just for fun *new layout

Well, we survived our adoption homestudy this past weekend and now there is just a little bit more for us to do before all we can do is wait and wait and wait some more.

With the looming home visit over I took a break from everything yesterday and did some scrapbooking and it was so nice to sit down and play. I haven't had many assignments to do lately since I've paired things down so I just pulled out some things that I wanted to play with and created this:

Created using some Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party and My Mind's Eye Cut & Paste. I used Heidi Swapp mists and a little glitter star cut file from Studio Calico, a mix of alphas for the 9s- American Crafts and Sassafras- a butterfly left over from the banner I made for Hailey's party, hearts are from MME except for the large one which I cut from a Dear Lizzy Project Life card. The tape is MME as are the epoxy dots. 

For Hailey's 9th birthday she invited a bunch of friends over for an art party. We had canvases and lots of paint, they got to decorate their aprons and we had so much yummy, colorful food. I hanged paper globes from the ceiling in the kitchen and dipped rice krispy treats in colored white chocolate. It was so much fun. This picture is of the girls after the painting was done. They did a fantastic job!

Thanks for stopping by today!

I am going to try and scrap a bit more now...we'll see how it goes.

I have to mail a big packet of paperwork to the adoption agency and that will start the ball rolling so that we can get our referral. That could be anywhere from 6-18 months. It is quite a rollercoaster.

I'll keep you posted!

♥♥

twirly girls layout

Hi! How is your weekend going so far?

Great, I hope.

I just wanted to share a layout that I made this week and hadn't shared with y'all yet.

We went to a friends' house last month to see their little baby chicks and then Aimee and their little girl (Aimee says that she is one of her BFF's) got all dressed up in fluffy skirts and danced around the yard.

Of COURSE I saw this as the perfect picture-taking opportunity and used those pictures on this page.

The paper is from Lawn Fawn and there are stickers from Sassafras, October Afternoon, Crate Paper and American Crafts with tapes from Bella Blvd and KI Memories. The spray mists are from Studio Calico.

Have a wonderful weekend.

I'll have some more projects to share with you next week!

Thanks so much for stopping by. ♥

it's Friday!

What a week it has been! It seems we are hardly ever at home anymore, always running here and there for something. I am always happy when the weekend gets here and we can stay put a bit more.

Last Friday I got to go to a crop at our local store and happily had 4 mostly-finished layouts and 2 cards when I walked out the door about 5 hours later. Here are a couple of them:

Amy Tangerine collection with a few accents from the AC Daydreams collection.

(mix of KI Memories paper, October Afternoon rub-ons, washi tape from a SC kit, Sassafras and OA stickers. Yeah, I went a little crazy with the rub-ons. 

And because you're all so nice to visit my little blog, here's one more that I made a week or so ago that I'd forgotten to share here: 

Crate Paper Neighborhood collection

Have a fantastic weekend! We're off to birthday parties, soccer games and hopefully a bit of the gymnastics meet at the girls' gym on Saturday. Should be a fun one! 

sharing your kids' art on a page

I don't know if anyone else has this problem but my girls are so into drawing and coloring that their art is taking over my kitchen. It is spilling out of the big cupboard where we store their art supplies and is piled up on the counter by the sink. I have been trying to find a solution other than just taking all of it and chucking it into the garbage can.

Often times I'll pull a few favorites out of the pile to save and the girls obviously have their favorites as well (every single paper they've ever touched with a crayon, marker or paint).

One friend suggest that we take pictures of the girls holding their favorites and then throw the papers away. You could then make a collage with these images and put them on a layout or in a binder or something.

I like that idea.

One day Aimee was coloring up a storm as she is apt to do these days so I asked her if she'd make me a couple of small drawings as I had a scrapbook page in mind:

Aren't those the sweetest? She's just recently REALLY taken a liking to drawing and coloring. So much, in fact, that it's what she wants to do all day, every day and we very often have to clean up the piles of paper and crayons strewn about on the kitchen floor, the carpet in our den and the floor by the front door. 

Papers, etc. from a recent Studio Calico kit (March?) that I loved. Papers from Sassafras, Crate Paper, (the small butterflies were punched from one of the little ad inserts you always get with your kit), alphas from American Crafts and Sassafras and twine from the Twinery. 

Have a great day!

quick card today

Good morning!

We have a bit of a crazy week ahead of us- speech therapy follow-up for one, dentist appointments x2 and Hailey's birthday, gymnastics x2, open house for the new gym the girls are going to go to, birthday party, possibly soccer practice x2 plus all of the regular running around.

Hailey wants to get her ears pierced for her birthday so we're going to do that as well. How old were your girls when they got their ears pierced? We've had her wait a bit and now I think she'll do okay.

I want to fit in some scrappy time but we'll see. It seems that most of the time when I FIND time to get into my craft room the girls need help with something for one of their projects and everyone ends up getting something done except for me. I read a quote the other day, though, that said something to the effect of "when in doubt, choose the kids" and I am trying to do that more these days. I have been staying up late to get any kind of scrapping time lately so that I can enjoy my time with the girls before they head back to school next week.

Here is a quick card for you today; nothing fancy but I think it turned out cute.

This is some older Sassafras, rub-on from Pebbles and the butterfly punch is from EK Success. 

I am so into the pink and aqua thing these days. 

I have to thank you for visiting my blog. It makes me so happy to read your comments. 

Have a good one!

oh boy it's Jillibean sneak time and a new baby layout

I have to tell ya that we are a bit spoiled on the Jillibean team in that we get to see sneaks of the new collections being released this summer but TODAY they have a sneak for all of you as well!

Here's the first peek at...

There are a lot of things going on at the Jillibean Soup blog today including a giveaway!

http://jillibeansoup.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/06/attached-are-my-layout-using-watermelon-gazpacho-soup-from-the-first-sket

I had a little bit of time the other night so I did some scrapping for me instead of scrapping for a deadline. Really, all of my scrapping is for me but this page was created without a deadline or specific guidelines for the supplies I needed to use. I decided to dig into my stash and used a mix of older and some new Sassafras and topped it off with some alphas from American Crafts. 

I fell in love at first sight with the Sassafras Ellie's Tale, especially this cute little elephant.

I dressed her up with some stitched blossoms and stickers (also Sassafras). 

Rush on over to the Jillibean Soup blog to sign up for the giveaway! 

Also, there will be a BIG announcement on the American Crafts blog today so make sure to check that out. 

more fun with Sassafras

Good morning!

Have you been playing along with us at My Scrapbook Nook?

We have over 100 ladies signed up for our Back to Scrappin' at the Nook University and I've seen some great projects turned in so far. Head on over today for some great classes and amazing work from our design team and community members.

Today it's MY turn to teach and my class can be found here:
http://www.myscrapbooknook.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31599&highlight=

My challenge focuses on using alpha stickers to make your title/journaling pop. Here's the layout that I created for the challenge; alphas are from Cosmo Cricket and American Crafts. Other materials from the August Nook kit.

I hope that you're having a great day!

mixing things up

I really like the soft florals and other patterns in the Indie Girl line from Sassafras and thought it would be fun to mix that up with some brighter, bolder patterns from some My Little Shoebox paper and here is the result:

I used the Sassafras as the base and then cut out lots of flowers, the bird, clouds and fence from the MLS paper, used a Sass journal spot and some alphas from Sassafras and American Crafts. The clear sentiment stickers are all from SRM Stickers. Aren't they fun? 

The little "sunshine" button is Flair from American Crafts.

I hope that you're having a great day. 

Again, a reminder to leave a comment on the giveaway post below for your chance to win. 

Hey, guess what? Me and some of the other Scrapbook Nook ladies are on the Sassafras blog! 

Talk about cool! http://sassafras.typepad.com/sassafras/2010/08/some-beauties-that-we-found.html

happy birthday to Hailey and a couple of projects

Yes, it's my oldest daughter's birthday today! She's turning 6 today and will head off to first grade in less than a week. She will probably always be the youngest in her class but she was so ready to begin school, so smart and is doing SO well with her reading and other things.

Happy birthday sweet Hailey. We love you so very much

Right now Hailey loves to:
*draw pictures of princesses and mermaids and flowers and anything else she sets her mind to
*sing Primary songs and those from Barbie movies and shows she watches on Nick Jr. (the Backyardigans, Wonder Pets and Dora) as well as songs she makes up herself
*do gymnastics and is excited to play soccer in the fall
*putting together outfits with her dress-up clothes (dresses with necklaces and other accessories)
*make books out of scrap paper which she fills with drawings and stories she makes up
*playing on the swings and monkey bars
*cheesy noodles and pickles and nectarines and cinnamon rolls- not all together, of course.
*playing with her puppy, Bella

In honor of Hailey's birthday I also have a layout to share, a page that was done for SRM Stickers that will be shown on their blog today, too. This page was created using a mix of Sassafras products, lots of SRM Stickers and some pictures of Hailey from her first day of kindergarten last year. It was quite an emotional day for us and I was so nervous about leaving her there at school and worrying about whether or not she was okay.

I did lots of hand cut work on this page, as you can see, layering the pieces here and there on the page. 

SRM Stickers: Express Yourself #42020 School

Say it With Stickers #40035 Kindergarten

Live Life #49003

We are celebrating today by having cinnamon rolls and fruit for breakfast, going out to lunch and then going the Nickelodeon Storytime Live show that's in town today- just the perfect timing for a birthday outing. We'll get to see all of the girls' favorite characters from Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, Ni Hao Kai Lan and Dora. It should be quite a fun time for everyone. 

Today I also have a project to share with you using items from Creative Charms. I am doing a 3-month stint on the CC design team and it's been fun to get to play with all of the cute embellishments. 

I used papers from My Mind's Eye, Making Memories, Creative Imaginations and DreamStreet. 

Journal spot: My Mind's Eye

Alphas: American Crafts, October Afternoon

Flowers (velvet and braided flowers) and bling from Creative Charms. 

I used one of the blue flowers from August's deal of the month only I took the sequined center off and used the flower to layer with one of the orange braided flowers and used the sequins as accents on the page.

I also created a card for Creative Charms this month which I'll share with you tomorrow. You can see more projects made with Creative Charms embellishments on their blog here: 

http://creative-charms.blogspot.com/

Check back on my blog later this week for a feature with SRM Stickers and new Cosmo Cricket as well. 

Don't forget to leave a comment on my giveaway post down below for your chance to win. 

and one more Sassafras page...for now anyway

I have really liked working with the August kit from My Scrapbook Nook featuring Sassafras' Indie Girl line.

These pictures of my oldest daughter are some that I've been wanting to scrap for a long time, well, since May anyway, and I think this kit was what I was waiting for ♥

and a detail shot so that you can see the doodling and part of  the journaling.

Have a great day!

Sassafras Indie Girl papers and stickers as well as some Sass flowers from my stash, Maya Road mist, Bo Bunny bling and a little bit of ink and doodling here and there. 

how about some more Sassafras?

I have been fighting with my computer today so that I could get some images off of my camera and post some new-ish layouts for you to see.


I have done a few more pages with the August kit from My Scrapbook Nook so I'll share one of those with you today. These pictures were taken while we were on our big road trip this summer. We'd been to northern Texas, to Colorado and Utah and Idaho and also Washington and we were on our way back home to Texas when we decided to take a little detour through Moab, Utah to go to Arches National Park. At first the girls thought the rock formations were really cool but before long they were ready to get out of there. These pictures were taken from one of the viewpoints of Delicate Arch. We opted to see it from afar since a 2 hour hike in the blazing heat with three little kids didn't sound very appealing. This is Hailey resting at the viewpoint. Silly girl.

I really like the look of the Sassafras Indie Girl collection on kraft! 

The Sweet Treats stickers are so fun to layer! I added some Bo Bunny bling to the flowers.

LOVE the border strips on the Sassafras papers, too. 

I hope you're having a great week. There are exciting things going on right now at My Scrapbook Nook. The design team call is in full-swing and we're getting close to finding out who the final design team members will be. Here are the amazing finalists who are all so very talented: 

Taj White
Monique Liedtke
Melissa Mann
Keshet Shenkar Starr
Jennifer Larson
Cris Cunningham
Amanda Dovey
Amy Harle
Beth Jarrett
Carol Monson
Christy Arthur
Crystal Bowman
Danni Reid
Deanna Misner
Natalie Dever
Jennifer Ruhl
Emmy Brännstrom
Frauke Nolzen

Ginger Williams (so cool- I didn't even know she was applying!)
Helga Payawal-Vergara
Hilde Aaslund
Jennifer Hottinger Sloan
Jona Katherine Panesa
Katarina Krumeluran
Kristin Powell
Lydia Jackson
Mahlin Wiggur
Natalie Hearn
Robyn Schaub
Rochelle Spears
Sarah Eclavea
Shannon Morgan
Susan Burgeois
Susan Coish
Stacey Hansen
Christa Paustenbaugh
Wendy Mckee

Congrats to all of you ladies and good luck!

p.s. I wanted to say thank you for all of the congratulations and well wishes. 

getting a puppy today and a Nook layout- oh and another CHA picture

I grew up with lots of different pets- a hamster, birds, fish, cats, a rabbit- granted not all at the same time but it was a ZOO at our house. We've talked for quite a while about whether or not to get a pet, what to get and when. About a month ago I had this conversation with my girls and these were some of their ideas- fish, a guinea pig, a dinosaur, a pig, a bunny.

While I don't think we'll be getting a dinosaur any time soon we ARE getting a puppy! The girls are so excited- we went the other day to buy food, a little bed, a crate, toys and lots of other things including a how-to book since we know nothing about having a dog. I am a little nervous today as we get ready to go pick her up, but who could resist this face?

We've gone back and forth, too, on what to name her. A dog, just like a person, needs a good name that fits them, and choosing a name for this puppy wasn't much easier than it was when we were choosing names for our girls. I think we've settled on Bella- isn't that a cute name for her? We think so. 

I'll have to keep you updated...tonight is sure to be a long one since they say having a puppy is like having a new baby. I hope we all survive. 

Now for some scrappy stuff...

As I've showed you in previous posts, the August kit from My Scrapbook Nook features the lovely Indie Girl collection (brand new!) from Sassafras. It's gorgeous and I am so glad that we got it for our kit. I had some to play night before last and here is one of the pages that I created:

The kit also includes some cute buttons, flowers from Bo Bunny, pins from Jenni Bowlin, and these cute paper doily trims from Basic Grey. I used the backing of a couple of doilies for masking on the background before adhering them to my page. 

I hope you have a wonderful day and great weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

p.s. I was just looking at the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog and they had some pictures of the Jillibean Soup booth at CHA. If you look closely you will see two of my projects-a  Boo! card and tag at the top right side of the board. Even though I wasn't able to be there it's fun to have a part in CHA. 

fun new Cosmo Cricket card

Sometimes when I'm in a slump or just want a change from page scrapping I'll do some cards.

On the night last week when I pulled out my Cosmo Cricket to make the layout I shared yesterday I also made this card. While I love the new, brightly colored DeLovely collection I also like the subdued colors in the Earth Love line.

Any Twilight fans out there? I took the girls to the library yesterday afternoon and after we picked out some books for them I finally gave in and picked up a copy of Twilight. I thought that maybe I'd stay up late reading but instead went to bed at the same time the girls did to help settle them during the storm last night and fell asleep. So, I haven't even read the first page! Looks like I have some reading to do today. 

Also, we bought some more plants for our garden yesterday- tomatoes and zucchini, peas, cucumber, watermelon, spaghetti squash, etc. Along with my reading today I also have some planting to do.

Have a wonderful scrappy day!

p.s. thank you to all who come to visit my blog! I've had over 25,000 visitors- maybe I'll have to do another giveaway soon ♥

p.s.s. I have a new love that I can't wait to scrap with- Sassafras just revealed their new line, Indie Girl and I am in love. 

  

 

Isn't it so pretty? The color combo is just beautiful! You can bet you'll see this on a future page of mine.