summer....

We all went to the park again today :) I think we've been to the park more in the last few weeks than we had in the previous 6-8 months. But it has been so nice :) If you have boys, I'm sure you know just how much energy they have, and how there is NO way for them to expend it all while indoors. I discovered there is alot less whining and fighting going on if they have been able to get all that extra energy out :) So while the weather is still nice, I think we'll keep on going as often as possible. And boy it was HOT today! I would have thought it would have been at least a little cooler by now... since it was so summery today, I thought I would share a summer layout I did recently:

These are Levi pre-haircut :) They loved these homemade popsicles, but I don't know what posessed me to make RED ones lol. They learned that popsicles must be eaten outside :) This layout is (yet again!) full of Fany Pants and Quickutz :) (Maybe I should challenge myself to make a layout without FP or QK for once?! lol) I love how just the subtle bit of chalking on the popsicle die makes it pop.

Thanks for stopping by! It's almost the weekend, yay! Any big plans? If I'm lucky, I'll get some scrappy time :)

supplies: cardstock: core'dinations, patten paper: fancy pants, diecut letters, popsicle, scallop border:quickutz, ribbon: ki memories, brads: bo bunny

lovely weather we're having....

So I spent just about ALL day Monday going through clothes. Getting out Emma's 6 month clothes. Unpacking the boys' fall/winter clothes. Packing away their summer clothes. Weeding out Levi's that are too small or will be too small next summer. Getting out Leah's fall/ winter clothes. Going through and reorganizing her drawers, because, unfortunately she takes are her mama and not her daddy, and organization and tidiness do not seem to be her strong suit...:). Packing up Leah's small clothes in a box that will eventually be Emma's. And of course what happened today? You guessed it, it was HOT. Of course. It inevitably happens every year. I wait till it has been cool consistently for a few days or a week and then I get out the cool-season clothes. But no matter when I do it, we always get some really hot days just after. Oh well, at least I'm not surprised anymore :) And we did take advantage of the great warm weather and go to the park today.

But my industrious-ness (he-he!) around the house left me no time to for scrappy fun these last few days. So I don't have anything new to share. But I do have this two-page layout I made a couple of weeks ago. Lots of pictures of my cuties:

Lots of Fancy Pants, Quickutz and Core'dinations :) I rolled out the "love" letters several times to get the look of chipboard. I wanted to put several pictures I really liked together just to write down about how much my family means to me:)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying some REAL fall weather :)

supplies: cardstock:core'dinations, pattern paper: fancy pants, diecut hears, letter, embossing folder: quickutz buttons, felt accent: fancy pants

ruffles

I'm not usually a ruffles kind of person lol. But since there was a challenge at Moxie Fab I thought I would enter this card I made in the challenge:

Sorry there's no front view though :( I seem to have deleted it.... Hopefully you can get the idea :)

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out all the other ruffle-y creations at the Moxie Fab blog!

raspberry suite challenge

I discovered something when I made this card. I hardly ever use green, especially "leaf green"...and if I DO use it, the only way I can get it to look decent is on a Christmas card. I really did try to make several different kinds of cards with these colors. But whenever I tried to add anything green, I ended up not liking it...lol. SO, I made a Christmas card :)

I honestly don't know why I had a hard time with these colors, because I actually really like the combination.  I'm just glad I got the chance to make something for this  Raspberry Suite Color challenge. I like to stretch myself--sometimes :)  And Dawn always has these unique combinations that I would never have thought of! I used mostly Papertrey goodies for this card. I used the scallop sentiment punch from fiskars for the cream. I've been liking the simple-ness of that one lately as opposed to the threading water one (which I do still love of course lol).

Thanks for stopping by!

supplies: cardstock, stamps, buttons, ribbon, twine: papertey ink, scallop border punch:fiskars, label die:spellbinders

Baking

I have continued to bake at least one thing each week like I decided I would. It's so fun to have a sweet treat around to eat :) Lately, they haven't been lasting very long so I have *had* to make a couple of things instead of just one :) It just seems so sad to run out lol.  It's especially fun to bake when it is chilly and rainy outside. Last week we had cinnamon rolls:

They were SO delicious!! I'm ashamed to admit that before this I don't think I had ever made them at my house since I have been married. I had made them at my mom's, but never at home for our family. So I think that made everyone extra happy to eat them... and the whole batch barely lasted a day lol.

Then this week we made ginger cookies :)ooooh, heavenly:

I actually wanted to get some more pictures of these but, they didn't last that long lol. I will definitely be making the cinnamon rolls and the ginger cookies again! I'm hoping to get some recipe cards made up for these too. I love having the cute, pretty recipe cards to go with the yummy treats. What could be better?!lol Do you do much baking in the fall and winter? What are some of your current favorites? (oh, and if you're interested in the recipes for any of these, just leave me a comment and I'll post them :))

Oh, and here is picture of Miss Emma at the park the other day:

Thanks for stopping by!! Hope you are enjoying some yummy homemade treats this weekend :

tweet card

Love the weather lately :) Not too hot, not too cold. To be honest, I 'm really picky about the weather...well, not so much outside,  I mean, its supposed to be cold in winter. I get that :) But inside the house, that's a completely different thing. With the technology we have here, there is no reason to be burning up or freezing inside your own home, right?! lol...I try not to complain too much of course, but everyone knows that a hot or cold mama= a cranky mama at our house *grin*. SO, I'm really enjoying our just-right fall weather :) I've been working on the kids' "fall party" costumes :) We don't do halloween, but that doesn't mean they can't dress up for a party :)  This year Rhys and Levi are still obsessed with Dragonball, so we will have one Goku and one Vegeta...(lucky for me, Rhys was Goku last year and Levi gets to wear it this year :)) and Leah wants to be a nurse.  They keep asking what Miss Emma will be. But I don't think I have anything that will fit her right now... it would be so cute if she did dress up though :)  Do you celebrate halloween? Do you make your costumes or buy them? I think if I lived in the States I might buy them, but here that really isn't an option anyway. But, now that I do make them, I really love seeing how excited they get about them. Their faces light up and they say "that's perfect Mama!!" It's nice to know they think its actually cooler because I made it for them :)

Anyway.... here is the card I made with my new FUN Papertrey goodies:

Most of this stuff is new for me--the bird stamps, text stamp, PTI kraft, lavender moon ribbon. I really like all of them--not a big surprise *grin*. I almost didn't get the birds because I wasn't sure I would get much use out of them, but aren't they TOO cute?! Love the long legs lol. I made this as a welcome baby card for my friend who is having a baby in March. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add a sentiment to the front or not...what do you think?!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you're enjoying some lovely fall weather like me :)

supplies: cardstock, stamps, ribbon, buttons: papertrey, scallop border punch: fiskars

Monday, Monday....

It's Monday :) Do you like Mondays? Or are you more of a "I hate Mondays" kind of person? I actually like them. Usually after the weekend, I feel ready to start things right--get started on school, get the house in order after the weekend...Things don't always go as planned, but I usually start out chipper :) (now Tuesdays are a different story...lol)

Even though I don't post it each time, every month on Emma's birthday I take pictures of her. I like to see how much she changes each month and I make a corresponding page in her album too. I started it with Levi. I wish I had thought of it with the oldest two. But at least their albums still seem to have plenty of pages lol. I haven't finished all 5 of Miss Emma's yet. But here are some of the pictures I took on her 5-month-birthday :)

I know :) She's just too cute. I have to say I agree lol. Do you see she is wearing jeans?! I LOVE  them. They are the tiniest jeans ever! Soon I'm going to have to get out the next set of clothes I have for though. I need to get the little bit warmer clothes.

My new Papertrey stamps came! I am SO happy. I actually got to play with them some on Friday. I {heart} the text background stamps! It's going to be hard not to use them on every card :) I made a card with them all my new stuff, but I haven't gotten a chance to take a picture yet :( Hopefully I will get it up tomorrow! (And if you guessed it has kraft paper...you're right lol). So I'll share this layout I made instead:

For the life of me, I can't seem to get pictures of my layouts to come out right..arghh! Maybe I should figure out how to scan 12x12 pages...what do you all do? ANYWAY, its another 2 page layout, with lots of Fancy Pants and Quickutz--of course :) The big alphabet is Cosmopolitan. I actually thought I didn't like it or need it lol, but now that I have it, it is one of my favorites!! So cute :) I also used Doodlebug sugar coating on the the chipboard flower and around the edge of the label.

Thanks for stopping by!! Hope your week starts out well :)

supplies: cardstock: american crafts, pattern paper: fancy pants, diecut letters, circle and heart: quickutz, label die: spellbinders, glitter: doodlebug designs, buttons: autumn leaves

You won't believe it!!

Well, actually you probably will, but that is only because you don't know Miss Emma :) I can't believe it...yesterday, the day she turned 5 months....drumroll.... she took a nap!!! I know, I know, all babies take naps. But for Miss Emma, a nap means 10 minutes, if I'm lucky. But she actually took a nap--for over an hour! I had to check on her several times to make sure she was still breathing lol.

And here is what I have to show for it:

Well, that and really clean floors. Because I DO realize that housework should rank somewhere near the top of my to do list :)

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to enjoy any  unexpected little blessing that might come your way!

supplies:

cardstock:papertrey, stamps: papertrey & fancy pants, ribbon: papertrey, scallop border: quickutz, other: japanese rhinestones

accomplishments.

I don't know about you, or everyone else, but I know for ME, with 4 kids at home, homeschooling the oldest 2, the youngest only 5 months, just trying to get some kind of food on the table and getting through the day can be a challenge :) at least some of the time. That's why when I feel like I've gotten alot done, I feel really proud of myself :) It might not be a big deal for everyone else, but for me, its an accomplishment. And yesterday I felt like I accomplished alot :) The weather here was wonderful, so I decided to take the kids to the park. Not only did we get all our studies done before we left, I even packed us a picnic lunch! We spent the whole afternoon at the park, using up ALOT of extra energy :) We walked home, the kids made acorn people, and I baked cinnamon rolls :) ( I managed to utilize Emma's ten minute nap quite well lol) We ate stew, took baths, ate the cinnamon rolls, cleaned up, did chores AND got to bed on time. Like I said, for some, maybe not a big deal. But for me, it felt like quite an accomplishment. yay me:) How about you? What makes you feel like you have accomplished something?

ANYWAY, here is a layout I made recently. These are some my ultrasound pictures of Miss Emma. I loved seeing how much she had grown at each visit.It's very simple, but I liked how it really showcased the blac and white ultrasound pictures.

I LOVE these huge Quickutz letters!! Mary Jane is one of my all time favorite alphabets!! And you can't really go wrong with pink and brown in my book :)

Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you accomplish something that make YOU feel proud this week :)

Taylored Expressions

I did it!! I made a card based on the fabulous Taylored Expressions sketch!! Every week I look and admire, but I finally got up the neve to actually participate lol!! I always love the sketches and what the other ladies make with them, so I thought I would try it too :) Here is what I made:

I stayed pretty much true to the sketch. I LOVE working with sketches--such a fun jumping off point. But sometimes I feel too guilty if I change it too much lol. Am I the only one?! This card is mostly Papertrey and Fancy Pants. I really like this sketch--but honestly I don't think I did it justice lol. If I can, I'll make another card with this sketch again :) I used one of the little circle images that came with the PTI Warm Happiness stamp set to make a subtle background on the cream cs. I really like all the fall colors in these papers-so cozy :).
This one isn't for the sketch, but I just made it yesterday:

This uses more Fancy Pants paper. Isn't the black damask one so pretty? I love it :) I also used my Doodlebug glitter to cover the butterfly punch after I pressing it into my glue pad. Love how sparkly it turned out :) Its kind of hard to tell in the picture, but I stamped a script stamp on the white circle. I don't have Aqua mist ink to match my Papertrey cs, so I used the Ocean tides and stamped off once.

Thanks for stopping by!

supplies: {warm winter wishes card}cardstock: papertrey. pattern paper: fancy pants, stamps: papertrey, brads: doodlebug scallop punch: fiskars {butterfly card} cardstock: papertrey, pattern paper: fancy pants. stamps: fancy pants, butterfly punch:fiskars, buttons: papertrey, glitter: doodlebug other: rhinestones

mojo monday

Yay :) I was afraid I would miss out on this week's Mojo Monday sketch, but I got time to do it. Well, actually, I MADE time :) and I am so glad I did.

I  had fun with this sketch. I used lots of my favorite papers. And a funky button I had in my stash that has no holes lol :) The focal stamp is Fancy Pants. I always thought it was neat, but had never had much of a good chance to use it before. The script on the kraft paper is actually a Fancy Pants stamp too. I have the Papertrey ink text backgrounds set on the way--I can't wait :)

Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed my once-again-not-on-Monday-mojomonday-card!

supplies:

cardstock: worldwin

pattern paper: k&co, prima
stamps: fancy pants
buttons: autumn leaves
other: ribbon, kraft cs

around the world...

in just one day :) I didn't get as much time to create cards on the actual WCMD as I would have liked. And I didn't even find out about Nichole Heady's WCMD challenge until yesterday. But I really wanted to participate as much as I could. I am so happy that I actually got all 4 cards made :) woohoo:)

So, the first challenge was to make a card inspired by Japan! You would think this would have come easy for me, but I don't even own a single Asian-themed stamp. After a little thought, this is what I came up with:

I used this pattern paper from Die Cuts With a View. I was actually surprised to come up with something I liked.

The challenge for day 2 was to create a card inspired by Mexico. The first thing I thought of was pinatas and parties with pennant banners. So, I made this:

I haven't used this great set from Papertrey nearly enough.  I love how you can add in the candle in birthday in any color you want :) so cute :)

Day 3's challenge was supposed to be inspired by India and to use rhinestones or sequins. I thought this shouldn't be too hard since I seem to put rhinestones on just about everything right now hehe :)  

                             

It's pretty simple, but I thought it did have kind of an Inidian feel to it. I think it needs something else, but I haven't figured it out yet. Once I do, I'll re-post it lol :)

And the last challenge was from Australia. We could either use masking or dotted outlines. I chose dotted outlines.                Yes,  I know the snowman doesn't seem very Australian :) But for some reason, it was the only image that "grabbed"  me, and evertime I tried to use something else, I didn't like it. And I did use the dotted lines :)  I like how it turned out though.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by! I had lots of fun going around the world : )

supplies:

{you're amazing}

cardstock: papertrey

pattern paper: diecuts with a view

stamps: verve

buttons autumn leaves

other: ribbon

{happy birthday}

cardstock: core'dinations

pattern paper: inque boutique

stamps: papertrey

buttons: autumn leaves

ribbon: offray

{celebrate today}

cardstock: diecuts with a view

pattern paper: daisy d

stamps: papertrey

label diecut: spellbinders

scallop border: fiskars

other: rhinestones

{Christmas Wishes}

pattern paper: fancy pants

stamps: stamping bella, papertrey

ribbon: bazzill basics

button: papertrey

other: white gel pen, kraft cardstock

my little boy...

is not so little anymore :( Levi really seemed like my baby, now matter how big he was getting, until Emma arrived. The first time Tomio brought him to visit me in the hospital, I could not believe how big he had gotten!! But I got a little more used to it for a bit. But last week, he really turned into a kid. How did this happen?! I did it.... I made him go from this:

to this:

           

I can't believe how big he looks now *sniff* I love it though :) I love how "boy-ish" he looks. I love how you can see his face so much better too. And Levi loves how his hair doesn't get in his eyes anymore lol. It took awhile to do though... he had ALOT of hair. And I kept stopping and trying to decide how much to cut. And of course the hairs kept bothering him. And he kept skwirming. And then Emma woke up. And then he had to pee. But I finally got it done :) Even though he IS a big boy now, at least he still needs his mama to put him to bed and still tells me he loves me about 15 times a day :)

Here is a picture of my little Miss Emma too, just for fun :)

               

                        

I think she is getting a tooth. I noticed a white speck awhile ago, but I thought it was way too early. After all, Leah didn't get her first tooth until after she was 1. But I think the white speck is getting a little bigger, and she always likes to chew on something now. Her favorite thing to chew on is her fingers though :)

No album pages to show today, unfortunately :( I actually did get a couple done, but I haven't had a chance to photograph them. But I realized I haven't posted my latest recipe card yet.  So here it is:

                         

Nothing too fancy :) But I like having a great place to use all my food dies and stamps more he he:) I'm hoping to make at least 2 more this week. I'll let you know if I reach my goal :)

Anyway, thanks for stopping by!! I hope you had  fun weekend and enjoyed World Card Making Day :)

raspberry suite challenge #17

 

I'm so glad that Dawn did another Raspberry Suite Color Challenge! I really like doing them and missed not having them the past couple of weeks. But, I must admit I wasn't really sure I liked these colors together. I'm just not a big fan of red lol. And I find it hard to combine with other colors too. I was really pleasantly surprised with  how well they did go together lol. Here is my card:

I really wish I could get better pictures of my cards... I always finish and upload my cards at night, so I never get a chance to get them in good light...anyway :), I like how it turned out. I paper pieced the cupcake, which is something I almost never do, mainly because I just don't think of it... I really should try it more I think.

                                     

And, yes, I did the inside again :) woohoo! It's almost starting to feel like I haven't actually finished the card if I haven't done the inside. Almost... :)

                           

I used on of my FAVORITE stamp sets that I don't get to use nearly enough :) the Cupcakes from Papertrey. And my card base is kraft from Bazzill. I really like this color of kraft.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you liked it :)

                        

supplies:

cardstock: kraft-bazzill. aqua- papertrey ink.

pattern paper: die cuts with a view

stamps: papertrey ink

ribbon: papertrey ink

circles: quickutz

scallop border: fiskars

other: gems, kodomo ink