Happy New Year

Just a short post with some pics. I took these today after work...we were all playing on the ground, wrestling, tickling, etc. And in the middle of it I tell them, "Wait! Let me get my camera, which was only about 5 feet away". They stayed for me and did some cute little poses. I was going to choose one to post, but I couldn't decide. Love them all! Guess I better scrapbook it.

Have a wonderful New Years!

Merry Christmas

Wow, lots of pics to share...didn't get too many Christmas photos...just kind of hung out that day in our PJs.

I decided to make a lot of cookies this year. I like to bake, just not all the time. LOL. There are gingerbread men too, but I didn't take a pic. I used a lot of Martha Stewart recipes from her Baking Handbook...lots of good stuff! The cookies on the left are black and white cookies. I saw them in her book and it reminded of a Seinfeld episode. I have never had one, so I decided to add them to my Christmas Cookies list. The mexican wedding cookies are very tradtional in our family. My mom made them all the time for Christmas. The pretzel treats are just melted Rolos on pretzels and then I added buttered pecans. Yum!

We had the strangest weather around here...record breaking snowfall. Super low temps! Feels like your eyeballs will freeze out there. I took this picture from inside my van last week for proof! LOL!

Then a few days ago, the temps got to the 60s, had roads that were frozen, poured for two days straight, fog, high winds, and even tornado watches! Got it all!!

Got a halfway decent picture here of the kiddies. I tried to put some hair wax in Aydan's hair but it didn't come out too well. Poor Kendall, she has eczema on her cheeks and it gets worse in the winter. I tried to photoshop but somehow she had two mouths after that. She lost her second tooth. I keep forgetting about it when I feed her. Kept making her corn on the cob and giving her oranges. She holds her own though!

Took these pics of the kids at the outdoor mall last night. They have this giant Christmas tree that lights to classical Christmas music. Here were sitting in the patio of a restaurant and they had heater lights on. They weren't serving out there of course, but the heat helped a bit. Then, after waiting for 20 minutes, the music came on but the lights didn't...so we left. It was already 6:00 and the stores were closed. What a waste!

I noticed pasta sauce on Kendall's chin when I was looking at this pic and I actually managed to photoshop it out. I'm so NOT good at PS, so I was very happy how this came out!

Kendall and I made these journals yesterday. Got this idea from Kristina Werner...just fold a piece of CS and some computer paper together. Staple the spine part...and there you are!
Kendall likes to doodle so we made one for her as well. There are already crayon stains on the front. I am using mine to jot down decorating ideas or things I want to fix around the house. Its been a big subject around here. Got 26 sheets of paper in mine and I've already used it!

Made this card for some friends of ours who just had twins (boy and girl). Its a big card...5.5" square. I really didn't like it until I added the giant ribbon to it. We are bringing the card and gift to their house so I don't have to worry about mailing it.

Forgive this picture. Later I was wrapping the gift and wanted to dress up this kraft bag. I used a Heidi Swapp mask with some white paint...cut a slit and slipped the back of the card through. Now I don't have to worry about an envelope! Thanks for looking!

Yea, um...this is all I have to say. This is tomorrow's forecast here. Been real hard for us to do wintery things lately. We had a lot of days like this and today is only the first day of winter. Yikes!
6am
3°F
Feels Like-18°F
9am
1°F
Feels Like-21°F
12pm
3°F
Feels Like-19°F
3pm
5°F
Feels Like-17°F
6pm
4°F
Feels Like-17°F
9pm
5°F
Feels Like-15°F

Whew...we've had one tough winter so far and it officially hasn't started yet! I took a vacation day today because there were huge warnings that we were getting up to 14" of snow! After Tuesday's long, 2.5 hour commute home, I had had enough! We probably got 6-8" so far, but its pretty slick with some ice, so driving isn't really safe now. The kids are off from school until January 5th and Ozan is off the whole time with them. He works at a college and they go to school there at the early childhood center. The employees get paid the week between Christmas and New Years, so he is very lucky. I'm thankful that they get to spend that time home!
It was a bit warmer today, not in the single digits like it has been. Kids were dying to sled today so we took them in the backyard since the roads were bad. Our backyard is sloped, which I hate, but it has its benefits...helps prevent flooding to our house and gives the kids a hill to sled on.

Don't let the pics fool you! Aydan was a fuss monster on and off during this time!

I had to take a picture of Kendall holding this chunk of snow! We had some on the ground already and then the new snow was pretty icy...you could just pick it up in one piece. And when you walk on it, its like styrofoam...you could walk on it, but then your foot would fall through a second later. Kinda weird!

Kendall was trying to make snow angels but the snow was too hard! She couldn't even make a dent in it...LOL!

Just some close ups of the kiddies!

...some cards I made this weekend. These were both lifts. The one on the left is from Kristina Werner...I really wanted to use my coffee stamp that I had forever. On Kristina's card she used vanilla embossing powder, which I have been looking for but couldn't find. I scored some recently made by American Crafts...since when did they make embossing powder?

The other one is a lift by Nicole Heady, one of the owners of Papertrey Ink...I've come across her blog here and there and its a wonderful place to visit. I'm trying to update my google reader and she is definately "reader worthy".

OK, I've gotta say that I can't believe how nice the bow came out! That can hold me up trying to get that right! On the butterfly card I added some Liquid Pearls and some pencil coloring (to the first butterfly) just to change it up a bit. When I'm feeling uncreative and just want to scrap a bit, I will lift something just to get the creative juices flowing!

And here is a serious case of hat head. I had a hard time capturing it in the picture but OMG..it was SO funny!

Supplies Used:

Thank You

Cardstock: Stampin Up

Ink: Staz-On and Versamark

Stamps: Stampin Up and Wordsworth

Marker: Copic

Embossing Powder and Ribbon: American Crafts

Celebrate

Cardstock: Stampin Up and Hobby Lobby

Patterned Paper and Ink: Stampin UP

Stamp: Hero Arts

Paper Piercer: Making Memories

Die Cut Machine: Cuttlebug

Pencils: Prisma

Punch: Marvy

Buttons: Autumn Leaves

Sticker: Deja Views

Liquid Pearls

Elf Yourself!

Elved my family. OMG, my son Aydan looks SO cute here..well, he is cute! My kids were rolling on the floor with laughter on this one...
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/LjhktlqwNoXAhhFHtbRd

and one with my in-laws and the kiddies...I don't think they'd mind...they have a funny sense of humor!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/ycEo2d6SALP04F9F

Teacher's/Caretaker Gifts

Whew, I've done a ton of scrapping this past week, but lately I've been setting shop up in the kitchen or family room at a table so I can catch up on my DVR. It has been as low as 5 degrees around here lately...and snowing...and windy. We're stuck inside for sure!

So I wanted to make something cute for my kids teachers and caretakers for Christmas this year. I printed a pillow box template onto some cardstock, ran it through the Cuttlebug twice, scored, folded it, and glued each one shut. The sides open up on both ends. I cut a notch at the end of one of the flaps so it would be easier to open. Made 10 of these. That is how many I needed exactly, but now I'm thinking I should have made a couple of more, just in case!

The tags were made using the Slice and some Making Memories stamps. I used a craft Stampin Up pad and then added this Ranger Holographic Embossing power. This stuff is cool...but you have to have a very juicy stamp pad for it to work (should of taken a close up, this picture doesn't show it at all). Added some ribbon and viola...easy to make. I originally was going to use some shabby chic patterned paper but then I came across this ribbon I bought a couple of weeks ago at Michael's, so I based my design on that. The blue cardstock here is Tempting Turquoise from Stampin Up and its my all time favorite colored cardstock...if its ever discontinued, I will cry! I chose some other colors just to mix it up a bit.

I blurred out my last name on the tags in photoshop for these pics...just something I get weird about!

Oh, and just a hint...if you even make these...after you glue the end down and let it dry, tie the ribbon around the box while flat and then open it up. It makes the tie nice and snug to the box so it doesn't slip. Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock, Ink: Stampin Up

Stamps, Diecut Machine: Making Memories

Ribbon and Pen: American Crafts

Silver Bling: Michaels

Embossing Powder: Ranger

Another Challenge!

Love the challenges! Kinda saves me the steps on figuring out what I want to do. This LO was a challenge from Laura's Blog, Mary's Blog, and Lisamarie's Blog...the challenge was to use purple, vellum, and the number 13. I don't use purple a lot, but have 2 shades of Stampin Up cardstock. When I started brainstorming here, I knew that I wanted to use a black and white photo, my Slice, and my Sizzix Stampin Up Big Notz diecut. Lately, I've been on the cardstock kick lately...totally ignoring my patterned paper. I think I get frustrated trying to coordinate sheets! I love using a light shade of blue when I use purple...love the color combo, so I decided to go with that! I started with this picture of Aydan when he was 9 days old cause it was the only black and white photo I had printed out...and its so cute anyway. Started with a 8x8 scalloped cardstock for the base, covered that with a MM patterned paper and then layered that with 3 diecuts of the Big Notz on vellum. There are 13 flowers cut out here and I stamped each one with a different definition stamp...arranged them around the picture in no particular pattern and added some felt letters. Looks easy, and it was, just time consuming...just worked on it a bit each day. OK and after finding those links, I realized that ribbon was part of the challenge...just pretend that strip of paper is ribbon. Not going to take pics again.

And now that its winter, its hard for me to get pics of my layouts...have to wait until the weekend. I was seriously going to take a picture of my LO's on my patio table, but it was covered with snow, and it was super windy out...and about 25 degrees. The temperature won't stop me, but the wind and the snow will! LOL! I propped my LO's on my kitchen chair and angled it toward the patio door. Even though it was cloudy and snowing today, it was bright in the house from the reflection of the snow. That was enough to get great lighting on my pics!

That is one of the few benefits of living in a cold climate! LOL!

Another 8x8 page I did last week of Kendall and her best friend at school. These two are joined at the hip and have been friends for 2.5 years...that's a lot of time when you're 5! I lifted a LO from Sheri Reguly here...fell head over heels for her LO and it became a "must lift"! I really wanted to lift it 100% but after I go through the first portion of it, I just gave up. She's too good to lift exactly...plus I didn't have all the exact products she did.

Products Used:

"Aydan"

Cardstock: DCWV, Stampin Up

Patterned Paper, Diecut Machine: Making Memories

Definition Stamps, Ink: Stampin Up

Mirror: Heidi Swapp

Buttons: Autumn Leaves

Stickles: Ranger

Vellum and Pop Dots

"Kendall and Anthony"

Cardstock & Cardstock Trim: Bazzill

Patterned Paper: Making Memories and DCWV

Clip, Staples, and Flower: Making Memories

Stamp: Hero Arts (quote) Inkadinkadoo (fluorish)

Heart Diecut: Jenni Bowlin

Stickers: Heidi Grace and KI Memories

Silver Gems: Mark Richards

Ink: Memories and ColorBox Chalk Queue

Color Inspiration #32

Another inspiration challenge from Kristina Werner's Blog. The colors are Riding Hood Red, Sahara Sand (0r a metallic), very vanilla, and whisper white. I haven't done a challenge in a while but I needed to make a card for my in-laws 43rd wedding anniversary so I figured I could do a challenge and accomplish their card at the same time.
This was um...challenging...mixing white with vanilla. I almost gave up! I coated the inside of a cuttlebug folder with Stampin Up Craft White and then ran it through with a piece of Riding Hood Red. The large scalloped shape was made with a Stampin Up Sizzix diecut. Used my Slice to make the heart, the label, and the "love". I put some Stickles on the "love" because it just looked too bland. I wanted to chalk it, but couldn't find my chalks! Looking back I could have made another "love" in a larger size and a different color to put under the original love.
The large bird is a stamp from "Stampabilities" that I got from Hobby Lobby Last week. I used Versamark ink to stamp it and then added some Martha Stewart glitter. Also added some preservative spray to keep it together. Also added some Stickles to the large heart diecut.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock, Large Big Notz Die Cut, Pen: Stampin Up

Stamp: Stampabilities

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug Houndstooth

Patterned Paper: Jenni Bowlin

Glitter: Martha Stewart

Die Cuts: Slice, Making Memories

Ribbon: American Crafts

Ink: Versamark

Stickles: Ranger

Silver Gem: Mark Richards

A Few LO's and a card

Whew...finished 4 layouts this weekend and a card. I'm home sick after a short, but nasty bout of the stomach flu...expect to be back at work tomorrow, then off for 4 days! I feel better but just feel a bit weak. This is part of a two page layout, just haven't done the second page yet. It will have the same sized photo collage...just thought I'd post it now. Used some SEI and Chatterbox papers here. I really intended on calling this page, "Pumpkin Farm" but somehow I put "pumpkin patch" without even realizing it.

Another 2 paged LO about Aydan's third birthday party. I'm really not into scraping celebrations, really love to scrap more about my kids themselves...what they say, like, etc. This is the reason why I just use a simple LO on these...just to get them done and include a bunch of pics. Used a photo collage template from Scrapbooks, etc's website...on both of these pages I was inspired by Valerie Salmon's page in their examples.

Excuse these pics. Took these inside by our window. The problem is that we have those white pane lines in them and they cause shadows. Don't have much sunlight these days and when we do, its hard to get outside to take them either due to the cold or wind.

Used my new Slice (cut out star and "enjoy") on this card for my nephew Tyler's 8th birthday, which is coming up in December. I have a hard time making kids cards...but I think this came out OK. I used a smaller card size as well...seems easier to lay it all out together. I think its about 3x4. If you're seeing this Chrissy (my sister), don't show him!

Also used a Cuttlebug embossing border folder on the side and added some white pen to it and to the embossed dots behind the star.

Had to post these pics of Kendall. We don't watch prime time TV with the kids much. The content isn't really kid friendly plus they are in bed by 7:30. I like to watch Dancing With the Stars but its 90 minutes long. My solution is to watch it on the weekends with the kids. Kendall stands in front of the TV and just imitates them as much as she can. Its so cute! She shakes her hips and shoulders, spins around, rolls on the floor. A good work out for her. LOL!

Its almost time to sign up for a winter class for her...last time it was ballet. I'm thinking about signing her up for something faster like Hip Hop...I think she would like that.

And grandma and grandpa came over Saturday night and started this gingerbread house with the kids. I wasn't home but there was duct tape and a caulk gun on the table too...Ozan is a duct tape fanatic and I really don't want to know if he was planning on using any of those items to put the house together. I didn't even ask! Kids had fun putting the candy on...its a mess, but it was made by them, so I love it!

Supplies Used:

"Pumpkin Patch"

Cardstock: Hobby Lobby

Patterned Paper: SEI, chatterbox

Laser Cut Paper: Creative Imaginations

Die Cuts/Brads: SEI

Cork: Karen Foster Design

Buttons: Autumn Leaves

Definition Sticker, Chipboard Letters, and Staples: Making Memories

"Aydan's Third Birthday"

Patterned paper: Scenic Route

Cardstock: Stampin Up, Archivers, Bazzill

Ink/Scalloped Circle Punch/Rolling Stamp: Stampin Up

Ribbon: May Arts

Border Punch: Martha Stewart

Cardstock Trim: Bazzill

Word Stickers/Staples: Making Memories

Birthday Stickers (round): Heidi Grace

Stickles: Ranger

"Enjoy" Card

Cardstock: Stampin Up

Die Cut Machine: Slice, Making Memories

Rub Ons: Doodlebug Design

Chipboard/Staples: Making Memories

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug

White Pen: Uniball Signo

Love grabbing the camera just before sunset, beautiful pics captured this way...

Posting some pics of my kids that are super cute and came out great quality wise. These are ones I've scrapped too!

Wow, the double stroller! Lugged this around everywhere. I love this pciture of my little guy...about 9 months old here. Love how he used to grab his toes!

random pic

Testing...Picassa lets me select pics out of my library and then I just hit "Blog This" and here it is. Kendall was just barely 3 here. Love this pic.

Challenge

(ETA: I just noticed my handwriting typo-that's what I get for rushing)
Last night I was working on a craft project for Kendall's room and then I saw this challenge on Laura's blog here. I had this pictures of the kids with their grandma (Ozan's mom) from our trip to San Diego already printed for a LO. She is absolutely crazing in love with them. I planned to do a quick LO, but I ended up putting more into it than planned. The challenge was to use KI Memories paper, Pink, Flowers, and letter stickers.

My original thought was to put the scalloped black cardstock section in the middle of the paper and I was going to journal on the sides. I didn't have plans to put the felt pieces in there. I almost forgot to add the flowers. Then I got stuck because I couldn't find a place for them. I decided to add the felt flowers to the upper right, then it looked funny because the stems were coming from the middle of the paper, thats when I decided to add the houndstooth ribbon and the journaling page there. Then added the heart for balance. I added stickles wherever I could.

The "Love" portion was made using my new Slice machine. I used the negative piece of the sheet, adhered it to my page and added stickles to the open portions. Making sense? On the letter stickers I added some dotting with my white Signo gel pen.

Funny because I wanted to take the picture of the LO outside...the sun had peaked out a bit. When I was out there, my heart felt piece fell off and by the time I fixed it, it started snowing pretty hard. LOL! Oh well. And I gotta add that I made the scalloped edges with my new Martha Stewart punch...I think the corners came out kinda OK. Not perfect, but better than I thought.

Made this card the other day for my grandma who lives in North Carolina...she's been in and out of the hospital recently with various problems. She is doing much better and I'm so thankful for that. Used my Martha Stewart border punch again and a bunch of other punches. The scalloped square was made with a Nestabilites die cut from Spellbinders. Took my white gel pen again...this time around the butterflies. I like the look.

Last night, we headed out to dinner...I ran into someone I know and she offered to take some family shoots. Of course I took her up on her offer. Its dark in the restaurant but it came out OK.

And this girlie lost her first tooth the other day. She's growing up so fast!

Supplies Used:

"Grandma Love"

Patterned Paper, Letter Stickers-KI Memories

Kraft Cardstock and Houndstooth Ribbon-Hobby Lobby

Black Cardstock-Archivers

Turquiose Cardstock-Stampin Up

Felt Shapes-Fancy Pants

Photo Corners-Colorbox

Journaling Page-Making Memories

Scalloped Border Punch-Martha Stewart

Buttons-Autumn Leaves

Die cut Machine-Slice by Making Memories

Pen-American Crafts (black) and Uniball Signo (white)

"Your On My Mind" card

Cardstock,Patterned Paper, Ink, Stamps, Ribbon-Stampin Up

Scalloped Border Punch and Butterflies-Martha Stewart

Index Tab Punch-McGill

Brads-Karen Foster

Pen-Uniball Signo (white)

Stickles-Ranger