Easter Bunnies

A friend and I love to get together and make small gifts we can take with us when we go and visit ladies from our church (our church calls it visit teaching). This month we decided to make these cute little bunnies from the Silhouette store (by Pebbles). The ears are made from paper by Pebbles and the embellishments are by Queen and Company. We stuffed them full of yummy chocolates! Hopefully their recipients will find them as fun to receive as we did making them!

The Very First Kiss

For those of you who may not know, my youngest son Spencer is autistic and non verbal, yet he is also very loving, kind, and sweet. His autism is not classical in the sense that he is quite affectionate and craves physical touch and attention. Knowing that will help you make a little bit more sense out of the journaling on this page about the relationship he has developed with his little sister.

The papers, stickers, 3D embellishments and letters are all by American Crafts as pasrt of their "My Girl" collection. The buttons and washi tape are by Queen and Company. 

The journaling reads: "When you were first born Claire, Spencer didn’t really know what to think about you. When he came to meet you at the hospital he didn’t really understand what was going on like your older brothers did. Still, he held you for a moment and gave you this kiss on the head. Now, a year later, you two are great friends and playmates! Spencer now loves you very much and loves to kiss you. He is so patient, kind, and loving towards you, even when you are messing up his stuff. When that happens he gently picks you up under your arms and carries you carefully off to where you can’t reach his things—all the while kissing you on top of your head as if to say “I love you Claire, but please stay out of my things.” He also always makes sure that he kisses you goodnight even if you don’t really want him to. You are very lucky to have Spencer as your brother Claire! Photo July 7th 2013, Journaling Fall 2013"

Thank you for stopping by!

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!

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!

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!

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!

He is Eleven Now

Well, he's actually closer to 12 now, but this is the layout I did a few months ago about his eleventh birthday. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he is going to be 12 pretty soon, that he is coming into his teen years, and that he starts Jr. High next week. Honestly, seeing him reach these milestones is hitting me harder than sending him off to kindergarten did. I'm sure I'll survive. It helps that he is super excited for it all! 

In contrast 11 was easy. He was at complete ease in a great situation in his 5th grade class with wonderful teachers, he loved moving into Boy Scouts,  he was having fun with his extracurricular activities, and life seems easy and good.  All he really wanted for his birthday was a camera and some Legos....which he got. He's such an easy going kid :)

The papers here are by Bella Blvd from their very fun "Birthday Boy" line. The buttons and Washi tape are by Queen and Company, letters by Heidi Swapp and Echo Park. I drew the red star in inkscape, then converted it to an SVG file and cut it out on my Silhouette Portrait. I thinned a little red paint with some water and then poured it into a spray bottle for the paint splashes.

The journaling reads: It’s hard to believe it but you really are 11 years old now Ty! We had a good time celebrating your birthday together with your siblings and your grandparents. I think you were most excited by your new Legos and your new camera as well as knowing that you now move up from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. You were also excited to have your favorite kind of cake, cheesecake, which also happens to be my favorite kind of cake too! November 2012"

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Your First Day

Another older layout to share again featuring the awesomeness that is the My Girl line from My Mind's Eye. I just used this line to pieces! It is definitely one of my all time favorite collections!

In  addition to the My Girl collection there is some Queen and Company Washi tape and buttons, as well as some American Crafts Thickers for the title. I gave my Fiskars cloud punches and my Cuttlebug a workout too.

The journaling reads: Claire, one of the things I remember about our first 24 hours together was how alert you were. Your brothers promptly feel asleep after delivery, but not you. You wanted to look around at everything! I also remember marveling at how tiny you were and how cute you looked wearing the tiny pink bow the nurse stuck to your head. I also adored taking hundreds of photos of you and I remember how sweet it was to hold you in my arms throughout most of your first night. Mostly I remember how glad I was to finally have you here! July 2012"

Happy Monday everyone!

2 Silly Jokers

From knock-knock and crossing the road, to what-do-you-get-if-you-cross jokes--we have heard them all around here the past year or so. Blake and Ty have entered the age of loving everything to do with telling jokes! Most of the time they are pretty funny, and you are both getting better at making up your own. 

This layout uses the "Boy Crazy" line from My Mind's Eye. It's a favorite of mine--no suprise with three boys in the house! It also uses Some Queen and Co. Washi tape and buttons, Some boarder punches (Hexagon one from Creative Memories--Zig-Zag from EK Success), and American Crafts, Echo Park, and Pink Paislee letters. 

The journaling reads: "You two boys just love to tell jokes! Almost daily I hear one or both of you say “Mom do you want to hear a joke?” Sometimes you get them from books, sometimes from school, and sometimes you make them up (they don’t always make sense though). One of my favorite ways to foster this new love is to slip jokes into your lunch boxes along with a note from me. It is always fun to hear your reaction to them when I pick you up after school! I love my two jokesters! --Spring 2013"

Have a great day!

Going Home Outfit

I'm trying to catch up on some older layouts and get this blog of mine updated with all of my current projects--so for awhile I'll have posts every weekday--and after I catch up I'll try to be better at posting several times a week!

The journaling on this one pretty much says it all, so rather than repeat it I'll just post it at the top this time: "I have always loved shopping for a going home outfit. There is something about it that makes everything feel so much more real! I picked out this ladybug onesie for you Claire because I was so excited to have something pink with ruffles on the sleeves and on the bum! I loved dressing you for the first time in it—and you looked adorable! July 8th 2012"

Lots of Echo Parks "Sweet Girl" line here. I cut the title out on my Silhouette Portrait and added some Queen and Co. Washi tape, baker's twine, buttons, and mini rhinestones. Lots of Cuttlebug embossing on this as well as stamping with my K and Co. Smash date stamp. The butterfly stamp is by Martha Stewart.

Thanks for visiting!

New Queen and Company for Summer CHA 2013

I have had such a great time this past week playing with Queen and Co's new releases. Wendy has put together some really amazing collections of new Washi tape and Candy Shop embellishments! Here are the projects I made for her trade show booth:

These Christmas projects feature Queen and Co.'s new Christmas Washi tapes. 

I cut apart 6 of the Queen and Co.'s paper drinking straws for the border at the bottom. The journaling on this layout reads: “Many months before you were even born Claire, Grandma found this cute Santa dress for you. I couldn't wait to put it on you and take holiday photos! You wore this outfit for our traditional Christmas Eve festivities and you I thought you were the cutest little Santa?s helper ever! Christmas 2012”

Queen and Co.'s new Halloween Washi tapes are also super cute! I think this card turned out to be my favorite project of the bunch. I'm not sure if that is because I love Halloween and candy or because orange is my favorite color. Most likely some combination of the three. 

The candy corn embossing folder if one of my favorite Cuttlebug folders!

 The cute little ghost washi tape inspired me to put eyes on my washi tape banner. 

The journaling here reads: "For your first Halloween Claire you were the most adorable little witch! I got the idea to have you go as a witch from this hat I purchased many years ago when I was taking photos of newborns. Even through I stopped photographing newborns I held on to this hat just in case I ever needed it. And I am so glad that I did! It was a perfect fit for you and inspired the rest of your super cute ensemble. You certainly brought lots of smiles to many people in this outfit! –Halloween 2012”

Animal print Washi tapes are also being released! I had fun with the Zebra print tape here:

 And I used all the different animal prints along with my Cricut to cut out fun animals for this zoo layout. I used the cartridges Noah's ABC's (tiger), and Create a Critter (giraffe, gator) for the animals. 

The journaling reads: "We had so much fun visiting the Houston Zoo this spring! We have been many times before, but this time we got to see the new African Forest that they recently opened there! You boys thought that getting a better view of the elephants, giraffes, and rhinos was lots of fun; however, you all agreed that seeing the monkey pulling nectar out of the giant ant hill was the most fascinating part of the day! Spring 2011”

You can get a good look at all the wonderful products being released by Queen and Co this show by checking out their blog here. 

Thanks for visiting today!

Your Crazy Hairstyle

Lately Spencer can frequently be found trying to "style" his hair in the bathroom sink. He thinks it is awesome and funny. It all stemmed from this incident documented on the layout below.

The journaling reads: "One morning after your bath Spencer I helped you towel dry your hair and this is how it looked afterwards—crazy! I took you into the bathroom so you could see yourself in the mirror and you thought it was so funny! Now you like to slip away and wet your hair in the bathroom sink so it will stick up funny again. You think it is an awesome hairstyle! Spring 2013"

This layout uses the Boy Crazy collection from MY Mind's Eye. This line is one of my recent favorite scrapbook lines. It's just perfect for capturing my crazy boys! There is also some Queen and Company Baker's Twine, Buttons, and Washi Tape. The title was cut out on my portrait with the Cairo font and embossed with my Cuttlebug.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Tiny Girl, Giant Yawn

This is one of my favorite photos of Claire. She was about a week old and I was posing her for her newborn portraits when she let our this giant yawn. I was lucky enough to have my camera in hand and I'm so glad I did! It's strange to remember just what a tiny little thing she was back then. She was just shy of 6 lbs and when you picked her up it seemed almost as if you were holding a doll instead. Her brothers were closer to the 8 lb range at this point so she was really a big contrast to them.

 

The papers and embellishments here are more of the wonderful  My Girl collection from My Mind's Eye. The buttons, Washi tape, and Twine are again from Queen and Company, and there is my favorite new date/expression stamp again from K and Company.

No Cricut title work this time, just some American Crafts Chipboard. I did put my circle punches to good use though. I have always loved circle punches!

The Journaling reads: "I just love this photo of you Claire! I just happened to have the camera out to take other photos of you and got lucky enough to catch this expression. I just love they way your sweet little face is all bunched up in this giant yawn! It’s adorable!"

Thanks for visiting today!

Where's My Water?

Many of you are probably familiar with the iPad game "Where's My Water?" It is a big favorite of Spencer's and I wanted to create a layout that capture's his current love of this game. Spencer is autistic and non-verbal and because of this sometimes people think he isn't as intelligent as your average 6 year old. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Spencer is very bright and this game is one small evidence of this. He loves to solve the complex problems this game can present and he does it with remarkable speed. He also has a wonderful memory of how he solves each problem and can repeat levels he has previously completed in record time. Every now and then he does get stuck and ask for help, and that's when his older brothers love to step in and "help." 

The papers here are again from then Echo Park Scoot collection, the stars, washi tape, jewels, and most of the buttons are from Queen and Company, the the stamp is my new date stamp from K and Company's Smash line.

The title was cut with my Silhouette Portrait and the Lobster font.

The journaling reads: "Spencer, you love many of the games on your iPad, but hands down “Where’s My Water” is your current favorite. Solving the various puzzles can keep you happily occupied for quite some time—at least until you get stuck. Then you call your brothers to the rescue and you all three sit together and work until you solve it!"

Thanks for visiting today!

3 Months

So I guess I'm adding these to my blog out of order, but here is Claire's 3 month layout. It uses the same wonderful My Girl collection from My Mind's Eye as her 4 month layout I showed last week. 

For the title I covered white cardstock with some Queen and Company yellow and pink washi tape and then ran it through my Cricut using the font on the Birthday Bash Cartridge to cut the letters. 

There is also lots of  Queen and Company pearls, buttons, and twine on this layout

The journaling reads: "You have been growing and now weigh nearly 10 lbs. We can now wear some 0-3 month sized clothes! We have been able to switch back to nursing full time as you are now a much better eater. You smile at everyone all the time and sometimes laugh. You laugh at your brothers most of all. One time Ty zoomed past us in the kitchen and you thought it was the funniest thing! You gave one great big laugh when he did it but refused to repeat it when he tried to zoom by again. You still sleep pretty well at night and frequently sleep for 6-7 hours at a time. You have started hating driving in the car at night. You still love the swing and take lots of naps in it. You have a little bald spot on the back of your head where the hair has all rubbed off. You recently started to love to look at your mobile above your swing. It can entertain you for quite awhile! You really don’t care for the pacifier and we have pretty much given up on using it with you."

Thanks for stopping by today!

Play All Day

I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to scrapbook with girl products lately, that has not however changed my love of awesome boy scrapbook products! I was instantly in love when I saw "Scoot" by Echo Park. It was an instant favorite and I picked it up the first chance I got. It was perfect for scrapbooking these photos of Spencer playing with his all time favorite toy--trains!

The title was cut out on my new Silhouette Portrait. I opted to get the smaller machine as I already have a nice supply of Cricut machines and space has become an issue lately in my scrapbook room. I mainly wanted it for it's cut and print feature which does work really well! It's been a fun little addition to my die cutting machine addiction. I also cut out the little arrow cut with it.

I also had a lot of fun adding little bits of Queen and Company Washi tape, buttons, and pearls. I really love Queen and Company embellishments and find they work just as well for boy pages as they do for girls--even the pearls!

I also used another new tool on this page, my new date stamp by K and Company. I love that is has some super fun phrases as well as the date stamp!

The journaling on this page reads: "Spencer, one of your all time favorite toys is our wooden train set! You have loved it for quite some time and can frequently be found play with it! You especially love the Thomas the Train characters! I love it when we sit down together and build a giant new track together. It’s one of my favorite things to do with you!"

Enjoy your day!