A Blessed Life-everyday life with Lisa Dorsey

Zzzzzz

2012-01-30T09:34:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday everyone!

Man, I am beat today but it was soooo worth it! :) As seems to be our way, we had another incredibly busy, but awesome weekend. Friday night L had a friend sleep over and then Saturday night she had a gymnastics meet. I know there are parents that dread their children's competitions but I really do love going to these meets along with K's soccer games. She did really well on the balance beam again this meet, even got her back walk-over which she has been struggling with a bit. Funny, how this used to be one of her worst events.

L really loves her coaches at her new gym. I can see why! Gotta love a coach that has so much fun with her team. :)

We got up early Sunday morning so we could head to Indy for the Super Bowl celebration. We have kept in touch with some good friends of ours from Bloomington and were so happy that they were able to meet us there. These girls really miss each other. I am so glad that we still get to spend time with them!

Of course we had to get our picture taken in front of the giant roman numerals.

They had some cool activities too. Sadly, Kyle's 6'7 foot height was too much for L and she lost the 100 yard run. :)

According to my children it was much more difficult than it appeared. LOL

We greeted by some very ornery looking football players. Look at that face! Ha! Yes, I did get a few pictures of my children that were a little less possessed looking. :)

What a view to end the night with don't you think? What a wonderful day!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Have a wonderful week!

Looking for the Brighter Side

2012-01-24T09:14:00.004-05:00

Good Morning everyone!

Yesterday morning I dropped L and then got ready to take a trip to Indy to meet my sweet friend Amanda. I miss her terribly and have been looking forward to this lunch for several weeks. As I was driving down the highway I was thinking about the day ahead, (where we would have lunch, a few of the stores I wanted to visit, the millions of things I wanted to talk to her about) when my car started vibrating. I pulled over, got out in the pouring rain on a VERY busy highway to see that I definitely had a flat. It took 5, yes 5, phone calls to information to find a tow truck to come get my car (I REALLY need to get a smart phone) and then I called Amanda. Looking back on the day, it was a great day! I am not being sarcastic I promise. There are so many things to be thankful for. I am thankful that I was close enough to Indy that Amanda could come get me. I am thankful we were close to a great restaurant that we could have lunch while we waited for the tow truck. I am thankful that I got to spend the day shopping with one of the best friends I could ever hope for, while my car was being fixed. What better way to spend that time? There are days that you definitely have to strive to look for the good things in life. I have friends who are dealing with some heavy issues and I would never want to downplay anyone's battles but I do believe we need to look for the good in all situations.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

So how about a little sunshine on this dreary, winter day?

I also have a layout to share with you today. Last week the designers for Emma's focused on stickers for our blog projects. I will admit, I LOVE stickers. It makes me laugh because the first thing that pops in my head when I say tha,t is an image of those sticker books I had as a kid. Did you ever have one of those? You know, the Lisa Frank sticker books with the glossy pages to collect our stickers in. LOL That makes me smile.

Anyway, my new sticker collection is a bit more grown up (I hope!) :) I have been scrapping all sorts of photos lately. Loving looking back and finding photos that have been neglected and need to be scrapped and then doing layouts with brand new photos like these. Took these photos over New Year's when we visited my in-laws. I just adore that focal photo!

That cute banner was made using these mixed cardstock stickers by Lily Bee. Of course the title was created using Alphabet Stickers by Webster's Pages. Love, love, love ALL of their alpha stickers.

Lots of yummy stickers on here but these are some of my favorites. Jillibean Soup has all these great labels that are wonderful for both cards and layouts. You can find a complete supply list here.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Lazy weekend

2012-01-18T09:33:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday everyone! We are half way to another wonderful weekend and here I am posting about last weekend. I really planned on doing a post yesterday but the day managed to get away from me somehow.

We had such a great weekend. DH was gone most of last week so we stayed home all weekend and just relaxed and spent time together as a family. I have to say, as much as I enjoy watching the girls compete and taking them to different places on the weekends, I really do enjoy these times at home too.

Right before we moved last year, L was involved in a pioneer unit at school. They had to research different aspects of pioneer life and then do a project. Her paper and project was "Soap Making". I never realized how much time and energy was put into making soap. Thankfully we did not have to make the soap the old fashion way but instead found a kit at Hobby Lobby. That was the beginning of a new hobby for L. She just loves making soap and pulls the kit out from time to time.

She made these for all of her gymnastics coaches.

We also had an intense game of Sorry. Can you believe I was the first one to get all of my pieces either in home or the safety zone and I still ended up coming in third! That darn number 1 eluded me for way too long! LOL

We had another gorgeous inspiration photo over at Emma's Paperie this last week. Truthfully, when I looked at the photo, I was not completely sure what colors I wanted to play off of. They are not usually the colors I am drawn to for projects. But after I started digging through my paper and pulling out stuff that worked with that photo, everything started to come together. This winter goody jar is completely inspired by the very talented Linda Albrecht. Her use of glitter is amazing.

You can find a complete list of supplies and see the photo here.

There is also a new challenge up at Challenge Me Happy this week! We were challenged to create a layout using the word NEW in the title. Please come along and play. There is a fabulous kit from Little Yellow House to be won!

Have a wonderful week everyone!!!!

Back to Normal

2012-01-10T09:02:00.000-05:00

Well.....not sure we are ever NORMAL. LOL

As much as I would love to have the girls here with me, I do like getting back into our routine also.

I have been doing a bit of scrapbooking, which got pushed to the back burner during the Christmas rush. The girls are back to their various sports. L went to her first skating practice of the new year. (not to self-need to get pictures of her). So skating started as a fun, side activity about 9 months ago, soon after we moved. She thought it would help her become a better roller blader. Well, it seems she is a decent skater. She has excelled through the Learning to Skate levels and actually completely skipped level 4. So last night the head coach tells us that she needs to start their "Bridge" program if she going to continue to improve. Of course this means more money and practices are on Fridays (the same night as gymnastics). Not sure where we are going to go from here. I am very glad that she is doing well and likes it a lot but she is not sure she wants to compete as a skater. We'll see.

The girls have had time to use some of their Christmas presents now that things have slowed down too. They usually get one gift from Santa that he thinks they will really like. Looks like he hit the mark this year. One of the only things K asked for this Christmas was a pair of crutches. (who knows???) LOL Actually she has been infatuated with doctors and medicine for as long as I can remember. She wanted to be a doctor for quite a few years and it would really suit her. She has recently changed to wanting to be a teacher Hmmm...who am I to argue with that FABULOUS choice of profession. (in case you are wondering, yes, I taught for 7 years before the girls were born) LOL

L got a reading chair for Christmas from Santa. Although she did not actually ask him for this, he thought it would be a great gift for my reader and he was right. She has been spending a lot of time snuggled up in here.

I have a layout to share with you today, as well. Our manufacturer focus for December at Emma's was Hambly. As soon as I saw the Remnant Transfers I knew what I wanted to do for my layout. The layout came together so quickly and I love the way it turned out.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a fabulous week!

Home again, home again

2012-01-04T09:28:00.001-05:00

jiggity jig. That IS a children's rhyme right? I am not completely losing it am I? LOL

Having two families that do not live near each other can be a little difficult around the holidays. Our solution most years is to spend Christmas with one family (this year it was mine) and then celebrate Christmas over New Years with the other side. We were so lucky to get to see DH's cousin (yes, he only has one!) and her family along with his 2 uncles and aunt. Since his family is so small and for the longest time my girls had no cousins, Angie's girls filled in that spot so perfectly. Her oldest is only a couple of months younger than L and they all get along so well. The family has definitely grown and we managed to get a picture (OK, so not EVERYONE cooperated but what more could you want?) These kids had such a great time and it was very hard to leave.

So the gift that got passed around the most would have to be L's hat from DH's Uncle John. :)

Best gift award (according to both of my girls) was definitely tickets from their grandparents to the Francesca Battistelli concert which include a Meet and Greet before hand. Jeremy Camp will also be there (there mom is very happy about that!) but my girls are more interested in meeting Francesca!

Coolest gift award definitely goes to the one we opened a bit early. DH and I were told to make sure to have the girls at my in-laws early so they could open a special gift. My sister-in-law volunteers at the zoo and for a fund raiser they sell tickets to get to feed the tiger. How cool is that??? So we took the girls to zoo Friday afternoon and they got to help prepare the food for the tiger, bear and a few other animals. Then we got to take it into the cage (the tiger was locked out of course!) My sister-in-law got a picture of us in the cage. I hope to share that soon.

My favorite picture from this weekend has to be this one of the girls with their cousins. It just makes me happy. :)

Have had fun playing with some gorgeous Webster's Pages paper lately. Love the great patterns they use, vintage but with such great colors. Used mostly the Trendsetter collection on this one. I needed to do a layout about DD's unique style. It is not the clothes that she wheres necessarily, but the ones she won't wear. She absolutely refuses to wear jeans. She had a outdoor field trip a couple of months ago and we actually had to buy her some jeans because she did not own a single pair. I used to buy them for her only to have them sit in the closet and never make it onto her body. So I gave up!

I have also decided to give the Project 365 a try this year. I am going to try and add it to my margin on the right if you are interested.

Thanks so much for visiting today. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

This Year's Top 10

2011-12-29T11:35:00.001-05:00

Morning everyone!

I was blog hopping this morning and visited the blog of my sweet friend Sarah. Met Sarah years ago when we were both teaching up at a Scrapbook store in Noblesville, IN. Miss her! Anyway, Sarah posted her top ten of the year and I thought I would do the same. Love looking back at the layouts I have created and the memories they bring back. There are a few that I really love that I can't share right now but I promise to post those as soon as I can. Hope you enjoy this look back too.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Christmas Back Home

2011-12-27T11:21:00.002-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone!

We headed home to Wisconsin to visit my parents for Christmas this year. There were so many things to get ready and pack in the car.

Piles and Piles and Piles of Presents-check
Suitcases-check
Enough car stuff to keep the girls busy for 5 weeks-check
Camera-check
Memory Card for Camera-NO!!!

I could have cried. I had it in my camera but had to take some photos of my projects and forgot my card in the computer. Luckily my brilliant 12 year old decided to bring her camera. A few of the photos are kind of grainy but so glad to have them.

We got to spend Friday night with some of our closest college friends and their boys. We always have such a great time with both of them and we need to make sure that we don't let so much time pass before seeing them again. I realized while we were together how much I have missed both of them. Their twin boys are absolutely the best kids. It has been several years since I saw them and they are just as sweet as the last time we saw them.

Dinner ended and we weren't ready to say good-bye. We asked one of the waitresses for a suggestion on a place we could take the kids in Fond Du Lac and she suggested a bowling alley just down the road. Perfect!

L loved how slippery the bowling alley was in her bowling shoes so she proceeded to spin and spin and spin around the bowling alley. It looked like so much fun, Jim decided to give it a try. LOL

Christmas Eve has always meant getting together with my dad's side of the family. Since we have such a big family they have started getting together in a hall close to many of my uncles and aunts. Santa made an appearance early in the evening.

He even had gifts for some of the cousins including moi. He told me I had to smile for the pictures so everyone would have blackmail photos. haha. I figured I would post it first. LOL

Now today I get to put everything away and get some laundry done but first I have a layout to share with you. Did this layout before we left last week. Believe it or not, this was a Christmas gift for my girls from their grandparents last year. They got certificates to take a hot air balloon ride this last summer.Cool huh?

I used some of the great Trendsetter papers from Webster's Pages for this layout and the cool hot air balloon was a Webster's Pages digi element. Love being able to just print and use those any time I want!

I downloaded some goodies from Pink Paislee as well. The Snow Day kit was WAY too adorable to pass up. I created my new blog header using the kit and can't wait to create some projects with it in the next couple of weeks!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a safe and happy New Years!!!

Time to Breathe

2011-12-19T09:18:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday everyone!

Ahhh...that is the sound of me exhaled. LOL I finally feel like I can finally breathe. This last week has been a busy one for K (which also means her mama). Several months ago, she decided to try out for the school play. The play was High School Musical and she has always loved that movie and the music. She didn't want a big part, just one of the ensemble parts. And so, she has been practicing after school several days a week for the last couple of months to play the part of one of the "skater dudes". Both sets of grandparents were able to come see her. (sorry for the bad photos, we were 40 minutes early and still had to sit quite a ways back).

K has been taking piano lessons since September and had her first piano recital on Thursday night. (more bad lighting. Sorry.)

On top of this, she had finals this week. Three of the tests were on Friday and three more today. So far she has done well. I am hoping today goes as well as Friday. She seemed very confident this morning as I dropped her off.

Keeping with giving you ideas for fast and easy Christmas gift wrap ideas, I have one more to share with you today.

We had a gorgeous photo inspiration at Emma's this week. I am a sucker for pink red and white together. :)

Here are my projects I made based on this wonderful photo. You can find the supplies here.

Have you tried these Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares? Oh man, they are heavenly!!!

I will probably not have a chance to post again before Christmas so I want to wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas. I hope you get to spend time with those that you love. Thanks for stopping by!

Another busy weekend done

2011-12-13T08:50:00.001-05:00

You know, there is a part of me that is so ready for Christmas just so I can relax. The other side of me is screaming "There is still SO MUCH to do!"

So we hosted a bunch of goofy 5th graders for L's party this weekend. They were definitely a funny group with A LOT of energy! LOL So when I asked them if I could get their picture, this is what I got. (their thinking pose)

They definitely enjoyed the hot cocoa bar. We went through A LOT of whip cream. :)

I have another quick and easy gift wrap idea to share with you today. I don't know about you, but this time year I get so busy that it is hard to find time to get crafty. These cute little boxes took me only minutes to create which is a definite plus. As a middle schooler K has 8 teachers that she wants to give gifts to and that can add up to lots of money. So I found these cute little boxes of Stover's chocolates at Target. I then set out to make them a bit more special. I started by wrapping each one in kraft colored paper. I then wrapped them in either gold or red ribbon and embellished them with goodies from Creative Charms.

I used one of the gorgeous red velvet poppies for this gift and a few berries I picked up last year at Hobby Lobby for cheap right after Christmas.

After tying a bow on this one I simply attached a Vintage Metal Frame to it. Easy Peasy (as my girls would say)

More clearance berries and a Christmas Twinkle Sticker on this one.

Hope I was able to give you some gift wrap ideas today. Thank you so much for stopping by today. I can't tell you how much it means to me! Have a wonderful week!

The Sounds of Christmas

2011-12-09T09:33:00.000-05:00

Because my children were not busy enough, they have both decided that they want to learn an instrument. K has started piano and will have a recital next week. L started playing flute through school and they had their band concert last night. The great news is that the flute players sit in the front row so I could actually get some pictures! Ha!

Two of L's closest friends are also in band so we had to make sure that we got some pictures with them also. I really enjoy L's friends, this one is such a sweetie!

And when these two are together they make me laugh so hard I am crying. Their flute wars show they created one afternoon (when they were supposed to be practicing) had me rolling on the floor!

As promised, I have another gift bag idea. This one is super simple and easy to put together. The great thing about these kind of gift bags, is that they take little time but add a bit of extra care to the gift you are giving.

Supplies:
Kraft gift bag
Season's Greetings paper by Echo Park
Lost & Found Christmas tags
Red Polka Dot paper
Cardstock
Twine

Have a great weekend everyone! Check back on Monday for another gift wrap idea.

What a Fun Weekend

2011-12-06T09:22:00.002-05:00

Morning everyone!

What a great weekend! Although it was quite busy, (3 soccer games, 1 gymnastics meet and a Christmas party) it was a lot of fun. It was L's first meet of the season and she did great. She got 6th place on her beam routine and 8th on vault. So very happy she has found a gym that she loves. K had 3 soccer games this weekend, one on Friday night and 2 on Sunday. I am so amazed at how her game has improved over the last year. Travel soccer games are so much fun to watch too. Man, they are fast paced!

As for K's party, it was a hit. What a great group of girls! I tried to stay close enough to hear what was going on but out of their way (got lots of laundry folded in the laundry room which is conveniently located close to the kitchen LOL) I was so impressed with their conversations. Definitely goofy but all completely positive. Not once did I feel the need to step in and redirect them. They were loud and silly and quite adorable.

I have a ton of gift boxes, bags and wraps to show you over the next couple of weeks. The first one is a box I created for Emma's Paperie.

This box was super quick and easy to make. It is the perfect size for cupcakes or Christmas cookies. I started with one of these boxes. I covered each side with turquoise pattern paper and cut a few strips of red pattern paper to put around the window. I added white cardstock at the bottom for snow and added some glitter for sparkle. Then simply used these stickers to embellish it.

Have a fabulous week everyone!

Party on

2011-12-02T09:49:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday everyone!

We have been busy working on getting ready for a Christmas party each of the girls are going to have for their friends. It has been a bit of added stress during a busy time but I admit that it was my idea. We did this a few years ago when we lived in Carmel. I would really like to get to know the girls' friends better and this is the perfect way. K is quite busy with soccer practices several nights a week, play practice and piano so she really doesn't have a lot of time to have friends over. I have actually MET all of the girls that are going to be coming to the party (many of them at church-LOVE THAT) but it has been in passing with most of them. So K's party is tomorrow and L's is next Saturday. I know her friends a little bit better but it will still be fun to see them in this environment. You learn a lot about girls when they are in a group, that is for sure!

Anyway, I thought I would share a few of the ideas I found with all of you. The girls and I made small gifts for each of their friends that will be here. I found this recipe for creating your own lip gloss. We used the first recipe but tried the last one. Because it is mostly petroleum jelly, we felt it was too slimy. We actually cut the petroleum jelly back to 1/2 tsp. in the recipe. You can find the paraffin wax and coconut oil at the grocery store. I found some small containers at Amazon and then we added labels to the top.

We are also making necklaces out of decorative stones I spray painted white. The girls are then going to paint them to look like peppermint candies. We are going to wrap them and then attach them to a black cord necklace. I will take a picture as soon as I can. My sample turned out looking pretty cute. Then we are going to have a hot cocoa bar (add your own cinnamon candies, marshmallows, sprinkles, etc) while they do a small gift exchange. We end the party with the movie Elf or a game if they want instead.

My sweet friend Audrey is the master of holiday decorating and always shares pictures of her home all decorated for the holidays (and I am not talking JUST Christmas!) She suggested I take some pictures so I thought I would share a couple with you. Our mantle decked out for the holidays. I would really love something more Christmas-y to replace my Greek map during the holidays. Mmmm...may need that to my list. :)

And then there is my table in the entry. That bowl of pine cones provides a wonderful cinnamon smell as you walk into our house.

Of course I can't leave without sharing a project. If you are not too swamped with Christmas preparations, we would love for you to join us for the newest challenge over at Challenge Me Happy! You could win a great prize from Artfull Crafts. Make sure to stop by and check out the awesome color combination Annelie gave us for this challenge and the wonderful layouts by all the other designers. I have to say I am absolutely thrilled about how this photo of K and my mom turned out. We were at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago waiting to get into one of the programs when I snapped this photo. The lighting was terrible and the resulting photo was not great. There was this awful yellow glow over them. But thanks to my amazing Adobe Photoshop program I was able to really fix it up. So here is my layout for the challenge.

Have a wonderful week and thank you so much for stopping by!!!!

Holidays

2011-11-28T09:18:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday everyone!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I am thankful that everyone was able to make it over to our house even though the flu bug hit. My sweet nieces were not feeling 100% but we enjoyed the time with them anyway. Hoping everyone here can stay healthy.

It is amazing how Thanksgiving seems to instantly get us in the mood for Christmas. The Christmas tunes are playing on the radio, I have been getting decorations out and I have been messing with my blog a bit to update the theme. I do like the background but I am not happy with the header. Will have to play with that a bit more. The other thing I have been playing with this morning is not really Christmas related but lots of fun anyway. I may be one of the last to update my browser but I am finally getting up to date. DH loaded Google Chrome onto my computer and I discovered Pixlr-o-matic. This is going to be bad news! LOL I took some pictures of L on the trampoline a couple of weeks ago and here is one I played with this morning. I can't wait to scrap these. :)

Speaking of scrapping, I have been doing a lot more layouts lately. This layout was so much fun to create. K got a cell phone this summer for her birthday. She had been wanting one but is such a great kid she didn't beg. I really do love this about my girls. We have tried to really instill an attitude of gratitude in both of them, to realize that we are so incredibly blessed and have so much. I love that they do not beg for a whole lot, but it does make finding gifts for them hard. I don't mind though. :) It has been a while since I have had a chance to play with my Sizzix. I used the Purse, Shoe, Phone set to create the cell phone on the layout.

Check back in a few days, there will be a new challenge posted at Challenge Me Happy and a new Creative Charms kit for December as well.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I am really thankful for all of you! Have a wonderful week!

A Beautiful Fall

2011-11-21T08:22:00.000-05:00

Happy 3 days before Thanksgiving! LOL We have been busy getting ready for the holidays. Everything is sparkly clean and now I just need to get the grocery shopping done.

There has been talk about a really harsh winter but I have to say, it has been a gorgeous fall. I took the girls out a few weeks ago to get our yearly fall pictures. There are so many times I try to get pictures of the girls and get those corny, glazed over smiles (I am working on that!) LOL but there have been times lately when they get spontaneous and ask me to take pictures of poses they come up with. Yes, some of those poses are quite cheesy, but once in a while you get a good one. I loved this photo of my oldest DD as soon as I saw it loaded on my computer.

I decided the journaling needed to be about changes. I have seen such big changes in K and I have to admit, I really like having a middle schooler. Yes, maybe there are a few mood swings but I also love the conversations we can now have.

You can find a full supply list here.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I am truly thankful for all of you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Challenge Me Happy #11

2011-11-14T13:10:00.000-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone!

It time for a brand new challenge over at the Challenge Me Happy blog and Annelie has found another very cool photo as this week's inspiration. This is the inspiration photo. Pretty cool huh?

So many ideas floated through my head as soon as I saw this photo but then I found these photos. This is what I came up with for the challenge. (please excuse the slightly warped look. It is all straight IRL)

Look how young K looks in that picture! Anyway, I loved the size and texture of the word LOVE and went from there for my inspiration. I created the Lego blocks by cutting a rectangle out of cardstock and then punching circles out of the same cardstock. I layered 4 circles on each connector to give it dimension.

We would love to have you join us for this week's challenge. You have until November 29th to create a project based on the photo and link it up on the Challenge Me Happy blog. You could win an awesome kit from Molly's Scrapbooking! Good luck! Can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Have a wonderful week!

We have winners!

2011-11-01T10:53:00.002-04:00

Morning everyone!

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by for the Blog Hop. As promised, here are the winners for my blog. Everyone that posted this weekend was entered to win and those who chose to follow me got a second chance at the drawing.

The first name drawn and winner of the distressed gift box is...

Miranda!

Winner #2 is Scrappygail!

Winner #3 is Patti Ross!

And the final winner is Renae!

Congratulations ladies!!! Please send e-mail me your addresses and will get your prizes out to you!

There is a new Deal and Kit for the month of November that I wanted to share with you.

November Kit of the Month – 42 Pieces

· Christmas Twinkle Stickers – 10 Pieces

· Christmas Vintage Metal Frames – 6 Pieces

· Red Fuzzy Daisy Medley – 2 Pieces

· Green Braided Daisy Medley – 4 Pieces

· Red Braided Daisy Medley – 4 Pieces

· Forest Green Vintage Poppies – 8 Pieces

· Red Vintage Poppies – 8 Pieces

Everything for Only $14.99 (Regular $24.43)

November Deal of the Month – 138 Pieces

· Red & Green Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces

· Holiday Gradient Gem Stickers – 76 Pieces

· 18” Red Vintage Velvet Ribbon

· 18” Green Wide Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

· 18” Red Wide Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

· Green Gradient Gem Brads– 12 Pieces

· Red Gradient Gem Brads – 12 Pieces

· Red Vintage Gem Brads – 9 Pieces

· Red Pure Blossoms – 14 Pieces

Everything for Only $6.99 (Regular $20.42)

Today is also the reveal over at Challenge Me Happy. This week's challenge was ANYTHING GOES. Make sure you stop by and check out how to participate in this awesome challenge. So here is my layout for the challenge.

The envelopes hold a letter to my girls. They really are the best and I think sometimes in the rush that is life I don't tell them this enough.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderful week!!!

Use your imagination

2011-10-31T09:20:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

You still have one more day for the Creative Charms blog hop prizes. I will choose my winners tomorrow morning. Scroll down to the next post for information on the hop. Thanks so much to all the sweet woman that posted comments this weekend. I truly appreciate all of your kind words.

We had a fun weekend. One of the neighbors had a Halloween Party on Saturday. We were able to get a few pictures of the girls before we made our way over there. I knew that the costumes may not completely make it through the night unscathed. As my post title suggests, this post is about using your imagination. Every year the girls and I try to come up with costumes we can create instead of buying one from the store. Last year we made and exception for K because the Greek Goddess had a special meaning to her after all of their studies about Greek culture at school. So this year L chose to be a zombie baby.

And K is going to be a Laundry Basket. She definitely strives to come up with the most creative costume she can find.

These children definitely belong to a mom who takes lots of pictures. They have learned to ham it up for the camera. LOL

Their creativity and ability to be imaginative is one of my favorite traits of my girls. They don't get to watch a whole lot of TV or play many video games, mostly because they are quite busy but I also think it is much better for them to use their brains to entertain themselves. Last night they created a dance to Francesca Battistelli's song Emily. Wish I had recorded it. We may have to recreate it tonight. If you have girls (or even if you don't!) I highly recommend that you check out Francesca's music. She is such an amazing role model and wonderful singer. You can check out a YouTube video of the song they performed here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CivymGZNOE

Sticking to the theme for today, now it is your turn to use your imagination. I finally have my computer back up and running (had to completely wipe it out and start from scratch) but while it was down I had to still take photos of my projects for Emma's Paperie. Along with the fact that my computer was down (couldn't edit my photos AT ALL), my camera is in the shop. Needless to say, this is definitely NOT the best photo I have taken of my work. So, please use your imagination. It really is a cute card, I promise.

The inside says, "Life isn't as bright without you." You can see my sketch, supply list and the other designers' fabulous takes on the sketch by visiting the Emma's Paperie Blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a safe Halloween!

Creative Charms Blog Hop

2011-10-28T06:58:00.006-04:00

Hi everyone!!!

Welcome to the second stop of the Creative Charms Blog Hop. I am so glad you are here. :) If you did not start at the Creative Charms blog make sure to head back there first so you don't miss an opportunity to win some great prizes.

There are several different ways you can win this weekend!

Leave a comment here. I will be picking three different winners this weekend but also Midori will be randomly be stopping by the blogs of the design team members and picking a winner also.
Become a Follower of my blog. Make sure you let me know in your comment. Already a Follower, let me know that.
Leave a comment on the final blog in the blog hop for a chance to win the big prize.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I thought I would share some of my favorite PINK Creative Charms projects with you today.

This box sits on my scrapbook table and holds some of my hundreds of buttons. I used some yummy Vintage Jewel Brads and Gradient Pearl Stickers on this one.

A mini album I made for my Brother-in-Law and his wife right after their sweet daughter Sarah was born.

Mmmm...LOVE red and pink together.

One of my favorite layouts. This is my sweet oldest daughter, man I am blessed the two BEST girls in the world. This layout was in Scrapbook Trends Magazine a few months back.

This distressed gift box was created using the pink kit from last year. This is going to be one of the prizes I give away. I plan to load it up with lots of chocolate and send to one lucky winner. I also plan on giving away some of my favorite Creative Charms products as other prizes.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Make sure you head to the next stop on the blog hop Kristal. Have a fun and safe Halloween everyone!

A Good Cause

2011-10-25T09:10:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

So, I was so excited to have the computer guy come yesterday to fix my computer. He was here for two hours, working diligently to try and fix the problems and here I sit today, still using my iPad to type this post. :( After all that work, the conclusion he came to...we are going to have to restore it to the factory settings. :( He left me with instructions on how to do that after I back up all of my files. Today I have to figure out today how to A) fix my outlook and then B) How to get all my contacts and old e-mails saved. Needless to say, my laundry has been neglected. Oh...wait...maybe that isn't because of the computer! hahaha

Anyway, I wanted to post today so I could tell you about something that is dear to my heart. Every month I post details about a kit that is available at Creative Charms but this one is much different. Several months ago, I was reading my e-mail when one came through my inbox sent me to the floor. I found out in that instant that a dear woman by the name of Chris Hertel had lost her battle with cancer. I knew that Chris was battling cancer but I was not ready for this news. This news sent me into a tailspin. I was so heart-broken.

I got to know Chris through various message boards and our blogs before I ever started designing with her at Creative Charms. She was a wonderfully creative woman, as well as, a super sweet lady. In honor of Chris, Creative Charms has put together a special kit for this month called Chris' kit.

This beautiful kit includes:

Pink 3D Sparkly Butterfly Garden Brads - 12 Pieces
Pink Sunflowers - 4 Pieces
Violet Vintage Jewels - 12 Pieces
Pink Vintage Jewels - 12 Pieces
White with Pink Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
Pink Sparkled Butterflies - 2 Pieces
Pink Sequin and Felt Flowers - 3 Pieces
Pink Sheer Flowers - 6 Pieces

All for $9.99. That is not only a great deal but all proceeds will go to the Susan Komen Foundation.

Speaking of Creative Charms, I have two Halloween cards to share with you.

You can find tips on making the paper piecing items on these cards on the Creative Charms blog. This images would be cute on a layout too.

Make sure to stop back on Friday for a blog hop we are doing for Creative Charms. I will be giving away some goodies!

Have a great week everyone!

Spooky Treats

2011-10-21T09:35:00.004-04:00

Ah...fall break, gotta love it. Didn't get to sleep in this morning though. Some crazy mother (that would be me) scheduled the girls' conferences for 7 am and 8 am this morning so their dad could go before work. That same crazy mom, also was so desperate to get her computer fixed that she scheduled the computer guy to come at 8:30 am on Monday morning. What was I thinking??? Oh did I mention that now that Saturday morning soccer games are over L starts her Saturday morning gymnastics practices at 9 am!!! Yes, I am a bit of a night owl and would rather sleep in but I have to admit it does get me going in the morning. :)

So, with Halloween right around the corner I thought I would share another Halloween project with you. I created these Halloween gift jars for some of our neighbors. I found the jars at JoAnns and created tags for each of them using supplies from Emma's Paperie. You can find a supply list here.

As for the rest of the day today, we have some big plans. Very excited about going to my birthday concert tonight. We get to see Third Day, my absolute FAVORITE group. Seriously check out some of their songs on YouTube, they are amazing. It is going to be a phenominal concert. They are joining 10th Avenue North (saw them with Third Day about a year and a half ago), Brandon Heath, and Brit Nicole. Can't wait!!!!

K also has her first babysitting job today. It is only for about an hour as one of our neighbors has to go to a conference for her first grader. K is beyond excited. I can't believe that my baby is old enough to babysit!

One more thing before I get started on my laundry for today :p (bleckkk) I wanted to let you know about a date to mark on your calendar. Next weekend, October 28-30 Creative Charms is having a blog hop. There will free goodies from Creative Charms, as well as myself and a few of the other designers. All the fun will start on the Creative Charms blog on the 28th. Don't miss it!
Have a wonderful weekend!

2011-10-11T09:28:00.002-04:00

Morning everyone! Happy Tuesday to you!

I have been trying to get back to normal after having a sick child and traveling all week. I seriously don't know how people who have to travel for work all the time do it. I guess I am a bit of a homebody. I love my bed, my routines and hate unpacking. :)

So glad L is finally feeling better. I have to admit, I was a bit worried. I can handle sniffles, coughing, even flu type symptoms but her only complaint was that she had awful headaches. Well, that, and my normally bouncy 10 year old was VERY lethargic. Those headaches worried me. Turns out she was just suffering from a lot of sinus pressure that was relieved by a decongestant/allergy medicine. She is back to her happy self. So much so, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather Sunday afternoon (after the Colts game of course) to go to one of the local state parks. I try to get fall pictures of the girls every year to use for Christmas cards. Here is one of my favorites.

Thought I would share a two page layout I completed recently too. Both girls, along with their daddy ADORE boating. We used to have a ski boat before K was born and I know DH still misses it. So for Father's Day this last year I rented a ski boat for him. I don't think the girls minded either. :) I did get some great pictures of them out on the inner tube. My favorite has to be that one in the middle on the top row with their feet up in the air. :)

.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a fabulous week!!!

Laugh Lines

2011-09-27T08:35:00.001-04:00

Good Morning everyone!

Only have a few minutes this morning but I wanted to let you know about all the great things going on over at Challenge me Happy this week. First, Annelie is looking for a few new designers to add the team. I have to admit, I am completely loving being a part of this team. Her challenges have been exactly what I needed to get motivated to scrap again after the move. You can check out the details of the Design Team Call here.

Our challenge this last week was to create a fun layout about ourselves. I knew instantly what I wanted to do for this layout. My girls and husband are definitely the one of the greatest gifts God has given me with and the laughter they bring me every day is a true blessing. I adore these silly girls and their wonderful sense of humor. Here is my layout for the challenge.

It is not too late to get in on this challenge. You have until Friday to create a layout about yourself and upload it to the Challenge Me Happy blog to win a really cool gift box of new CHA product!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful week everyone!!!

My Camper

2011-09-21T09:34:00.001-04:00

Missing this girl terribly!

This week the 5th graders went to camp in Northern Indiana. They left early yesterday morning and will get back today in time to be picked up from school. I know it was only one night but it seems like she has been gone for-e-ver! I think my problem is that I really don't know any of the chaperones. The good news is that we did NOT get a call last night so I do feel better. :) She is just such a lively, spunky part of our family, it seems so quiet around here last night.

We had another wonderful weekend. We spent the weekend in Bloomington with friends. Saturday morning we left early so we could tailgate with friends before the IU football game. Then spent the evening at L's best friends house with her family. Last year we has football season tickets with them and got to be very good friends with their family. Sunday afternoon we headed back to our old neighborhood to spend time with all those sweet neighbors we miss so very much. I have to say, it is still terribly hard to leave. I miss spending time with them.

On that note, I have a project to share with you. I decided it was time to create a mini album for the girls with pictures of some of their closest friends from Bloomington. Our assignment for last week for Emma's Paperie was to focus on chipboard. I found this stunning album from 7 Gypsies to use as my base. I embellished it with a paper doily, some hand cut pattern paper, lace and other goodies.

For the inside I used the same background design on each page and then varied the embellishments and extra details based on the photo size.

This is L and the best friend I talked about earlier. :) Love this sweet girl!

This sweet girl actually has family that lives here in town. Hoping to get to see her and her parents the next time they come to town. You couldn't ask for a sweeter friend for K. :)

You can find a list of supplies and the other designer's amazing chipboard projects on the Emma's Paperie Blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!! I hope your week is fabulous!

Do you love bling?

2011-09-21T09:29:00.002-04:00

You don't want to miss the opportunity to design for this fabulous company. Check it out!

Creative Charms Design Team Call

When: Now – October 10, 2011
Details: Creative Charms is looking for self-motivated and creative designers to design projects twice a month for the Creative Charms blog. This position will begin on November 1st with a three-month initial contract. Design team members are compensated with $30/month of Creative Charms products.

We are looking for designers that meet the following criteria:

• have an active personal blog with a following of at least 100 members
• be active on Facebook and at least 2 other “gallery” sites (2peas, CK, etc)
• able to work within a short time frame
• able to post at least twice a month on the Creative Charms blog
• creative in scrapbooking, card making and altered projects
• previous design team experience (preferred but not required)
• published in print magazines (preferred but not required)

To apply please send the following:

• name and mailing address (US mailing addresses only)
• link to your personal blog
• links to any design team that you currently serving
• three (3) photos of your best original projects or link to on-line gallery
• list of all design teams that you have been a member
• list of published works (date/publication)

Please send all applications to midori@creativecharms.com with the Subject: Design Team Call before October 10th. The Design Team will be announced by October 15th.

This Child

2011-09-12T10:49:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderfully relaxing weekend. My weekend was quite relaxing but now I am paying for it. :) LOTS of cleaning and laundry is on the agenda for today.

I got to spend Saturday night with this amazing girl.

K enjoys scrapbooking quite a bit but doesn't sit down and scrap with me that often, mostly because she enjoys spending time with her little sister who does NOT enjoy scrapbooking. L does enjoy drawing so sometimes we can get her to draw while we scrapbook.

I really enjoyed our time together, although I did not get a whole lot done. I did complete 3 cards, two of which you can see on the Creative Charms blog today. I would love if you would stop by and let me know what you think. While I only completed two cards, K finished an entire mini album about her friends in Bloomington. It was the perfect time for her to work on this album. She has started to make lots of new friends here and so the process was not too painful. I have to say, she really makes me proud. She has really grown to be such an amazing kid. She has adapted so well to this move. Her grades are better than ever, even managing to do extremely well in an advanced math class. She has found a group of fabulous girls who really seem to have their heads on straight and know what is important. I can't tell you how proud I am of her!

If you are familiar with my blog, you may know that K is my sporty child. She would sit and watch ESPN with her dad all day if I let her. :) Before we moved this last time K had been quite involved with swimming. She started swimming when she was 4 and joined her first swim team when she was 8. I have been trying to catch up on some older photos that I never scrapped. The Challenge Me Happy blog has proved to be the perfect motivator for me. I found these photos from one of K's swim banquets in Carmel (two moves ago). The challenge was to use 1 piece of cardstock, 2 photos, 3 different kinds of alphas, 4 differnt pattern papers, 5 buttons and 6 staples.

Make sure to check the Challenge Me Happy Blog this week. There is a new challenge coming in the next day or two with prizes from a brand new sponser as well as lots of great inspiration by the team!

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope your week is amazing!

Another Year Older

2011-09-08T08:52:00.001-04:00

Happy Thursday everyone!
.
I am so sorry for being such a bad blogger recently. I don't know where all my time is going. So last Friday was my birthday and it was such a wonderful day, well except for the laundry part. :) We had a wonderful dinner at a local seafood restaurant that was recommended to us by a mom at L's gym. DH and the girls got me tickets to see my absolute favorite band in concert in October. Can't wait! This song gives me chills every time I hear it.
.

.
Then, because it was a long weekend we headed up to WI to visit my parents. Had such a wonderful time and even got a surprise visit from my Great Aunt Martha. She is still just as sweet as always. My earliest memories of her are of how happy she always was. What a dear, sweet woman. :) We took the girls to the fair and helped my mom in her garden. My poor kids, they adore helping her in the garden and nibbling on the fresh veggies but alas, they will never get that at home. :) Good reason to look forward to visiting Grandma and Grandpa right? That will be my excuse. :) Truth be told, I am just not a gardening person...veggies or flowers.
.
Love pink? There is a really cool Deal at Creative Charms this month. Check it out!

Deal of the Month – 235 Pieces - $6.99
Black Gradient Gem Stickers – 76 Pieces
Black Gradient Pearl Stickers – 76 Pieces
Pink Vintage Pearl Brads – 9 Pieces
Pink Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces
Violet Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces
Pink Sequin Flowers – 6 Pieces
Pink Gem Garden – 12 Pieces
Pink Pure Blossom – 14 Pieces
Pink Spring Medley – 14 Pieces

Make sure to also check out the kit of the month.
.
I have a quick project to share with you this morning. Our color challenge over at Emma's Paperie this week was a great back to school color scheme. Here is what I came up with.
.

.
Check out the blog to see the inspiration photo, find my supply list and see the other designers take on the photo.
.
Have a wondful week everyone!!!!

Slimed

2011-08-25T09:16:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post today...I have got soooo much to do today. Every year I think I am going to have all this time after the kids go back to school but it never turns out that way. :) Spent the day volunteering yesterday (LOVE THAT). It was longitude/latitude day at the middle school yesterday. So I got to spend the morning roaming around the middle school campus doing a scavenger hunt with a group of 7th graders and a GPS. If I am being honest, I would admit that I wasn't sure if I was going to like volunteering with middle schoolers but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It was a lot of fun and the kids were great.

Last night K had her kick off party for youth group. She has been looking forward to this all summer. The middle school and high school youth group leaders mixed up over 2000 gallons of slime and filled two swimming pools. The kids then wrestled (girls v. girls, boys v. boys) for a chance to win a gift certificate. K and her partner were eliminated in the first round but she still had a blast. I showed up at 8:30 and she was covered in slime and smiling from ear to ear. It was obviously a huge hit. There must have been over 100 kids there and every single one of them looked like they were having the time of their life. So very glad we found this church.

I have a few things to share with you today. First, the new issue of Crafts N' Things is now on shelves. I have to say, this is one of my favorite issues. So many great projects in there.

You can find some Halloween treat jars I created. Here's a little sneak.

Have a great week!

Quiet

2011-08-16T09:44:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

Starting to ge used to the quiet around the house. The girls started school last Thursday. Everything seems to be going really well. L, my child who does not usually enjoy school got in the car after her first day and claimed her teacher was "The Best 5th Grade Teacher Ever!" Makes a momma happy. :) K likes her teachers and has quite a few friends in her classes. Looks like it is going to be a great year.

Last week I mentioned the Challenge Me Happy Blog. This last challenge was a fun one. Annelie asked us to create a layout revolving around the word HOME. This was an easy one for me since we had just moved. Here is the layout I created.

.
Check out the blog to participate in this great challenge. You could win a bunch of great 7 Gypsies product.
.
I have one more project to share with you. Our focus over at Emma's Paperie this week was stitching. Here is my card.

You can find my list of supplies here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

So very happy

2011-08-10T10:53:00.000-04:00

Morning everyone! .

I am happy to say that my girls are home...yay! I was so very happy to see them Sunday evening. :) Sounds like they had a lot of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's. Grandma and Grandpa took them to the county fair, a play in downtown Chicago and this....

Pretty cool huh? That was one of their Christmas presents from my in-laws. They have been anxiously awaiting their visit so they could take Grandma and Grandpa up on the offer. They had a blast and K managed to capture quite a few great pics from up there. She makes her scrapbooking mom proud. :)

Creative Charms has the coolest sale going on this week. They are offering a kit that includes ALL the Gems and Pearls (1 of each) for only $7.99! I use these on every project. Just LOVE them.

You can also get the whole set of Vintage Jewels for only $6.99.

I have a project to share with you today as well. This great photo was our color inspiration over at Emma's this week.

.
Here is the card I created.

You can find all the supplies on the Emma's Paperie Blog.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a fabulous week!!!

Sigh...

2011-08-04T09:53:00.000-04:00

I miss my girls. :( It is so quiet around here. On the positive side I have been getting some scrapping done and started getting my house cleaned. Still have to do the kitchen and floors but I am getting there.
.
I have been scrapbooking for quite some time. There have been times when I was incredibly inspired and the mojo was flowing. And then there have times of zilch. Honestly, there have been more of the zilch times than mojo moments since we moved. I have had NO desire to spend time in my scrapbook room.
.
Enter Annelie. Annelie e-mailed me a couple months ago to tell me about a challenge blog she was starting. That was all I needed! Annelie's challenges are great. She varies the challenges from scraplifts, to color challenges to sketches. There is a new challenge every two weeks with a give away to one lucky participant. So this week we given a layout from the fabulous Piradee. Here is my layout.
.

.
I used the basic design of Piradee's layout as my inspiration along with the lace doilie and the strips of pattern paper. You can find a list of supplies on here: Emma's Paperie and check out the Challenge Me Happy blog to see Piradee's amazing layout and the other designers take on the layout. We would love to have you play along!
.
I have got a great deal for you to check out too. Every month Creative Charms offers a Deal of the Month and a Kit of the month. Each of these packages are quite a deal, lots of goodies for an unbelievable price. This month Michelle has decided to give an EXTRA 10% off of past kits and deals. You will want to act fast since quantities are limited. Check it out!
.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Camp Grandma

2011-08-01T10:09:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday everyone!
.
This weekend we drove the girls over to my in-laws' house. This week they are staying in Illinois for Camp Grandma. Every summer the girls spend a week with DH's parents. There have been years that they have taken some kind of camp in the mornings and then spent the afternoons and evenings with grandma and grandpa. This week they plan on spending time with my two neices (ages 4 & 1) who live only a couple of blocks away. K is becoming quite the babysitter and L LOVES holding her 1 year old cousin.
.
As for me, I plan on getting caught up on assignments for my different teams, getting my house in order and spending some quality time with DH. Speaking of DH we just celebrated our 17th anniversary this month. Our last assignment for Emma's Paperie involved using some of the great products from October Afternoon. I have been a fan of their products for quite some time. In honor of our anniversary I decided to create a layout about how our life has changed in the last 17 years.
.

.
Speaking of amazing products. You don't want to miss this great sale at Emma's right now.

.
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a fabulous week!

Another Great Birthday

2011-07-25T10:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday everyone!
.
This was definitely one of the best weekends I have had in a LONG time! We got to spend time with so many of our dear friends and I was not ready for them to leave. We celebrated this sweet girl's birthday on Saturday.
.

.
L's best friend and her parents arrived Friday night from Bloomington. We had such a great time hanging out with them. Saturday morning some of our sweet neighbors from our old neighborhood came. After spending some time with them at our house we all headed over to the skating rink.
.

.
Then one of L's closest friends from her old gymnastics team showed up.
.

.
Two local friends were also able to make it. :)
.

.
The skating rink that my girls are taking lessons at fills one of the rinks with tons of bounce houses during the summer. So the girls were able to bounce in the bounce houses after skating for a while. (sorry the pictures are not fabulous)

And then our sweet birthday girl blew out her candles, and we had cake and opened presents.

.
I have two projects to share with you today that I created for Emma's Paperie. The first is a summer canvas I created for our summertime assignment.
.

.
This second project was what I came up with based on a sketch by the fabulous Anabelle O'Malley. You can see the sketch and supply lists for both of these projects on the Emma's Paperie Blog.
.

.
Thank you so very much for stopping by today. I hope your week if filled with love and joy!

Happy Birthday to my Sweet 12 Year Old

2011-07-11T11:58:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

.
Playing a bit of catch up today. Sorry for being MIA so much this summer. It has been a busy, busy summer. This weekend we celebrated this sweet girl's 12th birthday.

We decided that with her being so involved in sports and now being in Middle School we would get her a cell phone as her birthday gift. Needless to say, she did not put it down all weekend. :)
.

.
K decided she wanted to do a mall scavenger hunt. Since we are so new to the area she only invited a few friends. It was the perfect party for a small group. I created a list of things to find at that mall and they had to take pictures in various places and buy a few things. They each bought a bag of candy at the candy store, a ring from a jewelry store and got some photos from the photo booth.
.

Some of the other stops on their list included a photo on a lawn mower at Sears...

.
and wearing sunglasses at Justice.
.

We then got a cookie cake for the girls.

I have a couple of cards to share with you also. I created both of these cards for Emma's Paperie. You can find the supplies and other designer's amazing designs on the Emma's Blog.

Make sure to stop by Creative Charms for the Amazing deals on the July Kit and July Deal for this month.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Have an amazing week!

Are you up for a challenge?

2011-06-21T06:48:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone!
.
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We had a lot of fun celebrating Father's Day. Many years ago while DH and were living in Texas DH and I owned a boat. He has missed having that boat since we sold it. So after church on Sunday we took my sweet husband water skiing and tubing.
.

I wanted to share a brand new challenge blog with you-Challenge Me Happy. I was thrilled when Annelie asked me to be a part of this team. She has some amazing challenges lined up and I can't wait to share them with you. Here is the first challenge. Create a layout using this amazing photo as inspiration.
.

.
Here is the layout I created.
.

I took inspiration from the photo in several different ways. I was first inspired by the bikes in the photo. They reminded me of these photos I took at a local park. I also took inspiration from the vignette around the inspiration photo. I added a slight vignette to each of my photos. I found instructions on how to do this on this site. http://photography.about.com/od/developingandprinting/ss/psevignette.htm

My final inspiration came from the bricks on the building. I downloaded some digital brick stamps from this site. http://www.texturemate.com/content/brick-3-brush-pack-photoshop-or-gimp I then created a 12 x 12 image in adobe and stamped the areas I wanted bricks. Finally I used the stamp tool with a blurred edge to erase some of the bricks. I printed it on red cardstock to create my background.

We would love to see your take on this photo and you could win some amazing chipboard from Magistical Memories. Just head over to the Challenge Me Happy blog for all the details and to see all the other designers layouts.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful week!

Running and Jumping and Smiling

2011-06-13T10:54:00.000-04:00

What a week! I apologize for being a bit down last week. I am definitely feeling so much better this week. There is something magical about the sweet giggles of my girls. Ahhhh...makes me happy. So glad to have them home for the summer.

Our first Wednesday of delivering food to the elderly couldn't have gone better. The girls had a blast and we met some of the sweetest people. After we got done with delivering food, stopped to play a little Lazer Tag. The girls got buy one get one free tickets at a hockey game last month and we hadn't had a chance to use them yet. Although the girls have both played before (L actually had her last birthday party at a Laser Tag place) I have never played. I have to admit, it was a LOT of fun. We may have to go back again some time. We just need to talk to those girls about the hazards of ganging up on their mother. It could lead to extra chores you know! :)

This weekend was great. Saturday morning after sleeping in we headed downtown for GermanFest. They did have a few things for the kids to do but the main highlight for all of us, besides the food of course, was the 8th annual Wiener Dog Races. I laughed so hard watching those sweet dogs run down the lane.

Isn't he the cutest?

After leaving GermanFest we did some shopping for the girls. We ended up leaving their swingset in Bloomington when we moved. It had already made two moves and we felt that it was just time to let the poor thing stay in one place. :) Although the girls did not actually swing on it a whole lot anymore it definitely was still a place they hung out with their friends. We decided that we would get them a trampoline when we got a yard. To the great pleasure of my girls, the landscaper recommended we get the trampoline before he got started and set it up so we knew exactly where we wanted it. He is going to put mulch down so we don't have to worry about mowing under it. I am glad he made this recommendation because we actually ended up moving it from its original place. It took quite a while to set up yesterday but by evening it was ready for them to use. They jumped in that thing for 3 hours! Needless to say, they are out there again this morning. :) It is definitely a kid magnet. The little 3 year old from across the street was over for a bit last night with her mom and dad. We had told them to bring her over after they got home from their graduation parties. Then later the little soon to be 5th grader that lives down the road came over to jump for a while too. I think it is going to be a hit. :)

As promised, I am going to give away my Scrapbook Trends magazine. And the winner is......

PattyO!!!

Please send me your address Patty!
I hope to be giving away another magazine in the next week or so. I have a layout in this month's BHG but have not got my comp issue yet.

I wanted to share a card I made for Emma's a couple of weeks ago. Lots of Prima on this one.

One last bit of news I want to share with you. I am going to be a part of a brand new challenge blog called Challenge Me Happy. Please check it out. There are going to be amazing inspiration projects, fun challenges and lots of goodies to give away. I can't wait to show you the layout I created for the reveal this week.

Have a wonderful week and thank you so very much for stopping by!!!

If I am being honest

2011-06-07T14:06:00.005-04:00

I have been a bit lost lately. It seems this move has thrown me for more of a loop than I thought it would. I have not had the desire to scrapbook in weeks. I have all this time and sit and do nothing. I have neglected my sweet internet friends and their blogs (thank you so much to those of you who have checked in on me) :) I miss my friends from Bloomington terribly. I am sure that it has a lot to do with the fact that I am used to being very busy and now I have no commitments. Without volunteering, bible studies, time spent at the schools and book clubs I feel a bit lost.

Hmm...so what have I been doing? I have been shopping for patio furniture. We have a landscaper coming this next week to start on our yard. It has started getting us to think about our patio. We have had a VERY small set (two chairs and a tiny) table for over 10 years and would like to be able to eat out on our new patio. We finally bought a new one, after many days of searching, on Saturday. I have also been spending time on the treadmill. There are so many health concerns in my mom's family dealing with heart concerns I really need to make sure that I am walking on a more regular basis. I have also been getting things in order for the girls for the summer. They are both going to do several camps this summer. I am also trying to find them a good piano teacher here. Really, that is about it. Not a whole lot.

Today is the last day of school for the girls and I have to say, I am really looking forward to having them home with me this summer. We now get to live in a neighborhood with a pool again and plan to spend lots of time there. One of the things I am really looking forward to starts tomorrow. We are going to be volunteering on Wednesday mornings delivering groceries to elderly people in the area. Can I tell you how proud I am of my girls? When I mentioned this idea to them they both jumped up and down like I had just offered to take them to an amusement park for a week. They really are the best. :)

So I said that I have not had a desire to scrapbook but I have actually done a project or two lately. I created this box for Creative Charms.

You can find a complete set of instructions on how to create your own flourishes on the Creative Charms blog. While you are there make sure to jump over to the store where you can check out the amazing Deal of the Month. There is lots of great patriotic bling this month!

I also created this little gift card and bag for L's teacher.

You can find the supply list on the Emma's Paperie Blog.

OK, so if you have made it this far you definitely deserve a reward. I received a box from Scrapbook Trends yesterday with a layout I submitted for the May issue. Along with the layout they sent an extra issue of the magazine. I have to say this issue is stunning. Lots of eye candy in there. All you need to do is leave a comment and I will pick one lucky winner to get a copy of the May issue.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!!!

$2000 question of the day

2011-05-19T14:05:00.001-04:00

So... how long are Easter eggs really good when left out in your husband's office? hahahaha :) While cleaning the floors in my husband's office I stumbled across an egg that the Easter Bunny had cleverly stashed there. Oh my word, I have got to start writing these things down. LOL

Anyway, wanted to let you know that I posted a tutorial on the Creative Charms blog this morning. Here is a sneak for you.

Check out the full project and tutorial here. Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Weekend with the Girls

2011-05-17T08:53:00.003-04:00

Ahhhh...that is the sound of relaxation. :) Had such a wonderful time with friends this weekend. We spent the weekend in Indy, scrapping and staying up way too late. While I was in Indy DH took the girls back down to Bloomington so L could go to her best friend's birthday party. Better yet, the party was held at L's old gym. They had such a great time.
.

Got a bunch of projects done but I can't share them quite yet. I do have a card to share though. This week the designers over at Emma's Paperie created projects that focused on trims. I have to say, one of my favorite parts of designing for Emma's are all the amazing trims she sells in the store.

I used my trims in several different ways on this card. Of course I used it as trim between the different pattern papers, tied it onto the pins and then the third way I used the trim (ribbon) was by creating the flower. It is really easy to do.

1. Start with wide ribbon, a strip of cardstock or pattern paper. If you are using paper, get the paper slightly wet. If the paper is too wet it will tear.

2. Cut a circle out of coordinating cardstock that is slightly smaller than the flower you plan to create.

3. Place a small dab of hot glue in the center of the circle and attach one end of the ribbon.

4. Moving in a circular pattern, wrap the ribbon around the center of the circle, continuing to twist the ribbon as you wind.

5. Use hot glue gun to tack down parts of the ribbon as you go.

6. Once your flower is the desired size, tuck the loose end under the flower and hot glue the end.

7. Add pearl, button or rhinestone to the center of the flower and you are done.

You can find a complete supply list on the Emma's Paperie Blog along with the other designers amazing projects. Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!

Mud and Goals

2011-05-10T09:25:00.000-04:00

Man, I feel like I have been surrounded by mud lately. It has been raining so much and since we do not have grass yet, our whole yard is a complete mud pit. Our yard is not the only mud pit, the soccer fields have been a mess. L's fields in particular are very muddy and she had a run in or two with those mud puddles. :)
.

.
Of course you have to play hard to get that muddy. One of her greatest strengths on the soccer field is that she is fearless. She goes after the ball and never looks back.
.

K's fields have not been quite as bad. She has definitely been playing well though. When we moved here she had the choice to play on a girl's team or to play coed. She learned when playing in Bloominton that playing coed makes her a better player so she chose to play coed once again. She can give those boys a run for their money, no matter how tall they are.

.
She scored her first goal of the season last week.
.

.
GOAL!!!
.

She has actually started practicing with a travel team. I really like the coach. He is a really nice guy, has a lot of fun with the girls, but what I like about him the best is his honesty. Since she has never played travel she is behind the other girls her age. He talked to K about what it is going to take to get her to the level where the other 11/12 year old girls are. He was honest but encouraging. I am so proud of my sweet girl and her attitude. On the way home she asked me if I thought her coach might meet her early each practice so she could work with him. I have no doubt that she is going to be playing at their level in no time.

Before I leave, I have a card to share. We had a fabulous color inspiration at Emma's this week. Here is my card for the color inspiration.

Make sure to check out the great inspiration picture and the other designers' projects on the Emma's Paperie blog.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Great inspirations

2011-05-04T09:42:00.001-04:00

Have you ever met someone who makes you want to be better, do more, try something new? I have been so blessed with so many amazing inspirations in my life. This morning as I took a few minutes to wake up I checked out blogs of a few dear friends. When I got to my friend Char's blog her card just inspired me. My mojo has taken a bit of a hiatus recently. The move has started to catch up to me and so I have taken a break from creating aside from assignments. But Char's card got me inspired to play. Her inspiration for me goes so far beyond creative though. This woman is amazingly strong and couragous. I am so lucky to call her a friend.

So I have some fun stuff to share with you this morning. First is a layout I created last week for Emma's Paperie. This week we are spotlighting Maya Road. Oh man do I love Maya Road! :) This layout was not only fun to create but also therapeutic.

Make sure you check out the Kit and Deal of the month over at Creative Charms. Fabulous stuff!

May Deal of the Month - $6.99

Sparkling Garden of Delight – 347 Pieces

· Amber Gradient Gem Stickers – 76 Pieces

· Blue Gradient Gem Stickers – 76 Pieces

· Pink Gradient Gem Stickers – 76 Pieces

· Assorted Gradient Pearl Stickers – 76 Pieces

· Light Purple Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces

· Light Green Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces

· Green Gradient Gem Brads – 9 Pieces

· Purple Gradient Gem Brads – 9 Pieces

· 18” Blue Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

May Kit of the Month - $14.99

A Knitted Garden – 46 Pieces

· Knitted Strawberries – 3 Pieces

· Orange Countryside Garden – 6 Pieces

· Green Knitted Butterflies – 4 Pieces

· Blue Small Knitted Flowers – 9 Pieces

· Blue Blooming Garden – 12 Pieces

· Pink Blooming Garden – 12 Pieces

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!

Creative Charms winner!

2011-05-02T08:50:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Debc06! You are the winner of my Creative Charms package! Please e-mail me with your address and I will get your goodies out to you!

Bling it On!

2011-04-29T04:16:00.098-04:00

So glad you're here! Today is the start of the Creative Charms Blog Hop.

Creative Charms is offering a cool prize on Monday. All you need to do is visit each blog starting at the Creative Charms blog listed below. At each blog you will receive a secret word. Put all the words together to create a secret message and send it in by Sunday. My secret word is THE.

Creative Charms – www.creative-charms.blogspot.com

I thought I would share some projects with you using some of my favorite Creative Charms products. I love the extra detail that rhinestones add to any project.

I would love to share some of my Creative Charms products with you. Just leave a comment by Sunday night and I will pick a winner to receive some goodies. I have some gradient jewels, pearls, vintage brads, a fuzzy daisy and a few other fun stuff to give away.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Make sure to hop on over to Chris' blog. www.workforscraps.blogspot.com

Relaxing Easter

2011-04-25T09:40:00.002-04:00

Happy Monday everyone! Hope everyone had a fabulously wonderful Easter. Ours was especially relaxing. The church that we have been attending is a decent sized church but the services are almost always full. Last week the minister asked everyone to consider coming to the Saturday night service to ease up the attendence of the most popular services. So we decided to got to the Saturday night service. It was actually nice. Past Easters we would have to rush around to get ready on time for church after the girls had finished finding their Easter eggs.

After going out for a nice Easter brunch we came home, changed into comfortable clothes and the girls told me they had a surprise for me. They had set up a "spa" on the patio behind our house. They were so sweet.

It started with a massage using the massagers they got for me a couple of years ago.

A pedicure, complete with a pummel stone. :)
.

Am I spoiled or what???

I also wanted to share a project I created for Emma's Paperie last week. Jessica created a great card sketch and I decided to use that sketch for the tag on this Easter Candy jar. You can see Jessica's sketch and my supply list on the Emma's blog.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have a fabouls week. Don't forget to stop by for the Creative Charms blog hop on Friday. I will be giving away some bling.

Weekend Plans

2011-04-20T11:09:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!
.
Getting very excited for the next two weekends! The girls have Good Friday off so we are taking advantage of the day and heading to Bloomington. DH will have to stay back since he has to work. We are heading out a bit before school lets out tomorrow so we can be there in time for a 6th grade party that one of the teachers is throwing for the kids that used to be in her class. Afterward we are taking a couple of the girls' friends to the hotel so they can all swim and then get some dinner. Friday we will have lunch with friends and then head back to our old neighborhood to hang out for the evening. I can't even tell you how excited I am. We will come back late Friday so the girls can play soccer on Saturday and then spend Easter with DH.
.
The following weekend I hope you will join us for a Blog Hop with Creative Charms.

It is our way to say good-bye to some amazing talented women and welcome to wonderful new artists. There will be goodies to give away. There is nothing better than free bling! :)
.

Before I go, I have a project to share with you. I created this card for our focus on glitter over at Emma's Paperie this week.
.

.
I created the tag on the pocket by using one of my favorite stamps by Melissa Frances and stamped it into a glue pad. Then after stamping the image on my cardstock I simply covered it with glitter and cut it out. Super simple and a great way to add glitter to your project! You can find a complete list of my supplies here.

Have a happy Easter everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Rainy and cold

2011-04-18T08:41:00.000-04:00

Oh spring where have you gone??? Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows that I just love watching my girls play soccer. Saturday was not such a fun soccer day though. It was the girls' first game here and it was rainy and cold. The rain felt like ice as we sat there watching the games. It is rainy and windy again today. I am soooo ready for some sun and warmth.
.
I am excited. This morning this beautiful item is going to be delivered.

Pretty isn't it? The one part of this house that I wasn't so sure I like was the master bath. It is long with two sinks and a clawfoot type tub in between. The builder had put up two flat mirrors over the sinks and it just made that wall look so long and bare. I am excited to say that I am liking it a lot better. We ordered decorative mirrors to go over each sink and this gorgeous sconce will go over the tub. It is about 58 inches long so it will fill the space beautifully.

I am also awaiting the arrival of this beauty.

A while back the motor on my auto focus died and I have been dealing with that for several months. I have to admit, manually focusing my lens is not something I am very good at.

.
I have also had several requests to see pictures of our house now that we have our stuff in and everything is relatively done. I do not have a picture of my scrap room yet. I still do not have anything on the walls and my shelving unit is more like a storage dump than anything else. But here are a few of my favorite spaces in the house.
.
Our bookshelves are done and I love them. Matt, the man who built them for us is amazing. I am very impressed with his work. They turned out even better than I had imagined. I love how they brighten up this space.
.

.
I was a little worried about our huge buffet fitting in the dining room but it perfectly into the space the builder had added to this room.
.

And my table that worked so perfectly in our other hosue actually works well in the front hall. I am happy. I was not thrilled with the idea of putting this table in the basement where no one could see it.

.
I have been working on a few projects but I can't share any of them with you quite yet. I will have some stuff to share soon though. Thanks so much for stopping by. I truly appraciate you! Have a wonderful week!

A trip to remember

2011-04-11T09:59:00.002-04:00

What a great weekend! After we found we were moving we realized that the girls would get to have a second spring break. We decided to take the girls to Washington D.C for a few days. Thursday promised to be a gorgeous day so we decided to spend some time outside. We rented bikes and made the rounds to most of the monuments. K's time studying World War II definitely made an impact on her. It was very obvious throughout the trip. When we arrived at the WWII monument she spent a lot of time reading and reflecting. I was able to get a photo of the girls afterward.

And of course we had to see the Lincoln Memorial.

We weren't able to get to the Iwa Jima Monument on Thursday but it was one that K really wanted to see so we made sure to get there before we left. I have to admit, it was impressive and moving.

We also went to the Ford's Theater on Thursday. We saw a play about the night Lincoln was assassinated and then toured the museum and theater. What a cool experience. The box off to the right was where Lincoln was sitting when he was shot.

Not sure if L could handle visiting all of the Smithsonian museums we chose to go to only one. We gave the girls the choice on which museum they wanted to visit and they chose the American History museum. We were in the museum only minutes when L spotted this doll house. We had to drag her away so we could actually see some of the museum before it closed. :)

K was thrilled with all of the WWII exhibits. She was especially excited to see Ike's war uniform.

Of course L loved seeing Nastia Liukin's Olympic leotard and an Olympic torch.

My mother-in-law and father-in-law took the girls to see Lion King last year so both girls loved seeing a mask from the play up close.

We decided to visit the Spy Musuem based on recommendations about how good this museum was. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. It was a great museum with lots of hands-on activities.

The best part of our trip was actually a complete surprise. We weren't able to get tickets to tour the White House since we planned this trip on such short notice. We were on our way to the White House Visitor's Center when a police officer stopped us on the sidewalk. After asking us where we were from he reached into his coat and pulled out four tickets to a garden tour on the grounds of the White House. Without much of a wait, we were able to get right up by the front steps of the White House. What a great experience!

Our last day in DC we drove out to Mount Vernon to see Washington's mansion. What an amazing place!

I also wanted to share a card I made a couple of weeks ago.

Check this out!

Creative Charms Design Team Call

Monday, April 11 – Sunday, April 17

Creative Charms is an embellishment manufacturing company and we are looking for a designers to add to our design team. We are looking for several people who are passionate and excited about sharing their ideas and creativity. The designers we are looking for are in at least one of these categories: scrapbooking, card making, and altered design.

The designers shall:
• Post twice a month to the Creative Charms blog
• Post to their own personal blog and Facebook any specials and giveaways
• Contract for at least three months with an optional 3 month extension

Compensation of $30 of Creative Charms product each month with additional monetary compensation for publication in print magazines.

To apply please email the following to midori@creativecharms.com with the subject line Design Team.
• Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• Email Address
• Blog Address
• 3 of your favorite projects
• Design team experience (past and present)
• List of projects that have been published

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Lunch with Friends

2011-04-05T10:18:00.002-04:00

Happy Tuesday!
.
Relatively quick post today. The girls are home for Spring Break today and we have way too much to do. Wish it were going to be a relaxing break but it is not looking like that. It will be fun anyway. :)
.
My in-laws were here this weekend and helped us pretty much finish up the house. Pictures are hung and I am so happy to say my bookshelves are already in the great room and fully decorated. I will try to get some pictures soon.
.
I have a few things to share with you today. I am behind on posting my projects for Emma's Paperie so I thought I would share two of those today. The first is a card that I made for the spotlight on My Mind's Eye. Oh how I adore that company!!!
.

The second is based on this great color inspiration Anabelle chose for this week.

And here is my layout based on these great colors. My sweet friend Mary captured this picture with her iphone one day this last year. We had lunch with her and her sweet daughter and were taking a walk afterward on the Monon Trail. The girls were having so much fun just being silly and spending time together. Love spending time with these girls. Mary knows how to make me laugh. Luv her!

The last thing I have to share with you are the kit and deal that Creative Charms is offering this month.

Deal of the Month – Hopping into Spring – 6.99

• Purple Gradient Gem Stickers - 72 Pieces
• Yellow Flared Flowers - 3 Pieces
• Yellow Sparkled Butterflies - 2 Pieces
• Yellow Flower Bows - 3 Pieces
• Yellow Large Sparkled Flower - 1 Pieces
• Pink & Yellow Flower Brads - 6 Pieces
• White Flower Brads - 3 Pieces
• Amber Pure Blossoms - 12 Pieces
• Yellow Gem Butterflies - 12 Pieces
• Bunnies with Flower Gem - 2 Pieces
• Purple Organza Flowers - 4 Pieces
• Purple 3D Sparkly Garden Brads - 12 Pieces
• Pink Gingham Butterflies - 3 Pieces
• 18" Purple Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
• 18" Yellow Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

Kit of the Month – Spring has Sprung – 14.99

• Orange Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
• Yellow Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
• Orange Flared Flowers - 4 Pieces
• Pink Flared Flowers - 3 Pieces
• Pink Sparkled Butterflies - 3 Pieces
• Orange Gem Butterflies with Bag - 5 Pieces
• Pink Vintage Pearl Brads - 9 Pieces
• Pink Gradient Pearl Stickers - 72 Pieces

Have a fabulous week and thanks so much for stopping by!

The boxes are gone!

2011-03-28T08:36:00.002-04:00

Woohoo! It is a happy day! The boxes are gone. I owe a huge thanks to my parents for all of their hard work. We actually have one more left in K's room and one left in my scraproom. Both are filled with stuff that needs to be picked through and sent to Goodwill. We haven't put many pictures or decorations up yet though. The man that built our kitchen cabinets is going to make built in shelves for us for each side of the fireplace in this room. So we have a lot of stuff sitting around waiting to be put up on those shelves.
.
We were able to try a new church yesterday. Anyone who knows me knows that this is one of my biggest concerns about moving to a new area. We are looking for a church that will have a lot to offer our whole family. It is important that there are enough kids and programs for kids to draw my girls in. Not sure about the actual service at the church we tried yesterday. The music was good, the atmosphere and sermon left a bit to be desired. We will definitely give it another try though. The main advantage of this church was what it has to offer the girls. Besides the size, it is also close to home so there are a lot of kids that the girls will know from school. We actually got to meet one of the little girls that L has been talking about. Her mom was very nice too. We will see, say a prayer for us.
.
I do have my scrapbook room in order which means that I can finally get crafty. I worked on a layout for Creative Charms last night that I will be able to share later this week. You can see it on the CC blog tomorrow. For now though, I have two projects to share that I created before we moved. The first project is a card that I created using a sketch by the fabulous Sherry Wright. You can see the sketch, as well as all the other designers' interpretations on the Emma's Paperie Blog. Here is my card.
.

.
The second project is an altered bench that I made using some adorable monsters by Jillibean Soup. How can you not love these little guys?
.

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Settling in

2011-03-23T09:25:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday everyone!
.
We are starting to get everything unpacked. It has been a very long weekend though. My sweet parents have been here helping us unpack and put everything away. I am exhausted though. The girls have acclimated pretty well to getting up an hour earlier but I haven't yet. We are still staying up late trying to get stuff done while the kids are in bed but still need to get up with them in the morning.
.
We have met several neighbors already. Three of them have come to say hello and one of the women has invited me to go to lunch with a group of women from the neighborhood next week. There are plenty of kids around too. Not all girls, like our fabulous old neighborhood but plenty to keep my girls busy I think. :)
.
School has gotten off to a good start so far. L's teacher has done a wonderful job of getting the kids excited for her arrival. They even had a countdown to the day the "new girl" arrived. She has been telling us about 4 girls in particular that she gets along with well. Academically things are going well too. Her teacher in Bloomington worked ahead so she is very comfortable.
.
Due to a mix up, K did not get to start school until yesterday. Things seemed to go very well for her also. She is looking forward t studying the Middle Ages in Social Studies. Her class in Bloomington was going to start that unit after Spring Break and she thought she was going to miss it, only to find out they are working on the same unit here. There is a math test on Friday that she has to take but not for a grade. She is confident she will ace that test because she has already studied that unit. She has met several girls already and sat with a few of them at lunch yesterday.
.
As for me, there is little hope of getting anything creative done for the next few days at least. So I will share another layout I created before the move. I have been wanting to scrap these pictures of K from her 5th grade program for some time. The Jillibean papers were exactly what I was looking for.
.

.
Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I will be back soon. :) Have a wonderful week!!!

On the Move

2011-03-15T10:34:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! .
Lots going on around here today. The packers are here to pack everything up. K has her best friend over to spend the day and I am trying to stay out of the way. :) Kind of a nice job, considering I have spent the last couple of days trying to pack everything up that we don't want to have them pack.
.

Have lots to share from the last week. First I wanted to share the pictures of K's finished WWII project. I have to say, I am so happy that we stayed around for WWII day. As much work as it was she really learned so much from this assignment. Here is Anne Frank's Secret Annex that she created. We decided to eliminate the top floor for purposes of time. If you have ever studied Anne, you know that she pasted posters on the wall in the room that she shared. So of course K had to create posters for the wall. She had me cracking up. Things like, Jews Rule and Go Allies (yes, spelled like that). LOL We created three beds and a sofa out of chipboard for the rooms. The bookcase on the first floor even moves on hinges to hide the staircase. So proud of her!

The project was quite a bit of work but not the only part of the assignment. She also need to create a tri-fold poster with 50 facts arranged into paragraphs with 10 pictures.

I have to say these 6th graders really stepped up to the occasion. The whole gym was filled with 120 projects just like this. It was absolutely amazing. The second half of the day consisted of the kids getting to attend lectures by WWII veterans. There were about 10-15 different speakers for them to choose from ranging from pilots to nurses to soldiers. I was fortunate enough to be able to escort a wonderful woman by the name of Heather who grew up right outside of London during the London Blitz. She was so interesting to listen to and such a sweet lady.

We have also had our share of playdates during the last couple of days to say good-bye. K's best friend slept over last night. I watched the three girls from next door all day yesterday while their mom worked so the kids could play. L's best friend slept over on Friday. I have enjoyed having them all here. I am hopeful that the girls can stay in touch with these sweet kids.

Now in honor of St. Patty's day coming up later this week, I have some green projects to share with you. :) These pictures make me laugh. We went to a place called Kentucky Down Under this summer and they had a bird cage where you could go in and feed the birds. Due to the constant feeding, the birds were quite friendly. :) Lots of yummy Jillibean Soup on this one.

My second project was done for the color challenge over at Emma's Paperie. I just love the greens used in the inspiration photo. You can see the inspiration piece and all the other designers' projects on the Emma's Blog.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Creative Weekend

2011-03-07T09:48:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend. It was another busy one here but a different sort of busy. I was thankful that we didn't have any meets or showings this weekend. One of the reasons we are still in Bloomington is because K wanted to stay around for WWII day. When she made this request, we had no idea that it also included A LOT of work. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with my kids doing projects. Actually K has learned so much through all of this, it is just that we have a bit going on right now. So each child in her 6th grade class chose a topic and then has to make a project and poster board to display on Thursday when the veterans come to the school. K chose Anne Frank (a pretty easy topic compared to some) and has decided to recreate the Secret Annex for her project (out of wood). She is a bit of an over achiever sometimes. So this is what she and DH worked on for a good part of the weekend.

Besides the construction, we also had to work on the poster board. She had to collect 50 facts and then arrange them into 10 paragraphs about Anne. We then collected pictures from on-line sources to go along with each of those paragraphs and arranged them on the poster board. Whew, I am tired. LOL Oh, I forgot to mention that Lauren has been working on a Pioneer project and had to write a report about soap making and make soap herself. She wrote out the report on Thursday so we just had to type it up. That was due today.

So Paper Crafts had a HUGE call for a book they are working on called Go-To-Sketches 2. When I say HUGE I mean they had over 2,750 submissions. Can you believe that??? That is insane. I can't tell you how happy I was to get an e-mail requesting a card after reading how many people had sent in submissions. I thought I would share my two cards that did not get picked up.

This first card was created based on sketch #70.

This second card is based on sketch # 21.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a fabulous week!!!

We have a winner!

2011-03-02T09:32:00.003-05:00

Morning everyone!

I wanted to pop in real quick and share the winner of my give away.

Congratulations Lynn!!!! Please e-mail me with your address and I will get the magazine in the mail to you.

I also wanted to share a quick kid's project I did for Glue Dots this last month. I used a paint stir stick from our local hardware store. After painting it white I simply added foam and felt to create this cute little guy. Super easy craft to help everyone keep their sanity when you are stuck in doors.

Make sure you stop by Creative Charms to check out the new kit and deal for this month. Some more fabulous deals. I will have a project later this week using this fabulous kit.

Oh My Lucky Charms - 111 Piece Deal of the Month

Each Deal Contains:

18" Green Vintage Velvet Ric Rac
12" Green Wide Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
Green Flower Brads - 3 Pieces
Green Gem Brads - 9 Pieces
Green Pure Blossoms - 6 Pieces
Green Large Sparkly Flower - 1 Pieces
Green Groovy Petal Medley - 8 Pieces
Green Braided Daisy Medley - 4 Pieces
Green Gradient Gem Stickers - 72 Pieces
Greeen Fuzzy Hearts - 2 Pieces
Green Fun Flowers - 4 Pieces

Everything Only $ 6.99

Green with Envy - 39 Piece Kit of the Month
Each Kit Contains:

18" Green Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
Light Green Vintage Jewels - 12 Pieces
Sage Green Vintage Brads - 9 Pieces
Green Sequined Butterflies - 2 Pieces
Green Sparkled Flower Medley - 5 Pieces
Green Sparkled Butterfly Medley - 4 Pieces
Green 3D Butterfly Brads - 3 Pieces
Green Organza Flowers - 3 Pieces

Everything for Only $ 14.99

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous week everyone!

New Start

2011-02-21T19:36:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone!
.
I thought New Start was the perfect title for today's post, not only because of the layout below, but because we close on our new house on Wednesday. I can't tell you the whirlwind of emotions I am feeling right now. I hate the thought of leaving Bloomington but I am so ready to get this move overwith.
.
So what better time to create a layout about starting at a new school than now. Took these pictures less than two years ago at the beginning of 3rd grade for L and 5th grade for K. That teacher in the picture with K in the upper left corner is the most amazing teacher you could ever meet. I am in constant awe of everything she does from the way she handles the class to everything she teaches those kids. She goes so far beyond the curriculum. Adore her and I am very sad that L will not have the chance to be in her class.
.

.
I also have a give away before I go. I just got my comp copy of the April Scrapbook Etc. in the mail and since I already subscribe I have an extra copy that I want to give away. So leave me a comment and I will pick a winner next Tuesday.
.
Have a wonderful week everyone and thank you so much for stopping by!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T09:46:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
.
It is a dreary day here but wonderful none the less. How can I complain when I have been so incredibly blessed???
.
This weekend the girls got to do something pretty cool. I was still feeling a but under the weather so DH took them to L's gym where they got to meet....
.

.
Dominique Dawes, three time olympic gymnast!!!! How cool is that???? She was in town to speak at IU and somehow the gym managed to snag her for a meet and greet at the gym. The girls said she was a great speaker and very relavent to any athlete. Afterward there was a bit of time for photos and autographs. DH apologizes for the blurry photo above. He said they were quite rushed when it got to this point.
.

.

.
L got her gym t-shirt signed. I am sure that is going to be a treasure for years to come. We have enjoyed being a part of this amazing gym family and will miss all of them so much. See that sweet girl in background? She is our local star. She won 1st in vault and 3rd all around (I think) at Nationals this last year and plans on trying out for upcoming Olympics. She is amazing to watch but better than that, she is just the sweetest girl. She is always giving L hugs and smiling at everyone she meets. Great kid!
.

Of course, I have a card to share with you today too. This week's assignment for Emma's Paperie was to create a Antique inspired project.

You can find my supply list here. Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope your Valentine's Day is full of love and laughter.

Bleckkk

2011-02-10T09:23:00.004-05:00

That's how I am feeling this morning. Whatever is going through our house just won't go away. Today, I can't talk. Can't breathe. Can't get my eyes to stop watering. Bleck.We have another showing today and I am not sure I can get up the energy to clean up my kitchen. K and I did a lot of cooking and baking last night. We made my mom's Beef Stroganoff recipe and then K made this recipe. My mom used to make a cake like this and I haven't had it in a long time. I was NOT too sick to sample a bit. :) It was delish. Needless to say though, after letting my 11 year old bake last night, my kitchen needs some help.
.
I think I may sit by the fire and read for a bit before I attempt to clean the kitchen. I have had a little bit of time to read lately and have read some really good books. I just finished The Handmaid's Tale for my book club. It was such a good book with so much to think about. Will definitely give us so much to talk about. I also just finished the Book Thief. Really liked this one too. The main character was a girl who grew up in Germany during Hitler's reign. Which gave K and I a lot to talk about since they are studying WWII at school right now. I have just started the Girl in the Tangerine Scarf which was recommended by one of the woman in my book club. I am only about 30 pages in so I can't really give a good recommendation but it is interesting to me since it takes place in Indiana. Will let you know on this one. I will probably have some time to read once we move since I most like not start volunteering a whole lot until next school year. I would love some book recommendations. What are some of your favorite books?
.
I wanted to post today though so I could share this project I created for the color challenge over at Emma's Paperie. Although I believe that those lovely Je t'Adore papers and and stickers by Making Memories are already sold out. If you are looking for the other supplies I used you can find them here.
.

.
Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful weekend!

Vintage Valentine

2011-02-08T05:16:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!
.
Quick post today because I am heading out for a girls' day with a friend. I wanted to share a Valentine's Day card I made using lots of Creative Charms and Sizzix though before I go.
.

Supplies:
Vintage Pearl Brads by Creative Charms

Vintage Poppies by Creative Charms

Gradient Gem Stickers by Creative Charms

Ornate Frame Back #2 Die by Sizzix

3-D Flowers Die by Sizzix

Flourish Corners #2 Die by Sizzix

Tres Jolie Collage by Making Memories

Floral Ledger by Making Memories

French Label Stickers by Making Memories

Sepia Archival Inks by Ranger

Pink cardstock by Bazzill
.

Make sure to stop by Creative Charms to check out the new Deal. All this for just $6.99!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Slowly

2011-02-04T11:11:00.004-05:00

We are slowly getting over the ickies around here. My youngest was running a fever last week during all of the ice days. Friday my oldest ended up staying home from school with a fever. She seems to be doing better but still has a nagging headache.

I have been busy trying to decide on blinds and mirrors for the new house. DH is going to meet with the blinds consultant this week when he is up in Fort Wayne. This scares me a bit but I have faith in my sweet husband. That and we are just getting the blinds for all of the bedrooms so that we can actually sleep after we move. :) The mirrors are for the master bathroom, as well as, the guest bath on the main floor. I want to replace the flat mirrors in those places with decorative mirrors. The builder has agreed to install them but I have to find the right mirror. My sweet friend Amanda is going to spend the day with me looking at mirrors. I can't wait. It has been too long since we had a girls' day. These are a few of the mirrors that are on the top of my list right now.

This one is the main contender for the guest bath.

These next three are the ones we have found so far for the master. I definitely like the first two better I think. But the size of the last one is closer to the right size. The first two are a bit narrow.

.

.

So what do you think? I talked to a someone this weekend that was talking about creating a custom sized mirror also. I am going to go see her tomorrow and check out prices. That way I could pick out the molding I like the best and get the exact size we need.

I also have a project to share with you also. I finally got a chance to create a mini album about our trip this summer. I actually have a few more pages to finish but this is what I have done so far.
.

You can find the supply list here. I hope to post a project tomorrow for Creative Charms as well. I need the skies to clear up a bit first though. Quite dreary here today.

Are you ready for some football?

2011-01-27T09:19:00.005-05:00

Morning everyone!
.
We are gearing up for the Super Bowl. Looking forward to watching the big game reminded me of some photos that I have had for some time. I have been wanting to scrap this focal photo especially. Several years back, Blue, the Colts' mascot made a visit to my girls' school. They were so very excited. (They also love to tell the story of how we met Coach Dungy on the bike trail and talked to him for quite some time. What a great guy, seriously, everything they say about him is true). Anyway, I wanted to do a layout about how much the girls love the Colts. Here is the layout I created.
.

.
This is also my first REAL hybrid page (I have printed a small piece or two before but not like this.) I had a hard time finding paper that was Colt's Blue so I turned to digit papers. I found a great kit at 2 Peas that had a wide selection of blue papers. I simply recolored them a bit to match and voila!
.
I am by no means a master at this but I thought I would share how I recolored these papers to fit my layout. I use Adobe Photoshop for all photo adjustments I make so that is what I will be showing you. Most of this is pretty easy stuff. I first pulled up my photo so I could get the right color of blue. See the two overlapping squares on the left side about half way down. Click on the top square to change the color. Now when you move your curser over the photo you will have an eye dropper. Simply click on the color you want to choose. Simple as that.
.
.
.
Now pull up your digital paper. For this part I used the Paperazzi kit from 2 Peas. Use the paint bucket to drop the new color onto your paper. Easy Peasy (as my girls would say) :)
.

.
The other color change is a little more difficult but still pretty simple. Here is the other paper I wanted to change. If I used the paint bucket, I would lose all that great detail on the paper. First you want to make sure that you still have the color you want to use in the square off the the left. Now go up to the top and pull down the Layer tab. Choose New Adjustment Layer and then Gradient Map.
.

.
This should be what you see. Simply hit OK and it will change the color of your paper.
.

.
Want a really cool tip? This is how I change all of my photos to black and white too. Learned this from the great Jessica Sprague. After pulling up the Gradient Map, do not hit OK. Click on the little down arrow to the right of the color. One of your choices is a square that shows black and white. You can click that and then hit OK.
.
So now all you need to do is Flatten your layer and your paper is ready to print. To flatten go up to that Layer tab again. Go all the way to the bottom and click Flatten.
.

.
That is it. Hope that helps someone out. This was probably already well known information and I am just late to the party. LOL
.
Make sure you stop by here this week also. They are giving another free kit away at Creative Charms. Who can pass up free bling??? :)
.
Have a wonderful day and thanks so much for stopping by!

What a team

2011-01-25T09:17:00.003-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone,
.
L had another meet this weekend. Didn't get a whole lot of great pictures. Between my zoom lens being broken and the terrible lighting at the gym it was hard. I did get this pic from her bar routine though.
.

.
She has made friends with some of the sweetest girls through gymnastics. She just loves spending her time at the gym. Begs to stay at Open Gym on Fridays after spending 10 hours a week there already. These girls have a lot to do with it. I was so glad to have had a chance to get a picture of everyone. There are so many meets where either they have split the girls by age or someone wasn't able to make it.
.

.
And of cours you have get that silly pose in there too.
.

.
These two hit it off from day one. They have such a good time together. We adore her family as well and were fortunate to be able to have dinner with them after the meet on Saturday night. The girls were so tired though that they just sat next to each other zoning out. Very rare with these two. :)
.

.
Wanted to share a project with you this morning also. I created this card using Melissa's sketch from Emma's this last week. Check it out on the Emma's Paperie Blog. You can find my complete supply list there as well.
.

.
Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

It's all coming together

2011-01-18T19:59:00.010-05:00

WOW what a busy weekend! We completely enjoyed our long weekend, even if it involved LOTS of driving. The girls had off Monday for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and then had a teacher in-service day today. Way back in October we had given DH's dad tickets to a Chicago Blackhawks game down in Nashville, TN. It is always really difficult to get tickets in Chicago and this was a great opportunity to visit Nashville. That was before we knew we were movinig. So we kept the trip planned, had a wonderful time at the game (even though Chicago lost). We even got to go on a backstage tour of Ryman Auditorium, where the hold the Grand Ole Opry. We had to cut our trip short though, so we could drive back and head up north to work on stuff for the new house.
.
Yes, that is right, WE HAVE A HOUSE!!! :) We don't close until the end of February but the house is ours. :) It is a brand new house built by a fabulous Amish builder in the area. Since the house isn't quite complete yet, we got to pick out a few of the finishing touches. We spent a good part of Monday picking out the carpet and light fixtures for the house. I thought I would share a few pictures with you. I can't take credit for these pictures. They were taken by the realtor.
.
This is the great room. Look at all that fabulous light coming in.
.

.
Here is another view so you can see the cool beams in the great room. We have picked out a gorgeous ceiling fan to go up in those arches.
.

.
Here is a picture of the kitchen. They have added gorgeous black granite counter tops in here since the picture. There is a breakfast nook to the right that overlooks a pond and had a door out to the patio. Those wires hanging down will be connected to under cabinet lighting soon.
.

This is the view from the great room towards the front door. Don't you just love those spindles. We have those on our stairs in our current house and I just love them. Look at that great wainscoating in the hall too. Isn't that cool? Love all the unique touches the builder put in this house.

This is our master, minus the carpeting of couse. :) There is a second door out to the patio from the master bedroom and so it also overlooks the pond. Love that little sitting area!

Check out the cool ceiling and doorway in the dining room. There will be a chandalier hanging in the center.

This will be our main living area (the basement). The carpet down here will match the carpet we are putting on the other two floors. The builder is also building us a window seat to go in that little nook area. The TV will be on that back wall with the girls have play space to the right of the picture. He is also building us a big walk in closet at the bottom of the steps for all the girls games. Next to where the closet is going to be there is a door for an additional bedroom that will be my scraproom.

So happy we found this house. We have all fallen in love with it. Now if we could just move our amazing neighbors and friends with us all would be good. :)

I can't leave you without sharing a project. I created this card for Emma's Paperie last week. Make sure to check out the blog for the other designer's projects. You can also find my complete supply list there.
.

Do you facebook? Creative Charms is giving away lots of goodies this week. This one is easy...invite your creative friends to "like" Creative Charms, let me know how many friends you invited and you will be put in to win $20+ worth of great items from Vintage line. As usual you have until midnight on Sunday.
.

Thanks for all of your support everyone. I am so thankful for all of the love I have received about our move. You are all the best!!! Have a wonderful week!

Uneasy calm

2011-01-13T09:49:00.004-05:00

Is that even possible? To be uneasy and calm at the same time? I can't think of a better way to describe how I am feeling this morning though. We listed the house this morning, everything is clean and sparkling and things are moving along so quickly. I have been going full speed for so many days now, I don't know what to do with myself. It is such a relief to know that we are ready, but I still feel like I should be cleaning something, doing some laundry, doing something.

.
I do have such wonderful people to thank for helping me during my stress time. :) My sweet neighbors who had my girls over at their houses to play the last two snow days so that they weren't here destroying the house. Sweet Cindy at Emma's Paperie that gave me as much time as I needed off so I could get the house ready and the people that have stepped up for me and helped out on my other teams. I have such amazing people in my life and I am so grateful to all of you.

So, speaking of teams and assignments, I thought I would share a Valentine's Day project I created for Glue Dots®. That fabulous chipboard bird and swirls on the roof are from Magistical Memories.
.

.
Before I go, I want to share a quote that JD Chandler from KLove posted this morning on Facebook. Love the great quotes he finds.
.
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have...but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”
*Frederick Keonig
.
Hope your weekend is fantastic. Thanks for stopping by!

Finding a home

2011-01-06T08:20:00.003-05:00

Happy Thursday everyone!

.
I spent the last two days looking at homes in our soon to be new town. We looked at 20 some homes and none of them really jumped out at me. There are a couple that aren't bad it is just hard to find a replacement when you love the home you live in so much.

It was a 3 1/2 hour drive to get there and that gave me a lot of time to think, as you can imagine. DH and I have been working in Sunday school for the last several months and we try to go for 2 hours on Sunday mornings so that we are not missing the service but it doesn't always work that way. So I downloaded a few of the sermons I have missed to my iPad. Our minister, Tom is amazing and if your looking for some inspiration I highly recommend that you listen to a few of his sermons. You can find them here.

It just happened that the sermon Tom was preaching on was Thankfulness. As a family we talk about the things we are thankful for often, but I don't know if I express it enough to others. I have really been trying to look at the positives of this move but when I am talking to others I am not expressing that.

1. I am thankful that DH still has a job. His company may have asked us to move, but he still has a job.

2. I am thankful that we have the means to find another beautiful house even if it will be in a different neighborhood, with different neighbors.

3. I am thankful that we have had the experience of belonging to an amazing church.

4. I am thankful that we have made some incredible friends. Friends that I wouldn't give up for for anything.

5. I am thankful for the opportunity to stay home and support by children by helping out at their school.

I know God has got great plans for us in our new home and I am prepared for the challenge.

I can't leave without sharing some little bit of creativity. I was in charge of creating the sketch for Emma's Paperie last month. Here is the sketch I created.

And here is the card I created based on this sketch.

You can find all the supplies as well as the other designer's amazing projects on the Emma's Paperie Blog.

Make sure you check out the Creative Charms page on Facebook too. They are giving away free product. You don't want to miss this!

Well, the house goes on the market one week from today. Suppose I should get cleaning. Thanks for stopping by. I can never express how thankful I am for all of you. Have a wonderful day!!!

Bittersweet Holidays

2010-12-29T11:26:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone!
.
Hope your Christmas was a happy and healthy one. We were fortunate enough to get a chance to spend Christmas with my husband's family.

Lots of fabulous presents were given all around. The girls both got a DSi from my in-laws and were quite excited.
.

.
Each of the girls decided to give one another DS games which were a hit as you can see from the thank you hug below.
.

.
When we were at the Toy and Game Show in Chicago, L fell in love with the candy shaped pillows. I managed to surprise her with Jolly Ranger pillow. Like all the hair bows? She is such a goofball. :)
.

.
Grown up presents for my 6th grader (a duffle bag in her favorite colors for sleep overs).
.

.
The girls gave me the absolute best gift this year. One our favorite books is called the Patchwork Quilt. In the book the grandmother takes pieces of fabric from the family's favorite clothes to create a quilt that represents each of the family members. With the help of their sweet dad, the girls cut up some of their old soccer, swim and favorite t-shirts and took it to a local seamstress. She then put it all together and backed it with fleece. It is the sweetest, most comfy present ever. I didn't get a picture of the quilt yet but I do have a picture of opening the t-shirt pillow that went with the quilt.
.

.
Our ready-to-be babysitter. She does such an amazing joy with her little cousins and thoroughly enjoys playing with them, as well as, taking care of them.
.

.
While we were visiting we went to see a hockey game. They have the most amazing face painter there and she did the girls' faces. I was able to snap a picture when we got home.
.

.
As I eluded to in my post title and a previous post, the holidays have been a little bittersweet for us. We found out a couple of weeks ago that they will be closing DH's office here in Bloomington. If you have read my blog for very long you have probably read where I talked about how amazing our neighborhood is and how much we absolutely love living here. It was quite a shock and I will be the first to admit that I did not take it as well as I should have. My heart breaks for the girls and the good friends we are going to leave behind. They both have the most amazing teachers this year as well. I know that finding another neighborhood like this is going to be near impossible. But I am also trying to look at the bright side of things. They are offering DH the same position in another city. We have been able to find a couple of good school districts there and several homes that look very promising. We have our health, our family and friends that we will be leaving but definitely not forgetting.
.
Please keep us in your prayers for an easy transition, though. I am not looking forward to getting another house ready to put on the market so soon after the last move. There is so much to do and I am definitely feeling overwhelmed. I will most likely be a little light on the blog posts in the next month but I will try to post now and then to keep everyone up to date and post projects as I can.
.
Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-22T08:44:00.004-05:00

Sorry I have been MIA this last week. There is so much going on here beyond Christmas preparations. I will be able to share more with you after Christmas.
.
Thankfully, we have all our presents bought and wrapped except for a few for the girls. I am looking forward to spending the holidays with family, relaxing and enjoying the season.
.
I am taking the girls to see A Christmas Carol today. Can't wait. :) We have also been watching our fair share of Christmas movies this year too. The Grinch and Jack Frost being two that we watched this last week. I have to admit, the Grinch still makes me LOL. Love that movie. :)
.
I have another Christmas project for you today. I just love how you can use all kinds of scraps to create beautiful tags. Look how a tag can easily dress up a simple kraft bag.
.

You can check out the Emma's Paperie blog to find the supplies I used for this project.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have a blessed and safe Christmas.

Christmas Past

2010-12-14T04:58:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

The girls have been getting their share of winter fun. K spent Friday night with her best friend as they went on a Polar Express train ride and then had a sleep over. I was afraid that they may be getting a bit too old for it but they had a blast. Anything can be fun when you are with your best friend you know. Saturday night L went ice skating with her best friend and then had a sleep over as well. By the time the snow storm hit on Sunday we had two tired little girls due to late nights and then 2 hours of playing in the snow with neighbors. :) As for me, I have been trying to get ready for Christmas. DH and I spent Friday night while L was at gymnastics shopping. It seems never ending sometimes doesn't it?

I thought I would share a few Christmas Past projects with you today. I created each of these projects for publication. This first card appeared in Paper Crafts' sketch book. Really had fun creating projects for that book. Definitely worth checking out.

This Christmas bag topper was one of the projects I made for Kimber's last book, 175 Fresh Card Ideas. Obviously it is not ALL card ideas. LOL

This last card is one I created for Card Creations, Vol. 8 put out by Paper Crafts this last year. Just love that elegant Santa image don't you?

Thanks for stopping by everyone! Have a great week!

Christmas cards and sparkly stuff

2010-12-06T19:55:00.004-05:00

I have Christmas card to share with you today. For this card I used the Christmas tree ornament from Magistical Memories. For a full set of instructions you can check out the Magistical Memories blog.

.
I added some yummy Creative Charms pearls on this card. You can find these pearls in one of this months kits. Check out this amazing deal.
.

.
Kit of the Month – Nouveaux Vintage – 125 Pieces

•Ivory Vintage Velvet Poppies
•Classic Grey Vintage Velvet Poppies
•Vintage Brown Vintage Velvet Poppies
•Amber Vintage Marble Brad
•Light Green Vintage Jewels
•Amber Vintage Flower Button
•Antique White Gradient Pearl Stickers
•Brown Vintage Velvet Ric Rac
Regular Price - $21.00
Sale Price $14.99 (30% Off)

There is another kit this month as well.

.
Deal of the Month – Winter Wonderland – 131 Pieces•Blue Pure Blossoms
•Blue Gradient Gem Stickers
•Winter Medley
•White Flared Flowers
•Blue Flared Flowers
•White Gem Garden
•Blue Gem Brads
•Blue Bells
•Blue Vintage Velvet Ric Rac
•Snowflake Ribbon
Regular Price $17.00
Sale Price $6.99 (60% Off)

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone. Enjoy your week!

Coming home with lots of goodies

2010-11-29T22:06:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone!
.
Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Ours was fabulous. We got to spend time with uncles and aunts and cousins. Can't beat that. We also ended up coming home with lots of goodies as well. DH's parents and I gave him a Big Screen TV for his birthday/Christmas present and he took advantage of the prices on Black Friday to order it. I have also been looking around to find a table for our living room (my birthday present). I found the exact piece I wanted online but couldn't find a store that carried it. While visiting my ILs we found out that a store about an hour and a half from them carries it along with a ton of other furniture. So on Saturday afternoon, DH and I took the treck out there. We actually went back and forth between two pieces and ended up buying this gorgeous table.

The other thing we ended up coming home with was strep throat for poor L. She felt miserable all day Saturday and Sunday. After getting up 3 times Sunday night I decided to take her to the doctor. The medicine is helping already and although she is not quite back to her bubbly self, she is definitely on the mend.
.

I have a layout I wanted to share with all of you as well today. Been really inspired to create layouts lately. This week's inspiration came from a card sketch Jessica made for Emma's Paperie.
.

Here is the layout that I came up with based on the sketch. Had so much fun with this one. You can find a list of supplies on the Emma's Paperie blog along with all the other designer's interpretations.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Toys and Games and Gift Cards

2010-11-22T11:04:00.006-05:00

Happy Monday everyone!!!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. We were lucky enough to be able to spend the weekend in Chicago with my parents. We spent Saturday at the Shedd Aquarium. (will share photos of this later this week) I just love that place and the girls had a ball. After leaving the Shedd, we headed to Geno's East for the best Deep Dish pizza anywhere and then back to the hotel so the girls could swim. My mom, sister and I did a little Christmas shopping while DH and my dad took the girls swimming.

Sunday we made our way over to Navy Pier for the Chicago Toy and Game Show. I have to say I really wasn't sure about this. We had high hopes but you just never know with these kind of events. It was far better than any of us expected. They had plenty of toys and games for the girls to play. It was a lot of fun to have an opportunity to watch my parents and sister spend time playing with them too. The first thing that greeted us when we walked in was this gigantic rocking horse. (Please excuse the awful photos. I didn't bring my good camera b/c I really wasn't expecting so many great photo ops.)

And of course you have to have a gigantic Etch-A-Sketch as well.

There were tables set up all over the place where you could play games but several of the booths had variations of their games. Several different booths had jumbo sized versions of their games to play. One of these booths was the Split Decision booth. K walked up spun the wheel and after answering 2/3 questions correctly got some free game cards. Then it was L's turn. She was lucky enough to land on the Challenge spot. She got to pick the category of her choice and then the chance to win a free game. She chose the Parts of the Ear/Parts of a Car category. She was so excited because they had studied the ear in school and with my dad's knowledge of cars, they were a shoe-in. She got all three questions right and won a free game. The first of the whole show!
.

.
We also got to check out the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile.

.
And even got a picture with the Star Wars dudes for Uncle Ken. :)
.

Wanted to share some Emma's projects with you today also. Cindy asked us to create a project to hold a gift card. Knowing that it was getting close to Christmas, I wanted to create a Christmas card but also thought people might want some ideas for other gift card holders. Each card has a pocket on the front to hold a gift card. You can find a supply list on the Emma's Blog along with ideas from the other designers.
.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Absolutely Lovely

2010-11-18T09:25:00.004-05:00

Happy Thursday everyone!
.
I know it sounds like such a gliche, but I am blown away by how fast my girls are growing up, especially my oldest. It is amazing the changes I am starting to see now that she has started 6th grade. I worry constantly about the choices she will make and the pressures she will face. Every day I am reminded by words that come out of her mouth or things she does, that I need to relax. She is a girl who is confident in who she is and how God wants her to act. She makes me so incredibly proud. She is turning into such a beautiful young women not only on the outside but more importantly, on the inside.
.
I wanted to share a layout about my sweet girl that I created for Magistical Memories and Creative Charms this last weekend. Nicole Lombardo has created some beautiful new pieces. I started by painting the Sitting Pretty Bird Frame with white acrylic paint and then spraying it with Glimmer Mist. Combined with this awesome paper from the Lost and Found collection by My Mind's Eye and the layout came together so easily. I am truly a sucker for anything from MME. Love, love, love their stuff.

One of the things I love about this frame is how easy it is to embellish. So I added lots of goodies from this month's Creative Charms Deal of the Month. I absolutely love those Ruffled Flowers that came in the kit. I added some Gem stickers to the centers of the flowers for a little extra bling. ..

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you enjoy the rest of your week.

Feeling Thankful

2010-11-15T08:19:00.005-05:00

I have so many things to be grateful for. I am thankful for the freedom to say and write whatever I please. I am thankful for food on my table and a roof over my head. I am thankful for dear friends that I can turn to whenever and for whatever reason. I am thankful for sweet girls who love each other and treat each over with love (most of the time) :) I am thankful for my fabulous husband who keeps me grounded and supports me in all that I do. Finally, I am thankful for the opportunity to praise God without worrying for my life. I am so very blessed.

So, in honor of all I have to be thankful for, I thought I would share a couple of cards with you from the Card Style book by Paper Crafts.

All the beautiful bling on this second card is from Creative Charms. I created the flower using tulle that my MIL had left over and placed a vintage brad from CC in the center.

Thank you so much for stopping by. It means a lot to me. I hope your week is wonderful!

Stuck

2010-11-12T08:59:00.003-05:00

It's amazing how much you take your vehicle for granted isn't it? I am feeling a bit stranded today. My wonderful Sienna is in the shop today getting a myriad of problems taken care of and I am without a car for the day. Anyone who believes that a Stay at Home mom really stays at home is greatly mistaken. My car was really in need of this servicing, but it was difficult to find a day when I wasn't committed to one thing or another. DH is going to leave work early so that we can get L to gymnastics and K to church so she can leave for an over night camp.

Speaking of this camp, K is so excited she could barely sleep last night. She went last year and had an amazing time. It is a great chance to learn about God's love and plan for her, meet new friends and go to a wonderful concert. I am sure she is going to have a fantastic time. While she is gone she will miss her little sister's second meet of the season. And since K is coming back at the exact time L's meet starts 2 hours from here, I will be missing it as well. It just kills me to not be able to go. I love to watch her compete, although I find it hard to breath when she is on the balance beam.

While we are on the subject of sports, K had her second practice for indoor soccer last night. I have to say, I am seeing a definite shift in her. She has played soccer for years but has never really taken the game outside of practice. She definitely enjoys it and always has a lot of fun but there has been a change. She now brings her soccer ball in the house and kicks it around constantly. She talks non-stop about the girls she is practicing with. She has not brought up playing travel yet but I have a feeling the request is coming. The majority of these girls play together on the travel team and I think K is going to have a hard time going back to playing rec in the Spring, especially since the majority of her team is male. We will see, it will be a tough choice. I am not sure she is ready to give up swimming but I don't think we can pull off both.

This last month we did a Echo Park spotlight over at Emma's. I really love their bright colors and fun patterns. Here are two cards I created using their Life is Good line.

Have a fabulous weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!