I'm a StepMom!!

Well, technically I'm a hybridMom but MiYon's back-up CT is called StepMoms so I'm a StepMom! MiYon is the fabulous Scarletheels whose fabulous designs are at CatScraps and I am honored to be part of her team. She put out a call for her back-up team...one layout per month...I can handle that!! :) And she emailed me to ask if I would be interested in being a hybrid CT member. Um...heck yeh!! So I can create as much as I want but my requirements are one hybrid LO every other month...digi on the other months. Sooo...I downloaded my first kit and it is gorgeous!! It's called "Muse's Return" and here are my first official layouts for MiYon. (The first one above, the second one here...)

Isn't that kit dreamy and magical??? It's funny...I always sort of leaned toward the digital stuff that looked like traditional pages but I am really loving the freedom that comes with the whimsical, dream-like pages. And Traci has a fabulous new kit in the store now! It's called "Love Plus One" and it is so yummy! Lots of doodly hearts and the cutest little elephants EVAH! :) I made tow LO's over the weekend using the new kit and even though they're similar, I liked both of them for different reasons so...I uploaded both of them. Here they are....

Awww...weren't we cute?? That's a picture of DH and I that my picture took a *few* years ago. {hehe!} Let me see...what else....Jodie McNally has some really fun new date dots and alpha dots in the store and some new papers so I made a quick and simple P365 layout using all of her new stuff.

Hangin' in there?? Too many layouts?? :) I've been away from the blog so long, I got a little behind on my layout posting. So I have a few more...Dianne Rigdon has some really fun new goodies in her store. Lots of bling and super cute doodles...I played a little with those...here's what I came up with:

And I almost forgot...I broke out Traci's Artistic Frames and Alphas again and my a little layout those and a bunch of other Traci-goodies. :0)

*whew!* That's the last of 'em!! Did you make it through?? ;) What can I say...I've been busy! {hehe!!} And I really am keeping up with my pic-of-the-day...haven't missed a day yet. I'm just very bad at getting them uploaded to the internet. I'll be sharing some of those next time.And finally...have you all been to AC Bailey lately?? Erica has been hard at work giving the store and message board a facelift and it looks great!! You should stop by and check it out when you get the chance. Thanks for stopping by and hanging in there with me all the way to the end! Have a great night!

Read more...

Just playing...

Oh my goodness...has it really been that long since my last post?? Gees. Oh well..no excuses...just right to the point. A little (okay...probably not-so-little) explanation about the layout above. I bought a sweet new digital kit just to play with...just for me and I was so excited to get it downloaded and start playing...WWEEEE!! Well...those of you who know me know that I have satellite internet service which can be a little unreliable during nasty weather. Nasty weather like we've been having for days...ice, snow, little more ice...fog...blah, blah. Anyway, this big ol' kit that I bought was huge and it was separated into about 5 or 6 different parts. So I started downloading...and then...kaput. I got one set of papers and two sets of elements before it stalled and I just couldn't wait for the rest of it...I had to start playing. I was able to grab the rest of the kit today and wow!! It's so magical and surreal!! Oh my goodness..I suppose I should tell you the name of the kit and designer, right?? :) It's called "Secret Garden" by Lily Designs and it is loaded with fun goodies like fairy dust and wings and stunning papers. I had such a good time getting lost in my own little world making that magical layout of Syd. Okay...on to some other things.

I've decided to join some of my friends and play along with the Project 365 that's all the rage this year. At first, I found myself taking artsy-fartsy pictures that may have been pretty but really had no bearing on my life. So I decided that instead of just committing to taking one photo a day, I would make sure that I took a photo every day that had some meaning to that particular day in my life. They may not be the best or gallery worthy, but they will be how I want to document my year. My friend, Leah, started a Flickr group for us so we can all help each other stick with the challenge. For that gallery, we decided to upload the pictures straight out of the camera...no tweaking or cropping. But I'm sure I'll be doing some adjusting to my pictures before I actually use them. Here's my first picture....

My kids have cereal every morning before they go to school so I just snapped a picture of Syd's Apple Jacks. Silly...but part of our day. And here's my second one...

The story behind that one is...I was taking the tree down and un-decorating and Syd was really sad about it. She asked me if I would leave her little Christmas tree up in her room "forever" so that's why I chose that picture. Oh...and then our fridge decided to quit working on us so that why I snapped this shot:

So you see...not the most fascinating shots, eh?? :) But at least I've been keeping up...yay!! Okay...here are a couple layouts that I wanted to share...I just made this one for Traci Murphy using her gorgeous Artistic Frames and Alphas:

And finally, I made this fun little layout using Jodie McNally's Geek Chic word art pack.

And I was so excited when I got an email from Lauren Pieters telling me that my geek layout had been featured on the Gallery Standouts blog!! Wha?? Yay!! Oh...and one more thing...I got an email a couple days ago from Scrapbook News and Review telling me that a digi layout that I submitted was accepted and will be published in the next issue! More Yay!! :)

Okay...whew!! I think I really am finished rambling now. Hope I didn't overload you with junk!! Thanks for stopping by!!

Read more...

Somebody had a birthday!!

My little girlie turned 7!  Wha??  Really??  Wasn't I just pregnant with her??  Wasn't my family just making bets on whether she would arrive on Christmas or New Year's Eve??  Geesh.  The time is sailing by.  Anyway...she had a pretty good day.  She wanted her presents under the tree so she could pretend it was Christmas morning again.  So I wrapped her little presents and stuck them under the tree and seh came out the next morning all kinds of ready to open her gifts.  She was so cute with her sleepy eyes trying to wake up and her hair all tosseed around.  And she finally got some earrings (that Santa didn't bring...darn Santa) and that Holiday Barbie that she wanted!!  Yay!!  I have to say...Holiday Barbie's presentation was pretty cool.   It had these "floating" snowflakes in the box and you know I had to save those!  I actually used one of them for a project...I'll be sharing that in a minute.  Anyway...this Holiday Barbie was standing there on our ottoman and she was looking pretty sassy with the natural light shining on her so I snapped a picture...is that weird??  Now come on...doesn't she look sassy??  {hehe!!}  

Okay...so on to the project that I mentioned.  Sassafras Lass (yummy) is having a little contest.   All you have to do is go to their blog and download a super-cute diorama and create something with it to have the chance to win the uber cute new "Life at the Pole" line.  Well...I had big plans of creating a fabulous shadow box scene but then...life happened and I ended up making a little ornament instead.  I still like it though. :)  I used a really cute snowy paper from Dianne Rigdon's Christmas in Your Heart kit for the background and just cut it to fit and adhered it to a CD.  Then I put my pieces together and fancied them up a bit with some red and Stardust Stickles.  And when I first saw this cute little project, I thought it was just screaming for felt so I cut some little whimsical trees out of a scrap piece of felt and tacked them on.  Then I just used my Cropadile to make the hole and threaded some scrap ribbon through it.  And finally...I added that cute little floating snowflake that I mentioned to the bottom just for fun. 

 It's super simple but I think it cute. ;)  Isn't that just the cutest line of scrappy goodies ever??  

And...I have one more little project to share.  It's a layout that I did for Traci's team featuring...of course, our new puppy!! :)  

She is the hardest dog in the world to photograph!!  As soon as she sees that camera, she comes running.  Typical.  :)  So this is the only decent picture I have of her so far.  Hopefully she'll get accustomed to the camera and I'll be able to get some more soon...hopefully.  So there you have it...that's what we've been up to lately.  How about you??  Anyone else giving the Sassafras Lass contest a try??  I know Leah created something fabulous!  (I got a little peek...hehe!!)  Good luck to everyone that's entering!  Thanks for stopping by!! 

Read more...

A Great Big Ball of Christmas Love! :)

Awww...isn't she precious??? That's our family Christmas present!! She's our newest family member...an eight-week old Newfoundland puppy. When I was growing up, we had a malamute/newfoundland mix named Rex and I have always wanted a full-blooded Newfie. They're such a beautiful breed and just a perfect match for a family....so sweet, loving, and loyal. Anyway, I have apparently hinted (okay..whined) about getting a Newfie long enough that DH finally said, "You're not going to be happy until you get one." What he really meant was..."you're not going to shut up until I buy one!" LOL!! So...we went to look at her on Sunday and I knew I would fall in love with her instantly but so did DH. And of course the kids wanted to take her home immediately. But we got everything ready and DH brought her home yesterday. Our house is in shambles...crates and newspapers everywhere but we just love her to death. Her name is Bailey and she is spoiled rotten already. She is currently asleep on hubby's shoes in the kitchen. Aww...a Christmas puppy...what could be cuter???

And I do have a couple hybrid projects to share. I've probably mentioned this before but I just love Dianne Rigdon's Christmas in Your Heart digital kit. So...I've been playing with it some more. We had a few of those giant Hershey bars in our cupboard so I decided to make a wrapper for it. Can you believe that this is the first time I've attempted a candy bar wrapper?? That seems to be one of the first projects that digi scrappers tackle but...I guess I'm just a little slow. :) Here's how it turned out:

It's already been opened and eaten, by the way! {hehe!!} And I did a hybrid layout. I kept it pretty simple. I love this background paper so I just added an extracted photo of my mom pulling Sydney and Maddie on the sled and a heart and some wings for the digital part. I printed it and then added a bunch of stickles for the snow and some stickles on the heart and wings. Then I just added my own little letter stickers topped with some red stickles. Here's how it turned out:

I thought it was pretty cool that Mom, Syd, and Maddie had snow clothes on that went so well with the paper!! :) So that's my little Christmas eve post. I want to wish each and every one of you a blessed and wonderful Christmas day!! I hope you are able to spend it with the ones you love!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Read more...

Prepare yourself...lots o' layouts!! :)

Okay...I've been promising some new layouts...you guys thought I was lying, didn't you?? :) Well, I finally got around to uploading some!! So let me stop blabbling and here we go!!! I did a couple new projects using Jodie McNally's word art...here's one of Jesse playing in the snow...And here's my Christmas card for this year...I just loved this picture of my kiddos from this summer. They actually looked natural, not those big cheesy smiles...you know the ones I mean. {hehe!}

Ooo...Dianne Rigdon has a gorgeous new Christmas kit over at Scrap Artist called Christmas in Your Heart...love it! I thought it was perfect for this picture of my Dad's tree that he decorates every year...it's SOOOO pretty. It's the first Christmas decoration that go up around here so it definitely signifies the start of the holiday season for us. Anyway...here's my layout:

And I have a few AC Bailey DT projects that I haven't shared yet. I snapped this cute little picture of my nieces adorable red shoes this summer when she took them off to run through the sprinkler. Had to do a layout with that picture, right??

Tired of layouts yet??? Almost done. ;) My son finally got the electric guitar that he's been wanting forever and look...he actually let me take some pictures of him with it!! Can you believe it?? (And he is rockin' that guitar...he's picking it up so quickly!! I'm so proud and impressed!!)

And I haven't forgotten how to play with paper...I did a hybrid layout using some of the new Crate paper Lemon Grass collection. And I have to admit...I am LOVING those puffy Thickers!

And finally...I made a couple new layouts for Traci. She has a fun new kit called "vroom" with lots of fun little cars and cute little papers and for some reason, the first thing I thought of when I saw it was my hubby's first Dodge Ram Quad Cab. {teehee!}

Last one, I promise!!! Traci has some new Christmas-y goodies in the store!! I love that she included orange in her kit!! (And I have to thank my friend and fellow ACB DT member, Becky, for the inspiration on this layout...thank you becky!!!)

*whew!!!* You made it through the whole thing!! Kudos!!! :) So there you have it...just some of the things that I've been up to lately. I hope everyone is having a great time getting ready for the holidays. Thanks for stopping by and letting me overload you with layouts!! Have a great evening!!

Read more...

For Him...

I've been away from my blog for quite a bit and I struggled with whether I should make this post or not. But I finally decided that I needed to. On the morning of November 29th, I got a phone call from my dad telling me that one of our family members had passed away. My cousin, Robbie Lyons, died at his home...peacefully. The doctors said that he just went to sleep and felt no pain. But as you can imagine, this has really torn our hearts out. He leaves behind his son, Levi...he loved that boy so much! They were constantly going fishing or to Six Flags...Robbie was a bit of a kid himself. :) He was such a kind soul. He always greeted everyone with a big, genuine smile and a hug. I don't remember a time that I saw him when he didn't have a hug for me. So I just wanted to make a post in honor of him. The picture of Robbie and his family (mother, father, sisters, nieces, nephews) is from our family reunion last year. (Robbie is the one on the right with the curly hair and glasses and his arm around Levi.) He will be missed by all that knew him. I'll be back tomorrow with some layouts to share. Thank you for letting me share a little bit about Robbie!!

Read more...

Did someone say...snow??

It's been a while since my last post and yep...we got some snow. Not as much as they were calling for...only about five inches or so. But it has pretty much been snowing every day for a week. And today...we're under a winter weather advisory. It's pouring down but they're only calling for about seven inches. I don't know...if it keeps this up, I'm thinking we might get that and then some. I haven't taken any pictures today because it's snowing so hard that it just looks like fog with a few flakes mixed in so I can't get anything to turn out decent. But I did snap a couple shots from our last snow before it got dark.
That's what it looked like when it started but then we got most of our snow through the night. It sure was pretty.

Okay...enough snowy talk. Those of you that know me know that I'm not much of a card maker...they scare me. But I started playing around with some digital goodies from Dianne Rigdon and I made a couple cards...a digi one, then I printed the digi one and added a few things, and then I made another hybrid one. So I thought I'd share!

This is how my digital card ended up...

And then I printed it out and added some Stardust Stickles to the snow and decorations and, of course, I had to add a little star, right?? It's hard to see the sparkle but it's there...I promise!

And then I printed some digital papers from Dianne and cut out some funky little triangles and added some stickles (surprise) and some Dimension pearls for the snow. The journaling spot is from Pink Paislee. Not sure about this one but I still wanted to share it:

I have one more thing to share...I think it's my latest favorite digital layout. I used a bunch of different kits to make this layout even though it looks pretty simple. My daughter just loves this page so that makes it even more special, right?? So here it is:

I just love being able to make something with such a magical and dreamy feel to it. And I had such a good time putting this one together...except for all those little eyelets that I used to make the chains. I wanted to make the LO 100% Dianne Rigdon so I extracted a few eyelets from a journaling mat and put them together and duplicated it to make the chain. That was not so fun. {hehe} So that's what's been going on in my little world...snow and scrapping. Thanks for stopping by!! :)

Read more...