Happy are We

Birthday Boy!

2012-01-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

Jack celebrated his 6th birthday this weekend!

Well, it's today, the 23th but it feels like we've been partying for days!!!

As it should be ;)

We had a little Lego party with friends, because, quite frankly, he's obsessed!!!

But it was a fun colorful theme to do.

Just a little excited me thinks.

Bold primary colors for decor.

Goodie bags that I glued circles on to create the lego "look".

Cute little stripey straws and a big bowl of m&m's.

These might be a little creepy looking....but they are supposed to be Lego heads.

Basically, marshmallows dipped in yellow candy melts with black frosting for the faces.

Good ol' donut game....ALWAYS good for a laugh and one of my kids faves.

I like to use the little gem donuts (powdered) they are just the right size for little ones and actually less messy than the typical glaze.

Tennis ball in the nylon game. Knock over the water bottles.

This was a hoot!!! And let me just say the kids got quite carried away playing this one!

Made a little lego skeeball game...the girls kicked the boys but in this one.
The boys just couldn't pull themselves together!

They were way to busy doing things like this!!!

Little outta control me thinks!!!

He's ready to blow!!! 6 big candles!!!

I can't believe it.

It's gone by in a flash.

He is the cherry on top for this family.

Each and everyone of us is so grateful for him!!!!

He is our miracle baby and we are so lucky that we got to keep him ;)

We love all his crazy antics and the things that come out of his mouth...hysterical!!!

He keeps us all laughing...and is the sweetest thing to boot.

We LOVE him to bits and pieces.

Happy Birthday Jack!!!

Project Life...I'm really doing it!

2012-01-22T23:32:00.000-08:00

So Im really doing this.
And I'm proud of myself I tell ya!

It's been really fun and I feel like I'm starting to get into a groove of how I want to work it.

First and foremost....when I introduced the plan to my family on New Years and showed it all to them, Samantha just huffed at me and said, I quote "ya, this isn't gonna last!!!!" Sadly, she knows me well. But this has just inspired me to keep up that much more! I can't let her be right!!!

I started with the "D" style pages, with the large vertical slots and small horizontal ones, and immediately decided I didn't like it. Almost all the journal cards that come in the kits don't sit right in the slots. Everything was sideways. Good thing I scored me some "A" designs immediately following the first week. So I think I'll mostly be using those ones, mixing in the "D" when the supplies suite me.

I've used a mix of project life kit cards, online digital ones that I print, and my own. What I've been doing is sitting down and choosing a set for each week. Keeping the same style/theme each week.

This is turning out to be a great use of leftover supplies from kits and things I don't always use on my layouts. It feels good using my stash ;)

I had loads of fun creating my title page and laugh at our posed family portrait. I wanted it to be casual and easy, I got half and half!!!! Self timer shots are interesting with 6 people and a dog!! It totally cracks me up!!!

I used October Afternoon's Boarding Pass Collection with a few additional embellishments.

Here's my first week. Not sure if I'm completely sold on the date square. But I do want to have the dates on here, so this will probably be what it is.

I started out with just big pictures and than small journaling, but that looked SO boring to me, that I'm working on mixing that up a bit.

One thing we've decided to include, based upon something we did during December, was to include a weekly gratitude spot. We are each listing something we were grateful for during the week. Kristen asked me the first week we did it "does it have to be something spiritual or like our family???" Ha!!!! No.....it's whatever you want it to be!!! If your grateful for a candy bar, than be grateful for that ;) Just want them to be aware of all that they have!

Week two is a little funner.....I think as time goes on it will get less formal and more crazy...which is good to me ;)

This yellow chevron is an envelope that fits perfectly! I've included a spotlight sheet that was filled out for Kristen at a church event.

My goal is to try and work on my pictures through out the week as I take them. Have them all ordered Sunday night on-line and pick them up Monday morning to fill in the pages.

I made myself a little chart where I can fill in each day the things I want to document and the little conversations that I hear. So putting it all together isn't too hard.

Jan Sketch at Get Picky

2012-01-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

We've got a fun new sketch for you girls over at Get Picky.

There's even a prize up for grabs so be sure to check it out!

I went a bit out of my comfort zone with this one and did a bit of hand drawing.

Well, circles anyways. That's a big step for me ;)

I like how it turned out though....this here's Jack, figure I'm off to a good start working on him, right!! ;) These are pictures of him playing with an elmo boat that Nathan got for his 2nd birthday! It's gone through all the kids and has always been a big hit! It's one of those good toys that didn't go bad and gross in the water.

I like using the negatives from my border punches and these ones fit perfect with my water theme ;)

This here is a mix of October Afternoons RocketAge and BoardingPass lines.

Is it lame???

2012-01-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

To be so excited about a sixteen dollar tool box???
Too bad if it is, cause I am excited!!!!!!

The organizer hiding deep within me looooooves this thing and had SO much fun deciding what to put in each compartment. Everything I like to have at my fingertips is in there. Not in piles or bowls on my desk, not in the shelves I have to get up and go over to....right here ;) Cleaned off my desk BIG TIME!

I'm such a nerd.....but you can get one for yourself at your local hardware store ;)

It's such a great size..not too big, fits perfectly on my desk and holds a lot!
Journaling cards
washi tape
chipboard shapes
chalk
specialty buttons that I sort by manufacturer
tags & ephemera
all the leftover bits and pieces I don't want to get rid of ;)

I could probably fill several of these. But I put in the things I'm always grabbing for or things that don't really have a home.

While I was taking pictures of this I thought I would share with you also the way I store my twine ;)

Found these little wooden pins at the craft store and i just wrap my twine around them and keep them in this cute little bowl. I have a few new ones that haven't made it on to a pin yet ;)

I have these display shelves above my desk as well that I pile my layouts on until they start falling off because there are too many and then I put them in my albums. I've started stacking my mists up there ;)

So there you go ....a few organizing ideas to get you going on 2012!!!

I've been working on my project life and will be sharing that next ;)
Happy Friday the 13th!!!!

Phew........

2012-01-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

after posting my top 11 for 2011 I felt kinda bad.....like a baaaaad mom ;(
I didn't have any boy layouts in there.
So to prove that I do have TWO boys......here are my top 11 boy layouts.
I do have more than 11 boy layouts......a few more ;)

Though I don't feel completely bad about not scrapping a lot of Nathan.....
numba 1: he does not like me taking his picture
numba 2: he was my main subject for quite a few years and he has a stash of albums already!
I do need to work on Jack more though.
That will be a goal for me....focus more on Jack ;)

Thanks for looking!!!
One of these days I'm gonna get up the energy to sort through Christmas and share that ;)

Get Picky Dec. Inspiration

2012-01-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

Our New Years inspiration post is up at Get Picky

The challenge this month is to think about what we might resolve to do in the coming New Year.

We've got some inspiring words up on the blog to gleam your inspiration from.

I chose the words from the poem that say "Every day of your life"

I wrote a note to my kids about some things that I hope for them, and things I want them to remember.

I hope you'll hop on over and have a go at it!!!

Top 11 in twenty11

2011-12-31T21:54:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years everyone :)

There are still a few hours left in the year......just a few.

We are watching stupid tv and the kids are playing.

We are boring.

I'm good with boring.

NYE has never been a big deal to me.

I figure I'm still recovering from Christmas at this point ;)

I am happy to say goodbye to this year......it.has.not.been.a.good.one.

Really.

But I feel hopeful for the new year and look forward to some improvements ;)

I'm hoping to follow the prophets council "life is to be enjoyed, not just endured"

This year has felt like shear endurance with very little joy sprinkled in.....and I'm tired of feeling like that's all there is. I know there is much joy to be had and I'm hoping it comes a little easier this next year, without all the trials overshadowing it.

On to my top 11, this is where I document our joy.....and looking at these it reminds me of the joy I feel when I am with my children ;) Though, you wouldn't know I have 2 boys by the looks of my top faves ;) Sorry boys, I do have layouts of them, but I guess I have a few more girl ones.........oooops, my bad ;)

I am happy to see that I am getting better at documenting our stories, including a bit more journaling on my pages. Though there are still "just because I LOVE the photo layouts"

I hope the upcoming year is filled with blessings and lots of love to all of you!

Thanks for joining me ;)

p.s. it's 9:54 and I think my hubby is sleeping.

we are such party animals!!!!

January Fun at the Nook!

2011-12-30T15:10:00.000-08:00

The Nook is hosting a 5 week crop starting January 7! It's going to be super fun and stress free ;)

Our top ten challenges spread out with 2 challenges every weekend with a week to finish and prizes to win! Check out the forum and the blog for more details ;)

You'll be seeing lots of this kit in our crop ;)

It is yummy-licious ;)

I'm loving it more than I thought I would ;)

Remember these pics of Samantha..scrapped!

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Found these old pics of Kristen I had completely forgotten about.

That's the bad thing with digital. Everything ends up lost and forgotten ;)

you can get yours here ;)

December Daily & a Layout

2011-12-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

Is it Christmas yet????

I'm exhausted, how about you??

No matter how prepared I think I am, or how not-busy I think things will be........it's never the case.

December is just busy busy and more busy!

I've been working hard on my December Daily and even managed to get a layout done last week.

I've got lots more DD pages to share, I just haven't photographed them yet.

We started the month off with our first music concert (we've had several ;)

Kristen is learning the violin this year so it was super exciting for her to play!

Day 2 was packed with a mother daughter spa day at the school followed by a church party where Jack played a shepherd in the Nativity.

Day 3 was our piano recital (I still need to add my journaling to this one)

Day 4 introduces Wilson, the elf. He got into the oreos and finished them off, leaving a bit of mess ;)

Wilson makes another appearance in the DD later on in the month.

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I was able to squeeze in one more layout with our Dec. Nook kit.

Love all the fun colors in this Crate line, and then remembered that I had these adorable pictures of Kristen on her 2nd Christmas. Loved those rainbow tights I did!!! She was my Christmas Cutie!

Hope your business is winding down and that you can all enjoy a beautiful holiday season....I know I'm planning to ;)

Get Picky Dec. Sketch

2011-12-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting a post up before the time is up over at Get Picky!!!!

Yay for me ;)

We've got our December sketch up for you and it was a fun one.

wanna know something? i didn't even realize till i found it on my desk, that the sticker i had to go above my journaling never made it on my layout! ha!

I had these photos on this photo strip for quite some time. Had been planning to scrap them....eventually ;) So glad this sketch made me pull them out! To make the photo strips I simply opened a new 8x12 document in photoshop and dragged my photos onto it. Putting them in a row and using the grids to make sure they were all the same size. Then printed them at my local printer and when I cut them out I just kept them together.....easy peasy ;)

My mom made me an entire batch of strawberry jam last summer....and my girls helped. We will be enjoying that yummy stuff for years I think! Love it!!!

Be sure to hop on over to Get Picky and check out the prize that goes with this sketch. You've got till Dec. 28 (australian time) that's the 27th here in America!

Winter: Vegas Style

2011-12-19T14:36:00.000-08:00

I realize that for most of the country......fall hit a few months ago.

But here in Las Vegas, with our warmer weather....we get fall in December.

And isn't it beautiful ;)

Especially when you have a little girl who is begging you to take her to play in the leaves along the sidewalks. Well, of course I will....with camera in tow!!!

She had SO much fun, piling up the leaves and throwing them about.

Jumping in them and swinging on the trees.

The rest of kids could care less. They went off to play at the nearby park.

Thank goodness I have one who'll let me take her picture.....we'll see how long that lasts.

There is something about having snow for Christmas....but honestly, I don't really miss it that much ;)

Are you ready for Christmas??????

Here's my checklist:

Shopping: Done (mostly)

Wrapping: Not a stitch

Homemade gifts: in a frenzy to finish!

Christmas Cards: Sorry, not in the budget this year ;( we'll see if I make one to post?

Baking: Started

December Daily: on day 14!!!! waaahooooo!!!

Celebrations: in full swing ;)

Kids out of school: YES!

Advent Winner!!

2011-12-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Andrea!!!!; you are my random generator winner ;); please email me your address carol m monson at yahoo dot com; Thanks everyone for you comments in my Advent Calender Giveaway!!!
Andrea Amu said...: Cute holiday inspiration, Carol! And fun giveaway stuff too! ;)
December 13, 2011 8:36 PM
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Don't forget to check the Nook Blog everyday for the next advent and be sure to comment on Leahs post to win the big prize before Christmas ;)

Confessions....

2011-12-14T08:38:00.000-08:00

from this girl to her sister........" remember that time when I broke your boy barbies head off?

I was laughing so hard!!!"

Me "you broke it?"

giggle giggle " ya, I ripped his head off!!!"

She likes to confess things years later.....and believe me, there have been a few. Like the laundry room door ( that we have yet to replace!!!) They are always followed by snickers and giggles, like she is so proud of herself for getting away with it for so long ;)

She is something else, let me tell you. And makes me feel like the luckiest mom in the world. She's a special one ;)

She went to her best friends birthday party last week....it was a 70's party. I think she was born in the wrong decade ;) Isn't she awesome!!! Speaking of her birth.....she celebrated a new year last month.....I need to share that FOR SURE :)

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My confession: I suck at the December Daily!!!!!

I'm only on day 4. Isn't it like the 14th or something????

Though I do have the next 10 pictures waiting for me at Costco to pick up.

I'm finding the actual putting together not as swift as I thought......simply because I put TOO MUCH THOUGHT INTO IT!!!!

But it is my goal to get all caught up this week and share it with ya.....don't hold your breath k? i would hate for anything to happen ;)

My Scrapbook Nook Advent Calender

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

...duh....forgot to say I'll draw a name Friday morning!!!

This month at the Nook we are having an advent calendar.....everyday a new prize is being hosted and given away by a different member at the Nook. Check out our blog everyday for the next advent ;)

Along with the everyday prizes....we've also got a BIG prize for you ;)

Hop on over to LeahKillian's blog and get entered for the grand prize sometime between now and Christmas Morning. You could win a free subscription to the always inspiring Nook kits!"

I've got today's prize at the bottom of this post ;)

Along with the giveaway is of course a layout....some inspiration from our December kit, Crate Peppermint!!!!

Every year my kids get new pajamas on Christmas Eve.

These are always some of my most favorite photo's.

They are giddy with excitement and beaming from ear to ear ;)

Looking through my Christmas album, they are the most scrapped photo's of the season.

Here are the four of them a few years ago, when Jack was almost 2 (I think??? I've got to check the date on this one ;)

As for the giveaway, I've got a little something to share ;)

Gorgeous Jenni Bowlin Butterflies/pins/bingo cards, some fun canvas alterables/flowers and my favorite seam binding ribbon.

All you have to do is leave me a comment ;)

Thanks for looking!!!

Hope your holidays are going splendidly ;)

Get Picky Inspiration

2011-12-11T20:52:00.000-08:00

oh my......love what this prompt reminded me to do ;)

Scrap this story about Samantha.....it makes me laugh out loud everytime!!!

The inspiration to scrap a story....to focus on the words and the journaling.

Samantha wrote this paper in school when she was in first grade.....the teachers comment just steps it all up a notch!

"I get mad wen I have to do my chros (chores). All I do is shav (shove) stuf under my bed. Inless (unless) it's something spshal (special). Sometimes I have to make my bed or clean my bed. Allso sometimes I have to clean under my bed. That's tarabal (terrible) (insert teachers comment: Especially after you shoved everything under there!) I hate to clean!!!

I hope you'll have a chance to play along ;)

Get Picky is right over here ;)

December at the Nook!

2011-12-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

I've been so anxious to get this kit!

It's filled with the gorgeous Crate Paper Peppermint Collection!!!!

Loooooooove ;)

I've got a class for you over at the message board and blog showing you how to use your packaging ;)

Go check it out ;)

We've got a lot of fun happening at the Nook this month.....for starters, an Advent Calender with giveaways everyday leading up to the grand finale prize that you can find over at Leahs blog ;)

Everyday on the Nook blog we'll be posting who is hosting the giveaway for the day....I'll be up one day next week so be sure to check back ;)

Getting Ready for December

2011-11-29T09:38:00.000-08:00

This year i've caved from peer pressure and am making a december daily album.

really just want to document the everyday....of our december, the whole shabang!

this is my test to see if i can really do "project life", a daily documentation of 2012, which i'm really anxious to do!!!! It might sound crazy to some of you, but i think it's amazing and despite all my scrapbooking efforts, I don't have a lot of the everyday, real life. I know having had something like this of my family when i was growing up would be a gold mine for me. So I've got big plans and I think it will be amazing to have when it's all said and done. Here's a link to the project life website to see what I'm talking about....

anyhewwww.....here's a few pics of my december daily album.....i've been working on it but not going to share anymore until I actually start filling the pages ;)

I started by collecting everything I might want.....went with an old October Afternoon line I've been hanging onto, along with anything else that matched.

I used some chipboard shapes as my album covers then used file folders that I cut down for my insides. I'm covering those with my paper.

Here are a few of the inside pages....i've just about got all my pages done for the whole month, so it shouldn't be too hard to fill in everyday, it shouldn't.

Get Picky Nov. Sketch

2011-11-28T10:14:00.000-08:00

sadly......is past.

i feel badly that i wasn't able to get this posted earlier....but you know.

the blog was on vacation, apparently!!!

I So loved this sketch, I didn't know it at first.

Don't usually do much with circles/ovals.

But these pics have been floating from paper to paper, waiting to be scrapped and nothing ever felt right so they always got pushed to the side.

But alas, they finally made there way onto a page and I loooooove it!!!!

Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking ;)

My little Samantha....always the life of the party, even at ONE!!!

Used a bit of Studio Calico and Sassafras here ;)

November Kit at My Scrapbook Nook

2011-11-27T10:33:00.000-08:00

Hallelujah!!!!

My blog is fixed ;)

Such a weird problem.......I'd pulled my Little Yellow Bicycle layouts off of THEIR blog and for some reason those pics killed my blog. I've done that before, pulling stuff I need off other locations. But as soon as I removed them from the post everything went back to normal. Fan-freakin'-tastic ;)

So here are my overdue Nook layouts for November......it's a good thing too, since I've got our HOT december kit in my hands already.....wahoooooo!!!!

The November kit was from Echo Park, Times and Seasons.

It's a beautiful kit, though a bit dark and vintagy for my taste.

To lighten things up a bit I like to use white backgrounds. This line has some really awesome prints in it that I thought were perfect for Disneyland....so all my layouts are from there.....fun hu!!!!

This picture has been on my MUST SCRAPBOOK list for quite a few years. So glad this kit reminded me of it......I think it's a perfect match and so happy to have my way too cute Kristen documented with Ariel!!!!

Been wanting to try the chevron pattern thingy that's all the rage right now. Love how these patterns worked together and suited Goofy so well ;)

Another Ariel picture....the colors here went so well with her tail.

I think the stripe in here was my favorite pattern....pulled out Minney and Mickey for this one. Pictures from our trip last year. Finally got some good pictures as they've moved Mickey outside instead of in ;)

While the Nook is repairing it's message board you can find all our fun challenges and inspiration on our new blog!!!!

Go here!!!!

Something is Wrong with this thing!!!

2011-11-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

Not sure how to get my blog fixed, if anyone knows do tell ;(
I can load pictures into a post but it doesn't save anything nor will it publish them.
Words are all I can manage to get posted..........so sad, because I have TONS of things to share ;(

HELLO?????

2011-11-19T09:08:00.001-08:00

blogspot, are you working yet??????

Little Yellow Bicycle Guest Spot

2011-11-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

I recently had a chance to design for Little Yellow Bicycle on their Cycling Team.
I was honored to be given a chance to play with their Get Your Game On line.

I had so much fun pulling some old photo's of Nathan and scrapping them on this sports themed paper.

Thank you LYB for giving me the opportunity!!!!

Here are my layouts and you can check their blog for more detailed shots!!!

BLOG HOP WINNERS!!!

2011-11-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!!
Congratulations to Kim H for winning our big blog hop prize of a 3 month sub to our gorgeous kits!!!! Woot Woot!!!

As for our random winners, we pulled 6 names from 6 different blogs and here are your prizes girls!!!

Zarah: Thicker Prize Pack
Janet Z: 1 Kit
jenessa: Thicker Prize Pack
Stephanie Eaken: 1 Kit
Cassandra: Thicker Prize Pack
Mag: 1 Kit

Please send your mailing information to mysrapbooknookdtATyahooDOTcom

Thanks so much for playing along everyone!!! Sorry for the delay in announcing this.

Happy Birthday Leah!

2011-11-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

This one's for you!!!!

Hope you have the best day....you deserve it!!!!

Trick or Treat

2011-11-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

I definitely win for treats this year!
Just look at these kids.....they are my treat for sure ;)

I had some fun playing with my pics and added a few spooky elements to them ;)

Samantha had seen this cool ghost costume in a magazine so we did our best to duplicate it. Found a base dress at Ross and then added lots of stuff from my sewing bucket to it! Took some old white leggings and added trim. Painted face and ratted hair.......cutest ghost in town!

Kristen wanted to be a flapper and just after I went to the fabric store and found out it would be too expensive this year we a miracle happened. Found out a good friend had one we could borrow! Happy girl, happy mom!!!! She looks so cute and reminds me of when I was her age and was also a flapper girl ;)

Jack had lots of plans for Halloween and the costume he wanted. In the end I convinced him this old costume of Nathan's would be perfect!!! And it was. He loves Lord of the Rings so dressing up as Frodo was not out of the picture ;) Those hairy feet are my faves!!!

Isn't he the cutest!!!! And he has the ring on, it's just hiding, like it should be ;)

Do you recognize that gloomy face of Napoleon Dynamite????? This was all I could get of Nathan. The costume was his idea but in the end refused to be seen in public like this! He'll be seen now!!!! Mwahahahahaa!!!

We had a fun night. The neighborhood wasn't as outta control as usual which was really nice! And my kids were pretty much done about an hour into it.....which was also nice ;) Seeing as how it was a school night. They were in bed by 9 I think!!!!

Scrapbook Nook Blog Hop!!!!

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the hop from My Scrapbook Nook!!!!

We're offering one lucky lady a 3 month subscription to these gorgeous kits and several smaller prizes for other hoppers!

We have hidden 7 birds among the design team blogs....so hop around, find the birds and keep track of who's got em'. Once you've found all seven, email those names to: myscrapbooknookdt@yahoo.com

One random winner from those that find all the birds will be drawn to receive a 3 month subscription to the Nook ;)

As for the rest of the prizes, they will be drawn from the designers blogs at random. So comments are optional, but the more you leave the better your chances are of winning a prize, which include kits!!! For an extra bonus drawing for a $50 prize pack- leave a comment at Danni Reid's link including a link where you have facebooked, blogged or tweeted about this hop- you can leave up to three comments for a shot at that $50 prize pack!

The Nook kits are filled each month with the latest paper collections and embellishments to make you swoon! They are a fantastic deal and our international ladies love the low shipping ;) If you sign up for a 12 month subscription you'll get a free kit after your 12 month mark! Now that's a bakers dozen of goodness!

Here's a layout I did using our gorgeous October Kit ;) My Minds Eye Lost and Found Sunshine!
Some silly pictures of me....this is how I act in front of the camera. Like a dork. It's a good thing I'm behind it most the time!

I've got another favorite layout I'd love for you to see over at the Nook for our member layout inspiration challenge. This is where we take a layout from one of our members and turn it into a sketch for everyone to play along with....here's the link and mine is at the end of all the layouts ;)

Thanks for looking and here are your hopping orders!

Shelley
Danni
Kim
Pamella
Nicole
Jaz
Deanna
Lisa
Carol <----you are here
Hilde
Lilith
Marinette
Anna
Jessy
Katarina
Gina
LG
Leah

Hop ends on Fri., November 4 at 11:59 pm.
Winners will be announced on Sat. November 5th!

Be Sure to check out our Christmas Card Class and New Contest "Card Sharks!" a fast paced, four week battle of creativity!!!!

Pumpkin Patch!

2011-10-30T22:11:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful 4 day weekend here in Vegas so I decided to do some fun things with the kids.

We don't really have a lot of fancy pumpkin patch type places here but we do have this one orchard where you can go to pick your own produce. We played around there for a bit then went to a corner lot pumpkin fun park....or whatever you call it!

race through the apple orchard

they informed me over and over again that if I wanted posed pictures of them, they wouldn't be any good. little do they know....this is what I love about them ;)

you'er never to big love the BIG slide!!!

They were supposed to all come down at the same time.....

as you can see, Jack held off and had his own show!!!

they crack me up!

lets play who can pick up the biggest pumpkin!

We had so much fun!!!

I loved spending the day with all 4 of my babies!!!

Here's One More ;)

2011-10-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Post for Get Picky!!!!

The new inspiration for October is up.....and it was right up my alley ;)

loved the pops of color off the white....so I went with that!

This month it's a photo prompt - be inspired by this photo AND you must include FABRIC on your page. The fabric can be in any way, shape or form (burlap, lace, felt etc)...

and mine....

Thanks so much for looking....happy Saturday ;)

Get Picky Blog Hop Winners!!!!

2011-10-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much to everyone for hopping along with us!
I totally loved reading all your comments and am so grateful you took the time to be so kind ;)

The big winner over at Get Picky has been announced....hop on over and check it out ;)

As for the winner of my little RAK.....lets give a shout out to Jessica P!!!!!
She's my random winner of new followers....thanks so much Jessica ;)

Please send my your address to carolmmonsonatyahoodotcom and I'll get this baby in the mail ;)

Jessica Pascarella said...: Love the layout! Great colors! Thanks for sharing it with us!!!!
October 15, 2011 5:17 PM
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Stay tuned at Get Picky, our next challenge is coming up tomorrow!!!!

Get Picky Blog Hop & Prizes!!!

2011-10-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Get Picky 1^st Birthday Blog Hop!

We are celebrating our first year with a very exciting reveal as we unveil our 13^th Sketch with you today and share the beautiful creations of both present and past designers from our first year! Some of the team members will be offering prizes so you will want to visit all of the blogs to increase your chances of winning a prize. We are also offering a major prize along with the chance at a Guest Designer spot for the month of November if you visit and leave a comment at all of the blogs in our blog hop and participate in Sketch Challenge #13. The Blog Hop starts today and will remain open until midnight (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on October 28^th so this will give you all plenty of time to visit everyone’s blogs and create a layout for the sketch challenge.

Here is Sketch #13

And here is my layout

As we mentioned, there are lots of great birthday pressies up for grabs along our hop today. Some of us designers are offering a RAK, including myself and of course there is the chance to become our Guest Designer for November....but what's a celebration without that very special gift.

We are so very excited to also announce that Imaginisce have been kind enough to sponsor us with an awesome prize for our very special birthday celebration.

Get Picky is the first stop of our birthday journey where you will find the complete list of all blogs in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play, just follow along the blog path in order so you don’t miss anyone.

Remember, if you want to be considered for the Guest Designer spot in November & the prize, once you have visited all the blogs and uploaded your entry for Sketch Challenge #13, please make sure that you go back to the Get Picky Blog and leave a comment on the challenge post.

The blog hop begins here: Get Picky Blog

Your next stop is here: Chantel Vandenberg

Thank you so much for joining us for this very special birthday celebration and for your continued support!

*and one more thing *
I'm offering a small RAK of some of my favorite goodies!!!
As long as you leave me a comment for the GP prize and then follow me I'll randomly choose a winner when the hop is over ;)

October at My Scrapbook Nook

2011-10-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

I've finally got a few scrappy things to share with ya'll!!!
Our gorgeous kit at My Scrapbook Nook is out.

You might notice that it has a fair amount of my favorite color in it....yeeehaaawwww!!!
It's filled with My Minds Eye Lost and Found Sunshine ;)
Get yours here ;)

This one is about Kristen when she earned her Great American Award at school. I cut off a portion of the glittered page and used it as a border instead. I'd already used that paper for another layout and it wasn't quite long enough for my border...hence the little block of plaid at the bottom. I like the way it breaks up the blocking and makes it a little more fun. I stamped the world image from the stamp set we get in the kit ;)

I really love how this one turned out. I cut the bird image from the yellow paper I used above. Cut around the little scroll work and everything! That is SO not like me ;) to be so fussy! There is really not a lot on here, just a few strips of other papers and a couple of embellishments. I punched out the edge of the black paper at the top and placed a contrasting piece behind it.

Again, with the thread! It's my new favorite thing. Love the little touch of whimsy that it adds ;)

I used to sing You are My Sunshine to my kids when they were little. It's one of there favorite songs. When I got this kit I knew I wanted to do something using that. So I made this little framed artwork. You can see all the details in my class over at The Nook!

I'm Still Here ;)

2011-10-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

but my laptop isn't ;(
it died a week ago.
and we're still not sure what's wrong with it.

i feel lost without it.
and i have noooooo pictures.

want to know what I've been up to????

had a garage sale.
and got robbed.
people are the rudest.
it makes me sad what kind of people are in this world.
no morals.
no kindness.
just trash.

But on the bright side, I got rid of a lot of stuff and made some money to boot!

Been crafting.
Now if I could only load them up ;)

Finished reading The Help....after seeing the movie twice!
Love, Love, Love.

Working on Halloween costumes.
Found some great deals were gonna spruce up.

So proud of Kristen.
Tried out for Glee Club and made it ;)
Sometimes she surprises me with her bravery.

......and drinking way too much diet coke ;)

I.LUV.CRATE

2011-09-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Crate Paper that is ;)

There is so much I want to do with this kit from My Scrapbook Nook!!!

I'm obsessed.

I've been working on adding more journaling to my layouts....it's sad when I look back and they say nothing. I'm working on getting back into the reason I started this in the first place, to document stuff ;)

I love these little pictures of Samantha......learning how to throw a football from her grammy ;)

My kids have the best grandparents!!! We are so lucky.

They are always doing for them.

The gray pinwheel came in our kit, and I made the other two to go along with it.

Love the pinwheels but they sure make my hands go numb making them ;)

I've been hanging on to these pictures of Samantha from kindergarten for a long time!

I love them so. Happy to say I actually journaled a nice long bit about that day.

I'm so proud of myself ;)

I've got a few more pics from this day on my table working themselves into another layout ;)

I'll be sure to share when they are done ;)

Happy Tuesday, ya'll!

For real this time.

2011-09-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

we went camping ladies and gentlemen

(who am I kidding, there are no gentlemen here ;)

after our time in Yellowstone in August,

we spent a night in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.

It was gorgeous!

these two......commonly known as sworn enemies, are, on rare occasions, the best of buds ;)

set up the 2 man tent together.

Kristen helped her dad and then offered up her expertise opinion on tent building.

They got it put together just fine.

Boy Scouts is good for something ;)

I loved these little pod thingies....not sure what they are called, but I thought they were cool.

Nathan took my camera for sometime, and photographed just about everything he saw!

Including us ;)

I got a few of him as well.

This is what I was doing when NOT chasing children in the woods.

Reading a good book ;)

Nathan took about 100 pictures of Jack enjoying his dinner.

It is a funny process to watch, and most definitely scrap worthy.

After roasting marshmallows and making smores, we crawled into our comfy tents and went to sleep.

This picture taken a bit earlier in the evening should have been our first clue.

It rained, and thundered, and lightninged, and rained and lightninged and thundered some more.

I thought we might die.....all night long.

We lived.

And amazingly were quite dry in our tents.

Except for Nathans pillow which was soaking wet??!!??!

We ditched that wet campground at sun up.

Maybe now, they will beg to go camping a little less often.

;)

Get Picky Sketch & Best Creations!

2011-09-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Our new sketch is up over at Get Picky!

We were so lucky to be sponsored by Best Creations this month.

I got a huge package of their kitchen line to play with ;)

My layout along with a few other team members made it on their blog as well ;)

I had fun playing with these pictures of my sweet little Kristen digging for worms in her grandma's garden and then pretending to eat one!!! This sketch was fun and so easy to work with!

Come play along for your chance to win a prize pack!!!

We are so very excited to announce our sponsor for September is Best Creation.

Best Creation is a scrapbooking, cardmaking and paper crafting company out of El Monte, California. Famous for our no-mess glitter papers, Best Creation has thrived for over 5 years producing the latest in double-sided patterned papers, cardstocks, basics, and embellishments. We hope our products inspire you to create and share memories of the past and present.

Best Creation has been ever so generous by not only sponsoring our sketch challenge with an incredible prize pack, but they have also sponsored our design team with a brand new 'just released' CHA collection for each of our dt girls, as well as our guest designer this month!

THANK YOU Best Creation!

Fun Times!

2011-09-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

We've just gone through another design team call over at My Scrapbook Nook

I'm so excited to say........I get to stay.....and work with an amazing group of girls!!!

New DT Members:

Deanna Misner- USA

Gina Rodgers-Australia

Jaz Lee- Singapore

Kim Moreno

Lilith Eeckles- Belgium

Lisa Kisch- Canada
Marinette LEFEVRE- France
Nicole Nowosad- Canada
Pamella Brown-USA
Shelleye McDaniel-USA

Returning DT members:

Anna Sigga- Iceland
Carol Monson- USA
Danni Reid-USA

Hilde L Aaslund- Norway

Jessy Christopher-Malaysia
Katarina Damm-Blomberg- Finland

Leah Killian-USA
LG Belamarino-Phillipines
Stacey Michaud- USA

We have a huge team this time around and will be splitting the responsibilities on a every other month basis. So there will be a fantastic variety of inspiration and talent every single month! I'm lucky enough to be one of the leads for both teams so I'll still be creating every month...I'm SO excited ;)

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Still having fun with our September kit....in fact I created this layout using the Random Collection based on the color challenge over at the Crate Blog.

I'm so super duper excited that it got featured over at Crate!!!!! Such an honor to have them recognize it ;)

You can see it here along with a bunch of other gorgeous creations ;)

How Could I Forget????

2011-09-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I go searching through my photo files....looking for something I have vague memories of.....when I stumble across gems like these.

Gems I tell ya.....GEMS.

I about died when I saw them!!!!
Completely forgotten.
A friend had brought over a face painting kit and I had painted the girls faces and apparently Jack's as well!
3 1/2 years old.

Jack + facepaint = priceless.

September Nook Kit is in Da House!

2011-09-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

and I looooooooove it ;)

I can't put it down!

it is filled with the newest collection from Crate....Random ;)

I just got this thing yesterday and I've finished 3 layouts. This first one is for my inspiration class over at The Nook...you can find it here

I love these pictures of the girls on there way to their daddy daughter date.....Samantha just started posing like a rockstar and all Kristen could do was laugh!

Here are a few of Samantha from a few years ago......found the story on the ol' blog of what happened during this little photo shoot and use that as my journaling. I am making an effort to tell more stories on my layouts. Thanks to the journaling class that I am taking at The Nook.

One more here......another journaling prompt.....I took a conversation from FB between Doug and I about our status ;)

If you don't want to miss out on this fab kit hop on over real quick like and snag one for yourself!!!

If You Were Wondering....

2011-09-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

Where I was last week.....I was in the car.

Fetching the children to and fro....3 different schools, 3 different schedules ;)

I believe Jack looks excited and ready for his first day of kindergarten....don'tcha think????

They wouldn't let us parents through the gate (scrooges) so we had to wave to them from behind the chain link fence. I felt like the one in prison! Later that night when I asked him if he was excited to go to kindergarten again in the morning he said "I have to go again???? but I already went!!!"

Ya...sorry bud, it's a long term deal ;) He definitely enjoys it and gets himself dressed and ready every morning but wonders why i ask him everyday if he had a good time!!! He says " you ask me that everyday mom!!!"

Samantha is happy....mainly because she has new clothes to wear! Shirt, converse and rolled up jeggings ;) Lets just say she tolerates school. But I know she loves her class this year and her new teacher ;) She normally goes for a pretty fussy hair do on the first day, but she surprised me by just putting it in a pony.

This girl couldn't get out the house fast enough!!! She came home saying middle school was the best!!!! I think she loves all the paperwork and organizing and that many more teaches to looooove!!! That back pack is so full of stuff she doesn't even know if she needs....I think it's weighing her down!

Now Nathan......no pics of him.....he was gone before my eyes ever opened! Thanks dad ;)

He liked his first day of high school too....I think he surprised himself ;)

Here's to hoping for a gooooood year and my 2 1/2 hour block of no kids ;)

Get Picky Inspiration

2011-09-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

The August inspiration challenge is up over at Get Picky!
I was instantly drawn to the yellow and green combo ;)

Pulled out some of Crate's yummy Emma's Shoppe line and played with that. Here's what I came up with. These are some old pictures of my cute little Kristen ;) I've totally been inspired by my friend Lilith with the thread cluster and have been having some fun trying out that technique ;)

Hop on over to Get Picky and play along.....we have a prize in store for you....here are all the details ;)

The winner of this challenge will be invited to guest design for our next inspiration challenge in September.

And this month we are offering another random prize. Everyone who participates in this challenge will go into a RANDOM draw to win a selection of gorgeous products from My Little Shoebox!

All you have to do to be in the running to win is enter our challenge - it's that simple! Everyone who enters automatically goes into the draw for the prize!

Here is a photo of exactly what you will WIN...

Prize includes:
My Little Shoebox Imaginery Friends Collection (3 x sheets of double sided paper, 2 x diecut papers, 1 x 12x12 sheet cardstock die cuts, 1 x 6x12 transparent overlay)
My Little Shoebox Lil' Critter Collection (3 x sheets of double sided paper, 2 x diecut papers, 1 x 12x12 sheet cardstock die cuts, 1 x 6x12 transparent overlay)
My Little Shoebox Sprinkle Glaze Alphabet Stickers (Lagoon)
My Little Shoebox Sprinkle Glaze Alphabet Stickers (Goldfish)

Ahhhh.....the memories.

2011-08-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

I love my blog.
I was looking back through a few years ago.....cracks me up.
Pictures and stories I'd forgotten about.

Like Jack and his tater tots

or Jack and the flour incident

or this one of Samantha I had TOTALLY forgotten about...her goofy face is hillarious!
and that fact that though this was 3 years ago......she looks exactly the same!!!

So glad I have this thing ;)
Good times.

We are working on getting back into school mode over here....earlier bed times.
Back packs filled.
Meeting teachers...the works!
Can't believe where the summer has gone....flew by in a flash.
Some of the kids realizing how few days they have left and wondering what they've done with themselves all summer and why didn't they make more of it. They think they should be doing something BIG the next few days.....before it all comes to a sad end.

And all I can think of is how.on.earth.am.I.going.to.get.up.that.early.every.day.again!

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On a lighter note......how about a few random layouts ;)

just a bit of Pebbles product here.

Happy Wednesday!

She aint as Faithful as she used to be!

2011-08-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

looky where we went!!!!!

It was SO much funner than I thought it would be!

This old girl......we had to waaaaaiiiitttttt for.

Wasn't quite on the ball.

She must be getting a bit old!

but it was cooooool!!!

and Kristen's favorite thing of the ENTIRE trip.

In fact, we sadly missed seeing it blow again while we sat in a cafe for lunch...forgetting to add an hour to our watches ;( She was sorely disappointed.

Our second day we spent in Mammoth Hot Springs.

A gloomy and rainy day...but it sure added to the eeriness of it all ;)

It's also the only day we found a picnic table to eat our lunch on....which we had to hurry through because of rain. And it was also the day we left the hotel not realizing Jack was in flip flops!

Water running down from the upper hot springs that are further down on this post.

closeup of this mountain side.

there are signs every where warning visitors to NOT touch the water.

It will remove the flesh right off of ya....it's that hot.

Just a couple of cuties along the way ;)

These white caps were also Kristen's favorites.....she like to call them marshmallows.

Some hot water trickling down....

the flip flop boy.

the hot springs.

this is a closeup of what the ground looks like in this particular section of the hot springs. It varies from place to place.

The worlds first infinity pool ;) How cool is this hot spring?!!!!

I have to be honest here....when the kids said they wanted to go to Yellowstone, I worried they might be bored. But they insisted....and seriously, I think it's one of the best vacations we've ever taken. They loved it. Every day was filled with a completely different area of the park with totally different scenery.

We slept in everyday, didn't rush. It was glorious.

I totally, like for real, recommend it.

......

and I've got more where these came from.

Just you wait ;)

Balance.....I'm gonna get there!

2011-08-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

It seems like all I've done lately is post about scrappy business. Which is fine for those of you who are interested in scrapbooking, but for some of my peeps out there.....who don't give a rats behind about it, you're probably bored to tears!!!! Please forgive me.....I really want to be better at having more of a balance here....

But, I do have a few items of business, that it is my duty to blog about ;)

For today........it's Get Picky.
Can I tell you how much I have LOVED designing for this sketch blog?????
It has opened up a whole new world to me.
I've strictly been a sit down and figure it out kinda scrapper, but with these challenges....being given a prompt or a sketch, I'm finding it so fun to have a jumping point. And yet, I can still be original with it.

So, if you're interested, thought you might want to know.....Get Picky is having a design team call again!!!!!
I know!!....6 months was gone in a flash!!!!
I'm hoping to stay ;)

For all the deets hop on over here :}

Now.....the sketch for August is up....and guess what???
It's based off my layout ;)
So clearly, I loved it!

Oh, and there might just be a prize involved!

I love these pictures of Jack.....can you see the anticipation on his face????
Waiting in line at Disneyland for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.....he'd been talking about this ride for 2 years...can't believe he remembered it so well!

Lucky

2011-08-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

In the month of July 2 people I loved went to be with our Heavenly Father.

2 wonderful people braved valiant fights with cancer.

And I was lucky to know them.

One of them was our friend Rob Grimshaw....this is him with his adorable family.

His wife Amber was an amazing fighter too. She fought for his life.

She did everything she could to care for him and to find the right help for him.

In the end, Heavenly Father had other plans.

As his friends, everyone has been working hard to ease the financial burden.

We still want to ease that financial burden.

So the plans are still in place to hold a fantastic fundraiser for them.

It is going to be so fun.....and a great way for everyone to celebrate Rob's life.

Here are the details and a link to the blog with all the information.

If you are local I would love to see you there.

It will be a great way to end the summer with your family and give lots of love to another family who desperately need it.

http://www.becausewecarecountryfair.blogspot.com/

August Fun at The Nook ;)

2011-08-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

We've got some fun things happening at the Nook this month......

Next week we are having a fun virtual crop with lots of challenges...don't miss it.
Challenges start bright and early Friday morning ;)

I've posted a little class for my 2 page layout using the August kit here
Pulled a bunch of pics from Jacks 4th birthday party.
Sometimes I just want to see the whole story.....more pictures, less fluff ;)

aaaaand.......don't forget, the design team call is still going on!!!
you've got about 2 more weeks to get your applications in ;)

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Sorry if I've been a bit absent this last week or two....but I have good excuses and lots of pics to share ;)

Get Picky July Inspiration!

2011-08-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

The latest inspiration post is up at Get Picky!

This was an easy one.....butterflies....who doesn't love butterflies???

There's a giveaway again this month too!!!!!!

This month we decided to have another fantastic prize giveaway! Everyone who participates in this challenge will go into a RANDOM draw to win a selection of gorgeous Prima goodies!

Included in the prize:

A selection of Sparkling Spring Collection Papers

A selection of Celebration Collection Papers

2 Packets of Prima blooms

1 Packet of Prima Butterflies

1 packet of Celebration Cardstock Stickers

To be in the running to win next month's guest spot OR our Prima prize, all you need to do is upload and link your multi-photo layouts by midnight (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on August 13th. We know that we have people from all over the world participating in our challenges, so we would like to point out for everyone to please take note of the countdown timer by the link gadget below to see how much time is left for the challenge. If there are any issues uploading to the link gadget, please just link your layouts in the comments section of this post OR email them to us at getpicky@yahoo.com before the closing date and time, and your layout will be included in the judging along with everyone else's layouts. One lucky winner will be announced on August 14th. Good luck!!

Where did the week go????

2011-07-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

Gone in a flash I tell ya!!!

We have been busy around here running to and fro....taking care of things that need to be taken care of before school starts again. Does it feel like school is right around the corner to you??? It does to me and all I can think about is how on earth is my body going to rise that early every.single.day!!!!!

We have definitely been lazy this summer. So much for a routine and schedule that I dreamed of having when summer started. I should just accept the fact that, that my dear....is not how I roll!!! I'd like it to be, but it's just not.

Oh well, I grew up with lazy summer days.....and sometimes I like the idea of my kids having that too. No structure, no rules (well maybe just a few) just fun. Because certainly life gets structured and full of rules soon enough right?!!! See, good, I just made myself feel better ;)

We at the Nook have received our August kit and it is yummy and happy!!!! Just what I need right now ;)
Full of My Minds Eye Lime Twist...Jillibean Soup Ribbons, journaling sprouts and a stamp set.

This kit is feeling just right for all those un-scrapped pics of baby Jack!!! Our little Doug ;)

More Scrappy Schmappy

2011-07-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

As promised....here are a few more layouts with the July kit at My Scrapbook Nook ;)

I went old school with these and pulled out some old photo's......actually, what I've done is this: Every once in a while I'll go through the photo albums and pull pictures that I want to scrapbook. These are all before my digi move so they are not always the greatest, and they are usually random, individual pics. But they are the stories of my babies and I want to document them just as much as I do the fancier newer ones ;) So I have a folder chuck full of old pics right at my fingerprints ;)

I've always loved these little ones of Kristen....the look on her face is so adorable, and of course her sitting in a baby doll cradle is cute as can be, right ?!!!!

First off....this layout was totally inspired by several that were shared on the October Afternoon website ;)

Do you know I didn't realize how precious this photo was until I pulled it out and thought about it for a moment. This is the last photo I have of my grandma with my babies before she died. I adored her, best grandma ever and our kids called her GG.

This layout was based on our member inspiration over at the Nook. Our adorable Sherri made a layout that we lifted....you can find the thread here ;)

Another one of Kristen.....I know I'm biased and all, but she's just toooooooo cute!!!! I wish I could re-live her all over again....my joy over floweth when I think of her ;)

Best of the Web!

2011-07-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Somehow....amongst the millions of amazing scrap blogs out there....mine got picked to be highlighted along with several other crafty blogs on Be@Home..Best of the Web #32. This week they are sharing the world of papercrafting.

Their website....Become.com is shopping blog that features all kinds of interest and loads of information. Obviously, it's more than just shopping...they share lots of ideas and links to fun stuff.

Go check it out ;)

Exciting Times at My Scrapbook Nook!

2011-07-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

My friend and boss-lady over at the Nook, Leah Killian is teaching a journaling class next month.
If you're anything like me, you need a little help when it comes to writing the story!
She is a master and this class is gonna be fabulous!!!
Below is her explanation to the class....

You do not have to be a kit club member to take this class- it is open to absolutely anyone who wants to improve their journaling. This class will show several techniques for making your writing better and offer a lot of jump start ideas to get you on your way. It doesn’t matter what your style is- this class will help you improve how you capture your story!
Class members will be invited to their own private message board and will have opportunities for individual teacher coaching. You will learn many different effective approaches to journaling enabling you to tell your story! Class members will be eligible to win fun prizes, participate in special class challenges, all new sketches and see never before seen art by our design team! You will create like you’ve never created before and your scrapbooks will take on a whole new meaning as you get your own story straight for future generations to treasure!
It is going to be a month of fun, so please join me in the Nook’s first ever focus class, and bring a friend!
You may reserve your spot right here: Getting the Story Straight Registration.

Doesn't it sound great!!!!
I can't wait for it!!!

The other fun news......it's Design Team call time.......ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
It's the best place to be....I have loved my year.....and you can bet, I'll be applying again ;)

Check it out for yourself and have a go ;)

Tomorrow I'll share a few more layouts from the July kit......I've gotten quite carried away.....and I can't stop using it ;)

The UP House!

2011-07-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

While we were visiting in Utah last month.....we got taken for a ride.
To a house.
That is a replica of the house from UP...you know, the mooovie ;)

Not quite sure why it's being built....advertising, I suppose.
It's a good gimic to get people in the neighborhood and look at the houses that they are really building and trying to sell.

But I won't deny, it was cooooooool!
I can't wait to see the inside when it's done.
We were shameless and peeked in all the windows and walked all around the house.
It even has the picture of paradise falls hanging in the living room.

Wanna see????

Funny side story.....Jack was so excited to go see the house, but the second the rubber hit the pavement he was out like a light!!! Didn't even make the 5 min. drive to the house. He slept while we looky- lude around the house. Then we left and had to go to the store. After dragging him through the store and getting back in the car he asked if we were still going to see the UP house. Sadly, I had to tell him he missed it. But I had pictures....and he was cool with that. Thank goodness!!!

Get Picky July Sketch

2011-07-17T23:15:00.000-07:00

The July sketch at Get Picky is up...and we've got a prize for you!!!
Purple Pumpkin is giving away a fun prize pack for this months challenge.
The owner, Sam makes really fantastic buttons, doilies, flowers and other unique embellishments.

I got some great buttons and doilies that will be making an appearance on my inspiration challenge coming out later this month.

For now take a look at the sketch and join in won't you!!!

I was so excited to use the camping line from October Afternoon......even if the camping was in our back yard!!!

Thanks so much for looking ;)

Summer Boredom and some Pages

2011-07-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

So the summer blues and boredom are kicking in.
Some more than others ;)
Everything either costs money to do, or it's too freakin' hot outside to do.
I'm afraid I'm not the funnest parent in town.....so I don't usually have any good answers for them.
And I'm not going to name any names.......

Along with the summer blues how about some layouts in blue.......and you know, I just don't understand how they can get so bored.....I mean....I'm never bored!!!!! I've always got something fun to keep me busy ;)

This here is a little wall piece I'm going to put up on my gallery wall. We got this cool little binder clip in our kit and I decided to make a faux book out of it. I painted a canvas board and glued the clip to it with my book attached.

I used pop dots to separate the pages and make it look nice and thick. Each page has a tab with each of our kids names on it.

This next layout got a little bit out of control! But I like it. Kristen and her friend Blake like to write songs and then sing them. On this night they put on a big concert where they sang their stuff. This song was Root beer Dream....cause they looooove root beer!!! I've got the words to the song written on here so we will always remember it!!!

I loved the stitched paper in this kit!!! So adorable and Scandinavian looking ;) I had these old pics of Kristen in a little dress I made her. She's my Texas girl growing up in the big city.

Be sure to check out My Scrapbook Nook for even more fabulous fun!!!

Nook Layouts

2011-07-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

I've got a few more layouts for the July Kit at My Scrapbook Nook.....
For this one I taught a quick class on how to do the spots...you can check it out here ;)

Both these layouts are of my girls at Easter. The first is just the two of them striking a pose!
This second one is about how I made one last ditch effort to match them for Easter....come on, what was I thinking! They weren't really interested. Samantha like the dress I picked out but Kristen decided to look for something else. I guess they are getting to big for that kinda thing! A momma can try, right?!

I totally love this kit!!!
It's so versatile and right up my alley ;)
Tomorrow I'll show you some layouts that are from this kit, but use a totally different color scheme ;)

Jack's Spook Alley!!!!

2011-07-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Jack got some hair brained idea to set up his room as a spook alley.

Pretty clever I must say ;)

He was hoping I would get out the Halloween decorations so he could really do it up right!

No thanks.

Here's what he came up with......

Snakes hanging from the ceiling!!!!!

hahahaahaaaa!

Pumpkin pictures lined the edge of his bed....where he crawled under to hide in wait.

Do you see his little head popping out to scare us???

I totally love all his little pumpkin faces ;)

Then he lined up some skeletons on his table and hid under there as well.

He turned off his lights and told us to wait in hall till he was ready.

Then we would walk in and he would pop out and scream at us ;)

He cracks me up!!!!

July Kit and Guest Design Spot

2011-07-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

The July kit at My Scrapbook Nook was waiting ever so patiently for me when I got back from my trip to Utah. Yes, I've been gone. ;) Did you miss me?????

It's a fave amongst us designers.....what about you?? Do you love it too???

October Afternoon 5&Dime what's not to love!!!

I've got several projects in the works but the only one done so far is the one I did for the sketch blog Once Upon A Sketch. It's run by my sweet design partner from The Nook Nadia Cannizzo. She runs a super successful sketch blog with amazing talent and participation! Be sure to check it out and play along ;)

Here's her sketch and my take on it.....all the other designers from The Nook played along too...so there is lots of eye candy ;)

I'm really happy with how this one turned out.....especially the story behind it.
As some of you may know Samantha is very proud of her hair, she loves to take care of it and style it. She is really good to learn how to do it, but she saw this style on another girl one day and wanted it! On her own she googled stuff and found a tutorial on the very style she was looking for! It killed me when she came and showed it to me and said that's how she wanted her hair for Easter. Believe you me....I am not skilled in hair! So it took some practice and watching the video over and over to get it right. But come Easter morning I pulled it off and she got what she wanted ;)

Isn't she cute!!!

Get Picky June Inspiration & Prize!

2011-06-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

The June inspiration challenge is up at Get Picky along with a prize!

Be sure to check out the DT takes on this poster....it's fun to see how differently we all interpreted it.

I decided to pull from the color scheme of the blues and yellows, with a touch of brown.

I've had this fun tissue paper from Pink Paislee I wanted to use and just kinda scrunched it and glued it down over some stamping that i did. Nothing too genius but I like the loose wrinkly look of it. The tag sticking out of the pocket has the journaling about this fun little self photo shoot with Jack ;)

Now on to the BIG prize!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone who enters the inspiration challenge this month will go into a random drawing for all this yummy Sassafrass goodness!!!!

Included in the prize:

Sassafras Paper Crush Collection Kit (12 double sided papers, 1 sheet of glitter alpha stickers, 1 sheet of die cut journalling tag stickers, 1 sheet of cardstock "Sweet Treat" stickers)
Sassafras Ellie's Tale Collection Kit (12 double sided papers, 1 sheet of mini alpha stickers, 1 sheet of die cut journalling tag stickers, 1 sheet of cardstock "Sweet Treat" stickers)
Sassafras "Ellie's Pick" Foldies
Sassafras Ellie's Tale Flag Banner Sticker Sheet

So be sure to submit your layout girls!!!!!

Go to Get Picky for ALL the details!!!!

A Quick Layout

2011-06-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

We did a fun little photo swap at My Scrapbook Nook this month.
Traded pictures with another scrapper.

I got these adorable pictures (helloooo phone booth??!!!!!....how cute is that!)

I had so much fun with this layout!!!
Loved the bright colors.
I pulled out some trusty old tissue paper and sewed a little ruffle.

I've got quite a mix of product on here, but the yellow is Pink Paislee, Daily Junque.
Everything else is just random bits.

I sure hope Lisa likes it ;)

My First Book!

2011-06-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Over a year ago I submitted some layouts to a book publication.
It was my first submission...evah!
They accepted 4 of my layouts....I was so excited (eeek! still excited!)
Then 13 long months passed.......and finally, the book....and my layouts were dropped on my doorstep!

It's so funnnnnn!

Here's a link to "The Big Book of Scrapbook Pages"

...and here are the pages that are published in the book ;)

When Nathan saw the book and looked up my pages he joked that I didn't have any of him in there! Said I didn't love him!!! He was totally kidding....but I think he would have gotten a kick out of it ;)

Next time he balks at me taking his picture I'll have to remind him it's the only chance he's got to be famous!!!!!

More School!

2011-06-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd wrap up the whole school thingy....
seeing as how it's summer ;)

The kids did really well this year, I'm so proud of them.
Nathan worked really hard and took things seriously.....he's happy to be free of middle school.
Here he is at his award ceremony...doesn't he look handsome?? ....and tall?????

The exchange....

On to Samantha! She has graduated from second grade...she did so great, straight A's!! Loved her teacher and had a fun year....which is saying something....school aint her fave...but she does work hard.
I love that she plans out her outfit and wants her hair just right! She loves looking her best!

And then we have Kristen.
She is our little lover of school.....wishes she could go every.single.day.
I can.not. believe this little thing will be starting middle school....I hope they don't eat her alive!!!!

She got just about every award there was to get!
Most importantly....The Great American Award.
Out of the entire 5th grade class there were only 27 that earned this one.
The kids had to memorize the Gettysburg Address, The Preamble to the Constitution, ALL the Presidents, The Star Spangled Banner...and lots more, pretty much everything American!

She was amazing and had it done before Christmas. There's her little trophy and her folder with all her awards in it! She is going to be our school teacher!

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

Summer is in full swing around here....haven't quite worked up a routine yet.....hmmmm.
There's always this week!

The Last Preschool Class.....ever.

2011-06-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

insert tears ;(

my baby graduated from preschool a few weeks ago.

He's sooooooo excited for kindy!!!

He was over preschool...big time.

Figured he had learned everything there was to learn.

So happy he had a great year!

He loved his class and all his little buddies.

Just look at him sittin' there all cute like!

We loooooove Miss Heather ;)

Jack with his ex-fiance......good thing they are still friends though ;)

They were engaged for quite some time, even giggled at the thought of having to kiss each other when they got married. Emily eventually decided she just wasn't ready to make a commitment and dumped him!

Recently Jack asked me who his mom was going to be when he was a daddy. (I've never had a kid this obsessed with the whole marriage idea!) I assumed he meant who the "mom" was going to be to his kids, so I explained to him that the mom would be who ever he decided to marry. Then he said he wished he could see how many babies a girl had in her stomach before he married her! Like they come pre-planted!!!!! Hahahahahaa......I'm still laughing over his confusion over the whole thing!

This kid really thinks about stuff let me tell you!!!

Kindergarten here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Watch out!

Get Picky June Sketch

2011-06-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

We are way busy at casa de Monson this week.....cleaning out and reorganizing so we can play this summer!!! It is feeling good. But I really need to blog bunches of stuff.....I am going to work on that this week too! We are all about gettin' her done right now!!!

So for now I will share the June sketch at Get Picky with you. I had these wallet size Halloween pictures that I'd been hanging onto and decided they were perfect. I ended up doing 2 layouts based on this sketch...both very different!

I took some liberties with this one and used 3 photo's that I stacked on each other. I still can't decide if I'm completely happy with how this looks, the pictures show well in person but here on line they look a little lost. I may go back and pop that top picture with a darker background, we'll see ;)

"Ready For Tricks!"

This one is pretty much consistent with the sketch. I love how clean it feels.

It's occurred to me just now that I think I will add a continuing title on this page to connect it to the first layout...."and treats" they will be next to each other in my album so I think that will look cute ;)

Happy Summer Day!!!!!

The Latest Kit at The Nook

2011-06-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it's June already!!!!!
Can you?????
Don't know where the year has gone!
I got the June kit from My Scrapbook Nook recently.
It was so easy to work with, I've whipped out quite a few projects already!

This kit has a lot of purple in it...which is not a color I normally scrap with, but it's such a pretty combination in this kit. And with that being one of Samantha's favorite colors I knew I would have no trouble coming up with pictures that have been waiting for some purple paper!!!

This one of Samantha was a loner pic. Didn't really have any others to go with it. But I loved it, loved the lighting and the pretty smile on her face. So I did a "just because" page. Scrapping the lonely picture just because it's so pretty. Plus I loved all the prints in this kit and wanted to be able to see them all together ;)

Another loner. I always feel guilty scrapping one photo....but sometimes, it's all I got! This is an old one of the 3 kids on a 4th of July. Pre-digi even. Not the best photo, a little dark, a little dull. But I remember this day...it was so fun and I wanted to mark it.

I nearly forgot I had these pics. Was cruising through my on-line stash one day and came across them. Couldn't believe I had forgotten about them. She looks so pretty. She blows me away. First day of first grade....so you know she planned the outfit, the hair...the whole look ;)

Another Samantha....what can I say, her and purple just go together ;)
This is her on her 3rd birthday....a Dora Party. I've got a few more pics of this party I want to scrap with this kit, we'll see if I get to them.

.....and finally, one last little project! For the 4th of July. Besides all the purple, this kit has this gorgeous blue and red in it. I thought it would make for a fun little vintagy pinwheel decoration ;) I need to get some white beans or something for these jars....they just look so naked!

So there you have it! Lily Bee is at the Nook this month!!!
To see more loveliness from the Design Team and members hop on over to the gallery ;)

Get Picky Inspiration!

2011-06-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the month again (hahahaahaha....not that!)
It's inspiration time!!!!
At my favorite sketch blog......Get Picky!!!
I loved the prompt this last month.

As scrappers we tend to drool all over everybody else in our lives and scrap them..but we don't often scrap ourselves. This months challenge was to scrap a layout about ourselves based on this quote:

This happened to be a good one for me.......lets be honest here, some of you know it's not been a good year for me. My health issues have left me down in the dumps. I'm sick of feeling like one big diseased mess pot.
Maybe it was the winter blues or just all the stress of everything....but I am feeling better about things right now and I'm ready to get out of this slump.

For this layout I titled it "Finding Joy in the Journey....everyday" and then journaled about how I've been feeling about myself and how I want to make every day count a little more than I have been. I took these pictures of myself a few months ago after having my hair done......because I don't normally look this good! I'm lazy....I pony tail it nearly every day.

So I challenge YOU....head on over to Get Picky and play along. Hopefully you'll end up with a layout you cherish ;)

First Fake Family Campout!

2011-06-01T22:39:00.000-07:00

We had BIG plans this last weekend.
Take the whole fam on a camp out.
Never done it before!!!! Seriously, can't believe that.
The boys have been, Doug and I used to camp all.the.time before we had kids.
Then nothing.

So we got ready.
Made our plans.
Then the weather decided it should turn cold and SNOW up in the mountains.
I mean, I know it's still wintery in lots of places, but come on, this is Vegas.
We've already started swimming!

2 out of 4 kids were devastated.
We couldn't go...it would just be too miserable and cold.
So we did the next best thing.
We camped at home!!!

The kids helped to set up the tent in the back yard.

Then they set up all the sleeping bags and tried them out ;)

It was VERY exciting!!!!

They hung out, even the American Girl dolls made a showing.

Cards were played.

And someone didn't even make it till dark.

We roasted our marshmallows in the grill.

Made yummy S'mores ;)

Nice and tall!!!
Then we eventually went to sleep.
It was windy and cold, even in our back yard.
The ground......got r.e.a.l.l.y. hard.
I slept like crap.
At sunrise, I grabbed my pillow and headed into the house to my own bed and slept for several more hours.
I could have slept all day.
I must be too old for this!
I think I'll need to prepare my bed better next time.
Like find a mattress or something!

The kids had such a great time the girls decided to sleep in the tent the next night....by.them.selves.
and their American Girl Dolls.
Don't they look brave???
Don't they look like they'll last all night out there????

Less than an hour later they were back in the house crawling in their own beds.
Apparently it was too scary outside by themselves.
Duh.

Hopefully in a few weeks we can make another attempt at our first camp out....away from home ;)

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

2011-05-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to everyone who played along with my little give-a-way!!!

We have a winner of the May kit from My Scrapbook Nook......

drumrolllllll please.......

Ashly said...
OHHH Ive had my eye on the Nook kits for a while now and I think I might take the plunge :) I now follow you from Brady, Nebraska.

May 25, 2011 10:45 AM

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

Congratulations Ashly!!!!!
You're the big winner!!!!
Email me your addy at carolmmonson at yahoo dot com

Jack wants you to know....

2011-05-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

(giveaway still open below!!)
He's baaaaaaack!!!!!

Mwahahahahaahahahaa!!!
He's been drawing the dark mark on his arm everyday lately.
Even including it on his coloring pages.
Obsessed....much?????

This would be an appropriate time for him to use his latest favorite phrase:
"It's life changing"

...hands off people...this kids mine!!!!!

2 Ways to Win!!!

2011-05-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

Who likes a giveaway????????

I know I do!!

I've got a fun one for you!

How about the May Kit from My Scrapbook Nook

It's the gorgeous Hello Luscious line from Basic Gray

If you scroll through the last few post, you can see some layouts I've made with it.

That's right....a kit FOR FREE!!!!!

All you have to do is "follow me"

and leave a comment telling me you did so....oh and where you're from ;)

I'll do a random drawing in one week, next Friday

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

Want to secure yourself a free May kit????

My Scrapbook Nook is offering a fantabulous offer for a limited time only!

Sign up for 6 months and receive the May kit for free......great deal!
Or Sign up for 12months and get the 13th kit free!!!!!!!!!

Each month you will have the fun and excitement of a new shipment of the latest and greatest scrapbooking items. On top of that, the Design Team will be there to inspire, direct and share their talents with you in the Message board.

Kits value between $31- $34 – Yours for only $29.50. This way we ensure that you receive a fully loaded kit each month. We will also offer combined shipping with any add-ons or goodies from the store you need.

http://myscrapbooknook.org/kit-club/

Tell a friend and if they sign up email us at orders@myscrapbooknook.com and give us your friends name and we will give you a $5.00 store credit. Good only while supplies last.

SO there you have it!

2 ways to win!!!

New Sketch at Get Picky

2011-05-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

The May sketch is up at Get Picky this week.
It was lots of fun.....fun to see all the different takes by the DT.

Hop on over to play along ;)

I ended up flipping the right side of the sketch and then turning the pictures to suit my needs. We were given these really fun chipboard products by Scrapmatts to use on our layouts. They are offering a prize pack to the winner of this months sketch challenge so be sure to play along!

Paper, chipboard, brads, ribbon by Crate Paper, misc. alphas, twine by the Twinery, chipboard wheels by Scrapmatts.

Weekend Crop and some Layouts

2011-05-14T22:27:00.000-07:00

The Virtual Crop over at the Nook is in full swing!!!

There are LOADS of challenges...lots of good stuff.

I've got 3 challenges up....follow the links to see what they are all about ;)

9 years ago!!!! how'd they get so big????

feels like yesterday

May Kit....BG hello luscious

Class

my sassy little Samantha....this girl just makes me smile

May Kit....BG hello luscious

Class

...uh, 18 years ago?????

what the heck....babies I tell ya!

Crate Portrait

Class

Virtual Crop and May Kit

2011-05-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

Over at the Nook we are having a Virtual Crop this weekend!

Lots of fun inspiration, challenges and prizes.

Be sure to come and play along ;)

We've also got the May kit popping up in all it's bright happiness.

I love this kit, love all the color!

Here's a 2 pager I did for a class over at the Nook.

Go here if you'd like some detailed instructions on those circles ;)

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

Things around here have been busy.
A birthday
Mothers Day
A visit from Mother ;)
A brave little boy is already for Kindergarten now....poor thing had to have FIVE shots.
......a new lego set made that all better.
A sewing class
Lots of dance recital preparations
More yard work

And with school coming to a close I think my calender is pretty much full at this point with all the end of year festivities and awards and lets hurry up and do all this other stuff before school lets out activities!

I have lots of fun things to share if I could just find the time to do it ;)

Happy Monday!
we had a little rain and it was delightful!

It's Been One of Those Weeks

2011-05-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

Where you just want to check out.
The best I could do on that front, was ignore the blog.

I'll be back later tomorrow with some fun stuff.

Happy Mothers Day!!!!
carol....out.

Some Get Picky Inspiration!

2011-04-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

The new inspiration prompt is up at Get Picky.
I'm sure you're surprised to hear I loved the blues and yellows.
You wouldn't be able to tell.at.all. if you came to my house ;)
heee heeee heee!

This prompt gave me lots of inspiration!
I've been wanting to do these pics of Kristen on her 10th b-day last year....10 in twenty10 ya know ;)
Loved the whole party feel of it all and used some of my favorite things here.
The gray AC alpha; the yellow JB butterfly; and some of my fave SC papers ;)

Hop on over and see what the rest of the design team came up with. I think we all totally enjoyed it!!!

Serious Business I tell Ya!

2011-04-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

You'd think by the looks on these kids faces, that egg dieing was do or die business!

We set up the table outside and let them go to town.

I dare say they had a good time......though hardly a smile was cracked for the camera!

The naked truth.

Diving in.

Little Jack....had it all down.

His was a get her done kinda attitude!

ooooh....a smile.

From Kristen of course!

Just look at that evil eye.....checking out the competition.

The boys.

My step daughter Kathryn ;)

She may as well be, she's here almost as much as the others....and we love her.

Creative coloring here.

******

Spring break was fun.....and exhausting!

I worked my fingers to the bone in the back yard all week.

I couldn't believe how many weeds I had to pull.

All the pruning and re-planting of a few new things.

But it was worth it, the yard looks nice.

The kids were in friend mode all week (and mostly at our house!)

Lots of swimming, lots of eating and lots of mess making.

******

In honor of Easter here's a little layout I did last month using Lily Bee of the girls at Easter a few years ago.

This is How It's Done

2011-04-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Somebody scored himself some sweet wheels this weekend.

Then he got taken for a ride this evening....this is how it went down.

Get the helmet adjusted.

Check out your cool sketchers on the pedals.

Let daddy chase you around the soft basketball court just in case you fall,

which by the way only happened once.

Take off on your own...for a minute.

Then practically run daddy off the side walk cause you can't steer as well as you can balance.

Ride off into a pretty sweet sunset.

Ready to come back another day

for just a little more practice!

He's pretty proud of himself! Was convinced he wouldn't be able to ride a 2 wheeler till at least kindergarten. For some reason kindergarten and bike riding go hand in hand. Not anymore!!!

Boooo yaaaa!!!

April Sketch at Get Picky

2011-04-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

My first design team assignment is up at Get Picky along with the sketch.

I am gonna have so much fun with this. Love the inspiration, the prompts, the chance to use whatever products my little heart desires. I'm telling ya, it's fun to pull out papers I love but haven't had time to use ;)

Take a gander, then hop on over to Get Picky and play along!!!

The title here says....You'll smile.....when the cows come home.
Silly I know, but I came across this paper with the cows on it and figured it was perfect for how I felt when trying to take these pictures of Jack.
Although I thought I wanted him to smile, once I saw these I knew they were priceless ;)

Lots O' Scrappy Goodness

2011-04-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

Happy (hot) weekend!
We're having a little Spring Fever at The Nook this weekend.
Some fun challenges and prizes.....low key, nothing stressful....Just FUN!

Hop on over here and check out all the little challenges and maybe you'll win a fun little RAK from one of the designers.

This is my challenge.....create a layout using a SUN ;)

The papers are Crate Neighborhood that we had as an add on option last month at the Nook.
To make the sun I just free hand cut some long triangles, some big some little and then layered them around to make my sun. One of the papers has these little hexagons, so I just cut out a yellow one and layered it with a button for my center.

As for the April kit here are a few more layouts.....

Sometimes I get ideas that I want to do....like with this one. I wanted to circles. I don't do a lot of circles, so I wanted to try it. I ended up having a lot of fun with the mix of colors that I could incorporate because of all my little circles. AND this is the first time I've ever scrapped studio pictures ;) Samantha at 1.

For this layout I knew I wanted to keep it simple and clean. But I wanted a sun to go with my sunny pictures. A paper sun like my other layout was too bold. So machine stitch I did and I loved how subtle it turned out.
I also made a sketch to go with it for the sketch challenge over at the Nook.

Thanks for looking at all my junk!
My keyboard is starting to stick and my spacer is sticking half the time.....typing is turning into a mess!

Today we bought Jack a bike!
He's so excited, though the one we picked didn't have training wheels, so he'll be learning how to ride it quickly I hope!
Hopefully I'll get some pictures of him soon to share.
I'm finding that I don't pick up my camera near as much these days.
The big kids don't want it in their faces and most of the time Jack is sitting in the middle of a HUGE disaster called toys and playing in his orange shirt and other shade of orange shorts.
That's how he rolls man.

Happy Saturday!!!!
(back to cleaning)

April at My Scrapbook Nook!

2011-04-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest kit at My Scrapbook Nook!
I'm totally loving this one. Love all the bright colors!

This one here of Jack.
About 2 years ago he was hooked on spongebob...and more specifically the song that sings "Now that we're men, we have facial hair, now that we're men...." On this day he was outside playing and found some leaves that he then turned into a mustache and sang his song!
That boy....he keeps me laughing.

Kristen. Some of the pictures I took last summer during my photography class.

I've got a few more layouts with this kit I'll share this week.
Happy Monday, ya'll!

Happy Friday

2011-04-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

Have I told you how much I love this March kit from My Scrapbook NOok???
I'm feeling very inspired this week and have lots of ideas floating around the old noggin.

Just wish I had more time (or was more focused....cause lets be honest, that's more likely the problem!)
I did get 2 more layouts done this week and I have one more I really want
to get done before the next kit comes in.

This first one is Kristen with her baby doll she got for her first birthday.
We still have this doll actually. A little worse for ware and some
added art work to her face thanks to a brother....and probably not the younger one!

More blessing pictures. This is Kristen.
We have the sweetest little tatted shoes that a friend from law school made for her.
They are like lace....so beautiful!!

I was looking back at all my layouts for this kit and you know what.....
They are all of Kristen ;)
Though I did do an entire mini on Samantha....so that's fair right ;)

I seem to go through spurts where I focus on one kid for a while then move on to someone else.
I have a feeling the next kit will feature more of Samantha. (cause I know it's a spunkier style)

As for the weekend...hoping to do lots of scrapping....I tell ya, I'm totally wanting to scrap!!!
Looking forward to conference.
I need some serious inspiration right now.

Hope you all have a super fun weekend!!!
I leave you with Jacks thought for today

"Mommy, I don't think I want to die and go to heaven, there might be camels up there and camels are stinky....P.U. "(with the nose squeezing and hand waving to go with it!)

Whaaaaa??????

Does he not realize that we STILL have camels???? I mean, they didn't leave with the Wise Men!!!

One Rainy Day (not really)

2011-03-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

After whipping out 3 layouts with the March kit over at My Scrapbook Nook

I got in a funk.

My mojo had left me high and dry ;(

So stuff just sat for almost a week.

Then I got an idea with one of the papers in the kit.

It was replication book cover.

Whalaaaaaaa!

A mini album....it certainly wasn't a genius idea, but one I was excited by.

It reminded me of the pictures I had of Samantha from last summer playing with an umbrella.

You can't tell from here but the umbrella girl is popped up.

There are two layers of this image....in case you want to know ;)

I loved the print as it was and didn't want to alter it much.

I don't usually enjoy making mini albums.
They are too repetitive and I tend to get bored before I ever finish them.
This one ended up being really fun.....because I put each page together and made them all DIFFERENT!

The outside cover folds over and attaches to the sheet in back, then I added some black gaffer tape to each individual page/insert for binding purposes. I stacked everything together and stitched it with my sewing machine. Because of the gaffer tape each page turns easily and doesn't rely on the card stock to do the bending ;)

On this set I used the MME tag that came in the kit (you see the back of it here) and one of the little yellow journaling tags from Crate. I used a piece of the book binding paper to make the little green tab on the yellow tag. Under the yellow tag you can see the overlay piece with a brown edge and pink tab attached. There is nothing else on that....just a fun little element page.

The clear overlay is standing straight up in this photo and amazingly you can't see it ;) I filled out the back of this journaling tag about how nurturing Samantha is to little ones. She is my little mommy.

Lots of journaling here. These next two tags are inserted individually and can turn on their own. One contains journaling and the other a photo (duh ;)

I always start to fade a little at the end of any book and struggled to get this last page together. But I'm happy with it....especially cause it's done!

I have fallen.....

2011-03-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

and I can't get up.
You ever have one of those days????
I woke up in a complete fog today.
Soooooo tired and NO energy.
Not sure if it's the MS or what,
but this happens more than it used to.

So for now, I am chilling in bed.

I also seem to have fallen off the blogesphere (is that a word???) ;)
My scrapping mojo took a vacation and I have just felt blah this last week.

I thought I would spend the weekend scrapping lots....but I ended up spoiling my girls instead.

We enjoyed a little girls weekend as the boys headed up to Utah to see a Jazz game.
They had fun, partied hard.....and SO did we ;)

We had a sleepover with some best friends ;)
I made them dinner and served their soda's in our "fancy" glasses.

Kristen and Blake are wanna be rock stars and they have been writing songs for a few years now.
They fine tuned a few things and put on a show for us ;)
Here is the audience.....

Here are the rock stars!

They sang songs about food ;) Their big hit is "Watermelon" it's quite clever and cute really.
And I've completely forgotten all the others!
The paparazzi was there too ;)

They've started a new song.
Licorice Coma...it's sure to be a hit ;)
They are ready to head into the studio to record their album.

They got silly late at night and watched princess movies (cause they are so big now)

Ended up out on the trampoline the next morning talking girl talk I'm sure!

After the guest went home the girls and I headed out to the salon for some mani's and pedi's.

Hit the movies after that and saw the new Diary of Wimpy Kit. It was hillarious and so fitting considering the weekend we just had ;) It was awesome.

We ended our day snuggling in my bed watching another movie.
It was such a fun weekend with my little girls.

I did squeeze in a little scrapping here and there and will share what I came up with tomorrow.
I'm excited about it ;)

Ok, now I really need to get my act together and get up today.
Seriously, I feel like a brick laying here!

Introducing....

2011-03-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

ME! (and the shortest post evah!)
I'm so excited ;)
you'll also see a new layout.

check it....Get Picky

Just a little Overdue!

2011-03-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

My little Samantha was baptized back in November but with winter fast approaching we never went out for a fun little photo shoot.
Months quickly passed by without an opportunity to do it.
It was either too cold, too windy, someone was sick...blah blah blah.

Finally, we went this last weekend.
The temps were perfect but the clouds...not so much.

When we left just before sunset the clouds had totally filled in and it was much darker than I would have liked. But it worked out ok.
Her and I had a lot of fun, after all the people that were hanging around the area left. It took Samantha a while to warm up. She does NOT like an audience!

We got some lovely sweet shots.......

A little running.....

Then what I like to call my money shots!

These are my favorites!!! Her personality, the glimmer (or stink) in her eyes!
Love it ;)

It's good to check that task off my list.
Worrying how far away we were getting from the moment.
Wanting her being 8 to still be fresh. Done.

I'll leave you today with one more layout from my March kit.....
This is by far my fave right now. Hope you like it too ;)

On another note....is it just me or is this new blogger set-up a big fat pain in the unowhat????
The pictures are difficult to rearrange, getting the typing where I want is a pain. It has a mind of it's own!

Happy Friday....hope you have a marvelous weekend!!!

Going Old School

2011-03-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

I would love to go back in time and take better pictures of my babies.
To have a digital camera.
So I could adjust, re size and play with them.

But, since that's not possible,
I did the next best thing.
I took a bunch of old negatives and had them put on disc.

This way I could brighten the darker ones, make b/w
and re size to my hearts content.
Granted, they are not as good of quality, but they are better than the originals ;)

Waaaaayyy back in the day I thought I did ok with a camera.
I was aware of lighting.
But still, so many are dark. I actually know that some of it was poor lab processing.
I've reprinted some negatives and they've come out much brighter and nicer than the first time.

But still, I want to play.

The March kit for My Scrapbook Nook screamed little girl.
It actually has a lot of versatile patterns on it and could be used for a lot of other subjects.
But I wanted to stick with girly girl. ;)

I found similar pictures of both my girls on their blessing days and wanted them side by side.
I had made a dress for Kristen and was so excited to be able to use it again for Samantha.

Here are my 2 girls, at 2 months of age.

This layout didn't quite turn out the way it started.
Still not sure if this is completely what I wanted, but it's what ended up being.

I loved this soft pink and knew it had to have ruffles.
The little white bow is actually one of the trims in the dress.

I love how this next one turned out.
LOVED the yellow gingham. If you know me you shouldn't be surprised by that.
This little photo shoot is one I did of Kristen when she was so little.
See, even back then with my little 35 MM camera I liked to pretend I knew what I was doing ;)
I brightened up these photos and re sized them for this layout.
I love how happy the whole thing feels.
Just like my baby ;)

I so enjoyed being a mama to these little girls.....I would give anything to go back and live that time with them again. I'm one of those who loved the baby phase. Loved the newborn....enjoyed every sleepless night of it (well, you know....mostly ;)

i NEVER saw it

2011-03-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

As a mom we know our kids like nobodies business.
We know the little personality coming out of a certain smile.
The meaning behind a cry or a laugh.

And we know their looks better than any other.
When my girls came along.....they were like night and day to me.

One blond hair and blue eyes, the other dark hair and the darkest of brown eyes.

Do you see what I mean...night and day!

They are both 2 months old here.
Kristen then Samantha.

Somewhere along the way people started commenting at how similar they were.
Even suggested they might be twins.
WHA??????????
Are you mental?????
Do they LOOK like twins....do they even LOOK the same size????
They are 2 1/2 yrs. apart.
I always thought it was funny. I'm mean seriously, just look at these two.
Different.
And personality....oh my.....not even the same.

This last week I pulled out my back up hard drive.
Wanted some certain pictures.
Started looking through months and months of photos from 2007.
The first year I owned a digi camera!
And I saw this.......

Oh.my.goodness.......Everybody else has seen it.
I never did.
But in these photos....they are the same.
I never understood what other people saw.
But I can see here....what strangers see.
What people who don't know them, see.
I'm a little bit blown away by this.

Happy Monday everyone.
I hope you see something new today ;)

btw....I got my kit ;)
enjoying some scrap time to be sure!
Will share some layouts tomorrow.

Apparently it was Friday today ;)

2011-03-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

IN AUSTRALIA!!!!

Because I almost missed this announcement ;)
From these guys.......

It gives us the greatest pleasure in welcoming the following gorgeous girls to our Get Picky family..

Anita Stokes

Carol Monson

Georgia Keays

Kaori Fujimoto

Keri Babbitt

Leanne Allinson

Nicole Pomeroy (returning)

Treesa Young

In making this announcement, we also want to acknowledge our two amazing designers who will not be continuing. We were thrilled when both Kathie and Christine agreed to come and play and to be part of our very first Get Picky Team. We thank you both so sincerely for all you hard work and for sharing your stunning creations with us.

We also want to thank everyone who took the time to submit an application for our design team call. We were absolutely blown away by the number of applicants (over 80) for our very first call and by the awesome talent we had to choose from. We so appreciate you sharing your beautiful work with us. (copied straight from their blog)

Did you see my name up there?????....I'm SO excited! And can't believe they picked me out of all those applicants. I feel so lucky. I love designing and being challenged with my scrapping. All the girls are amazing and I can't wait to make new friends ;)

Thanks again!!!!!!!

It's Coming It's Coming!!!!

2011-03-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

The March kit at My Scrapbook Nook is finally coming!!!!
We have all been drooling and dieing over this one.

It is the latest and greatest from Crate.
That being said.....it's late ;)
But that's what happens with CHA and
wanting to have the newest stuff for our kits.

March usually ends up going out late...but it will SO be worth the wait.
It should be at my door any day now ;)

On a Beach Somewhere

2011-03-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

That's where my brain has been apparently.....
Because that is what I've been scrapping lately ;)
I love digging through old (pre-digital) pictures.
Had these fun October Afternoon papers I hadn't used yet
and these pictures were perfect.
I don't often do double pagers, but I just had to use all of these.
And since they aren't digital......the size I have is the size it is ;)

This is Samantha on a vacation one year...her first time at the beach.
She wasn't too impressed with the sand and didn't want to touch it.
Love her completely perplexed look she keeps giving the sand.
HA!

Here's another set of beach pictures.
A little more recent.
I just love this one and wanted to duplicate it.
I look at this picture and see my whole world.
So I decided to go with a non beach title.
Even at the edge of the world...we are home, as long as we are together ;)
I know....mushy.....but true ;)

This is a mix of a lot of stuff.....some Studio Calico papers, October Afternoon, Basic Grey. I even resurrected an old fabric type tag that you used to be able to buy. I love mushing all kinds of stuff together ;)

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

As for the weekend.
It was a good one.
Got some chores done.
Got some more scrapping done....I heart Sundays ;)
Even squeezed in a date night.
Saw The Adjustment Bureau....I highly recommend it.
The cast is pretty easy on the eyes as well.

As for Jack....when asking me to set up some toys for him
said this "Mom, I command you!"

giggle.

Monday, here we come ;)

Self Portrait of an old girl.

2011-03-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

Self portraits.....feel silly doing them.
But you know what....I think it's a good thing to have.
With all the documenting I do of my family.....
I know they will enjoy seeing me as much as they do themselves.

Had a birthday recently.....wondering how on earth I got here.
Pretty sure I'll be wondering the same thing when I'm 80 ;)

When I started this blog I did 100 things about me.......today I think I'll do 39 ;)

Thing numba
1. I enjoy being alone.
2. I am a homebody....big time.
3. I LOVE to eat out.
4. I like to organize stuff.
5. LOVE Harry Potter...books and movies.
6. Sometimes I feel socially awkward.
7. Tend to be pretty quiet in large crowds.
8. Not good at small talk.
9. Always feel awkward when given compliments.
10. I've definitely lost brain cells ;)
11. Scrap booking is my sanity.
12. I love taking photographs.
13. I hate editing them.
14. I don't mind doing the laundry.
15. I do mind cleaning the kitchen.
16. Love bubble baths.
17. I don't like to exercise.
18. I really really need to.
19. I'm getting bored with this....are you????
20. I love it when it rains.
21. I love to decorate.
22. Love spring and summer colors.
23. I really enjoy my kids.
24. Though, not afraid to admit, I need time away from them.
25. I love country music.
26. I'm addicted to movie theater popcorn....at the movies!
27. I'm slowly trying to minimize....stuff.
28. This will be my less is more year ;)
29. I really love my friends.
30. Love going out to lunch or dinner with said friends.
31. I'm still not as mature as I thought I would be at this point.
32. Love a good pair of jeans.
33. I have an awesome husband.
34. Love our date nights.
35. My mom and I have SO much fun together.
36. I stay up way to late.
37. and don't like to get up in the morning.
38. I'm really worried about my health right now.
39. McCormick & Schmicks has the BEST apple pie EVAHHHHH!!!!
wish I could eat it everyday ;) or at least today ;)

Happy Thursday!!!

Random Scrapping

2011-03-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

Somehow I've managed in quite a few scrap pages lately.
Obsessed....maybe?????
I think it's therapy.
Cheaper right????

It's been fun to pull out some product that I haven't had a chance to use yet.
I love doing my design work but it's fun sometimes to use whatever ;)

For this layout I played along at the Crate sketch challenge they had up last week.
Love this picture of the kids with Shrek....they were all legitimately surprised by the big Ogre ;)
We kinda just walked into him and wasn't expecting it.

This layout is for the punch challenge over at Lily Bee. I adore their products and can't wait to get my hands on all their new lines. This paper is from their Christmas line. Even though this isn't a Christmas photo I thought the paper was so pretty and would work anyways. I punched a bunch of circles then cut them in half to make my bunting that runs through the title. Loved this technique and will do it again for sure ;)

One last layout today. Loved this rainbow paper from Crate and Studio Calico. So bright and fun. I had printed these pictures of the girls to use with some other paper but as soon as I got this paper my plans changed ;) Just a couple of sun flair pictures I tried last summer.

Thanks for looking....I've got quite a few more actually and will try to share them this week ;)

What A Draaaaagggg!!!

2011-02-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

Breaking your leg 2 weeks before basketball playoffs......is a draaaaaaagggg!!!!
Just ask Nathan.
He's not thrilled.
In the least!

Bored out of his mind
and sick of crutches.
It's only been a week...so he's gonna have to get used to them.

Thankfully the whole thing is pretty minor so hopefully he'll get the cast
off in less than 4 weeks.
The dangers of being a teenager on a trampoline ;)