capture. create. inspire.

Paper Issues Creative Team

2012-02-16T10:17:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to share a bit of news today. I made the Paper Issues Creative Team! I am very excited to get to work with such a talented group. You can check out the Paper Issues blog to see the rest of the creative team members with links to their blogs. Have a great day!

Catching Up

2012-02-07T16:28:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone has had a great start to their week. I am catching up on my Project Life album from the last couple of weeks and then I will share what I have put together so far. This has been a fun project to work on this year and one that my family appreciates and loves to look through. I also have a few more projects I hope to finish soon. I had some projects all packed up for a crop I was planning on attending this past weeknd, but the weather turned bad so I stayed home and enjoyed the day with my family. Looking forward to attending next month and meeting some local scrapbookers.

Today is also my sweet Lisa's 12th birthday. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. One thing she requested for her birthday was a new outfit to wear to school so we picked up a few things from Justice, one of her favorite stores.

Chinese food is also on the menu for the birthday girl's dinner tonight. She loves Chinese as much as me, lol, and has been planning her dinner since my birthday last month. We'll be having a small party for her this weekend and I have a few more things to put together before then. SVGCuts.com has a new birthday kit that will come in handy this week.

I'll be back with some things to share next week. Have a great day.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T14:50:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone has had a good start to the New Year. We have had a nice relaxing day at home today. I love those days! With the start of the new year I have also decided to start a Project Life for 2012. I finished my title page last night with a few silly photos of the kids from the evening. I like that my title page showcases a few photos from the last day of 2011. This is my title page:

I am using the Turquoise kits- both the traditional and digital. I am primarily using the traditional elements, but I like having the digital option to print extra papers or cards as needed. The card on the top left is an example of one I put together using the digital elements. I created a 4x6 grid in Photoshop, added digital elements and the year, and then printed it with my printer. I also rounded the corners with the Corner Chomper and then slipped it into my album. Simple and easy! If you are doing a Project Life project I woud love to see your pages. Just leave me a comment so I can check out your blog, Flickr page, etc. Have a great day!

Special Delivery

2011-12-15T09:21:00.000-06:00

Hello, everyone! I am back today with another project. I thought it would be fun to send a special delivery full of goodies so I put together this fun mailbox to hold my treats.

These cashew caramel bars easily fit into the mailbox when cut into squares like these (see recipe at the bottom of the post).

I also put together a candle to match the mailbox.

I wrapped the candle with the diamond patterned paper from the DCWV Doodlin' Around paper stack. Over that I layer a scalloped die (Papertrey Ink), a 1-1/2 circle die (Papertrey Ink) and a snowflake punch (Martha Stewart).

I used the Valentine Mailboxes SVG kit from SVGcuts.com to make the mailbox. I used papers from the DCWV Doodlin' Around paper stack to cover the front and sides. I layered the same die cuts and punches as I did for the candle on the front of the mailbox.

I also stamped a sentiment on the sides from the Hero Arts Holiday Sayings stamp set, Versamark Ink, and Ranger clear embossing powder.

A close up of the front with the snowflake.

Treats in their package getting ready to be delivered.

Caramel Cashew Bars:

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 package caramels
1/3 cup half and half
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup chopped cashews

1. Cream butter and brown sugar.
2. Beat in egg.
3. Mix in flour and oats.
4. Press into 9x13 greased baking pan and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
5. While the crust is baking, combine caramels and half and half in a saucepan.
6. Cook caramels over low heat until melted.
7. Pour over crust.
8. Sprinkle with cashews and chocolate chips.
9. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

I hope you enjoyed todays project. Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Cards 2011

2011-12-10T12:33:00.000-06:00

Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying their day. I already shared one photo of the Christmas cards I sent out this week and I thought I would show you a few more photos of them today. I created these three cards using cutting files from A Little Hut. They come as a box shape so I opened the files in Silhouette Studio and deleted everything except the window shapes. I arranged the shapes on my mat and cut them out so that I would be able to fold the paper in half and create a pocket card that would hold my photos. Very simple and easy cards and I love how they turned out.

We decided to send one nice photo and one silly photo of the kids.

Thanks for stopping by! I will have more projects on my blog next week.

December in Photos

2011-12-09T22:30:00.000-06:00

Hello. I hope everyone is having a good start to the weekend. I just wanted to share a few more photos from this month.

December 6th-

Mindi wanted me to take a picture of her fuzzy toe socks, lol.

We decided it would be fun to play around in front of the tree.

Decmber 7th-
I sent out our Christmas cards.

I created these three cards using cutting files from A Little Hut.

December 8th-
We tried a new recipe.

I saw this recipe for a Mug Cake on Pinterest so Mindi and I tested it out. It was delicious! We are going to have to try all their mug cake recipes.

December 9th-

Mindi's class went to the gift shop today.

Mindi choosing a gift for Jordan.

When all the shopping was done we went back to the classroom to help the kids wrap their presents.

Mindi was very happy with the gifts she chose and her wrapping job.

Thanks for stopping by! I will have another update and new projects posted soon.

Thumbprint Cookies

2011-12-07T09:18:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone. I want to share a fun and yummy project today. I love baking treats for my friends & family and dressing them up in pretty packaging to share.

These thumbprint cookies are so yummy and can be filled with any of your favorite jams. I filled ours with seedless raspberry jam from Smuckers. (See the end of the post for the recipe).

I made this box to package a few goodies.

For the front of the box I used Pimiento Crinkle Wausau Paper and then layed two damask snowflake die cuts (Papertrey Ink). On top of that I layered a punched scalloped circle (Oriental Trading Punch) and a 1 1/2 inch circle die cut (Papertrey Ink). I stamped an image from Papertrey Ink's 2011 Holiday Tags stamp set in Jenni Bowlin Cough Syrup ink.

Cookies all packaged and ready to share. I added a couple of Hershey's Kisses, too. Yum!

A close up of the packaged cookies.

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies:

6 tablespoons butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstartch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
7-1/2 teaspoons of your favorite jam(s)

1. Cream butter and sugar.

2. Beat in oil, vanilla, and butter flavoring.

3. Combine flour, salt, cornstarch, and baking powder and stir into the mixture.

4. Roll into 1 inch balls and place onto a greased or parchment lined baking sheet 2 inches apart.

5. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle or your finger (the kids would love to help with this part) make an indentation in the center of the cookies.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

7. Place on wire racks and fill with 1/4 teaspoon jam of your choice.

I have a few more projects to share so I'll see you soon. Thanks for stopping by.

December Photos

2011-12-06T17:08:00.001-06:00

Hello! We have had a great start to the month and I want to share a few photos. After printing my Christmas card photos I realized I was out of photo paper and couldn't print my my December Daily pictures yet. I have all my photos ready to print so hopefully I will get the chance to run out and pick up more photo paper soon.

December 1st-
We spent the evening at Valley Junction.

Getting ready to ride the horse drawn carriage.

She only wishes this was real, lol.

Santa checking his list in one of the living window displays.

Jordan enjoying her treat from Santa.

Entrance to Valley Junction and all the of beautiful lights.

December 2nd-
We started decorating the house.

Lisa and Jordan helped put the tree together, lol.

Mindi wanted to help with the lights, lol.

Thomas putting ornaments on the tree.

Lisa and Jordan decorating the tree.

Our silly little mindi (I promise you that we decorated more than just our child, lol).

December 3rd-
The kids spent time writing their holiday wish lists.

Jordan writing her list.

Mindi writing her list.

December 4th-
The kids got silly with the Santa hats.

Jordan trying her best not to laugh.

Silly girl.

A pretty smile from Mindi.

Silly girl.

December 5th-

The kids practiced their Christmas songs on the piano.

I love listening to the kids practice their Christmas songs. They do such a good job!

I will be back tomorrow with another holiday project. Thanks for stopping by!

December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Part 3

2011-11-30T17:00:00.000-06:00

Hello. I am back to show you the last few pages of my December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Album. Today we are going to start with Day 17 & Day 18. They each have a small pocket with a journaling tag.

For the front of each pocket I started with paper from the AC Merrymint collection. I layered a scallop circle (Wool Wausau paper & Oriental Trading punch) and a 2" circle (Fiskars punch & Becky Higgins Journaling Cards), and 2 presents cut from the Martha Stewart Gifts Deep Edge punch in Silver Wausau paper.

The tags were cut with my Slice and the Basics 1 cartridge. I also added the numbers to the bottom using the Family Treasures punches.

The pockets are also a flap that opens up to reveal a photo mat and additional space for journaling.

Days 19 and 20 are also pocket pages. Day 19 is the smaller pocket with a journaling tag (Slice and Basics 1 cartridge). The back of the pocket is lined with paper from the Merrymint collection and the front of the pocket is lined with more of the Pimiento Wausau paper. The border is punched from the Wool Wausau paper with the Uppercrest punch from Fiskars. The front is decorated with snowflakes from the Martha Stewart Nordic Snowflake punch.

The small white tag under the border was embossed with Versamark Ink, Clear embossing powder, and the Hero Arts Flourish stamp.

The journaling tag was cut with the Slice and Basics 1 cartridge and Family Treasures punches were used to add the '19th' to the bottom of the tag.

Day 20 is a taller pocket with an insert for photos and journaling. I used more of the Bo Bunny Adlib paper for the photo mat. I also added two tags to the corner (Silver Bells paper, Family Treasure punches, Slice, and Mistletoe cartridge).

Day 21 is another pocket page with two tags for journaling or small photos. I lined the back of the pocket with the Bo Bunny Adlib paper. The front is decorated with the Silver Wausau paper, Martha Stewart Skyland Snowflake Deep Edge punch, and the word family that was cut with my Slice and the Mistletoe cartridge.

The tags were cut with my Slice and Bascis 1 cartridge. On the first tag I punched the '21st' with my Family Treasures punches and on the second one I stamped a sentiment from the Good Cheer stamp set by Ali Edwards in Aspen Mist Ink.

This pocket page is also a flap that opens to reveal the page for Day 22. I used the Pimiento Wausau paper to create a photo mat on the left side of the page.

I decorated the bottom of the page with a die cut from the Spellbinders Labels 4 dies, a 2" circle (Fiskars), and another die cut from the Spellbinders Contemporary Hearts Shapeabilities.

I made the right side of the page into a pocket to hold my journaling tags (Family Treasures punches, Silver Wausau paper, Slice, and Basics 1 cartridge).

The front of the pocket was made with the Martha Stewart Gifts Deep Edge punch. I added paper from Wausau and Echo Park, punched snowflakes, and a sentiment from the Hero Arts Holiday Sayings stamp set in Aspen Mist ink.

Day 23 is a flap with a pocket that opens to the side. The top of the flap is covered in snowflakes from various punches and diecut shapes cut with my Slice.

I added a journaling tag to the pocket made from the Silver Bells Echo Park paper and cut with my Slice and the Basics 1 cartridge.

If you lift the flap you find a photomat (Bo Bunny Adlib paper) and a snowflake element layered with a 2" circle punch (Fiskars) and a die cut from the Spellbinders Contemporary Hearts Die.

Behind the flap is a pocket with a journaling tag (Slice and Basics 1 cartridge) for Day 24. The pocket is lined with paper from the AC Merrymint collection.

Day 25 is the last pocket page with an insert for photos and journaling (Silver Bells paper). I added 2 tags (Silver Bells paper, Family treasures punches, Slice, and Mistletoe cartridge) to the top corner.

The final page for my album is for Day 26. I created another band to go across the page using the Pimiento Wausau paper and the Bo Bunny Adlib paper. I added a die cut snowflake cut from the Silver Wausau paper using my Slice and Mistletoe cartridge.

I also added a small tag with a strip of paper that was accordian folded and held closed with some red Jillbean Soup twine.

Each section of the folded strip can hold a small a small frame die cut from the Quickutz instant photo die if I decide to use them.

This is the final photo of my album showing the last page and the inside of the back cover.

This is my first time putting together a December Daily album. It is also the first year I am doing Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class and thought it would be fun to combine the two projects into one. I had a lot of fun putting this together and I like having all the pocket pages in this album. It will be quick and easy to add photos and journaling to my pages. If you made it through all 3 posts, lol, I hope you enjoyed taking a look through my album. I am also going to leave you with a list of supplies I used in my album. I went through my craftroom and used things I already had in my stash to create my album. Some of them are newer products, but a few were much older products and may be hard to find. The Family Treasures punches I used to add numbers to my tags and pages are ones I have had in my stash for over 10 years!

Supply List:

Patterned Papers-

American Crafts Merrymint Collection

Bo Bunny Adlib Collection

Echo Park Playground Collection

Wausau Creative Collection Papers

Teal Large Dot Paper- Echo Park

Silver Bells Large Dot Paper- Echo Park

Stamps-

Hero Arts Graph stamp

Hero Arts Flourish stamp

Hero Arts Holiday Sayings Stamp Set

AE Good Cheer Stamp Set

AE Life in Pictures Stamp Set

Inks-

VesraMark Ink

Versa Magic Aspen Mist Ink

Embossing Powder-

Ranger Clear Embossing Powder

Twine-

My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Remember When Twine

Jillibean Soup Red Twine

Die Cutting-

Big Shot Express

Papertrey Ink's Banner Builder Dies

Papertrey Ink Mat Stack 4

Spellbinders Labels 4 Die

Spellbinders Contemporary Hearts Shapeabilities

Slice Elite

Slice Mistletoe Cartridge

Slice Basics 1 Cartridge

Slice Basic Elements Cartridge

Slice Noteworthy Cartridge

Punches-

Oriental Trading Scallop Circle Punch

Family Treasure Alphabet & Number Punches

McGill Starburst Punch

Fiskars Uppercrest Border Punch

Fiskars 2" Circle Punch

Fiskars 1" Circle Punch

EK Success Snowflake Edge Punch

EK Success Rudolph Punch

EK Success Flourish Square Punch

Martha Stewart DIY Snowman Punch

Martha Stewart Vintage Ornament Punch

Martha Stewart Aspen Ornament Double Punch

Martha Stewart Gifts Deep Edge Punch

Martha Stewart Skyland Snowflake Deep Edge Punch

Martha Stewart Nordic Snowflake All Over The Page Punch

Other-

Fiskars Crimping Tool

Becky Higgins Grid Journaling Cards

Plan to also use-

Tim Holtz Mini Paperclips

Basic Grey Notch Tool

Quickutz Instant Photo Die

You can also see Parts 1 & 2 by clicking on the links below:

December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Part 1

December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Part 2

Well, that's all I have for today. If you have any questions please leave me a comment. I will be back next week with a few new projects and December Daily Updates. Thanks for stopping by!

December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Album Part 2

2011-11-30T10:00:00.000-06:00

Hello. I am back for part 2 of my December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas album share. I am going to jump right in where we left off with Day 8. I created a simple band to fit across the page to hold photos and tags (Silver Bells Echo Park paper cut with the Slice and Basics 1 cartridge). I used the Martha Stewart Gifts deep edge punch and layered a strip of the Wool Wausau paper and a stamped sentiment (Life in Pictures stamp set by Ali Edwards and Aspen Mist Versa Magic Ink). I also used Family Treasures punches to add the '8th' to the bottom of the page.

Day 9 is another smaller pocket page to hold photos and a journaling tag (cut with the Slice and Basics 1 cartridge). Family Treasures punches were used to add the '9th' to the bottom of the tag. I decorated the front of the pocket starting with paper from the Echo Park Playground collection. I layered a die cut (Contemporary Hearts Spellbinders Shapeabilities) with a scallop circle (Oriental Trading punch) and 2" circle (Fiskars punch) that was stamped with the Hero Arts Graph stamp in Aspen Mist ink. I also used the EK Success Rudolph punch and Wool Wausau paper to make the reindeer. His scarf is the Pimiento Wausau paper punched with the Martha Stewart DIY Snowman punch. For a bit of dimension I used foam dots to adhere the reindeer to the center of the circle.

The page for Day 10 is a taller pocket with an insert for a photo on the front and journaling on the back. I used more of the AC Merrymint collection paper and added 2 tags to the top corner (Silver Bells paper, Slice and Basics 1 cartridge, and Family Treasure punches).

The page for Days 9 and 10 opens to reveal 2 pages for Days 11 and 12.

The page for Day 11 is simply a photo mat (paper from the AC Merrymint collection) with layered embellishments at the bottom. I plan to use more of the Tim Holtz mini paperclips to attach my journaling tags to the top of the page. For the element at the bottom of the page I used Papertrey Ink's Mat stack 4 die and layered a 2" circle (Fiskars punch and Wool Wausau paper). I cut the snowflake using my Slice and the Mistletoe cartridge and adhered it to the circle with foam dots for added dimension. I added the '11th' to the snowflake after punching the Silver Metallic Wausau paper with Family Treasures punches.

The page for Day 12 is a pocket page with a banner across the bottom. I lined the pocket with the Royal Metallics Chalice Silver Wausau paper and added 2 tags for photos or journaling (Silver Bells paper and cut with the Slice and Basics 1 cartridge). For the 4 banner pieces I used Papertrey Ink's Banner Builder Dies and die cut the peices out of Becky Higgins Journaling Cards and Wool Wausau paper. I added snowflakes punched from the Silver Wausau paper. For the tag in the middle of the banner I used my Slice & Mistletoe cartridge and layered a 1" circle (Fiskars punch and Silver Wausau paper) and the '12th' (Family Treasures punches).

The page for Day 13 has a simple band made from the Wool Wausau paper and layered with an EK Success Flourish Square punched shape, snowflakes punched from the Silver Wausau paper and a stamped sentiment from the Good Cheer stamp set by Ali Edwards in Aspen Mist Ink. The two tags are cut with the Slice and Basics 1 cartridge from the Silver Bells Echo Park paper and Silver Wausau paper. I added the '13th' (Family Treasures punches) to the bottom corner of the page.

The page for Day 13 is a flap that lifts up to reveal the page for Day 14.

The page for Day 14 has a pocket for photos and a journaling tag (Family Treasures punches, Slice & Basics 1 cartridge). The back of the pocket is lined with Pimiento Wausau paper and the front was created with Martha Stewart Skyland Snowflake Deep Edge punch. I added a tab to the top of the pocket that was cut from the Silver Bells paper with my Slice and Noteworthy cartridge. The background paper behind the pocket is from the AC Merrymint collection.

This page also has a more interactive feature. I am sure some of you may have noticed the white
tab peeking out in previous photos. That is a pull tab that moves the pocket into an upright position. Eventhough this page is in the middle of the book, it was one of the last pages I created. I wish I had thought of this earlier on in the process and been able to add more pages like this one. This page was really fun to make and I can't wait to make more pages like this in another album.

Day 15 is a pocket page for photos and a journaling tag (Family Treasures punches, Slice & Basics 1 cartridge). The back of the pocket is lined with the Wool Wausau paper and the front is lined with more of the AC Merrymint collection paper. The white die cuts were all cut with my Slice and the Mistletoe & Basics 1 cartridges.

The final page for today, Day 16, is a pocket page with another photo/ journaling insert. I used paper from the Echo Park Playground collection for the photo insert and added two tags to the top corner (Silver Bells paper, Martha Stewart Vintage Ornament punch, Slice, and Mistletoe cartridge.

You can also see Parts 1 & 2 by clicking on the links below:

December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Part 1

December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Part 3

Thank you for joining me for Part 2 of my album. I'll be back with Part 3 tomorrow.

December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Album Part 1

2011-11-29T15:24:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I know we certainly did. Lots of good food and time spent with family always make our holidays great. This week brings a new month and preparations for the next holiday. I have been working on a few projects and have lots to share over the next few weeks. I also finished my December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas album and really like how it turned out. Since I took so many pictures I have decided to break it up into 3 posts this week. Today I am going to start off with the album cover and the first seven pages. I started with 2- 6x9 inch chipboard pieces for the front and back covers and used Silver Bells Large Dot patterned paper from Echo Park and Wool Crinkle paper from Wausau to cover the chipboard pieces. I kept the album cover pretty simple. I decorated the spine of the album with mini snowflake and tree ornaments I found at my local Wal-Mart.

For the front of the cover I started with the half and half die from Papertrey Ink and layered 2 snowflakes (also Papertrey Ink dies), a red scallop circle (punch from Oriental Trading), a 2 inch circle (Fiskars punch), and the number 25 (using my Slice Elite and Noteworthy cartridge). The red and gray papers are the Pimiento and Wool Crinkle papers from Wausau. I really love the look of these textured papers.

A view from the top of the album.

After seeing Kathy Orta's Build- a- Page tutorial I decided I wanted to do something similar and create pages with lots of interaction. I had lots of fun adding flaps and pockets to my album pages. This first picture shows the inside of the album cover and page 1 of the album.

For Day 1 I created this flap using my Tim Holtz Bracket On the Edge die, Wool Crinkle Wausau paper, a scallop circle (Oriental Trading punch), and the number 1 (using my Slice Elite and Noteworthy cartridge). It is hard to see in the picture, but I used my Fiskars tool to create a corrugated look on the scalloped circle. The gray dot paper is from the American Crafts Merrymint collection. The heart is made of two candy canes and cut on the Slice with the Mistletoe cartridge. The word 'together' is also cut on the slice using the Basic Elements cartridge.

The flap opens up to reveal accordain folded papers for photos and journaling. I used the Silver Bells Large Dot paper from Echo Park to added photo mats to a few of the squares and left others blank for journaling.

Behind the flap I created a small pocket to hold photos and journaling tags for Day 2. It is lined with more of the Wausau Pimiento Crinkle paper. The white tag was cut using the Slice and the Basics 1 cartridge. I punched the '2nd' using older punches from Family Treasures and added it to the bottom of the tag.

Behind the smaller pocket is a taller one for Day 3. I made a photo mat using the Silver Bells Large Dot paper from Echo Park and rounded the corners with my WRMK Corner Chomper. I punched a hole in the corner and added a tag (made with the Slice and the Mistletoe cartridge) and an ornament punched from more of the Silver Bells paper (Martha Stewart Vintage Ornament punch). I added the '3rd' to the white tag using the Family treasures punches.

Day 4 is a simple photo mat covered in snowflake punches and die cuts. (Punches are from Martha Stewart, EK Success, and McGill. Die cut snowflakes are from the Mistletoe cartidge and cut on the Slice.) The '4th' is punched (Family Treasures punches) from Royal Metallics Chalice Silver paper from Wausau. I plan to add Tim Holtz mini paperclips to the top of the page to hold my journaling tags.

Day 5 is another pocket to hold tags and photos lined with paper from the AC Merrymint Collection. The tree tag is cut with the Mistletoe cartridge and the gray tag (Wausau Wool Crinkle paper) is cut using the Basics 1 cartridge and the Slice. I used the Martha Stewart Gifts Deep Edge punch to create the pocket at the bottom of the page. I layered more of the Wausau paper, punched snowflakes, and a stamped sentiment from the Hero Arts Holiday Sayings stamp set and Versa Magic Aspen Mist ink.

The Day 5 pocket is also a flap that lifts up to reveal another pocket for Day 6. I made a photo mat using paper from the Bo Bunny Adlib collection and added a journaling tag with punched pieces from the Family Treasures punches. The inside of the pocket is lined with the Wool Crinkle Wausau paper and the outside is lined with paper from the AC Merrymint collection. I decorated the front of the pocket with the Papertrey Ink Mat Stack 4 die and the Martha Stewart all over the page Nordic Snowflake punch.

Is everyone still with me, lol? We have our final page for today. Day 7 is another taller pocket created behind the Day 5 flap. The photomat was made with the Wool Wausau paper and the candle was diecut from the Slice Mistletoe cartridge. I also added two more tags to the corner using the Slice Mistletoe cartridge, Silver Bells paper, and Family Treasures punches.

You can also see Parts 2 & 3 by clicking on the links below:

December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Part 2

December Daily/ Journal Your Christmas Part 3

If you made it to the end of today's post- Thank You! I hope you enjoyed part 1 of my album. I will be back tomorrow with a few more pages. Thanks for stopping by!

2011-11-20T21:20:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Ours was busy and productive as we are getting ready to celebrate the upcoming holiday this week. Today I wanted to share a few cards I made and haven't had a chance to share. For the first set of cards I used the Tim Holtz On the Edge Bracket die to diecut the front of the cards. I used papers from American Crafts and added a sentiment from the Hero Arts Everyday Sayings stamp set with Colorbox Chestnut Roan ink.

A close up of each card:

For the second set of cards I stamped the card front using the woodgrain stamp from Hero arts with Versamark ink. I used the Fiskars scallop edge punch to create the border and added papers from the Songbird DCWV paper stack. So simple and fun!

A close up of each card:

I have a few other things to share after the holidays including my December Daily album. This is the first year I have made a December Daily album and I am looking forward to working on it next month. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving this week! Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Mini Album

2011-10-27T21:33:00.000-05:00

I want to share the Halloween mini album that I have been working on this week. Most of the products used in this album are from the We R Memory Keepers Spookville Collection. I love the colors and patterns in this collection. It was a lot of fun to work with. Here is my album:

This album turned out to be bigger than I anticipated, lol. I used 2.5 inch book rings and those don't seem quite big enough, but it will have to do for now.

The cover is 6 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches and I kept it pretty simple. I used two of the Spellbinders Labels Four dies and then layered the Spookville sticker on top. I covered the back of a smaller sticker and added it to the title sticker like a dangling charms.

Page 1 of my mini- all of the papers and the pumpkin sticker are from the Spookville collection. I used a scallop punch from Oriental Trading and the 2" fikars circle punch to mat the pumpkin sticker.

The flap on this page opens to reveal a photo mat.

My album has 4 pages of this size and 4 pages that are about half of this size. Each of the 4 larger pages has a pocket at the top that holds a photo mat and a pocket on the side that can be used for additional photos or journaling. I am just going to use the first page to share these details so I don't have to bore you with extra photos of each of these pages, lol.

Pages 2 and 3 of my mini- all of the papers and tags are from the Spookville collection. On the 2nd page I created a band with the Martha Stewart Iron Fence punch to hold a few tags and photos. Page 3 is one of the smaller pages and was created as a pocket to hold a larger tag for photos or journaling (sorry, it is hard to see in this picture since it is a white tag against a white background). I embellished it with a smaller tag and a key from Martha Stewart.

A closeup of the tag and key.

Page 4 and 5- papers are from the Spookville Collection. On page 4 I created a pocket using the Martha Stewart Iron Fence punch for tags and photos. The ghost tag and October sticker are also from the Spookville collection. The ticket behind the ghost tag is from Little Yellow Bicycle.

Page 5 has two flaps that open and reveal a space for photos. I used 2 of the Tim Holtz silver hitch fasteners as handles to open the flaps.

The 6th and 7th pages of the mini. Page 6 has a banner sticker from the Spookville collection with space at the top for a photo. This page also has an additional pocket that I am planning on adding photobooth strips of the kids that I hope to take with my iPad. Page 7 is another smaller pocket page with a large tag. I turned one of the chipboard stickers into a tag and added a Making Memories charm.

A closeup of the tag and charm.

Pages 8 amd 9. I made a 3 1/4 inch rosette and layered it with a scalloped circle punch from Oriental Trading and a 2 inch punched circle from Fiskars. The tree sticker is from the Spookville collection. The 9th page has another pocket made with the Martha Stewart iron fence punch for tags and photos.

A closeup of the layered rosette.

Pages 10 and 11. I kept this album simple and consistent. On page 10 we have another band made from the iron punch and Spookville papers to hold more tags and photos. Page 11 is another smaller pocket with the large tag. I added another chipboard sticker and Martha Stewart key. I am not usually a big fan of purple, but I like the addition of it the album. I know my three girls are loving it, lol.

Pages 12 and 13. Page 12 has another pocket made with the iron fence punch and sticker from the Spookville collection. The green journaling tag is from the Spookville collection and the ticket is from Little Yellow Bicycle. Page 13 has 2 smaller pockets with tags that serve as embellishment. I love the cute little calendar sticker from this collection. The arrow points to the 30th because that is the night kids do their trick or treating in our area.

A closeup of page 13.

Pages 14 and 15- almost finished, lol. Is anyone still with me, lol? For page 14 I cut the shape from one of the journaling cards and added chipboard number stickers also from the Spookville collection. I left space at the top for another photo. This page also has another pocket that I plan to use for more photobooth strips. Page 15 is the last smaller pocket page. I used a chipboard tag and another Making Memories charm to embellish the larger tag.

Page 16- the last page. Finally, lol! This page is embellished with another 3 1/4 inch rosette layered with the same scallop and 2 inch punches. The pumpkin sticker is another piece from the Spookville collection.

A closeup of the rosette embellishment.

If you made it this far thank you and I hope you enjoyed my mini. I am still working on my December Daily album. I think I finally figured out how I want to embellish the cover of the album. Hopefully I will have time to finish it this week. We have lots going on in the next few days with school parties and Beggar's Night. Have a Happy Halloween and thanks for stopping by!

Jordan & the Monkey Hat

2011-10-22T19:21:00.000-05:00

I just popped in to share a few photos of my daughter that made me smile. Jordan is usally so quiet and shy, but she can be so silly and goofy sometimes and I love that about her. She chose this monkey hat for Winter and it brought out the sillies in her and a photo opportunity for me, lol.

I love having fun with my kiddos and playing photographer at the same time. If these made you laugh or smile as much as they did for me, you can see more photos (oh yes, there are more, lol) on my Flickr or Facebook:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/christinaheeren/

http://www.facebook.com/christina.heeren

I have been working on a Halloween mini album and had to wait for my Two Peas order to come in so I could finish it. I just got it this afternoon and can't wait to get working on my mini again. I also just finished up with Spawn of a True Scrap and I am on inspiration overload, lol. I hope everyone is having a wonderfully scrappy weekend, too. Thanks for stopping by!

More Layout Shares.....

2011-10-14T16:17:00.001-05:00

I have two layouts to share today. I just love these photos of my daughter in this first layout. She loves her bubbles, lol. For this layout I used the Season collection by Crate Paper.

The butterfly punches are Martha Stewart and Family Treasures. I punched the butterflies from various patterned papers in the collection and some plain white paper that was Glimmer misted with the turquoise blue color.

The stamps are all from the Life Defined set by Art Warehouse. I love the definition and sentiments in this set.

The photos in this layout were from a trip we made to the Rockford Fossil Park in northern Iowa. It started raining in the middle of our day so my husband and I decided to take a break and have the kids eat lunch. My girls had a different idea and decided to dance in the rain, lol. I also used the Season collection by Crate Paper for this layout.

I just love the bright fun colors and patterns from this collection.

The tiny cloud on the left is a actually a tab that pulls out and holds my journaling.

The butterfly shapes are Martha Stewart punches.

I love the sticker sheet that came with this collection. I used pop dots with the I love you sticker for a bit more dimention.

I hope you enjoyed my layout shares for today. I have also been working on my December Daily album and I just have to finish embellishing the front cover. I had a lot of fun making this album and I can't wait to share it. Have a great weekend!

Zoo Layout

2011-10-08T21:42:00.000-05:00

This is the first of three layouts I found while setting up my scrap room in our new house. I made this layout about a year ago at a Scrapping for Soldiers crop I attended, but didn't get to share before we started working on and moving into our new house. So that this post doesn't get too photo heavy I will post the other layouts and cards later this week. The photos on this layout are from a trip we made to the El Paso Zoo while visiting my sister and her family in Texas last summer. I used the Sassafras Bungle Jungle paper stack for this layout.

I used my Slice and the Basics 1 card to cut the title. I hand cut the cute little animals from the Sassafrass papers to add to my title.

I used the patterned paper to create pockets so I could have a place to store inserts with additional photos on both sides of the layout. I used my Slice and Basics 1 card to make the tabs for the inserts.

Each side has two inserts for photos and a pocket for journaling tags. These are the inserts for the right side. The tags on this side are for me to journal the details of our day.

These are the photo inserts for the left side. The pocket on this side contains journaling tags so that my kids can add details from the day. I love being able to include a bit of the day from their perspective.

I will be back later this week with the other two layouts and maybe a few cards I made at the crop, too. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Layout Share

2011-09-27T13:43:00.012-05:00

I had a lot of fun playing in my new craft room this weekend. My girls joined me and I probably spent more time helping or pulling out supplies for them than I did on my own creations, lol, but it was just what we needed. I want to share the layout I created for the heat embossed and resisted technique drill from Nichol Magouirk at the Ella Publishing Boot Camp 2011. I have used this technique on cards and tags before, but this is the first time I have used it on a layout. I love how it turned out and can't wait to use this technique on another layout. Here is my layout:

Here are a few close ups so you can see more of the details:

Supplies: I used stamps from Hero Arts and Studio AE, Echo Park patterned paper, punches from Fiskars and Martha Stewart, a Becky Higgins journaling card, buttons from Basic Grey and Autumn Leaves, Paper Studio vellum, and the inks I used are from Ranger, Jenni Bowlin, and Stampin Up.

When I was unpacking and organizing my craft room I also came across a couple of layouts and cards I made at the Scrapping for Soldiers crop last year. I don't think I shared any of those so they are next on the list of things to share on my blog. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my layout. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Playtime

2011-09-24T21:12:00.003-05:00

We got moved into our new house last month and my craftroom is almost finished. Just a few more things to organize and find homes for, but it is set up enough for me to finally have some playtime, lol. I have been participating in the Boot Camp Class at Ella Publishing.

Today I had some time to work on a layout incorporating a couple of the drills from Nichol Magouirk. Hopefully in the next couple of days I will have a chance to photograph and upload it so I can have something new to share on my poor neglected blog, lol. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Project 365- Week 2

2011-01-15T13:15:00.011-06:00

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I am sharing my 365 pictures from this week.

Thomas has a book talk project every six weeks in his Language Arts class. They have to make bookmarks, movies posters, etc. This time he made a book jacket. The back cover and inside flaps have a summary, criticisms of the book, etc. The front cover has to be decorated. He used my Silhouette machine for everything except for the cliff.

We put a new floor in my craftroom today. Doug broke one of his hammers and Mindi was not happy about it so she grabbed some duct tape and put it back together, lol. She was so proud of herself.

My husband took me to Michaels as part of my birthday. I found these cute stamps (and lots of other goodies, lol) and can't wait to play with them.

This is how much snow is on top of my picnic table outside my back door. They are saying we have actually gotten just over 7 inches since yesterday and it is still snowing so we are going to get a bit more. It turned out to be a very interesting morning for us, lol. Des Moines Public Schools don't often close for weather like this so my husband took my oldest son to Brody as usual. I received a text message from our local news station saying our schools had closed so I checked their website to confirm the closing. I called my husband to let him know and he went inside to get Thomas. The teachers said they hadn't heard from downtown and this didn't sound right so he waited their in case he needed to bring Thomas home. I checked KCCI's website again and the closing listing for our schools was gone. I talked with a friend and we decided we should get the other kids to schools since it seemed to be a mistake. By this time my other daughter was going to be late to Gateway. I told them to grab their coats so we could get the 2 youngest to Park Avenue on time. My husband calls back and tells me the principal said that KCCI had make a mistake in the closing and he is heading back to get Jordan. We walked through all the snow and got the youngest 2 to school on time ( thank goodness we only live a block away from the elementary school) and met my husband at Park Avenue so he could get Jordan and drop her off on his way to work. She was late, but the schools aren't counting kids as tardy due to the mix up. Never a dull day around here, lol.

Jordan keeps making these "snugglies", lol. Squishable, lovable, funky, and fun, lol.

Mindi is working on timelines at school and next week they will work on a timeline about their life. We had to find a picture to represent each year of her life. She chose birthday photos. We decided it would be fun to take a picture of her holding the photos she chose to represent the first 8 years of her life.

Mindi had a playdate with her friend Morgan. They painted canvas, crafted, played on the Wii, and ate chocolate. It was a fun afternoon.

Stay warm and have a great day!

Project 365- Week 1

2011-01-07T21:42:00.010-06:00

I started a new project 365 this week. I am using Becky Higgins Project Life kit to organize and document 2011. I thought I would share my first week of photos.

1-1-11: My kids were so cute and wrote out their 2011 resolutions. I loved watching them set personal goals for the new year. Even if some of them are hilarious and a bit unrealistic, lol.

1-2-11: We found the time to do a little work on the house we bought. Doug and I love spending time together making a home for our family.

1-3-11: It was the first day back to school after a wonder Winter Break. Getting back to our Monday routine with homework, piano lessons, and dance for the girls.

1-4-11: The kids got fake spills in their Christmas stockings this year. They keep leaving them around the house hoping to trick me, lol.

1-5-11: All my kids love to read and they make this a daily part of their nightly routine.

1-6-11: Mindi had a pajama party at school Thursday. They had popcorn, movies, and lots of fun. This is a picture of the pajamas and slippers she wore.

1-7-11: Thomas shows off his haircut, his love of apples, and his goofy personality all in one, lol.

I am hoping to update my blog once a week, but I am also keeping track of my photos at Shuttercal and 365project.org. I can't wait to see what everyone else photographs this year. Have a great weekend!

Holiday Projects

2010-12-30T15:12:00.010-06:00

I know the holidays are pretty much over, but I had a few small projects I forgot to share earlier this month. I had a set of holiday tags that were a guest project in the 20 Days of Holiday Sharing event at Two Peas in a Bucket:

You can find instructions on how I created these here: Holiday Tags. I also created a couple of cards this month.

To make the top card I used American Crafts Embossing Powder, Crate Papers, a Studio G Stamp, and a Martha Stewart Punch (snowflake). For the Second card I used American Crafts Thickers, a Martha Stewart Punch (snowflake), and Fiskars Upper Crest Punch.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Have a great week and a wonderful New Year!

Natural Beauty

2010-07-31T11:23:00.016-05:00

Just wanted to share a few of my favorite photos I captured of my daughter, Jordan. We did a couple of mini photo shoots at Moffitt this month and had a lot of fun. Jordan is so beautiful and easy going and she loves to be in front of the camera. I played around with a couple of textures from Lostandtaken.com and from Seoulwoman on Flickr on a few of my photos.

You can see more photos on my Flickr page. Have a great weekend!

Happy Holidays Card and Gift Bag

2009-12-24T17:07:00.007-06:00

It's been a busy day at my house. Lots of preparations for tomorrow- baked goods for breakfast, cookies & pies for dessert, veggie/cheese/snack trays made, punch for the drink fountain, and as many dinner preparations as could be done. Memory cards & camera batteries are ready, presents are wrapped, and stockings are filled. We just have to leave some cookies for Santa and wait for the kiddos to go to bed so we can put the rest of the presents and stockings under the tree. While I am waiting I thought I would share this matching bag and easel card set:

I used paper from the My Mind's Eye Wonderful Winter Holiday paper collection, Recollections stamp, Ranger embossing powder. I found the gift bag at Hobby Lobby. Here is a closer look at the bag:

I had a lot of fun putting this easel card together. Here is a closeup of the card:

Thanks for stopping by! Have a Happy Holiday!

Tis the Season

2009-12-21T07:41:00.002-06:00

Just stopping by real quick this morning to share a new card. I love the American Crafts holiday collections. I cut these cute little houses out and popped them up with some EK Success dimentional adhesive for this card:

I also used Quickutz dies to make the card base and the red frame, Heide Grace Holiday Sampler stamp set, Versa Mark ink, and Ranger embossing powder.

The kids and I are going to be working on some holiday crafts this morning and after lunch I will help them wrap their gift for each other. My husband and I still have a bit of gift wrapping to finish also. I can't believe Christmas is just a few days away! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Gift Tags

2009-12-18T12:18:00.002-06:00

I created a couple of gift tags to share today. I love all the papers in the My Mind's Eye Wonderful Winter Holiday collection. So cute! Here are the tags:

I also used a Dress It Up snowflake button, Offray ribbon, McGill punches & the Slice machine, EK Success dimentional adhesive, and the We R Memory Keepers corner chomper to round the corners.

Today is the kids last day of school before their Winter Break begins. I am looking forward to lots of time with the kiddos crafting, baking, and relaxing next week. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Pocket Cards

2009-12-16T15:31:00.006-06:00

I decided to play along with the Hero Arts "giving cards" challenge this week and I had a lot of fun making a few pocket cards. This was my first Hero Arts challenge and I will definately have to participate more often. Here are the three cards I created:

The front of the card is a decorated pocket with a removable tag that I can use to attach a gift card and I will write a personal message on the inside of the card. Here is a closer look at each card:

For this card I used Hero Arts reindeer and be merry stamps and American Crafts embossing powders. The blue glitter cardstock is DCWV and the ribbon is Offray.

For the second card I used the Celebrate the Season stamp from Hero Arts with more American crafts embossing powder. The blue glitter cardstock is from DCWV, the patterned paper is from American Crafts, and the ribbon is Offray.

For the last card I used a Merry Christmas stamp from Hero Arts and American Crafts embossing powder. The patterned paper is American Crafts, the red cardstock is from Bazzill, and the ribbon is Offray. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Joy

2009-12-10T15:09:00.003-06:00

We got another snow day so no school for the kiddos again. I managed to shovel our front and back sidewalk earlier this afternoon and we can finally get out of the driveway, lol. I just wanted to share a couple of cards this afternoon:

These cards were super simple to put together. I used more paper from the Christmas Magic line from Fancy Pants, ribbon from Offray, and my We R Memory Keepers corner chomper to round the bottom corners. Stay warm and have a great day!

Have a Jolly Christmas

2009-12-09T16:19:00.002-06:00

We had 15 inches of snow by this morning and school was cancelled. Temperatures with windchills are -16 degrees right now. Brrrrr! We stayed home today and stayed warm. I popped in today to share this card:

All stamps are from Hero Arts, ink is Versa Mark, white embossing power is from Ranger, and the patterned paper is from the the Christmas Magic line by Fancy Pants. Stay warm and thanks for stopping by!

Happy Holidays

2009-12-08T12:36:00.004-06:00

The snow is falling and school is letting out 90 minutes early today. The kids are excited to play in all the snow after school and building snowmen. I would be more content staying warm in my craftroom making cards with snowmen on them, lol. The card I made for today uses some cute Dress It Up buttons for the snowman and snowflakes:

I also used KI Memories ribbon, Happy Holidays stamp from Recollections, and white embossing powder from Ranger. I also rounded the bottom corners with my We R Memory Keepers corner chomper.

I'll be heading out to get the kiddos from school in a bit and then my afternoon will be spent dodging snowballs and drinking cocoa. The joys of Winter, lol. Stay warm and safe and thanks for stopping by!

Joy

2009-12-07T14:03:00.004-06:00

We got our first bit of snow last night, just a couple of inches, but now we are looking at getting another 7 to 12 inches by Wednesday. The kids are very excited, but I can do without that much snow, lol.

I made another holiday card for today. The papers in the My Mind's Eye Wonderful Winter Holiday paper collection are so pretty. I love the colors they chose for these papers. I used three different papers in the collection for this card:

I also used the Heidi Grace Holiday Sampler stamp set, Ranger embossing powder, Offray ribbon, and Pressed Petals chipboard letters. I also used the We R Memory Keepers corner chomper on the bottom corners.

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm today. Thanks for stopping by!

Season's Greetings

2009-12-04T11:33:00.003-06:00

The Winter season is definately greeting us this week. It's another chilly day in Iowa and I thought these cute stamps would be perfect for today's card. I just love the Winter Shapes stamp set from Inkadinkadoo.

I made these two cards in different sizes. I like to make smaller ones that fit easily into my children's lunchboxes. They love to receive surprise notes like this. The smaller card could also be used as a tag on a gift. I used Marvy Uchida punches to make the scalloped circles, the white embossing powder is from Ranger, and the pattern papers are from the Christmas Magic line by Fancy Pants. I also used my corner chomper by We R Memory Keepers to round the corners on both cards. Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrate the Season

2009-12-03T16:32:00.002-06:00

I just love this reindeer punch (EK Success) that I used on today's card:

He is just too cute! The ornament border and scarf are Martha Stewart punches. The Celebrate the Season stamp is from Hero Arts and the white embossing powder is from Ranger.

It's finally starting to get colder here in Iowa and today we even had a few flurries. I want my Spring like temperatures back, lol. Stay warm and thanks for stopping by!

Seasons Greetings

2009-12-02T11:42:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to share another simple card today. I love the chipboard shapes from Little Yellow Bicycle and I used the reindeer on this card:

I also used a stamp for the greeting and more white embossing powder. Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Cards

2009-12-01T13:31:00.003-06:00

I've had some time to play in my craftroom and I have been making a few holiday cards and projects I will be sharing on my blog. Today I am sharing a couple of very simple cards I made with a few holidays stamps and embossing powder. These are the three stamps ( by Recollections) I used on the cards:

I found these stamps at Michaels in their $1.00 stamp bins. There are other designs and I think I bought 19 stamps that day. They are so cute and I just couldn't resist them, lol. Here are the cards I made:

I simply stamped my images and used clear and white embossing powders from Ranger. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Worldwide Photo Walk

2009-07-23T08:47:00.009-05:00

I was able to participate in Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk this past weekend. I had a great time & photographed a few new areas of Downtown Des Moines. There were two walks- an AM & a PM- and I participated in both. I have sorted & processed the photos from the AM walk and thought I would share a few of those.

The rest of my photos from the Des Moines AM walk can be seen on Flickr.

2009-05-26T16:45:00.002-05:00

Just having a little fun with my photos at PhotoFunia:

http://i44.tinypic.com/2irqi5g.jpg

Crazy Busy

2009-05-15T10:21:00.001-05:00

It's been a crazy busy two months and I just haven't had the time to post to my blogs. I have been updating my facebook page-it's just been easier. These next couple of weeks should slow down a bit before the end of school & production week at dance. I am looking forward to summer and having some time off with my kiddos.

I have been keeping up with my Project 365, but I haven't had time to post those photos yet. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks I will have a chance to get those posted.

Have a great weekend!

Saturday With The Kids

2009-02-28T19:08:00.004-06:00

I got to spend today just relaxing and enjoying time with the kids. We worked on some wooden puzzles I found at Michaels last week. The seahorse puzzle was for Mindi. She had a bit of trouble getting the smaller pieces into the bigger ones and had to have help from mom.
Lisa did very well putting her puzzle together, but hers was pretty easy compared to the other three.

Jordan also did well with hers. I only had to help her tighten up a few pieces so they would stay together.

Thomas' wasn't as hard to put together as it looks. It just took lots of time to assemble it with all the little pieces. They were very pleased with the reults and have them proudly displayed in their bedrooms.

Tomorrow Jordan and I are going to spend the afternoon at the Art Center. She was sick earlier this week when her class went there on a field trip. She is very excited and can't wait.

Have a great weekend!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2009-02-21T17:07:00.005-06:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here. Here's a quick rundown of events (warning: photo heavy).

Lisa celebrated her 9th birthday. She is looking so grown up, I can't believe she's 9 already. Where does the time go!?! Until the end of March Lisa & Jordan are both 9 (they are 10 months apart). When they were younger (and before Jordan had a growth spurt) they used to pretend to be twins. I am glad they enjoy being so close together in age.
The girls had their Valentine's parties at school the Friday before Valentine's Day. Mindi with her lion she made at the party.

Jordan enjoying treats at her party.

Artwork courtesy of Jordan used to help decorate her room for the party.

3 of my beautiful Valentine's.

Thomas and Lisa performed at the Des Moines Public Schools Piano Festival on Valentine's Day. They each played scales and one song. Thomas played Pumpkin Boogie & Lisa played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

All four kids after Thomas' perforance. We had over an hour between their performances.

This is Thomas' ribbon. He earned a I, which rated his performance as excellent. Becuase Lisa is still an elementary school student, she is not graded, but a judge makes notes about her performance & she received a purple ribbon for playing at the festival. Both Thomas and Lisa played wonderfully. We are very proud of them!

My husband bought me the Epson R1900 wide format printer. Photos print beautifully and I also love that I can easily add computer jornaling to my larger 12 x 12 scrapbook pages.

Thursday, Jordan's 4th grade class went ot the Civic Center to see The Phantom Tollbooth. I was fortunate enough to attend as one of the chaperones. A wonderful performance, the kids really seemed to enjoy it.

Hopefully things will start to slow down for a bit and can get some scrapbooking pages done. I went to Archiver's yesterday and I just loved all the new products and sales they had. I picked up some fuzzy chipboard letters, some great stamp sets, & bind it all coils- all on sale- can't beat that! I also picked up one of the new BoBunny Edgy albums and a few of their new papers- I can't wait to put together a cute little album with all these fun new things!

2009-02-14T22:54:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your day was as wonderful as mine!

Play-Doh Fun

2009-02-04T18:43:00.006-06:00

The kids had an early out day, so after school we dragged out our box of Play Doh & clay tools and had lots of fun being creative.

Lisa loves her teddy bears.
Separating her cutouts.

Adding a decorative edge to her creation.

Working on a beach scene.

Applying hair to her bear.
Jordan's bear with hair.

Creating toast, cookies, starwberries, etc. She must have been hungry, lol.

Happy Bear & New Layouts.

2009-01-31T13:45:00.006-06:00

It's been busy around here, especially the past few days with three sick girls. They are starting to feel a bit better so I thought I would share a few layouts and photos today.

My first layout of Thomas uses Basic Grey papers & buttons, Ranger clear embossing powder, Versamark clear ink, and Autumn Leaves alphabet stamps. I love using neutral cardstock colors and adding colorful embellishments.
This next layout of Mindi uses the same clear ink and embossing powder, a few chipboard letters and thread. I like the way the black & white elements look with my color photos.

This last layout has more photos of my son, Thomas. I started with a Pink Paislee background and added Making Memories chipboard arrows, & Autumn Leaves File folder & alphabet stamps. These are photos I took on the first day of school. The file folder holds a copy of his class schedule.

Yesterday, I went to the kids school to dress up as Happy Bear for the Kindergarteners. It's so fun to see their faces light up with excitement! This was the second class I have worked with and there is one more to go in March. My friend used my camera to take the first pic of me dressed as Happy Bear. The second one was an attempt by me to get another shot of myself in the mirror.

Have a great weekend!

It's Cold Outside, Baby!

2009-01-15T14:50:00.005-06:00

I can't believe how cold it is today. When I checked the weather this morning just before 9a.m., it was -16 degrees and with the windchill it was -37. Brrrr! They even cancelled school because of the extreme temperatures. Temperatures Des Moines hasn't seen in 12 years. One of our local news stations, KCCI, did a story on the frigid weather. My poor husband had to go to work, but the kids and I stayed indoors to keep warm. My kids have been wishing it was warm enough to go to the beach today, lol. I wish it was, too. My youngest daughter collects sea shells, sand dollars, etc., and wanted me to take a picture of the newest addition to her collection. I played around with my macro lens and took this photo of the front of her sand dollar.

This is definately the closest we will get to a beach today, lol. Have a great day and stay warm.

Polaroid Generator

2009-01-14T14:12:00.004-06:00

I love the look of photos taken by polaroid cameras. It's too bad that production of this film will stop this year and has already disappeared from store shelves. While searching for a way to digitally achieve this effect I came across a Photoshop action created by rawimage on deviantART. You can find it here. I played around with a couple of my photos and this is what I came up with.

I'm not sure how much detail can be seen in these photos, but I really like the effect this action created. I downloaded a couple of other actions, also by rawimage, and can't wait to play with those as well.

35 Today

2009-01-08T20:29:00.002-06:00

I had a great birthday today. I went to lunch with my sister and husband and then we did a little shopping at Target. We found a Fly Fusion pen on clearance for a great price. Thomas has really been wanting one of these. We also found these carpet skates- I had no idea they made such things. These were definately the highlight of our day. The kids just loved them and couldn't wait for their turn. I even managed to sneak in a couple of turns and must admit it was fun.

Jordan is at her dance class right now (hubby took her and gave me the night off-yeah) and they are bringing me Chinese for dinner afterwards. My husband has the next 4 days off work and I am looking forward to spending more fun time with the family. Couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

Studio Calico Kit

2009-01-07T18:29:00.002-06:00

I purchased my first Studio Calico and received it in the mail today! I just love the way they package everything.
This is the main kit, Bibliography, but I also have the Glossary add on kit and the library card stamp. I can't wait to get a few layouts made with it.

Back To School

2009-01-05T20:31:00.004-06:00

It's back to school for the kiddos today. I already miss them and the house is just too quiet. I really enjoyed having them home for the last two weeks.

I started a separate blog for my project 365. You can check it out here: Project 365

A New Year & Project 365

2009-01-02T13:45:00.008-06:00

Welcome 2009! I can't believe another year has come and gone. All four kids stayed awake until midnight to welcome the new year. A first for any of them. Yesterday they celebrated the new year with hats and noisemakers. Very, very loud noisemakers, lol.

I started a 365 project yesterday and finally decided what I want to do with the photos. I am going to use an Atc holder to organize and display my photos. Actually I will probably use two in order to hold all the photos from this year. I am going to keep them displayed downstairs in my living room. Not only will it be fun for our family & friends to get a glimpse into our daily lives, but it will also serve as a reminder to myself to take a photo each day.

I used 7 Gypsies ATC pockets to stamp the name of each month. They will serve to hold extra jornaling or memorabilia. I also added a few transparencies and tab dividers. I used tab dividers with the letters J, L, M, & T- the initials of my children's first names. I will use these to feature each of them on their birthdays. I will add my photos, cards with journaling, and maybe a few embellishments. Simple and easy.

I also plan on starting a blog to go along with my 365 project. Realistically, I don't think I will be able to post a new photo everyday. I will probably upload my photos from each week on the weekends, most likely Saturdays.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:49:00.001-06:00

Wishing everyone the best in the coming year! Have a great holiday!

Links and a Layout

2008-12-30T09:25:00.005-06:00

Have you seen Rhonna Farrer's new blog? She is hosting a very generous giveaway- 209 of her kits/fonts! Be sure to stop by and check it out.

I'm sure those of you who have already seen the January CK magazine have seen the link to Wordle.net. For those of you who haven't you definitely check this website out. You type in a set of words and it generates a "word cloud" that you can print or save to the gallery. You can play the layout of the words, change the colors, etc. I had a lot of fun playing around with this tools and can't wait to use one of these on my layout.

I also have a layout to share. It's very simple- I used License Plate alphabet stamps from Autumn Leaves, Versamark Ink, Ranger Embossing Powder, and Little Yellow Bicycle embellies. I tucked my journaling under the photo and kept the layout design simple. I took this photo of my son in the Fall, shortly after he received a new skateboard for his 11th birthday.
Lastly, I will leave you with this photo of Mindi. She and Lisa decided to play dress up yesterday and all she wanted to be was a princess. I love having my kiddos home and watching them play and just enjoy being kids.

Ice Storm

2008-12-29T09:56:00.013-06:00

Saturday morning we woke up to find 1/4 inch of ice covering everything. Ugh, what happened to the 50 degree temperatures we had Friday? I took pictures in my backyard and decided to share a few.

This is a little twig sticking through the boards of our picnic table.
A layer of ice covering the rails of our back porch.

Icicles forming on the back porch.

Blades of grass covered in ice.

A bit of Fall covered in Winter's storm.

Tree buds covered in ice.

Branches from our pine trees sagging from the weight of the ice.

Ice forming on the pine needles.

This may be a little hard to see, but it is a picture of the grass covered in ice.

The frozen windshield wiper on my husbands truck.

A sheet of ice completely covered my husband's truck.

I hope everyone had a safe and warm weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

This Week in Pictures

2008-12-27T11:33:00.017-06:00

I hope everyone had a good holiday. It has been a fun and busy week around here so I thought I would share a bit of our week.

Last Friday we played with our chocolate fountain. The kids had a good time dipping cookies, marshmellows, pretzels, and even a few vegetables (Yuck!).
Apparently chocolate covered radishes don't taste very good!
Last Sunday I caught another cold and wasn't feeling well. The kids decided to entertain me with their tricks, lol! This is Mindi and her balancing act.

Even our cats got into the spirit of things. This is Cody in his Santa costume. Both cats put them on willingly (surprise, surprise), but Stormy wouldn't sit still while wearing his.

This is Jordan hard at work wrapping the gift she bought for Dad at the school gift shop. They love buying and wrapping presents for everyone, but with four kids it takes forever helping them get everything wrapped.We spent the day before christmas baking lots of goodies. Lisa was a great helper.

All the kids wanted to take turns pouring ingredients into the mixer.

We also made Truffles. This was Mindi's favorite part. Yum! Yum!

Thomas opening one of his gifts on Christmas morning. He was one happy boy!

Lisa was pretty happy with her gifts, too.

Yesterday we decided to play outside in the snow after lunch. It got up to 54 degrees and most of the snow melted by late afternoon. Our timing was great- there was still plenty of snow to play in and the temperature was perfect. Mindi and the others wore their gloves, scarves, and jackets.

It feels like Spring, Mom!

The kids built a small snow fort with chunks of hard snow they dug up.

This my youngest sister Alice with me. She is the youngest and I am the oldest of the 8 kids in our family. She was born 2 months before my 18th birthday (her b-day is November 8th and mine is January 8th). It's hard to believe she is all grown up now!

Well this post is getting pretty long so I will end it here. Have a great weekend!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T16:56:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their Holiday! It has been great spending time with my family. I will try to post some photos tomorrow. Merry Christmas!

I Elfed My Kids!

2008-12-20T10:16:00.001-06:00

I couldn't resist, lol! I chose different expressions for each kid. These are the faces I think they would make if I really made them dress up like elves and dance around. Ha! Ha!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Hello Winter!

2008-12-19T11:00:00.006-06:00

Hello, I hope everyone is having a good holiday. The kids get an extra day of Winter Break. Des moines schools (and most schools statewide) are closed due to the storm that brought freezing rain, sleet, and snow to Iowa last night. Northern Iowa got almost a foot of snow and the south had over a half inch of ice. Those of us that live in Central Iowa got a combination of both. Ugh! Sleet pounded on the windows most of the night before turing to snow. We woke up to frozen car windshields to scrape and several inches of snow to plow. Hello Winter!!

We are spending the day indoors playing dress up and making tasty treats with our chocolate fountain. Stay safe and warm!

2008-12-16T10:48:00.003-06:00

Hi! Just wanted to share a card I made this morning. Patterned paper is Making Memories and stamps are Hero Arts and Studio G.

I can't wait for the kids to start winter break next week. I love getting to spend that time with my kiddos. We have lots of fun activities planned and the kids are very excited. I hope everyone is having a great holiday season, too. Have a wonderful day!

2008-12-12T16:51:00.004-06:00

Just sharing a quick post with a couple things I worked on today.

These are pictures of Mindi from last Christmas. I used Basic Grey paper and buttons. I'm not sure who makes the "memories" accent.

I made this card using Hero Arts & Wal-Mart holiday stamps. Just something simple & fun using VersaMark ink.

Mindi is feeling much better & getting over her ear infection. I wish we could go more than two weeks without someone getting sick. Stay healthy and have a good weekend!

Busy Week

2008-12-11T17:26:00.002-06:00

Another crazy week! Mindi ended up with an ear infection and had to see the doctor on Monday. She didn't go back to school until Wednesday. She was so worried she wouldn't be back in time to visit the gift shop today. The kids elementary school has a gift shop each year- just a fun little place to give them a chance to buy gifts for family and friends. You can send money with the kids, but even those that don't bring any get $2.00 to spend. I didn't volunteer in the gift shop this year (I was busy helping with other things at school), but I did go take pics and help some of the kids shop. Kindergarten is always so funny. A lot of them get the $2.00 confused and think they get 2 items. Some kids decide to find everything that is $2.00 and put it in their bags while others find all the things they like and put them in their bag, lol. Gotta love 'em! Have a great day!!

New Layouts

2008-12-05T09:34:00.008-06:00

Brrrrrrr! It's cold outside this morning! My youngest daughter is sick and we are at home staying warm. I just wanted to post a couple of layouts I finished this week. For this first layout I used Basic Grey products (paper & button), Thickers (letters for the title), & Heidi Swapp (ghost flower). For the white scallop border I used the Fiskars Threading Water punch and the paper flower was made from an EK Success punch. I like to include handwritten journaling on some of my pages, but I don't like the way my handwriting looks. I decided to hide my journaling under the picture of the girls jumping off the bench. I do this a lot more often than I care to admit, lol.

For my second layout I used an Autumn Leaves pocket and Making Memories for everything else. Just a simple layout to document their top 5 Christmas wishes. Out of the four kids, Jordans list was definately the most interesting:

1. A newt
2. Roller skates
3. A glass doll
4. A Barbie doll
5. The cookies that Santa didn't eat

Gotta love that kid. At least she decided to try for a newt instead of the snake she was originally asking for.

I've been working on my December album, but I need to get to the store for more photo paper so I can finish the first few days. I am using the Making Memories FaLaLa collection and one of their bracket albums. Having lots of fun with this and can't wait to have the finished album at the end of the month.

Snow Fun

2008-12-02T12:25:00.019-06:00

We had our first bit of snow this Sunday. The kids were so excited and we had to play in it, of course.

Their favorite was to throw snowballs at Aunt Alice,

Dad,

and at each other!

Jordan decided to taste the snow. She didn't seem too fond of it, lol.

Ready to strike at Mom as soon as the camera was out of the way.

"I am cute".

Lisa making a snow angel.

A tiring, but fun afternoon.

Cocoa, complete with marshmellows followed our snow fun. Lisa with her cocoa mustache.

Jordan enjoying her cocoa.

Thomas enjoying his cocoa.

Goofy girl.

Good to the last drop.

All gone.

......................................................................................................

Each year we usually pull out our artificial tree and decorate. Yesterday we decided to get a real tree and I am so glad we did. I haven't had one since I was a kid and I had forgotten how Christmasy the house smells with a real tree!

......................................................................................................

I've also started on my December album but I haven't had a chance to take any photos yet. You can check out Ali Edward's Blog and see how hers is coming along. I just love her work. Tim Holtz is also doing his 12 Tags of Christmas again. Lots of inspiration on his blog also.

How Many Have You Done?

2008-11-29T13:40:00.005-06:00

I found this on Katrina's blog the other day and thought it looked fun. You need to bold the items on the list you have completed. 30 out of 100- maybe I need to get busy, lol!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T12:24:00.000-06:00

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello Monday

2008-11-24T16:36:00.004-06:00

My youngest sister, Alice, is visiting with us for a while. My 6 year old daughter, Mindi, decided Alice's hair straightener made a good bug squisher after a ladybug just happened to wander onto it. Alice ended up with a new straightner and doesn't leave it on the bathroom counter anymore. Never a dull moment around here.

Alice's birthday was a few weeks ago and we did a little late birthday shopping today. We stopped at Subway for lunch and spent so much time gabbing and catching up we almost didn't get to shop before I had to get my kiddos from school! We did manage to catch a couple of sales at Maurices and the Fashion Bug and got a few cute shirts.

Still working on Thanksgiving preparations. Can't wait to spend some time with the family and eat some turkey!

Look what I got!

2008-11-21T11:36:00.012-06:00

Hello everyone, look what I got in the mail this week: My prize package from the 'So You Think You Can Stamp' contest!
I recieved Large and Small S*Purse stamp totes, Stephanie Barnard's Stamp Package from Inque Boutique, an Acrylic Block Organizer and Starter Kit from Close to my Heart, 12 Basic Brights Sketch Markers from Copic,

stamps from My Mind's Eye, Fancy Pants, Inkadinkado, Cosmo Cricket, Making Memories, 7gypsies, Cornish Heritage Farms, Technique Tuesday,

and Stampin' Up products including a 12x12 cardstock pack, Watercolor Wonder crayons, Stampin' Around Handle w/ alphabet wheel, Stampin' Up markers, Nursery Necessities stamp set, Eat, Drink, & Be Scary stamp set, Halloween Frights stamp set, 6 Classic Stampin' Pads, and a 1-year subscription to Simple Scrapbooks magazine. Wow!!

Thanks to Simple Scrapbooks and all the wonderful sponsers!!

I also wanted to share a few layouts, tags, and this card.

These tags are for a gift tag swap @ 2peas.

I stamped these cute little tags with Hero Arts holiday stamps. Not sure what I will use them for, but they were cute and fun to make.

One of my favorite photos of Lisa and Mindi.

A layout using Mindi's dance photos I took last spring.

And lastly, a layout of Lisa being her goofy little self.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

2008-11-04T11:15:00.019-06:00

Hello! Hope everyone is having a good day and getting their vote in. I'm just checking in with a few photos from this week.

We went to Howell Pumpkin Patch this year and it turned out to be one of the coolest days yet and the winds were blowing with gusts of 60-80 mph! That didn't stop us or the many other that turned out for a weekend of pumpkin pickin' and fun.

Mindi in the corn maze.

The kids and some of the large pumpkins on display.

Mindi and Lisa sliding down the hay bales.

Mindi sliding down the tube slide.

All the kids coming down the slide together.

Jordan buried in the corn.

We had a great time trick-or-treating. The weather was perfect and unseasonably warm- no jackets required. The kids were pleased with their costumes and haul of goodies this year and I was pleased that I got to take lots of photos.

Lisa is our "Devine" Devil- doesn't she play the devil part well, lol.

Mindi decided she was a Fairy Ballerina and gave me her most graceful pose.

Jordan dressed as a witch this year- a Glamour Witch, not an ugly old witch, lol.

Complete with bat ring and witches broom.

Thomas was OB1 this year and tried to impress us with his light saber skills.

All four kids at the end of the night with their treats.

The beautiful weather continued into early this week and yesterday and we were able to get the kids outdoors to play in the leaves.

Thomas, Jordan, and Lisa had lots of fun throwing them into the air and watching them swirl back down to their feet.

Mindi in the glowing sunlight.

Jordan jumps into her pile of leaves.

The kids took turns burying each other in the leaves. This is Mindi buried up to her head.

All the kids had fun throwing leaves at each other.
I still haven't had time to photograph the layouts I worked on at the crop. Lots going on and another sick kid today. Hopefully I will get too it soon. Have a great day!

2008-10-31T09:25:00.002-05:00

Hello, I hope everyone has had a good week. I have been sick this week and one of my kiddos finally caught it and had to stay home from school today. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! Even being sick I still managed to have a great week. I got quite a bit done at the crop last weekend- 12 layouts, 3 cards, and finished some gift tags for a swap at Two Peas. We also went to the pumpkin patch and had a great time despite the 60+ mile/ hour wind gusts. We had a tractor ride out to the corn maze and pumpkin patch where everyone selected their perfect pumpkins. Afterwards we headed over to the play area and climbed hay bales and played in the corn! Last night we went trick-or-treating. I don't know about other places outside of Iowa, but here we have beggar's night where the kids trick-or-treat instead of Halloween night. The weather was perfect- we didn't even need our jackets! The kids got a ton of candy and had a great time. They remembered to use their manners and were even complimented a couple of time for doing so. I haven't had time to upload & sort through all my photos yet. As soon as I have a chance I will get some posted here. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

Where Does the Time Go?

2008-10-18T22:11:00.002-05:00

Another week gone. I have been busy taking photos for my Week in the Life album. This has been a lot more work than I thought it would be. Keeping a log of our daily events, taking photos & deciding which ones to print, and gathering any additional memorabilia/embellishments for this project. Just 1 more day to go. I am trying to get everything together so I can work on it (as well as the 10 other layouts I am packing) at the crop I will be attending next Saturday. I am also working to get everything ready for the girls Fall parties this Friday. They moved the parties up a week, so now I am scrambling to get everything prepared this week- games/crafts, treat bags, buying- paper goods, drinks, cupcakes, etc. For two of the three parties I am the only homeroom mom helping so there is lots for me to do. The kids love it and it will all be worth it in the end! Hopefully I will have a few photos & layouts/projects to share next week. Have a great weekend!

A Week in Review

2008-10-12T19:41:00.015-05:00

Hello, I hope everyone had a good weekend. My weekend is going well, and after the wonderful week I had I really can't complain. I still can't believe I won the contest that Simple Scrapbooks Magazine hosted. Everyone did such a great job with each weeks assignments, the layouts were beautiful. You can see every one's work and get more info at the contest blog. Thanks to everyone who voted for me!!
I must have a winning streak going because I also won a prize from the Making Memories blog. They wanted feedback on how scrapbookers were using their products. I left a comment and was the lucky winner of that drawing. They sent me this beautiful FaLaLa collection, and yes, EVERYTHING you see in this picture! Thank you Making Memories!!
I had a good time with the Halloween Whimsy Jar Swap at Two Peas. It was so much fun shopping and decorating my jar for Hope! This is the wonderful jar and goodies I received from her. I can't believe it's all for me!

She also created this spooky card and treat bags for my kiddos. She was so thoughtful! The decoration with the skull was actually the top of the jar she decorated. When she shipped the box it was too big to fit so she had to take it apart. My husband thought it was a cool decoration and he and the kids added it to our holiday decor before we realized it was meant to be the top of the jar, lol.

OK, enough about me. How about a few pics of the kiddos. Thomas received this skateboard for his birthday. This particular board only has 2 wheels, so it is a bit trickier to ride. He has been practicing the wave motion in his room, but didn't have a chance to until this week to try it outdoors. He seems to have the motion down, but he still needs to work on his balance a bit.

Meanwhile, Jordan is doing what she loves to do- explore the insect world. This girl is totally obsessed with bugs. Last year her third grade teacher even let her bring home the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches after the class was done studying them. Yes, we have Cockroaches for pets. She is just lucky we love her so much, lol.

While the other kids were doing their own thing this one was just having fun being silly. Look how she goes from this sweet adorable girl to a total goofball, lol.

This last picture isn't one of my kiddos, lol, but I did find it hanging around the kids school. Thank goodness Jordan didn't see it on her way in or she may not have made it to class on time. I don't know what type of spider it is, but I love the colors, they are perfect for Halloween.

That's about all the news I have for this week. I am going to start on my Week in the Life photos tomorrow (Check out Ali's blog for more info). I already have my album put together, I just need the photos to go in it. I was kind of backwards and did the album first, but I was having fun and just went with it. Hopefully I will have time to blog a bit more this week and share my daily photos. Have a great week!

I won!!

2008-10-10T19:07:00.002-05:00

Wow! This past week has been so wonderful. I received my whimsy jar from Hope from the Two Peas swap- the box was just loaded with goodies! I won and have received the FaLaLa program from Making Memories blog! My big news of the week, however, is that I won the stamping contest that Simple Scrapbooks magazine was having!!!!! I can't believe it! I was trying so hard to be patient while waiting to find out who won, lol. I will try to post again with more updates and a few pics sometime this weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Creative Play

2008-09-03T09:46:00.030-05:00

I decided I would post a few of my recent projects, a couple of layouts, cards, mini books, etc. My first layout is one of my three girls. They are all so wonderful and so very different. I used Making Memories noteworthy on most of this layout, I just can't get enough of this line of papers!
Since I did a layout of my girls, I had to give Thomas some attention, too. This was a very simple layout- I only used stamps. I love how it turned out. I am submitting this to the -So you think you can stamp challenge- at Simple Scrapbooks!

For this joy project I inked up a 5x7 canvas and chipboard letters. After embossing the chipboard, adding a sticker and a mini wreath it was complete- simple and beautiful.

This butterfly collage, which actually sits in a black frame in my craftroom, was inspired by Ali Edward's weekend creative project from February. I had so much fun choosing all the papers and punching these little guys.

For this thank you card I stitched the flower stems & border, added flower & leaf buttons and used my thank you stamp. Simple and fun. I love creating and personalizing these little notecards for my kids. It's so much fun to write them a little note and surprise them in their lunchbox or bookbag. I made this mini album with a Basic Grey album and papers. I really wanted this album to focus on the Q&A so I kept it very simple with few embellishments.

I made this album with photos of my kids and lists of their top ten favorite things. The cover is a transparency that I cut and added a clear sticker. I cut a piece of canvas, inked it, & placed it behind the tranparency.

I hope you enjoyed my work. Thanks for stopping by!

Randomness

2008-08-23T13:13:00.005-05:00

The blog challenge at 2 peas is to post something about yourself that no one knows. Here are a few random (and probably boring, lol) things about me:

I am the oldest of 8 kids.
I could live on Pepsi and chocolate.
I hate to drive.
Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons.
I love to photograph everything about my children (& pretty much anything else that manages to cross my line of sight, lol).
My favorite camera lens is my macro- I love details!
I have never dyed my hair.
I love getting up early and cooking my family breakfast.
I love to bake and decorate cakes.
I have been married to a computer geek for the past 14 years.
Making Memories, Basic Grey, & 7Gypsies are my current product favorites.
I volunteer at my kids elementary school 3-4 days a week.
My favorite board game is monopoly.

That's all that pops into my head for now, lol. Thanks for stopping by.

A New School Year Begins

2008-08-23T10:25:00.026-05:00

I can't believe school started Thursday. I am now the parent of a middle school student- yikes! My son, Thomas, started the new year at Brody Middle School. He loves his Applied Tech class since he gets to use computers and had a pretty good first day. It's too bad he got sick and had to miss his second day! Here he is all ready for his first day as a middle school student:

The girls are back into the familiar surroundings of Park Avenue Elementary. Jordan is in 4th grade and has Mrs. Riordan, Mindi is in 1st grade and has Mrs. Anderson/ Mrs. Jannes for her teachers, all 3 are wonderful teachers we have had before. We have new third grade teachers this year and Lisa has Mrs. Aeilts. She is new to Park Avenue and to teaching. She was very nice and Lisa is looking forward to having her for a teacher this year. I took a few pics of the girls before we left for school and then a few more when we got to school.

Starting a new school year meant lots of new supplies- we had a whole chest full!! I had to take a few pics for my scrapbook, of course.

Our complete school supply list this year included:

35 pocket/prong folder
25 notebooks
10 packages loose leaf paper
4 packages markers
3 index cards
2 pencil bags
2 large white erasers
1 package red pens
1 package black pens
1 package eraserable black pens
4 containers antibacterial wipes
5 boxes pencils
25 gluesticks
9 boxes kleenex
3 boxes 24 count crayons
2 packages dry erase markers
1 box gallon ziploc bags
1 box sandwhich ziploc bags
1 ream computer paper
1 pencil box
2 scissors
1 hand sanitizer with pump
1 roll transparent tape
1 small package AA batteries
2-4 oz. ground cinnamon
1 set of headphones or ear buds
1 package colored pencils
1 ruler
1 protractor
1- 4 function calculator
4- 3x3 post it notes
4- 1x2 post it notes

Plus 4 backpacks and 4 lunchboxes with ice packs. What fun it was hunting it down and sorting it all. I actually had to go to two stores to get everything. Walmart ran out of the notebooks we needed and I had to run to Target to find those. I'm glad that is over with, lol!

We also got some new clothes for the kiddos. Jordan is getting so tall and growing out of everything! We bought new shirts, shorts, socks, shoes, and other needed items. Our girls just love these shirts we got from Old Navy.

Well the laundry buzzer is telling me it is time to fold the laundry. Have a great weekend!

2008-08-18T20:56:00.022-05:00

Just checking in and posting a few photos from our weekend. We have had a beautiful full moon the past couple of nights. I decided to try & photograph it and managed to capture the photo below:

I registered the girls for school today. While I was there I took a few photos. The 1st is the front of the building with our school name. The others are one of the cool old brick patterns and a couple of windows in the building. I can't believe they start school on Thursday! I wish I had more time with them.

We also went to the Butterfly Garden at Saylorville Lake. The insects were a buzz everywhere.

This wasp managed to overtake this spider, drag it through the bush, and then tried to fly away with it! The spider was too heavy and wasp dropped it on the ground. The spider was alive but barely moving. I thought I would take the opportunity to get a spider close-up. After a couple of shots the wasp came back and ran right into my head!! I startled my husband and kids because they have never seen me scream and run during an insect photo shoot, lol!

On our way back to the car we found this little guy trying to drag this much larger beetle across the trail!

Before we headed home I managed to get a few shots of the kiddos and hubby, too. My husband is wearing his 'I am up to no good' smile, lol.

I also found this lock and peeling paint to photograph- fun!

Have a great week!!

3D Origami Swan

2008-08-14T11:34:00.003-05:00

I was playing around yesterday and made a 3D Origami Swan. Not too complicated, but it does take a while to make all those little pieces. 379 pieces later and I was done, lol! This isn't a great photo, but here it is anyway.

The kids and I picked up some supplies to make tye dye shirts the other day. We bought the spray bottles- I didn't even realize you could purchase the colors in a spray bottle- and they are looking forward to experimenting and playing this afternoon.

Have a great Thursday!

A Few Photos

2008-08-12T10:17:00.010-05:00

Just sharing a few photos..... The first is a pic of a lightening strike as we were traveling through Colorado- the first one I have ever managed to capture on film and it was completely by accident. It's not a great photo, but I still think it's cool, lol.

This weekend was Thomas' birthday and he had a whole schedule written out for us to follow on his special day, lol! McDonalds for lunch and a yummy chocolate cake with Team Spy Gear Rules written on the top were part of the fun.

Thomas thought it was hilarious to give Ronald McDonald bunny ears, lol.

Thomas decided to sit down while Dad was still lighting his candles, but didn't like the fire so close to him.

Yummy cake!!

Now that the flooding seems to have subsided, we ventured out to the Saylorville Spillway. The overflow of water created a whole new gorge and wiped out the road it crossed. It's quite amazing how much force water can have. (One of these days I will have to dig out the photos of what it looked like before and do a comparison.)

This is the beginning of the gorge across the street from where the emergency spillway sits. You can see part of the broken roadway, too.

It's amazing that these two trees survived all the water rushing over them!!

Some trees weren't so fortunate.

This is part of the road that the water washed away. Since the road is closed I couldn't get any closer than this.

All around the lake you can see how high the water was- bare trees and hills that were once covered in grass and shrubs bear the mark of this flood.

We also stopped by the Butterfly Garden before heading home. It was in full bloom and many insects were a buzz.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week!!

Birthday Boy

2008-08-10T20:28:00.002-05:00

Happy 11th Birthday my wonderful son. I hope you enjoyed your day as much as we did.

Love Mom

2008-08-06T14:50:00.007-05:00

Back from Colorado! Loved seeing family and the beautiful scenery. Hopefully I will get a few pics uploaded soon.

I have been trying to catch up on all the CHA previews. I absolutely love the new Ambrosia line from Basic Grey and have you seen the new Tim Holtz products coming!?! Can't wait to get a hold of that new grundgeboard! Check out this catalog of Tim's newest goodies:

Get your own - Open publication

Have a great Wednesday!!

Happy Birthday.....

2008-07-25T19:58:00.001-05:00

to my wonderful husband!! I love you!

Mr. Potatoe Head

2008-01-22T17:48:00.000-06:00

The kiddos had a four day weekend and we spent most of the time indoors trying to avoid the bitter cold. The girls had lots of fun building kooky creations and giggling at them.

Have a great week!

New Year's Eve

2008-01-03T13:21:00.000-06:00

Sharing a few more pics today- the kiddos on New Year's Eve. They had a great time celebrating and having fun.

Happy New Year, Everyone!
Lisa and Mindi dicovered the blowers make a great game when blown across the table. Ready, set..... Blow!

Mindi was determined to make hers go farther across the table than Lisa's.

The Aftermath.

Once the paper part of the blower fell off, Jordan decided it could be used for silly faces.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day everyone!

Christmas Morning

2008-01-03T13:06:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to share a few pics from our Christmas morning. The kids had a great time opening their gifts and loved all of them.

Our own little Rudolph:

Could he be excited, lol?!?!

Zleda for my DS from Grandma- Yes!

She was so excited she dropped her gift, lol!

Spy Guy.

I can't believe I got my own scrapbooking stuff.

See my new sweater from Grandpa.

We got a Wii!!

Look at at all the games we got!!

I'll be posting some pics from New Year's Eve shortly. Have a great day!

Welcome 2008!

2008-01-01T19:37:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a good start to the new year. I had a great Christmas and New Year's with my family and will hopefully get some pics posted later this week. Today I was busy getting things ready for the kids to go back to school, taking photos, and doing a little shopping.

I can't believe the kids go back to school tomorrow! I enjoyed my time with them and now I can't wait for summer vacation, LOL!

I drove to Target today in search of those little metal mailboxes and found some! I bought ten of them- 7 white, 2 pink, and 1 red. I didn't really have a choice on the colors, but for $1.00 I'm not going to complain. They are so cute, I can't wait to alter them.

I hope to participate in a few challenges this year- both scrapbooking and photography. I signed up to do the DW 2008 challenge at 2 Peas. With such a chatty group and loads of inspiration it looks like it will be a lot of fun and maybe I will get lots more scrapping done, too. I also hope to participate in the POTD (Photo of the Day) challenge at 2 Peas. I don't think taking pictures each day is a problem, but I may not be able to post daily. We will have to see how things go. Maybe I can do a weekly post on my blogs of all the pics I took that week. I am just really looking forward to improving my photo skill and getting those photos scrapped.

Have a great day and a Happy New Year!

Mindi

2007-12-21T14:33:00.000-06:00

I want to take more pics of the kids and hope to do so while they are home on break. Today I took a few fun pictures of my youngest daughter Mindi. Doesn't she look so sweet?

Don't let her fool you! She can be such a silly little thing when she wants to, lol!

Have a great weekend!

Catching Up.

2007-12-21T14:09:00.000-06:00

I want to say thank you to Tim Holtz. I was one of the prize winners on his blog and this is what he sent me:

The book and stamp were even signed by Tim!! I can't wait to play with my new goodies.

I have more winter pics to share. I took a some at the kids school last week and then captured a few more when we went to Saylorville Lake this last weekend. Here are a few pics from school after the ice storm:

When we went to Saylorville this weekend there were a lot of ducks swimming around. The kids had a lot of fun watching them.

Have a great week!

No School!!

2007-12-11T17:24:00.001-06:00

No school- Yeah! I got to stay home and play today. I was in a wintry mood so I used the technique that Tim Holtz demonstrated on his blog today! I also chose similar colors and the design that he used on today's tag. The techniques have been very inspirational and fun to try. Here is the tag I made today.

We had another round of ice/snow mix. I was feeling adventurous and went outdoors to take a few photos. I love the beauty created by this storm, but I was sooooo glad I didn't have to travel in it. I saw a lot of car slipping and sliding down the street. It was bad enough just walking around trying to get a few pics.

There are a lot of people without power, fortunately we are not one of them. I was able to talk with my mom earlier and she is without power in Oklahoma and may continue to be without power for the next few days. On top of it they are expecting another round of freezing rain tonight. Hopefully this bad weather will pass and the power will be restored.

Stay safe and warm.

I Am A Winner!!

2007-12-10T19:00:00.000-06:00

If any of you scrappers, stampers, or crafters have been reading Tim Holtz's blog then you know about his 12 Days of Christmas Techniques. In addition to all the inspiration he is generously choosing winners each day to recieve special prize packages. Today, I WAS ONE OF THOSE WINNERS!! I am so excited! You can read about it here. Tim's assistant, Mario, even e-mailed me to let me know my package would be shipped out tomorrow. I can't wait to play with all the fun goodies. I hope your days has been as exciting as mine! Thanks for stopping by!

Recent Projects

2007-12-09T17:39:00.000-06:00

I haven't had a lot of time to work on many projects, but I have finished a couple of things. I managed make a few wreaths for each of the kids bedroom doors (they love to decorate their rooms for Christmas, too). The one with the bird is for my son's room and I made two with the butterflies- one for each of the girl's rooms.

I just started playing around with a 5x7 canvas and ended up with this Joy sign. I used Ranger tea dye distress ink on the canvas. The chipboard letters (Making Memories) are covered with the Ranger fired brick distress ink and clear embossing powder. I added a Making Memories 'Joy' definition sticker from the st. nick collection and a piece of garland. I think I need to punch a couple of holes in the top and add some ribbon so it can hang on the wall.

This is not a very good picture, but this ornament is one of the gifts we are giving the kids teachers. I stamped two of the sides with the 'Let it Snow' stamp and the other two sides with snowflake stamps. I added some irridescent snow and a ribbon- simple and easy. I like the way they turned out, I just wish my picture of these could show how nice they look.

Have a great week!

Snow Fun

2007-12-09T16:53:00.000-06:00

The girls had a great time playing in the snow today! Of course their idea of fun isn't all snowball fights and building snowmen, it's getting to use the shovel and broom to clear the sidewalks, porch, car, and even the yard, but I am certainly not going to complain about having such good little helpers!

Lisa shoveling snow in the driveway.

Lisa, Jordan, and Mindi making roads through the snow.

Wipe out!!

The two older girls did gang up on Dad. They pelted him with snowballs and even managed to give him a back pocket full of snow. Mindi was more content at that point to just bury the broom in the snow.

Got you Dad!

Got you again, Dad! Ha!Ha!

Preparing for round 2.

Right into Dad's back pocket!

That one got Dad right in the face!

But Dad got her back!

Like I said, Mindi was content burying the broom in the snow.

I like the snow sitting so gently on top of the tree branches.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

Moms Letter to Santa

2007-12-08T11:12:00.000-06:00

I saw this posted on Cafemom and thought it was cute and just had to share it on my blog.

Dear Santa,
I've been a good mom all year. I've fed,
cleaned and cuddled my children on demand,
visited their doctor's office more than my
doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars
to raise money to plant a shade tree on the
school playground. I was hoping you could
spread my list out over several Christmases,
since I had to write this letter with my son's
red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the
laundry room between cycles, and who
knows when I'll find anymore free time in the
next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache
(in any color, except purple, which I
already have) and arms that don't hurt
or flap in the breeze, but are strong
enough to pull my screaming child out
of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine
somewhere in the seventh month of
my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this
year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows
and a radio that only plays adult music,
a television that doesn't broadcast any
programs containing talking animals,
and a refrigerator with a secret
compartment behind the crisper where
I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a
talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy"
to boost my parental confidence, along
with two kids who don't fight and three
pairs of jeans that will zip all the way
up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan
monks chanting "Don't eat in the living
room" and "Take your hands off your
brother," because my voice seems to
be just out of my children's hearing
range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these
products, I'd settle for enough time
to brush my teeth and comb my hair
in the same morning, or the luxury
of eating food warmer than room
temperature without it being served
in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use
a few Christmas miracles to brighten
the holiday season. Would it be too
much trouble to declare ketchup a
vegetable? It will clear my conscience
immensely. It would be helpful if you
could coerce my children to help
around the house without demanding
payment as if they were the bosses
of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is
calling and my son saw my feet under
the laundry room door. I think he wants
his crayon back. Have a safe trip and
remember to leave your wet boots by
the door and come in and dry off so
you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table
but don't eat too many or leave
crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel
all my requests if you can keep my
children young enough to believe in Santa.

*Santa has asked that this gets passed
on to all the mommies you know.

Fun Link

2007-12-06T21:10:00.000-06:00

Check out this site: http://getclippings.com/index.php. You can name your newspaper and headline and create your own story, then they give you a link to your story image to share with your friends. I had fun playing around and made this one: http://getclippings.com/image.php?id=688431 . Have a great evening!

More Snow

2007-12-06T19:29:00.000-06:00

About 11 a.m. it started to snow and snow and snow. We got around 5 inches I think. Not a lot, but it came down in just a few hours and made things slick and difficult to get around. I volunteer at the kids school most days and decided to drive the van home (I only live a block away) and walk the kids home. I was so glad I did. I saw too many cars sliding and tires spinning out. The kids just thought it was fun to trudge though the snow all the way home. I didn't have a chance to get any pics, but I don't think the snow is going to melt anytime soon and we are expecting more this weekend. Not looking forward to that. Hope everyone is staying warm today!

50 Questions

2007-12-02T20:12:00.001-06:00

This set of questions was sent to me by Tonya. Ready or not here goes!

Body: 50 ODD Things about you! If you opened this, FILL IT OUT! Learn 50 things about your friends, and let them learn 50 things about you!

1. Do you like cheese?
Yes

2. Have you ever smoked heroin?
No

3. Do you own a gun?
No

4. Your favorite song?
Too many to name

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Yes

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
Well, there not on my list of favorites.....

7. What's your favorite Christmas song?
All of them, lol

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Pepsi

9. Can you do push ups?
How high do you have to push up?

10. Is your bathroom clean?
Yes

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
My wedding ring, when it actually fits on my finger, lol

12. Favorite Hobby?
Crafts of all kinds

13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
Try consulting with Doug on that one

14. Do you have A.D.D.?
No

15. What's one trait you hate about yourself?
My nose and ears

16. Middle Name
Ann

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment....
I finished the gifts for my kid's teachers, this fudge tastes yummy, and I wish the cold weather would go away

18. Name the last 3 things you have bought?
Scrapbook supplies, groceries, and Christmas gifts

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink ?
Pepsi, water, and cherry pop

20. Current worry right now?
How icy and slick the road will be when I take the kids to school tomorrow

21. Current hate?
Ice Storms and slick roads

22. Favorite places to be?
Anywhere with my family

23. How did you bring in the New Year?
I think I was sleeping, lol

24. Where would you like to go?
To Colorado

25. Name three people who will complete this and return:
?????

26. Do you own slippers?
Yes

27. What shirt are you wearing?
My navy blue 'The coolest Mom in America' sweatshirt

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
No

29. Can you whistle?
Still haven't gotten the hang of that one yet

30. Favorite color?
Navy blue and hunter green

31. Would you be a pirate?
No

32. What songs do you sing in the shower?
I don't sing in the shower

33. Favorite girl's name?
Jordan, Lisa, and Mindi

34. Favorite boy's name?
Thomas

35. What's in your pocket right now?
My keys, a receipt from Archivers, and .67 cents

36. Last person that made you laugh?
Doug

37. Best bed sheets as a child?
Can't remember

38. Worst injury you've ever had?
Stitches just above my eye

39. Do you like where you live?
Yes

40. How many Tvs are in ur house?
Three

41. Who is your loudest friend?
?????

42. Who is your most silent friend?
?????

43. Does someone have a crush on you?
I hope not, my husband might not approve, lol

44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
Yes

45. What is your favorite book?
Too many to count

46. What is your favorite candy?
Anything with dark chocolate

47. Favorite Sports Team?
Sports- yuck

48. What do you want played at your funeral?
I am not going to have a funeral I plan on living forever, lol, or I will never catch up on my scrapbooks

49. What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Sleeping

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
Wow! I got to sleep past 5a.m.!

Just Another Day

2007-12-02T16:22:00.000-06:00

Another cold day in Iowa, Brrrr! The main roads aren't too bad so we ventured out near Jordan Creek Mall. I did a bit of shopping at Archivers and the hubby went next door to Best Buy. I was hoping to find another set of the frost collection by My Mind's Eye to finish the winter mini album I have been working on, and some crackle paint and grundgeboard by Tim Holtz. I struck out on all three. They were out of the MME papers and they aren't currently selling the other products. I know they sell the Tim Holtz distress pads and alcohol inks and I couldv'e sworn that someone told me Archivers sells the grundgeboard, or maybe I was just being hopeful, lol! I can't find the grundgeboard at any of my local scrapbook or craft stores. It looks like such a fun product to work with and I can't wait to try it out.

I did manage to get 1 project crossed off my list today. I finished up the gifts for the kids teachers. I haven't had the time to take pics but hopefully I will be able to post them over the next few days.

I hope everyone is staying warm and having a great weekend!

Holiday Inspiration

2007-12-01T15:50:00.000-06:00

If you haven't stopped by Tim Holtz's blog today, check it out. He started his 12 Days of Christmas Techniques and it is just an awesome inspiration. There are detailed step-by-step instructions including photos to make it easy to follow along.

Ali Edward's blog is full of holiday projects and inspiration, too. I just love her Advent Calendar and Button Trees.

Happy Holidays!!

Ice Storm!

2007-12-01T14:29:00.000-06:00

Brrrr! When did winter blow in, LOL! Here in our cold and dreary state of Iowa we are experiencing a rain/snow/ice mix today. Not very fun to walk or drive in, but I did get outside to snap a few pics. By the time I was done, I was as frozen as everything else outside, LOL!

A tiny pinecone covered in ice:

This is a bunch of grass covered in ice:

A few more pics of grass covered in ice:

Here is what our car look like covered in ice (won't this be fun to scrape off!):

This is part of the staircase to the back porch. On top of the darker colored wood you can see the layer of ice formed on top of it:

Stay warm and have a great day!

Weekend Fun

2007-07-18T15:36:00.000-05:00

I had such a great weekend and I hope everyone else did, too. Besides winning a Cocsmo Cricket craft kit (see my last post), I also had a surprise visit and gift from a friend. Tonya brought me this jar of vintage goodness:

I just love it! She remembered I had been drooling over it on our trip to Valley Junction. The shop with this jar had been closed that day, but being the good friend she is, she went back when the shop was opened and bought it for me!! Thanks Tonya!

My husband and I have been taking turns spending more individual time with each of the 4 kiddos. Monday was my day with Mindi and she decided a trip to Toy R Us and the craft store were in order. When we got to the toy store it wasn't going to be open for another 20 minutes so we headed across the street to T.J. Maxx. We walked in and found these cute dress forms on clearance.

I swear I was only going to buy the one in the brown dress, but the little daughter fell in love with the purple and pink one so I bought it to make her happy. :) We headed back over to the toy store where she settled on a My Littke Pony Ice Princess Unicorn Doll- Lily. We also found this lava lamp and set of gel pens on sale:

(A few minutes after we turned the lamp on for the second time, the kids wanted us to turn it off so the "stalagtite" would stay frozen inside the lamp, LOL!) After our trip to the toy store we headed over to Michaels for some craft supplies. Mindi mostly just wanted the large sheets of princess stickers to decorate her bedroom, but I found a few more fun things. I found this sewing box with supplies on clearance for $3.00, it was originally $20.00!

These solid colored ribbons from Offray were 4/$1.00 so I bought 12.

I picked out a few of the individual papers and a couple of packages of collage papers. I just love the texture on some of these papers!

I also picked up some sea glass and rubber stamps (both on sale), stickers and letter tiles. There were so many sales at these stores, I could've spent forever browsing through all the bargains. Finally we headed home for lunch and a yummy treat with all the kiddos- ice cream cones! Yum!!

Of course there is always one of the kids who just has to do things backwards and upside down, LOL!

I Can Spell!

2007-07-18T15:22:00.000-05:00

And because I can spell I was one of the winners of the contest that Cosmo Cricket had on their blog last week. (You can read about it here). I won one of their new paper crafting kits: {Gretel} and just received it in the mail a few minutes ago!! Yeah! It's an absolutely beautiful kit and I can't wait to play with it. You can see pictures of this gorgeous kit on their blog here. Thanks for stopping by!

Brass Armadillo

2007-07-05T14:40:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon I went with my husband and kids to the Brass Armadillo, another antiques and collectibles store. I found a few more fun little goodies. Another window for $5.00, it has two large panes of glass and is in much better shape than the other one I have. I bought a couple of vintage jars full of spools of thread and other vintage sewing goodies, a vintage camera with the bulb still in the flash unit (I just love these old cameras), and a few old keys, spoons, and various pieces of hardware for some future altered art and scrapbooking projects. I also bought a few record albums. My mother-in-law recived a 30 year old turn table from a friend and she gave it to us! When my kids first saw the records (no, they had never seen a record or record player before) they thought they were large cds. One of the girls said, "Mom, how are those big cds going to fit inside the cd player?" LOL!! It can be very fun (and humorous) finding these vintage goodies with the kids. Here are a few pics of my new goodies.

Have a great day!!

Valley Junction

2007-07-05T13:19:00.000-05:00

Last week a Friend and I went to Valley Junction in West Des Moines. We had a great time taking photos and finding lots of scrapbooing and fun little goodies! Here are a few pics of my daughter Jordan.

I especially love this photo of Jordan looking at all the beautiful artwork in this shop. The sign that says "Artisitc" is just so her.

I love these fun directional signs, too:

And check this out, this is part of a beautiful mural dedicated to those who served to protect out country. There are several other pieces like this one painted right on the side of a building.

Here are a few more fun pictures I captured while strolling through the valley.

The first store we went to was Heirlooms by Design, a cute little scrapbooking and stamping shop. Here are a few goodies I picked up while there.

We went on to browse through some of the antique shops where I found this little treasure. I can't wait to clean it up and play around with it.

Our last stop was Frackleberry's, a cute and colorful little place. This store was filled with so many fun things.

We purchased this adorable doll and kleenex for Jordan.

And I picked up this set of fun keys. These would look great as a decoration, but I have plans for these in some of my arts and crafts projects.

A very fun and inspiring day! Thanks for stopping by!