what I did today

LAYOUTS! and it was SO fun! I want to do more and more but duties keep calling! lol (so I'm thinking I should get the kiddo out of the tub now...)





these were done using challenges from Scrap-A-Latte :)

a layout to share!

yes - I created a LAYOUT! yay! it's based on a sketch provided by Scrap-a-Latte but I still made something other than a card!!!

EWWW!!!

found this on our oak tree out back today - what is it? so nasty! it's so fluorescent it almost GLOWS! and the fat little thing was quick....I would say it's about as big around as a finger!

it's finally here!!!

the first day of FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't think this day would ever come! and to celebrate I changed my blog theme :)


now enjoy this folks....


the latest New Moon trailer

family update...

Hailee had her first soccer game last Saturday! she played an amazing game and I see huge improvement from last season! you can see from the blur how fast she was moving! LOL


the rain is finally gone for a few days so Darren is back at work today! I think he's so happy to get out of the house ALONE! lol but we got a lot of errands and office work done so the time wasn't wasted - now we just have to hope all of his accounts are understanding! I'll see how it went when he gets home - I hope the yards aren't too squishy because the mowers can do damage from their weight. ick.


Fall break is Oct 15th at Hailee's school - we are going to go camping and our kids can't stand the wait - Braden has never been tent camping so doesn't really have a clue - but he's pretty darn excited anyway - I'm assuming it's because of how anxious Hailee is. We just show him old pictures to try to show him what to expect. but once you say "you get to play outside all day and get dirty" he's all for it!

now for the big news - yesterday I booked our flights to Seattle for Christmas!!! yay we're going HOME for the holidays!!!!!!!!!!! that means GOOD Chinese food, too! LOL The kids and I are so excited - Darren will have fun when we get there LOL but as of now all he can see is how tired he'll be when we get home :) Too bad he'll have to work the day after we get back HEHEHE!

I think that's it for now - off to workout - I have a new goal set and only have until 12/18 to get to it!

have a great weekend ya'll!

more cards.

It's a sad day today in the USA. There isn't much to say that hasn't already been said. Instead I will post more of my September card-a-day images and leave it at that.

God Bless.

use a heart

use a tree

use a tag (I used 2 from Basic Grey)

use a brad (that's what is in the center of the flower)

caught up

I was going to post these last night after I finished them, but 2 posts was enough yesterday! lol

here is my card using eyelets and the other using chipboard - both feature the yummy frost collection from MME!

the kids today. all of them.

okay. so the overgrown, big kid isn't here - he was working.....LOL

tis the season....

....to make cards!!!! Marti is hosting September's Christmas card-a-day challenge over at YMBD and I just can't say no to making cards! I have 2 more to do to be caught up - but here are the 5 I have done!

day 7 is today's card and it's to use a star


day 6 using stripes
day 5 using a bow
day 2 using a stamp.


day 1 we had to use a flower


so there you have it. 5 Christmas cards - are you in the spirit yet? no??? then go to Hobby Lobby! they have all their Christmas stuff out and it makes me so happy!!! I love Christmas.....now if only our plans would get finalized....

on my mind.....

*I love Braden's new phrases "I have NO idea" and "OH. MY. GAW." - I laugh every time he says them!

*fresh cilantro makes me happy.

*my husband is the greatest. I still get goose-bumps when he comes home from work.

*my workouts are actually fun and I'm glad I'm enjoying them - helps me do it every day.

*sucks to think I may lose my nose ring. I like it.

*Hailee is an artist and I'm in awe of her creations and creativity.

*alarm clocks suck.

*yay for days off!

*I like running errands. It makes me happy.

*coffee. coffee. boy do I love coffee.

*Christmas will be small this year. hate cutting back but this will give us more time to focus on traditions and the true meaning of the holiday with the kids.

*Alan Jackson

*cocky people bother me.

*coffee.

*quiet evenings watching a movie with my man are the best way to end an evening.

...journey...

how fitting that one of the challenges over at Scrappy Jo's this month was to use the word "JOURNEY" in the title of a layout. As soon as I saw that I knew exactly what I wanted to do. After lots of thought here's what I came up with....

The "before" picture is on Hailee's first day of Kindergarten (yes, 2 years ago, but it's the only one that showed a lot of me!). The other is the picture I took of myself at the 15 pound mark. I haven't taken any lately...guess I should but I don't feel any different so I'm waiting for 30 :) The title is "the start of my weight loss journey". I made sure to use the word start since this is just the beginning for me!

I only glued the sides and bottom of the pattern paper down to the cardstock, leaving the top open for a pocket. Inside the pockets are the 2 blog posts I made about my journey and what I was doing to continue on. I really think it will be great to look back on this as I'm older to see exactly what I did to lose my weight. I also plan on doing another layout when I reach another big goal - either 30lbs or 50...we'll see!

Jackpot!

I received an email from my step-mom last week asking me if I was interested in her "vintage" lace and rick rack and buttons from her sewing stash. WHAT!?! Are you KIDDING??? OF COURSE! some of it was in her mom's stash so maybe it's "antique" ??? LOL

while I was waiting for the yummy goods I decided to make a card and use some of the lace I already had - have to make room for the new stuff, right? so here is the card. I used pink lace under the white (doesn't show much) then a scrap of MME Penny Lane paper all tied together with some sheer white ribbon - I love this sheer ribbon - I find it at Walmart and I have it in about 5 colors! then I had to use this cute mixing bowl stamp and color it in with pencils....I decided to make it a welcome home card - and I have no one to send it to! lol SO - I think I'll add it to the cards I'm sending my step-mom, Signe, as a thank you!


The box came the other day! that's why this post is titled jackpot! wow did I ever make out! she sent a TON of lace, rick rack, ribbon, buttons, and a whole bunch of Christmas crafty stuff that just makes me happy!!!!! Is it too early to start on Christmas crafts? nah, it's NEVER too early! ☺

just for fun!

I made a layout and a card - because I wanted to! no challenges. no deadlines.

the layout I did because the pictures had to get put on paper! Look how cute he is all sleepy at dinner....we were hoping for his face in the plate but it never happened. This layout had no thinking involved...I just found somewhat matching colors and went with it. lol. can you tell? I wish I would've sanded the photos for dimension but oh well.

{basic grey papers, bookplates from dollar store, black letters are American Crafts, tiny letters are making memories, star is heidi swapp, flowers from Kimmie}

the card is for a dear friends birthday - so I guess that has a deadline - but it was still fun to do! I used some of the yummy Webster's Pages paper!! Love that company more and more!

{white cardstock embossed and inked, star and label cut from a sheet of Webster's pages paper, ribbon is offray, misc. buttons}

I am mom to a 2nd grader!!!

I don't know how that happened! How I became old enough and she became old enough I just don't know LOL

She's excited to begin the new year and is so happy that there are at least 3 friends in her class! Luckily, not the boy she's friends with :) so that means less trouble! hee hee



I love this picture! I asked her what her teacher's name was and she couldn't remember. I reminded her it was the same as her uncle and now she won't forget "Mrs. Neill".


this is the picture we get every year before heading off to school!

at her desk and eager to start her day!

UYS & Scrappy Jo's

Here are my latest creations.... The card set was made for the "colored pencil" challenge at UYS yesterday and the layout was for a challenge at Jo's to use blue, green, and yellow - and yes, that is a WHITE background - don't worry - it may never happen again! I really prefer my Kraft backgrounds for layouts!!! lol

{cardstock: wausau from Office Depot; patterned paper: Lily Bee; Ribbons from stash; stamp sets: Hero Arts; pins: walmart & papier valise; colored pencils: ek success; embossing folders: cuttlebug}

{cardstock: wausau from Office Depot; patterned paper: Crate Paper; vinyl letters and scroll: American Crafts; small white alphas: making memories: lace from stash; flower: Prima; brad: making memories}

{{Mom - this is the layout that was on my desk when you talked to Braden on the phone - he was telling you that mommy had a thing of Ollie - remember?}}

he caved!

Sammy let his guard down for a few minutes and allowed Ollie in his bed. I say a few minutes and I mean it - we're talking 3 or 4 minutes max....but it's a start!





in other Ollie news - we're still battling potty training, mostly at night - according to the vet he eats too much grass which has a laxative effect on him after midnight. joy for me who gets up to take him when he whines....every 90 minutes! It's been almost 2 weeks of this so I'll be calling for some type of medication because I tell you - I need sleep! :) But honestly - I don't think that's it so I want it to stop - even if for a day or two!

Ollie and Hailee are best friends - he adores her and she pampers him which is just fine. He really wants to be with her at night, but she doesn't wake up for ANYTHING so that's a no-go until the potty training is over.....not looking good as of now.

Darren loves the little mutt but has now threatened to give him away! It won't happen - but the little guy better get a hold of himself or he could end up sleeping in the garage!


other news - I was featured on the Scrappy Jo's BLOG today - the "member spotlight" - sort of fun - I'm not big on being the center of attention but I loved the honor - especially since I'm still sort of new there! but the girls there are SO nice and friendly and I'm just happy that Kimmie led me there!

Hailee starts school in one week! 2nd grade!!! ugh! Monday we go in and meet the teacher, find the class, and get every thing in order. Love that they're doing it 2 days prior to school starting because if there's anything the teacher needs that we don't have we have time to get! They've been doing it the night before and that means what they want is late or I have to make a special trip on my way home and that stinks. lol

We're going to be doing a rebuild on Darren's truck - it's cheaper than a new one - though that's what we'd rather have but aren't ready quite yet to take that on - so a new engine, paint job, and other little things will be getting taken care of and will probably be good as new! We see so many older trucks around here that I don't see why we can't have one, too! Part of living in the country right???

other than that not much - Braden and I will be doing "homeschool" when Hailee goes - he's ready so I plan on working with him every day on something - abc's to start! Should be fun and of course I'm looking forward to our alone time again ♥

and if you'd like to see pictures of my new baby niece, click the Mo-Jow link on the left there! she's ADORABLE!!!!!!

new challenge info

first off - there are new challenges showing up at Scrappy Jo's already! One is the color challenge...this month's color combo is orange and blue - yay! I went straight to work on that and made this layout:

{Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper & Buttons: Basic Grey; Alphas: American Crafts Thickers; stapler; sharpie pen}

their theme this month is TRAVEL. All of their challenges and crops for August will be somehow related to travel. The Guest Creative Team spot challenge is to use a travel sign or symbol on a layout, card, or altered item - I plan on using my October Afternoon Road Map papers for that one!

the first crop is scheduled for August 8th - so if you haven't joined yet go do it - and tell them CoreyW sent you :)


next stop.....another challenge will be posted at Use Your Stash tomorrow - Kimmie and I decided to shake up the challenges a bit this month and see what everyone thinks - we think they're fun but one of our DT girls (I won't mention any names...okay Jan? lol) has mentioned that they're a little harder than before...hehehe let's hope she's up for the challenge!

FREEZE!

It is August 1, 2009 and I am now on a FREEZE. Than means spending no more money on scrapbook supplies (cardstock and adhesive are excluded). I have more supplies than I know what to do with so it's time to start using them. It's not like I've been spending money lately anyway, but now I'm making it official. And with the purchase of a few sheets of cardstock I have enough holiday papers to make my own Christmas cards plus a bunch to sell - so all is good!

Along with this freeze I'm hoping to make cards and tags to sell in my ETSY shop. I enjoy the creating process but can't always find a use for the things I make, so I'm hoping someone else can. I have purchased enough things off Etsy in the past that it's time for me to make money instead of spending it! lol That's always how it goes, though, isn't it? Spending more than you make? hehe

so there you have it. I have put it in "writing" my pledge to "make more, spend less". Check back with me in a few months and see how it's going. All the new CHA releases will be hard to pass up :) but I'm sure I can do it - it's a scrappy diet!

Ready, Set, Create!!!

The August/September issue of Ready, Set, Create is available now! If you're not a subscriber and you want to purchase this issue, you can do so by clicking ->here<-


Here are some of my projects featured in this issue:

go check out Mistletoe!

http://blog.makingmemories.com/


this is one of my favorite new releases - isn't it scrumptious????