A Post For Mom.

Mom complained, in the nicest way that she could, that I hadn't posted many pictures of the kids lately. I try to keep it balanced--kids/life, and scrapbooking. But when I talked to her last night on the phone she said, "You changed your format on your blog." (which I thought she was talking about my background template, but no.) Instead she followed it with, "It's all scrapbooking now." Oops. Guess I lost the balance. Sorry Mom. ;)

So here's a few more "everyday" shots from around the house.


This is a most definite "everyday" shot. This girl (hanging and shaking my head) THIS GIRL, would prefer lip gloss and make-up to anything else in the world. And she's wears it EVERY. DAY. she can.


This was me playing with catch-lights in Little Man's eyes. It was a warm sunny Spring day (which today is NOT), and so we sat and watched the girls play in the backyard. And I played with my camera.


And lastly, this is typical "everyday" Caroline--ballerina pajamas that are too small but she loves them and wears them anyway, crazy morning hair, and silly cheesy smile. Yep, that's her. But check out the cool PlayDoh creation she made that's in the background. My girl likes to create. (Wonder where she gets that? grin.)

So there ya go. Some everyday life from 'round here. Today I think we're all going a bit crazy. Tooooo much rain, not enough outings/outside time. It's rained every day since last Saturday. And it's been cold. ugh. So to say we're ready for Spring to be here (and stay) is an understatement! Warmer weather, no mosquitoes or humidity(yet), just pretty days when we can leave the windows open, sit outside and read while the kids play...Hurry up Spring!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Scenes from the park edition:

because her bike has a flat tire:

because she can barely reach (and i think that's cute):

and because this is how he rides. barefoot:

Happy Wednesday!!

In my Arms (at last)

Since I've been sharing my My Little Shoebox creations this week, I thought I'd share another. This one is of the first time I held Mac once he was out of the NICU. I used MLS's new foam sticker letters, which I love, and did a "mash up" (to steal from Glee) of "Summer Breeze" and "Home Sweet Home".



Again with the quilled flower, this time a small one that only used the inner flower die, and also more outlining. I can't stop, so I hope you like it. I forsee more in the future. ;)

Hope you're having a great day!

MLS "Farewell" blog hop

Hi everyone! I'm here today with a bittersweet farewell. My time at My Little Shoebox is almost up, and we as a DT are having one last "farewell" blog hop. If you didn't already, you should've started at Carol's blog and come to me from Cindy's.

As a part of my last "official" My Little Shoebox post, I'd like to share some of my favorite projects I've made with the new releases.

This is an altered sign I made recently with My Little Shoebox's new "Home Sweet Home" line. It started as a raw chipboard sign by Maya Road that I painted and layered some papers on. When I caught a glimpse of the "Home Sweet Home" paper I KNEW I had to do something with those birds and that cute cloud paper. This was the answer.



Silly me was so excited to photograph this puppy that I forgot to the add 3 little white buttons that go inside! Duh! That's okay because I've added them so they're in there now. ;) And this is a fun little addition to our Spring decor.


And I made this little card in anticipation of Teacher Appreciation Week that's coming up. I know doesn't necessarily go with the the Spring theme of the paper line, but I really love how it turned out. And I love that I got to stack all those die-cuts. There's 4 different layers. ;)

Before I go, I just want to say that working with Miss Helen and the MLS girls has been such a treat! I cannot say enough good things about them and the company! As we part ways, I wish them the best of luck and many sales! Thank you for the opportunity to design for you!

Your next stop on the hop is Debbie's blog.

I've been busy

but I can't share yet. :( I hate waiting. I always want to reveal right away. But here are a few sneak peeks for ya!

two from My Little Shoebox:

A little Lily Bee...
this one has 4 different techniques
in one little sneak. (faux stitching, doodling
a handmade pinwheel, and misting)

dove in to my Crate stash...
LOVING "Toy Box" even though
Little Man is still a bit too
young to play with those kinds of toys.

and some Lily Bee + Prima

Trends I've noticed myself doing lately:

--doodling the heck out of my layouts. There's just something that gives it more emphasis. Now when I see something (of mine) that isn't outlined, doodled or faux stitched it looks naked to me. I can't stop doing it!

--using brads more. I'm loving the recent trend of fabric brads! I've always struggled with the glazed ones, but for some reason the fabric ones make me see something new. (maybe I'm just weird like that.)

--layering die-cuts. Okay, so this isn't exactly something new to me. And I'm no Christine Middlecamp. But I really love the look. That top MLS sneak has 4 layers of die cuts, which I love!

--quilling my own flowers. I LOVE that Shannon showed us exactly how to do it at the Atlanta Cricut Circle crop. Everytime I'd tried it up until then had always been a mess. But now, I love it!!

--and lastly, the layout-inside-a-layout look. I saw on a blog this week that someone called it "blocking". If that's what it's called, then I'm really drawn to the blocking look lately.

So what are you in to lately? Any trends out there that are striking your fancy? I'd love to hear about them!

and with that, I'll see ya on Monday with the My Little Shoebox DT Farewell blog hop.

Happy Friday!

Hello Spring

Woohoo! I can finally reveal my take on the MLS challenge this month. If you'll remember, this is Aphra's sketch:

And here's my layout:

Don't forget that you have until April 10th to complete it! All the details can be found here. I hope you'll play along!

Wordless Wednesday (wedding edition)

Went to David and Ginny's wedding
in Mississippi 2 wks. ago.
This is the only shot I got of them.
All the rest are of family.
like this one of all 7 cousins together.
Can we say framer?!

Me and J at the reception.

The big one crashed almost immediately
after arriving at the reception.
Come to find out, she had a stomach bug. :(

That didn't stop the other two
from enjoying the party!

She loved dancing with her Daddy.

And he stayed up WAAAY past his bedime!

But was a good sport about it.

Well, so much for being WORDLESS Wednesday. I couldn't help but narrate.
Hope your all having a good week so far! Be back soon with some cards and layouts! ;)

Baby Blue Eyes

This boy has stolen his mama's heart! Sigh...Baby Blue Eyes here captivated me and my camera yesterday after church. He was all dressed up in his Sunday duds, hanging out with his Daddy in the front yard, and I couldn't take it anymore. I had to grab my camera. Good thing too, because these are my new favorite shots.

I love that the top picture captured him drooling. It definitely defines the moment. It's constant. Still no teeth, but TONS of drool and soaked bibs and clothing. So it's only fitting that it should make its appearance in the photo.

Mr. Man turned 8 months old last week, is very confidently sitting up, rocking, and scooting on his bottom. Three or four times now, I've found him in his crib on all fours rocking back and forth. I'm NOT ready for a crawler yet!!! Let me rephrase that, this HOUSE isn't ready for a crawler yet. Too many Polly Pockets and Barbie doo dads scattered about. I believe I'm gonna have to get one of those fence or gate thingys just to keep him safe. Since it won't be long now til he's crawling, guess I should get prepared--physically and emotionally.Guess I'll do go that while folding some laundry.

That's all for day. Happy Monday everyone!

New blog look

I've been playing again. Decided to go a little more vintage than I've done in the past. That's actually been a trend for me IRL too. Only fitting that it's found its way on to my blog too. Any thoughts?

Pasta Fagioli love

I've been playing with some Jillibean Soup lately, namely their "Pasta Fagioli" line. Been scrapping here and there as I've watched TV and enjoyed couple of mostly kid-free nights.

This first layout is one I made to commemorate the girls special Christmas present from their Nana. You may remember that she gave them tickets to Disney's Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. These pics were from the brunch we had before the show.


For this one I decided to make my own die-cut paper. I hand-cut the green patterned paper so that the edges are rounded. I also decided to go with the gift theme designed the whole page to look like a present, complete with its own handmade bow.

This second one is a Fall layout. "Impromptu Photo Shoot" captures Sarah Kate's first time to play in a pile of leaves. Her facial expressions crack me up, she's so animated!


Here, I handmade my own pinwheel and piled on the embellishments (pun intended. hee!)

And lastly, I created this birthday card for Kathy (Nana) whose birthday was yesterday. I quilled this flower using Provo Craft's Daisy Quilling Kit and my Cuttlebug machine. I *might* just be addicted to quilling flowers now. ;) Stay tuned for a step-by-step tutorial coming soon.


One of the things I LOVE about Jillibean's "Pasta Fagioli" line is that I was able to create Christmas, Fall, and birthday projects with the same papers (with a couple of older lines peeking through). It's so versatile! I also have a monochromatic baby boy page sitting on my table right now also using Pasta Fagioli. I just can't get enough of it!

Well that's all for me today! Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a great weekend!

It's that time again, time to pull out your My Little Shoebox and get crackin', uh, I'm mean scrappin'! This month the MLS sketch was created by none other than the fabulous DT member Aphra Bolyer. I just love her sketches!! :)

And here are some sneak peeks of what I did with it.
My layout will be a part of the DT reveal
that is scheduled for next Thursday.



And you can play along:

• Create a layout based on this sketch using My Little Shoebox products
• Post your layout to your blog or favorite gallery and link back to this post
• or upload your layout to our My Little Shoebox gallery titled March sketch at our Facebook page
• leave us a comment on the March Sketch Challenge post with the link to your layout

You have until midnight Pacific time on April 10th to post your link to this post or upload to the Facebook gallery and title your project March Sketch.

Sooo, what will you win??

How about a fabulous prize package of My Little Shoebox goodies and your layout featured along with your blog link right here on our blog!!

Can't wait to see what you create!

And Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

My 3 blessings

Hey there everyone! It's seems like it's been a while. Sorry about that. We're home now from the wedding, which was beautiful and lots of fun. And I'm trying to play catch-up from everything that I missed. Daylight Savings time is NOT helping.

Today, I'd like to share a layout I did for the March Lily Bee challenge. The challenge was to create your own embellishment(s), and I chose to make some handmade flags. They were quick and easy, and fun to make!


The supplies you need are some patterned paper cut into 1/2" strips and folded in half, rub-ons, straight pins, and some quick dry glue. I used my Helmar 450 Quick Dry which is my absolute very favorite! ;) To make the flag, I applied the 450 Quick Dry on the pin, and slid it down into the fold of the paper. Easy peasy.

And here's how they look on my layout. I simply pushed the pins down in to some 3D adhesive foam.

and some other close-ups of the details

I also adhered the rafia to my page using the same 450 Quick Dry. ;)

And if this layout looks vaguely familiar to anyone, it's one that I started way back in the fall. But something just didn't jive, so I remounted it on blue Basic Grey paper and added a lot of details. I also moved the flowers so that they were clustered together. Much better. At least I think so.

That's all I've got for today. I'll be back tomorrow with a layout and a sketch challenge that's going on this month over at My Little Shoebox!