Our Beautiful Tomboy Layout! (My Rare Flower)

This is a plumeria! Is it not beautiful?!?! It is AND it is also rare. Especially one this beautiful!

When people think of 3 year old little girls. They think of princesses, pink, having fun doing gorgeous hair dos, and probably the start of dance class. Funny enough, about 5 years ago, I felt the same way. :) I wanted a "Little Princess" of my own. I wanted her to be blond and blue eyed. :) I wanted her to have beautiful lips. I had dreams of putting her in dance classes and a closet full of PINK! :) Three years ago, that very prayer was answered. God sent me this gorgeous girl.

Blue eyes and BLOND, CURLY hair! :) I was in love the moment I laid eyes on her. Suddenly the 2 miscarriages and months of not getting pregnant seemed to be ok, because I was BLESSED with what I wanted! :) RIGHT?!?!?!

Well, let me tell you something. God always has a way of letting you know he is in control. :) He gave me the beautiful blond girl with the blue eyes. BUT....that is where it ends. HA! I have a three year old little girl that would rather be IRONMAN than a PRINCESS. She would rather wrestle and run and get dirty than dance. As for doing her hair????Even when she lets me and it looks perfect...she hates it. She lobes having her hair down and nothing done to it. And you know what??? I am SO ok with that! :) I definitely have a RARE FLOWER. I am so proud of her and she is (along with her Big Brother) one of the best things that has ever happened to me. They are my reason for getting up in the morning and breathing. :)

So now for the layout. :) I love catching these types of moments between Garth and Sasha. She loves her Daddy so much and if you ask anyone in the family....he is so in love with her. He really didn't put her down for the first year of her life. His mom would get so frustrated with him when we would go over for dinners. Garth made it a sport to be able to do everything with one hand. He cherished her and didn't want anything to touch her. LOL! And we wonder why she didn't walk until she was 16 months old! HA!

Anyways- These moments will always be cherished to me. :) They are something I hope I can remember even when I am old and senile! ;)

Here is the layout!

This was a rub-on for K &Co that I HAD to use on this one! :) TeeHee! :)

I just loved this tag from Ali Edwards for Designer Digitals. :) The journaling says: Date: February 5th, 2010.

Memory:  Oh my goodness, Sasha! You make your father and I smile with your "tomboy" ways.  We just LOVE that you are not the usual "girly girl".  You have always loved any type of Sport Helmet (football, hockey) and this day you saw Daddy's hockey gear in the laundry room. Daddy put his helmets on you and you really, really ENJOYED yourself! Of course, we weren't complaining at all!

Also from Designer Digitals I used this "Simply Sealed- Daddy's Girl" stamp by Katie Pertiet. :) I really went a little hybrid for this project! :) I love it! :)

What I used: 12x12 Patterned from WeRMemory Keepers (MVP Line), Basic Grey (Marrakech) for matting, DCWV Textured Cardstock for matting, American Crafts Thickers, K & Co Rub-ons (Cherish and You are so beautiful to me), heart bling (I am never sure where I get my BLING!), also not sure where I got my black jeweled brad. ;), Ali Edwards "It's all in the details" Tag from Designer Digitals (edited on PSE 7) and Simply Sealed Daddy's Girl digital stamp by Katie Pertiet for Designer Digitals.

Thanks for reading! :)

Happy Birthday Gift Card Box and Card

Hey all! :) I have all of my Cricut Carts in a Creative Options tool box tote thing. I know it has 3 tiers and storage in the top. I got it as a gift so I can't tell you much more than that. :) I will tell you that I have 40+ Cricut Carts and I still have room for more! :)

Anyways- I don't have a need for the box that the carts come in and it seems like such a waste to throw them out. So, I sat down and decided to play a bit. I came up with a Gift Card Box. It is nice to put a gift card in a card, but sometimes I like to throw some candies or other small stuff in there and this lets me do just that! :)

What I did was take some DCWV paper and wrapped it around the box and Modge Podged it. I did this because it makes it more durable than just the paper alone. I, then, cut some shapes out with my Cricut and the Celebrations cart...which is an oldie, but a good one. I glued those on and then but a strip of brown on the box to make it look finished. My crop-a-dile came in handy for the holes for the bow that I put on there. I used a Martha Stewart Crafts white tag and just stippled some Staz-on on it, which I also used on the sides of the box. To finish the box up, I just border punched a piece of white scrap with my Fiskars border punch! :)

The card was simple also...I took the scalloped, square tag and did a blackout in teal under that and then put a "happy birthday" rub-on (Making Memories) on it. I used some of my scrap DCWV paper on the side and a piece of ribbon from Michael's Dollar Bin to finish it off. :)

This was a super easy project, so I hope you won't throw your Cricut Cart Boxes away and recycle them into a sweet little gift box! :)

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Blowin' Things Up!

I am so happy that I decided to do LOAD again this time! :) I may not have been able to keep up with the voraciousness that I had in May, but I am inspired and that makes it all worth it. :) On day 11 in May, I had over 15 layouts done...right now on LOAD Day 11..I have 4! ;)

A little back story to this layout of mine. :) On July 4th of this year, we finally decided to let Jon light off his OWN fireworks. If ANY of you truely know me then you know that this was one of the hardest things for me to do. Jon is my oldest, but it is still so hard for me to let go of him and let him grow the way he needs to. But, with a little of Garth's coaxing, I was ok with it. :)

One of the things that Jon HAD to do is blow up some of his "guys", you know...action figures. He had spent weeks picking out what he thought was the PERFECT combo of guys to BLOW UP.

In the end, he blew an arm off of one and burned another, but he got what he wanted out of it and loved the experience of it all. :)

The Layout

The little bit of journaling I did was on this star I cut from some MME paper.

I cut the "cool" from a DCWV "Boys" Transparancy booklet. I thought it was PERFECT!

Thanks for looking! :)

My Project, My Story (at least for now)

In August, I started a journal entry because of how lucky in life I feel right now. I really was feeling on top of the world on that day. :) I felt that God has blessed me with a great life, beautiful and healthy kids, a great hubby, and good health. I didn't think that this journal entry would have been as healing for me as it has been...you see, I am still writing it and we are in almost to October and I am still not done.

I started writing from a place in my heart that I thought was totally gone and forgotten. If any of you have known me for more than a few years, you know that I have not ALWAYS felt like the luckiest person ever. In fact, for a while, it seemed as though luck, was the last thing I ever had. So that is where my story picked up. I felt that I needed to tell THE WHOLE STORY from the point where I felt very unlucky to now. It just made sense! :)

So, while I won't get into my story on my blog...I did want to share what I did to the notebook I started writing it in. :) It is me, and it is so fitting for the book that is telling my story from 2004 until today! :)

I will say that on this journey and writing I have been getting healed in ways I never thought I could. Thank You, God! :)

What I used: A Mead Spiral Notebook, Daisy D's Patterned Paper, (I also used DCWV patterned paper on the back inner cover for a pocket and Bo Bunny Dotted Cardstock for the back cover), Heidi Swapp for Advantus Iron on Letters and Ghost Butterflies, Doodlebug Designs Bling, Tim Holtz/Ranger Alcohol inks (lights for Ghosts and darker colors for charms), Paint Dabber (Pearl), So Charmed charms, A Touch of Trim Pearl and pink ribbon.

BIA's Summertime Challenge!!!

WOW! I have been out of the blogging scene for quite some time this month, huh? I have been doing a lot of projects and hopefully a couple of them will pan out for me. :) We will see though! :) Now let's get to the fun!!!!!

The Zutter Zisters had another fun challenge on the BIA Blogsite. I have been really loving challenges lately. When I see one..I have to do it! :) Well, the challenge was to make a Summertime project using your Bind-It-All. I himmed and hawed for a while and then realized what would be one of the funnest projects out there and really needed at this time of year. :) My project was a Floen Family Summer Envie Book! I was thinking that it would be nice to keep certain things within reach, so I could just grab it when I needed it. :)

So here it is:

What I used: BIA 5/8" o-wire and BIA tool

Cricut Accent Essentials Cartridge

BoBunny Dotted Cardstock, flowers, cardstock stickers, cutouts, and brads.

My Mind's Eye "Breaking Free" Just Chillin' Accessories

American Crafts Plastic Flowers

Bling is from Michaels

Square Bling is from Glitz

DCWV Patterned Paper

Metal Flowers are from Colorbok

CTMH Waxy Flax

Beads are from Walmart

Bazzil Bling Brads

Polymark Puff Paint

I hope you like it and thanks for looking! :)

Spring Butterfly Card for Swap (March '09)

This is a 6x6 card that I did for a Spring Swap at my lss.
What I used: Bazzill (apple green), DCWV-Butterflies and Blossoms, Stampin'Up (mat for stamped image), studio g, memento dew drop inks (rosebud and new sprout), white and black cardstock was from scrap, fiskars border punch, circles were cut using the Creative Memories Circle Cutting System, Butterfly was cut with the Cricut and Indie Art Cartridge on Glossy White Paper using the Alcohol Ink Splatter Technique from Tim Holtz's Demo at: http://www.timholtz.com/demos.html, black cardstock was used for the butterfly's shadow, bling was from Bead Party

Nona and Sasha (June 2007)

See how behind I am?! LOL! Miss Sasha will be in 3 months and she is almost as tall as my mom!! LOL! Sorry MOM! ;) If any of you know my mom..you know that she is a very short lady! :)
What I used: DCWV- Garden Party, Tattered Angels' Glimmer Chips (butterfly, Nature Rouge), Perfect Pearls Mist- this was homemade using Ranger Distress re-inker and Pearl Ex Powders (check out Tim Holtz Demo on Perfect Pearls Mist at: http://www.timholtz.com/demos.html), Tag is from Avery inked with blending foam (Ranger) with CTMH inks (taffy, pink carnation, and cocoa)..the technique I used for this tag is demoed by Tim Holtz in the Distress Ink Stamp Pads part of his demo videos at: http://www.timholtz.com/demos.html, American Crafts- brown cardstock for matting, Tim Holtz (idea-o-logy)-Keyhole and brads, Studio G Stamp- Flourish

Jon's Last Day of School '06

These pics were taken during Jon's Last Day of First Grade! :) See how long it took to get them scrapped? I just keep telling myself I was waiting for ideas on how to scrap them!! LOL!
What I used: 12x12 DCWV-Stack 6, Circles were cut from scrap paper using the Creative Memories Circle cutting system, Dice was cut with the Cricut using the Indie Art Cartridge and scrap paper, Delight Horizontal Journaling Tag-Ali Edwards for Designer Digitals also PhotoShop Elements 7 to edit the tag for use, Ranger Alcohol Inks in Lettuce, Cranberry, and Denim, Ranger Paint Dabber in Lettuce, Doodlebug Designs-brown brads, and CTMH- red, yellow, green, and blue brads.

"Full of Beauty" Sasha and Cassie

My niece had come over when Sasha was about 5 1/2 months old without her two little ones and had some one on one time with her. :) These were pics I took of that time! :)

What I used: 12x12 DCWV-Garden Party, Stampin'Up paper (mats), My Mind's Eye-Diecuts (Full of Beauty and the clock face), American Crafts- Metal Photo Turns (on clock), Stickles, paper flowers (sticker bin), CTMH- ink for distressing- cocoa and dutch blue.

My Project For MOMS' Chocolate Crop! :)

I was so worried that I would not like the outcome and that my project for Friday's Chocolate Crop would suck, but I am so happy with the outcome! :) Can you see me doing the "happy dance"?

What I used: **I am giving measurements this time for my peeps who can't be there! :)**

-2 pieces of Cardboard/chipboard cut 3.5"w x 5.75"h

-2 pieces of American Crafts cardstock cut 3.5"w x 5.75h (I used brown, but you can do whatever you want...make it yours!)

-2 pieces of patterned paper cut 3.5"w x 5.75"h (I used DCWV, but use whatever!)

-BIA (Bind-it-all)

-5/8" BIA coils (6)

-Ribbon (I used 3 different types and I get all of my ribbon from Michael's $$$ bin.

-I used a metal rimmed, vellum tag that I got from QVC, like 5 years ago.

-Stampin' Up Set: For the Love of Chocolate!

-Versamark stamp pad

-Embossing powders: Silver Tinsel (There was this lady that did a stamp store out of her house here in town and I think maybe she got it in bulk) and Teddy Bear (I got this at Stamp Happy in Helena...I think maybe they made it?!)

-CTMH Stamp Pad- Chocolate

-American Crafts- Metallic Paper

-Parchment Paper for your printer

-I made the lines for the notebook by doing CTRL+U (underline) and tabbing to the end of the page. Then I printed it out on regular printer paper 10 times. :) CINCH-O!

This is a totally simple project and I LOVED doing it and I am positive I will do ok teaching it. Some of you that know me, know this is a HUGE fear for me! But...I am prepared and excited for this. Besides those who matter will be cool with it and those who don't.....well, you know what I want to say, but I would like it if I didn't always have to use that type of language! :) LOL!

Sasha Eating Cake at Papa's B-day

This is another layout from my dad's birthday party in 2007.
What I used: DCWV- Once Upon a Time 12x12 paper
MM- Chipboard Shapes (hearts and frames)
Cricut- Celebrations Cartridge (cake tag)
Fiskars- Party Embossing Template (cuttlebug to emboss)
Homeade Perfect Pearls Mist: Made with Vintage Photo Distress Reinker and Gold Pearl Ex.
Tulle- Model Crafts (red)

Whimsical Animals Card

This card I am doing for a swap for a scrapping/papercrafting group that I am a part of.
What I used: Bazzill Cardstock- Admiral
DCWV- Stack 6 pack (animals)
12x12 paper from my stash of paper (green and orange)
Flower Punch
Studio G- Hello stamp
Studio G was also used for my flourish on the inside of my card
Buttons
MM Scrapbook Stitches- Red
CTMH Stamp pads- Outdoor Denim, Barn Red, Topiary, and Autumn Terracotta