"Moore" Than Words

Does "Project Life" Intimidate You?

2012-01-13T16:56:00.003-06:00

So, I've had these divided page protectors from We R Memory Keepers forever, but I've never really played with them until today. With all the Project Life stuff I've been seeing all over the Internet, it really made me want to get some pics and stories put into albums.

The task of Project Life had me feeling a little intimidated because:
A. I do NOT take a picture every single day (nor do I really have the desire to do so).
and
B. I'm so far behind on my scrapping that I really need to focus on scrapping pictures I've already taken instead of taking new photos just to make a PL album.

Don't get me wrong...PL is amazing and an awesome idea. I just needed to "tweak" it a little to fit my needs. ;)

I don't have the page protectors that everyone is using for their Project Life stuff, but I did have these that have divided 4x6 slots:

So, I had created this page of Evan at his 1st grade Dual Language Christmas program (he's in a program where he learns English related studies for a week then switches over to Spanish related studies for a week and alternates back and forth all school year). He was chosen out of all the students to lead the Dual Language program kids in reading "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in Spanish. He would read it in Spanish and then point at the other students with his little pointer, and they would read it back to him. This was SO cool to watch because this was his first year in the program, and he picked up Spanish like it was his native language! His teachers (and me!!) couldn't believe how quickly he picked up on the pronunciation of the Spanish language and how fluently he was able to read it. Anyway, here's the page I created:

But I had several other photos left of the same program, as well as a few papers, etc. I can't just throw photos away, but then again...I don't want to do 3-4 pages of the same Christmas program. So, I used the divided protectors and did this:

Back side:

Now, ALLLLLL of the pics from that event are scrapped and Evan's school album!!! WOOHOO!

I was able to include a Christmas note/card he had written to me in 1st grade, as well as a letter from Santa that he received. All I did was fold them up and stick them in one of the 4x6 slots. So easy! These pages were made in no time, and the best part....I used ONLY scraps and leftovers from other pages to create them! This is such a great way to use up all those leftovers. I will definitely be using my divided page protectors to get more pages put away! :)

January 2012 FULL REVEAL from TSR! :)

2012-01-04T10:07:00.000-06:00

Raise your hand if you have plenty of "snow" pictures to scrap! (me!!!) I finally got some older snow pics onto layouts...just in time for me to take some new snow pics! lol The January kit from The Scrap Room is just gorgeous and perfect for those January photos. The kit contains products from the following 4 lines:

Pebbles Inc. "Fresh Goods" collection
Simple Stories "Year-o-graphy" collection
Little Yellow Bicycle "Winter Twig" collection (my fave this month!)
October Afternoon "Farmhouse" collection

Wow..how's that for the latest and greatest?!!

Here are my finished projects:

Thanks for taking a look! If one of your New Year Resolutions is to scrap more, I highly encourage you to sign up for the monthly kits from TSR! You can make SO many pages out of each kit...you won't be disappointed! :)

January 2012 Sneak Peek Time!

2011-12-30T13:25:00.000-06:00

Wow....2011 is almost over. Hard to believe, isn't it? What a fast year!

If you are looking for a way to get tons of pages done this year with the latest and greatest scrapbooking products, look no further than The Scrap Room! I endorse this kit club because I fully believe in the club's motto..."Get more pages done!" I have completed around 150 layouts this year, and most of them are layouts done with this kit club's products. No lie!

I got to play with October Afternoon's new "Farmhouse" collection for my sneak peek. Love the colors in this part of the kit! Enjoy...and GET MORE PAGES DONE in 2012! :)

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #12

2011-12-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

Last but not least, here is the final "12 Days of Christmas Layouts" post. As a grand finale, I have not 1 but 2 layouts for you today. :) I hope you have enjoyed my Christmas layouts, and I wish you and your family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a BLESSED New Year!!

Be inspired. CREATE!

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #11

2011-12-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

Oh Santa....what's not to love? :) This layout was based on a sketch from Sketch Inspiration. Sketch Inspiration is my sister's weekly sketch site. Every week (on Sunday), she posts a new sketch. If you do that sketch and enter into the online gallery on her site, you will have a chance at a great weekly prize! There's a new sketch and a new prize every week...and she is also selling her new Volume 2 sketch book! Check out the site for details. ;)

Happy Holidays!!

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #10

2011-12-21T06:00:00.004-06:00

In 2009, my family and I went to "Holiday in the Park" at Six Flags Over Texas with some tickets I had won. The boys loved it! Especially all the cool lights and rides, and of course the cotton candy! ;)

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #9

2011-12-20T06:00:00.003-06:00

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year! :) I love watching my children open presents on Christmas morning. These pics are of my oldest son and a few of his new gifts during Christmas morning. So fun!

Are you finished with all of your Christmas shopping yet???

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #8

2011-12-19T05:00:00.001-06:00

I love snow pictures! :) In 2009, we actually had a white Christmas here in Texas. On the day after Christmas, we were visiting at my parents' house, and my dad took the kids outside and made this cute snowman. They used a cornucopia for the hat. LOL!

Here's wishing you a Merry WHITE Christmas! :)

Supplies: December monthly kit from The Scrap Room.

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #7

2011-12-18T20:20:00.000-06:00

Does your town have Christmas traditions? Our little town has a downtown Christmas parade each year. We live in a small town...about 5,000-6,000 people...so almost all of the town comes out to watch things like this.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies: December monthly kit from The Scrap Room.

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #6

2011-12-17T21:12:00.000-06:00

Every year before we open presents at my in-laws' house, we take a family photo. I love looking back on these over the past years. :) I treasure them. We have lost a couple of family members in the past few years, but I love that we have all the holiday photos of everyone together. Celebrate your family this year! :)

P.S....I LOVE comments! ;)

Supplies: All products from the December kit by The Scrap Room; sketch by Aphra Bolyer

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #5

2011-12-16T21:43:00.000-06:00

One of my youngest son's favorite things about Christmas is when the puppet/marionette show comes to our local Art Center. These pictures were taken in 2009, when my husband was the administrator of the Art Center. We got a little "backstage pass," and Aaron was able to play with the marionettes on the stage. Totally made his day! :)

All products from the December monthly kit from The Scrap Room.

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #4

2011-12-15T17:46:00.001-06:00

How's your Christmas shopping going? Got everyone checked off the list yet? I sure don't! I still have 5 gifts to buy for people on the list, plus a few little things for my youngest son. Hope to get that taken care of this weekend...hopefully.

Today's layout is about our Childrens' Christmas Program at our church. My youngest was a donkey for this program in 2009...how cute is he?! LOL I took a few pictures of him with some of the other kids in the play, one being my niece Brooklyn, who was cast as Mary. They did such a great job! Can't wait for this year's program. :)

This 2-pager was also made with the December kit from The Scrap Room, featuring Jillibean Soup "Christmas Eve Chowder" collection.

Merry Christmas!!! xoxoxo

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #3

2011-12-14T04:00:00.009-06:00

Today's layout is all about those cute little Christmas crafts with the kiddos! The boys loved putting together this little "Santa's Workshop" with a kit I had bought at Target. MUCH less mess than a gingerbread house. I loved watching them CREATE! :)

Thanks for looking!!!!

Supplies used: We R Memory Keepers "Peppermint Twist" collection

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #2

2011-12-13T09:14:00.000-06:00

For my second layout, I again used the December monthly kit from The Scrap Room. If you are looking for an awesome Christmas kit, TSR is the way to go! ;)

I love these pics of my little boy waving at Santa and Santa waving in return at our little town's downtown Christmas parade. We missed this year's parade because we were out of town, but I'm glad I got these pics from a couple years ago...and glad that I finally got them scrapped! LOL

12 Days of Christmas Layouts - #1

2011-12-12T19:11:00.001-06:00

Hi friends!
Yeah, I know....blogging has not been my strong point lately! Honestly, I have just been really busy, and even when I've had the time to blog, I just really haven't had anything very interesting to say. LOL!

So, I decided to jump out of my blogging rut and try my hand at posting a few Christmas layouts I've been working on. I will post one (or 2) a day for the next 12 days...ending right before Christmas. I hope my pages will inspire you to get some of your own Christmas pictures scrapped and put into albums.

I LOVE Christmas products and pages, but it seems that this is the holiday I am never EVER caught up on scrappy-wise! In fact, I haven't even PRINTED OUT pics from 2010..GASP! Can you believe that?! **hanging head in shame** I have, however, caught up a bit on Christmas pics from 2009, so that's starting to make me feel a little bit better. I think the problem is that I just take WAAAAAYYYY too many pics at Christmastime. But that's not really a "problem," is it? ;)

Anyway, moving on....

Here is layout #1 for my "12 Days of Christmas Layouts" series...and it's a 2-pager!:

These pics are of my youngest son at his preschool Christmas program. How cute are all those little kiddos?! They sang several cute little songs, and since I teach at this preschool, I got to have a front-row seat for the performance. So cute! :)

All products are part of the December monthly kit from The Scrap Room!

Favorite Christmas Tradition?

2011-12-08T17:49:00.000-06:00

To read mine, please visit The Scrap Room blog. I hope you take the time to read it. Merry Christmas, everyone!

November Full Reveal for The Scrap Room!

2011-11-03T19:49:00.003-05:00

Who has 2 thumbs and fell off the blogging bandwagon?? THIS GIRL! Wow...I haven't blogged in nearly a whole month....and what a crazy month October was! Like I said in a previous post, I coordinate our church's annual pumpkin patch, and I was literally at the patch just about every single day during the month of October. I am pretty sure the color orange was the only color I'd see from now own, but now things are getting back to normal. ;) Whatever that is.

The good news is....I've scrapped a LOT of my photos from this year's pumpkin patch already! Thanks to the November kit from The Scrap Room, scrapping these pics was a breeze. And it feel so great to get these scrapped so soon, which is highly unlikely for me.

Without further ado, a little Fall inspiration:

Thanks for looking! :)

October FULL Reveal from TSR!

2011-10-08T07:07:00.002-05:00

Has this month been as crazy for you as it is for me already?? Seriously! For the whole month of October, my husband and I are in charge of our church's annual Pumpkin Patch and Fall Festival, and I have been so crazy busy with all of that. It's soooo much work, but it's always so worth it. We donate all the money we make to local, national, and world-wide missions....so hearing from our missionary friends when they receive a nice check from us always makes all the work worth it. :)

So for busy months like this one, I'm always super grateful for my monthly scrapbooking kit from The Scrap Room! Without it, I wouldn't get 1 page done.

Here are my projects using October's fabulous kit:

Thanks for looking! :)

October Sneak Peek Time! :)

2011-09-30T16:41:00.000-05:00

Hello blog readers! Wow, I haven't blogged in....well, quite a while.

Never fear! It's October Sneak Peek time over at The Scrap Room, and I got to work with the FABULOUS new line by Simple Stories called "Happy Day." Birthday papers and embellishments just make me happy! I LOVE the colors and patterns in the Happy Day collection...so perfectly festive! I was able to scrap some older birthday pics from my youngest son's 4th birthday party:

The best thing about this layout? It was practically all done for me already! I just added my photos, a few of the included embellies, journaling strips, and a title. So simple! :) Thanks for looking.

Sketch #236 from Sketch Inspiration

2011-09-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

Have you entered your layout at Sketch Inspiration yet this week? It's a 2-PAGER! And, of course, there is a great weekly prize up for grabs. Here's my interpretation of the sketch, made with Bella Blvd.'s "Mr. Boy" collection:

Don't forget to enter yours...a new sketch will be posted on Sunday! :)

September Scrap Room Reveal

2011-09-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!
Busy, busy around here, but I wanted to share my layouts and cards from the September kit from The Scrap Room! I already got 1 school page done for this year's pics, so I'm pretty happy about that! lol

Don't forget to check out The Scrap Room Blog for some fun updates, tutorials, and challenges! :) Thanks for looking.

A Special Cause for a Special Friend

2011-09-01T20:46:00.000-05:00

You see this lady right here? Her name is Rita. She is the most kind-hearted, precious soul and such a wonderful mother.

She is a dear friend of mine who is also a fellow scrapper. Rita's adorable son (in the picture with her) was diagnosed with autism last March. This is where your help is needed.

Rita is walking in an Austism Awareness Walk on September 17th. If you can, please consider sponsoring my dear friend in this walk. I know it would mean the world to her and her precious son.

Please contact Rita at ritamilligan1@yahoo.com if you are interested in sponsoring her in this walk. No amount is too small...even $1 would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your generous heart!

To My Kindergartener

2011-08-22T13:46:00.002-05:00

He started school this morning,
And he seemed so very small.
As I walked there beside him
In the Kindergarten hall.

And as he took his place beside
the others in the class,
I realized how all too soon
Those first few years can pass.

Remembering, I saw him as
he first learned how to walk.
The words that we alone made out
When he began to talk.

This little boy so much absorbed
In learning how to write.
It seems as though he must have grown
To boyhood overnight.

My eyes were blurred by hastily
I brushed the tears away
Lest by some word or sign of mine
I mar his first big day.

Oh how I longed to stay with him
And keep him by the hand
To lead him through the places
That he couldn't understand.

And something closely kin to fear
Was mingled with my pride.
I knew he would no longer be
A baby by my side.

But he must have his chance to live,
To work his problems out,
The privilege to grow and learn
What life is all about.

And I must share my little boy
With friends and work and play;
He's not a baby anymore --
He's in Kindergarten today.

To My 3rd Grader

2011-08-22T13:45:00.000-05:00

You were six months old and full of fun
With a blink of my eye, you were suddenly one.
There were so many things we were going to do,
But I turned my head and you were two.

At two you were very dependent on me,
But independence took over when you turned three.
Your third birthday, another year I tried to ignore,
But when I lit the candles, there weren't three, but four.

Four was the year that you really strived,
Why, look at you now, you're already five.
Now you are ready for books and for rules.
This is the year that you go to school.

The big day came, you were anxious to go.
We walked to the bus, going oh, so slow.
As you climbed aboard and waved goodbye,
I felt a lump in my throat and tears stung my eyes.

Time goes so fast, it's hard to believe
that just yesterday you were home here with me.
And tomorrow when the bus brings you home
and you jump to the ground,
You'll be wearing your cap and graduation gown.

So I'm holding to these moments as hard as I can,
Because the next time I look, I'll be seeing a man.

(author unknown)

Snack Caddy

2011-08-20T11:08:00.001-05:00

Well, school starts here on Monday (wahhhhhh). This year, BOTH boys will be in school from 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Yeah...mama's not handling that well. For the past almost decade, my life has been all about being a stay-at-home mom and having a little one here for me to take care of. It's going to be eerily quiet on Monday once the boys are off to school. I don't like change. And I'm not handling this very well. Especially the part about my baby (BABY!) starting Kindergarten. Where did the time go?!! *sniff

Anyway, I decided that today (Saturday) would be a great day to try and get some things around the house organized for the upcoming whirlwind that is known as.....School.

First on the list, washing all the new school clothes! I've got that going right now.

Secondly, I cleaned out my fridge and made a "snack caddy" for the boys. I found this idea on Pinterest and knew I had to do this! (btw, if you haven't joined Pinterest yet, DO IT!)

I made some little snack baggies of fruit and other snacks and put them in the shower caddy I found in the Target $1 section. I also put snacks that were already in the fridge into the caddy. This way, when it's time to pack a lunchbox, I can just grab and go! Also, when the boys get home from school, they will no doubt immediately want a snack...so, instead of having to fix something, I can just tell them to go pick something out of the snack caddy! :)

Some of the things I included are:
Strawberry banana applesauce
Fruit cups
Bags of grapes
Bags of pretzel sticks
Bags of Cheez-it snack mix
Ritz cracker snack mix
Chocolate Chex mix snack bars
Peanut butter crackers
Fruit snacks
Rice Crispie treats
Applesauce squeeze pouches

Sooo simple, yet such a time saver! I will change out snacks and add new stuff in every now and then just to give a variety. As you can see, there is plenty variety for right now, even for picky eaters. ;) I put the caddy on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so it is easily accessible for the kiddos.

So...there's my attempt at being organized in the snack department. :) Now, back to washing school clothes!

Summertime 2-Pager

2011-08-18T09:48:00.000-05:00

If you haven't checked out this month's kit from The Scrap Room, you really must head over there and see it! One of my favorite lines from this kit was the "Sweet Summertime" collection by Little Yellow Bicycle. LOVED the bold, bright colors! They matched my park pictures perfectly. :) Love it when that happens. Here is my 2-pager featuring that collection:

Hope you are enjoying the rest of your summer...what's left of it, anyway! Thanks for looking. :)

A couple of new summer layouts :)

2011-08-14T16:06:00.001-05:00

Another quick post today just to share a couple of summer-themed layouts I've done recently. Summer's almost over, but I still have plenty of summer pages to do!

First up, my youngest son's silly grin on his last day of preschool. They had an outdoor "Splash Day" party, and I finally got him to be still for a second to snap this pic. I lifted this page from a page I had saved to my computer a long time ago...I don't know who the original artist was for this page, but I loved how the page was laid out, so I lifted it:

My husband designed these t-shirts for my family for the 4th of July. They say, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom":

More pages to come later! :) Thanks for looking.

School Layouts

2011-08-13T18:03:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post today to share a couple of school-related layouts I've done recently. I guess all this back-to-school talk (boo!) has me thinking of all the school pages I need to get done! ;)

First up, my oldest son's 1st grade recycling project. He took a cracker box, a macaroni box, and an egg carton and created this adorable alligator:

Secondly, my oldest son's 2nd grade Valentine party this past school year. I love getting a good group shot of all the kids in his class. That will be fun to look back on in years to come. :)

Yep, it's definitely almost back-to-school time. This year is especially difficult for me because my youngest son starts Kindergarten. My BABY!!! I have cried so much over this already. It's just hard letting your babies grow up. :( For the past decade of my life, I've been taking care of a kid at home...and now they will both be gone to school full-time during the day. Makes me sad....but I know they will both love school this year. :)

Now, finishing up my back-to-school shopping....that's another story........

Guest Designer at Pebbles Inc. Blog! :)

2011-08-05T19:59:00.000-05:00

Hey readers! I've got some exciting news to share today....

I am this week's Guest Designer over at the Pebbles Inc. blog! Wow, what an honor. I have loved Pebbles products ever since I started scrapping, and they just keep on getting better and better.

I was given a big box full of Floral Lane and Ever After collections to work with, and I had a blast! Be sure and leave a comment on the Pebbles blog for your chance to win a giveaway from one of the most generous scrapbooking companies out there! ;)

August TSR Reveal!

2011-08-02T22:25:00.000-05:00

Wow, wow, wow. I say it every month, but this month's kit from The Scrap Room is awesome! As always, there are 4 fun, new collections to work with, so here are my projects:

American Crafts "Campy Trails" collection:

My Mind's Eye "Hattie" collection:

Simple Stories "100 Days of Summer" collection:

Little Yellow Bicycle "Sweet Summertime" collection:

*PLUS* A 2-pager with the Little Yellow Bicycle "Sweet Summertime" collection!! Can't reveal that one just yet! ;)

So hurry over to TSR and order your kit today! Thanks for looking.

August Sneak Peek! :)

2011-07-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

The August Sneak Peeks for The Scrap Room are being revealed over on the blog! For my sneak, I got to work with Simple Stories "100 Days of Summer" collection:

You are going to LOVE this month's kit. ;) Thanks for looking!

My 1st Sketch! :)

2011-07-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

How about a sketch challenge? I decided to try my hand at making my own sketch a while back, and it is on The Scrap Room Blog for the sketch challenge! :)

Please check out the blog and join in on the sketch challenge for your change to win...I can't wait to see your interpretation of the sketch!

The ABCs of Me - Letter G

2011-07-09T13:12:00.001-05:00

It's been quite a while since I did an "ABC's of Me" post, so here we go with letter G:

1. Grand Ole Opry: As mentioned before, I was a flute player from the 6th grade all the way through high school. When I was a sophomore in high school, our band traveled to Nashville, Tennessee for a concert competition. I was first chair flute player at the time, and one of our sheets of concert music contained a flute solo. So, I was able to play a solo on the Grand Ole Opry Stage. Pretty cool! I was sooooooooo nervous, but did just fine. I remember praying so hard that I didn't mess up...being on a BIG stage like that was so scary!

2. Green: If I had to pick a favorite color, I'm pretty sure it'd be green. I love all shades of green, really. My eyes are green too.

3. Grandmothers: I miss my grandmothers. Unfortunately, both of them passed away when I was pretty young. I would give anything for them to know my boys and get to enjoy having them as great-grandsons. I know my boys would love them. Before my mom's mom passed away, she and I became pretty close. I would go spend the night with her, and we'd play Skip-Bo and Solitaire late into the night while eating sandwiches and fresh green onions with a tall glass of milk. It's funny the random things you remember about people. My dad's mom passed on her vertically-challenged genes to me, apparently. And small feet...she had the tiniest feet! I think she wore a women's shoe size 4...I wear a 6 or 6 1/2...so, not quite as small as hers. I remember her always wearing elaborate jewelry and cute little tiny shoes...usually with some kind of wedge heel on them to make her taller. :) It wasn't until she passed away that we realized her ears weren't even pierced...she had been wearing clip-on earrings all that time! Another thing she passed on to me...my ears are not pierced. I feel like I really missed out on having that special grandmother-granddaughter bond with them since they passed away so soon. :(

4. Giordano's: Hands-down, the best pizza I've ever had! My girlfriends and I ate at Giordano's in Chicago on our first night during our trip in 2010. It was sooooo good!

5. Greg & Marcia Brady: Okay, so in high school, I had really long, straight hair and loved the whole "hippie" look. My husband and I were dating at this time, and he had quite the afro going on. So, for a Halloween dance, we dressed up as Greg & Marcia Brady. I wore my hair stick-straight and the front put back in little clips. I had on a "waitress" style dress, knee-high socks, and Mary Jane shoes. Hubby wore SKIN TIGHT bell bottom jeans (gross!) borrowed from my friend's grandfather, a button down shirt with a HUGE collar, and fro'd his hair up real big (back when he had hair..heheee). We won "Best Couple" at the dance and had to dance together in the middle of the dance floor by ourselves. It was so embarrassing! lol

6. Germ-X: You will never find me without a bottle of Germ-X nearby. Travel size bottles in my purse, huge pump size at home, a few bottles in my preschool classroom. I love this stuff. Especially at preschool..we use that stuff constantly! After we make a Wal-Mart trip or anywhere like that, we get in the car and immediately all bathe our hands in Germ-X. Germaphobe? Maybe.

July Kit from The Scrap Room - FULL Reveal!

2011-07-04T11:02:00.000-05:00

The full reveal for the July kit from TSR has been revealed! This has been my favorite kit so far from this year. :)

Check out what you get:

WOW! In case you want specifics, this kit includes papers and embellishments from:
FANCY PANTS IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS
PINK PAISLEE HOMETOWN SUMMER
WE R MEMORY KEEPERS TRAVEL LIGHT
LILLY BEE THIS & THAT

Always the latest and greatest in the scrapbooking world! :) Here are my projects I designed with this fun kit:

**Plus...I made a 2-pager with the Fancy Pants part of the kit, but I can't show that just yet! ;)

Thanks for taking a look. Have a fun and safe 4th of July!!

July Sneak Peek!

2011-06-28T14:46:00.000-05:00

It's Sneak Peek time once again at The Scrap Room! For my sneak, I got to work with the Lilly Bee Designs "This & That" collection. It was perfect for this group shot of my girlies in Chicago last summer (yes, I'm still scrapping those pics!). I thought the colors of the kit matched my photo pretty well. :)

Don't forget to head over to The Scrap Room and sign up for the monthly kits...it's amazing how these kits make scrapping so much easier! They are always loaded with the latest and greatest collections and embellishments. The July kit is awesome! ;)

Thanks for looking!

Sharing Some Summer Scrappin!

2011-06-19T21:35:00.000-05:00

Say that 5 times real fast! ha!

I pulled out an older American Crafts kit and made a couple of layouts from our recent trip to a little water park. We had so much fun that day, just the 4 of us. I'm glad I got these pictures scrapped so quickly. That is so not like me! LOL

Both of these were based on sketches by the talented Liz Chidester! :)

It sure is hot out there....triple digits here for weeks and weeks now. Stay cool, everyone! :)

Another Wedding Page :)

2011-06-18T20:15:00.001-05:00

Another wedding page using the Pebbles Inc. "The Mr. & Mrs." collection! I may put this one in a shadow box (since the embellies are pretty thick) and hang it in my hallway. We don't get many family pictures of ourselves since I am usually the one behind the camera, so this page is pretty special to me. :)

Based on a sketch by Liz Qualman.
Thanks for looking!

Drive-By Layout Share

2011-06-17T17:13:00.000-05:00

Just popping in quickly to share a summery layout I recently made with the "Beach Bum" collection by Fancy Pants. These pics are of my boys last year when we went on a little vacation to a state park/river. It was sooo hot that day, so the best way to spend our time was cooling off by floating and playing in the river! :) Hope you are having a great summer so far!

Wedding Page

2011-06-11T11:52:00.001-05:00

Being a mom of 2 boys, it's a very rare occasion when I get to do a scrapbook page with bling, pearls, and flowers!

Thankfully, my little sister got married last month, and that gave me the perfect excuse to use this adorable "The Mr. & Mrs." collection by Pebbles! I won this collection on their blog, and I LOOOOOVE it! You'll probably be seeing several new pages from me using this collection. ;)

My favorite embellishment in the collection? The metal flowers! SO cool!

My little sis was thrilled with how this turned out. So...if you are looking for that special collection to scrap those wedding or anniversary/special occasion photos....The Mr. & Mrs. collection by Pebbles is gorgeous and contains the most beautiful embellishments!

June Kit from The Scrap Room - Full Reveal! :)

2011-06-05T13:54:00.000-05:00

Hope you all are having a fun summer so far! Ours has been pretty low-key, but sometimes low-key is the way to go. ;)

For June, The Scrap Room monthly kit contains a little bit from the following lines:

Crate Paper Toy Box (my personal fave!)
October Afternoon 5 & Dime
SEI Corinne
Pebbles Happy Go Lucky

How's that for a great little sampling of some super fabulous new lines?! :)

Here are my projects:

Have a great day! :)

In Honor of the Texas Rangers' Win Last Night!

2011-06-03T09:56:00.005-05:00

Two baseball game layouts to share today. Last summer, we took some friends to a Texas Rangers baseball game. The friends' little boy that we took with us even caught a foul ball! We LOVE our Rangers, and they had an AWESOME season last year...looks like this year may just be a repeat! ;)

My oldest son is really, really into baseball here lately...he loves learning each player's stats and watch them play. It's so cool watching him develop a love for this sport!

(sketch by Frances Sylvia)

And my youngest son....well....he loves dressing up in the "biggest fan" costumes and acting like a true sports fan. LOL

(sketch by Debbie Gaydos)

Both pages were made with the "Sports Edition" collection by Teresa Collins.

Being a mom of 2 little boys is so great. I never thought I'd know as much about baseball as I do right now. I've never been a sports fan of any type, but they have turned me into a baseball fan for sure! ;)

Thanks for looking!

June Blog Hop Time! GIVEAWAY

2011-06-01T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone!! It is June 1st, and you know what that means...KIT REVEAL!! And it is a good one. Take a look...

I made this layout with the Crate Paper "Toy Box" collection, one of the four collections included in the monthly kit! As a mama of 2 boys, this was by far my favorite collection from the June kit. I can think of all kinds of pictures I can use with this collection. The embellishments are SO fun, and the colors are nice and bold...just the way I like 'em! :) Just wait until you see what the Baristas have come up with for examples this month. What a talented group of ladies!

In celebration of our JUNE kit, we are having another BLOG HOP!! You know the way this works, right? Here is a list of the places you will be visiting...

Lan Amphone
Melanie Call
Sarah Eclavea
Jenny Moore------->You are HERE
Aphra Bolyer
Kim Arledge
Frances Sylvia
The ScrapRoom Blog

The hop begins at Lan's blog, but all of the blogs are linked in case you get lost along the way. Just follow along the blog path, and keep hopping until you reach your last destination which is The ScrapRoom Blog!! Make sure you become a follower and leave a comment at each blog telling our wonderful designers what you liked about their project! When you reach The ScrapRoom Blog, leave a comment letting us know that you finished the hop.

One blog hop participant who follows the rules, will be chosen at random to win a $5 gift certificate to The ScrapRoom Store! Whoot! Whoot! Check out the blog Tuesday, June 7th for our winner!

A Pirate Parrrrrrrrrrty! ;)

2011-05-30T14:12:00.010-05:00

This past Saturday, we had my youngest son's 5th birthday party. It's so hard to believe he's "a whole hand" old now! Wow...that's my BABY, and he's THAT old?!! According to my mother, that means it's "time for another one"....but I'm not so sure I agree with that. ;) I sure am happy with the two I already have.

For Aaron's party, he chose a pirate theme. This was so much fun! I had no idea there were so many pirate things out there...I found so much! However, with hubby not having a full-time job right now, we really tried to do everything ourselves and not overspend.

So, my sweet friend Vickie graciously cut out some adorable little pirate ships on her Cricut (I don't own any diecutting machines) and mailed them to me. I taped these to sucker sticks using black tape and made the cupcake toppers for the vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese icing (which I baked myself):

I also made German chocolate cupcakes with coconut pecan frosting and found these cute cupcake picks from Hobby Lobby:

Hubby and I also carved a ship out of a watermelon and filled it with melon balls and grapes. We bought a cheap bandana from Hobby Lobby, as well as a dowel rod, and made this cute sail (the foam skull and crossbones stickers were given to me by a friend who had some leftover pirate party stuff):

For Christmas, Aaron received a cardboard trunk full of dress-up costumes. I saved this trunk and changed it into a "treasure chest" by adding a few more of the foam stickers a friend gave me and filling it full of treasure!:

This was the most fun...finding all the little things to fill up the treasure chest with! Some of the things it contained included: bubbles, beaded necklaces, fake jeweled rings, sidewalk chalk, party blow-outs with skulls and crossbones on them, bubble gum, suckers, pirate coins, stickers, eye patches, and pirate finger puppets:

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were in charge of putting the fake pirate tattoos on the kids. After eating grilled hot dogs, it was time for cupcakes! Aaron LOVED his #5 sparkler candle on his cupcake. It was extremely windy and HOT on his party day, so we had a little trouble getting the candle to light, but it worked out eventually:

My dad built this adorable sail and added it to a little fishing boat he had for his pond. The kids loved playing on this "pirate ship!":

After food, it was time for the treasure hunt! My husband hand-drew the map and wrote the cutest rhyming clues for the kids. Before reaching the buried treasure, the kids had a run-in with "Barnacle Bart", the bad pirate who was trying to keep the treasure for himself! (AKA, my dad! how cute is he?!) He fought the Cap'n (Aaron), and finally he surrendered and agreed to hand over the treasure!:

The kids then got to fill up their goodie bags with TREASURE before watching Aaron open his presents!! :)

We had a great time, and I think the birthday boy would agree!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

2011-05-29T15:21:00.002-05:00

Busy, busy around here! It's been one thing after another for the past few weeks....preschool graduation, my little sister's big wedding, end of school festivities, my son's 5th birthday party...and the list goes on.

Now, it's time to relax a bit and enjoy the rest of the weekend with my family. All the big plans are over with, and it's good ol' summertime. I hope you enjoy your holiday weekend and are finding some relaxation amongst all the busyness as well. :)

In honor of Memorial Day, here is a patriotic page I made from last year's 4th of July celebrations:

Scrappy Sunday 5/22

2011-05-22T09:01:00.005-05:00

Here are a couple more pages made at the retreat a few weeks ago.

This first one was based on a sketch by Sketch Support. These pictures are from last summer. My dad was teaching my son and my niece how to pitch horseshoes during our annual trip to the state park for 4th of July weekend. Makes me smile:

Next up, another Easter layout from LAST YEAR. Yeah...still scrapping those. Sigh....

Hope you are having a beautiful Sunday! We are staying home from church today and recovering from my little sister's wedding yesterday. More on that later. ;) Thanks for looking, and thank you to all of you who are so kind to leave comments. I love reading them! :)

Go Fly a Kite.

2011-05-18T12:48:00.003-05:00

Just sharing a 2-pager I did of my boys flying kites last year with my parents. I used a Pagemaps sketch for this one and some Echo Park papers/embellies. This is one of the layouts I got done at the crop/retreat we went too a couple of weekends ago. The lighting was off when I took this picture, so that's why it looks bright on the first page and dark on the second. Sorry about that, but you get the gist. ;)

Have a beautiful day!

Scrappy Sunday 5/15

2011-05-15T14:49:00.004-05:00

Just sharing a few layouts I've made recently. Hope you are having a beautiful day! You know what I'm looking forward to the most today? The fact that I don't have to get up early and teach preschool tomorrow! HA! :)

That's right, preschool is over for the year. While on one hand it's great to have a break from it all, it's also bittersweet because my Aaron graduated from his 4-year-olds class...which means kindergarten is next! :( Now that the preschool year is over, I FINALLY scrapped his 1st day of preschool picture. I guess I was a little intimidated by it....I just always feel that those first day pics are so special and need to be scrapped in just the right way. I had a hard time finding school-themed papers/embellies to go with the teal color shirt he had on. That was, until I found this adorable line by We R Memory Keepers. :)

Next up is a Spring/Easter page from last year. The baby in the pics is my little cousin. My boys just love him! :)

Finally....my silly, silly Aaron wearing his SuperWhy! costume while watching his show on PBS one morning. He's so funny! :)

Thanks for taking a look! :)

May 2-pager

2011-05-12T13:39:00.000-05:00

Just a quick drive-by blogging to show you my 2-pager made with this month's kit from The Scrap Room!

I got to use Bo Bunny's new Ad Lib collection for this, and it matched my son's birthday party pictures perfectly. It was such a fun and bright line...perfect for summertime! :)

Thanks for looking! Have a beautiful day.

May 2011 Full Kit Reveal from TSR!

2011-05-09T16:55:00.004-05:00

Whew, what a weekend! Did anyone do anything fun for National Scrapbook Day? Our crop went really well. I got a total of 12 pages done over the weekend, and the classes I taught were a lot of fun. We met some really nice people too! :)

Before I left for the crop, we had our full reveal at The Scrap Room for the May 2011 kits! Here are my projects:

Girls Paperie "Jubilee" collection:

Jillibean Soup "Chilled Strawberry Soup" collection:

Glitz Designs "Laced with Grace" collection:

Bo Bunny "Ad Lib" collection:

The above teacher's gift was also made with our monthly stamp add-on kit! It was perfect for a cute little teacher's gift for the end of school...which is coming up super fast! :) I also have a 2-pager made with the "Ad Lib" collection, but that will have to wait until our Recipe Card reveal time.

I've got LOTS more to share from the crop this past weekend, but I haven't even attempted to unpack my stuff yet! hehehe Thanks for taking a look!

National Scrapbook Day 2011

2011-05-03T21:23:00.002-05:00

Soooooo....who has big plans for National Scrapbook Day this weekend???

I'm not gonna lie....I'm a little nervous. My sister somehow got us roped into TEACHING a couple of classes each at a scrapbook store a couple of hours away. Okay:
1. Neither one of us have ever taught scrapbooking classes before.
2. Neither one of us has even BEEN to a scrapbooking class before!
3. Neither one of us has ever been to an overnight crop, much less a 2-night, 3-day crop.

Oh well, it'll be fun right? Right???

I really don't know what to expect, but I'm kinda just trying not to think about it. I'm an over-analyzer...big-time....and if I start with the over-analyzing right now, I'll be a hot mess by this weekend. So...I'm just gonna let go of any ideas or expectations and just go with it. (sure, I say that now, but you watch...I'll be up all night the night before we leave, trying to write cue cards and outlines for the classes I'm teaching! ha!)

So this brings me to a whole other set of questions/advice needed:
How do YOU pack for a big weekend crop?
Do you make up little page kits?
Do you just throw everything into your crop tote and go?
Do you carefully select the things you will take/will leave at home?
What about alphas....how do you know which ones/colors to take?
Do you buy a lot while you are there, or do you try to stick only to what you brought with you?
Is it weird feeling kinda like an "outsider" and newbie in the group of friends who always crop together?
Do you get much done at crops, or do you tend to socialize more than scrap?
How many completed pages/projects on average do you walk away with after a big crop?
What fun things have class teachers done in the past to make the class more interesting?

Now, see....here I was saying I wasn't going to worry about it, and those questions just came flying out. Sorry! I would love to hear your thoughts, though. :)

Whatever your plans are this weekend, I hope you have a very Happy NSD and an especially Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there!!

May Blog Hop Time!

2011-05-02T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hello blog readers!! It is May 2nd...can you believe that?!?! With the beginning of each month comes one of my favorite things...KIT REVEAL from The Scrap Room!! Take a look at one of my examples...

Check out those papers and embellies by Jillibean Soup! They are BRAND NEW, and they are adorable! Remember, TSR has bits and pieces of FOUR different collections in EACH monthly kit...so you will always have a great variety of the latest and greatest scrapbooking products! :)

These pictures are from our Valentine's Day breakfast. I made pink pancakes with fresh strawberries and pink milk for my boys. It was wonderful and a great way to start off Love Day. When I saw the strawberry paper in the kit, I knew I had to scrap these pics! I love the way the Kraft colored paper is paired with the bolds and brights.

So in celebration of our May kit, we are having another BLOG HOP!! You know the way this works, right? Here is a list of the places you will be visiting...

Lan Amphone
Melanie Call
Sarah Eclavea
Jenny Moore ------->You are here!
Aphra Bolyer
Kim Arledge
Frances Sylvia
TSR Facebook Page

The hop begins at Lan's blog, but all of the blogs are linked in case you get lost along the way. Just follow along the blog path, and keep hopping until you reach your last destination which is The ScrapRoom Facebook Fan Page!! Make sure you become a follower and leave a comment at each blog telling our wonderful designers what you liked about their project! When you reach The ScrapRoom Facebook Fan Page, leave a comment letting us know that you finished the hop.

One blog hop participant who follows the rules, will be chosen at random to win a $5 gift certificate to The ScrapRoom Store! Whoot! Whoot! Check out the blog Wednesday, May 6th for our winner!

Happy Hopping! :)

It's Sneak Peek Time Again!

2011-04-26T13:40:00.004-05:00

Really? April is almost over? Really?!

This year is just flying by, isn't it? Well, the beginning of a new month means....it's Sneak Peek time for The Scrap Room!

My sneak peek layout is made with the Girls Paperie "Jubilee" collection. The pastels mixed with bolds are just PERFECT for all those recent Easter pics!

The month of May is going to be a busy one, for sure, but you do NOT want to miss out on all the fun stuff happening over at The Scrap Room message board, blog, and Facebook page. The month of May brings us every scrapper's favorite holiday....National Scrapbooking Day! Don't miss out on all the fun! :)

Easter

2011-04-24T21:17:00.005-05:00

What a wonderful holiday! Our family Easter celebrations started off last night with dinner and an egg hunt at my in-laws' house. Right as we sat down to dinner, it started hailing golf ball sized hail, so that put a slight damper on the egg hunting. It wasn't long before it cleared up, though, and the boys were able to hunt eggs on my in-laws' back deck.

This morning, we had a lovely church service and egg hunt for the kids after church. This picture is of my boys, my niece and nephew, and my little cuz at church this morning. After that, we went to my parents' house and had a delicious lunch of honey-glazed ham, wheat rolls, mashed potatoes, pork-n-beans, cabbage, shells-n-cheese, fresh cantaloupe, and the most delicious carrot cake EVER! My aunt, uncle, and little cousin from out of town were able to join us for church this morning, as well as for lunch at mom and dad's. After lunch, we all went out and hunted eggs at my parents' land in the country. It was so nice! The weather was cloudy and really nice. We had a TON of eggs...way too many, really....but the kids had a blast! After the egg hunt, it started to rain, so we loaded up and all headed home.

Then, we realized that we were under a TORNADO WATCH. Yeah...not cool. We have been dealing with HORRIBLE wildfires here in our area for over a week now, so the rain was much needed...but not the hail and tornadoes! All is well now, weather-wise.

Once the weather eased up a bit, we went back over to mom and dad's for leftovers. My mom, my older sister, and I decided to play Scrabble, and I would just like for the record to show that I beat them both terribly. I'm talking over 50 points ahead of them. Mom was just bragging about how she's never lost a game of Scrabble to me. Oh, how I proved her wrong! ;) I Tore.Them.Up.

So, here we are at home now, and everyone is getting ready for bed. It was a great holiday, and I am so thankful to my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ, for all He's done for me. I praise God that I have eternal life because of His son! Things have been rough this past month especially, but today I took some time to really look around me and realize all of the blessings that in my life on a daily basis. I truly am blessed. I've decided that worrying isn't going to help things out any...and maybe...just maybe...God is teaching me to let go of things that I think I need to control and just let Him have them. So that's what I'm doing. And I trust Him....completely.

Hope you had a happy Easter, everyone! :)

2-pager, Anyone?

2011-04-17T21:31:00.004-05:00

First off, I want to say thank you to those of you who commented on my previous post. Thank you for your prayers...that means the world to me because I know that prayer truly does change things. For your words of encouragement, well wishes, and positive outlook....I truly appreciate it. We've had no definite leads/possibilities yet...but we're still praying for the right job to make itself available.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine went by all too quickly. Dreading this week as it is going to be super-busy, but hopefully I'll get a good night's rest tonight to start it out right. ;)

I recently made a 2-pager for The Scrap Room using the Basic Grey "Hello Luscious" part of the kit. I also used a sketch from Inspired Blueprints:

I LOVE these papers! The colors are so much more rich and vivid in person. Don't forget to visit TSR if you are looking for an awesome scrapbooking kit club to join!

Have a great new week, everyone!

Quiet.

2011-04-13T14:16:00.002-05:00

Ever have one of those times in your life when you feel like all you can do is remain quiet? I'm going through that right now. Lots of things going on, and not much I can do about any of them except.....just be quiet. And pray. Pray some more. And keep on praying.

My husband resigned from his job, and we currently don't have anything else to fall back on. His reasons were numerous, so we are both in agreement that it was the right thing for him to do, but not having a backup plan really puts a strain on us. He has had to endure more from this past year than we ever could have prepared for, and we've spent many nights just praying together through tears. Long story short....his place of employment was just not where he was supposed to be. The environment there was not one where he belonged, and it was time for him to leave.

So...here I sit. Confused and worried...yet thankful and relieved that my husband is out of the position and environment he was in. Things are a bit stressful here, to say the least, but we know God will provide. He always does.

If any of you need a graphic designer, or know of anyone who does, please send them our way. I think we're just going to try some freelance graphic design work until something permanent comes along.

We would appreciate your prayers if you get a chance. :)

April FULL Reveal from TSR! :)

2011-04-04T15:43:00.007-05:00

Hey everyone!

April is here already, can you believe it? This year is just zooming right by. One good thing about going into a new month....it's time to reveal the new monthly kit from The Scrap Room!

Tammy's done it again....check out what is included in the kit this month:

I know, right?! Look at all that yummy new product! You will receive a little bit of the following lines:
-Basic Grey Hello Luscious collection
-Studio Calico State Fair collection
-My Mind's Eye Gertie collection
-Cosmo Cricket Social Club collection

Here are my projects made with the kit:

AND..and....and....I have a 2-pager coming soon, made with the Basic Grey part of the kit! Whew! That's a packed kit, for sure. Don't miss out...order yours today! :)

It's BLOG HOP Time!!!!!

2011-04-01T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hello fellow scrappers!!! It is April 1st, and you know what that means...KIT REVEAL from The Scrap Room!! And it is a good one, of course! Take a look at one of my pages...

This was made with the *NEW* "Social Club" line from Cosmo Cricket! Every year during Spring Break, we host a "Cousins Sleepover" at our house and have our niece and nephew over to spend the night with our boys. My hubby came up with this idea a couple of years ago, and this was our 3rd year to carry on the tradition. He always makes it so much fun for the kids....he comes up with all sorts of funny games and silly activities for them to do. This year, he made them matching t-shirts. How cute are they?! :)

I was immediately drawn to the colors of this line....not to mention, the patterned papers are AWESOME. Such cool designs! In fact, I loved all of the patterns so much that I had to include as many as I could on this page. hehehe! Of course, Tammy included lots of great embellishments in the kit, too. She always offers the latest and greatest in her monthly kits....can't beat that! ;)

In celebration of our April kit, we are having another BLOG HOP!! You know the way this works, right? Here is a list of the places you will be visiting...

Lan Amphone
Melanie Call
Sarah Eclavea
Jenny Moore ------> YOU ARE HERE!
Aphra Bolyer
Frances Sylvia
TSR Facebook Page

The hop begins at Lan's blog, but all of the blogs are linked in case you get lost along the way. Just follow along the blog path, leaving a comment at each blog, and keep hopping until you reach your last destination, which is The ScrapRoom Facebook Fan Page!! Make sure you become a follower and leave a comment at each blog telling our wonderful designers what you liked about their project! When you reach The ScrapRoom Facebook Fan Page, leave a comment letting us know that you finished the hop.

One blog hop participant who follows the rules will be chosen at random to win a $5 gift certificate to The ScrapRoom Store! Whoot! Whoot! Check out the blog Wednesday, April 6th for our winner!

Happy Hopping!!! :)

The ABCs of Me - Letter F

2011-03-29T19:19:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I did one of the "ABCs of Me" posts, but I still want to get through the whole alphabet this year. So, here I am with letter "F."

1. Family - Anyone who knows me knows that I am a family-oriented person. I LOVE my family. I am so incredibly blessed that God has entrusted my husband and I with two of the coolest little boys on the planet. A lot of moms my age are always complaining that they "just need to get away from their kids for a while." Now don't get me wrong...sometimes a break is VERY much needed...but I pretty much want my kids with me at all times. I want to experience life with them, and them with me. I want to share things with them and show them the world. I want to be right there beside them, holding their hands and having those moments together. We are so blessed to live in the same town as both sides of our families. Family is a BIG part of our lives.

2. Faith - I'd be nothing without faith in my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. I was raised in and around church all my life, but I asked the Lord into my heart "officially" sometime around the age of 7 or 8. My mom baptized me. I don't only see Faith as something to rely on during the hard times. It's a way of life. Faith has equipped me to stand my grounds when it comes to morals and values, even when those around me fall. I don't see it as a "religion".....but more of a "relationship."

3. Flute - I began playing the flute in the 6th grade. When joining band class, we were told to write down our top 3 choices of instruments we may want to play. I put down: 1) Clarinet; 2) Percussion; or 3) Flute. The band directors recommended me for flute or clarinet but really tried to persuade me to play flute. I didn't really want to, but I decided on flute because all of my friends had decided on flute. Little did I know how much I'd love this instrument. I learned quickly, and I was First Chair Flute all 4 years of high school. I competed in State Solo & Ensemble several years as well. I even got to play a solo on the Grand Ol' Opry stage in Nashville! I loved playing flute....but I haven't even picked it up in about 12 years. :( Thankfully, though, my little sister played my flute in high school once I was done with it, and now it has been passed on to my niece. :)

4. Facebook - I'll admit it. I'm an addict. I check it every day. Several times a day. Several, SEVERAL times a day. I'm not one of those who treats FB as a diary and updates my status 13423413489349871294 times a day about every little thing I do.....in fact, I only occasionally post a status update. But I do enjoy keeping up with people through FB. :)

5. Friends - Oh, come on. Who didn't love Friends? If you were alive in the 90s, chances are you watched this show. And who didn't go to their nearest beautician and get "The Rachel?" I totally had "The Rachel" haircut in high school. I cut off about 10 inches of my hair JUST to get "The Rachel." And it sucked...because it never quite looked right on me like it did on her! Isn't that always the case, though, when we try to copy the celebs? Lesson learned. But I truly loved (and still do LOVE) this show. Best.Casting.Ever.

6. Flavored Coffee - Ohhh, how I love flavored coffee. Not a big fan of "regular" coffee...but I love flavored coffee or regular coffee with flavored creamer. I'm not picky....I pretty much love any flavor. And the smell...ohhhh the smell. Mmmmmmmm. French vanilla, cinnamon, dark chocolate, caramel.....good stuff.

Ready for Easter?

2011-03-29T10:07:00.003-05:00

Is it me, or does it seem like Easter is coming super late this year? I just love Easter. My birthday has actually fallen on Easter several times. I recently scrapped a couple of Easter pages from years past. I'll never be "caught up", I tell ya, but it's good to get at least these pages finally done. :)

What are your Easter plans this year? Thanks for looking! :)

It's Sneak Peek Week!

2011-03-26T11:29:00.003-05:00

WOW. That's what I've got to say about the April Scrap Room kit. WOW. If you are wanting some of the new CHA goodies just released, then look no further!

I got to work with Studio Calico's "State Fair" collection for my sneak peek. Check it out:

Fun, huh?!

And, don't forget to join TSR's Facebook Page! I have the honor of hosting the FB page this week and would love to hear your responses. Plus, I may or may not have a little giveaway up my sleeve. You'll have to join the Facebook page if you want to know for sure. ;) hehehehe

Feeling "Springy!"

2011-03-24T10:20:00.003-05:00

Here in Texas, we've been in the upper 70s to mid 80s for the past week. It's heavenly! Blue skies, birds singing, and lots of backyard time with my little guys. :)

I guess Spring brings out a little need for "change" in all of us. That's why I changed my blog design today. Looks awfully Springy, doesn't it? What do you think? Do you prefer the 3-column look like what I changed it to, or is the 2-column look easier to read/less cluttered? I can't decide if I want to keep the 3-column or go back to 2. Hmm....

Bear with me as I make some more changes over the next few days. My header still isn't exactly how I want it, but I'll get hubby to fix that soon, hopefully.

By the way...be sure and check out The Scrap Room Blog for a little inspiration post from yours truly! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Use Your Stash! :)

2011-03-22T21:05:00.005-05:00

Remember that patterned paper or kit that you just had to have whenever you spotted it on the shelves of your local scrapbook store? I have tons of scrapbooking supplies, some of which will never be used because either: a) I waited so long to use it that it's totally out of date now and lost its luster, or b) I have absolutely no pictures to go with it, but I had to have it because it was so cute!

Digging through my stash this past week, I found a paper line with matching sticker embellishments that I remember grabbing as soon as I saw it at my local store. It was the We R Memory Keepers "Heart Attack" line. I think it's been discontinued already, but still...I loved it then, and I still think it's super cute!

I was able to create these two layouts of my boys using last year's Valentine's pics. I know, I know...I always seem to be at least a year behind in my pics, but oh well. Each page made is a memory preserved, so it doesn't matter in what order the page is made...just as long as it's made. ;)

First up is this page of Aaron and his Valentine Box. He was SO proud of his cute little box he made for his preschool class cards:

Secondly, I had these pics of the boys taken on Valentine's Day. I love them! :)

So, don't give up on the items in your stash...if you still like them, USE THEM...no matter how old or outdated they may be. ;)

Feelin' Lucky?

2011-03-18T17:19:00.005-05:00

Did you have a fun St. Patrick's Day? We sure did! My sister and I took our kids out of town to go bowling, have some pizza, and spend a little while at the park. It was a beautiful day, and we had a blast! :)

Don't forget about the fun online crop going on over at Have Your Way With Paper! There are some way cool prizes, such as a Starbucks gift card, a gift certificate to The Scrap Room and Scrapbook.com, as well as fun scrappy prizes and tote bags! You do not want to miss this crop. The ladies are already scrappin' away (I made this little card for one of the challenges), but there is plenty of time to join in! See you there!

"Over the Rainbow" Blog Hop at Have Your Way With Paper!

2011-03-13T00:01:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Over the Rainbow Blog Hop!

One of the things scrappers love most is COLOR! During this journey, you'll encounter all seven colors of the rainbow and some of our favorite things about those colors.

In order to play along, all you need to do is leave a comment on each blog saying what you love about the color featured on each blog. You can even just tell us your favorite thing (scrappy or not) that is that color! Once you reach the pot of gold, post ROY G. BIV!! and you're done and ready to start cropping with us!

First up on the hop....ME (Jenny)! :)

Thanks for visiting my blog! I am featuring the color RED. Here are a few of my favorite RED things:

-Scrapbook albums
-Toenail polish
-Lipstick
-Cherries
-Sports cars
-Red velvet cake (yeah...I said it)

Next stop on the rainbow is ORANGE over at Erin's blog! Have fun, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

March Kit REVEAL from The Scrap Room

2011-03-04T09:15:00.006-06:00

Good Friday morning, everyone! Thank you to all who participated in the first-ever Blog Hop from The Scrap Room!! I really enjoyed reading all of your lovely comments, so thank you for taking the time to join along. The winner should be announced soon! :)

Anyone have any scrappy plans this weekend? If you need a little inspiration, don't forget to visit the online Idea Gallery at The Scrap Room! The Design Team had a lot of fun playing with some wonderful new goodies included in the March TSR kit. Here are my projects:

Speaking of The Scrap Room, did you know that we know have a new Facebook Page?!! That's right! TSR has joined the FB world! :) Please join us as we host new giveaways, wonderful inspiration, and important information concerning the monthly kit club. Ask your friends to join, too! :) Rumor has it that we are giving away a $25 gift certificate to the TSR store once we hit 300 fans! ;)

The Scrap Room Blog Hop/Giveaway!!!!

2011-03-01T00:01:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone!! It is March 1st, and you know what that means...KIT REVEAL!! And it is a good one. Take a look...

My layout above was made with the brand new "For the Record" collection by Echo Park. When I first saw this collection online during the big CHA reveal week, I fell in love with the color scheme. I love bold patterns and colors, and this line will work great with regular photos or black and white photos! I loved mixing the patterned papers together to create my layout. The pop of red really catches the viewer's eye, I think. And those accent stickers? To die for! I especially love the black and white dotted flourish sticker down by my title. See the little craft colored tag I used for my journaling? Yep, it was included in the kit too! See the stamped journaling lines on the tag? Yep, that's the monthly stamp available from the stamp add-on club!! The March kits are packed FULL of awesome, newly released goodies. What a great way to get a little sampling of some new lines just released at Winter CHA! At The Scrap Room, you will always receive the latest and greatest scrapbooking collections!

Okay, back to the blog hop........

As you know we have lots of NEW things planned this month at The ScrapRoom Blog. And today will not disappoint! In celebration of our March kit, we are having our 1st ever BLOG HOP!! You know the way this works, right? Here is a list of the places you will be visiting...

Lan Amphone
Melanie Call
Sarah Eclavea
Jenny Moore ------> YOU ARE HERE
Aphra Bolyer
Frances Sylvia
The ScrapRoom Blog

The hop begins at Lan's blog, but all of the blogs are linked in case you get lost along the way. Just follow along the blog path, and keep hopping until you reach your last destination which is where the hop began....The ScrapRoom Blog!!

Make sure you become a follower and leave a comment at each blog telling our wonderful designers what you liked about their project! When you reach The ScrapRoom Blog, leave a comment letting us know that you finished the hop. Be sure and become a "follower" of my blog, too, so that you can participate in our monthly blog hops!

One blog hop participant who leaves a comment at each designer's blog, will be chosen at random to win a $5 gift certificate to The ScrapRoom Store! Whoot! Whoot! Check out the blog Friday, March 4th for our winner!

Just So You Know...

2011-02-25T09:52:00.003-06:00

Coffee Mate Cinnamon Bun liquid creamer = YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ABCs of Me - Letter E

2011-02-21T19:40:00.006-06:00

I'm back with another "ABCs of Me" post! (finally!) This time, I'm on letter E.

Here's what I have:

1. Evan - My first-born. :) I never knew the depths of motherly love until Evan came along. And my heart is still filled to the brim, overflowing with love for this boy. He's amazing. So very, very smart and studious. The most gorgeous eyelashes in the world....women would kill for his eyelashes. They curl back and touch his eyelids, and they are super long and dark. People (especially women) comment on them ALL.THE.TIME. He's got a stubborn streak...but with two stubborn parents, of course he does. He's got never-ending amounts of energy...that's probably why he's so skinny and already has a six-pack. ;) He is growing like a weed. Can't keep pants that fit because he wears them one time, and then they are too short on him. He's going to be tall like his daddy. He's an awesome example to his peers. He's unashamed to share his faith with others...but he does so in a quiet, respectful manner that makes people WANT to learn more about God. I love that about him. He's got the most contagious laughter. On the first day of school this past year, both of his teachers told us that if they could clone any student, it would be him. And this is just after having him in their class for one day. Yes, I am bragging...because this boy just makes me so darn proud.

2. Every Day Minerals - I love this makeup! Especially the Base/Pressed Powder. I used to wear liquid base, and I never ever could find the right color for my skin tone...and I hated how "caked on" it felt. Every Day Minerals has all natural ingredients, and you can't even feel it. They have great eyeshadows and cheek colors too!

3. Encino Man - For the life of me, I do not know why, but over the course of one summer in my early teen years, I watched this movie at least 15 times. At least. I loved Pauly Shore and thought he was so funny in this movie. Some of my friends even called me "Weasel" because of my obsession for this movie and because I quoted it all the time. Stupid really. But, everyone has their stupid teen years, I suppose. lol So don't harsh my gig, corn cruster.

4. Erasers - My older sister and I collected shaped erasers when we were kids. I guess that's as cool as it go back in the 80s. We had all kinds of shapes/themes....everything from hamburgers to Smurfs. Sad thing is....we still have this collection at my parents' house, and our kids love playing with our erasers!

5. Eighties Party - I'm not ashamed to admit it...I LOVE THE 80S!! The music - OHHHH the music - so great. The hair - so big. The clothes - not so cool, but hey...we didn't know any better! My husband and I and a group of our friends thought it would be cool one night to host an "80s Party." We all went to Goodwill and found some great 80s clothes and dressed up. Yes, folks, my hair is CRIMPED in this picture. And yes, I have awesome lace gloves on. I wish you could see my boots I got at Goodwill in this picture. The ugliest boots I've ever seen...but oh so 80s! And someone apparently reallllllly loved them because they were very well-worn. We had some totally rad 80s music playing. Combos, Reeces Pieces, and Coke in a bottle for snacks. An original Atari gaming system (yes, I still have it) hooked up to the TV for everyone to play. A tacky TACKY shiny pink backdrop hung in the corner of our living room for pictures. Michael Jackson, Rick Springfield, Journey, and Genesis albums (yes, albums...not CDs) hung on the walls of our dining room. My husband wore penny loafers and did the famous "tuck & roll" on the legs of his pants. I went for a more "punk" look with my Cindy Lauper-inspired outfit. My older sister wore a HIDEOUS prom dress from the 80s (hello puffy sleeves!). Someone had a Swatch Watch. The blue and pink eyeshadow was abundant, and the hair was BIG. It was awesome. Gotta do that again some time.

6. ER - One of my most favorite shows ever. But I didn't watch back in the Clooney days....I started watching whenever Dr. Carter was the main character and then so forth. Abby, Dr. Carter, Dr. Kovach, Archie, Sam, etc. And then when John Stamos joined the cast....oh yeah. Hubby and I watched this show faithfully until its demise. I hated to see the show end....and there will never be a hospital-based show like it again, no matter how hard they try.

Backyard Puppet Show

2011-02-20T20:34:00.001-06:00

My youngest son loves puppets. I mean...LOVES...puppets. Marionettes, hand puppets, finger puppets, whatever...he loves them and loves putting on puppet shows for us. He has ever since he was little bitty. He went to a puppet/marionette show at our local Art Center one year around Christmas time when he was just a tiny baby, and he has been hooked ever since.

During last summer, all he wanted to do was go out to our building behind our house, open up the window on the glass door, and entertain us with puppet shows. I spent many hours sitting on our back patio, watching him do these shows....over.and.over.and.over. I'm glad I remembered to grab the camera and capture these pictures and this stage in his life. He's not nearly as obsessed with puppets as he used to be (thank God), but today after he saw this page that I made, he suddenly remembered doing this and ran outside to do it again. LOL So funny.

These moments are ever so fleeting. While they may drive me crazy right now, I know one day I will look back and miss them. So for now, I will encourage him to do what he loves doing...and hope that he always sees life as fun and entertaining like he does now. :)

Spring Fever

2011-02-19T19:29:00.001-06:00

Okay, so Texas weather has been absolutely PERFECT the past few days! I am LOVING.IT. In fact, the boys and I have spent most of the past few days outside almost all day long. We have a very big backyard, and I have been raking leaves for 2-3 days straight. Got it all done, though, before the Texas heat and mosquitoes hit! Feels good to have it done, and it was great being outside in the beautiful weather while watching and hearing my boys play together in the backyard. :)

Speaking of Spring Fever, did you know that there is a super fun online crop going on over at Have Your Way With Paper? It's true! And guess what it's called? "Spring Fever Crop." How 'bout that? The lovely Erin has come up with some fun challenges for us all. Come by, register for the message board and gallery (if you haven't already), and play along!

Here are a couple of pages I've done for the crop so far:

Both of these pages contain older pictures that I'm just now getting to, but I'm glad to finally have them scrapped. :)

Here's another layout I did, just for fun:

Again, an older picture of Aaron (Valentine's Day from last year), but I LOVE this pic of his little sweet face and am glad to finally have it on a page.

Hope you all are having some warmer temps like we are. Sunshine really is good for the soul...it has definitely helped me shake the winter blahs! ;)

Don't forget to visit Have Your Way With Paper for our Spring Fever Crop!

A 2-Pager

2011-02-11T09:38:00.005-06:00

Good morning, everyone! Hopefully the temps are warming up where you are....we are supposed to get to 75 this coming week, so I am TOTALLY looking forward to that! :)

Today, I'm sharing a 2-pager I did for The Scrap Room. I have been a Barista for The Scrap Room for a couple of years now, and let me tell you...I LOVE this monthly kit club!!! You get SO many goodies with each kit, plus...a little pack of flavored coffee. Scrapbooking supplies (always the latest and greatest) + coffee = One happy scrapper! :)

If you are looking for a monthly kit club, look no further. The Scrap Room is the best! :)

For February, my assignment for my 2-pager was to use the Pink Paislee "Sweetness" part of the kit. Here's what I came up with:

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while know that last summer, I went on a super fun trip to Chicago with my Have Your Way With Paper girls. We had a blast! I loved Chicago...such a beautiful city! I was so impressed by the beautiful architecture and landscaping of the whole city. I had these pics of some of the buildings/landscaping from our trip, but I never could find the right papers to scrap them...until this kit came along, that is! And the little glittery yellow alpha stickers? Adorable! (and they smell like my sticker book from when I was a child LOL)

Happy Friday...stay warm! :)

A Couple of New Layouts

2011-02-09T12:15:00.005-06:00

I've got a couple of new layouts to share today! Yay for scrappy time! :)

Both of these were made with the Fancy Pants "That Boy" kit. This is an older kit that I just HAD to have when I saw it at a scrapbook convention a couple of years ago. And you know what? I never even OPENED it until a couple of days ago. *rolling eyes*

Anyway, it's a great boy kit, and I love the colors/patterns! I like to accent kraft colored papers with a bold white pen, like I did on some of the outlining here.

I've still got plenty of this kit left, so I hope to use it some more soon. I'm also working on my oldest son's 7th birthday mini album. I try to keep at least bday mini albums caught up-to-date, but I'm already a couple of bdays behind! :( Oh well...enjoy the process, right? :)

Hope you all are staying warm!!!

February REVEAL from The Scrap Room!

2011-02-04T09:43:00.005-06:00

Hey everyone!
Are you staying warm? We are on Snow Day #4 here in Texas....that's 4 days in a roll my oldest has missed school because the roads are too icy and dangerous! This is crazy! We were never lucky enough to miss school like this when I was a kid. ha!

Anyway...being locked up inside the warm house has at least provided a little bit more scrappy time (when my boys are playing nice together, that is).

Speaking of scrappy time, have you seen the February kits from The Scrap Room?! Here's what you'll get:

How's that for a gorgeous loaded kit?!

Here are my projects for the month using this kit:

PLUS, a 2-pager that I can't quite show yet!!! All of that with ONE monthly kit. You can't beat the value of the TSR kits! If you are looking to join a kit club and want to get a lot of bang for your buck, The Scrap Room is the only way to go!

When Life Gives You Snow...Make ICE CREAM! :)

2011-02-01T13:52:00.005-06:00

What do do with all this snow??? Well, make ice cream, of course! :)

Here in Texas, we don't get much snow (thank GOD!), but when we do....my boys cannot wait to get out there and play in it! So, today we dressed in layers and headed outside for a few minutes before my fingers fell off. When we came inside, we decided to make some homemade snow ice cream.

Recipe:
2 3/4 cups milk
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar
Freshly Fallen SNOW!

Mix it all together and add as much snow as you want until you get the right consistency/thickness.

I added chopped up chocolate chip cookies to ours and drizzled a little bit of Hershey's syrup on top. Sugar rush all day....it's gonna be great! ha!

The boys scarfed it down. This tastes just like homemade ice cream...without the use of an ice cream machine! Yay!

I think this will be a new snowy tradition for us. Good stuff. :)

Birthday Pages

2011-01-30T19:55:00.004-06:00

I've tried to make a birthday mini album for each boy every year, but I'm already 2 years behind in these. :( Feeling guilty about being so behind in birthday pages/books, I decided to make a couple of birthday pages from Evan's 7th birthday (in 2009) using the "Birthday Bash" collection from Imaginisce.

I LOVE this line...it's perfect for pics of a boy's birthday party especially. No cute, frilly pinks or girly looking cupcakes here. I had won this whole collection from the Imaginisce blog a while back, and it feels great finally busting into it and using some of it. :)

This first layout was totally scraplifted from Ginger Williams at scrapbook.com. I loved her layout so much and wanted to copy it. You can see her layout HERE. And here is mine:

See, told ya...it's pretty much an exact scraplift. LOL

Here's the other one:

I've got tons of this collection left, so I guess I need to start a mini album for the rest of the bday photos from 2009. I'll get caught up on birthday photos....one of these days....

Do you have any favorite birthday layouts? If so, I'd love to see them! Just leave a link when you leave a comment, and I'll be sure and check it out. :)

February Sneak Peek Time!

2011-01-28T10:29:00.005-06:00

Okay, whew. What a week. The horrible stomach virus hit both of my kids, and it was A.W.F.U.L. Hopefully it's all over with.

Onto other things....

It's almost time to reveal the February kits from The Scrap Room! I love Sneak Peek Week. For my Sneak Peek, I used the My Mind's Eye "Lost & Found" portion of the kit:

This is my favorite pic of my boys so far. I love the way they are squeezing each other tight and smiling so big. :) This was taken on Valentine's Day last year.

Thanks for looking!!!

Ugh.

2011-01-26T21:58:00.003-06:00

A horrible, unrelenting, vicious stomach bug has kept me doing non-stop laundry, disinfecting, and clean-up duty for the past 3 days. My poor baby boy. :( Prayers are appreciated. Will get back to blogging once things get back to normal.

**UPDATE: Aaaaaand now my oldest boy has it too. Sigh...will this ever end?**

The ABCs of Me - Letter D

2011-01-21T21:03:00.005-06:00

I'm back with another ABCs of Me post! :) I hope you are enjoying reading these and are inspired to take the challenge yourself. I've had a lot of fun thinking up things from my past and remembering fun times whenever I'm searching for the current category.

So, without further ado...here is Letter D:

1. Dream Home - I wanted (and still do!) this home so bad, it was all I could think about for MONTHS. This was the 2009 HGTV Dream Home in Sonoma, California. Every year, HGTV gives away a "dream home" to a lucky participant. You can enter online or by mail, and I entered online EVERY.DAY. This home was so incredibly perfect for my family. All of the bedrooms are on the top floor, and the kids' room was already designed for 2 little boys. I mean...it was perfect. Wrap around porch, huge backyard with awesome patio furniture, a kitchen that would make even Paula Deen cry, a large family room, a downstairs office (hello, scrap room!!), the most gorgeous entry way. I can't tell you how many times I went to the HGTV site and played the video tour of this home. I was in love. Still am. I even saved the floor plans and printed everything out for when we can get an exact replica built for us. You know, when we become super rich and can do that.

2. Disney World - In the summer of 2009, my family and my sister's family were able to take a vacation to Disney World! I have always dreamed of visiting DW but never thought it would actually happen. To be able to take my children here and watch their faces as they experienced the true "magic" of this place...well, it's something I will never forget. It was such a fun vacation! I still have tons of photos from our trip that I haven't scrapped yet...but I love reliving the memories every time I get a page done. It truly is magical there!

3. Dr Pepper - My soft drink of choice. I love me some DP. When we went to Disney World, all they had was Coke and Coke products....no DP. It was torture! The first thing I did when we got back to the airport was buy a 20-oz. DP!!!

4. DVR - Seriously, what did we do before DVRs? My husband and I use ours ALL.THE.TIME. It seems that if we want to watch a "grown up" show, we have to wait until our kids are in bed so that we can actually hear and enjoy the show. If it wasn't for our DVR, that wouldn't be possible. I have about 20 or more recorded shows on there right now that need to be watched. We'll catch up one of these days.

5. Daisies - My favorite type of flower. They make me happy. :) I had daisies in my bridal bouquet...white and lavender ones. I even named my first (and only) chihuahua Daisy. I just love daisies!

6. Dodge Neon - The time was 1998. I had just graduated high school and needed reliable transportation to go back and forth to a junior college in a town an hour away. My sister needed someone to take over her car payments, and I had a bunch of graduation money saved up. So, voila! I "bought" the green Dodge Neon from my sister, and it became my very first car. No cruise control. No power windows or power locks. No CD player. But it was mine. I loved driving back home from college after a hard day and cranking the music up as loud as I wanted, singing along at the top of my lungs. Since I had no cruise control and it was pretty much all open Texas highway from college to home, sometimes I'd get a little too carried away in my music and look down to see my speedometer at 90 mph or more.....oops. My husband, who was trying to be super awesome one day back when he was just my "boyfriend," decided he would try to impress me by running up and jumping on top of my car. In doing so, he dented in the roof of my car. You could tell right where he landed....butt dent and hand dents. Let's just say...his "smoothness" is not what won me over....

I Just Can't Help Myself!

2011-01-17T13:55:00.002-06:00

I made more diaper cakes today. LOL I know, I know...enough already! But, I used up the rest of my "themes," so now they are all made up for samples. I even made a 2-tier cake to show what they will look like.

Thank you for all of your encouraging comments on these. I really appreciate it! And, thank you for visiting my Etsy shop too. :)

More Mini Diaper Cakes

2011-01-15T16:52:00.004-06:00

Happy Saturday, everyone! What's everyone doing today?

I made a few more mini diaper cakes today! These are so much! Please remember to visit my Etsy Shop and spread the word, especially if you know of someone having or giving a baby shower. :)

Which one is your favorite?

The ABCs of Me - Letter C

2011-01-14T21:58:00.003-06:00

I love that a few of you are also doing this ABCs of Me challenge! Thank you for playing along and for commenting on my blog posts.

Here's what I came up with for letter C:

1. Community - A favorite of ours on Thursday nights...NBC's "Community." Maybe it's because it reminds me of my days in our community college. Maybe it's the brilliant casting (Joel McHale, hello!). Maybe it's because I want a "Troy & Abed in the Mooooorning" coffee mug. Maybe it's because they have a cool opening theme song. Maybe it's because Senor Chang is hysterically funny. Whatever the reason, "Community" is a must-see. It keeps us laughing and quoting parts of the show over and over again! :)

2. Chicken Pox - I had a really bad case of Chicken Pox when I was around 2 years old. Bad. I have 2 scars up near my left eyebrow and a smaller one on my top lip from this. Darn the 80s and their lack of the Chicken Pox vaccine!

3. Chicago - Ah, yes....Chicago. I have blogged a bunch about Chicago, seeing as though I went there last June with my HYWWP gals for our annual summer get together. LOVED Chicago and the big city life! If I didn't have kids, I could totally live there. Lots of fun memories in Chicago from last summer. Deep dish pizza...'nuff said. What a beautiful, exciting city.

4. C-sections - Ugh. Not a subject I like to talk about much, but it's part of my "story," so that's why I'm including it here. I had to have a C-section with both boys. After over 24 hours of labor with both of them, both pregnancies ended up with a C-section. Not fun, I tell you. Not.Fun. I still remember the soreness I felt afterward. Owwwwwwwwwwwww. Labor and delivery wasn't anything like I had expected, but even with the disappointment of having to have 2 C-sections...the end results were well worth all the pain, of course. ;)

5. Chick Flicks - I'm not gonna lie. I love me a good chick flick. Titanic. The Notebook. You know the type. Laughing one minute, crying the next. A good movie that takes you through the roller coaster of emotions that we call womanhood. Lifetime Movie Channel = Chick Flick HEAVEN.

6. Cello - My favorite musical instrument. I love the way a cello sounds...especially the lower notes. So hauntingly beautiful. So emotional. If I had the ability to master any instrument out there, the cello would be it. I'm totally afraid to try it, though! Stringed instruments require you to build tough fingertips...like calluses. Ew! I know this because my husband is a guitarist. I just don't want calluses on my fingertips. LOL

**be back with letter D soon!** Thanks for reading! :)

My Frosty Friend

2011-01-14T10:48:00.004-06:00

Just popping in quickly to show you this layout I did based on a sketch challenge from the My Mind's Eye blog. I loved the sketch, and MME is one of my most favorite scrapbooking companies, so I love working with their products. :) Have you seen some of their new sneak peeks of collections coming out during CHA? O.M.G. Gorgeous stuff!!!!

Well, better get back to cleaning house and doing laundry. Stay warm, everyone! :)

My Etsy Shop! :)

2011-01-13T13:26:00.006-06:00

Okay, so I'm trying my hand at opening up an Etsy shop. For those of you who have never heard of Etsy, it is a website (kinda like eBay) where you can buy and sell all things handmade! Pretty neat stuff there. I've named my shop "Patty Cakes by Jenny." Click on the text below to see my shop. Right now, all I have listed is the mini diaper cakes...but hopefully more things to come soon. If you are needing a baby shower gift, or know anyone who is, please send them my way! :) Thanks for looking.

I also have a little "widget" on the right hand side of my blog (below my blog blinkie) that will take you to my shop.

Click HERE for My Etsy Shop

Trying Something a Little New :)

2011-01-11T13:43:00.004-06:00

So, as if scrapbooking wasn't a big enough hobby to keep me busy, I've taken on the task of creating custom-made diaper cakes!

My "specialty" will be these miniature diaper cakes, made with 8 size 1 Pampers diapers. I will have tons of themes and colors available, so if you are hosting a baby shower or just need a good baby gift, email me at jenny41180@hotmail.com with your request.

The mini diaper cakes (1 tier) will be $10 plus shipping.
The 2-tier cakes will be $20 plus shipping.
The 3-tier cakes will be $30 plus shipping.

I'm debating on opening up an Etsy shop for these, too. Those of you who use Etsy...how do you like it? Is it successful for you?

Anyway...I'm hoping I do well with these. They are fun to make and oh so cute! :) But man...I had forgotten how expensive diapers are!!!

***UPDATE*** Okay, I was talked into opening an Etsy shop! You can view it HERE.

Sketch #202 from Sketch Inspiration

2011-01-09T16:38:00.002-06:00

Trisha uploaded a new sketch to Sketch Inspiration this morning! The prize is a lovely GIIINNOOORRMMOUUUS prize pack donated by our favorite store and store owner, Cat Beaty from Cat's Creations in Mineral Wells, Texas. Be sure and upload your layout based on the sketch so that you can have a shot at winning that awesome prize!

Here's my take:

The ABCs of Me - Letter B

2011-01-06T14:19:00.009-06:00

I'm back with Letter B for my ABCs of Me challenge. I am having so much fun with these! If you missed my post about The ABCs of Me, please click here to read the details of what this is all about. :)

Here is Letter B for me: (click collage to see larger photos)

1. Bahamas - We honeymooned on a cruise to the Bahamas in 2000. It was the first time I had ever seen the ocean, and I loved it! I'll never forget the feeling when hubby and I were sitting in a lounge chair on the back deck as the cruise ship pulled away from the dock for the first time. Raggae music was playing, all the stress of the wedding and months of planning was over, we were newly married, the weather was perfect, we had a $4 bottle of Coca-Cola in our hands....and life was good.

2. Barbies - My older sister and I had a bazillion Barbie dolls and played Barbies for probably more than half our childhood. We used to store them all in HUGE suitcases, and I know we had at least 3 of those huge suitcases packed FULL of Barbies and Barbie stuff. One of my favorites was the "Dream Glow" Barbie and Ken. I got not one but TWO of these beautiful Barbie dolls for my birthday one year...kindergarten, I think. I gave one to my sister and kept one for myself. I don't remember when or where I got the matching Ken doll, but they were just a match made in heaven. I mean, his vest matched her dress....they were the perfect couple! We had a big closet with sliding doors. We would hold the dolls up to our ceiling fan light and then run and get in the closet and close the doors so that we could watch the stars on their clothes "magically" glow that beautiful Dream Glow.

3. Breckenridge - My home town! Both my husband and I were born and raised here. Our high school mascot is the Buckaroos. Go mean green! It's a quiet little town with not much to do...but it's home.

4. Boys - Never in my life did I ever think I'd be the mommy of a boy....yet alone TWO of them! Growing up with a mom and 2 sisters myself, our house was a home full of mood swings, makeup, hair stuff, nail polish, and PINK. My poor dad. I just naturally assumed it would always be that way since that was all I had ever known. So, to give birth to the first boy in the immediate family, it was quite an adjustment! And now to have a home with 2 rambunctious little boys...well, it's just downright fun. I've traded in the Barbies, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, and Carebears for Hot Wheels, Star Wars, and Mighty Beanz. And I wouldn't trade it for the world! ;)

5. Bay Windows - I have always...always...loved bay windows in a house! They just look so pretty and inviting. I especially like the ones that have a little padded bench seat underneath them. I have never lived in a home with a bay window...but one of these days!

6. Bon Jovi - I never get tired of listening to some good ol' Bon Jovi music! I guess it's the 80s in me. In April 2008, my older sister took me to a Bon Jovi/Daughtry concert for my birthday. OMG. It was awesome. We took this picture of him from where we were sitting. We captioned it: "He loves us thiiiiiiiiiis much!" LOL

7. Blog - Well, it's a given that I love to blog (if I didn't, you wouldn't be reading this right now, right?). I don't really remember why I starting blogging...I think it was just that all the other scrappy friends were doing it, so I started doing it to. hehehe I love it, though. I have gone back and read some of my previous posts, and if it wouldn't have been for me blogging about certain things, I would have forgotten a whole lotta stuff.

8. Baby Magic - Hands down, my favorite smell. I've scrapped about this before. A fresh, clean baby all lathered up in pink Baby Magic lotion...heaven! The original pink Baby Magic lotion just sends me into pure bliss. It has to be the original pink formula, though...not this stuff in the white bottle they have out now. I recently looked on eBay for this stuff because it has been discontinued and they no longer sell it in stores...some of it was going for $40 a bottle!!! Can you believe that?! Guess I'm not the only one who loves it!

January Kit from The Scrap Room - FULL Reveal!

2011-01-05T15:06:00.007-06:00

So, how about starting the year off right with getting some major scrapping done? Sound good? Let The Scrap Room help you! Honestly, using this kit club has helped me get SO many projects done.

Here's what you'll get with the January 2011 kit:

And here are my projects:

AND....one more 2-pager, but I can't reveal that just quite yet! ;)

Be sure and check out The Scrap Room monthly kit club if you are wanting to get a ton of pages done this year!

The ABCs of Me - Letter A

2011-01-03T21:08:00.007-06:00

While browsing blogs the other day, I came across this wonderful idea for The ABCs of Me. Brilliant idea! I totally want to get through the whole alphabet this year and then make into a mini album or something. :) I never ever scrap about myself, so this will be a great way to document ME.

For those of you who are interested (and may want to join along!), basically this is how The ABCs of Me works:

I will start with letter A (though you can start with any letter you want, I just get easily confused) hehehe. I will think of things that have to do with myself that start with the letter A....favorite things, places I've been, something about my childhood, etc....just ANYTHING that has something to do with ME. Then, I will blog about these things, as well as include corresponding pictures.

Warning: You may learn more about me than you ever wanted to! ;) But this is gonna be fun!

Make sense? Okay, here I go with letter A:

1. Aaron - Aaron is my youngest son...my second child...my baby. He has always had this "glow" of happiness about him. Even when he was just a tiny baby, people always asked us, "Is he always this happy?" And we would proudly reply, "YES!" :) He's a happy boy. Creative. Charming (and he knows it). Loves to sing, wear costumes, and put on puppet shows. Loves to watch Imagination Movers. Silly, kissable, sweet as can be. Always wants reassurance that he's being a "good boy." Always wants family members around. ADORES his grandfathers, even when he was an infant...he's always had a special connection with both my father and my husband's father. He keeps me on my toes...and he keeps a smile on my face!

2. American Idol - I know, I know...this show is old news. But I still love it and watch it religiously! I love it all...from the tryouts all the way through. Even the dumb stuff they add to make it more appealing to viewers. It'll be different this year with all the judges leaving and new ones taking their spots. But music is music, and I love it. You think it's a coincidence that Aaron (see #1) was born on the night that Taylor Hicks was crowned as the winner of American Idol Season #5?

3. Abilene, Texas - Oh, Abilene. Only an hour away from my hometown, but yet it seemed so far away. When hubby and I got married, we moved to Abilene and lived there for around 4 years. This was the first time either one of us was away from our families and hometown. It was a bigger city. More exciting. More options. Better restaurants and shops. Better job opportunities. But it wasn't home. It never quite felt like home. Our last year in Abilene was probably one of the most lonely times I have ever felt. I had no friends and no family nearby. No church family since we drove back home every weekend to go to church. I had my first baby in Abilene and came home to an empty house. No one there to show me what to do. It was just me, my husband, and our new baby. We felt so alone, so clueless, and so lost. But we made it through and realized that we could do it on our own. We grew up a lot in Abilene.

4. August 8, 2002 - The day my life was forever changed for the better...the day I became a mommy! My Evan was born on 8-8-02. I still remember every detail of that day (the details that the anesthesia and pain pills allowed me to remember, at least). Being a mommy is the greatest gift I have ever been given.

5. April 11 - My birthday! Sometimes my birthday falls on Easter Sunday. I love Spring, so I enjoy having a birthday in April.

6. Ally McBeal - Another oldie but goodie! I loooove this show. Quite possibly one of my most favorite shows of all time. I am THRILLED that Reelz Channel is showing old reruns of Ally on weekdays. I am recording them all on the DVR and watching them whenever I can. I started watching this show when I was going to college and staying with a friend of the family a few days during the week (since college was an hour away from home). We would watch it on Monday nights as we ate supper. I continued watching this after my hubby and I got married and had our own place. I was so sad when the show was over! :( If ever there was a show that had perfect casting for their characters, this would be it! I love all the characters and their weird little quirks...and the Unisex bathroom...genius. So many great scenes filmed in there.

**********************************************************

Okay, it's your turn! If you want to start doing some ABCs of Me Posts (even if you can only do a few this year), I'd love to see what you do! Please comment here and leave your blog address so I can read about your "ABCs of Me." :) Have fun!

Another Christmas Layout

2010-12-29T18:07:00.004-06:00

Just a quick post to show a layout I did yesterday using some new 7Gypsies papers my sister got me for Christmas, plus my new "Sew Easy" tool from We R Memory Keepers from my hubby.

These pics are of my youngest son meeting Bugs Bunny at "Holiday in the Park" at Six Flags Over Texas last year. What a fun day! :)

Evan's Little League Book

2010-12-29T09:39:00.002-06:00

I've been wanting to try a photo book from Shutterfly for a long time now. When they sent me an email offering me a FREE book (only had to pay shipping), I had to do it! I gotta say...it was so easy, so fun, and I LOVE the way it turned out!

Sports pictures are kinda hard for me to scrap. Since I take so many of them, there are always tons that never make it to the scrapbook. So, here was the perfect solution! I used ALL but 6 photos that I took last season. All I had to do was drag and drop my photos, and then add captions and titles. So easy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

It's Sneak Peek Time!

2010-12-27T09:34:00.003-06:00

January 2011...only days away! Can you believe that?! Is it just me, or did 2010 completely and totally FLY by??! Wow.

Well, a new month is on the horizon, so you know what that means...the January Kits for The Scrap Room will be available for purchase soon.

I got to use the Bella Blvd "Lovey Dovey" portion of the kit for my Sneak Peek layout. The design team was given Sketch #156 from Sketch Inspiration for our Sneak Peek layouts. Here is mine:

I LOVE this sweet picture of my youngest son, Aaron. This was taken on his first night at home, after his first bath at home. Ahh....I can still smell the pink Baby Magic. Definitely one of my most favorite smells in the world. Add it to a squeaky clean, brand new precious baby...and I am in heaven! :)

By the way, The Scrap Room is sponsoring Sketch Inspiration this week and has donated a FANTASTIC kit as a prize....so be sure and head over to SI and complete the sketch for this week, as well as upload it to the gallery for your chance to win!

Happy Monday, everyone.

New Sketch Book!

2010-12-26T10:31:00.002-06:00

As many of you know, my sister Trisha runs a great ning site called Sketch Inspiration. Each week, she posts a beautiful, inspiring new sketch. If you complete that sketch and upload your page to the gallery, you have the chance of winning an awesome weekly prize!

Trisha has taken all the sketches from this year, as well as some exclusive BONUS sketches, and has complied the cutest little spiral-bound 6x6 sketch book you will ever see! This little book will be SO handy to throw in the crop bag for when you scrap away from home....and it will take up so little space on your scrap table if you choose to use it at home. It's great!

If you'd like to order one for only $14, please email her at trishahill76@hotmail.com.

ALL proceeds go towards paying for the Ning site since the site is no longer free of charge.

The books are going fast, so hurry and order yours today for 52+ weeks of awesome layout inspiration!! :)

From Me to You

2010-12-24T23:05:00.000-06:00

Please Vote!

2010-12-21T09:31:00.004-06:00

Hey everybody!

I've got a favor to ask. One of my layouts has been picked as a finalist on the Scrapbooks, Etc. website photo contest. If you have a minute, please click on the link below and vote for my "Building a Snowman" page (shown above).

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VOTE

You can vote ONCE per day, and you can post it on Facebook and have your friends and family vote too! I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thank you! :)

Party Pooper

2010-12-19T18:42:00.002-06:00

I've been to EIGHT parties since last Wednesday. That's right. EIGHT parties in a matter of FOUR days. I'm officially party pooped!

-Preschool Party on Wednesday
-Preschool Teachers Luncheon/Party on Wednesday
-Evan's school party on Friday
-Church leadership party on Friday night
-Birthday party on Saturday
-Mom's Family Christmas party on Saturday night
-Church Luncheon/Party today
-Birthday party after the church party today

Whew! That's a bunch of parties. Hopefully, though, that's it for this holiday season.

On my "free day" this past week (Thursday), I went to my mom's house, and we baked ALL.DAY.LONG. We made tons of stuff:
-mint brownies
-white chocolate and sprinkle covered pretzels
-peanut butter bon bons
-butterscotch spice cookies
-chocolate chip cookies
-chocolate drizzled graham crackers
-double decker fudge (chocolate and peanut butter)

And probably something else I'm not remembering. The good thing about baking all day is that after being around the stuff all day, you are tired of looking at it and don't want to eat it! HA!

Anyway....I'm hoping things will chill out for a while. I'll be finishing up Christmas shopping hopefully tomorrow, so after that, I'm hoping we can relax and enjoy the rest of the holiday.

I hope you all are enjoying the busyness of the season! :)

Today I....

2010-12-15T17:51:00.002-06:00

-Am exhausted from our preschool Christmas party this morning. Sugar rushed kids....'nuff said.

-Just raked up 3 big bags of leaves from our backyard.

-Am LOVING this 81 degrees weather we are having in Texas today (on Dec. 15!!)

-Feel like being productive, but lack the motivation to do so.

-Am freaking out a little over all the Christmas gifts I still need to buy (only 10 days away!)

-Don't want to cook supper.....Hubby just informed me we're having pizza at church tonight. Good deal.

-Need to go get dressed for Children's Church right now.

-Wish I had some clear and definite answers to a lot of decisions I need to make.

-Am SUPER excited that hubby gets 2 weeks off for Christmas, starting this weekend! :)

-Plan on watching some good ol' Ally McBeal reruns on TV tonight (thank you, DVR).

-Am hoping that my blog readers will delight me with some nice blog comments! :)

A Few Christmas Layouts

2010-12-13T19:28:00.006-06:00

I've done a few more Christmas layouts recently and wanted to share.

This first one is based on this week's sketch, Sketch #154, from my sister's sketch site called Sketch Inspiration. If you are looking for a great, inspirational sketch site to use, SI is the one!

This one was based on a sketch by Liz Qualman:

And lastly, this one is based loosely on a sketch by Susan Stringfellow:

Oh yes, I've been counting on sketches to get me caught up on my Christmas scrapping from last year's photos! ;) No shame.

December Kit from The Scrap Room

2010-12-09T13:36:00.005-06:00

Here are my projects I made with the December kit from The Scrap Room. I made a few more than my "requirements" this month, but I just couldn't resist....this was one of my favorite kits so far, and I have a TON of pics from last holiday season to scrap still!

Here's what you will receive in the December kit:

BASICGREY JOVIAL:
* 1 sheet Button Nose (2-sided)
* 1 sheet Coal (2-sided)
* 1 sheet Pomegranate (2-sided)
* 2 sheets American Crafts Brown Sugar Cardstock
* 1 sheet Jovial Chip Stickers (varies)
* (3) Jovial Pieces (varies)

CRATE PAPER SNOW DAY:
* 1 sheet Festive (2-sided)
* 1 sheet Candy (2-sided)
* 1 sheet Melt (2-sided)
* 2 sheets Sea Glass Bazzill Cardstock
* 5-6 pieces Snow Day LAYERED Chipboard (varies)

JILLIBEAN SOUP CHRISTMAS SOUP:
* 1 sheet Turkish Bay Leaf (Kraft background)
* 1 sheet White Sugar (Kraft background)
* 1 sheet Sweet Christmas (Kraft background)
* 2 sheets American Crafts White Cardstock
* (3) Melissa Frances Chenille Candy Canes
* (1) Melissa Frances Paper Bag & Tag (varies)
* approx. 1 yard Red Striped Bakers Twine

GIRLS PAPERIE TINSEL & TWIG:
* 1 sheet Tinsel & Twig (2-sided)
* 1 sheet Festive Brocade (2-sided)
* 1 sheet Holly Berry Floral (2-sided)
* 2 sheets American Crafts Black Cardstock
* (1) 6"x 12" Tinsel & Twig Alphabet Sticker Sheet (varies)
* (1) 6"x 12" Tinsel & Twig Elements Sticker Sheet (varies)
* 1/3 sheet Tinsel & Twig Tiny Words Sticker Sheet (varies)

How's that for one awesome loaded kit?!?!??!

Plus, I still have plenty left for some quick cards and maybe another layout or two. Ask Santa for a kit club subscription to The Scrap Room this Christmas! :)

Our Advent Calendars

2010-12-06T18:30:00.004-06:00

Countdown/Advent calendars are all the rage these days, it seems! I've seen some super cute ones out there, and what a fun tradition.

A few years ago, I found some Christmas tree shaped box holders at Starbucks. They had little boxes inside, each filled with a candy. I bought 2 of them and altered the fronts of the boxes with scrap supplies and Decoupage, numbering each one. These became our little countdown boxes for my boys...and this quickly became their favorite tradition! :)

I have so much fun trying to find little things to fill each box with. Somedays, it'll be something simple like a piece of candy. Other days, I'll have something too big to fit in the boxes, so I'll write something on the piece of paper like, "Christmas Game," and we will all play a little game of Christmas themed Bingo or something like that.

Each boy has his own calendar, and they wake up in the morning asking if I've put something in them for the current day yet! lol I LOVE their excitement over these little things! Any kind of little cheap Christmas-themed party favor works great for these.

Some of the goodies I've hidden inside:
-Miniature holiday Hershey bars
-Mighty Beanz (my boys collect these)
-Piece of paper with "Christmas Craft" written on it (I find cheap little crafts to do from Dollar Tree, etc.)
-Piece of paper with "Family Christmas Movie Night" written on it (we will all sit down and watch a Christmas movie together)
-Christmas colored Sixlets candies
-Quarters, nickels, or dimes (we have put the money straight into piggy banks in the past, but this year I think we will take the money and let the boys put it into Salvation Army buckets at the stores)
-Holiday bubbles
-Piece of paper with "Bake Holiday Cookies" written on it
-Piece of paper with "Christmas Game" written on it (I found a Christmas Bingo game at Target Dollar Spot, "Santa Says" instead of "Simon Says", etc.)
-Piece of paper with "Go look at Christmas lights" written on it (we will all load up in the car and go look at the lights around town)

There are several tiny toys at Dollar Stores and other places that fit nicely inside these little boxes. Each day holds a new surprise, and no matter how little or insignificant they may be....this tradition has given us some very fun times in our home!

Do you do Advent/Countdown calendars at your home? Have any suggestions as to what can be put inside these boxes?

Scrapbooking through the Pain

2010-12-02T13:41:00.002-06:00

Ever have one of those layouts that is painful to scrap? One that you find yourself tearing up over while you are putting it together or while you are writing the journaling? One that has pictures that make your heart ache? This one was one of those for me:

Journaling:
If we had only known that this was our last Christmas with both Uncle Rick and Great Grandaddy...we would have hugged just a little tighter. We would have taken just a few more pictures. We would have visited just a little while longer. We would have loved just a little more deeply. We would have cherished our time together just a little bit more.

In our hearts forever...
Virgil E. Moore, Jr. - 1930-2010
Richard Moore - 1955 - 2010

This was a rough year for my husband's side of the family. We lost both his uncle and his grandfather within months of each other. Looking back on these family pictures from last year's Christmas makes my heart ache, but at the same time they make me feel thankful. I'm glad I got these photos because they capture this side of the family so well. We always do one serious group shot and one silly group shot. The photo on the far right is the silly one. Grandaddy, sitting lovingly with his arm around Grandmamma, is waving at the camera. Makes me smile. :) But makes my eyes water too.

There will be two empty spots in the photos this year. Our family is no longer "complete." However, I'm so thankful my boys had the chance to know their great grandfather and great uncle. I hope that photos like these will remind them of the fun times we had with them.

This is why scrapbooking is so important to me. These little captured memories that may have otherwise never been. The documentation of moments with our loved ones that we are so blessed to have, for we never know when it will be our last captured memory with them.

Cherish your holidays and every day with your family and loved ones. Take their picture. Take lots of them. Take a big group shot with everyone one in it. Visit a little longer than you had planned. Hug them a little tighter when it comes time for everyone to leave. Tell them how much you love them, and teach your children about the importance of what it means to be FAMILY. Never take for granted the time you've been given with your loved ones. You never know when that time will be no more.