Nov 30, 2009

Green Monday

Today's challenge at ScrapTiffany is a color challenge and the color is GREEN. I love the color green. In fact blue and green are my favorite colors. I love their soothing and organic nature. There are millions of photos I could've scrapped with the color green, but the easiest were some tree trimming pictures I took last year. I had dressed Little Miss all in green for the trip to pick out the tree and she wore the same outfit for the trimming so using these photos for this challenge was a no-brainer.


The theme of this layout is that now that she is into the tree trimming, I finally have someone enthusiastically helping me.


Scott was never that into the whole decorating portion of Christmas and it is so much more fun to decorate with someone who you dont feel like you are roping into a chore :)

Head over to ScrapTiffany and check out the other green layouts. And if you take the challenge be sure to email it to Tiffany.

I have been furiously decorating an advent calendar and I think it is 100% done. I put a last coat of Mod Podge on it for security and shine, so I wasnt able to get a photo of it today, but stop by tomorrow and I'll share what I did with this...

Nov 26, 2009

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Here are a few of the things I am thankful for today:

1) My step and yoga instructor Kayla and the fact that she taught step at 8:30am this morning and yoga at 9:30am (yup I went to both!)

2) My happy and (relatively speaking) healthy family and friends.

3) Warm weather during the day and nice crisp cool weather at night.

4) Thanksgiving and the day to just hang out and eat.

5) Nap time and some time for me to get creative.

Speaking of which, I had to make a layout for the American Crafts glitter challenge this week.  The challenge was to use some type of AC glittery product. Here is my layout:

The chipboard shapes, patterned paper, journaling spot, flowers, pens, glitter markers and Thickers are all American Crafts. The Thickers are the glitter Chit Chat and the dots from those Thickers worked well as flower centers. I applied some Stickles Rock Candy glitter to the light blue chipboard shapes. For the other shapes I colored them with the American Crafts Glitter Markers, which add a nice subtle sheen.


Hope you are enjoying some family time and good food today! Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov 23, 2009

Mini Monday

This week's ScrapTiffany challenge is Favorite Recipes. I am no mini master like Tiffany, but I thought it would be fun to put together a mini recipe book with some of my favorite holiday recipes. My problem with mini albums is that I tend to agonize over them. The space is so small that I go back and forth 100 times about what to include or not include. I didnt have that kind of time so I kept the design super simple.









The other designers put together some very yummy and beautiful recipe layouts. Go on over to ScrapTiffany and check them out, And if you take the challenge be sure to email it to Tiffany and don't forget that this Wednesday is the deadline for the ScrapTiffany Design Team call.

I also wanted to share a layout I made for a recent My Mind's Eye sketch Challenge. I didnt win, but I still like the way the layout turned out:



Hope you're having a great start to your week!



Nov 19, 2009

Posh Challenge Card Sketch and BIG GIVEAWAYS!

I have some super fun news from Posh Designs Scrapbook Store this week. The first is a fun card sketch challenge going on the Posh blog, right now. All you have to do is create a card based on this sketch:


(and include some type of bling and stitching), upload it to the Mr. Linky at the end of THIS blog post and you are in the running for a cute stamp. Here is the card I created based on the sketch.


Go on over to the Posh blog to see some other designer examples.

As for the BIG giveaway...Posh is giving away 100$ worth of your choice of scrapbook goodies EVERY week in the month of December. Yup, you heard that right...4 winners! All you have to do is add product to your own Wish List over at the Posh store. Each week a winner will be drawn from the wish lists and that person will be allowed to choose $100 worth of product off her list. Read all the details HERE, then start your own wish list today!

Nov 16, 2009

Monday Moans

Moans because I have my first official major scrapbooking injury. I was cutting the legs off a brad. Something I do all the time. This one was a toughie and I was struggling and as I got through the metal I ended up cutting through the side of my left hand. Ouch.

On a less painful note, the ScrapTiffany challenge this week is to step out of your box--do something on a layout that you are uncomfortable doing. Here is my layout.


It is a very different look for me. The masking and misting and the collage look is not something I do very often and hence I am not too comfortable with it. Also I journaled right ON the layout! Usually if I handwrite my journaling I do it on a journaling card so if I screw it up I can throw it out and try again. And I included some products that I am not very comfortable with including transparencies and rub ons. I am not sure what my discomfort is with transparencies, but rub ons I know I am inept with. I love the idea of them, but somehow when I use them they dont come out right. In any case, go on over to ScrapTiffany and check out the other designers takes on this challenge. And if you take the challenge yourself, be sure to email it to Tiffany for a chance to be the ScrapTiffany guest designer for the month of December. And don't forget that Tiffany's Design Team call is still open until November 25th. Check out the call HERE.

Alright, that is enough pain and discomfort for one post. But before I go, I wanted to let you know that I am hosting the Color Me Daisy blog this week. So please stop by and say HI!

Nov 15, 2009

Kids Books Etc.

One of my good friends mentioned that she was interested in the books that my 4 1/2 year old is into lately because she wants to do some new books for her girls for Christmas. I thought I would share some of our favorites and if anyone has other good ones, feel free to link them up in the comments because I need some new titles here too.


This is the more advanced version of the popular Chicka Chicka ABC and works on counting up to 100.


This is one of my favorites from my childhood about a little boy's first sleep over and the big question: should he take his teddy bear?


This is a cute one I picked up from a book fair about a goat who is a picky eater and only wants to eat fruits and vegetables while his parents are concerned that he won't eat a coat or a tire.

A classic. I love the refrain: "A person's a person no matter how small."

I was reintroduced to this one by a good friend of mine who buys my kids the BEST books. This one is about a little bear who finds a friend.

Another favorite from my childhood. I had the recording of this one on a record and when I read it to my kids I hear myself mimicking the cadence of the storyteller. This one is about a big sister learning how to celebrate a younger sister's birthday with grace.

This is my new favorite. Another one I picked up at Little Miss's book fair. It is about a tiny fairy who is "eyelash high", a little naughty and then saves the day.

On another note, Tara Powell, one of the talented scrapper gals I have met through online scrapbook communities whose blog I follow, inspired me to make caramel apples the other day.
I had never had a Honey Crisp apple before, but they just happened to have them at Super Target so I gave them a try and WOW! If you've never had one before you've never had a good apple. Seriously. They are the juiciest, most delicious thing all on their own. And then we did this to them:
 
Dipped in caramel, then dipped in chocolate, then dipped in sprinkles. I know, over the top, but the kids loved it.

Speaking of the kids...I came up with a quick, fun activity for little ones (mine are 4 1/2 and almost 3). I bought popsicle sticks (because I didnt know the caramels came with them) and I cut out 2 construction paper circles for each stick. We glued them together with a stick in between and made puppets which they then decorated. Easy, cheap and they had a blast.





Hope your weekend was happy and healthy! See you tomorrow.

Nov 9, 2009

Monday Malaise

Phew. I need a weekend from my weekend. Birthday parties, sick kid--same old, same old! How about you?

Today a sketch challenge is posted at ScrapTiffany. The sketch was created by another ScrapTiffany designer, Kim Holmes. Here is the fun sketch she designed.


And here is my take on the sketch.



As it turns out, I have a lot of trouble tilting on layouts.  Everything in my house and life is so askew, that I think I crave order when I create LOL! So I straightened everything up and then had fun layering and embellishing to my heart's content. I mainly used October Afternoon Report Card here. Have I mentioned how much I love October Afternoon? Sigh. Good stuff. Although it is hard to see, I also stamped 1, 2, 3 over and over on the twill. And this picture? It was one of my favorites from a playdate we all had a while back, but it didnt really have a story that went with it, so I decided to name three facts about my little guys as he is months away from turning 3. THREE!!?? Seriously? I just want to scoop him up. "I just want to dunk him in my coffee." --Gloria in Madagascar (which we just saw for the first time this week--we are soooo behind the times).  Thankfully he is still my little guy and loves the love.

That's all I have for now. Hope your week is happy and healthy.

Nov 5, 2009

My Favorite Fairy

I've got tons of smiley faces from Halloween, but my favorite is this one I took while Little Miss was parading down the hallway of her school. I made this layout for the Weekly American Crafts challenge. (Dont forget you can always click on a photo to see it larger).




Supplies Used: buttefly patterned papers (American Crafts), 2 different kinds of Thickers (American Crafts), vinyl shapes (American Crafts), chipboard shapes (American Crafts), Flair button (American Crafts), rub on (American Crafts), made with love clear sticker (American Crafts) and cardstock: Bazzill Bling, Bazzill basics.

In other exciting news....Tiffany is looking for some new designers for the ScrapTiffany challenge blog.  The Design Team Call is posted HERE. Go check it out! You have until November 25th to get your application submitted. Tiffany is wonderful to work with, the challenges are a blast and really keep your scrapping mojo going. Plus she will truly consider applicants who've never been on a design team before (this was my first!!). So what are you waiting for? Get to work!

Nov 3, 2009

October Wrap Up and Here Comes November...

Is it me or did last month seriously fly by? Last week was a frenzy of stitching wings, making goody bags, glittering shoes and generally getting ready for the BIG day. Little Miss had a parade and trick or treat at her school so Little Man and I joined her. He had fun keeping up with the big kids dancing around the dance carpet. During the trick or treat portion, they each collected a sack full of  healthy snacks.





Then on Saturday we went over to our friends' house and joined up with some other little ones for pizza, goody bags and trick or treating. This was the first year mine went trick or treating, but they got the hang of it... FAST. After every house they would tell us, "I got more candy!!" like they had done something miraculous.



The other big news from this weekend is that everyone was promoted to a new bed. Little Miss had seriously outgrown her toddler bed, so we bought her a new twin from IKEA. She picked out her very own bedding at Target.



Once her new bed was put together we then promoted Little Man to her old bed.



So no more crib in our house! Everyone did great for Sunday nap and bed time. I had no idea it would throw me for a bit of a loop. I just cant get over how big they are getting.

To keep my mind off of that, I have been plenty busy creating :) First up is the new Scrap Tiffany challenge which was to use Lace. I used a wide piece of Fancy Pants lace as border.  Check out the other designers fabulous lace designs at ScrapTiffany. Take the challenge and email it to Tiffany for an opportunity to be the ScrapTiffany guest designer next month.


And, the November Color Me Daisy kit, November Bliss is now available. The colors are rich, yet muted, with browns, kraft, orange and hints of blue. It includes lots of My Little Yellow Bicycle and some awesome details like chipbaord houses and ruffled velvet trim by Maya Road. I have 3 layouts and 2 cards already done, and you know what? I have plenty left to make more.

This first layout is my favorite. When we were taking our post pumpkin patch pictures in the backyard, Little Miss ran in to get her own camera and I got some cute ones of her taking pictures.




This one has hidden journaling, but basically tells the story of the pumpkin patch/camera card debacle from the last post.



And finally, this one is an answer to the demands for posed pictures with clean kids. :)



Whenever I make cards, I always make at least one thank you, because we have friends and family constantly doing nice things for us. Here are two I made with the kit.



So I guess that wraps up October, and here we are in the race to get to Thanksgiving and get everything done so that we can turn around and cruise through to Christmas without having a nervous breakdown. I do love the holiday season, but it stresses me out big time. Hope your week is smooth and stress-free.