Merry Kissmas

We are giving a group gift to Nick's preschool teachers and I offered to make the cards for each. Since I order printed Christmas cards for our friends and family, I love having the opportunity to make a Christmas card, from the heart, for teachers and other special people in our lives. This Pure Innocence stamp is so adorable, it's hard to resist! It certainly warms my heart just looking at it. And how cute is the sentiment, "Merry Kissmas"?

We're Camping

We went camping this past weekend along the coast with my best friend, her husband, and son. Even though it was raining on Friday, we took a chance during a break in the storm to set up our tent. Ten minutes into it, it started pouring. Brian and I were soaked from head to toe, but chalked it up to a character building activity. It rained until about midnight, coming down very heavily at times, but luckily the kids slept through it all. My best friend has a different story to tell about that night, but I'll leave it to her to tell it. What a whooper! We woke up to a beautiful day. We spent four hours playing and exploring the beach. Back at the campsite, we went on a family bike ride, grilled burgers, and made s'mores. We made great memories and can't wait to return to the great outdoors, but next time, when there is no rain in the forecast.

The Birthday Girl

My little Halloween birthday girl turns six today. The six things I love about Paige are: her genuine sweetness, caring for others, affectionate, smart, loving, and silly-goofy side. I'm not biased or anything. For her birthday, she really wanted a pool party. So when we decided this last month, we made sure she knew that it was based on the weather. She must have been saying her prayers each night because we had a gorgeous sunny day here yesterday, perfect for a Little Mermaid pool party. Paige and I made bracelets and magnets for her guests using bottlecaps and beads. Most of the papers are from the Cosmo Cricket Sea Salt line which is perfect for a pool party. 

The Cove

We had a nice time exploring the cove yesterday. The sea lions stole the show and won the kids' hearts as best sight of the day. They are ready to go snorkeling there, but looks like we'll have to wait until next summer when the water warms up again. Plus, I have this little thing in the back of my mind that sea lions are at a certain place on the food chain and where there are sea lions, there are...cue the Jaws music.

Little Frankenstein

I saw this Frankenstein Billy from Pink Cat Studio and thought of my little nephew, so I whipped up a simple Halloween card with  him in mind. I can't believe Halloween is just next week. Let the sugar rush begin!

My Little Pumpkin

I made a simple scrapbook page using pieces of the latest kit. I look back at these pictures of Nick with such nostalgia. I can't believe that he no longer is that little baby. Bate's is such a great place to get photos of the kids and a great place to wander about. I don't think we are going to make it there this year, for I have a feeling Brian is "over it". And in some small way, I am too. But, we'll always have our memories and there's always next year (just in case).

Trio of Pumpkins

Brian and I got into a pretty lengthy discussion about pie and how much we loooove pie. I would take it over cake anyday. After all that talk about pie, it got me thinking about Thanksgiving. Then, that got me thinking about my scrapbook kit from last month that I hadn't touched yet, but knew was full of Fall goodies. So, I inked up my Verve pumpkin stamps and made my first Thanksgiving card. And I paper pieced again, my new favorite technique. I'm also having fun making square cards. I might have to save this card for Paige's teacher, along with a homemade loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Ah, I just love this time of year.

Nick Turns Four

My baby turned four. Just the fact that he turned four probably means I should not be calling him "my baby" anymore, but I just can't help myself. For Nick's birthday this year, we took him to Disneyland so that he could fight his arch nemesis, Darth Vadar. We also had a small family celebration where the birthday boy wanted cheeseburgers, his favorite "white chips" aka Ruffles, and a clone trooper cake. He had me until clone trooper cake. So, I busted out my cake decorating class paperwork and remembered a simple technique using rice paper to create the image I needed. He loved it! The best part about Nick's entire birthday was his baby girl cousin, Audrey, was born on his actual birthdate. How exciting is that?!

If You Give a Mouse to Nick

Nick had his first "homework assignment" last week. His teacher read their class the book, If You Take a Mouse to School,  so it was his turn to take Mouse home and chronicle his adventures. Even though this seemed more like a homework assignment for me, I was happy to take pictures and create a scrapbook page of all the fun stuff they did together. Mouse watched Nick swim in the pool while relaxing on the chaise lounge. Mouse also went to the library with us and had a visit with Papa & Tita.

Back to School

The kids are back in school and it was pretty emotional for me to send Paige off to kindergarten. We have been talking about it a lot all summer and, boy, she was definitely prepared. So, when she walked into that classroom, I was the one with wet eyes, not her. She loves her teacher and enjoys making new friends each day. Nick, too, has adjusted very well to his new preschool and has already charmed his teachers. I used the Imaginisce Geek is Chic line which is full of bright colors and cute die-cut images to create the layouts.

Beach Bliss

The rules from last month's scrapbook club class was to include a Tim Holtz item and something else that I have already forgotten, but I think I did include it. With that being said, my two Tim Holtz items are the keyhole and washi tape. I love this picture of Paige taken on Nick's second birthday when we stayed on the beach at Camp Pendleton. Making it black and white gave it a little bit of a 40s vibe, which I think adds to the layout. Most of the papers are by Authentique.

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

I am in love with these itty bitty stamps from the Papertrey Ink Hanging Out line. I paper pieced the little clothes once again, woohoo! I also included the bingo card from Jenni Bowlin and a Tim Holtz keyhole. This card is not a typical card that I make; however, I was so happy with the way it turned out that I hope to stretch and bend my comfort zone more often. Oh, and, this card was made for my little niece who is due to come soon. I can't wait to meet her!

Puzzles

One of our favorite activities we have been doing this summer is working on puzzles. Paige and I can sit there for hours together. We get so excited everytime we find a tough piece. I love these 500 piece puzzles by the artist, Jane Wooster Scott. They are so full of color and interest that it makes for a great intro puzzle for Paige. I have always loved doing puzzles since I can remember, so it has been a lot of fun passing that down to her. Nick likes it too, but his interest never lasts more than five minutes. Typical three year old boy.



Thank You Melody!

My best friend's mom and dear friend, Melody, was so generous and kind to give me a huge stash of her stuff. I felt like a kid in a candy store sifting through all the paper pads. She also gave me a few Pure Innocence stamps which are simply the sweetest. I inked one up right away and even paper pieced it. I never seem to paper piece because it always adds to the amount of time to make the card, but I love how it turned out, which means I might just become a paper piecing machine now. Paige asked to see the card when I finished and she said, "Mom, you make the prettiest cards." And instead of saying, "You should see Melody's", I said, "Thank you".

Summer Camp

Paige and Nick thoroughly enjoyed their gymnastics camp this summer. They ended the week-long camp by doing a performance. Nick performed to a Beach Boys song, hence the sunglasses. Paige loved twirling a long ribbon in her show. Both performances involved somersaults, cartwheels, and some moves on the trampoline. They both had so much fun, which made me smile from ear to ear just watching them.



Beach Day

After my last scrapbook club meeting, I went straight to work using pieces of the kit. It was really the background paper that inspired me. I knew it would be perfect paper as a backdrop to these pictures of Nick, the first time he went to the beach. Other parts of the kit include the bottlecap, that I used to display the month, the corrugated paper, and the Luminarte radiant rain I used on the blue cardstock. I created the coral paper using a stencil and glimmer mists.



More Monkey Business

It brings me great satisfaction when I use ALL the paper I recently bought. Considering that I still have paper from 1997 when I first started this hobby, that is saying something. I can't believe I have paper that old, but it's hard to let go sometimes. I always think, "well you never know, might come in handy." Most likely, I'll pass it on to the kids to let them play around. So, using the same paper from yesterday's scrapbook layout, I made a card for a birthday party we are attending this weekend. This is also the first square card I have made, so that added a little extra challenge for me.

Monkey Faces

I'm finally on a scrapbook roll again. My goal is to finish the year 2008 by the end of summer and I'm almost to Easter. I'm getting there, slowly, but surely. It's hard not to have fun scrapping when you get to see these cute pictures again. I titled it "Monkey Faces" because Nick is known around our family for constantly making silly, goofy, serious, and mad faces. I bought this Recollections paper a while back and it fit the theme perfectly. Now, if I could get him to stop making mad faces at me, I will have really accomplished something.

20 Year Reunion

This weekend was my twenty year high school reunion. I was surprised by the mixed feelings I had before the party. I was anxious, nervous, excited, and giddy about seeing all my old classmates. Here I am with two of my best friends before the party. We had to have some champagne to toast our twenty-four years of friendship. When we first arrived at the party, we half-jokingly thought we should turn around and go straight home, but we carried on, and ended up having a fabulous time! Amazing to see all of us twenty years later.



Pizza on the Grill

I have been itching to try something new, baking a pizza on the grill AND making my own pizza dough in the bread machine. Both turned out to be a solid choice. I cannot believe how easy it is to make dough in the bread machine. I don't think I can ever buy it again at the store. I may have to tweak the recipe to get a bit more flavor, but I was very happy for the first try. And grilling the pizza, well, Brian did all the work on that one, and he did a great job. Not that I had any doubt in him.

First Lost Tooth

Paige lost her first tooth about two weeks ago. I love this picture of her taken before her dance recital because you can really see that cute little gap. She was so happy to have lost her first tooth. Many of her preschool friends were losing teeth and she just plain felt left out. Kids are so funny about things like that. The tooth fairy brought her two dollars for her first tooth. That seems about right these days.

Spa Time

Although we are still waiting to install the solar on the pool, it is done! It is so nice to see the landscape finally finished. It adds a whole other space to the house that we haven't used since we moved in nine months ago. The kids have been dying to go in, so we fired up the spa last night (since it's still a little chilly, June gloom and all) and had some family time hanging out. We had so much fun!

Happy Robot

I used a Mojo Monday layout from a few weeks ago to create this card for a sweet two year old boy that lives on the East Coast. I don't get to see him very often, but he sure is loved by us. How cute is this little robot having hello? All the papers I got at Michael's and this was the first time I put them to good use.

My First Mini-Book

One thing I was determined to do on our trip was chronicle it each night as a journal. I bought this mini-book album from Little Yellow Bicycle, along with the papers. Before the trip, I glued all the papers onto the cardstock and made sure to create a journaling space in each section. Then I packed up a little craft kit that I brought with me on the trip with basic scrapbooking supplies. I had so much fun each night writing down what we did that day. Since it was our first family camping experience, I really wanted to jot down everything right away.