Catch up and The Paper Variety Halloween Layout

This weeks challenge at The Paper Variety is to create a cute or spooky Halloween project. Like I said in my last post, I struggle with Halloween. I have a hard time scrapbooking it. Even worse, I just can't seem to get into it.

That being said, here is a layout from last years Halloween using some old Basic Grey goodies.

I just realized I didn't journal on it! *sigh* This year I was in Madras with the kids. My niece was able to join us in the trick or treating. We went to a couple family members houses earlier in the day so that we were able to meet up with Chris who just got back from hunting in time to go to dinner for my Sister In Law's birthday! The kids were totally wiped out and crashed on the way home.

I used a fantastic sketch by Heather Landry.

Now for a little photo catch-up. Two weekends ago we spent the weekend with my brother and sister in-aw. We had SO much fun! Saturday morning we went to a Fall Festival.
The kids thought the huge crates of apples were pretty cool. They would have climbed in if we let them!
Miss Maddy....our little princess was quite content with the chapstick her aunt gave her and her little purse. And yes....she sat there for a LONG time with the chapstick! Whatever it takes to keep her happy and content! ;-)
We started up gymnastics again. This time Maddy is in a Mommy & Me class right before Peyton's class. I thought she would LOVE it as she is always trying to join in Peyton's class. I was wrong. She did NOT participate in warm ups at all and would only do what she wanted to do. This picture just cracks me up! Look at her face! She will do the beams and bar for a bit, but again, loses interest quickly.
Peyton has been participating in something called Run Club at school. He was very proud last week when he came home with this necklace. He has ran 5 miles!
And a little close up of the necklace.

That is it for me today! Thank you for stopping by!

September Project 12 and The Paper Variety layout

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I went to my first ever crop! I had A BLAST! I cannot wait to go to one again. I met some wonderful women, did a lot of scrapbooking and even enjoyed a live band with some dancing.

My first project was to complete my September Project 12 layout. I say this every time, but I just LOVE project 12! How cool to have a a WHOLE year documented in 12 double page layouts at the beginning of the following year? If you ask me, you can't beat that. Even better yet for me, Davinie has fantastic sketches each month, which really helps me get them done quicker.

My pictures had so many bold colors in it that I struggled choosing papers. I dug deep in my stash and pulled out this Fancy Pants About a Boy line. I have to admit, it is quite old but I just LOVE it!
A closer look at the left page.
And the right page.
I used to struggle with the die cuts that came with lines. I now enjoy inking and layering them.

I had so much fun with the little pocket. I ran it through my Cuddlebug with a polka dot embossing folder and then inked it up. I again inked and layered some die cuts. I wish I had taken my sewing machine so I could have done some stitching. But I only had so much room.

Our month in a recap: Chris and I took Peyton to his first game. He did REALLY well and enjoyed watching it. But it was HOT and we were up in the corner with the full sun on us in the peak of the day. Peyton and I took off at half time in search of a soda and toy! Chris spent quite a few evenings and weekends archery hunting. I smashed Peyton's fingers in the door on the way to meet his teacher. This led to a pretty rough meeting. Peyton started Kindergarten and LOVES it! He can't get out of the Tahoe fast enough to run into the gym. We were able to spend a few afternoons on the swingset before school started. The kids enjoyed helping Chris dig and pick veggies from the garden. Chris and I went to another Beaver's game and this time we stayed the night and had a blast tailgating.

Now onto my next layout. I have been enjoying playing along with the challenges over at The Paper Variety. I struggle, and I mean STRUGGLE scrapping holidays, especially Halloween. I conquered TWO Halloween layouts this weekend. This one...I'm not liking at all. But its done and ready to go in a album.
I apologize for the date on the picture. I'm not liking the layout enough to think it worth the time to get another picture! haha!

Thanks for stopping by!

Made With Love

I've had this photo for a while. It was one of the first times the kids started holding hands all on their own. They still do it quite a bit and it just melts my heart. Often times I hear Peyton say, 'Maddy hold my hand, there is traffic' (when we are in a parking lot) or "Buddy hold my hand" from Maddy if there are quite a few people around. It melts my heart each and every time they hold hands.

I lifted THIS super cute layout by Karen.
The flower and felt with button came from Precocious Paper's Etsy store. She has some super cute flowers and embellishments.

In my search for the perfect title, I came across this quote and thought it just perfect for the photo.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope y'all have a great weekend!

Another Day in Paradise

Here is my second layout based on a fantastic sketch by Helen at Scrap a Little.

I was trying to ink the papers and photos with black ink. I proceeded to get in on a couple spots on my white paper so inked it all up to make it look like I wanted it that way!
I added some fun stickers on to the photos, did a little doodling and a lot of black inking. I had so much fun with this layout and it was super quick and simple! Echo Park sure made it easy to create quick layouts with their fun stickers and patterned papers.

I started following Tessa's blog a while back after seeing some of her yummy Etsy goodies on a friends blog. This month she has something called Attitude of Gratitude on her blog. You can read about it here. She even has a beautiful mini album kit up for sale at her Etsy store, here. I think it is such a neat neat idea! I don't plan on doing the daily blogging, but I would love to make a mini sometime soon!

Thank you for stopping by!

And so it began... a layout for Scrap A Little using Cosmo Cricket

A while back Helen at Scrap A Little contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in being a guest designer! It took me off of three seconds to reply with 'heck ya'! Okay, I didn't really reply with that, but that is what I was thinking! Helen has lots of FANTASTIC sketches on her blog. Make sure check it out. If you would like to see the post with my feature, click here.

Here is the sketch she sent me, Sketch #52:

Cute huh?

Here is my take on it:

I used the DeLovely line by Cosmo Cricket. The pictures were taken from one of our trips to OHSU for Maddy's 'going' issues. What an experience. It was heart breaking to hear her scream through her blood being drawn and another test. And even worse to have them yield no results. :-(

I did some hand-stitching. Its take more time than I like, but I am usually happy with the end results.

Its kind of perfect timing for this feature as Maddy is going back in for more testing this coming Monday. Any prayers are greatly appreciated. No matter how big or small the test are, it is hard to see your baby go through the 'unknown' to you.

A few weeks ago, Peyton, Maddy and I were upstairs in the family room when Chris got home. Maddy got excited and said she was going to hide. This is her hiding spot:

No, I did not leave her alone like that. Yes, I did explain that it is not a good idea to put a bag over your head and consider that a hiding spot. BUT, I could not help a quick giggle and picture of her hiding spot. Which, by the way, she sat VERY still and VERY quiet til Chris came up to find her!

Thank you for stopping by!

Underwater Sea Garden Layout using Imaginisce

Today I have a new layout to share with you! I follow the very talented Aphra Bolyer's blog. A few days ago she posted a super cute sketch I just knew I wanted to use. You can see her sketch here. The Paper Variety posted this weeks challenge yesterday. It was to create a paper project with a nautical/ocean theme! What perfect timing! :-)

The pictures are from our trip to the Oregon coast last year. We took the kids to the Underwater Sea Garden. It is a ship that is set in place, turned into an aquarium. The kids were not sure what to think when we walked down in to the bottom of the boat where all the fish were. I have to admit, it was kinda eerie, dark and damp.
I loved all the embllies I could mix together. Here are a few chipboard pieces and layered journaling spot.
I took a photo of the sign on the way into the Underwater Sea Gardens. I fussy cut it for a title.
I saw this idea on the Jillibean Soup blog on a card made by Julie Bonner and knew I wanted to lift it.

We've been really busy here. Last week Peyton got his first black eye! I felt so bad for him. His friend accidentally hit him with a bat! This is AFTER the swelling went down! It was perfect timing too, as his school pictures were the very next day! :-0
Luckily, the colors didn't show up until after the pictures!
Of course, the little miss had to have her picture taken too!
Sunday my mom and I took the kids to a cute little pumpkin patch.
This was their first year I let them pick out their own pumpkin! They had A BLAST!
The gal running it had a really cute display and set up!
Once again, they melt my heart. I heard Maddy ask Buddy if she could hold his hand. How sweet are they? Now if only they could be that way ALL the time! A mama can dream right?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Camper

I combined two different lines for this one. I LOVE the critters on the October afternoon papers. That line happened to go well with some Mr. Campy from Cosmo Cricket. I love it when two lines from different companies go so well together!

The Paper Variety's Challenge this week is to include a forest critter on your layout. This layout also works for a challenge at Birds of a Feather. We are having a crop this weekend and one of the challenges was to use a banner. It was just what I needed to balance out my page!

In case you want closer views, here is the left page:
And the right:
A close up of the banner. I popped it up using pop dots.

I hope you had a great weekend! We had a busy one!

Thanks for stopping by!

Birds of a Feather Blog Hop

Hello all! If you came directly to my blog, make sure to head over to the Birds of a Feather blog to make sure you don't miss out on any eye candy! We are celebrating Birds of a Feather's 1st birthday! What better way to celebrate than a blog hop and crop? Make sure you go back to the beginning and post on each blog along the way. Amy is giving away $50 worth of Bella Blvd. goodies to one lucky blog hopper! If you came from Karen's blog, welcome!

I decided to make a gift set for my Step Grandma who recently turned 90. I used the March Birds of a Feather Kit Co. kit.

I apologize for the dark pictures. We've been very overcast and gloomy the last three days. I found this frame at a garage sale for a quarter (ssshhh....don't tell). I liked how it had a large space to embellish.

The tiny type alphabet stickers and ribbon are from my stash. The paper and stickers are from the kit. I popped up a few of the birdhouses for more dimension.

I had some bits and pieces left over so I thought I would make a few cards to add to the package.

The card on the left was lifted from a card I saw on Pinterest (the SRM sticker was from my stash). The one on the right is using a Cardabilties sketch.

And since I still had a few pieces left over that I just couldn't throw away, I altered a little notepad.

I punched three butterflies, layered them and sewed them to the patterned paper.

Each person in the bloghop has a special word. Put them all together and you have a phrase. That is what you need to win some Bella Blvd. goodies valued at $50! M word:

Now hop on over to Lisa's blog to see what goodies she has up her sleeve!

Make sure to visit the Birds Of A Feather site. Amy is having a big sale to help celebrate! We are also having a crop! You can find the message board, where the crop is, here. The grand prize winner gets a BOAF kit! One thing I LOVE about the crops, is that Amy gives you a few extra days to complete all the challenges! The challenges are due on the 12th!

A Hike To Remember Layout using Jillibean Soup

I have another double pager to share today! I had a TON of picture from this day so I decided to create a two-page layout. I found a sketch over at Sketch Support (sketch #18). Amy has a yummy color combo challenge up this month at Birds of a Feather. I thought of the May BOAF kit that I absolutely LOVE!

I really like all the additional pieces Jillibean Soup offers and so glad Amy put them in the kit. It makes layering and embellishing super easy.

These picture were from a very special hike. My Grandpas property extends up onto Haystack Butte. This is where we have my Grandma, Uncle and Aunts ashes spread. The whole family hiked up to the top to spread my Grandpa's ashes with the rest of the family. It was quite a hike. The views were incredible.

Thanks for stopping by! Check back soon! I'm participating in a blog hop this week that is sure to offer lots of eye candy! If your around this weekend, hop over to Birds of a Feather. We are having a birthday crop! I'd love to see you come join us!