Blog Post Titles

Anyone else struggle with their blog post titles? I sure have been lately.

I recently finished up a layout for a Tricia's challenge at Citrus Tree Studio. Her challenge was to create a layout with the theme of 'Love' without using red.

I used a Scalloped Circle in Java and the Small Flower #06 in Java and Mocha from Creative Cuts and More.

For the flowers, I covered them in Rangers Crackle Accent. Once it completely dried I went over it with Creamy Brown Colorbox Chalk Ink to take away the shine.

I distressed the papers and did a lot of sewing. I have been wanting to journal on a photo, and this was the perfect one to try it on.

Now for some pictures of the kiddos. Peyton is such a sweet sweet big brother. Here he is sharing his snack with his sister. He even asks if she can eat what he is having before giving to her, which I greatly appreciate.

I came across this new blog recently called The Scrap Farm. Melinda Spinks has such talent, I just love seeing her creations. I think I found her through the Imaginisce blog as she designs for them. Anywho, she is having a FABULOUS giveaway on her blog. She is sharing some of the fun the Lucy Bird line from Imaginisce! Go check it out, leave a comment. You'll definitely want to follower her blog also. Here is the link: The Scrap Farm.

Happy Birthday and Another Layout

First of all I want to wish my mom a Happy Birthday!


Here is a layout I did for a sketch challenge at Citrus Tree Studio.
This is one of my favorite photos. It was for our Christmas Cards in 2006.

I have been working on a few DT projects and you know what that means...I can't share them for a little while.

My Baby Is 1!!!

Warning, picture heavy post!

I can't believe that a year ago today I delivered Miss Madeline Marie! My baby is one year old today! As some of you know, my pregnancy wasn't the easiest. Here are some things that I remember the most:

• We were both shocked I was pregnant. It took us almost 3 years to get pregnant with Peyton and I was only off birth control for two weeks. It wasn't planned, it was definitely a surprise!
• The surgery/procedure I had in Portland cause me to be quite uncomfortable the rest of my pregnancy (unlike when I had the same surgery with Peyton).
• We bought AirLife insurance in fear of having to be air lifed to Portland during my pregnancy. It was grounded due to a storm the day we needed it.
• I'm so thankful we had time to get the steroid shot to speed the development of Maddy's lungs. I think it made a HUGE difference in our NICU stay.
• The process to undo the surgery was incredibly painful and LONG. The doctor removing the cerclage mentioned a few things that made me wonder if it was a botch job.
• I struggled with thought of missing out on 6 weeks of feeling Madeline move inside me. It was my favorite part about being pregnant.
• When it came to delivery time it was quite the party in my room. Chris and my mom were in there as well as my doctor, her nurse, then the NICU doctor and two nurses as well as a Airlife medic standing by for worst case scenario of Madeline having to be taken to a major hospital right away.
• Being pushed into the NICU room and seeing Maddy in her little crib thing with all the monitors on her just broke my heart.
• We stayed at the Ronald McDonald House, which was just a hop, skip and a jump from the hospital (walking distance). Let me tell you, this is one incredible organization and place. They made the whole process so much easier on us. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to this place and the women that run it!
  

Here are some picture of her when she was first born:

We celebrated her birthday on Saturday. I went with the lady bug theme and made her invitations. Safeway made this adorable ladybug cake and we had lots of family and friends over to help us celebrate. Overall she did pretty good. She didn't dig into her cake like I had hoped she would but she responded better than Peyton did with his 1st cake. She got pretty tired in the middle of gifts and sacked out shortly after we were done. Here are some pictures of her party:

Since she didn't dig into the cake, we thought we'd try again. It cracked me up that Chris and Peyton were right there digging into her cake too!

If you made it all the way through this post, kudos to you! lol...I had a hard time choosing just a couple photos!

Peyton at 3

This is a layout I did for a Shelly's challenge at Citrus Tree Studio. It was a color challenge, blue, gold/yellow and white. She added a twist though, to use 11 of the same embellie. I had these photos for some time now and have struggled scrapping them. This was the perfect challenge to get them scrapped.

I used up some random pieces of paper I had too. I don't do that often enough and quite enjoyed it.

My dad came down to visit a while back and it just so happened that him and the kids had OSU Beavers outfits on (must have been the bowl game day). This is one of my favorite pictures at the moment.

We put in an offer on a house in the next town over (about 30 min. away). We are anxiously awaiting the appraisal that should be happening this week. Chris and I made a lot of headway on the garage. We did a lot of pushing junk from one side to the other. But it is at least somewhat better, at least I think it is! Soon I will start the packing process as I have a feeling it will take me long this time now that Little Miss is into everything!

Cosmo Cricket Layout and Cutie Patooties

I came across this fabulous blog, My Scrappy Life. Aphra is so talented and inspiring. She recently posted a sketch on her blog. I loved it and knew I wanted to use it right away. Have I mentioned lately how dependant on sketches I am these days? haha... This layout was for a Cosmo Cricket challenge at Scrapbook.com (challenge was to use CC chipboard). It was also for Patti's technique challenge at Citrus Tree Studio, inking. The patterned papers are Cosmo Cricket Early Bird and the chipboard pieces are Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday.

I inked everything, even the chipboard pieces.

Here is a picture of the kiddos with their cousin. My mom was wanting to do photo cards for Christmas, it didn't happen. So I was going to help her do New Years cards....that didn't happen either. But I did get this great photo of the three.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll stop back by soon!

New Layout and Christmas Pictures (finally...)

I can't believe how many projects I have gotten from this Crate Paper Set! I have created a mini album and a handful of layouts and I still have enough left to do more with!

I tried and tried to get Maddy to sleep. I was quite frustrated when one night I handed her over to Chris and said 'you try'. Yep, he just found himself a new nightly job! lol...He had the special touch Maddy needed to get her to calm down and go to sleep!

I realized I hadn't posted any of my Christmas pictures yet. Maddy wasn't to sure and didn't really care about her gifts. Peyton sure did though!

I love this picture of my mom and Maddy! Maddy was clapping and talking to my mom!

This is my Dad with Maddy.

I originally wasn't planning on getting this for Peyton. But anytime you asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him he would tell you 'the Lightning McQueen toy that jumps over Mac'. I finally caved and Santa brought it too him.

Maddy wiggled her way under the coffee table and was trying to figure out how to open Peyton's chocolate covered marshmallow Santa!

Its kinda hard to see, but this picture of Peyton says it all. His little tongue sticking out, the excitement he showed when ripping into a new gift. I was iffy on this gift too, but Chris really wanted to get it for Peyton. It is a little bow and arrow set. The arrows have suction cups on the end. Peyton LOVES it and has been really responsible with it.

Here is Maddy and her Grandpa GG. I don't have nearly enough pictures of Maddy with her Grandparents. I was bummed as I really wanted to get pictures of the kiddos with each set of Grandparents on Christmas and it just didn't work out. :( Hopefully I'll remember at Easter time or the next time we are all together!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you come back soon!

My Minds Eye Sketch Challenge

I occasionally get the chance to participate in the challenges posted on the My Minds Eye blog. Surprise...its a sketch challenge! haha...Here is there sketch:
And here is my take on their sketch:

I took a close up so you could see the stitching, title and pearls better!

I used a Q-tip and rubbed some Colorbox chalk ink over both the Making Memories alphas and the American Crafts Thickers. I can't remember where the pearls came from!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you stop back by soon!

Cosmo Cricket Sketch Layout

This won't come to a surprise to many of you...but I just LOVE Cosmo Cricket! I love everything about them! They posted a sketch challenge on their blog and I knew I HAD to play along. I have been quite hooked on sketches lately. Here is there fantastic sketch:

And here is my take on it:
The only items not Cosmo Cricket are the Chipboard alphas (which are Basic Grey) and the cardstock (which is Bazzill).

Here is a close up of the fake paper pleating. I saw a tutorial on a blog I follow, but for the life of me, can't remember which one it was. If you know which one it is please let me know so I can give credit to the great tutorial! UPDATE: The tutorial was done by Southernbelle (Aymee Grandy) on the Scrapbook Circle Blog. Definitely take a peek at Southernbelle's blog, she is quite talented! Thank you Kristie, for reminding me where I saw it!

Make sure to check out the Cosmo Cricket Blog HERE as they have sneaks of their new lines. All I can say is "WOW". I'm LOVIN' it ALL! The Tiny Types, the Chipboard letters...teaming up with Core'dinations, and lets not forget the incredible new lines...its all too much for me to take in! I might just start hyperventilating. :)

If you haven't had a chance to check out my post below, please do so! I shared the fun ladybug birthday invitations for Maddy's 1st birthday!

Maddy's 1st Birthday Invitations

As I mentioned yesterday, I decided to Make Madeline's first birthday invitations. I was originally going to do monkeys, but ended up going with ladybugs. Here is the invite:

I used my Coluzzle to cut a approx. 4" circle in black and red and a smaller black circle for the head. I also used the Coluzzle to cut out around the invitation I typed up in Microsoft Word. I then cut the red circle and ran it through my Cuttlebug machine using the polka-dot embossing folder. Now looking back, I wish I would have embossed it then cut it. I then inked the edges and started the process of assembling them. Oh, and I didn't have any black brads, so I had to paint some silver ones black!

The wings open up to reveal the invitation. I lifted the ladybug off of a image I found of a ladybug on Google Images. I thought it would be cute to turn into an invitation. Did I mention I had to make 40+ invites? Yeah...it took a lot longer than I originally thought it would.

While at the Dollar Tree and browsing the party section, I came across this:

I thought it would be a fun party decor. Here is how I changed it:

I have three of them to hang above the table where the cake and presents will be.

Over the summer I started frequently visiting Paper Popsicles. They have gone through some major changes! I'm excited about what they have up their sleeves. Check out there blog: Paper Popsicles. They have a fun RAK up for grabs, so make sure to check it out!

I have lots more to share! I have some fun Cosmo Cricket layouts as well as a challenge I did for Citrus Tree Studio! I hope you'll check back soon!