Kindergarten

So today was Kendall's first day of Kindergarten. I helped get her dressed this morning...her hair never looks this smooth in the morning. Usually Daddy's gets the kids off to school. So we did the usual pics on the front porch, etc. She was really excited...I can't believe I am the mother of a school aged child...crazy!


So she posed cute for the first few...


then she started to squint..
so I tell her to open her eyes and relax...and this is what I got.
She goes to the same school as pre-school so no big changes for her. This is her entering the school. I just loved how she looked at the camera here. That backpack isn't as big as it looks. She has this tiny one that is perfect for her size but I would have to fold up her homework to put it inside and most of their homework involves artwork and crayons. So I had to use this one.

Her cubby...


Proud Daddy!

Now I have to start planning Aydan's b-day party this Saturday. Oy!

soccer

So I'm officially a soccer mom, literally...2 kids, house in the burbs, van...but a cool soccer mom. LOL!

Anyway Kendall had her first soccer practice ever last night and she really enjoyed it. Here are a few pics. The coach told me that she must be my oldest...guess cause I was shooting away. I told him yes and I'm also a scrapper and he said, "Oh, that's the chance to get out with the girls". I told him not really, I have my own room. And he's like, "You're one of those..."...but in a nice way! Gosh, she looks so grown up in these pics!We're heading out for a 3 day getaway. Gotta pack!

Red Car, Blue Car, Green Car

So Aydan doesn't just ask for his cars, he asks for all of them..."Red car, Blue car, Green car". Just like that...all the time. He sleeps with them, eats with them, and baths with them. They literally took the place of "Thomas the Train". He still loves Thomas, but not as much as these guys. BTW, these are from the movie "Cars". I had to take off work today cause Kendall had a fever, but she's much better now. So during Aydan's nap, we crafted. On the tags I put Doodlebug letters, painted over them, and peeled off the sticker when it was half dry. You have to use a very dry brush or sponge brush to do this right. I was going to put buttons but I stopped myself, I tend to over-embellish and I need to stop before I think I'm finished. LOL! Hope you're all having a great week.

supplies used:

CS: Hobby Lobby

PP: Basic Grey

Tags: 7 Gypsies

Stickers: Heidi Swapp (black) and Doodlebug (to make letter masks)

Journaling Sticker, Slick Marker, Ribbon, and Chipboard Quotations: American Crafts

Punch: Stampin Up

Stamp: Hero Arts

Paint and Chipboard Photo Corners: Making Memories.

Black Jewels: Michaels

My Messy, Creative Aydan

Well, this little guy loves to play with chalk, stamps, paints, playdough...anything messy...and will make a big mess by getting it all over his face hands, whatever. Doesn't bother him in the least...the messier, the better. I think I've done a few pages about how messy he gets!

Me, I have to watch him closely so he doesn't get it all over the house. I took these pics this morning while we were hanging outside. He was drawing letters and numbers...yes, he can do that at the age of 2. He's obsessed with them!! Seriously. So I snapped a few pics and couldn't just choose a few, so here's several. Yes, we were wearing jackets...its was cold out until lunch time, then it got really hot, then it poured rain. That's how it is around here!

Right now this little guy, who turns 3 in two weeks, is sleeping in his new big boy bed for the first time...I just want to baby him forever. It was kinda sad taking out the crib, we've been using it for 5.5 years now.

This is a card I did using a lot of leftovers. I have a cute little bin in my scraproom that holds little pieces of paper I can't bear to throw out or stamped images I cut out and didn't use, etc. So most of this card is made with items from that bin. The only thing that isn't is the "happy birthday" wheel stamp. The leaf is a leftover negative image I saved from a Sizzix diecut and just trimmed around...I saved that cause I love the green paper I used! Have a great weekend!

Tornado

So Monday night, our town got hit by a tornado...no one was injured. I didn't see it but I know it went right through or next to our house. There is this path of destruction that started a mile from us and the path continued through our subdivision. We have some minor damage...nothing too bad. It was crazy cause it we had some thunderstorms earlier in the day. It cleared up by the evening and then it was looking quite dark out, but it was almost 8PM so I didn't think anything of it. I was getting Kendall ready for bed upstairs and Ozan was on our first floor. I felt something in our house...couldn't describe it. Like the house was vibrating. I yelled to Ozan, "What was that?" He shouted, "Get in the basement right now". I scooped up Kendall, all 42 lbs of her, and carried her like a football down 2 flights of stairs. As I was running I could feel the windows shaking and I really felt like I was running for my life cause I had no idea what was really going on. It came so fast that there weren't any sirens going off or any tornado warnings or watches! It lasted about a minute, but I really didn't know if it was a tornado or not until I saw the news the next day. It was confirmed and the wind speed measured 106 mph. I've been close to them, like in the next town and I certainly have spent a lot of time in our basement during warnings. But this was a first for me. I'm glad that it wasn't too serious!

So on to another subject, something happy. I just finished this LO for a challenge on two peas. Jennifer McGuire is teaching a class on how to stamp on transperancy. I love the look! I stamped some white Staz On on a Hero Arts clear card, punched them out, and put them in a Making Memories tag rim. I also got a chance to use the Stampin Up scalloped border punch that just came out.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Patterned Paper: Making Memories, Deja Views, and Me and my Big Ideas

Stamps: Sassafrass Lass

Flowers: Fancy Pants, Queen and Co, Doodlebug

Bird Mirror and Jumbo Jeweled Brad: Heidi Swapp

Stick Pin: Heidi Grace

Punches: EK Success and Stampin Up

Ink: Staz On White

Die Cut Machine: Cuttlebug

started my vacation album

So I finally got the time to scrap some of my vacation pics. So far, I have 4 pages done but still have to edit and order the rest of the photos from our Disney trip. So I think I have about 4-5 more pages. I used the same paper and "sketch" on all of these just to make it easier. But I ran out of the patterned paper I was using, so I'm debating on whether I should use what I have or order more. The paper is double sided so I used the "louder" side for the smaller side and the more "plain" side for the title and embellies.

I was originally going to put the title on the scalloped circle but didn't have the space to fit it on the side...so I just placed the circle hanging off the page, something that I learned from laura. The pictures were put together on an 8x12 canvas in photoshop. Costco offers a 8x12 size, so I thought it was perfect to fit a lot of pics on one page. I'm also going to put 12x12 inserts in the album that hold 4x6 photos...not sure if I'm going to put them in between the LO's or at the end. We'll see how it looks. So I'm about halfway. I need to finish this because I like to start things but bad at finishing them. Some of the photos of the LOs have a shine on them so they're not too great, but I'm happy with the outcome of the pages themselves.

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Scenic Route

Cardstock: Stampin Up and Hobby Lobby (kraft)

Scalloped Borders: Creative Cafe

Puffy Letters (Love these!) and chipboard stars: American Crafts

Black Letter Stickers: Heidi Swapp

Die Cuts: Quickutz

Embossing Folders: Cuttlebug

Date Stamp, Staples, Brads, and Tag Rims: Making Memories

White Pen: Uniball Signo

Punches: EK Success (star) and McGill (labels-one punch has 4 different sizes)

String

Shazam Effect

I learned how to do this effect just a few minutes ago and I wish I had known about this before. Go to Jessica Sprague's blog at the Shazam entry and read her tutorial.

Here is the before picture...

and the after...

took only 5 minutes to do. Just some playing around.

Sketchbook Challenge

This is for the Sketch Book NZ site and my good friend, Laura Vegas is the celebrity guest. These pics are from my recent 40th b-day. The pics didn't come out too great...they've been sitting in my scraproom for while now waiting to be scrapped. The challenge is to use ribbons and flowers. Since I don't do many pages about myself, I decided to use my favorite colors and supplies. I think this LO took about 4 hours to do and I used a ton of ribbon. On the second page I used ribbon to frame the pics...one regret, I cut the pink paper too small. It should be coming out of the sides more. But it took so long plus I used up all that paper.

So go and check out Laura's challenge and her website to see the some of the 12 projects she has on display at the Making Memories booth at the CHA show in Chicago. Congrats!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock and Scalloped CS edges: Bazzill

Patterned Paper: Stampin Up (turquoise), Making Memories (black/white), Scenic Route (gree)and Doodlebug (pink).

Ribbon, Jumbo eyelets, small letter stickers, fabric tape, date stamp, and metal tags: Making Memories.

Pink Scalloped Trim & Glittered Chipboard Letters: Doodlebug

Mirrored Bird: Heidi Swapp

Letter Stamps: Autumn Leaves

Vinyl Letters: American Crafts

Die Cuts: Cuttlebug (petals) and Quickutz (scalloped circles)

Hugs to a fight in seconds

These pics were taken on our recent trip at Sea World San Diego. While we were waiting for Daddy to bring back lunch, the following happened. Of course I have my camera so I'm snapping away as it happened.

Awe, look at my babies hugging...

Now Aydan is thinking that its over now. Let go.

Seriously, we're done. I'm getting frustrated.

Now he's realizing that she is just not letting go and he needs to force himself out.

Now I'm mad...had enough of you.

Now I've lost it. Mommy help me...

I see a scrap page coming my way...

some more vacation pics and more cards

My Kendall is sure growing up before my eyes...next month she starts kindergarten. Funny how all the vacation pics of my kids show them with hats on. Thats because whenever I go to a warm place for vacation, my scalp burns on my part so I gotta protect the kiddies too, especially my fair, blonde Aydan. These pics are from the San Diego Zoo.

Here is a baby stork. So cute and they stand on one leg as well. These little guys stay gray for 3 years before they turn pink.

We waited in line to see the panda bears...it was worth it. They are constantly chopping on bamboo!

A couple of baby elephants..these were taken at Wild Animal Park.

A card I made for a special person who just had surgery. I also made a card similar for a friends birthday. Love this Hero Arts stamp...looks so good in white. This card was inspired by Leslie Lightfoot. I saw it on the Hero Arts blog but can't find the link.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Hero Arts and Stampin Up
Ink: Stampin Up
Cardbase: Hobby Lobby
Patterned Paper and Jouraling Sticker: Making Memories
Mark Richard Black Pearls...love these so much!

A lift from a poster at Split Coast Stampers...perfect for a kids birthday. All supplies here are Stampin Up except the Kraft CS, which is Hobby Lobby, the punches which are Marvy (index tab) and Fiskars (corner rounder), and Cuttlebug circle diecut.

When I was making this card, Aydan started grabbing some stamps and was stamping away. Then he went crazy when he saw the numbers wheel, he is nuts about numbers. He even took his nap holding it in his hand.

some more cards

I've been busy editing pics from our vacation thats its taken up my crafting time. So today I took some time to myself and made some cards. I am actually mailing most of these out.
First I gotta show a picture I took on Wednesday night of this storm coming in. Its started raining and all the works right after I took this, which was taken around 7:30 PM. Kinda cool, huh? The lightening and thunder lasted at least 12 hours overnight.


For this first card, I used the same sketch that I used for father's day.


Supplies used:
CS: Hobby Lobby (kraft) and Stampin Up
Patterned Paper, Circle Cutter, and Staple: Making Memories
Felt Border: Fancy Pants Designs
Butterfly Die Cut (large) and embossing folder: Cuttlebug
Butterfly Punch (small): Martha Stewart
Chipboard: American Crafts and Heidi Swapp
Flower: Prima
White Pen: Uniball Signo
For this card I used a sketch and colors I used on a previous LO here. This one is for my sister and I used the nickname we have for each other on the "Hello" stamp.

Supplies Used:
CS: Hobby Lobby Card Base and Stampin Up
Patterned Paper: Crate Paper (black), Scenic Route (pink), and Stampin Up (blue)
Stamps: Stampin Up (definition), Hero Arts (bird), and Maya Road (Hello Tag)
Ink Pads: Sampin Up
Decorative Scissors: Fiskars
Rub Ons: Daisy D's
Chipboard: Making Memories (frame) and Love, Elsie (heart)
Wired String: May Arts
Punches, Black Pearls, and Pens...
This last one was made when I knew that I had 10 minutes left before Aydan woke up from his nap. I wanted to make a simple card with a hanging flag design but wasn't sure how I would work it in with a card. So I pulled out some of my supply drawers looking for a product I haven't used yet, and I found my new rolling stamp from Stampin Up. I was thinking about using some other color cardstock to add to it but I though the border trims worked out nice. This is perfect for a child's b-day. I'm pretty happy with this one! All the patterned paper were used from small scraps.

Supplies Used:
CS, blue patterned paper, rolling stamp, and ink: Stampin Up
Other patterned paper: Scenic Route
Border Trims: Heidi Grace
Wired String: May Arts
I have more cards to share but I'll wait until tomorrow. Its getting late.

Our Vacation

I love how Aydan imitates me by putting his sunglasses on his head. Crack me up!


OK, just got back from vacation last night from Southern California-we were gone for 8 days, felt like a month. Its good to be home! I had a whole lot of recovering and unpacking to do. The kids did so well on the plane...I was pleasantly surprised!
Ozan's parents live in San Diego so we got to spend a lot of time with them, plus we got to visit a whole lot of places.Did the whole San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Wild Animal Park, and 3 days of Disneyland. I have a bunch of photos to go through! Here are a few of my favs! I had a hard time getting pics of the kids, they hardly looked at the camera. And pardon Aydan's dirty little face. He looks too cute here! And two big highlights...seeing Mickey Mouse and a parade with Lightening McQueen...two of Aydan's favorites!!