cassandra: Thicker Prize Pack
Mag: 1 Kit

Please send us your mailing info at mysrapbooknookdtATyahooDOTcom

Congrats to all you lucky ladies;)
***
The November kit is now up for sale and it is goooooorgeous! Lovely lovely! It is full of Echo Park Times and Seasons:

You can snap your kit or sign up for a subscription HERE.
I can't WAIT to get mine!!
Hello Disney pictures, here I come! :)

Also, more big news, the Nook has created a blog!!! Woohoo!

And to kick it off, we're have a contest. A CARD contest called Card Sharks. Here's what Leah says about it:

Jump in to deep water with the newest contest at the Nook! Card Sharks is a fast paced, four week battle of creativity to find out who the big fish in our amazing pool of talent it! If you enter, you may find yourself doing swimmingly. . .or you may be in over your head!

There will be four weeks of challenges (two per week, plus bonus games) in an elimination style challenge. With opportunities to be cut from the next round (and brought back!) --will you make it to the last round?

The first challenge is up HERE, so go check it out. Oh, and there MAY be a second, bonus challenge posted just a few minutes ago. ;)

K, I think that's about it.

And before I sign off, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to all the current soldiers, their families, as well as the veterans that have served in our military. Thank you for your service, your sacrifice, and your devotion to our country. I think I've always subconciously been thankful for our military, but it wasn't until I started reading fellow scrapbookers/military wives' blogs did I realize just HOW thankful I truly am. I find myself praying for their deployed husbands while I go about my daily tasks. I rejoice with them when I get to see photos of their sweet reunions. And I read about what it's like to live that life, and I'm THANKFUL that there are people who willing serve our country in this way.

Thank you all. And Happy Veterans Day!

Wordless Wednesday: Picking out pumpkins edition

2011-11-09T12:24:00.003-05:00

Happy Wednesday everyone!

2011-11-07T20:06:00.003-05:00

There's a new challenge up over at Paper Issues called "Snow Day", which is fitting now that the Northeast has already had their first blizzard. One lucky Paper Issues linker will win the whole line of Pink Paislee's "Snow Day", which I have LOVED working with! And I actually have snow pictures I can use!

Here's my first layout with this collection. I used this week's sketch from Sketchy Thursdays to jump start the mojo.

Products used: Pink Paislee patterned paper, die-cuts, wooden accents; clear Stickles, Tattered Angels mist, AC adhesive

Be sure to link up your Snow Day projects, anything snow related that uses paper, to the Paper Issues blog for a chance to win this great Pink Paislee collection.

Hope you've had happy Monday!

ETA: The DT over at Sketchy Thursdays voted, and mine was chosen as one of their favorites!! So fun!

Happy Birthday Leah!!!

2011-11-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

Today's a special day among one of the design team members of My Scrapbook Nook. Our fearless leader, Leah Killian, is turning the big 3-0 today. One of the ways the DT wanted to celebrate was by posting a birthday card in her honor.

So, Leah, I hope you have a fabulous day full of family, friends, rest and relaxation. Happy birthday!

I made this card using the new Oct. Afternoon "Sidewalks" collection (the yellow floral is from "Seaside"). I LOVED the little girl carrying the balloons, and thought she'd be perfect for a special birthday card.

To see more birthday cards made by the Nook DT, click on the names over on my sidebar---------------->

And again, Happy Birthday Leah!

Cards that Care blog hop + card drive

2011-11-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Cards that Care Blog Hop!

You should have arrived here from Loredana Bucaria's blog. If not, you may want to start at the beginning of the hop with Vera Yates' blog.

The holidays are about family, about kindness, and joy. The holidays are also the times when many of the elderly who lives in nursing homes typically feel loneliness and miss their family. Wouldn't it be awesome if we can bring a smile to their face & brighten their holiday season simply by sharing our love of card making? A simple gesture to let them know that they are not forgotten.

That's what this blog hop is all about!

We all love making cards and what’s better than knowing our creations can bring a smile to others? We hope that many of you will help and join us in our effort to spread joy & cheer.

Among the other sponsors of this great event, Bella Blvd. wants to do its part as well. Here I've created a card using the "Christmas Wishes" collection to create a whimsical Santa card that will hopefully bring some Christmas cheer.

Products used from Christmas Wishes: paper:Gifts Galore, Quadrants, Cute Cuts, and Borders; embellishments: Chipboard Icons, Just Write journaling stickers, Alpah+Bits stickers

And now you can participate too!

Here are a few important details:

This card drive will be going on till November 31, 2011. We will need to receive your cards by November 31, 2011.

Please make the cards for Christmas or Holiday Wishes. Anyone can send a card, your children, church group, scout troops, etc.

All cards need to have a message in it. Please also sign your name and where you are from. On the card envelope, write your name on the top left corner. Also, please don't seal the envelope.

Please stick to just cards. And please don't use any pins (safety reason).

You can mail the cards to either of these addresses:

Jennifer McGuire
P.O. Box 428612
Cincinnati, OH

Vera Yates
P.O Box 17596
Sugar Land, TX 77496

In each package, PLEASE include a piece of paper with your name, address, email address and how many cards you sent. This helps us in keeping track for prizes! For each card you send, you will get a chance. So the more cards you send, the better your chances.

So now get to craftin' and card creatin'! It's for a good cause!

Oh, and hop on over to Kimberly Neddo's blog for more amazing inspiration!

Happy Friday everyone!

Combined interests

2011-11-03T08:47:00.006-04:00

***scroll down if you're here for the Scrapbook Nook blog hop***

If you've read my blog very long or known me at all, you know that I love sports. My FAMILY loves sports. In fact, my mom's coming tomorrow for Grandparent's Day at Caroline's school, but I was informed that she would be leaving early Saturday morning so she could get back in time for THE GAME. As in the Alabama vs. LSU football game Saturday night. So I come by it honestly. ;)

When I saw that Bella Blvd. had come out with an adorable sports themed line, I was all over it. "Making the Team" is a great combination of theme-y paper and bright bold patterns that could be used for anything. And somehow Stephanie managed to include every sport I've ever played! (Yes, I played football in college. I was the quarterback for our sorority flag football team. :) Shocking, I know.)

So given the chance to design with whichever collection we would like, I combined my interests and chose to make some sporty cards. ;)

Today also started a weekly feature, Cards on Thursdays, on the Bella blog. So hop on over there and check out what the other card designers made too.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Oh, and for weekend purposes, ROLL TIDE!!!

It's Nook blog hop time!

2011-11-01T11:00:00.008-04:00

Welcome to the hop from My Scrapbook Nook!!!!

Just in case you haven't heard yet, the Nook is offering one lucky lady a 3 month subscription to these gorgeous kits and several smaller prizes for other hoppers just for hopping through our blog hop! Here's how you win. There are 7 hidden birds among the design team blogs. Hop to each blog, find the birds and keep track of who's hidden them. Once you've found all seven, email the names to: myscrapbooknookdt@yahoo.com One random winner from those that find all the birds will be drawn to receive a 3 month subscription to the Nook ;)

As for the rest of the prizes, they will be drawn from the designers blogs at random. So comments are optional, but the more you leave the better your chances are of winning a prize, which include kits!!!

For an extra bonus drawing for a $50 prize pack- leave a comment at Danni Reid's link including a link where you have facebooked, blogged or tweeted about this hop- you can leave up to three comments for a shot at that $50 prize pack!

In case you've never received a Nook kit, you need to know that the Nook kits are filled each month with the latest paper collections and embellishments. They are a fantastic deal and the international ladies love the low shipping.

PLUS If you sign up for a 12 month subscription you'll get a free kit after you've reached the 12 month mark! Now that's a bakers dozen of goodness!

*********************

Now on to the hop. Here's what I have to show you today. First up is one last card I used with the wee teeny bits leftover from my October kit. Remnants I tell ya. This kit went sooooo far though. I made 4 layouts, 3 cards, and an altered frame and a tag. So when we say these kits are worth it, we mean it!

For this card I was inspired by the My Mind's Eye button packaging. I also added a remnant of crocheted lace, some chipboard, a specialty button, and all the little bits and pieces of patterned paper I had. Put'em together and THIS is what I got. :)

Thanks for hopping by! Here's the hop order
just in case you need it. ;)

Shellye
Danni
Kim
Pamella
Nicole
Jaz
Deanna<---You're here!
Lisa
Carol
Hilde
Lilith
Marinette
Anna
Jessy
Katarina
Gina
LG
Leah

Just a reminder that this hop ends on Fri., November 4 at 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time.
Winners will be announced on Sat. November 5th!

And be Sure to check out our Christmas Card Class and New Contest "Card Sharks!" a fast paced, four week battle of creativity!!!!

Now hop on over to LISA KISCH'S blog to check out what she's cranked out with her amazing talent!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T23:23:00.003-04:00

From Wonder Woman, Sleeping Beauty, and a baby pirate.

SHE--LOVED her costume. And got a lot of compliments on it. She also did a great job with her manners while Trick or Treating, adding "Have a good evening" as she walked away from most houses. That always got a chuckle from the homeowner.

SHE--was just so excited to get to wear her long pink hair again. But Bibbity Bobbity Boutique I am not. She didn't care though. It was long and it swung when she twirled. She also had great manners, and started challenging her sister, "Race ya" as they approached the early houses.

And HE--discovered and totally worked the whole "hey I'm a cute pirate, gimme me some candy" act. Really. When we left him in the stroller, he twisted and turned and fussed until he got out. He KNEW they were giving away candy and that he was being left out. So he worked the cuteness. That boy's gonna be trouble.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween too!

Disney favorites

2011-10-30T20:51:00.007-04:00

Like I said in my previous post, we had a blast at Disney. If you can spare me just a moment, here are some of my favorite highlights.

Of course we met characters. We ended up meeting all of the Princesses, which as a big priority. The only one we didn't see and get an autograph from was Pocahontas. She's only at Animal Kingdom and we missed her the half day we were there. :(

Prince Eric was my favorite meet-n-greet. He actually walked up to us while we were in line because the little girls in front of us were afraid of him. Caroline just so happened to be eating some ice cream when he walked up and took the spoon from her. He pretended to eat the bite, but then fed it to her instead. And he didn't stop his antics there when it was our turn to meet him and Ariel. After signing her book and posing for the obligatory photo, he knelt down, pointed to the camera, and told her he had a secret. As he leaned in to whisper in her ear he actually gave her a kiss on the cheek instead and boy was she caught off guard! She turned SO BRIGHT RED! It was too cute really, and now she can say she's been kissed by a prince! :D Lucky for me, I have it all caught on camera. A layout will be coming soon to a blog near you.

There were character meals. This is all of us at Chef Mickeys for breakfast.

And there were plenty of rides!

And I declare NOW that her daddy will teach her how to drive! lol! We zigzagged all OVER that track! But we laughed so hard that my cheeks hurt by the end of it. Well worth the whiplash in my opinion.

And if it looks like I only rode with Caroline, it's because that's partly true. Sarah Kate insisted on riding with Daddy or Aunt Katie every. single. time. I gave her a hard time about it though. ;) Also, I'M in a lot of these pics because Josh doesn't "do" the rides. If it spins, twirls, or anything like that, he's a no go. He DID let his oldest talk him in to riding the Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster with her. And he survived. :) What a good Daddy!

There were posed, candid, and staged shots too.

At Animal Kingdom

I had to shoot quick to get this one.
That boy would NOT wear his ears!

Mr. Charming with his princesses

after the Nemo ride at Epcot

while waiting to enter the Magic Kingdom
I wish McClain hadn't been asleep. :(
But I didn't have the heart to wake him.

And of course the girls loved the Bippity Bobbity Boutique. They both chose the same hair style with hair extentions. SK's were pink that happened to glow-in-the-dark. Caroline's matched her own hair color so she really did resemble Belle a little bit.

Overall, a great trip full of wonderful memories!

Thanks for letting me share!

Cards a Bella

2011-10-28T18:52:00.005-04:00

This past week while we were away I had several cards up on the Bella Blvd. blog. Here's a recap. The first 3 are from the adorable "Too Cute to Spook" line.

This first one was a quick one, I wish now I'd added more to it. BUT it's the one that will actually fit in an envelope, so I'm going to leave it as is and mail it. ;)

This one has a LOT of dimension on it. I used chipboard clouds and tombstone, and pop-dotted the mummy and more clouds. I had lots of fun making this one into a scene.

And my dear Frank may just be my favorite. I made him using the green journaling spot, some Sophisticates black zeros and negative spaces, then made the bow tie out of some purple pp. Last I added the sentiment. I summoned my inner Rhett Butler and really wanted to add the "m'dear" to it, but it just didn't fit. oh well. I still like him. ;)

And then these next 2 are from the new releases "Spring Flings and Easter Things" and "Winter Wonder". They're both sooo cute! I really love the colors in both. ;) These 2 new releases started shipping on Monday.

I made the origami leaves using a tutorial from Kelly Goree's blog, tucked them behind a popped up flower, and used strips of paper and stickers to make the rest. I really love the bright happy colors of this line. Soooo easy to use for any occasion really.

And then as a little play on words, I used the fun little XOXO sticker tag to add more hugs and kisses to the sweet sentiment.

Well, that's about it for me. Now on top of everything else, me and a couple of the kiddos are sick. :( Hoping we get better quickly!

Happy late Friday everyone!

There's no place like home.

2011-10-27T13:44:00.003-04:00

That's for sure! And I think my first "I'm thankful for" might just be that I'm thankful for my home--where I can wear sweatpants and house shoes in the middle of the day if I want--because I still am ;) I've been a bum today because we've just returned home from the "Happiest Place on Earth" aka Disney World. And while we had an incredible time, really we did, I'm exhausted. ;) I have SO many pictures and wonderful memories I want to share. But they'll have to wait another day or so. I'm still trying to recover.

Here's one I WILL share--I can't say it's my absolute favorite, but it's definitely up there at the top.

The girls had just been to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for some styling and hair extensions. I had to laugh when they both picked the same hair style and it included long hair. Sarah Kate was especially excited about it. She kept swinging it around and twirling around exclaiming, "Look at my LOOONG hair!" hee! She's too cute! I think she stayed in front of the mirror admiring her hair for at least 10 minutes. She really loved the makeover. ;)

Well, that's it for me today.

Happy whatever-day-it-is!

Good to the last drop!

2011-10-18T00:20:00.003-04:00

This weekend I found myself alone with a quiet house and so I thought I'd try and eek out an extra project or two with the October kit from My Scrapbook Nook. And when I say eek out, I mean I'm talking remnants. One sheet of patterned paper and some strips were all I could salvage, but I used them to make this layout by following this month's My Mind's Eye sketch. (Too bad I forgot that it had to be Fall themed. poo!)

"My Boy"

And then I had just enough to
create a "Thank You" card too.

For the card I used Danni's sketch,
which you can see here.

As you might can tell this kit made me fall in love with brads all over again. I think I used 6 on the layout and 2 more on the card. Those plus the ones on my other projects, and I'm officially hooked on brads again! They're so easy to use! And the ones from MME that come with the kit are layered so it makes them doubly fun to use!

Anyway, I just wanted to have a quick share. I'm up to my eyeballs in laundry and packing for our big trip coming up. More on that later though . :)

Have a happy Tuesday!

A Saturday sketch

2011-10-15T15:39:00.004-04:00

Hey there everybody! I've got a quick card to share with you today because today's the first Saturday sketch that's is up on the Bella Blvd. blog.

Here's the card I made using the sketch.

I used the super cute new mid-season release, "Spring Flings and Easter Things" collection. I love all the bright colors and fun touches of whimsy in this line! To see the sketch and the full reveal check out this post on the Bella Blvd. blog.

Hope you're having a happy Saturday! It's so beautiful here today. Honestly, we've been lazy, which has been nice, and I've found myself engrossed in a book. I need to finish it so I can watch the football game a little later on tonight. Ahhh Saturdays in the Fall. Don'tcha just love them?
I certainly do! :)

Happy Saturday to you! :D

Transforming

2011-10-13T11:24:00.006-04:00

With the onset of Kindergarten this year, I've been noticing that Caroline's interests are changing. Actually it's hard NOT to notice. hehe! Lately she's decided that she's not into in princesses or fairies anymore, but instead it's superheroes. And all things pertaining to superheroes.

So of course when we went to the Autumn Children's Festival last Sunday she chose to have her face painted like Spiderman. And I was able to snap a few shots. What totally cracks me up is that she's in her Sunday dress, cute little bow to match, and then there's the bright red painted face. It TOTALLY cracked me up! And you should've heard some of the comments from the passersby. Too funny! But she loved it and was beaming most the afternoon until the paint dried and started to crack. Then she said it felt itchy and couldn't wait to get it off.

"Transforming into Spidey"

Products used: Fancy Pants patterned paper and transparency, My Mind's Eye brads, Making Memories glitter and mini alphas

For the journaling I went a tad bit deeper. It reads, "At first it was just the subtle change of your favorite color from pink to red. Then it was dinosaurs and now it's superheroes. You've changed in a lot of ways this year, transforming in to a little girl who's uniquely herself, transforming in to Spiderman."

And so things are transforming in to Spidey around here too. Although she insisted on NOT being SpiderGirl for Halloween, but is most currently obsessed with Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman. And she really IS cute in her costume. If only I could get her to slow down long enough to get a picture of her in it. She's too busy zooming around saving the world. LOL! :)

Happy Friday, y'all!
Thank goodness for Friday! :D

Wordless Wednesday: happenings lately edition

2011-10-12T17:04:00.004-04:00

That would be a couple of "Goodbye Summer" pics, the Autumn Children's Festival, and the 3 Sisters Bluegrass Festival downtown.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

How 'bout a little sunshine?

2011-10-09T07:30:00.000-04:00

First of all, thank you so much for all of your sweet comments on my last post. It really means a lot to me that you all are so supportive. Thank you.

So on a happier note, this past week I received my October kit from My Scrapbook Nook and spent almost all weekend with some creative therapy. It was a nice way to think, reflect, and just dive in to some projects. One of the DT members even referred to this kit as "sunshine in a box" and it was just what I needed. A little sunshine. And I'd like to share some of what I made.

"Fond Memory"

"Adore Sisterhood"

"Our Fellas"

and one card,

"Oh happy day"

And so that's a little bit of how I spent my weekend. These came together really easily, and actually every time I tried to clean up my space I'd shift around items from the kit and I'd get another idea. ( I didn't neglect my family and hole away in my little space just so you know. ) But I do have 2 more cards that are in progress, and I have a TON of product leftover! I never knew how much really came in these kits, but it's A LOT! You may be seeing a little more "sunshine" from me!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend! And thank you again for your kind comments.

Goodbye old girl

2011-10-07T10:57:00.009-04:00

**warning, emotional post ahead**

Yesterday Josh and I had to make the hard decision to put Bentley to sleep. She'd been sick been almost all summer. I'd taken her to the vet, and the meds helped at first, but then she slowly got worse again. And it was just too sad to let her suffer any more. So we did what had to be done.

Bentley, named after the car we drove away from our wedding in, was our first "baby". We got her in the summer of 2002 when she was 6 weeks old and we'd just moved to Chattanooga. She was a great dog, wonderful with the kids, didn't mind being poked, prodded, or have her nails "polished". She also LOVED the lake and the water. Dad determined that she would never tire out. He'd throw her stick in the water and she'd forever go and fetch it--literally she'd do it all day long. And she loved catching frisbees in the air too. Even in the end she'd come and drop a frisbee at my feet wanting to play though her legs were too swollen and it was too painful. She loved to play.

She was there through the birth and toddler years of all three kids.

Caroline

Sarah Kate

And obviously, McClain

She would herd them when we were out playing. It was the German Shepard in her.

But most of all she was loved. Well loved. Deeply loved. And we'll miss her.

Goodbye old girl. You've been a better dog than we could've asked for. You will be missed.

A Halloween mini album share

2011-10-06T11:18:00.006-04:00

I have to admit that I'm not the greatest at scrapping Halloween pictures. I really don't know what it is, but I always seem to get caught up in the fact that the girls' costumes, which are usually pink and frilly, don't "match" typical Halloween collections.

I'm wondering how I'm going to do the same thing this year since Wonder Woman's gold, red, and navy color combo doesn't necessarily work with all the oranges, blacks, purples, and greens I keep seeing that are out there.

SO, I came up with a really quick, really cheap solution to my so-called problem. I found this little mini in the clearance section at Michaels. It had some random summery dot pattern running down the front, so I covered that part up with ribbon. Then I added a cute Elle's Studio tag, some SRM stickers, a flocked spiderweb from Fancy Pants, a little button with orange twine, and voila! I've got myself a Halloween mini.

The inside of the book is just photo sleeves, so I plan on sliding in my years (blushing) of costume pics and trick or treating, maybe a little embellishment or office tab or label here or there, and let it be. Quick. easy. And at a good price too! Problem solved.

For now.

Happy Thursday!

ETA: I almost forgot!! Since this is Halloween related, I'm linking it up over at the Paper Issues blog. This month's challenge is Halloween, so if you have any projects, cards, or layouts, link them up over under the October challenge so we can all see!

It's official!

2011-10-05T16:17:00.005-04:00

It was fun to see that yesterday on the Bella Blvd. blog. They're going through the design team introducing each one and it was really fun to see my name and work posted! I'm so excited to be working for this company, their product is really easy for me to work with. I love that I'll be making cards for them too! I like making cutesy whimsical cards, and Bella's product is PERFECT for that! Thank you Stephanie and Laura for choosing me for this team! I'm SUPER excited about it! :) Here are some of my Bella Blvd. projects.

using "Tail Waggers and Cat Naps"

using "Family Dynamix"

using "Tail Waggers and Cat Naps"

using "Lovey Dovey"

And here are a couple of layouts I've created using their product also. This first one is bittersweet because it looks like we're going to have to put our puppy dog to sleep. :( So this layout has even more special meaning now.

using "Tail Waggers and Cat Naps"

And this one is just a favorite of mine. I'd submitted it to some mags, but haven't heard anything.

using the "Mr. Boy" collection

Well, that's all I've got for today! I'll be back tomorrow with a little Halloween treat I've got to share. :)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

You are my sunshine frame

2011-10-04T16:30:00.004-04:00

See I told ya I just *HAD* to go play with the Oct. Scrapbook Nook kit! I altered this picture frame, that conveniently had its glass broken out of it, with some patterned paper (by My Minds Eye) and an embellished tag. It's nice to put a broken frame to use for once.

I used the main kit plus the button add-on and the pearl swirls add-on. In fact, I used the product packaging that came with the pearls to make my tag. Items not found in the kit are the gunmetal grey rose brad and the sheer black ribbon up top.

Oct. Scrapbook Nook kit

2011-10-04T11:54:00.004-04:00

is here!! Check it out! Isn't it gorgeous? It should be up in the store later on today.

I'm so excited to work with this kit, I have JUST the right picture for it! Maybe today I'll get to pull it out and play a little.

Hap, hap, HAPPY Tuesday everyone! :D

Two new releases from Bella Blvd!

2011-10-03T14:12:00.004-04:00

The first one is called "Winter Wonder":

And the second one is "Spring Flings and Things":

Aren't they just adorable? I can't wait to see them IRL!

And then as a bonus, Bella Blvd. is releasing 2 new mini sticker sheets that coordinate with the Sophisticates line. How fun is that?! I know that these little babies will come in handy for cardmakers especially!

Go check out the Bella Blvd. blog to get a better look at the full reveal!

This just made my Monday a lot brighter! Hope it will for you too!

Happy World Card Making Day!!

2011-10-01T09:31:00.004-04:00

Yep, Oct. 1st is officially World Card Making Day and all the girls with Bella Blvd. are celebrating too! :) Check out all the great cards our DT made over at the Bella Blvd. blog. I'm so blessed to get to work with such talented women and amazing designs!

Here's my card that I whipped up really fast. I used the Mr. Boy line. I still love it! The colors, the patterns, I keep going back to it again and again.

And before you ask, no we're not moving. I just loved the colors and patterns together along with those cute little chipboard trucks and thought I'd do a theme that was a little bit different than what I usually do.

Oh, and before I go....you're going to want to check back on Monday as Bella Blvd. reveals two new mini-lines that are SUPER cute! You can see the teensy tiniest peek of them today on the Bella blog. ;)

Hope you're having a great weekend so far!

Thankful for you

2011-09-28T11:54:00.003-04:00

Well, I am. I'm very thankful for all of you who read my blog. I really am. And I don't tell you enough. But THANK YOU for all your sweet comments you've left along the way. They really mean a lot.

And since it's finally Fall, my favorite time of year, I thought I'd share a Fall-themed Thankful card.

This one works for 2 different challenges that are going on right now. First I used this week's card recipe challenge from the Nook to make a card that also fit the current theme over on the Paper Issues blog. "Tree Hugger" week is finishing up over there, and the woodgrain embossing on this one fits the challenge perfectly. Be sure to link up any wood or upcycled green projects over there. You have until Sept. 30 to post something.

And for a quick update on the home front, I'm actually excited to say that volleyball season is coming to an end! I don't think I've ever said that before, but this year I am. It has Worn. Me. Out! And my family too. Yesterday I literally gave Josh a high-five as he walked in the door and I walked out. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy refereeing (though not as much as coaching) but I've worked my tail off lately. I'm glad that it's finally coming to an end. It'll be a big sigh of relief.

K, I need to hop off so I can go bake my first pumpkin something of the season. I LOVE pumpkin foods. :) Sarah Kate and I are going to bake a cake today. or muffins. I can't decide. :) Too many pumpkin related recipes in my Pinterest account. ;)

Happy Wednesday everyone! Halfway to the weekend!!!

Need some Pinspo?

2011-09-26T09:36:00.004-04:00

What the heck is that you ask? PINSPO is inspiration gained from Pinterest , a new site that acts like a virtual bulletin board on which you can "pin" ideas for fashion, home, crafts, food and so much more. And of course it's turned in to this huge source of inspiration too, thus "pinspo".

Over at the Nook we've taken some Pinspo and turned it in to a card challenge. Here's this week's Pinspo and the challenge is to turn it in to a birthday card.

And here's my card I made based on it.

You can find more information and more cards based on this Pinspo on this thread at the Nook. AND Jessy's giving away a $10 GC to the Nook store as a RAK for this challenge! So go check it out!

Hope everyone has a great start to their week!

It's Game Day!

2011-09-24T12:29:00.008-04:00

Do we have a cute little lucky charm? Who knows, but at this point we're willing to do just about anything. Our team's grasping at straws right now. SO, we're trying to cheer the Rebels on by dressing out our lil guy for the first time this year. Maybe that'll help?!

So here's the little guy wearing a Eli Manning jersey in hopes that it brings our team good luck. I guess he grew faster than I expected, because the whole thing's looking too small. OH well. He's still wearing it today.

I've also prepared our traditional game day food. It's a lot of dips and appetizers so that it can be snacked on throughout the whole game. Today we're having corn dip with Fritos chips, spinach artichoke dip and pita chips, and a little somethin' we borrowed from Taylor Grocery in Taylor, Mississippi. It's hands-down our favorite catfish place. (Taylor, MS is also the home of the actor Morgan Freeman. ;) ) Anyway, we are snacking on a barbeque sausage plate which consists of turkey sausage, cubes of Colby cheese, toothpicked together and dipped in barbeque sauce! A gameday staple we borrowed from Taylor Grocery. Delish!

And since I'm late in getting my post up, here's the fam gathered around the TV for kickoff. And for the record, Caroline is NOT, I repeat N.O.T., in a Tennessee orange outfit. That's her Upwards soccer jersey from last year that she dressed herself in at that crack of dawn this morning. But I LOVE that the girls are taking an interest. I remember doing that with MY dad too. Special times and good memories, I tell ya.

So here's to hoping that with a baby boy all decked out in his Ole Miss apparel and a coffeetable filled with the gameday spread, our team can pull out a big win against Georgia. Maybe. Possibly. Here's to hopin'.

Happy Game Day everyone! :D
Hotty Toddy!

ETA: Well, at least he looked cute and we ate good! Not a win in sight for this team I'm afraid. :(

The ABC's of me

2011-09-23T14:33:00.008-04:00

I've seen this going around the blogosphere, so I thought why not share too. Here's a few things about me. Maybe some of it is stuff you didn't know. ;)

A. Age:32

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore that you hate: mopping

D. Dog: Bentley, a black lab/German shepherd mix

E. Essential start to your day: checking my Google Reader feed

F. Favorite color: Teal/Aqua

G. Gold or Silver: Silver

H. Height: 5'3"

I. Instruments you play: piano--but I only remember one song after 7 yrs. of lessons, and it's a Christmas song at that! lol! (I never liked taking piano, obviously. I always begged to have art lessons. huh. Imagine that.)

J. Job title: Mommy :D

K. Kids: 3 (ages 5, 4, and 1)

L. Live: in Tennessee

M. Mother’s name: Jenny

N. Nicknames: I'm Dee to most everyone who doesn't call me mommy, but I've also had these through the years: D squared, DeNana (by my BF's mom), Blurr (by my grandad, because when I was little I thought it was my middle name instead of Blair)

O. Overnight hospital stays: with all 3 kids, and with SK and Claire's inutero procedure

P. Pet peeves: people who drive slow in the fast lane, GET OUTTA MY WAY!! hee! :D

Q. Quote from a movie: too many to name, but almost all of Sweet Home Alabama, and there's a
lot of Christmas Vacation referrals and quotes around our house, year round

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: One sister

T. Time you wake up: as late as possible

U. Underwear: um...yes?

V. Vegetable you hate: it's not that I "hate" them, I just prefer not to eat them. ;)

W. What makes you run late: me, myself, and I (and the kids)

X. X-Rays you’ve had: only dental ones--the rest have been CT scans

Y. Yummy food that you make: I get asked to make squash casserole, gooey pumpkin bars, and broccoli cheese casserole for most family holidays. I'm also a Crock Pot frequent flyer.

Z. Zoo animal:the monkeys

Happy Friday everyone! :D

A sweet simple moment

2011-09-20T13:31:00.005-04:00

It's just the run-of-the-mill kind of day around here today. Nothing in particular that stands out, just same ol' same ol' goings on. That was also the case the other day when I just happened to have my camera out (and ready) when I went to play with the kids in the front yard.

And something fun happened. Somehow the otherwise un-notable day became full of life. Our life. It was fun to watch it unfold through my lens. ;)

First it was running, then twirling, and then she decided to dance with her little brother. So sweet, so special. To see these two playing, dancing together with everyone smiling and laughing. Just a sweet simple moment that brought life and love and a warm fuzzy to an otherwise ho-hum kind of day. Love when that happens! Love it even more that I caught it all with my camera.

Thanks for letting me share!

GREAT news! Again!

2011-09-14T09:52:00.010-04:00

I'm beyond thrilled to announce that I've been asked to be a part of the 2011-2012 Bella Blvd. Design Team!

Would woulda thought it? ME, a card maker! Hee! Don't get me wrong, I'm SUPER excited about this. And I'm still very humbled that I'm in such amazing company with that list of all-stars. I just still getting a kick out of it, that's all.

If truth be told, I still feel like I'm a beginner card maker. If you kept up with me for long, then you KNOW that. Cards used to be my nemesis. But then something clicked. I found a rhythm and style that works for me and now I like making cards. They're fun. It's always been a "side" job, kind of a way to use up my scraps that are leftover from layouts. But now, I guess it's for real. And it's still going to be fun!

I love that cards don't take me as long as a layout. I love that they're fun and whimsical and give me a chance to "play". I don't stress over cards the way that I do over layouts. They just kind of come together. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that my cards for my Bella submission literally just came together, as if on their own. It was refreshing and nice change of pace. So with this in mind, I'm really looking forward to what the next year has in store for me as a card designer. It's a whole new adventure for me.

For now, I'll leave you with one of my card submissions.

"You did it!" card featuring the "Tail Waggers and Cat Naps" collection

And lastly, I want thank you Stephanie and Laura for giving me this incredible opportunity! I can't WAIT to get to work! :D

Just a quick peek

2011-09-10T21:05:00.006-04:00

at what will be arriving shortly at my front door step. I can't wait! And for the record, I ordered it before I'd made the team. I couldn't resist.

It features Crate Paper's "Random" collection as well as some Websters goodies. I can't wait to play! Be sure to grab yours here before it sells out. (And it will.)

Great news!!

2011-09-08T16:10:00.002-04:00

New DT Members:

Deanna Misner- USA <-----THAT's ME!!!

Gina Rodgers-Australia

Jaz Lee- Singapore

Kim Moreno

Lilith Eeckles- Belgium

Lisa Kisch- Canada
Marinette LEFEVRE- France
Nicole Nowosad- Canada
Pamella Brown-USA
Shelleye McDaniel-USA

Returning DT members:

Anna Sigga- Iceland
Carol Monson- USA
Danni Reid-USA

Hilde L Aaslund- Norway

Jessy Christopher-Malaysia
Katarina Damm-Blomberg- Finland

Leah Killian-USA
LG Belamarino-Phillipines
Stacey Michaud- USA

I'm SO stinkin' excited! This is a team that I've wanted to be on for quite some time. The Nook is my "home" on the web, and I can't believe that I get to design for them now! Eeeek! And talk about worldwide! How exciting to work with such talent!

Exploring new locales

2011-08-30T12:13:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a quick break from all the scrappy sharing to share some family pictures. Well, not really FAMILY pictures because not all of us are in them. But there still ones of our family. nevermind....I'm not making sense.

Since we weren't allow to go back to the Y last Tues. because the Y workers mistook spit up for actual throw up, McClain, Sarah Kate and I decided we'd hang around downtown to see what new photo shoot locales were to be found.

First we started out at Rembrandts because everyone needs hot chocolate and a slice of zucchini bread before they strike off in search of that perfect photo location.

She thought she was big stuff getting to drink out of a coffee cup! lol! I've really enjoyed spending time with her lately. Since she's the quieter of the two girls, it's nice to sit and talk just the two of us. Well, I guess technically there were three of us, but he doesn't count yet since all he can add to the conversation is "sna, sna" when he wants more snack.

When we finished our hot chocolate,
we struck off to explore and see what we could find.

While she may be good at talking, SK's NOT so good at smiling for the camera. She'd rather do more exploring! lol! So I got mostly fake smiles from her. But then, what else is new?

Finally we ended up close to our church (because I had a meeting there later in the morning) and I quickly snapped this one, which happens to be my favorite of the day.

And finally a non-fake smile. She really does love her brother so there was nothing to fake.

One way we chill

2011-08-29T12:09:00.000-04:00

This summer I tried to keep up with a few traditions, one being that we meet Josh for picnics in the park a couple times a month, and the other is that we spend one day playing in the fountains downtown. It's another way we try to beat the heat.

Caroline, of course, is the one who always enjoys it the most. She really loves it when we do something new, different, and fun. And per usual she goes at it with wild abandon. This layout features a just a few of the pictures I took of her that day. I roughly used a sketch by LG Belarmino that she provided as a part of her challenge for last weekend's Nook crop.

Supplies used: Fancy Pants patterned paper, die-cuts, sticker borders; Pink Paislee twine and orange alpha stickers, American Crafts foam number sticker and adhesive, My Little Shoebox mini alpha stickers

On the home front, this week is shaping up to be a really busy week for us. Lots of volleyball refereeing, hopefully time at the Y, still letting the school routine sink in a bit, and gearing up for the holiday weekend. LOTS to do. But it's a lot of good stuff, things I'm looking forward to doing.

Hope your week is off to a good start! Happy Monday!

A Learning Curve

2011-08-28T15:46:00.008-04:00

There's a new challenge theme up at Paper Issues. This time around the theme is "learning curve". This could mean anything school related, or a lesson you may have had to learn, or what have you. The interpretation is wide open. If you used paper, then you're in. You have until September 15 to link up!

I have a card I made a while back with some My Little Shoebox goodies that has a school/teacher theme.

And of course there's the card in THI S post that I shared last week or so, "Whoo's Ready for school?" I'm excited to say that it was featured on the Northridge Media Create blog this past week (scroll down, it's 3rd from the bottom). That makes me 2 for 2 in submitting to that contest and then getting selected! Since I consider myself a beginner cardmaker, I'd say that's pretty good, right? Right! :)

Anyway, if you have any project that is school or learning related be sure to link it up over on the Paper Issues blog on the Learning Curve post. We'd love to see and leave you some love too! :D

And now I'm off to pick up the house. Why does it get so out of control on the weekends?! I can't scrap until this place is tidied up a little. (anybody else like that?)

Happy Sunday friends!

A flower medallion tutorial

2011-08-26T16:19:00.010-04:00

Have you always wanted another way to use those patterned 1/2" strips that come along the bottom of some manufacturers' papers? Well, hopefully this one will be a new one for you. Here I've made medallions out of those strips of "extra" paper.

To make a flower medallion, here's what you'll need: a 1" circle punch, the 1/2" patterned paper strips that come along the bottom edge of patterned paper (the flip side without the skew number), large and small 3D foam adhesive squares(or circles). You'll also want a trimmer and a tape runner.

First, cut one of the borders in 1" long strips.

Place a small 3D foam square at one edge of the strip.

Fold it over in half. A little trick is to lick the tips of your index finger and thumb and run them along the strip so that the paper doesn't crease too badly.

Next, put a large piece of foam adhesive on the back of the 1" circle. It will be the flower's center.
Apply a little bit of tape runner adhesive to the tip of each folded strip and start layering the them around the circle, overlapping them slightly.

This is what the front should look like.

This is how the finished flower medallion will look.
Other patterned paper looks good too. Here I cut 10 strips that were 1/4" wide and used the same process to make this one.
And here it is on 2 different finished projects.

So there's another way to use those fun extra strips. Thanks for letting me share!

My favorite layout

2011-08-26T11:44:00.002-04:00

My favorite layout of last weekend's Nook crop was the one I made for Stacey's challenge which was to be inspired by Elizabethan (think Shakespearean) fashion. Items like corsets, layers of ruffles, high neck shirts, etc. Being totally inspired by that challenge, I ended up doing my own kind of fashion layout but one about the everyday fashion as seen in our household. Dress up fashion. This one uses a picture of Caroline and Sarah Kate that I took last February. They were dripping literally of ruffles, feather boas, beaded necklaces, and fancy crowns. The pic couldn't have been more perfect for the challenge.

Everyday Life

Supplies used: Girls Paperie pp, die-cuts, sticker borders, sticker words; Martha Steward butterfly punch, Pebbles Inc. glittered candy dots, Kaisercraft pearls, Clearsnap ink, vintage lace, "broach" and plastic flowers from my craft supply

Now that we have one going to school, I kinda miss the klip-klop sound of plastic heels running through the house. SK still dresses up, but she's good at playing quietly in her room. There isn't anyone to chase her. I'm so glad that I caught this moment in time in picture form, because it not only brings back (mostly) fond memories, but I hear their laughter and playful chasing in my head all over again. And isn't that exactly what scrapbooking is supposed to do? THAT's why this is my favorite layout from the crop. The sounds and memories it brings back. ;)

Hope you all are having a great Friday and have a happy weekend too!

Oh and in case you're wondering, volleyball went well. I missed a call or two and at my pre-game coaches/captains meeting you could TELL that I was nervous. But I'm glad I'm doing it. It's fun in it's own special sort of way!

Happy weekend!

Hello Sunshine!

2011-08-24T11:54:00.004-04:00

Here are two more cards I made for this weekend's My Scrapbook Nook crop. I used 2 different versions of some SRM stickers that say "Hello Sunshine". And since the challenge was to make a sun or sunshine related theme, I chose to use some of my Fancy Pants "Beach Babe" stash.

Here they are as a set,
one more masculine than
the other.

Hello Sunshine #1

In addition to the supplies already mentioned, I also used WRMK chipboard, Kaisercraft pearl, MME rhinestone bling, and American Crafts adhesive. (Have I mentioned how much i love their foam squares?!)

Hello Sunshine #2

Also used: Bazzill CS, Pink Paislee twine, Basic Grey button and again AC adhesive

And so there ya have it. 2 more cards I made this weekend. For anybody starting to keep count, that's 3 I've shared so far with several more to go! :)

On a more personal note, today I'll referee my first volleyball match. Yea! I'm a little nervous, but I'm hoping it'll all come back to me once I get in the gym.

If you've followed my blog for a longer time, then you'll know that I used to coach volleyball. I LOVED it! Then McClain came at the very beginning of last season, and I had to step down. There was no way I could keep up with a newborn AND a practice/game schedule. And so this year I decided to try my hand at reffing. And let me tell you, it's a whoooole other ballgame. I know it's the *same* game, but it's SO SO different. I have more respect now for other people who ref. (and I feel a teensy bit guilty for "letting them have it" more than I should have. ;) ) So anyway, today's my first day. Hopefully what they say about payback isn't true this time around. ;)

That's all I got.

Happy Wednesday!

Group Hug!

2011-08-20T20:47:00.006-04:00

I'm still playing along with the challenges over at The Nook's virtual crop this weekend, and I thought I'd share this little piece. It makes me happy to look at it. One, I love the children in it. It brings back a happy memory. I also love the colors, the big bold flowers (that when I saw the preview of them from CHA pics this paper was an absolute MUST). And also the stitching makes me happy. I tried stitching with twine this time around.

Supplies used: Basic Grey pp, doily stickers; Jenni Bowlin vellum butterflies; Pink Paislee twine; Bella Blvd. chipboard alphas; Cosmo Cricket mini alphas; Kaiserkraft pearls

Side note: Now that I've played with some Foldies, I feel like all my flowers need to be popped up just a little. ;) You could say I'm a wee bit addicted. Not as badly as someone I know though.

ANYway, just wanted to pop in and say Group Hug everybody!

I'll be back with more scrappy shares later this week. ;)

Mama's Boy

2011-08-19T20:00:00.005-04:00

So it's about time I shared some scrap happenings, so here's a little preview of what I'll be up to this weekend.

It's the Scrapbook Nook's Midsummer Night Virtual Crop, where all the challenges are based on Shakespeare. Sounds fun, huh? I've already completed 2 challenges! Woohoo! Of course it's not too late to join in. You can find it here and be sure to tell them I sent ya. (Not that I'm competitive or anything. Ha! ;) )

Here's the layout I made today based on the early warm-up challenge. This was a challenge to find inspiration in the Nook gallery and use it to inspire a work of my own.

Supplies used: American Crafts kraft cs, pen, and Thickers; Girls Paperie pp, brad, and ruffled circle; Maya Road wooden buttons, MME label stickers; BG blue button; Oct. Afternoon red sticker letters, Tattered Angles mist

The journaling reads, "Oh baby boy, you've stolen my heart! Your big bright smile, wet slobbery kisses, and sparkling blue eyes have done me in."

So that was my first challenge, and then I also participated in a card challenge. I'm starting to like making cards more and more. I like that they're quick and easy (usually) and I can use up my scraps and pieces of my stash I've had laying around for a while.

Challenge # 3 (the second one I've completed) is called "What's in a Name". The challenge is to create a card incorporating what we conventionally think of as "feminine" with what we conventionally thing of as "masculine". It's is sort of a flip flop type of challenge.

Supplies used: Bazzill cs, Jenni Bowlin journaling label, American Crafts pinwheel, Pebbles chipboard owl and pp, Oct. Afternoon red sticker letters, Pink Paislee brown sticker letters, May Arts ribbon, Glue Arts adhesive

I chose to make a Back-to-School card because that's this week's challenge on Northridge Media's Create blog, ON WHICH, by the way, I had a Happy Birthday card featured this week! Yea me! (See it here) So I plan on submitting this card in hopes that I can go 2 for 2.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Hope you all have a great weekend!

1st day of school photos

2011-08-18T09:53:00.004-04:00

I thought I'd share these here for family story preservation purposes more than anything else even though I'm a day late in posting them. Those of you who've seen these on Facebook, sorry for the re-post but at least here you'll get the narrative too. ;)

For the first day of school Caroline woke up early and got dressed. As in, she was up, dressed and waiting for me in the kitchen before my alarm went off. hehe! She said she "was afraid she was going to be late" and didn't want to be on the first day. So cute!

When we got there she walked way ahead of us, calling over her shoulder for us to hurry up! WE (Sarah Kate and I) were trying not to mow anybody over with Mac in the stroller. But I guess that was beside the point. Anyway, she found her way to her classroom without any assistance which was a concern of mine.

She knew exactly which one was her desk, sat down, and looked up at me like this. Her expression is a mixture of "I'm okay" and "I'm really nervous". I could tell that she wasn't really sure what to expect next. But apparently she did really well.

Other tidbits of note:
*She fell asleep against a brick wall while sitting in carpool. (I thought the teachers were kidding when they told me that, but nope. It's been confirmed.)

*The first words out of her mouth when she got in the car were, "SOO, what'd I miss?" I guess she thought we were having a party all day or something without her.

*She then proceeded to tell me about her day--extra emphasis on sitting in the lunchroom with its foldy tables and benches as well as the Kindergarten scavenger hunt around the school.

*She made a friend but didn't know her name (and still doesn't a day later!)

Overall, a great 1st day! At bedtime she told us, "I get to be a Kindergartner again tomorrow!" I'd call that a successful day! :)

One year later...

2011-08-16T16:49:00.008-04:00

One year later:
*Everyone has more hair. Ha!
*We have an any-day-now walker.
*We have a Kindergartner as of tomorrow morning.
*We still play dress-up and Little House on the Prairie
*I'm still cleaning up spit up. And it still doesn't smell pleasant.
*The girls still love to play with their brother--baby toys are the best kind! Didn't you know?
*They still make each other laugh.
*They still argue and bicker too.
*And most importantly, craziness still ensues! But I wouldn't trade it.

Yep, that sounds about right!

Kindergarten here we come!

2011-08-12T14:25:00.004-04:00

Today was Desk Day at CCS, so we all got to go and meet Caroline's teacher, look around the room, and put away her school supplies. Here are the few pics I snapped of her.

With her teacher Mrs. Bickley (left)

and teacher's aide Mrs. Huffine (right):

At her desk:

Outside her classroom:

She's so stinkin' excited that she didn't want to leave! lol! She whispered to Mrs. Bickley asking if she could stay awhile, which we all got a big kick out of. We were sent home with "homework" and it's the first thing she asked to do when we walked in the front door! Hopefully, her enthusiasm will last all year long!

Oh, and other things of note from this morning. One is she picked out her outfit all by herself--a top I'd bought and she made sure she was wearing her new running shoes! Also, at breakfast this morning she re-packed her school supplies neatly in to 2 zipper pouches and declared herself ready to go. I guess the way I'd packed them wasn't quite good enough. hee!

Well, look out Kindergarten, here we come! :D

Happy Friday (again)!

If truth be told

2011-08-12T00:29:00.002-04:00

I've been dabbling in my other hobby a little more than my scrapbooking right now. As I mentioned in my previous post, this past weekend I met up with some old friends to do the 5K benefiting the Amelia Center. Well Mr. Elliott was there, Amelia's dad, and after talking (while walking) about some photography stuff he invited me back to their house. (which may be enough for a whole 'nother post--going back and setting foot in there after almost 15 yrs.)

But you see, Mr. Elliott is a professional photographer. Though he wasn't while Amelia and I were growing up, now that he's retired it's become his new "job". Their house is like a photography gallery now and I literally spent a couple of hours walking through it ooohing and ahhhing. Not only did we talk "shop" while I was there, he also encouraged me to get out there and just shoot. In fact, he left me with a challenge to shoot 25 landscape shots that weekend and email them back to him.

And that's all it took. A simple challenge to take more landscape pictures, and I was/am hooked. So I've spent the last couple of days filing through my old landscapes, editing, cropping, and naming them (something he told me to do). Some date back as far as 2007 when I got my first digital camera. Some are way too grainy and noisy because I'd just gotten my DSLR and there was a big learning curve. But honestly? I'm sorta kinda proud of how my slideshow has turned out. So I thought I'd share it here.

It's diverse--beach scenes, botanicals, animals, even a sporting event shot (Go Rebs!) and I know I've got work to do. But like I said, I'm happy with the way it's turned out so far. Take a look and let me know what you think. :)

And thank you Mr. Elliott for not only investing in me this past weekend, but being my 2nd Dad from the very beginning!

Super busy weekend = bad bad blogger

2011-08-10T17:24:00.007-04:00

Good gracious I've been a bad blogger! SO sorry about that! This week we're getting geared up for school. Miss C starts Kindergarten a week from today, and I'm starting to feel the crunch. I'm finding the need, if you can call it that, to cram as much as we can in to the next few days and try to enjoy the last few days of summer. It's hard to believe it's already that time. And I MOST DEFINITELY can't believe C's about to start school!

This weekend we celebrated Dad's birthday at the lake and also my cousin's little boy's birthday with the other side of the family, the girls rode the tube by themselves for the first time, and I walked my first 5K (and stopped to take pictures along the way. heee!) More on that in a sec. All of that made for one tremendous round trip through the state of Alabama. I'm just happy to be home and not have to drive anywhere for a few days. Here's a few shots of how we spent the weekend

Mac at the helm.
The always necessary shot.

And as I mentioned above, I walked my first 5K on Saturday. I WALKED, yes, because the 5K was held as a charity event to help raise money for the Amelia Center. It's so named for my childhood/teenage/as-long-as-I-can-remember best friend, Amelia who was tragically killed in a car accident in 1995. She was supposed to graduate in 96 with the rest of our friends. (I'm a year younger.) Anyway, the 5K was posted on Facebook about a week ago, and as it turns out a good handful of us used it as an excuse to hold our very own reunion. SO, instead of (partially) running the 5K, Kelly and I decided to walk it and catch up while doing so.

They had these signs along the way
remembering the children whose grieving families
havebeen helped by the Amelia Center.

Me and my BF Kelly

Mr. and Mrs. Elliott

Team Sunflower

The great thing is that this 5K is an annual event and so we've all decided that we're going to have a reunion of sorts every year the weekend it's held--spouses, kids, everybody. I'm REALLY looking forward to it already. I felt SOOO good after walking it--not really a runner's high, but a little something thanks to the endorphins. And I LOVED catching up with all my old youth group friends. Several of them ran it and placed in the top for our age group. They inspired me, so next year I'm running it too. I'm determined. Plus, I'm competitive. ;) SO, I ran more than I walked at the park today with the kids in the jogging stroller. And I felt really good about it. Who knows, this may be the start of something for me. ;)

Well, that's about it from me. Maybe now I'll stay caught up. :)

Happy (not at all wordless) Wednesday everyone!

Floral Lane

2011-07-29T13:48:00.011-04:00

How 'bout a couple of projects using Pebbles Inc.'s new line Floral Lane? It's what I've been working with lately. This first one is using my new favorite photo of Caroline. (I think I have a "new favorite photo" every single week.)

I made my own embellishments for this one--the pinwheel button "flower" is really a refurbished American Crafts pinwheel, but the other "flower" I did all on my own with a border strip (don't you just love that Pebbles gives you that little extra pattern down there by the sku #?!) and a circle-punched piece of patterned paper.

And then this next one is one I made as a part of a Facebook challenge at Birds of a Feather. The challenge was to make a "baby girl " card with a pink elephant on it somehow. So here's what I made.

I used my Cricut for this one--the Birthday Cakes (elephant) and Martha Stewart All Occasions (eyelet doily) carts.

So that's what I've done so far with Floral Lane. I've got another one in the works, but it's not quite ready just yet.

So what have you been working on? Going to scrap any this weekend? I am!!! And with a dear friend too! I can't wait!!!

Well, Happy Friday everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: new camera lens edition

2011-07-27T13:07:00.000-04:00

Sweetness

2011-07-26T01:16:00.009-04:00

Still catching up...I HAVE been scrapping but just now finding the time to photograph, edit and post. So here's another one.

A while back Jillibean Soup posted a sketch contest using one of Julie Bonner's sketches. And while I didn't submit my layout for the contest (due to lack of time for said photographing, editing, etc.) I DID participate. Just in my own timing. ;)

Here's Julie's sketch:

Which, btw, I still LOVE working with Julie's sketches even though she's not doing them for 52 Weeks, 52 Sketches anymore. That was a fun team to be on.

And here's my take of it:

I used the "Spotted Owl Soup" collection and chose to expand the circle and make the go top to bottom down the page. And I moved the title and journaling just a bit too. Funny how even when I use a sketch, the paper and photos seem to have a mind of their own. But that's part of the process that I love too!

Well, thanks for letting me share. I'm starting to get back in to a scrappy groove again and it feels nice. :)

Happy Tuesday!

A scrap share!

2011-07-25T10:44:00.007-04:00

So how 'bout we start off the week with some scrappiness? I know it's been a long time. So how 'bout a share?

Last night I was up late by myself, so I popped in Harry Potter The Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 (in preparation to see Pt. 2) and opened up my stash of Echo Park. Can I tell you how GOOD it felt just to sit and scrap and relax? I completed these first 2 layouts by the time the movie was over.

"Summer Reading at the library"

Products used: Echo Park's "Summer Days" patterned paper; alphabet, border,
and cloud stickers; American Crafts purple pen

I absolutely LOVE the bright bold colors of Echo Park's "Summer Days" line. Not only do they match so well with the girls' summer outfits, but they also make me happy just looking at them. This LO is based off of a the July sketch over at My Scrapbook Nook. I adapted it a little so it was more "me" and also went for journaling that looked like it belongs in a yearbook. A scrapbook album is a yearbook of sorts after all. So I drew lines to each picture and told what I loved about it or why it was special. I like how it turned out and will be doing it more in the future. ;) Since this was a rare flat layout for me, I didn't take any close up shots in case you were wondering.

"Ballet Buddies"

Products used: Echo Park's "Country Drive" patterned paper; paper strips;
journaling spot; floral, label and alphabet stickers,
American Crafts pink pen and 3D foam adhesive,
Wilton doily, Glimmer Mist, and Martha Stewart butterfly punch.

Created with EP's new "Country Drive", I think this might be my new favorite layout. I love these two pics taken at the girls first day of ballet. Sarah Kate was FINALLY old enough to take classes with Caroline, which was a big deal around our house. I tried to reflect that in the journaling, "Sisters, best friends, and now ballet buddies, you two are quite a pair! Ballet has become your favorite way to play, both in studio and at home. It doesn't take much to get you dancing!"

And these last two layouts I did a while back but I thought I'd share them too. I used "For the Record" for both of them.

"The Littlest Coach"

Products used: Echo Park's "For the Record" patterned paper, doily and mini alphabet stickers from the "Merry Christmas" line, and label,
Pebbles Inc. plastic brad, Maya Road stick pins and mini ticket stubs, Martha Stewart butterfly punches, American Crafts Thickers, pen, and 3D foam adhesive, Clearsnap ink, Bella Blvd. flowers, Prima sequins

Older pictures but a sweet story that still needed to be told. It's about SK and Josh and a moment they had at his softball game. She waddled right over to him, grabbed the bill of his visor and got eye to eye with him before going off is some toddle gibberish no one could understand. I thought it was so cute! I glad I was able to capture the moment.

"Donut Day"

Products used: Echo Park's "For the Record" patterned paper, borders, stickers, labels, and journaling spot, Creative Charms brad,
American Crafts Thickers and 3D adhesive foam, Oct. Afternoon sticker letters, Prima large flower

And this last one captures a fun little summer outing we took last month. Krispy Kreme had "free doughnut day", so I loaded up the kids and went to have a treat! The colors of "For the Record" were too perfect and I loved adding little bits and pieces of embellishments and journaling spots to help the layout come together.

Well I guess that's enough of a scrappy share for today. But I've got more. I promise! So check back with me later on this week for more scrappy goodness!

1st Birthday Bash!

2011-07-16T18:16:00.004-04:00

Today we had McClain's birthday party and all the family was invited. Here are a few pics from today as promised.

I chose to do a little bow tie theme with red, blue, aqua, and green which of course is my favorite "boy" color scheme.

I did a decoration for the front door. For some of it I used my Cricut Expression and the Birthday Cakes and Martha Stewart All Occasions cartridges.
I made the bow and topper for the cake and cupcakes, or assembled it rather. Some parts of them were pre-made. ;) Just taking the Sandra Lee "Semi-homemade" approach. wink.

Arranged a banner across the mantle. I got the idea from Susan Weinroth. She did her pictures in black and white, but I really like color even if it does look busy.
And then I made this thing, I don't really know what to call it, to go around McClain's high chair. It was fringed crepe paper and 3 pennants, 2 with bow ties and one with the #1.

Mr. Man had a wonderful time! He dove right in to that cupcake, shoving fistfuls of it in his mouth and then sucking on all his fingers (all at one time) to get the icing off. It was quite cute, if I do say so myself.

And then we opened presents. This was slightly chaotic with all the kids here (most of the cousins were able to make it, including the just-turned-two-years-old twins). But once Mac was able to play with his toys (ahem big sisters tried to take over), it was sheer delight!
And along the way his onesie got tossed into the washer. Too much icing to be salvageable at the moment. So he continued the party in his ALMOST birthday suit.

And that's as much as I've been able to edit in the last hour or so since the party. LOTS more pictures, but these do it enough justice so that you get the picture.

Happy 1st Birthday Little Man!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

2011-07-15T22:05:00.006-04:00

Today my baby turned 1. It was a bittersweet day for me, I LOVE this age. In fact I'd say that 12-18months is my favorite "stage". But a part of me hates that we're leaving the "baby" year(s) behind. He's our last, so I've tried all year to soak it up and make the most of all the milestones. I'm sure you're tired of reading about how I don't want my "baby" to grow up. And today he's one. The year has gone by so quickly! Here's a glance back. sigh......

I've yet to take a 12month "official" photo of him. And tomorrow (Saturday) is his party, so I'll have some more pics to share after that. But can you tell he's loved?! I made it my mission to have pictures of HIM, the 3rd and last child, because Josh is the baby of their family and there's not nearly as many pics of him. I tried to make sure that wasn't McClain's case. (As if I needed an excuse to take more pictures! lol!)

Anyway...Happy Birthday Baby Boy! You're loved beyond what you can comprehend, and more some!

Better late than never, right?

2011-07-09T21:14:00.006-04:00

Right! Here are this year's 4th of July pictures. There are a lot, as we tried to stay OUT of our house. Our A/C unit had quit so we stayed gone for as much of the day as possible. (It's gone out AGAIN, as of 2:30am last night, so i foresee a new unit in our future. joy.) ANYway, here's how we spent our 4th in pictures.

First, we went to the Creative Discovery Museum.He found himself in the mirror. I've got a whole strand of pics from this that are too cute. He blew kisses to himself, waved to himself, played peek-a-boo with himself...it was really funny to watch.

And of course he's starting to walk....sigh....

HER straps wouldn't stay up! grr! but she really like the Bob the Builder section. ;)

And she was happy as a clam playing in The Little Yellow Treehouse's kitchen. She could've stayed there all day if we'd let her. She packed a picnic lunch, put away the dishes, did the laundry...which made me want to ask why she didn't do those things in OUR house. hee! She really loves pretending to be a mommy though. She'll make a great one some day.

Then the CDM had a birthday party out front complete with a 21 "gun" (Diet Coke) salute, birthday cake and ice cream.
And then, because I'd read Gretchen's blog post, we went bowling at Pin Strikes. SUCH a great place to go. Here are a few of THOSE pics, albeit a bit blurry thanks to a broken lens. :(

The expert

The wannabe

Novice #1--she LOVED it,
even tried to do the correct "form".

Novice #2--admitted this was the
best sport ever because she didn't
get sweaty! hehehe! :D
She needed a little "help" bowling her
balls because she picked them out
based on color--pink or purple, and
not how heavy they were. ;)

A just captured Mac as he'd tried
to crawl down the lane again
(taken by Josh)

And so there you have it. Our 4th of July day of events. To try to beat the heat (in our house) the kids and I then left for the lake, where they at least had air conditioning not to mention water to cool off in. And I'm just now getting back in the swing of things.

I've got some layouts to post so hang in there all you scrappy readers. They're coming.

Oh, and SOMEbody turns one this week! I can't believe it's here already!

Well, that's the news from around here. Hope you're all enjoying your weekend. ;)

Worth staying home

2011-07-03T17:41:00.005-04:00

We're ALWAYS at the lake for the 4th of July weekend. Always. The only times I haven't been there are the summers when I was a counselor at Kanakuk or the time I did summer missions in Colorado. Other than those 3 times, I've ALWAYS been at the lake. But not this year.

There's actually several reasons for that, but the best one is this. One we wouldn't have missed for the world.

(Can you tell who lives in Florida and who doesn't? heee!)

Couldn't get one of everyone being still. This one will have to work.

Overheard: "I love you, Sarah Kate." "I love you too, Reagan"

We got 3 short sweet hours of reuniting, catching up with the Joneses. And there were lots of giggles and squeals and running around. It actually may be my favorite "story" of the summer. So for keeps sake, here goes.

We'd kept the Jones' visit a secret from the girls just in case something went wrong and they couldn't stop by to say hi. Initially they were going to be driving through and thought they'd stop for about an hour. Plans changed at the last minute, much to our delight, and they ended up spending the night Friday (at 2am). My girls were in their sleeping bags on the floor not knowing WHY they were sleeping there. And once they got in, Kelsi and Reagan slept in the girls' beds.

Caroline woke up early (per usual) and sleepily walked out into our living room where Linda happen to be standing. Unsure of what she was seeing she said, "...Mrs........Linda???? " Linda smiled and whispered, "Kelsi's in your bed" at which Caroline turned around and ran back to her bedroom. A split second later there were many, MANY high pitched squeals. It's actually how I was woken up. When I made it to the girls' room, everyone was hugging, jumping on the beds, and starting a pillow fight! It couldn't have made my heart happier!! :D :D :D It was like Christmas morning but in July. Very worth not being at the lake. We can make it there some other time. ;)

Catching up!

2011-07-01T20:08:00.009-04:00

Well it appears as though I've taken an unintentional blogging hiatus. Ooops! Didn't mean to do that, but it DOES mean that we've been busy so far this summer. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to.

Father's Day:

It was a pretty low-key day. Went to church and out to eat. Nothing really over-the-top special. Josh got new pajama pants, a shirt, and new book to read since he now devours books at work. ;)

McClain's baptism at church:

We had the whole family over to our house afterwards to celebrate, and I ended up cooking for the whole shabang. It was really nice to have everyone all in the same place, since both our families live so far away from us. It was really a great day. Oh--and that's Josh's Dad baptising the little guy. He's had the privilege of baptizing all 7 of his grandkids, Mac being the last.

Playing in the Coolidge Park fountains:

Checking off one of our Summer "must-do" items, cooling off in the fountains. True to form, Caroline went full blast, SK was much more tentative and had to hold my hand most of the time, and Mac was just chillin' out, happy to tag along. He was more concerned with one of the girl's Capri Sun straws than anything else. hee!

Pool Day at the Mays'

Another "must-do" checked off. It's always fun to get together with church friends and play at the Mays' pool. I was much more aware this year of how independent and decent swimmers the girls are. I made them still wear water wings or a swim jacket because I found myself standing in the middle of the pool keeping one eye on C who was in the deep end, and the other eye on SK who was continuously jumping of the side into the shallow end all while holding the baby! It felt like playing zone defense in basketball all over again! lol!

AND I got some great news yesterday. Apparently, I've got paper issues! hehe! But then we all knew that anyway.

Acutally, I've been asked to join the Paper Issues creative team with a whole HOST of amazingly talented women. I'm so excited about it! :D Here's our great team!

Hilary Kanwischer
Monika Wright
Wendy Antenucci
Patti West
Tamara Tripodi
Melissa Priest
Joanna Bandelin
Shellye McDaniel
Jodi Baune
Kimmie Sue
Cathy Dippolito
Nancy Crissinger
Lori Hairston
Susan Tutt
Carol Cook
Holly Humbert
Lana Bisson
Corri Garza
Tiffany Call
Amy Baldwin
Peg Hewitt
Ruby McGuire
Jennie McGarvey
Regina Lagman
Joan Liddle
Crystal Beshear
Deanna Misner <--that's me!

So that's a little peek at what I've been up to. Trying to stay busy with the kiddos, trying to find the guts to go to the gym now that we've joined the Y, trying to stay as cooled off as much as possible, and creating a little bit here and there too. Honestly, I've been so busy going, going, going, with the kiddos that I'm exhausted at night, and that's usually my scrap time. SO, it's been a little slow going lately. Guess I've been more than a paper "collector" rather than a user as of late. But I'm okay with that too. I'm enjoying the memories we're making. ;)

Hope you enjoy your holiday weekend!

June Hello Thursday pt. 3

2011-06-23T18:32:00.000-04:00

Introducing the new Princess Party cartridge!

If "Princess Party" doesn't describe my life right now, then I don't know what does even with a little guy in tow. This cart is soooo perfect that when I started making my projects, the girls started fighting over who got to wear the crown based on whose princess dress it matched! lol! Needless to say I'll be making another crown from this cartridge! ;)

Even though this is a "party" cartridge, I decided to make a layout with some of the cuts. Big shocker there. I've got soooo many dress-up and princess pics I really had no choice! lol! So I combine 4 of my favorites--Caroline over the years in her princess dresses. It's nice to know she's an equal opportunity dress wearer, as here she's feautred in Cinderella (Halloween 2008), Ariel (Halloween 2009), Belle + a pink boa(Princess birthday party 2010) and Snow White (Nov. 2010 with an everyday dress-up curtsy).

Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Echo Park "Little Girl" patterned paper and sticker letters; Crate Paper pink eyelet lace; Prima (blue) Kaisercraft (pink) and Studio 58 (Yellow) pearls and rhinestones, American Crafts pen and adhesives

The funny thing? When she was born I SWORE I would NOT have a "princess". Guess she proved me wrong. LOL!

Hello Thursday Pt. 2

2011-06-21T17:16:00.004-04:00

a real quick post to show you what I made for last week's Hello Thursday that was post on the Cricut blog. I got to work with the Summer Celebrations cart, which I really like! It's so versatile!

If you're a Cricut Circle member, you can see more projects that I made with this cartridge along with other DT members on the Circle blog. ;)

And stay tuned for Hello Thursday pt. 3 coming up this Thursday! It's my most favorite yet!!!

Hello Thursday! Part 1

2011-06-09T15:17:00.004-04:00

Say hello to the first of several Hello Thursday June reveal.

As a part of a special treat for all Cricut users, Provo Craft has decided that instead of having ONE Hello Thursday new cartridge release this month, they're going to have THREE!!!

The first new cartridge I got to work with was the new cart "9 Months Lite" (for obvious reasons). Here's one of the layouts I created:

"Love my Baby Bump"

Supplies: Pebbles Inc. patterned paper, Bazzill cardstock, Crate Paper trim, Pink Paislee twine, misc. button. Cricut Expression, 9 Months Lite cartridge

To see all today's releases and the amazing projects the DT girls created, visit the new Cricut blog! You can find it here. And stay tuned for the next 2 weeks of Hello Thursday reveals, which I have to say, are some SUPER cute cartridges!!! wink, wink!

Happy Thursday!

Enjoy the Season!

And PARTY we did

Bella embellishments!

Bella sneaks #3, #4, and #5

More from the Nook

Happy Birthday dear Caroline

Bella Blvd. sneak peek #2

Bella Blvd. sneak peek #1

Cards a Bella

Project Life--sorta

I pray I brought Him glory

Nook News

Faves of 2011

She's a Shutterbug

Merry Christmas!

A couple of Christmas Wishes

Gift card holder tutorial

Our family rules--DIY Subway Art

The December Bella Buzz

Saturday Sketch and a girls day away

16 months

You are my sunshine

From This to That

All about family

Mr. Charming and Chef Mickey's

Card Sharks!

A decade later

Free digital printables from Bella Blvd.

Wonder FALL

Nook News and a thank you

Congrats to all you lucky ladies;)***The November kit is now up for sale and it is goooooorgeous! Lovely lovely! It is full of Echo Park Times and Seasons:

Wordless Wednesday: Picking out pumpkins edition

Happy Birthday Leah!!!

Cards that Care blog hop + card drive

Combined interests

It's Nook blog hop time!

Happy Halloween!

Disney favorites

Cards a Bella

There's no place like home.

Good to the last drop!

A Saturday sketch

Transforming

Wordless Wednesday: happenings lately edition

How 'bout a little sunshine?

Goodbye old girl

A Halloween mini album share

It's official!

You are my sunshine frame

Oct. Scrapbook Nook kit

Two new releases from Bella Blvd!

Happy World Card Making Day!!

Thankful for you

Need some Pinspo?

It's Game Day!

The ABC's of me

A sweet simple moment

GREAT news! Again!

Just a quick peek

Great news!!

Exploring new locales

One way we chill

A Learning Curve

A flower medallion tutorial

My favorite layout

Hello Sunshine!

Group Hug!

Mama's Boy

1st day of school photos

One year later...

Kindergarten here we come!

If truth be told

Super busy weekend = bad bad blogger

Floral Lane

Wordless Wednesday: new camera lens edition

Sweetness

A scrap share!

1st Birthday Bash!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Better late than never, right?

Congrats to all you lucky ladies;)
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The November kit is now up for sale and it is goooooorgeous! Lovely lovely! It is full of Echo Park Times and Seasons: