Visitors!

Back in April my oldest sister and her husband visited for a few days. We took lots of photos, but wanted to scrap these two layouts first ....

Ruby is very intense as she teaches her Uncle Al how to play a game ......

and Makayla is learning a new stitch for crocheting from Aunt Pat.

Need to get caught up on my photo printing so I can get the rest of the photos scrapped from their visit, cause we went and did lots of stuff that is so scrap worthy

Godspeed

Meet Max!

Here is the newest addition to our family, Max! He's six weeks old and just a fluffy little ball of joy!

The grandbabies think he's adorable and love to cuddle with him ....

and Allie-Kat is getting use to his antics as well.

He's making himself right at home! 

Godspeed

OH MY STARS!! LAYOUTS!!

When the weather turns south again, I get back into my scrappy area! Here is what I've been doing this past week. Some old, some new, but important to me and needed scrapping ......

Introducing the girls to some messy fun! July 2010

Easter 2012 was such a beautiful day so after dinner we pulled out the new fire pit and toasted up some marshmallows for some sticky fun!

Since our son is a Leapling, last year we just had to celebrate his 8th Birthday! It was complete with Happy Meals, Transformers, and a homemade birthday cake! He's such a good sport!

While waiting for Big Sis to finish her practice, Ruby discovered some "pretty white flowers". 

Every year I plant geraniums in honor of my Grandma George and this year enlisted the help of Ruby. She said they were pretty, but insisted that this one be hers to take care of. I think we have the next generation "green thumb" in the making!

Since the rains are due back for all of next week, I'm sure I'll have more to share shortly. Thanks for stopping by!

Godspeed

garden time!

Boy, have I missed my spring plantings for our fresh veggies during the summer months! This year we have rented plots in the community gardens from our local food bank and today I put the finishing touches on it and now to sit back, water as needed, and watch our fruits of labor grow!

If you look REALLY close, you can see our potatoes are starting to sprout!

And our first tomato on the left side, with another blossom developing on the right! YUMMY!!

I plan on sharing photos throughout the growing season, so stay tuned!

Godspeed

lonely blog....

I have been so busy lately trying to get the yard in shape, taking care of the little ones, trying to hold down the fort here at home, getting our garden planted, and starting up a new business that my poor blog has been ignored.

I haven't scrapped a thing in TWO MONTHS, not even assembled a card! But, the girls and I have been painting on a couple canvases. Ruby's is finished and on display in our home, but Makayla and I still are debating whether to go farther with the one we're doing together or not .... decisions, decisions! I'll post them when we're done with both.

So, now its just past midnight and I need to call it a day. I promise my next entry won't be nearly as long a wait as this one has been, even if its just to say Hello!

Godspeed

much needed day out.....

Decided after the chaotic past week at work that I needed a day out with Nicole. We decided to see the "sights" of Portland and take in a bit of its uniqueness.

Breakfast at the food cart "Flavour"

 A trip to Saturday Market

Spotted some great signs

And just HAD to have a Voodoo Donut and stood in this

 line that wrapped around for almost an hour!

But it was soooooo worth it! 

The signature Voodoo Doll donut....

and of course, a maple bar with BACON!!

We also made a quick stop into Powell's Bookstore for some Easter gifts for Ruby & Makayla. Such a fun day and one we will repeat again very soon! 

Godspeed

cute cards & a couple layouts

I spotted this idea over at the  Cosmo Cricket blog and it was a quick and fun activity for Makayla and I to assemble while she was over visiting this morning. It took all of 30 minutes and a few scraps of paper and we each ended up with a set of three note cards. Cuteness!

And since I'm already blogging, here are a few more layouts from the past couple days. And yes, the date on the first one is correct. Those photos are from 2012! I think I'll forever be behind in my scrapping!

Now off to catch up on a few more!

Godspeed

get up!

Maggie loves giving special 'wake up calls' to Butch! She'll nuzzle and snuggle while giving lots and lots of puppy kisses!

A mix of older papers with newer products made this a quick and easy layout to pull together. TFL!

Godspeed

Welcome SPRING!

Our first day of Spring was typical of the PNW with rain, then sunshine, then more rain, and on and on!

Daffodils in full bloom!

Columbine shooting sprouts for flowers

And Bleeding Hearts peeking out to catch a glimpse of the sun!

Spring is my favorite season with all the newness that Mother Nature surrounds us with!

Godspeed

better late than never!

I've been trying really hard to get motivated enough to complete my Holidays 2012 album and I think it finally kicked into gear today! Its not that I don't want to document them, but I'm just ready for SPRING and warmer weather! So my little brain has decided that if I get them scrapped now, maybe, just maybe, Spring will be here shortly. Yeah I know, like that really matters, but it is Our Crazy Little World and I like my place in it. ;-)

 I love it when the pattern paper makes a great backdrop, just add some paper and you're done!

 My first try at Project Life. Not sure if I'd make it a steady diet, but it sure 

did help in getting these precious photos scrapped!

And these papers and photos were meant for each other! CRAZINESS!!

Now onto my next layout before all this mojo wears off!

Godspeed

i color beautiful

Sometimes you just come across a special moment in your normal everyday routine that you know you just have to capture. This is one of those! It was just "yesterday" when she was all scribbles, and now concentrates very hard to keep it within in lines.

Oh how I wish time could just slow down a bit!

Godspeed

Playtime!

A few weeks back I posted HERE about a technique I did with the Creative Jumpstart 2013 group. Decided to play again and just love the color combo I used and wanted to share with you.

Blended with the brayer to create this background.....

cut my tags to the desired size, added a bit of paint, and stamped on some images.....

Not sure where they're going to end up, but what a way to relax and get a bit creative!

Godspeed

Cropping!

Been having a blast the past couple days yucking it up with my scrapping buddies and getting some much needed play time. I dug deep into my stash of The ScrapRoom kits, found some oldie but goodies waiting for just the right pictures, and didn't even make a scratch......

 Cosmo Cricket Hello Sunshine - 2008

 SEI Poppy - 2008

Basic Grey Sugar Rush - 2009

October Afternoon Farm Fresh - 2009

 Bella Blvd. One Fall Day - 2010

WOW!! I did dig REALLY DEEP!! I'll have a couple more to post later. Thanks for stopping by!

Godspeed

Happy Valentine's Day!

finished!

LOVE the way this came out!

I knew I had to incorporate that heart because youngest grandaughter helped me tear and glue down the papers used to make it. Makes it even more special!

Now time to clean up my mess so I can break out my Cocoa Daisy kit that arrived at my doorstep today!

Godspeed

Relaxing!

I always thought that if I tried my hand at painting, I would be horrible at it, make too many mistakes and spend too much money on things I'd just toss, so never gave it a shot. But since taking it a bit farther and doing mixed media, that fear is a thing of the past!

I love being able to layer papers, create different textures with different mediums, and eventually it hits me - This isn't necessarily what I had in mind when I started, but like the way its turning out! Example is this one I've had on my table for a couple days. It started out like this:

But look at it now!

I was trying to incorporate a large heart into this, but not so sure now, but who knows, stranger things have been created! I'll be back with my progress later.....

Godspeed

February goals!

Yep! Its that time again! I do much better when I set some goals especially in my creating area. Life tends to just bog me down and it seems my creativity has to take a back burner, but since setting goals, I make it a point to get in here and play! Besides, play makes me happy, and happy is good for the heart & soul!

#1 - create a layout to completion every other day

#2 - finish scrapping 2012 Christmas photos

By combining #1 & #2 I should easily accomplish them IF I don't get sidetracked - *snicker*!! And if I happen to kill off a kit or two, that'll help boost the numbers over at The ScrapRoom's Kit Killer Challenge! A win-win for all. ;-)

#3 - Keep up with my Canvas Create class by Donna Downey. I don't want to get behind on the first class before the second shows up in my email box! 

I think that's a hefty enough set of goals to get me going. After all, if the sun does pop out, I'd much rather be out there soaking up the rays! Wish me luck!!

Godspeed

OLW

That is the topic of my layout this posting - One Little Word, and mine is FOCUS as I stated in an earlier posting. I want release all those feelings and situations of the past and focus on my year ahead without it bogging me down. In my layout, I represented the "letting the old me go" with a kit at The ScrapRoom from 2007 that needs to be used up once and for all! And the "focus on the year ahead" is the stenciled arrows and tracing with an opaque white pen as me looking ahead to the start of a new year. Its not my normal scrapping, but it made me happy and I'm glad I took that leap ahead and focused on what I wanted instead of the norm as before!

Thanks for stopping by!

Godspeed

Experimenting!

Not sure what anyone else does when you wake at 12:30AM and can't get back to sleep, but me, I tend to venture into my crafty area and dig in! I've been receiving daily videos from Creative Jump Start 2013 for the entire month of January and I can tell you I've picked up some awesome ideas to incorporate into my layouts, mini albums, and mixed media. I think there's still time to sign up, so just following the link above and check them out!

Here is a technique from Nathalie Kalbach that I found pretty darn sweet and just had to try! I have a bunch of 3" scrap strips sitting here & taped them together, grabbed my paints, the rubber brayer, and went to work....

dab on small dots of paints......

roll one way.....

and then the other......

grabbed a alpha stencil, mixed up my ink, and spritzed away!

Not sure exactly what I'll be doing with this in the future, but do see at least a tag or two to incorporate into layouts, and maybe, just maybe, some of it will show up in a mixed media project! Try it, you might enjoy the "freedom" this type of playing gives you!

Godspeed