Scenes from the ballpark

Last night we were at the ballpark again, and this time I took my camera. I think we all look forward to "pallbark" night for different reasons. Josh gets to hang out with the fellas and hit homeruns (he only got a triple last night though :( ). The girls get to play with all their little friends, and I get to sit and chat with the ladies. It's almost the perfect scenario! Now if there were only the sound of crashing waves, a cool breeze, some fruity drinks, and the smell of tanning oil...but overall it's usually a really good time had by all. As evidenced in these pics.


Of course the coach in me told him on the ride home that he's dropping his shoulder. Sometimes I can't help myself. It's just engrained in me.


C and Kels


To SK, ballpark night=grazing time. She's rarely found without some sort of ziploc in her hand. In this case, it's two. Sheesh! Would someone feed that kid?!

Create Your Own kit!

That was the final challenge for the Design Star Contest, and it was by FAR my favorite!!! I absolutely LOVED pulling papers and embellishments from my stash and getting it step up just so! I highly recommend creating your own kit if you're in a scrapping slump, because I cranked out 3 projects in 24 hrs. And just a word of caution, this post is full of photos!

Here's my kit, I named it "Kick Up Your Heels!"



Papers from Pink Paislee "Fascinating", Cosmo Cricket "Snorkel", and Heidi Swapp "Carefree".

embellishments up close


Of course I included a TON of embellishments, most of which are some of my favorites! Some of the items that I included were journaling spots, a coaster "album" that I actually stocked up on from restaurants, a handful of flowers, bling, pearl flowers, tickets, die cut labels, felt, and of course ribbons and trim!

ribbons and trim


And then the other part of the challenge was to create 2 projects after coming up with the kit. I created 3, and I'm tellin' ya, I cranked them out! :D

Project 1: "Just Babies"



This picture was taken when the girls were about 5mo. and 18 mo. old, and it's still one of my favorites. Journaling says, "They were just babies, only 13 months a part, one barely bigger than the other."





Project #2: Sympathy card


Project #3: Slip Slidin' Away



The girls have started doing this thing where they'll wait for each other to get to the top of the slide and then slide down together. I just happened to have my camera with me when they did it for the first time.

May sneak peaks

Here's just a couple sneak peaks for the May Serendipity kit. I had the "Just Enough Please" kit, and it couldn't have been more tailored made for me and my girlies! I had NO problem matching pictures with this kit! ;) Check back May 1st for a full reveal.

Hat day

Apparently today is unofficially hat day. You've still got a few hours left in the day to celebrate it if you haven't already.

Run-of-the-mill and hand-me-downs

Today's just another day in the neighborhood as Mr. Rogers would say. (yikes! did I really just quote Mr. Rogers?! oh nooo!) Last night Josh had another softball game. It was the first that the girls and I were able to go to and we had a blast. It was so good to catch up with all our old friends. In fact, I don't think I paid much attention to the game for talking so much! hehe! But softball nights are really late nights, which means that the next day we (I) have to recuperate. So today's a lazy day.

We've baked cookies, tried out our new sandbox and started laundry. Not a whole lot of interesting stuff to report. I'm still scrapping with my Serendipity kit and sneaks should be posted soon. But really, it's just a run-of-the-mill kind of day around here.

I do want to share my most recent LO.

Sisters becoming friends


These are the girls on Easter Sunday. They're wearing the dresses my mom and grandmother handmade for me and my sister years ago. I'm sure, knowing me at the time, I wasn't all that thrilled to wear that dress. But I can hardly put in to words how much it means to me that my girls are able to wear them. I remember how much blood, sweat, and stress my mom and grandmom put into those things. And I remember how special and loved those handmade dresses made me feel, even if I didn't particularly like to wear itchy, scratchy tights and a matching slip to go with them! So anyway, these are more than just your average Easter dresses to me. They're walking heirlooms.

Since the dresses ARE hand-me-downs I wanted to make a really shabby LO match. I decided to do a monochromatic color scheme so I would detract from the color of their dresses. My inspiration was all about the dresses! But THEN the photos really captured the girls in this new found friendship that's starting to form between them. Also something really sweet and special to me. The journaling reads, "There's a bond growing that I hope will be strong. You'll always be sisters, but I love that you're...(becoming friends)"

Upclose images:



Handmade rosebuds


Altered frame with stickled butterfly

Look Mom! Peter Cottontail!

That's what I heard as I roundded the corner of the house yesterday. Apparently while mowing, our neighbor found 2 baby bunnies beside the fence that divides our yards. One was kind enough to let the girls fondle it! It WAS really cute though. I won't think it's so cute when it and its brother(s) start eating my strawberries and hosta though! Caroline was just positive that she'd found the REAL Peter Cottontail! LOL! And he was a sweet little bunny. Even my skittish Sarah Kate held him for a brief second. But then the dog came around the corner to see what all the commotion was about. With that, the bunny scampered across the yard, hopefully never to be seen again. (Because if he IS seen, he'll be eating my newly planted stuff!)




(And please excuse Caroline's horrendous fashion choices! Safe to say she dressed herself! lol!)

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Okay, so I'm a tad bit late in wishing my niece Gracie a happy birthday, but I'm sure she'll understand! She turned 4 on Monday. I even made her this card to make up for it. (now I just have to send it, and be even later! lol!) Let's face it, I'm just going to be the "late" aunt!





I did this card for yet another challenge at Urban Anthology. The challenge was to use a LO sketch from one of the other contestants and turn it into a card. There also had to be hand cut elements on the page. I hand cut the candles, their flames, and the happy birthday, which was stamped with a Heidi Swapp stamp.