Thursday, March 24, 2011

it’s only thursday…

…and so far this week we have:

  • had family home evening with another fun family – went to the community pool where one of the boys in their family helped Josh finish up his swimming merit badge!
  • baked dozens of chocolate chip cookies…they are almost gone.  No, we didn’t eat them all…we took most of them to a family dinner that was at our church after a funeral and we took some to some friends.  (the rest, we ate.)
  • took Zach in to the doctor for his kindergarten check-up and immunizations.  We knew he was our tall & skinny boy, but it was confirmed when we found he was 46 inches tall (90th %) and only 42 pounds (50th %).  He was so cute as he sat and waited for the nurse to give him his immunizations.  I was standing by him and he started mumbling something to himself…after watching him repeat it a few times, I realized he was telling himself “don’t remember this…ever.”  Poor little guy was so scared for his shots, but he was putting on a brave face.  He did great – no tears at all.  So when he asked for an Icee after he was done, I had to oblige. :)
  • worked on several fun paper projects – can’t wait to share them here!
  • watched Meagan prepare her science fair project for the regional competition.  She is at BYU today – presenting her project to several judges.  Brad and I will head down at 2:00 to pick her up…then we get to spend all afternoon together before returning to the awards ceremony at 7:00.  I’m looking forward to spending some time with just her – dinner and shopping and who knows what else we’ll do to kill the four or so hours we’ll have.  My mom and dad are taking care of the boys so they are going to have a fun afternoon/evening too!
  • our van turned 100,000 miles last week (wow!).  Of course, two days later, my window quit working.  My dad was so quick to offer to order the part and fix it for us – soooo sweet!  Hopefully I’ll be able to unroll my window again soon.  (It’s a pain to have to open my door to order my McDonald’s diet coke! ;))
  • we found out yesterday that Brad’s mom is coming up to stay with us for a while. Well, she’s not coming just to stay with us – Brad’s nephew is getting married on Saturday, so she’s coming up for his wedding, but she will be staying at our house. We are excited to see her – we haven’t seen her since Thanksgiving.
  • in light of her forthcoming visit, I will be spending a little bit of extra time cleaning and trying to unpack a little more.  That’s the best thing about having a houseguest…extra motivation!
  • started planning a little surprise for Brad’s upcoming birthday…it’s a big one, so I want to plan something extra fun!  (no…he doesn’t read my blog)
  • and I performed minor surgery this morning. ;)  Seth woke up this morning and said, “Mom, I feel like I have a rock in my ear.”  what?  I was afraid he had an ear infection or something.  I grabbed a flashlight to take a peek, expecting to maybe see redness, but not expecting to see anything else.  Especially not a ROCK.  Yes.  He did.  He had a rock in his ear.  First he explained that he had fallen on the playground.  I didn’t buy it.  Then he said someone put it in his ear – but he could not remember who.  Nope, not buying it.  Finally he admitted that he had picked it up and put it in his own ear yesterday at school.  yeah, that’s what I figured.  I know I have specifically told my kids not to put ANYTHING (except maybe their elbow) in their ears.  Glad that he listened.  Oh well…I was able to get the rock out with my….wait for it…paper piercer.  Yep – scrapbooking tools to the rescue!  Really, I just needed something long and skinny – it was a small rock and there was room around it, I just had to kind of get behind it so I could flick it out.  Good times.

And, because I don’t like to post without a photo or a project, here’s a fun little card I made last week. :o)  I ordered this set of Paper Smooches stamps and couldn’t wait to use them on a card – my buddy Kim is so talented…I love her new stamps and I’m so excited that she started her very own stamp company, Paper Smooches (how cute is that name?)!

rtg_love_card  rtg_love_card_detail1

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Sentiment Stamp

Charcoal Ink 

Embossed Cardstock

Patterned paper (for flower)

Label

Rub-on stitches (these are getting HARD to find – but I LOVE them, so it’s worth searching…and then stocking up! I found them here on Amazon.)

Corner rounder

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

take time to…

splash!!

Remember the other day when I mentioned missing my old 8 1/2” x 11” scrapping size?  Well…I really did miss it…so I revisited it.  I love working with lots of different sizes!

Anyway…I used the new SALT AIR line from Cosmo Cricket for this little layout, which is based on a sketch by Jennifer Gallagher at Two Peas in a Bucket.  Her original sketch is for a two-page spread, but I just used one side of her sketch for my page.  Jennifer is creating and sharing a new sketch every month this year – if you haven’t seen her layouts and sketches, be sure to check them out HERE!saltair_splash_layout

I love the soft colors in this line, mixed with a few bright pops of color!  The teal is a beautiful serene shade and the orange/red is perfect!saltair_splash_detail1

I love how Cosmo Cricket always has a sheet with journaling blocks to coordinate with every collection – they are the perfect size to add a fair amount of journaling, or you can always stack a few blocks if you have a lot to say!

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And here are my favorite yellow letter stickers – they coordinate perfectly with the chipboard “Splash” title.  I added a few chipboard water splashes too. :o)

And now I’m longing for long summer days and last-minute late-evening trips to the lake.  I can’t wait until we can get the wave runners out of “winter storage” and put them to use!  Anyone else longing for hot days?!?

 

You can see the entire Salt Air collection HERE and HERE but here are the specific items I used for this layout:

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Salt Air Borders

Salt Air Chipboard (title and water)

Salt Air Buttons

Salt Air Elements (journaling block)

Salt Air Deck Chairs (this is the paper with all the splashes printed on it)

Salt Air Fish Tales (this is the paper you can barely see…it’s tucked under the deck chairs paper and then stitched over)

Salt Air Lovely Bits (this is the doily/flower under the button on my journaling block)

Salt Air Stickers (the scalloped border sticker near the top of my layout)

Tiny Type – yellow

White Cardstock

Journaling Pen

Monday, March 21, 2011

life is good…

I am so excited to be able to share this layout today.  Happy Go Lucky is one of Pebbles, Inc.’s newest lines…and it is my favorite Pebbles release.  ever.  Really…I love it!  The colors are bright and cheery and the designs are cute and fun and just plain happy!  lifeisgoodlayout

I sure have been making a lot of 12x12 layouts lately, haven’t I?  I’m kind of missing my old 8 1/2 x 11 size…I think I’m going to have to make some smaller format pages very soon.  Anyway…

lifeisgooddetail4

Those fun fluffy clouds are actually THESE stickers.  They are already embossed and so pretty…but I wanted to add a bit more dimension, so I mounted them on cardstock, cut them out, then used THESE foam squares to pop them up! (it looks like the foam squares are even on sale right now…love that!)

lifeisgooddetail1

This great title sticker is already perfectly mounted, trimmed, and popped up when you pull it out of the package (here’s the link) – perfect! I just cut a circle, stitched around it with my machine, and placed the “Life is Good” sticker right on top.  I added the cute felt bird (HERE – and there’s a sweet mama bird on the same felt accent sheet, I can’t wait to use her on a project) on the left side of the title sticker…just because he was so super cute. :o)

lifeisgooddetail2

And this sweet dimensional bird sticker is also from THIS sticker sheet.  I love the little jewel in the flower and the glitter an her tail – perfectly embellished!  Also, see that cute row of flowers and the blue polka-dots peeking over the top?  Do you know what those are?  Yep…the tear strips off a couple of the papers – I LOVE using those!!

lifeisgooddetail3

These over-sized fabric-covered BRADS are fun.  I made a “faux envelope” on my page and thought the brad was perfect for the pretend flap.  (To be honest, I didn’t intentionally make that block look like an envelope, but after I finished it, I thought it looked kind of like one, so I just went with it.)  There are 8 fabric brads on the card…and my absolute favorite is the one with the pink bird.  She’ll be showing up on another project very soon as well!

 lifeisgoodjournaling

Usually I am promoting hand-written journaling.  I use a pen (usually THIS one) and write my journaling probably 90% of the time.  I love the personal touch it adds.  Sometimes, however, when I have a lot to say and not a lot of space to say it, I prefer to type and print my journaling.  That was the case here.  This is a great font (good ol’ Century Gothic) I use a lot for my journaling when I type it…and I think it works well with the design of this layout…clean and simple.

You can see (and purchase) the entire Happy Go Lucky line HERE or HERE!

If you love this line as much as I do, you’re definitely going to want to visit the Pebbles, Inc. blog every day this week.  The entire design team has been busy creating fun Happy Go Lucky projects and we’re sharing them all week on the blog!

Oh, and since we’re talking about Pebbles…they’ve re-designed their website as well!  You can check out their new look here Pebbles website .  They’ve also added some fun new features like an inspiration gallery with search features, links to videos, and more.  So click on over and check them out! 

Happy Monday! :o)

Friday, March 18, 2011

if you give a kid a camera…

DSC_0389_bw

…he’ll entertain himself long enough for you to get something accomplished! :o)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

the view…

Just one more reason to love our new home…the view:

Sunrise:

rise

Sunset:

set

This is the view out out of the back of our home – we love Timpanogos. 

It’s so pretty, I don’t even mind standing at the sink to wash dishes! :o)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

relaxing (ever after)…

I have a fun project I shared today over on the Pebbles, Inc. blog.  :o)  We are finally using the NEWEST releases for our design team projects and I am loving them!  Today’s layout uses the new Ever After line.

relaxing_layout

It’s really all about princesses and it’s full of pink and bling and flowers and crowns…so so fun!

HOWEVER…for those of you who aren’t into the whole fairy-tale thing…don’t discount this line too quickly.  It also has lots of browns and greens and even my favorite: polka-dots!!!

relaxing_detail1

To create the border/bottom portion of my layout, I simply cut lots of 2” squares, arranged them on my background, and stitched them all down…I think the result is kind of fun.

relaxing_detail2

The little dimensional journaling stickers are perfect for adding a bit of hand-written journaling.

 relaxing_detail3

And a little bit of bling to this little corner was the perfect finishing touch. :o)

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Ever After Fairy Tale

Ever After Little Princess

Ever After Glass Slipper

Ever After Prince Charming

Ever After Chestnut ABC Stickers

Ever After 12" Cardstock Stickers

Ever After Phrases Dimensional Stickers

Ever After Journaling Dimensional Stickers

Ever After Layered Embellishments

Ever After Felt Embellishments

White Textured Cardstock

My favorite Journaling Pen (this link is to the 5 pack –which is on sale right now – but my all-time favorite is .03)

Monday, March 14, 2011

bite-sized…

A couple of months ago, I received an e-mail from a gal named Kim.  Kim was in the process of developing a new website where she could share her ideas and approach about scrapbooking. The service she created is called Bite-sized Scrapbooking. It's a unique system for creating layouts for people who feel overwhelmed with all the choices in scrapbooking and for those who want to be scrapbooking regularly but feel they don't have time.  You can read all of the details by visiting her site here. 

Bite-sized Scrapbooking

She has some really great ideas and has put together some great inspiration.

Kim asked if she could use one of my layouts for an inspiration layout…and it’s going up later this week! :o)  It just happens that the layout she asked to use is one of my favorite layouts ever, so I am excited to see the response.  Check out her ideas and her four different approaches to scrapbooking – it might be just what you need to get you inspired again! :o)

my first review…

…is up on The Scrapbook Review website. 

I’d love it if you would pop over there and let me know what you think!

rev_gertie_review_projects

Happy Monday! :o)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

missy…

 
Please e-mail me with your mailing address so I can send you a little something fun in the mail. :)  Thanks to all 10 of you who took the time to leave your input about classes – I sure do appreciate it!! 
Happy Saturday!
 
 Missy said...

Wow!!! That is a lot of info. I can't stick to a strict diet as well. I am waiting on an order to help me loose a lot of weight as well.
As far as classes go, I love to scrapbook but have been having some issues with layouts so I guess I would like to take a class on how to get inspiration and put together a layout as well as getting good pictures for those scrapbook pages.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011 7:01:00 PM

Thursday, March 10, 2011

little artist…

This is Zach…

zach_painting2_filtered

He is the youngest in our family…and is in preschool.  Preschool is only two days a week for 3 hours.  That means Zach gets to spend lots of time at home with me.  Only me.  I’m not very entertaining.  I do lots of boring things during the day (every. single. day.).  You know the kind of boring things I’m referring to - laundry, dishes, cooking, etc.  Most days, Zach is a great helper.  Other days…he realizes that it’s actually work and not play..

He enjoys watching TV…and probably watches a little too much while I’m busy doing the aforementioned boring, yet necessary, duties.  But sometimes, Zach decides to get creative…    zach_painting_filtered

This day, he insisted on painting.  (Remember we’re still unpacking, so it was a minor miracle that I was able to find some of the kid’s art supplies that were still in a box…)  He took his painting quite seriously – making sure to choose just the right colors and apply them “just so” to his paper. (Is it weird that I love watching my two littlest boys write, draw, and color…simply because I find it fascinating to watch them use their left hands???)

zach_painting5_filtered

My favorite part, though, was definitely the bare feet…part of his artistic process…

zach_painting3_filtered

Eventually he got tired of standing, so he moved over to the door, where he hung up his paper to finish painting…zach_painting6

But he kept his feet bare…zach_painting7_filtered 

I sure love my little artist!

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

lots of miscellaneousness…

Yeah, I know…I’m making up words.  oh well. ;)  I have lots of random things I wanted to blog about, so I thought I’d put it all in one big monster post…here goes…

1.  Meagan competed in the District Science Fair last Friday.  In the entire district, only about 30 kids were able to advance from the school to the district level (I think they said there were around 500 projects entered in her school alone).  So moving on to the District level was huge!  We were so proud of her for getting that far.

Her project was all about finding a place for non-recyclable plastics.  She wanted to see if adding these plastics to concrete would affect the strength of the concrete.  She tested several different kinds of plastic by shredding them up, adding them to concrete, and having concrete cylinders tested for strength.  (I know…she’s a smarty pants.  And so lucky that her Dad was able to help her.) 

We attended the awards ceremony with her on Friday night – and we were so excited when her name was announced as a District winner!  Now she will be taking her project to BYU to compete on a regional level.

{And NO, I have no photos…because she threatened me about taking me camera.  She can be a stinker.  Luckily one of her best friends was also at the District competition and her mom DID take a camera, so I had Keara’s mom take some pictures of Meagan for me…I need to get them from her!)

 

2.  I am feeling like a mama bear…with an extra layer of winter chub that needs to come off now that it’s (maybe) spring.  Back in January, there was a great deal on the Groopdealz website for HCG weight loss drops from THIS website.  I’d heard and read SO many wonderful things about HCG, and this was a great deal…I thought it would be a perfect solution for me.  So I ordered it and it’s been sitting in the cupboard waiting for me to get ready to start taking it. 

Image 1

Last week I decided I was ready.  I started reading the literature the company sent me.  And I decided I’m a wimp.  It is necessary to follow a VERY strict diet while using the HCG drops.  I am just not dedicated enough to follow the diet.  Even if it means not losing the weight quickly…I’m just not ready to do it.  So…if any of YOU are tougher than I am and you’d like to try it…I’d love to sell you my package of HCG drops. 

The HCG drops retail for $90…I paid $30 (I told you it was a great deal!).  I’d love to sell the drops for what I paid ($30 and I’ll pay shipping).  The package is in the same condition it arrived in.  The tamper-resistant seal is completely in tact.  The literature was sent in an e-mail that I can forward to you.  Let me know if you’re interested.

 

3.  We took the kids to see RANGO last weekend. 

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Have you seen it?  What did you think?

We all thought it was better than what we were expecting…but my brother and SIL didn’t like it at all.  Maybe we liked it because we went to the LATE show and we were tired???

 

4. Speaking of Groopdealz…there’s another fun deal up today…and I totally ordered it. 

deal_139

Isn’t this great?  I know there posters have been popular for a while, and while I’ve been a fan since I first saw them, I’ve yet to purchase one…so…now I’m going to purchase one of the wearable variety. :o)

 

5.  I am SUPER excited about this:

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No snow in the forecast for an entire WEEK!  Yay!!

6.  I’m still unpacking (ugh).  I did, however, hang some things on the wall yesterday…so it’s beginning to look a little more like “home.”  I’ve fallen in love with the photo hanging velcro strips from 3M. 

Have you tried them?  They are SUPER strong and you can hang pictures without making nail holes!  yay! 

 

7.  I ordered this yesterday…it’ll be here tomorrow. 

I can’t wait to make a smoothie.  And a chocolate shake.  And soup.  :o) 

I ordered it with credit I earned from using Swagbucks.  Have you signed up for Swagbucks yet?  If you haven’t…what are you waiting for?!?  Don’t you like free stuff?!?

 

8.  Are you a scrapbooker who would like to be published?  I have some fun news for you!  Cosmo Cricket and Scrapbook Trends Magazine have teamed up to offer a Cosmo Cricket fan an opportunity to be published in an upcoming issue of their magazine.  How fun is that?!? 

Sketch1

You can read all the details HERE on the Cosmo Cricket blog…but hurry, you have to enter your layout before March 13th (that’s this coming Sunday)!!

9.  I’d love some input from you…if you were take a class sponsored by a scrapbook manufacturer/company…what kind of class would you like to take?  Would you like to make a mini album?  If so…what type of theme?  Would you like to learn a new technique?  Would you prefer to get several *simple* layouts completed during a class?  How about a home decor project?  A sketch based class?  Maybe cards?  What kind of class would YOU like to take?  Would you even be interested in a class at all? 

{that’s all I can say about that for now…but I’d really really really be interested in your thoughts…in fact, as an extra incentive to leave a comment, I’d love to send a little something to a random commenter.  Let me know what you think.  I’ll choose a random comment on Saturday – and I’ll send out a fun little scrapbook surprise.}

10.  How’s that for a monster post of randomness?!?

Happy Tuesday!