Sweet Little Monkey

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today I just have a quick share of a recent favorite layout of mine. Claire used to fit in this adorable monkey outfit. It really fit her personality at the time too!

The papers and stickers here are by Lilly Bee, the buttons by Basic Grey, the Washi tape and enamel dots by Queen and Company. I cut the monkey out on my Cricut using the Stork's Delivery Cartridge.

The journaling reads: Grandma bought you this cute little monkey outfit Claire just as you started to sit up. We loved it from the cute ears to the soft tail because it fit your emerging personality so perfectly! You can certainly be an adorable “little monkey.” January 2013"

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Just needed a little break

I'm so sorry to have disappeared for so long...I'm afraid that frequently happens around this time of year. It often starts (like this year) by getting sick and then having that sickness travel though the whole family. Then of course the craziness of the holidays (and we have a couple of birthdays in there as well), plus this year my computer completely blew up...complete with a smoking (and totally ruined) hard drive. (Back up your files friends--I was really glad I had 90% of my stuff backed up, including all of my family photos!) So recovering from all of that simply added up to taking a break from my bolg. 

Today however I'm back in the swing of things and I have a simple and fun Christmas project to share:

It's just a simple frame from Walmart that I added six stockings too, one for each of us. The stockings and holly leaves shapes are SVGs from Miss Kate Cuttables. The papers are some older ones I had in my stash from Chatterbox. The script along the bottom was cut on my Silhouette Portrait along with the "Lavanderia" font.  

I embossed my stockings with my Cuttlebug, and the "Dotted Swiss" and "Holly Ribbons" embossing folders. I used Queen and Company red pearls for my holly berries and Queen and Co. Red Washi tape to hang them across my frame. 

So thanks for coming back and stopping by my little blog again! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Do Your Best

Just about a year ago, Blake turned 8 and joined the Cub Scouts as a wolf. He was pretty excited about it as he has spent the past three years watching Ty participate in Cub Scouts and he has observed just how much fun it is. Just days after his birthday he was able to participate in the annual Rain Gutter Regatta. He won several of his races and had a lot of fun. " Do You Best" is the Cub Scout Motto and I think Blake is always trying to do that so it seemed a perfect title for this layout.

The papers and stickers, tags, and flags here are by Basic Grey, and the twine, Washi Tape, Buttons, and Enamel Dots are by Basic Grey. The title was cut with my Silhouette Portrait and the stamp is by K and Co. 

The journaling reads: "One of the presents you received for your 8th birthday Blake, was a Cub Scout uniform. You modeled it for me right away. You have been excited to be Cub Scout for some time as you watched Ty go through the ranks. You were especially excited that you turned 8 just in time to participate in the Rain Gutter Regatta! Have a great time “doing your best” in Scouts Blake! --September 2012"

Have a great day!

Another Saturday Sketch!

Hi everyone! Just like last weekend I have another Saturday Sketch for you today. Do me a favor and if you like mt sketches, pin them!  I get a large portion of my blog traffic from Pinterest these days and I'd love to have more. Thanks and enjoy!

5 Months

It's hard for me to believe that Claire is actually 15 months old! These photos seem like just yesterday!

Someday I'll have all 12 of her first year photo shoots scrapbooked, but at this rate it might be another year or two! Anyhow, here is Claire at 5 months:

The papers, buttons, and tags are by Basic Grey from their Knee-highs and Bow-ties line, Queen and Company Washi tapes and rhinestones, American Crafts large plastic flowers and letters. The ladybug was cut out on my Cricut using the Tiny Treasures cartridge. 

The journaling reads: "What a growth spurt Claire! You now weigh in at 14 lbs! You moved up to 3-6 month sized clothes, but can still wear some of your 3 month sized clothes. Your face is really starting to fill out and get that “Gerber baby look.” Everywhere I take you people come up to me and want to see you. They love your smiles and always say how beautiful and happy you are! You look super cute in your Christmas dresses at church. You met Santa and didn't holler at him. You are grasping things better and love to be in your play saucer and to have toys to hold. You still hate the car at night, but like it during the day. You seem to like music and you like to have me sing to you. You also like the “Baby Santa” DVD and sometimes I use it to get you to fall asleep. You don’t sleep through the night anymore, but you do sleep pretty well. You usually just get up once around 3-4am for a quick eat and then go straight back to sleep. You still charm everyone with your great big smiles. Your whole body smiles now as you wave your arms and kick your feet when you are excited or extra happy. You recently found your feet and often will grab and hold on to them when I change your diaper. You can roll over, but it is more of an accident than a choice. The drool is on and you are starting to soak your shirts more with drool than spit up. You are also constantly chewing on your hands and anything you can get in your mouth. You have a very strong little neck and are always trying to hold it up off the ground so you can look around. You are more patient than you used to be. You love to be held in a standing position. Dec 2012"

Have a great Friday!

Saturday Sketches

Hi everyone! Another set of Saturday Sketches for you today. Do me a favor and if you like them, pin them!  I get a large portion of my blog traffic from Pinterest these days and I'd love to have more. Thanks and enjoy!

Being Your Mom is Sweet!

Some days I look down at Claire (all dressed in pink and playing at my feet with a doll) and say to Marc "I still can't believe we have a girl!" After a decade of being the only girl in the house it still throws me sometimes to think that there is a mini me running around here. Our blue, green and red world of trains, cars, dinosaurs, and hot wheels is so different now that there are pink and purple dolls, princesses, castles, and fairies in the mix. I wouldn't change it for anything, but I have to admit that it still surprises me sometimes when I'm doing the laundry and I see that flash of pink in with the rest of the boy colors! One area I have not had a hard time adjusting to is having the opportunity to do more with the wonderful "girly" scrapbook products out there. This is one of my recent favorites.

These adorable papers and stickers are by Caroloee's Creations by Adornit. The acrylic flowers, pearls, and red washi tape are by Queen and Company, grey washi tape and baker's twine by Doodlebug, buttons by Basic Grey, and the title was cut out on my Silhouette Portrait. 

The journaling read: "Claire, you have no idea how excited I was to find out that I was going to have a daughter! For many years I was certain that we were only going to have boys in our family, and I was just fine with that. I love your brothers more than I can express, yet, it was a very fun surprise to find that there would indeed be mommy/daughter activities, pink clothes, dolls, dresses, and a tiny “mini me” turning our rather male dominated lifestyle upside down. Thanks for adding this fun new “girly” dimension to our home! I love being your mom Claire, and I’m so happy you joined our family! --Jan 2013

Have a great weekend!

Her First Steps

Claire is at the busy age of running around everywhere and climbing on everything. She's desperately trying to get into anything she can and is quite the little mess maker! Sometimes it's hard to believe there was a time when she couldn't walk at all....

Anyhow, today's layout is from a few months back when Claire was just beginning to take her first steps. She was slow and Frankensteinish in her movements, but they were steps!

The papers and stickers here are by Pebbles, from their Love You More collection. The flowers were cut and embossed with my cuttlebug, the letters are by American Crafts, the enamel dots and Washi Tape are by Queen and Company, rotary stamps by American Crafts and K and Company. The Embossed background is by Core'dinations.

The journaling reads: "You started walking this past week Claire and we were all so excited! These photos are some of your very fist steps. You started out only going a few at a time, but that quickly turned into more! To get you to walk we would put your walker just out of reach so that you would walk to it. After just a week of that you are now choosing to try and walk all by yourself! Jun 9th 2013"

Have a happy Tuesday!

Saturday Sketches Number 2

Sorry for the late post today, the day just kind of got away from me! Anyhow, here are today's Sat. sketches. A three photo layout sketch (three photos are my favorite) and a card sketch. Enjoy!

Rodeo Hoedown

So every year our elementary schools have a hoedown around the time of the big Houston rodeo. The kids learn and practice their dances during PE and then all the parents are invited to come and watch the kids perform. The kids wear their western gear to school and have a lot of fun doing their dances for and with the guests. It's one of my favorite school days of the year. These are the photos we took before school for the 2013 hoedown.

The papers here are from the Carta Bella Giddy Up Boy collection, the awesome cow print Washi tape and copper pearls are by Queen and Co., and the chevrons, title, and accents were cut with my Cricut and Silhouette Portrait machines. The title uses the Old West and the First Few Years cartridges. The horseshoe is from the Create A Critter cartridge and the wagon wheel is from Tiny Treasures. The hexagon punch is from Creative Memories and the Border punch is by EK Success. 

The journaling reads: "I loved going to the school for this year’s hoedown day, it is a great Texas tradition and one of the best days of the school year! It was really fun having all three of you boys participating, especially since it was Spencer’s first time as a kindergartener! Each of you boys looked great in your western wear and did a fabulous job with the dances you learned. I loved having the chance to dance a little bit with each of you too! Spring 2013"

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Over She Goes!

When Claire was around 1 month old she rolled over several times. I couldn't believe it the first time as none of the boys ever accomplished that so early. I figured it had something to do with her being still right around 6lbs. There just wasn't much weight to have to move! Not long afterwards she started growing and the rolling over stopped until the time these photos were taken about 5 months later. 

The papers, stickers, large embellishments, and tags on this layout are by American Crafts from their "My Girl" line. The Washi tape, pearls and epoxy dots are by Queen and Company, the title was done on my Silhouette Portrait machine with the KG Strawberry Lemonade font. 

The journaling reads: "Just a month or so after you were born Claire you were able to roll over a couple of times. I was stunned that you could do it so early! I decided it must be because you were so small and tiny so it didn’t take much muscle. Sure enough once you passed 7lbs you couldn’t do it again until recently. It took you quite a bit of effort at first but after a week or so you got very good at it! Now you use rolling over as a means of transporting yourself all over. You have a pretty solid 8 ft radius and nothing within that radius is safe anymore! January 2013"

Thanks for visiting today!

So, Let's Talk Sketches

So, let's talk sketches for a bit. Are you a fan? Do you use them when designing a layout? I am a fan and have been since the first time Becky Higgins had a sketch in Creating Keepsakes Magazine. I use them any time I get stuck or find myself lacking creative ideas. Designing one layout based on a sketch usually gets my ideas flowing and helps me think out of the 12" x 12" box--so to speak. While I worked for Creative Memories I had the opportunity to design a hundred or so sketches for them. Because of their bankruptcy and restructuring many of them will never be used, so I thought I might start posting one or two here each Saturday in Sept/Oct as a sort of "Saturday Sketch" post. If they end up being useful to you, please post a comment at some point and I'll design some new ones as well and keep the "Saturday Sketches" coming.

So here is today's set, a 12" x 12" layout sketch and a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card sketch.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

A New Favorite Layout--She's A Cutie Pie

I don't often have favorite layouts, but every now and then I make one that I'm just over the moon about. This is my recent "favorite" layout of Claire; probably because I love the photos so much!

The papers and stickers are from the Pebbles "Love You More" collection, the Washi Tape and enamel dots are by Queen and Company, and the border punch is by EK Success. The title was cut out on my Cricut Mini using the fonts from the Simply Sweet and Tiny Treasures cartridges.

The journaling reads: "Oh Miss Claire, you really are super cute! We all just adore you and we are constantly telling you just how adorable you are. Even your brothers comment daily on it! I think you have us all wrapped around your little finger!"

We Love Camping Food!

When we go camping the food is always a big part of the experience. We love to try out new Dutch Oven recipes and experiment with cooking over a camp fire. We have developed quite a few favorite camping dishes and this layout is devoted to them. 

I have been waiting for a chance to use my Campin' Critters cartridge on a layout for some time now and this was my opportunity! I cut the wolf, dutch oven, and large tag with my Cricut using that cartridge. I also cut out various tags from my Holiday Frames and Tags cartridge for the top of the layout. The papers and title stickers are by Echo Park

The journaling reads: One of my favorite parts about going camping is the opportunity to eat recipes cooked in the Dutch oven and over the campfire. We have lots of traditional favorites from roasting marshmallows, foil dinners, and Dutch oven cobbler, to more “exotic” recipes like roasted “Peeps”, Mountain Man Hash, biscuit on a stick, and molten chocolate cake. We love it all! Spring Break 2012

Happy Friday Everyone!

Rodeo Clown

Because we live in Texas I was super excited when Carta Bella came out with their Giddy Up Boy and Girl lines! They are just perfect for some of the events and activities we do around here! Particularly our trips to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

I haven't had a chance to play with the girl line yet, however, here is one of the layouts I made with the boy version.

Other than the Carta Bella papers and stickers I also used some copper colored pearls by Queen and Company as well as my Cricut for the title and star accents. The title was done using fonts from the "Old West" and "The First few Years" cartridges. The stars are from the "County Fair" Cartridge.

The journaling reads: "Going to the Houston Rodeo is always a great day. One of the highlights this time was meeting a rodeo clown and posing for these photos with him. Later that night we got to watch him as he distracted angry bulls away from the cowboys. You boys thought it was great! March 16th 2011"

Have a great Thursday!

Tin Foil Dinners

So sorry I missed the last two days. With school starting (including an online home school program for one of my sons)  things have just been crazy around here. I'm back today though with a fun camping layout to share. 

I grew up in a family that camped a lot! Living not to far from the Sierra Nevada mountains made it fairly easy for us to escape the summer heat and spend a week up in the beautiful forested mountains of places like Yosemite and Lassen Volcanic National Park. One of the staples of nearly every camping trip was eating "tin foil," or "hobo" dinners. So even though I don't have mountains to camp in with my own kids, (Texas is rather on the flat side) we still do go camping and we almost always have our traditional "tin foil dinners." 

The new Echo Park "Happy Camper" line was a perfect fit for these photos. just the right mix of "outdoorsy" and yet still bright and fun colors.

I've also got some Queen and Company brads and Washi tape here as well as some more stamping with my date and rotary phrase stamps by K and Co and American Crafts.

The journaling reads: "I suppose these are actually aluminum foil dinners but I grew up calling them "hobo" or “tin” foil dinners! Whatever you call them they are a super yummy hamburger, potatoes, butter and veggie mix. They are a camping family favorite and no trip would be complete without them!"

Thanks for visiting today!

I TOADally Love You

"Hoppy" Friday everyone!

One quick card share today, this one along the same design lines as the baby card I shared the other day. I made this one for my sweet husband a little while back. It  uses a cute frog cut and sentiment from Lettering Delights that I cut out with my Silhouette Portrait. The set is called Frogs and Kisses.

The papers are by Echo Park, Washi tape and baker's twine by Queen and Co. I also used a Cuttlebug embossing folder and a border punch by EK Success to add a little more texture.

I hope you all have a TOADlly great weekend!

So Much To See

One of my favorite stages of a new baby in when thy get old enough to look at and study everything around them. Claire seemed extra observant from the very start, but after a couple of months she became even more studious. These photos capture her straining to move her head so she could see her new toys from every angle possible. 

More of the fabulous My Mind's Eye "My Girl" collection here along with more Queen and Company Washi tape, baker's twine, and pearls, American Crafts Letters, and my K and Co. date stamp.

The journaling says: "Claire, you recently have begun to really study the world around you! You love to look at brightly colored objects and at people. You seem to always have a look of extreme fascination as you start to decipher your world! Looking at these toys above your car seat seems to be one of your recent favorite things to do!"

Thanks for visiting today!