cabin fever

Aydan looks like a little devil here...


Well, I think Kendall officially has cabin fever but she is really good at keeping herself entertained. She grabbed out her raincoats and asked me to put one on her brother...notice the ladybug coat on my son! He loved it! Had to snap some pics...he looks too cute and red is certainly his color!
Woo hoo, its gonna be 50 degrees Sunday. Boo hoo, snowed last night and more tomorrow. Its gonna be messy!

Random Pics

I was playing around with some pics in photoshop...trying to improve my photography skills. All experts say to use sunlight, no flash. Well, its winter and i work during the day so i have to do what I can.

I just picked up Jessica Sprague's second copy of "Computer Tricks for Scrapbookers". I have learned so much from her books. Laura Vegas has also emailed me a lot of her tips that are so helpful. Jessica is like the queen of digital scrapbooking tutorials. I don't like full digital pages, but I'd love to take those tips and use them for improving pics or to even use her tip for journaling, and even hybrid scrapbooking. She does a little of both. Love the hybrid scrapbooking!

So I took what I learned and played around a bit. Both of these pics were taken in the evening, all odds against me. I should check my camera settings and change it to match my lighting in my house (tungsten, etc).

Anyway I used Jessica's tips in her book on how to lighten a dark picture using layers and also using soft light to make colors pop. I did this on the Mr Potato Heads here.

I took this picture a few days ago because Kendall set this up right before dinner on our kitchen floor and put a spoon in front of each. I've been wanting to do a page called, "Kendall was here". She does these things like put up stickers on the inside of my car or bathroom...leaving little things out, leaving her mark! Finding her doll tucked in under a blanket. Love that stuff! So I thought these guys looked really cute. The pic was taken 10:00 at night. Used layers and a soft light to lighten up the pic and bring out the colors.

This picture was taken tonight. Kendall cracks me up, she does not mind wearing lightweight clothing during the winter. I'm all bundled up in sweats and she's running around in a summer dress perfectly comfortable. The other day she put on her swimsuit. Gotta love her. This dress is way too small and its funny that she picked it out because my late great aunt bought this for her and she never had the chance to wear it. I used the white eyedropper tool here to brighten up the whites and remove color cast.

3 Layouts

I am a SLOW scrapper...I do everything else fast...walk, drive, eat...but I get faster everyday because with 2 kiddies, you know that time is precious!

The first picture is a total lift from SBT magazine (March Issue) by Heather Keller...just fell in love with this LO and it looks so much better in person. The colors of this Scenic Route paper is just my favorite! And I love how she used the title in the middle of her journaling. Love that idea!

This next one I did of Kendall when she had to have 7 stitches. My son was 6 days old and she hurt herself at the playground. Ozan was with her and when she cut her chin, several mothers were helping. One of them took them to her house and put a butterfly bandaid on her chin, so after that she called her boo boo her "butterfly". She needed 7 stitches. Poor thing! I used the same technique as above: layering the patterned paper to the scalloped edges and then trimming it down. The circle paper is new from Making Memories...also MM chipboard flowers, tag rim, and cheeky glitter letter stickers, the PP is Scenic Route, so is the arrow. The butterfly is Fancy Pants and the rub on journaling is Hambly. Its hard to see but on the right side of the pink paper, I took my pen and made dotted lines to fit the theme for the blue paper. I used a flexible ruler and lined it up on the rest of the circle and just made dots along it.

This last one I did of Aydan eating dirt. I posted this picture back in April but never scrapped it (did I?). Anyway, Laura Vegas send me these adorable chipboard tags and they absolutely fit this picture...the theme, the colors, etc. The tags are MM, the yellow CS is Autumn Leaves, the stripped paper is Gin X, the red patterned CS is Creative Imaginations, and I stamped Aydan's hand in brown paint..I think it fits this page perfectly.

Oh, and the canvas letters are Lil Davis...I had to have those like 4 years ago and I never used them. I really don't care for them now but it fits the page.

Oh, and Karla is having a fun challenge at her blog. We are commenting and then we lift a layout of the person that commented before us...there is a RAK involved.

The Oscars are on tonight, its my "superbowl" but our TV broke so I have to record it on another set in the basement. Have to watch it later. I just don't have time to watch all that!

Preschool/Thanks Laura!!

I wanted to post some pics of Aydan's first day at his new school. Found Thomas right away!

Aydan is really serious when it comes to his letters and numbers...he recognizes and says all this letters and number up to early teens, yet he doesn't talk and he is only 2. the teachers put out the alpha puzzles just for him...all ready to go when we got there.

this picture of Daddy sitting in that itty bitty chair was too precious...the teachers probably think that we're nuts! You know me with my camera! And he is gonna kill me when he sees this...

I had to take pics of the cute little bikes stacked up.

Love old school stuff...

and the art center...

And also, I want to thank Laura...she mailed me a RAK full of nice scrapping goodies. There were 2 books, a mini album she made, tons of embellies and paper. It was like Christmas!! Thanks Laura!!!!!! I love it

all!

b-day party

We had Kendall's b-day party yesterday at a bowling alley. Here is Daddy with the kiddies. Aydan was so fussy the whole time...it was a bit stressful. The lights were turned off for Cosmic bowling, so I didn't get the best pics. They came out OK, considering.

Here is a page I worked on today called, "Almost 5". Just some journaling of Kendall's favorite things at her age.

And I also make some thinking of you/sympathy cards. Whenever I need to give someone one, I never have any on hand, so I wanted to be prepared. The ribbon on this card is American Crafts...saw it at my scrapbook store by the yard. I used it all already...wished I got more. I just love gray, its such a beautiful color...and this ribbon is just gorgeous.

The stamp is embossed in white on vellum...the brad is a nickel finish from American Crafts as well...I love these brads and they were hard to find. The card is pretty simple for my style but I wanted a more classic look since its a "thinking of you" card. The "Thinking of You" stamp is Stampin Up...I use this set more than anything.

Oh, and my neighbor told me yesterday that one of our local scrapbook stores closed down:( Darn...they always had the newest stuff. RIP...

Have a great week everyone.

birthday pics

Quick post here...we had a quiet evening at home for Kendall's b-day. Aydan's cake kept falling off his spoon, so he gave up and ate it right out of the bowl. He's too cute...I took over 60 pics within this 5-10 minute period!



He's really a charmer...all the time!!

Big Day Tomorrow

Kendall turns 5 tomorrow...I feel a bit sad. I just put her down to bed and it was hard leaving her. Of course, its snowing hard now...on top of the foot we got Friday.

I finished this LO tonight...usually I'm a slow scrapper and I did two this weekend and I'm getting ready to start another one. I gotta thank Laura for her inspiration on this one. I love the way she put the brads in her buttons and then she had some snaps around them. I used that inspiration for this page. It kind of matched the piercing theme. the colors here are my favorites!

Usually I get more scrapping done in the winter and in the summer months in I'm the mood for card making. Although, I did finish my Mother's Day cards yesterday. Ozan's watching the Super Bowl. I didn't even know who was playing until a couple of days ago. I sat down to watch the half time show...so dissappointing! Tom Petty? It was pretty lame. If I offended anyone, I'm kind of sorry. LOL.

Look who's a big girl now...

My Kendall got her ears pierced today for her birthday. We went to Claire's and they had the nicest people working there. She was so brave. I have been preparing her for the past week that it hurts and its like getting a shot. The worse thing you could do is say that it won't hurt...your kids will never believe you again! You gotta be honest, but use a lot of encouragement. It was perfect because their piercing chair sits in a corner glass window, so it helped with my pics. It wasn't that sunny, though. The two ladies pierced them at the same time. I was worried that if they did one at a time, she wouldn't let us do a second one.


She's so literal. They told her to hold her chin still...

the before shot...she looks like a little angel.

quick post

Got stuck in the house today with all that snow we got. I was a wee bit frustrated in my car yesterday...took 2.5 hours to get home from work. I don't have that much patience. I don't think anyone does.

There is so much going on in the next week or so...I'm gonna be busy. Next week is the last week we are using our daycare provider :( The school where Kendall goes has a spot for early childhood and we can't pass up the opportunity to take Aydan there. There is such a long waiting list...I want to keep Aydan at a home daycare, but I know this is the right decision. The classroom is just incredible. So many learning activities and he'll be close to his sister. I don't think he'll be bored.

Kendall's 5th b-day is Monday! Last year it fell on Superbowl (and with the Bears playing and all). I'm hoping to get time to take her to get her ears pierced for one of her gifts. We'll see how that goes...We also are filling out the paperwork for Kindergarten...I'm excited but a bit sad that my baby is growing up. I can't believe that I've been a mom for 5 years. Crazy.

I seriously need to do lots of paperwork for all these changes, get stuff for her party, etc. I don't think I will have time to do anymore scrapping this weekend. I did manage to do this one tonight. Have a good weekend.

Carla