The Paper Variety Challenge

Hello all!  Happy National Scrapbook Day!  I'm not getting much scrappy time this weekend, but I am having a great day today so far, so I can't complain!  I went out garage saling and got to go to the grocery store all by myself!  Chris took off with the kids and I have had some quiet time...or not so quiet as I had the music blaring while I cleaned and did laundry!  

On to some projects.  Next week is Teacher Appreciation week.  Peyton has such a fantastic teacher, I wanted to send something in to her every day.  Here are a couple things I have made so far.  I haven't been able to play along with the Paper Variety challenges for quite some time.  I am excited to be able to play along with this months challenge, which is to use a handmade flower on your project.  

These were cans of pears.  I emptied them out from the bottom, washed them, filled them with mini snickers and taped the bottom back on.  I am putting a fancy can opening on my wish list so that I can glue the cans back on.  

I pulled a fun piece of paper from my scrap pile and cut a flower from my Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge to jazz it up.  

Next thing I made were these:

Super simple...the best kind of project.  The one with gumballs is for his PE teacher.  It says 'Thank you for CHEWsing to teach.  Peyton has a BALL with you'.  Cheezy but cute!  

And here is a couple of the things I found while out garage saling.

I've seen so many fun ideas with crates on Pinterest that at a buck, I snagged the one above quick.  I can't decide if I want to hang it on the wall and have it be where Peyton puts his homework folder and papers, or if I want to find a spot for it in my kitchen.  The metal things are trivets.  I plan on spray painting them shiny red and then prettying up the tiles for the inside.

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you all are having (or had) a fab weekend!

The Paper Variety Challenge

It has been a while since I have been able to play along with The Paper Variety challenges. I have been home with sick kiddos since Sunday. After a couple days I was needing some 'me' time so I sat down and played with paper a bit. TPV's current challenge is a Bingo one. I love those kind of challenges! My bingo line was stitching, create a layout and use a die cut (the snowflakes are die cuts).

I have been struggling scrapping my Christmas (from 2010) photos. My mojo wasn't flowing so I went and browsed my Paper Play folder at Pinterest. This is the layout I used for inspiration, and this is my layout:
I used some of my Cosmo Cricket stash.

My poor kiddos have been hit by the sickies. It started with Peyton last week. He had a high temp, sore throat and nasty cough. It finally went away on Wednesday afternoon and he was able to make it back to school on Thursday. Unfortunately it hit Maddy on Wednesday and she is still struggling. :-( I caught her napping half in the recliner, half off.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Craft and Pictures

This is not my idea, I found it on Pinterest. I learned maybe I should read the instructions before creating. :-l The instructions said to drill holes, I used eye screws. Holes would have been a lot easier. I like the one I pinned better than my creations. But what can I say....

This was my first one. They are a bit over an inch square wood blocks painted black. I was able to find smaller eye hooks, which I think look better. I also got the idea tonight to add a little bell to the bottom. These are really too heavy for the tree, but would be cute on a door or drawer knob.

I have been MIA for a while. I'm sorry. Life is crazy busy these days.

We picked out our Christmas tree last weekend.
It was DANG COLD the day we went out to look for trees. Peyton was on a mission to get the 'BIGGEST TREE EVER'. Luckily he is very happy with this one. :-) It is definitely not as big as we could have gotten, but it is a pretty tree.
Next came the decorating.
YAY!
Are you done putting up lights yet so I can hang ornaments?

And so it began....
It took Maddy quite a bit of effort at first, but she figured it out quick and jumped right in!We also worked on making our own Christmas ornaments to all the grandparents. Every year I try to make an ornament with Peyton for each of his Grandparents. So Linda if you see this, act surprised when Peyton gives you your ornament! Haha! This year I learned not to use Elmers glue. It didn't work worth a darn. I ended up re-gluing everything with a tacky glue. :-l
I wanted to make something for each of Chris's employees. Thanks to my mom, I came up with this idea. I went to the dollar tree and found candlesticks and star dishes and glued them together. I then made my toffee chex mix and filled each one. A fun but super simple gift.
Ya like this picture? Yeah, me either. :-( My camera sucks. Out of 20 pictures, this was the best one. Peyton had a Christmas program this week. It was very cute and all of the grandparents were able to come and enjoy it with us. Friday was his Christmas party in his classroom. My grandparents in-law (who I am VERY grateful for) were willing and able to drive over and watch Maddy so I could participate in the class party! It was a lot of fun!
Here is our tree. The kids decorated and arranged the presents. I figure this is how the tree will look the next couple of years. They had a blast decorating and putting the presents under the tree.
Today, Chris and I took the kids to our local museum. My parents mentioned that they had a special Christmas presentation. The kids really enjoyed it and I enjoyed seeing some of the regular museum exhibits. I saw a picture of my Grandpa's aunt in there which was fun! :-)

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you are all on the ball unlike me and have everything ready to go for Christmas. Is anyone making anything fun as a gift? I'd love to see or hear about it!

Echo Park Layout for The Paper Variety

I created this layout using a sketch from Sassy Little Sketches. I have had this paper from Echo Park for a while now! I thought it went well with these pictures of my adorable nephew.

I'm linking it too the Paper Variety's challenge this week.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

The Paper Variety Challenge

This is a layout I will be giving to my mom for Christmas. It is also for the Paper Variety challenge, to humorous layout, card or project. Anything that makes you chuckle.

These pictures make me chuckle. They are over my nephew. My mom had a large tub of dolls from her childhood. The little black baby that my nephew is chewing on is my Grandpas! I thought it funny that my mom put him right in the tub to play with them all. Amazing how much more laid back my parents are with toys and the grandkids than they were with us! I wasn't allowed to play with those dolls til I was a teacher! haha!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend in store for you!

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!

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!