What's Scrappenin'?

Well, here I am, and here you are!

2012-02-01T15:10:00.000-05:00

I suppose it's about time I get around to posting something around here. I've gotten a few emails from those of you who still check to see if I'm still alive and kicking, and I am! I haven't scrapbooked much since June, however, and it's about time I change that. I've come to a place where I'm happy with my weight, have a routine to get my body in line, and with the boys in school together for the morning, I have some free* time. I also spent some time up in the Lansing area with my dear friend, Genie, and was able to get a few pages done in that time. It was nice, though I hadn't brought much with me for scrapping, and I was able to work on a few pages without having the mass that is my stash to overwhelm me.

So, here you go. Some actual scrapbook pages on a blog about scrapbooking. Who'd have imagined I might actually get around to posting here again? Hopefully, I can become more regular around these parts. I often get urges to get creative, though I put them to the side to get a, b, or c, done and by the time those things get done the urge has often passed.

The last one is my absolute favorite. It isn't often that I get to scrapbook girls, and I love that when I get a serious urge, I can borrow Genie's. This is her youngest daughter, Ellie, and while I adore both of her daughters, Ellie was especially cute and adorable when I was up visiting. I think I might try to steal her one day, when Genie isn't looking. LOL. (Just kidding, Genie. ;) ) I also used the latest Creative Scrappers sketch to inspire it.

* Free time, as defined by the fact that I can have 30 minutes of uninterrupted peace and quiet without husband or children where I choose not to do housework or run errands. This doesn't mean it's really free. It is one of those things I call "robbing Peter to pay Paul." But laundry doesn't go bad when left unattended for 30 minutes. LOL

Before & After

2011-09-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

Me (on the right) in October 2010, 184+ pounds.

Me, last week, 164 pounds.

Summer Vacation Brings Lots of Change

2011-09-01T19:20:00.001-04:00

So with both boys being home for the summer, time has been very limited. It's gotten even more so as the summer has progressed just because keeping up with them, housework, cooking, exercise, etc, isn't always the easiest of things. I haven't scrapbooked much all summer. In fact, the pages I'm going to share today were all made in the month of August. I have pretty much not scrapbooked all summer, instead focusing on getting my health back in check. My CFS really hit me hard over last fall and winter, and I put on quite a bit of weight - up to 184.5 pounds, which is the most I have weighed since before Ethan was born.

I started back to running in April/May and then started really watching what I eat in June. Since I started the whole process, I have lost over 20 pounds (down now to 162), including 19 inches from my waist, hips, around my belly button, thighs, neck, and chest. It's hard to believe that I let myself go so much, but the time for that is over. At some point, I plan to start on my Smash Book, documenting the whole process. I've been keeping snippets of this and that as I go on this journey. Hopefully, once school resumes, you'll see some of those pages as they are put together.

Anyhow, now for the part you all would rather see, I'm sure. I'll share the layouts I made while I was at a retreat with my WTTS gals. I have one more, but I'll save that for another group. I'm going to try to get some scrapbooking in this weekend, since I'll have a whole new round of stuff to do once school starts on Tuesday!

I might give you all the skinny on my skinny down, too. Show you some befores and what I look like now. It really is a big difference!

Remembering Anna

2011-05-22T10:41:00.000-04:00

My scrapping is slow going lately. I have plenty of ideas, little motivation to do something about them. I'm going through a rough time personally, trying to cope with my reality, which is that I am almost assuredly going to have to go back to work full time... and soon. It's depressing because I love being at home with the boys and being available to help out at school and doing all of the stuff that my Mother was never able to do because she had to work to make sure that we had a roof over our head and food in our bellies. I keep praying that Pampered Chef will pick up and it will all work out that I can have my cake and eat it, too. But it's not looking so good right now.

But, in all of that, I still spent a moment to remember Anna. It gave me a chance to think about something other than the craziness of everyday and the feelings of failure I've been having over the past week.

This is the magnolia tree that's in my neighbor's back yard. Of course, our neighbors are new and Anna, though she was our neighbor for more than 10 years, has gone to meet God. She was a wonderful woman, full of life, delicious recipes, and beautiful flowers. And I swear that the magnolia tree bloomed the brightest flowers it has ever bloomed; a sign from her that she is well and thriving.

We miss you, Anna. Thank you for your friendship and all of the wonderful memories you've given us as a result. :)

Using my Silhouette for Home Decor

2011-05-19T14:49:00.000-04:00

So I have this curved wall in my bathroom that I'm never very sure what to do with. My husband, of course, says do nothing because he doesn't want another project on his hands. Instead, I do what I want (lol) and decided to try out my Silhouette in terms of how well it cuts vinyl.

I have the original Silhouette and have had it for quite some time, but I don't use it nearly as much as I should. Now that I'm getting better at using it, and since Silhouette released Silhouette Studio, I find that it's much easier than it was in the past.

Anyway, I decided to make a little bit of art and see how it looked. I'm not sure if I'll keep all of it up, but it was a great learning experience with the vinyl. A few tips for anyone who may be thinking about doing this but isn't sure if they can:

- When peeling away the "extra" vinyl that isn't part of the design, find a corner and start there, then cut the vinyl away as you go. Then work your way into the more detailed stuff.
- It's a good idea to use a pair of scissors with a sharp point or a craft knife to accomplish pulling the negative away from the image. That way, you don't warp the vinyl with your fingernails.
- To make it easier to transfer the vinyl from the backing to the transfer tape, I swiped it with a credit card and then also did the same when moving from the transfer tape to the wall.
- Have someone stand back and make sure you're placing your things straight. That way, you don't end up with a crooked phrase or flourish.
- My Silhouette did a lot of starting and stopping in the process. It paused to "think about it" quite a few times with each cut. Just be patient! It will eventually complete.

That's pretty much all I can think of. It was something new for me and I still have a ton of vinyl to do various projects with. I'm thinking that I'm going to do something in the boys' room after I paint it over Memorial Day weekend, but I'm still undecided as to what.

Anyway, that's that. Have a great day!

A Miss Art's Project

2011-05-18T17:11:00.001-04:00

I don't usually like to follow verbatim type projects, but I really loved this wall hanging, and so I made it. It was super simple, and I put it together in less than an hour. The total cost was $4 for the photo frame that I picked up at Dollar General... I liked it so much I ended up making two of them. One to gift to a friend and one to keep for myself!

I still have to finish the About Me book... I have all of the pieces collected to do so... I just don't have the motivation because it feels so immense. You know how that goes, I'm sure.

I haven't decided who I'm gifting the second one to, but I'm sure if you put up a strong enough argument, it could be you! ;)

Weekend Fun

2011-05-15T19:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I was a vendor at an Open House I had been invited to join with my Pampered Chef business, followed by a bit of hanging out with my cousin at (and mostly after) her Thirty One party. Then I came home and crashed with a killer headache that turned into a migraine. I'm still fighting it off this morning... nothing seems to be helping it... not even scrapbooking!

I did do some scrapbooking today, though. It's a long battle when I am thinking in a fog, but slowing down in my thought process (which is hard to think possible, since I'm such a slow scrapper, anyway) really makes me analyze my pages and make them special.

I made this for a couple of different challenges. First, the Polka Dot Door Inspiration Challenge and used Got Sketch 115 and also for my Use Your Supplies Challenge over on Scrapbook.com for buttons... I used 13 buttons in 3 different colors and also sewed them on for the twist. I used some lovely Echo Park paper. I'm telling you what... they may be up there above a couple of my other favorites that I have mentioned in the past. :)

NSD Tidings

2011-05-11T22:59:00.000-04:00

I completely forgot to share some of my hard scrappy work from NSD. Of course, I tried to partake in the challenges but I am just such a slow scrapper that I'm always like 5 minutes late to the party. lol. Anyway, here's my favorites from the day:

Spring Meadows!

2011-05-10T12:30:00.001-04:00

Notice a theme to my past two posts? It is definitely and utterly and finally Spring in Michigan. Thankfully! It only took until the end of April for it to show its face around here. We even had snow in the middle of April, which isn't unheard of around here, but still causes rumblings and grumblings.

I think the squirrels have stolen most of my tulip bulbs, because I only had one lonely little tulip sprout up and bloom this year, but it bloomed beautifully!

I really thought that Spring Meadow Mini from TwinMomScraps did my lonely bloom justice. My photo didn't quite fit the frame, but I played around with a few of the elements and papers and was happy with this result.

Hello Springtime!

2011-05-09T13:01:00.001-04:00

TwinMomScraps very graciously OK'd me to use one of her newest kits for my blog, and now I'm finally getting around to share one of the pages I made with the same kit! There may be more to come. I'm really in love with the colors of this one!

I also used Creative Scrappers #155 to finish this page. I just love how it turned out!

Winners (finally)!

2011-05-07T10:52:00.000-04:00

Wow. The 1st of May came and went and all of the past week is a blur. It seems like at least once per month since January, one of my kids gets sick, followed by the other. And they're never just sniffly sick. Ethan coughed so hard he made himself sick and Cameron ran fevers of over 103 degress for two nights in a row. It always sucks all of the life and energy out of me and it takes everything I have just to make it through those days.

It's all behind me now, thankfully! I was able to get them both healthy again and I'm almost caught up on my sleep again. But it sure made the time go by quickly... the last I remember, it was Easter Sunday, and the next thing I knew, I woke up and it was National Scrapbooking Day! Well, at least it's a fitting day to announce my prize winner from my blog re-do on the 23rd of April.

3 ribbon roses, 5 spiral felt roses, and 4 loopy felt flowers, along with the Create: Embellish idea book!

And the lucky winner is...

Jennie, please send an email to williamsmelissa (dot) m (at) gmail . com with your mailing address, and I will get these your way as soon as possible!

New & Improved!

2011-04-23T10:52:00.002-04:00

You might notice, if you visit my actual blog, that there's a whole new look and feel going on today. Also a new title! So, in case you're freaking out because you see, "What's Scrappenin'?" and you don't remember that title on your blog roll, that's because yesterday it was, "Veni, Vidi, Clicki." I got the OK from TwinMomScraps to roll out the change before the release of her new kit, and for that I am very excited. It means you get a little sneak into the new kit she is rolling out on May 1!

And I'd like to thank my bestest of scrapper buddies, the one and only GMS for being slick enough to take our IM catch phrase and suggest it as a title. So, my dear, I will be sending you some fun felt rosettes. And now, before I get to the next phase of the new blog roll out (a giveaway), I have a few bits of eye candy to offer.

I had originally made the above page for a GDT call over at backporchmemories.com and I couldn't share it until the contest closed. I forgot about it until now... so here it is to share with you!

These are a couple of cards I made for a swap, along with the other two I shared in earlier posts. I had bought a kit from one of the Prima classes, but since I follow the beat of my own drum, I used it to my own devices instead of their's. Not that there was anything wrong with the class cards... I just have my own ideas when I see the gorgeous Madeline paper!

Now, you've survived that and I'd like to offer something in exchange: a giveaway! You can get up to three entries, and here's how:

1. Become a follower then leave a comment, telling me about your favorite scrapbook product right now. If you're already a follower, then just leave the comment.
2. Post about this on your Facebook wall, and then leave a comment.
3. Post about this on your Twitter feed, and then leave a comment.

And what will you win? Well, I have a few different things...

1. A small collection of felt rosettes (at least 5)
2. A small collection of ribbon roses (at least 3)
3. A small collection of loopy felt flowers (at least 4)
4. A copy of Create: Embellish

You have until May 1 to get your 3 entries in!

Oh how I wish you could 'Be Mine!'

2011-04-22T09:26:00.004-04:00

I really love Echo Park Paper Co, and not just because they sent me a free 6x6 paper pad for being one of the first 25 people to post on their wall on Facebook for a giveaway on my birthday. ;) I hadn't ever worked with this brand of paper before, though, and I was hesitant to buy in because you can never really tell the quality of the paper ahead of time. But, I'm happy to say that the paper is sturdy enough to put up with my abuse, AND the patterns are fab. And by fab I mean that I think I might like this paper just as much as I do Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Fancy Pants, and Prima. Don't you just love this card I made with it?

Thankfully (for me, but not really) I am on my $20 Scrap-Diet budget, so I can't just run out and stock up on tons and tons of Echo Park paper, though I am highly tempted to. Thankfully (for me, but not really) I don't have any room for growth quite yet in my paper stash, so I can't go buy anything until I get some space in the stash to put it. Thankfully (for me, but not really) I have a good head on my shoulders and I'm not going to go buy a ton of Echo Park product on impulse, even though I really want this one so bad I can taste it.

This may be one of those things that gives me pause to spend my budget money because I want it so badly. I don't know if I can find it in town... but I may have to make a trip to my LSS to see if she can order it for me. That way, I won't blow my budget for next month on shipping and handling.

Which, by the way, in regards to the budget for April... I'm doing quite well. I still have $1.42 left and I have no plans to spend it by the end of the month! ;)

Before & After

2011-04-21T11:02:00.004-04:00

Sometimes, you just don't get it right on the first try...

So you go back, reevaluate, and try again:

And sometimes, you have to wait a couple of days to figure out what it is that bothered you before you can fix it. That's what's so great about art. You can always work with what you have to make it what you want. :)

It might be hard to believe, but it wasn't until I had photographed and started uploading this card on Scrapbook.com that I figured out that the scalloped strip didn't look right at all. Thankfully Mini Glue Dots are pretty forgiving and I was able to place it somewhere where it's purpose was better served.

The last thing...

2011-04-20T19:46:00.004-04:00

I expected to see when I woke up Monday morning...

was that Mother Nature had abandoned us to Old Man Winter once again...

Luckily for us, all of that white stuff melted away by the time Ethan got out of school...

But I still would have rather not seen it at all. That's Michigan for you, though! If you don't like the weather, wait an hour. ;)

Finally Finished!

2011-04-16T10:16:00.004-04:00

This page seemed to take forever! First, I couldn't get the background right. Then, I tried misting and messed the whole thing up and had to start all over again. Then, I tried some rub ons that I ended up not liking and tried to remove them with Un-Du and it didn't quite work out. But finally, finally it all came together satisfactorily enough that I decided it was finished. Most of that was because I was tired of fooling with it, but I also like how it looks (leftover rub ons aside).

This uses Creative Scrappers #151. I haven't scrapped with many 4x6 photos lately, so it was nice to find a favorite and focus on it. Yes, I'm still scrapping Binder Park Zoo pictures. No, I'm not tired of scrapping zoo pictures, yet (well, maybe a little). I had fun with techniques on this, though. Even if they were subtle (the clock is painted with Choc-o-late Shimmerz to antique it a bit).

It only took sitting on my table all week to complete. So because of that, no matter what might bother me, I am happy to call it finished! :)

Fair Warning...

2011-04-15T13:54:00.002-04:00

Don't be surprised if you see some changes coming this way, soon. TwinMomScraps is releasing a kit in May that has absolutely adorable and has inspired me to redesign my blog. I am pretty sure I'm also going to change the title, since my blog has become more about my "scrappenings" than about anything else.

Maybe I'll also do a giveaway at the same time, since we all love giveaways.

Any title suggestions out there? I think I'll send an RAK if you suggest a title and I like it so much I use it! I'm thinking some felt rosettes as seen here - at least 5 of them. And colored how you like them, as well! :)

Yes!

2011-04-12T14:28:00.003-04:00

It took some time for me... I had to change the way I scrap to really get it done, but I did it! I actually completed a palette for The Color Room! And not only that, but I also used the sketch. I think it may be a day I need to mark on my calendar for future remembrance, since I'm not sure how often I'll actually be able to accomplish this. I had to really dig deep, to sift through my paper, which is not sorted by color, and to think outside of my normal box (though I still managed to stick with paper collections and not on purpose - they both just happened to match the palette)!

So there you go. It just goes to show, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. Now go forth and scrapify! ;)

Monkey Poo

2011-04-11T12:10:00.003-04:00

I created this page from a great sketch from Sketchy Thursdays. Little did I realize when I'd started splattering paint that it'd end up looking like the monkeys helped me scrapbook. ;) However, I still love the amount of texture I've put on the page and I even made some little jute spiral flowers to give it even more. This page really has it all in the texture department, I think.

Here's a couple of close up shots of the jute flowers:

And here's the sketch that the page originated from, in case you were wondering and were too lazy to click off to Sketchy Thursdays to see it for yourself:

PS - I feel like Rebecca Price sat next to me the whole way as I was scrapping this (even though she was probably sleeping in Ohio at the time)... I truly feel like I channeled her with the cardboard and the jute! She is such a bad influence. ;) Love ya girl!

Happy belated birthday to me!

2011-04-07T10:26:00.004-04:00

I meant to post on my birthday, and then yesterday, but life is so busy with both kids being home all day that it just wasn't possible. My oldest really makes my handful exactly that - full! In case you didn't gather from the previous sentences, my birthday was on Tuesday. I said goodbye to one of my most feared but most favorites ages so far - 30. Yes, I'm both sad and excited to say that I'm 31... and I had to make a page totally dedicated to it! I also used the Prima April BAP sketch for this. It fit perfectly!

I made the little rosettes myself out of a circle of felt and some Shimmerz. I'm telling you, I'm really addicted to that stuff lately! I don't think I can make a page without some sort of Shimmerz on it somewhere. Here's a detail of the rossettes:

You might also notice those flowers. Well, they started out as the plain white Primas in the jar. I stamped them with a Glitz distress stamp and heat embossed them with black embossing powder. Then I used - yes, you got it - Shimmerz to color them. They have a hint of sparkle, which is what I wanted most every item on the page to do. You might also notice that the pearl flourish is painted as well. It's one of my favorite things to do - make my SIIPs match my page! Here's another detail shot, just for fun:

Anyway, I've been taking a class through Stash To Treasure (soon to become Miss Art's Papercrafting School - you should check them out on Facebook - they're giving away a prize chocked full of Prima when they get to 200 fans!) called About Me. It's taught by Bethany Kartchner and there are so many great little things I have learned so far...

The rosettes are one of the embellishments Bethany teaches how to make. They're made from fabric. As you can see, some of mine are better than others. :)

Bethany uses ghost shapes in the class, but I didn't have any, so I made my own by punching shapes out of transparency.

These flowers are my absolute favorite! I ended up stealing these to use on my page above. lol. I can always make more so it's all good!

Here are the rosettes that I made on my own. The fabric ones use a felt backing and I had felt leftover so I cut circles from it, then spiraled those circles and rolled them up... kind of like in this tutorial here, but with felt instead. :) When I used them on my page, I popped a pearl in the center just because I thought it was pretty.

And this is my Pièce de résistance... Didn't it turn out swell? I'd tell you how I did it, but I won't, because then you won't have a reason to take the class, since I gave away the best secret! lol

Details and a Pre-Diet Binge!

2011-03-31T14:21:00.003-04:00

I spent some time on a page the past couple of nights between working and watching kids. I did something I don't normally do on a page unless I'm scrap-lifting someone else; I clustered. Usually I don't feel like I do very well with clustering, but I think because I wasn't TRYING to make it look like someone else's page, I did it much better than I had in previous attempts!

In the detail shot below, you can see the pearl flourish that I used is painted using my new favorites: Shimmerz paints! It really added a unique look to the pearls and also made them better-match my page. I also used one of those vines that I've had in my stash since their inception on the scrap market! I'm so excited about that, since I had refused to purge their deliciousness because I just *knew* I could find a use for them.

Speaking of using up my stash, I allowed myself that "pre-diet binge" purchase I may have alluded to in my last post. My purchases had to be under $100 and needed to be what I determine to be basic needs in my stash. I allowed myself only 4 impulse buys and they had to total under $20.

As you can see, there is more Kraft paper, as well as white cardstock. I also got 2 rolls of Terrifically Tacky Tape (I was completely out), 2 packs of flower-center bling (I use this on cards ALL of the time and only had about 3 left in each of my other packages), a package of foam paint brushes (I've been going through about 1 or 2 foam brushes per week lately), some ribbon and jute twine, a couple packs of pearl flourishes (I use them a lot lately), Tiny Type Alphas (a true staple of mine - I use them on almost every page), and some metal charms. My impulse items were the wreath styrofoam and the 2 packs of Prima flowers (because... well you've seen my flower collection - and lest we not forget these flowers as well). I even came under budget on this purchase and spent $71.92 - more than I had really wanted to spend, but still... I'll be making it up over the next 6 months!

If you'd like to join me, I am hosting this as a challenge over on Scrapbook.com - I'd love to have you go on a diet with me and join so we can support each other. (Really, I just hate doing things alone... please don't let me be lonely! lol)

I'm going on a diet.

2011-03-30T12:00:00.001-04:00

No, not of the weight-loss kind, although maybe if I do one, the other will also follow, since they both require willpower and self-discipline. I'm talking about a diet of the scrap-shopping kind. My goal for the next few months is to spend $20 or less per month on scrapbooking supplies, only buying the necessities like adhesive and printer ink. It's not like I want or need for anything, anyway.

I mean, you've seen all my scrap stuff! I can probably scrap all of my past photos, without being picky, and still have stuff left over for someone else to scrap all of their photos, too! My intention for this particular exercise is to try to use up as much of my older stuff as possible so that it doesn't take up as much space! I have room to grow, in some aspects, but there's certain things that I don't want to grow!

So... the reason I am putting this here is so that I can be held accountable somewhere. Here are the rules, as defined by myself, starting April 1:

Things that will not count in my $20 budget:

printer ink (I use my printer primarily for business purposes, so to penalize my scrap budget on refills is completely unfair)

my stash-to-treasure class, as long as I complete that month's project before the end of the month

my WTTS scrap retreat expenses in August (not enough time for me to build up enough funds for that, but I will probably buy as little as possible between now and then, anyway, out of guilt)

Things that count in my $20 budget:

everything else I might use for scrapbooking purposes

That means adhesive, ink, paper, and all of my embellishments will fall under that $20 umbrella... and if I don't use the entire $20 for the month, I can carry the amount over to the next month, so if I have a big purchase I'd like to make, I will have to refrain from buying for a few months in order to afford said purchase.

I'm hoping by forcing myself to use what I already have, it will help me be more creative in what I use, to get rid of my stash of scraps (even after purging so many of them), and inspire me to make do when I feel like I should buy something. It might also force me to actually send in DT applications instead of get all of the stuff together and then chicken out at the last second... I mean, I ended my term with most of my teams at the end of last year because scrapping was starting to become more of a chore and less fun, so I do have to make sure I limit my DTs to one or two, if I can even get on another DT. It's not like my stuff is all that amazing or anything.

So there you have it. Starting April 1, I am on a scrap diet. I guess I better go out and get that Kraft cardstock before Friday! lol

Another project down!

2011-03-29T10:20:00.003-04:00

I've had this 7 Gypsies printer tray for almost a year now and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I had completed my last page and had a lot of the paper leftover from the flags, and it had all these really cute hearts on it. I cut them out of the paper and started playing around with them, and viola! Inspiration hit!

I don't usually do the detail shots much because I don't feel the need, and I'm a little lazy when it comes to that, but I thought it was necessary for this particular project.

How did I get the paper to stick to the tray? I Mod Podged the back of the paper and slid it into the tray.

For the title, I cut the paper so it would fit over the 2 compartments, and then used Tombow Mono Multi Liquid adhesive on the edges and placed the paper over it.

The hearts are popped off the paper. And really, all of this is made with paper scraps that I had saved from other projects.

The tray is now at home in my living room. :) I'm really pleased with myself over this project!

Sketchy Fun

2011-03-27T19:16:00.003-04:00

Sometimes the easiest way to get a page over and done with is to find a sketch that inspires a design you can work with. I've had these mask photos from the Binder Park Zoo for months and then some, considering that I take new ones each time we go, as if they will change with age like my kids. hehehe. I finally decided that this would be a good time to scrap the last set of photos from September...

And it only took this sketch from Inspired Blueprints to get me inspired...
Some other sketch blogs I frequent are:

My Little Sketch Blook by Liz Qualman

Pagemaps

Triple the Sketch

Nuts About Sketches

Sketches: Creatively Yours

Sketchy Thursdays

In other news, I get to spend a couple of days working back at the middle school next week on Monday and Wednesday to help my former counterpart catch up on some work. I'm not quite sure if I'm excited to be back for a couple of days, but it will still be nice to earn some extra money and have some adult time. I'm sure come Thursday, after working the two days, plus the Pampered Chef show I'm working on Wednesday night, I will be pretty whipped!

If you don't hear from me next week, it's not because I'm being lazy. It's because I'm pooped! After that is spring break. I'm hoping to get out with the boys a couple of the days and have a great time!

The biggest popsicles EVER!

2011-03-23T16:08:00.003-04:00

So in case anyone was worried about Cameron, he is doing just fine today. His x-ray and blood tests results showed mild viral pneumonia and we were told to discontinue the antibiotic and ride it out and give him Benadryl for his hives every 6 hours.

Somewhere around 6 pm, the hives started to get worse, even with the Benadryl, and by 9 pm poor little CJ's face (including his eyes and lips) had started to swell. I called the pediatrician and as I was on the phone, he started choking, gagging, and vomiting up the Benadryl I had given him just 15 minutes prior.

I rushed him to the ER, where my mother-in-law met me, to sit around for over an hour waiting to see a doctor. Luckily, the little bit of Benadryl that he had kept down lessened his condition in that time and he wasn't terribly uncomfortable.

Once he'd seen the doctor, he was given a couple of steroids and some Pepcid (because it is apparently also used to treat hives as well as ulcers) and then a Popsicle since he was such a great little patient for the doctor.

It was the biggest Popsicle he'd ever seen, and he ate every last bite of it. Three hours after we had arrived, about 1 am or so, his condition had improved satisfactorily, and he was released with a mostly clean bill of health.

In the meantime, his hives have pretty much disappeared, he is never to take arithromycin or zithromax until he's old enough to be safely allergy tested (if a need is presented for such a test), and I am the proud owner of a few more gray hairs on my head. What a scary night, but I'm so, so glad that everything turned out alright!

Waiting is the most difficult thing!

2011-03-22T13:48:00.003-04:00

God knew this morning that he wanted to test the extent of my patience as a mother. First, my kids have been sick on and off for the past month. This last infection to have rocked our house was one that came on fast, with no warning, and quickly with a fever that was upwards of 104 degrees with both of them. I am always diligent on keeping an eye on their temperatures when situations like this arise, and I called the doctor right away to get them seen rather than try to ride this particular strain of sick out like I have the others. So, they were both put on azithromycin within 2 days of each other.

Ethan is already rebounded from his affliction with this infection, but Cameron didn't seem to be any better last night (4th day on antibiotic) and he kept us up a good portion of the night with terrible coughing. Then, this morning, he complained about having a belly ache; rather, his exact words were, "my tummy hurts!" I took this as him having a gut ache and gave him a glass of water and a bit of cereal to see if it would calm it down. I then gave him his normal dose of medicines and took his temperature to discover he had an 99.8 degree fever. Instead of waiting for his temperature to go up, because he was complaining of what I thought to be a belly ache, I gave him a dose of Tylenol with his antibiotic, reflux meds, and albuterol.

Fast forward to about 8 am, and I'm getting everyone dressed. It isn't uncommon for me to wait until it's almost time to leave to get everyone dressed. This way, I don't have to worry about spills and messes resulting in a wardrobe change (it has happened before). I help Cameron to get undressed and notice that his tummy hurting was actually a mess of hives all over his trunk, down his legs, on his arms, and on his neck and face!

Fast forward some more and we're at the doctor's office to try to figure out the problem and also discuss the fact that his cough isn't getting better. The doctor takes a listen and says he has pneumonia, but because of the hives and the fact that he also had an ear infection that cleared up, he was worried that it wasn't bacterial pneumonia, but instead a virus. That, and he also couldn't get a good listen to his chest to determine how severe the pneumonia was.

So, off we went to Bronson to get a blood draw and a chest x-ray! In my haze, I didn't realize the slip of paper the pediatrician handed me was actually our orders for the tests and ended up feeling like a doofus because I called the office to ask when he was going to fax them, only to find out they'd been shoved into my purse all along.

My poor little bubba was such a big boy getting the x-ray, and Daddy helped with the blood draw since I have a severe phobia of needles and blood draws. When it got done, he said, "Hey! That didn't hurt!"

Now plays the waiting game to find out what the test results say. The pediatrician put, "STAT," on the orders, but, "STAT," in doctor's talk isn't the same as, "STAT," when you or I say it, since, "STAT," means that the results will be back in 3-or-so hours, instead of right away like I mean when I say it to my kids. (Although, I'm not much of a, "STAT," stating person, anyway. I just say, "right now!")

So, while I wait, I figured I'd at least share my latest page for TwinMomScraps. She came out with another new kit this week called Beach Break. I really loved the orange and turquoise combination in this kit, though I chose to make my page of something not-beach-themed, because I'm a rebel like that.

Her newsletter is coming out later today and there's a great little Word-Art freebie available from a fellow member of the TMS creative team, Krystal. If you haven't signed up yet, you should today!

Now, back I go to the waiting game. Thanks for letting me waste some time here explaining my frustration of the word, "STAT." :)

Using Digital Scrapbook Supplies for Organizational Purposes

2011-03-21T12:05:00.006-04:00

In a post earlier this month, I shared a video in which I made a comment that I needed to re-do the labels on my lateral file so that they were correct as to what is in the drawer. It really isn't that difficult of a project to complete in the grand scheme, but I'm finicky about colors and things. I sat down this morning and decided to choose a kit from Twin Mom Scraps to accomplish my label re-do. I previously used her Rustic Christmas kit to create the labels, and I really liked them, but I thought it was high time for some spring colors to make an appearance!

I used the same format as before:

Instead of creating labels from paper supplies, I like to use digital supplies because I can have uniformity in the background and not worry about things being all matchy-matchy, because they already are! The only thing I have to change on each of the 6"x4" cards that I made was the text describing what I stored within each drawer:

Another cool thing with the labels is that I created my own font for free around Christmas time and was able to use my own handwriting, just in a much tidier way. I can tell what's in each drawer, and each card still has a personal touch because my own handwriting is on them.

In case you're wondering, I did use the last kit that TMS released to make these cards, Hoppin' Froggy. I really loved the colors and how bright they printed out.

Notice that a good amount of my label uses a paper with white on them. This was to preserve ink on my part, and also to make them a little less busy with using such bright colors this time. The other cool thing is that, since these are digitally-created, they're not lumpy and bumpy, but still look it from afar. That means that I get the look of texture, but when I go to open drawers or friends or my kids open drawers, they will not bump into anything and rip it off my cards.

I used some magnetic 4x6 frames to hold them and just stuck them to the drawer under the handle. It's as easy as that!

If you'd like to start using digital supplies like this, and you don't have Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, you can get Gimp for free. I know if you sign up for TwinMomScraps newsletter, you also get a kit for free... so it might be worth your while to do so, even if you're not interested in becoming a full-fledged digital scrapper like me. (Well, sort of... I switch back and forth because I create digital-only albums and paper ones as well... but that's a whole other post altogether, isn't it?)

Inspired by Heidi

2011-03-20T16:51:00.004-04:00

My friend Heidi Kelley taught a class over at Stash To Treasure this month called B You! and walks you through the process of making an art journal using all kinds of messy (and fun!) techniques. I've learned so many innovative techniques through this class, and it lead me to make my very own art journal that I absolutely adore!

I love that I can feel more confident about using spray mists and paint techniques! It's hard to believe that those backgrounds started off as raw chipboard and with a little gesso, a few sprays of mist, and some shimmery paint turned them into the basis of what you see.

Thanks for teaching me so much, Heidi! I wish I could go to you personally to learn this stuff, but over the web wasn't such a bad thing, either.

One project complete!

2011-03-18T10:55:00.003-04:00

Finished the box where I store my embroidery box...

I love how the top turned out, with the stamping and the flower, though it is very lackluster to look at in person. Or maybe I'm just too hard on myself. Either way, it matches the decor, though it doesn't look like what I saw in my head. I really hate it when that happens, don't you?

Using up some stash!

2011-03-15T13:52:00.003-04:00

4 sheets of patterned paper, 4 different projects. Starting out with this:

Then this:

And finally, this:

I did some coloring with watercolor and Zig markers. Then I broke down and bought some Copics yesterday because I wasn't happy with either coloring techniques. It could be the end user, though, because the Copic experimentation hasn't been all that successful. I ordered the blending marker and am waiting patiently for it to arrive so I can see if that was all I needed.

I've also started doing all of my stamping on watercolor paper and am very happy with the results. Just make sure you buy archival quality, acid-free stuff!

Tada!

2011-03-14T16:34:00.003-04:00

Here is the page I created that features TwinMomScraps new Hoppin' Froggy kit. I love the whimsy of this kit and the colors are so bright and cheery, just right for the upcoming spring weather!

It also uses Inspired Blueprints Sketch #67. It was perfect for this photo and the papers.

I hope you were able to get signed up for the TMS newsletter in time to get my freebie alpha! Like I said, it coordinates perfectly with Hoppin' Froggy! :)

More sneaking!

2011-03-14T03:00:00.001-04:00

There's a new kit being released this week by TwinMomScraps! It's pretty exciting because it has frogs in it, which I have been dying to find in a digital kit for AGES. Anyway, here is a preview of the kit. How cute do you think it is? I think it's adorable!

If you hurry up now, you can sign up for her newsletter (before it comes out later today) and get a freebie made by me. That's right, your very own Melissa-made alphabet that perfectly compliments the above kit. In fact, I made it specifically for the page I gave you the smallest sneak peek of yesterday!

Stay tuned for a bit more this and that later this week. I think this is a new blog record for me. Hahaha!

Sneaky me!

2011-03-13T04:11:00.000-04:00

I have been one busy girl this week! Here's a little sneak at what is to come sometime next week. I'll give you a hint... I have been working with TwinMomScraps and a NEW kit! There might even be a freebie created by me involved if you subscribe to her newsletter. I'm not giving specifics... just maybe a teaser!

Stay tuned! You're bound to see something more in the upcoming week. :)

A bit of this and that.

2011-03-11T15:22:00.003-05:00

First of all, I wanted to thank Gail for loving my tutorial so much she taught it to a WHOLE group of ladies and then was nice enough to share the end results with me! I feel like I have finally arrive on the Internet now. hehehe

Then, we said goodbye to something today more than we've ever said goodbye to it before. Here is the photo I snapped this morning with my iPhone at Jude's Barbershop:

And here is after a cut and a shower, because I had to convince myself that it looked good before I could live with myself and making his "hairs fall down." Isn't he the cutest of the cute? I just love this boy to pieces.

Two blogs in one week. Don't fall over or anything. It probably won't happen again. lol

Reorganized!

2011-03-09T12:45:00.005-05:00

I vacillated back and forth between whether to share this, but I decided that you all might enjoy seeing some of the transformation and the end results. In February, I participated in a scrap room reorganization challenge on Scrapbook.com and spent much of last week working on and finishing up on the challenge.

This is what reorganization looks like. Messy, huh? I took everything off the bookshelf on the right and that's how it looked on my floor, plus all of the little baggies and things that stored my patterned paper, which I moved from inside of my lateral file to Cropper Hopper paper storage bins on my bookshelf.

As I reorganized, I purged items that I didn't need. I wanted room to grow, so I tried to make myself purge not only when I had an overflow, but also when I was full. I managed to purge a ton of patterned paper, some cardstock, and quite a few embellishments that I gave away via Freecycle.

When it was all said and done, you can see that quite a bit had changed. I added some Jet Max cubes from Michael's so that I would have some additional storage. In the Spring, my plan is to pull everything out of my lateral file, haul it outside, and give it a new (white) paint job. Right now it stands out like a sore (ugly) thumb.

So I know you can't really tell how I organized via photos, so I shot a video. Beware that I am not the best at filming, talking, and walking at the same time, so it's a very rough shoot. But you get the gist of what I did even when the camera is shaky enough to make you nauseated and I ramble like a fool! ;)

So that's that, for now. Hopefully I'll post the finished versions of the alteration projects I have in mind for the items that I'd like to be a bit more finished. (I ought to, anyway... I'm the worst blogger, for Pete's sake, so we'll see where my intentions end up. I'm hoping because I say it, it will motivate me to do it.)

Until next time,

Melissa

3 whole months!?!?!

2011-03-04T11:52:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I've not posted a blog entry in that long. I'm not the best of bloggers on a good day, and this just proves that I'm probably the lousiest blogger on the planet right now! =P

A lot has happened in the past three months that has kept me very busy, but hopefully I can start blogging more frequently now-a-days.

I'll share a few pages now, just so there's some eye candy in this post and it's not a short post apologizing for not posting! hehehe

This canvas is something I'd had kicking around in my head for a while now, and it only took an RAK from the uber-talented Rebecca Price to make it come to life outside of my head!

Although I've said goodbye to Dielle as a member of her creative team, I've continued on as a member of Twin Mom Scraps' full time design team, and will get to be working with all of her new kits as they come out. This kit was so fun - and girly - I had to feature one of my favorite little girls with it. I really love how this page turned out, using her Love Birds kit.

Here is another digital page using another fabulous kit from Twin Mom Scraps! This page uses her Lady Luck kit. I really like that I used a non-Christmas kit to feature some photos from over Christmas.

And last, but not least, is a page that I created as a lift of the aforementioned uber-talented Rebecca Price. I really love that she mixes her media and paints up her pages. While my page is nothing as good as hers, it really stretched my creative muscle after taking a long, long break from scrapping!

Thanks to those of you who come back! I don't deserve such wonderful scrappy friends as you. :)

Christmas Magic

2010-11-29T22:19:00.004-05:00

Dielle Designs collaborated with Athena at Inspiration Lane last month to make a gorgeous Christmas Magic kit, available in their store. Check out what I did with Dielle's half of the kit!

I had tons of fun putting these together and I can't wait to create more Christmas pages next month. Did I ever mention that Christmas is my favorite time of year? Well, it is. So much so that I had the tree up before Thanksgiving. I couldn't help myself!

Stay tuned for more blog posts! I promise to keep up this month!

Twin Mom Scraps Time!

2010-11-28T19:35:00.003-05:00

So here are the projects I made from my TMS kits this month:

She asked me to use her Thankful and Corny Candy kits, both of which are chocked full of awesomeness!

And yes, I know I have done a pretty terrible job at blogging lately. We had a pretty busy October and I just have such a hard time keeping up! Stay tuned for some other entries this week, though. I have a couple more fun projects to share!

Sketch time!

2010-10-09T21:49:00.003-04:00

Alright, so I know it's been a couple of weeks. I'm trying to make an honest attempt to blog more often, but _________ and ________ and _________ and __________. Fill in the blanks with excuses about not enough time, too many things on the pot, etc, etc, etc.

Anyway, I come with a peace offering for my lack of blogging. Check out my latest sketch, and the page I made with it!

Pinkety Peach: free with any TMS purchase of $5 or more!

2010-09-21T13:49:00.003-04:00

The coolest thing about working with a digital designer is that you get to use some of the coolest kits for free, even if sometimes they aren't something you would have normally gotten because it doesn't necessarily fall in line with things you regularly scrapbook (i.e. boys, mud, dirt, more boys, things boys do, my life with boys... notice a theme?).

TwinMomScraps gave me this additional kit to work with this month, and while I balked at first - I mean, why would I scrap with PINK? - it has turned out to be one of my most favorite kits EVER! The bright colors are right up my alley. The elements are very realistic. And the best part of all, it's a kit that fits right in there with my inner diva. So much so, in fact, that I had to make a page about said inner diva, and then another about my sister, who is always there for me when I need her.

The coolest thing about this kit is that you can get it FREE with a $5 purchase in TwinMomScraps' store! Basically, if you buy 1 kit at $4, plus one of her $1 specials, you will get this kit for free! It's basically 2 kits for the price of 1, if you think about it that way. Anyway, I just wanted to share this kit with you and let you know how you could get it.

Have a wonderful week!

Daisy Daisy, Bumbershoot, and Fly Away

2010-09-20T13:29:00.007-04:00

I've fallen a bit behind on putting pages together for Dielle, but I think I may have caught up this month! She's put out several kits over the summer that are just too cute! Each of them has a really unique look and a ton of elements for you to work with. Take a look at what I was able to do with each of the kits!

(This page also uses Inspired Blueprints sketch 11.)

(This page also uses The Color Room's current sketch, but not the current color pallet.)

(This page uses my own design. Check out here for the sketch.)

(This uses a PageMaps sketch, but I can't remember which one.)

(Another page of my own design. Check out here for the sketch.)

(This one uses the current Creative Scrappers sketch.)

And there you have it! Be sure to check out Dielle's shop at Inspiration Lane!

El Mojito

2010-09-18T12:32:00.002-04:00

After a month's break, I'm back to working with TwinMomScraps and her awesome designs! This month, I had the pleasure of working with El Mojito. It's soft blues, yellows, and greens were a pleasure to create with.

The first page is also an Inspired Blueprints Sketch 56, which I thought was perfect for the photos and the soft blue with the striking green really made a great, fun combination for my page. I really love the stitching elements that came with the kit. I used them on both pages! I couldn't help myself.

Another month of creative goodness!

2010-09-17T14:18:00.004-04:00

The September Commit2Paper kit has been released and it is chocked full of scrappy goodness from the Glitz Kismet collection! The colors were perfect for back-to-school photos, summer photos, winter photos... you name it! My favorite of all of the papers in the collection is probably the Kismet Dots. I used it on almost every project that I put together with this kit. I might also add, that even with 6 pages and 1 card, I still have enough left over from this kit to make 1 or 2 more pages yet! So, without further adieu, here is my bit of scrappy goodness to share:

And two make a pair!

2010-09-10T10:54:00.002-04:00

I'm now the mother of a Kindergartner AND a preschool student. Yesterday was CJ's first day at the Co-Op Preschool and, although he had a small period where he wanted to be whiny, he was otherwise fine. I can't wait for him to really come out of his shell and make friends of his own!

Ethan's having a hard time adjusting to his new routine. I'm hoping that he gets over it pretty soon and comes to terms with the fact that he can't stay with me everyday enough that I don't have to drag him from the car to the door each morning. There will be one day soon, I'm sure, where I wish he would still cling to me, but it has been a rough week for all of us. I'm hoping he has a better day today and a great week next week. :)

Someone had a first day today!

2010-09-07T21:28:00.003-04:00

I am now the mother of a Kindergarten student!

Loopy Felt Flower Tutorial!

2010-08-12T20:26:00.002-04:00

I put out some feelers to see if there would be interest in a new flower I'd come up with... and there was!

I call them "Loopy Felt Flowers" and they are super easy! And the best part is... no sewing required! So... here's what you need to make them:

A sheet of 8.5"x11" felt, a rotary paper cutter (if you have one, if not, scissors will suffice, but you'll need to do more work!), scissors, fabri-tac, and buttons, brads, pearls, or finishers or whatever you want to finish off the middle.

Step 1:

Cut the felt into 2"x2" squares.

Step 2:

Fold in the corners so they meet in the middle, like so. Make sure that you crease the outside folded edges so the fabric "remembers" them.

Step 3:

Set the felt down on your mat. The creases should hold, to a certain extent. This will give you a good idea of where to put the glue.

Step 4:

Apply a dab of glue in the middle where the corners meet.

Step 5:

Fold the corners back down and hold for a moment so that the Fabri-Tac can dry a little. Once it's set enough, you can let it dry the rest of the way without holding it down.

Each 2" strip will give you 4 squares. I recommend doing all 4 squares at once. By the time you finish the 4th square, the 1st is dry and ready for the next step!

Step 6:

Using your scissors, cut along the outside edge of the corner. The idea is to cut on each side of the "triangle" and meet at the corner.

When you're done, this is what it will look like:

Step 7:

Do the same for the remaining 3 sides, until your felt square looks like this:

Repeat this process with the remaining three flowers.

Step 8:

Apply another dab of Fabri-Tac to the center of one of the flowers, then set another flower over top of it, with the petals in an alternating direction.

Apply a dab of Fabri-Tac to the center to add a button, or poke a hole through the felt to stick on a decorative brad. What you do with it is up to you!

Additionally, you can also use Glimmer Mist to change the colors of the felt. I did this BEFORE I assembled to two layers together because I was using separate colors. But I'm sure if you want them the same color, you can apply the Glimmer Mist whenever you like. I think these will also ink well, though I've not tried it yet.

So there you go! That is how I make my loopy felt flowers! :)

Oh, and for the second set, I followed the same instructions, just using a 1"x1" square for the red felt. I don't recommend going much smaller than that as it was really difficult to keep the felt tacked down with the Fabri-Tac unless I held it until it was mostly dry.

Please let me know what you think or share your pages with me if you make these flowers! I'd really love to see how this design is being used. :)

And the winner is...

2010-08-04T13:44:00.001-04:00

Scrap Vamp, please send your mailing address to me at williamsmelissa (dot) m (at) gmail (dot) com and I will send some zipper flowers your way!

Thanks for playing along everyone. I will probably do one more giveaway Labor Day weekend. I haven't completely decided, yet.

Blog Hopping with Cheerful Bliss!

2010-08-01T02:00:00.000-04:00

August is a big month for TwinMomScraps! It marks the 2-year anniversary of her blog, and to celebrate, she and her Creative Team (myself included) are hosting a blog hop! There's lots of goodies to get from each of us. Hopefully you've stopped by the TwinMomScraps blog first and gotten your special anniversary kit, Cheerful Bliss.

If not, please make sure to head over that way to get it, because it is an AMAZING kit. Her blog, also linked above, is here. Make sure you get there to download the kit before 8.14.10 because the links will expire and the kit will go in stores.

From me, you get a coordinating alpha, in both upper and lowercase with numbers, to go with the kit, along with a QuickPage.

Download the alphabet here and here.
(Make sure you click both links so you get both upper & lower.)

Download the QuickPage here.

Next stop on the train is Anna!

Weekend Giveaway!

2010-07-30T08:35:00.006-04:00

Three years ago today, I gave birth to my youngest, most cutest of boys. He weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz back then. Today he's a whopping 31 lbs, and he's much happier than he was back in his early colic days. I'm very thankful for that! Happy birthday, CJ!

Now on to what you really want... to celebrate his birthday, I'm going to do a giveaway! I've been talking about the zipper flowers for a few days now. And for those of you who would like to have one, I'm going to possibly grant your wish right now! :) Just leave a comment letting me know what you like best about the zipper flowers, and it'll enter you into a drawing to receive on of the rosette with petals and one of the posies! If you tweet this blog entry, post it to your blog, or post it on your Facebook feed, leave additional comments for additional chances to win! :)

Since this is a birthday weekend, I'm going to leave the giveaway open to comments until Monday, 5 pm, when I will draw the names.

Stay tuned for Sunday, when there is another giveaway and a blog train with the TwinMomScraps Creative Team!

PS - I moderate my comments, so they won't appear until I approve them! ;)

Tutorial Thursday ~ Zipper Flowers

2010-07-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

Here it is, as promised! I apologize that I had to shoot this with my web cam, so the video may not be as good as previous video tutorials. You can still get the gist of it, though. These really are very simple.

Zipper Flower, Part 1 from Melissa Williams on Vimeo.

And, as an added bonus, I made another little tutorial for you on how to do a "posie" with the zipper, as well. :)

Zipper Flower, Part 2 from Melissa Williams on Vimeo.

Stay tuned because there are a lot of giveaways going on on my blog this weekend, with all styles of scrapbookers in mind. I'm participating in a blog hop with TwinMomScraps and the rest of the Creative Team, and I will also be giving away the zipper flowers I made in these tutorials!

Coming Thursday!

2010-07-27T20:28:00.003-04:00

See that big, blue flower? Yep. I'm going to show you how to make it. :)

Back to Basics!

2010-07-24T18:06:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, all you need to make a good scrapbook page is a bit of cardstock, some ink, and some stamps. Aside from the Thickers and adhesive, that's all I used to make this page! The black "ribbon" is actually black cardstock, crumpled, frayed a bit on the edges, and then doodled with the white stitches. And the journaling block and arrow is from the LYB Zach's Life line of acrylic stamps. To give the page some dimension, I popped those items off the page with foam squares. To make sure you could differentiate the title from the black cardstock, I doodled around the letters.

The "inking" along the outside edge of the paper is a Glimmer Mist Trash Bag technique by Heidi Kelley. I really, really love how this turned out. :)

Look for a zipper flower tutorial, coming soon. There are tons of them around the interwebs, so I'm trying to add a bit of difference from the other ones. I hope I'll have it figured out by the end of the weekend! :) Stay tuned!

Stay-cation type fun!

2010-07-23T14:45:00.001-04:00

It was a three-headed, six-legged, six-armed, giant people pile!

This is the new favorite thing to do in the house on the evenings they can talk Daddy into it.

Sure looks great to me! :)

Baking layouts

2010-07-20T15:54:00.001-04:00

Part of the Anything Goes monthly challenge this month is to scrapbook about food. The first part of the challenge is to make a page about a food passion, so I chose baking, because it seems that is my favorite thing to do and also document. :)

The second part of the challenge was to scrapbook a recipe. So, I naturally chose the to-die-for pumpkin rolls that I started making last year. There will be more of these in the future. Oh, many, many more.

And naturally, all this scrapbooking about baking made me want to bake. I made not-so-homemade banana bread in my much-loved Pampered Chef loaf stone. I can't wait to have a piece!

In fact, I think I'm going to go have one now! :)

My Little Picaso... & His Canvas

2010-07-12T19:26:00.001-04:00

Check out the beautiful work of art my youngest son created for me recently!

Just in case you wanted a closer look...

Lucky for me, Mr. Clean makes that magic eraser, because not only was crayon (that the post office gave him to "help" me out while we were in dropping off some mail the other day) all over the dishwasher, but also the stove, refigerator, some of the wall, the couch, the loveseat, and the floor. I guess he wanted to make sure that I was completed surrounded by his wonderful creations no matter where in the house I went. lol.

And the winner is...

2010-07-05T19:42:00.004-04:00

Jenn, send an email with your mailing address to williamsmelissa (d0t) m (at) gmail (dot) com and I will send you a selection of roses for your stash! :)

Sharing some scrappy goodness! :)

2010-07-02T09:08:00.004-04:00

I figured I'd show some of my favorites from the past month, just because I haven't shared any paper creations for a while. I spent a lot of the month of June tying things up for work, so the first half of the month felt sort of like I was treading water, time and energy-wise. Now that things have calmed down and most of my energy has recovered, I figured it was about time to get back to my scrappy roots. Well... at least when the boys allow it, anyway. :)

So... remember those ribbon roses I started making and couldn't stop? Well I did actually have a project in mind for a couple of them, and I also found a use for one on a card. The blue is actually electric blue glimmer mist sprayed onto a white ribbon rose. It turned out pretty gorgeous, if I do say so myself.

Next up is the actual project I had learned to make the roses for. I created this for a couple of challenges... first the Scraptathlon, which is almost over at this point, and second, a Scraplift 101 challenge that inspired me to try this frilly new style to see how it fit me. And, while the page is very pretty, it really isn't my style, but I still like it anyway! :)

This is another Scraptathlon entry, and also one of my most favorite layouts EVER! I really did all of this on a whim. I was going to try to do some sweet photos of me and Jason, but he wasn't really into being sweet and romantic at that very moment. Instead, I got a ton of shots of us being goofy... in our pajamas! We had a lot of fun and laughed through pretty much the entire shoot. And I even got him to write me a little love note in honor of our anniversary (and I wrote him one, too, of course) that I tucked behind the big circle for posterity.

And here's another layout that I am pretty pleased with. It was my last for the month of June, and the colors really make me happy. Of course, this is also part of my Commit2Paper kit for July, so you will be seeing this again, but I had to share it here because it makes me that happy. :)

That's it for me for my favorites from June. How about a giveaway now? Remember the ribbon roses? Well it is time for me to give a few of those away! So, leave a comment here by Monday, July 5, and I will send one random, lucky person 5 (or more) to make their stash happy! :)

Today...

2010-06-29T15:27:00.002-04:00

is just one of those lazy, stay-home, summer days. :) We're having a blast, with the windows open, enjoying the beautiful summer breeze. We'll go out to play in a bit, but first, we're going to lay around, watch tv, and accomplish nothing for a while.

Butterfly Garden

2010-06-27T10:14:00.007-04:00

This month, I had the pleasure to work with Twin Mom Scraps Butterfly Garden kit. I love the fun colors, the beautiful elements, and the textures in the papers. Here's what I was able to make with it!

Check out her stuff in-store at Inspiration Lane, Cool Scraps Digital, or TwinMomScraps.com!

Happy 7th Anniversary to me!

2010-06-21T15:50:00.002-04:00

7 years ago today, I married my best friend. We have been through a lot together, and it has only made us that much stronger and in love. While I wouldn't call us the perfect couple (because, seriously, who IS the perfect couple? I'd like to meet them and shake their hands!), I would say that we're well-suited for one another. We compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses quite nicely.

5 1/2 years ago, we gave birth to our first son, and almost 3 years ago we gave birth to our second son. Our life most surely feels full, happy, and we are so glad we have each other and our family. They have been both a blessing and a joy.

Here's to hoping for another 43 years of wedded bliss, hun! I most definitely love you and am glad that you have put up with me for this long. My life wouldn't have been nearly as fun or exciting if you weren't in it! :)

We've finally made it!

2010-06-17T15:06:00.005-04:00

Today was my last day of work. It felt so weird, turning in my keys for the last time. Packing up my office and divvying out my stuff. Tying up loose ends and answering all last minute questions. It feels so weird to look at my future and not know how it is going to end up. For the first time in a while, there isn't much that's certain, other than me being a mother, my kids going to school in the fall, and my husband taking his place, once again, as the sole provider as far as money goes.

But, on the bright side of all of this uncertainty, I get to spend lots more time with these guys:

And another bright side is that it will be much easier for me to drop that last 15 pounds that's been haunting me from after I had Cameron! lol. There won't be any tempting donuts from parents or nachos from the lunch line to steer me off track. That, and we will no longer be able to afford McDonald's or other fast foods, either.

Monday is Jason and my seventh wedding anniversary. He's taking the day off work and we're going to do something fun as a family. Then he and I are going to go out to dinner in the evening. I can't believe it's been 7 years already. Oh, how time has flown!

A new addiction

2010-06-13T14:41:00.004-04:00

I used this YouTube tutorial:

To make these beautiful roses:

I think I've found a new love. And perhaps a new bit of blog candy for a giveaway this summer, since I'm done working this coming Thursday and all! :) (That's 4 more days of work! Yippee!)

Tutorial Thursday... a little late

2010-06-04T08:30:00.003-04:00

The challenge yesterday on AGC was to make a page based on a tutorial video or make your own tutorial video. I decided to make my own video and also gave a shout out to our (now closed) LSS owner, Kim, who taught me the trick I demonstrated in my video on how to make a French knot.

There's no editing on the video, so be forewarned!

How to Make a French Knot from Melissa Williams on Vimeo.

What have you been up to?

2010-06-01T19:05:00.001-04:00

I've been tending to the garden. How about you?

12 more days of work and counting!

My favorite thing about Saturdays in summer...

2010-05-29T12:45:00.005-04:00

All the beautiful colors, sights, and sounds of the Banks Street Farmer's Market. We love our Saturdays mornings, spent searching for the best fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other tasty treats. It's my favorite part of the summer. :)

Oh, and I got some more rhubarb (the best rhubarb in Michigan, I really think so!) to make another strawberry-rhubarb pie! Yay!

Counting down the days...

2010-05-28T19:21:00.003-04:00

13 more days until we're done for the summer. 13 more days until the end of my grant funding. 13 more days of known employment (I still haven't found another full time position). 13 more days until I can be at home with the boys. 13 more days until my summer officially begins.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. Things will be a bit tighter, money-wise, but we'll make it work until I find something else.

In the meantime, I'll figure out how to make the perfect strawberry rhubarb pie. This one was delicious, but the crust started falling apart before it came out of the oven, not to mention it was a little soupy. I'm going to get some more rhubarb tomorrow, from the Farmer's Market, and see if I can get the soupy problem resolved.

In 13 days, I'll have a little more free time and maybe... just maybe... I can give my blog some more love! :)

Rock Out!

2010-05-21T16:41:00.006-04:00

I'm taking part in another Scraptathlon and the challenge this week was to use 4 or more borders on your page. I was sifting through my photos and found these of Jason when he was younger. I had to ask my marvelous MIL what he was singing and from what year, and the fact that J is rocking out to "Elvira" just cracks me up. I got some help from the Creative Scrappers latest sketch, as well!

Of course, I also love any opportunity I can get to embarrass my husband, whose first question was, "Where did you get those photos?!" when I showed him the page.

I hope you enjoy this at his expense. I know I did! ;)

A Sale!

2010-05-20T16:13:00.002-04:00

Twin Mom Scraps is having a sale at ALL of her stores through June 7th. Get 50% off of ANY of her kits, including Dirt Play which I got to work with this month. :) Just look at the great texture these pages have!

Find her store at:
TwinMomScraps.com
CoolScrapsDigital.com
Inspiration Lane
Scrappity Doo Dah
Digital Scrapbooking Studio
Commercial-Use.com

If you buy one of her kits, and make something with it, link it here. I'd love to see it! :)

Don't forget!

2010-04-14T17:24:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is the last day to post your links to your completed pages for my sketch challenge!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T19:04:00.003-04:00

Our Easter contained some of this...

And some time outside looking at these...

And smiles...

And more smiles....

Followed by a sugar crash...

We hope your Easter contained much of the same! :) Happy Easter! Tomorrow's back to the regular schedule and I really wish that we had another week!

Anybody need some inspiration?

2010-03-30T10:40:00.004-04:00

I took part in a challenge on Scrapbook.com this month and one of the month-long challenges was to create a sketch of your own.

Here's what I did with it!

This is my last page for the month of March, which really isn't saying much since March is over today. However, I thought I would make this a fun challenge for everyone.

Make a page, paper or digital, with the sketch I posted, and post a link to it in the comments. I'm going to let this run for 2 weeks, so on April 15, I will do a random draw and the winner will receive their very own copy of the Monster Boogie kit I used to make my page, along with some flowers that I've handmade with the April Commit 2 Paper kit!

A little of this and that...

2010-03-29T08:28:00.005-04:00

It's spring break here in my neck of the woods. I was expecting to spend a fun-filled week with the boys, exploring the Nature Center and going to the park. Unfortunately, that isn't apparently in the cards, unless the health in this house takes a turn for the better. We have had the worst month with illness! Both boys have been suffering from one respiratory infection after another! First, Ethan had pneumonia on his birthday, then Cameron got bronchiolitis the following week, then I got it, and now we're going through the ranks again with bronchitis. Cameron got it first this time, but now Jason seems to have gotten it and Ethan is developing a cough as well. It's supposed to get in the 70s this week, though, so I will get them out in the back yard in the fresh air. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the snuggles that come with them being sick and wash my hands as often as possible so I can try to prevent contracting the junk!

Another month has gone by and another Commit 2 Paper kit is upon us. March's kit features the fantastic Glitz Rebel line. I had a lot of fun working with this, even though finding time to scrap was few and far between with all the sickies and taking care of them, along with all the birthday parties! But here's what I did manage to get done:

I also finished another page for my CT with Twin Mom Scraps. I really love the soft colors of the Groovy-licious kit that I worked with this month, and when her freebie challenge included the Add-On, I was super excited to work with it.

I still have a few things to get done for TMS, and also for Dielle. The whole month of March has felt like a bust, but at least we've gotten to spend a lot of time at home, together. Even if we are all coughing and hacking our brains out. ;)

I'm also still working on the giveaway. It'll probably be mid-April, when I reveal the April Commit 2 Paper kit! :)

More from Twin Mom Scraps

2010-02-28T21:08:00.004-05:00

I tried out Twin Mom Scraps Groovy-Licious kit for her March assignment. The -only- difficult thing for me with kits like this is, as the mother of two boys, I usually have to refer to older - and newer - photos of me in order to make them work. But that's the only problem I had with this kit, and if scrapping myself is a problem, I don't have much to complain about, do I?

And really, it isn't a complaint because I came up with two gorgeous pages, thanks to this kit! I love the soft colors and the embellies are perfect to be quirky or sweet! Take a look and see what you think. :)

My next post will be my giveaway, which I plan to do tomorrow or Tuesday. Stay tuned! :)

New look!

2010-02-23T19:54:00.005-05:00

What do you think? I thought it was time to change things up a bit. The old design was getting a little stale. And to make this a worthwhile entry, I'll leave you with a couple of snow frolic photos. :)

Snow Day!

2010-02-22T18:18:00.001-05:00

And of course, we have more on the way, according to the news. I don't want another snow day! Then we have to work longer and/or miss other break days, and I don't want to do that.

Laughing is good for the soul.

2010-02-22T11:29:00.003-05:00

He has an exceptional soul with all of the laughing he does. :)

The video isn't that great because it was dark, but the audio is all you need, anyway.

New CT work.

2010-02-20T19:02:00.006-05:00

I recently joined a new creative team for another digital artist at Inspiration Lane, Twin Mom Scraps. She creates some gorgeous kits, so be sure to check out her blog. Check out what I've done with her Glamorous kit!

And she created a freebie Add-On to her Funky Girl digital kit that I created this page with:

This layout also features my dear friend Cindy's gorgeous little girl, Becca. It's hard to believe that I've known this little girl's mother since she turned 4!

As you can see from the layout above, I've chopped off my hair. Well, most of it anyway. And I love it! It's the most drastic haircut I've gotten since I was in high school!

Here's a larger look at the photo in the layout:

I'm going to work on something to do an RAK in this blog. Stay tuned for it! :)

February Commit 2 Paper kit

2010-02-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

The newest Commit 2 Paper kit is available for purchase! The February kit is chocked full of beautiful Little Yellow Bicycle Sweet Love papers, perfect for any page about your favorite anything! :) I was able to accomplish quite a bit with this kit, including my first mini acrylic album that told the story of Jason and me.

Take a look at some of the projects I created with this beautiful kit!

Digital things

2010-02-16T19:34:00.004-05:00

I've finally come back to the digital world after a short break during the past few months in order to take time to recover from surgery and get some energy back. The depo lupron treatments have really hit me this time around and I'm glad that things are finally normalizing once again.

I came back with a bang! 5 pages this month for Dielle, who has moved stores over to Inspiration Lane. The first two pages use her newest kit, Out For A Drive, the third uses Fa La La La La, and the last two use Kickin' Around. I had a lot of fun making all five pages!

January Commit 2 Paper Kit

2010-01-15T16:30:00.004-05:00

I want to preface this post with a disclaimer of sorts. This disclaimer is to not always judge a book by its cover, or a paper line maybe. I want to admit that I was a bit hesitant to work with this month's kit, not because I thought it was ugly or because I hated it. I actually thought it was pretty neat, but it was travel-themed, and I'm not a "theme" sort of gal. So, I put the kit at the back of my table during the holidays and there it sat until I started to really look at it. And I discovered, as I went, that I could make some really brilliant pages that, while not travel-themed, really used the kit to its fullest extent.

You've already seen this page in my last post, but it was made with this line, and so I feature it again:

The grungy look of the kit really brought out the distress-er in me and I found myself doing things like using glimmer mist and even brought out my Tim Holtz inks:

Not to mention I really stretched myself creatively, cutting shapes out of the paper, utilizing my border punches, and finding new uses for tulle:

Not only that, but I found that I was really having fun with creating the pages that feature the papers and products that were sent with the kit. Oh, and I also found a new way to utilize the tulle. Check out that "lollipop" flower near the title:

And if you thought that the above pages were enough, there was still scraps and full pieces of paper left over enough for me to create a couple of cards:

But wait! There's more... I forgot another method of distressing and decided to tear up and curl some papers:
So, if that wasn't convincing enough to get you to go over to Commit 2 Paper and purchase the January kit or maybe even subscribe, then I don't know what is. :)

The latest & greatest and more

2010-01-12T16:30:00.004-05:00

Have you checked out the latest Journaling Junkies challenge? You really should, especially if you like to make end-of-year summaries or pages that highlight your goals of the next year. I've done both for the recent challenge. First, a page summing up 2009:

I really need to thank my good friend, Genie, once again, for the amazing family photos she took that allowed me to make this fantastic summary page. For a better look at the journaling, visit the Journaling Junkie blog! :)

The second took a bit more thought than the first. It's easy to sum up a year that has already past, but more difficult to foresee the future and what you expect to accomplish. Once I determined what we actually wanted to do as a family (because even though I have a lot of personal goals I would love to achieve, the most important are the ones that benefit my family as a whole), then it wasn't so bad.

If you haven't already clicked the link above to check out the challenge, then here is another for you so you can go now and not scroll upwards. :)

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T18:08:00.002-05:00

From our home to yours, we hope that you have a wonderful Christmas. May God bless your family and may Santa bring you everything you wish.

December Commit 2 Paper is available!

2009-12-23T08:55:00.002-05:00

I'm a little late on this post, but I wanted to do one and so I still will. I'm only about a week late, which is far better than the almost month late that I was sending out Christmas cards!

This month's Commit2Paper kit is available and chocked full of beautiful and tactile papers! I really loved that it was not completely traditional Christmas colors in a non-traditional color combination of powder blue and deep red. I couldn't help but use this kit to catch up some of those older Christmas photos I hadn't gotten to scrapping, yet! Not only that, but the coordinating SEI embellishments that come in the kit are perfect for card making.

Check out what was done with my kit this month:

I got January's kit recently and it is going to be a lot of fun! I can't wait to show you!

That time again.

2009-12-08T10:22:00.002-05:00

It took me a while, but I was able to take this:

And turn it into these:

I've got 100 various designs ready to go. The only problem is that my Dell is totally dead and at the service depot getting fixed, so I don't have my address book! If you'd like a card from me, please send your address to me at williamsmelissa.m (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll get my list put together to go out in the next week.

I'm totally hitting the sales after this Christmas for some cards on clearance, though. I realize just how much I dislike doing the same thing over and over again. =P ;)

Long weekend!

2009-11-30T09:01:00.003-05:00

Long weekends are great for a lot of things. They are great for recuperating - if you don't overdo it. They are great for getting things done because you have lots of extra time not spent somewhere else, like at work. They are great for getting Christmas decorations up... as long as it isn't raining. We got a lot accomplished this weekend, although recuperation wasn't easy for me. I'm the type of person who can't sit still and always has to be busy. When you can't lift your kids and everything starts to hurt if you get up and around too much, not a lot gets accomplished and you push yourself harder.

Luckily for me, my sister came over on Saturday and it afforded me an opportunity to take it easy and get a couple of pages done.

The only problem I ran into was that the world itself was out to un-do my recuperative efforts. Saturday night, our toilet wouldn't flush down, so Jason had to run to the store to get a new wax ring and then proceeded to take our bathroom apart (at least the toilet) to rescue one die-cast Sheriff from the movie Cars from within its twisty depths. Score: toilet - 1, toys - 0.

Then with the necessary grocery shopping and all that from previously in the day, I noticed I had a bit more pain. When I changed my bandages, my lower incision has a spot where the seam came apart. I almost passed out when I saw it, and I've had a bit more pain since, especially when sleeping.

But, at least we got a lot done this weekend. The tree is up, the inside of the house is decorated, and the outside is started. J couldn't get much more than the netting hung on the bushes because of the rain. He figures he probably won't be able to get the rest up until Tuesday at the earliest because it's predicted to snow. Yes, the dreaded "s" word. Well, at least it held off until December before it really started.

Soon to come: photos of the tree. :)

Recuperating

2009-11-25T11:33:00.004-05:00

Surgery went as planned. Everything looks good. She had to remove a spot that had started to grow near my left ovary. There are a couple of spots in my back area that she couldn't burn off because they were just starting and there wasn't enough to burn. I'll be following up with depo lupron for a couple of months to stave those spots off. Hopefully this will be the last surgery that I need, although I know that the lupron isn't a cure, especially since I've already had it once. I can hope, though, that with the diet and stuff, lupron will keep everything at bay.

In the meantime, I'm recovering at home. My sister is here with me today and my husband will be here all weekend. We have plans at my mother-in-law's for Thanksgiving, so I don't have to worry about cooking much. My biggest plans for the weekend will be putting together Christmas cards. I won't be out shopping for Black Friday and I won't be back to work until December 7th.

In the meantime, here are a few more pages from August:

Thanks for everyone's prayers as I've gone through all of this. I've really appreciated it and the support of all of my friends. I don't know what I would do without all of you, my husband, and my family.

Surgery is scheduled and I am waiting.

2009-11-20T18:12:00.003-05:00

I haven't had the chance to post it here, yet, although it's been scheduled for about a week. I go in for a laparoscopy on Tuesday, November 24. Hopefully, this will be my last need for one and it will take care of the pain that I've been in for the past month. Please pray that I will not need anything more than the laparoscopy and that they are able to remove endometrial tissue that has grown since my last surgery without needing to remove or scar any other organs. That is my greatest fear since the first surgery showed it had attached to my bowel and bladder.

In the meantime, I have made page plans for all of the pages I want to get done while I wait for surgery and also recover. I've already gotten 3 pages done and still have 17 more to go! I'm getting through them pretty quickly, though, so I don't doubt that I will get them done before I go back to work. Here's what I've done so far:

These are all pages from August photos, so far. I've got 4 more pages for August and then I'm on to September. Look for more soon, and also updates on how my surgery went. If everything goes well, I'll be home Tuesday evening and won't miss Thanksgiving. Please pray that this is how it does, indeed, work out!

November Commit2Paper Pages & Projects!

2009-11-14T15:11:00.004-05:00

So the kit is coming out tomorrow and you know that when I really love a kit, I stretch it as far as it can go. Let me tell you that I stretched this kit to its limits! I've never stretched a kit so far, in fact. This may have been one of my most favorite kits, yet, as well. Have I convinced you of it yet? Well, then let me show you just what I've made with all of the stuff!

The kit features BoBunny's Flutterby collection, as well as some Prima Say it in Pearls flower centers. I love Prima stuff so much and I couldn't help using some packaging as well, since it matched the paper!
The flower centers can be used as more than... well... flower centers, as well. Here I used them as a decorative border on the journaling block.

The little cut-outs paper from BoBunny is great, and doesn't have to be used as-is. Here, the brackets are one of the cut-outs cut in half.

Like I said, I stretched this kit as far as it could go, even using up all of the bits and pieces of scraps, like I did on this page. In fact, this page was put together with scraps only! The only thing that wasn't a left-over was the blue cardstock and the Doodlebug flocked paper.

I loved the die-cut paper. And as you can see, another Say It In Pearls flower center, this time used as a center for my O in the title.

I liked the design of this card so much, I used it twice, also using scraps from the kit.

Isn't this box adorable? It's a small box. And the green tulle is the ribbon that came in the kit. I used 90% of it for this project, but it really adds an adorable touch!

I hope that the kit tickles your fancy! Head over to Commit2Paper and order yours! :)

And now for a special treat!

2009-11-12T17:31:00.001-05:00

He can sing it, too, but I couldn't get him to cooperate!

Re-appearing!

2009-11-08T19:39:00.003-05:00

Yes, I realize it's been a while. No, I have no real excuse. It's just been busy. Super busy. We've had all kinds of fun adventures, which I have done my best to scrapbook as it happened. Living in the moment has been in the forefront. My endometriosis is starting to become a hurdle again. The diet does well, but it doesn't cure me. I've made an appointment with my specialist, but of course it takes a long time to get an appointment - I won't be able to get in to see her until December 4th!

In the meantime, I'm doing my best to work and rest when the pain is too much. I'm going to Weight Watchers again and I'm down about 5 pounds. I haven't been running since about September, but I will get back into it again once I get the endometriosis under control again.

Ethan has been going to school since the first week of September. He's loving class, although sometimes he doesn't want to go because he doesn't want to do the projects. lol. His favorite part is obviously the play time.

Cameron is talking more and is still my sweet, mischievous 2-year-old. He enjoys climbing and scaling things like a monkey and playing with cars. His favorite song right now is the Itsy Bitsy Spider. He sings it often and does the hand motions, as well.

For Halloween, Ethan was a clone trooper from Star Wars and Cameron was a doctor. They received a nice fare from trick-or-treating with the Howards and Bowers. It was a lot of fun.

Alright. I promise to come back more often. I've not been very good at blogging all around, but I'll do the best I can. The November Commit2Paper kit is releasing soon. I'll share the creations it inspired soon!

Goodbye, sweet hair.

2009-08-20T17:32:00.003-04:00

Check out my baby before:

And after!

Today was my first day back at work, so that's the long and short of it! Hardy har, har! :)

Closets down, room to go.

2009-08-19T08:16:00.003-04:00

I got my closet and dresser done yesterday afternoon and when Jason came home last night he got his closet and dresser done. It's amazing how much stuff you can collect when you don't take the time to go through it and clean it out.

This is what came out of my closet and went to the local second-hand store that raises money for the local Christian private school. It's 9 bags of clothes, shoes, and purses, plus various boxes of things that were shelved in my closet that I hadn't touched for years.

This is the newly organized, mostly empty closet of today! It's so nice to have space to put the things that should go in your closet, instead of leaving a laundry basket of clothes to sit around and collect dust!

This is just to show how much space I have left to hang things, if I choose to. I kept less than 7 of each item, as I still have a massive amount of laundry downstairs and will continue to purge through that.

I made so much space that I was able to move our bedding into my closet to store! I felt so accomplished after that and challenged Jason to do the same last night. And he did! He got 5.5 bags of clothes, which is amazing to think about because that means that between the 2 of us, we had 14.5 bags of unused clutter sitting in one room!

So my car? Yeah it's loaded up with just as much stuff this morning to take to the secondhand store to donate again. :)

One more room off the list...

2009-08-18T07:33:00.003-04:00

Other than needing a bit of paint, the boys room is done! I spent most of the afternoon yesterday sorting toys and we got rid of another box as well as a bag of stuffed animals. So far, the boys haven't noticed them missing, so I'm hopeful that it will stay that way. Here's a few highlights:

Their toy area. Each of the bins has a theme. lol. The top left on that looks like it's overfull pretty much is. That's all of the cars. The bin underneath it is the tracks and things to Ethan's Hot Wheels sets. The left blue one is trains & planes. The right blue one is monster trucks. The right bottom red is dinosaurs. The top blue is balls & misc.
CJ's dresser. Both boys have a little truck of some kind that I affixed to their top drawer with scotch double-stick adhesive. The wedding bears were a gift to me and Jason when we got married, and the other was a gift from my mother-in-law while I was pregnant with Ethan and hospitalized for an infection.

Yertle the Turtle and a snake from the zoo on Ethan's dresser.

Ethan is a stuffed animal kid, let me tell you. Even with the bag of stuffed animals I removed, there are still a ton more because he just loves them. This is all of the animals he has named and can't go to sleep unless they're in bed with him. I removed some that had made their way up there, but there are still a lot!

A view as you walk in the door. The picture on the wall of the cardinal was drawn by my husband when he was in school. The big grey bin is all of the GeoTrax tracks and buildings. The trains and remotes are in the trains & planes bin. It was the only way to get them to all fit! Ethan keeps asking for more of the buildings, but I don't think we could fit anymore if we tried!

So that's that. One more room down. Three more to go: the bathroom, the kitchen, and our bedroom. And painting. Lots of painting.

Something cozy...

2009-08-17T09:29:00.003-04:00

So because I was massively embarrassed at the fleas and the fact there were no pictures or art hanging in my living room, I got to work and finally finished a project I had been planning since I did my MIL's birthday present a while back. I didn't know that the canvases I bought came in packs of two, so I had a few extra. One in the big size, and two in the 8x10 size. I made another gift with one of the 8x10s, so I still have to come up with something for the other, but this is what we did last night and finished this morning.

The "tree leaves" are both boys hand prints. :) I don't claim to be much of a painter, but any project that I can involve my kids in is always a work of art for me. The actual canvas work for the "scenery" is a wash of watered-down acrylics. I did the clouds by wiping the canvas with a water-only brush. They are my second-favorite part of the painting, behind the boys' hand prints, of course.

It really makes a great addition to my kids' corner area. It also adds a bit of that coziness that is lacking right now.

I also dug the 16x20 photo frame out of the basement to spray paint the frame white, but of course it is raining this morning so I won't be able to do it until later. I'm not going to complain about the rain - we have needed it badly! Plus it allows me to open some windows and enjoy the outside some more.

Now, I'm off to organize my closet a bit, as well as sort through the boys' toys in their bedroom and get their room back into an organized state again. :)

(Photo heavy) A bit of order in the chaos...

2009-08-16T16:48:00.008-04:00

I have a confession. A very embarrassing confession. One that makes my skin crawl and I'm ashamed to admit. A confession that involves a terrible "f" word. You know, that "f" word that will sometimes come into your house when you have pets. That five-letter "f" word that isn't a biblical swear word, but ought to be!

Yes, I'm talking about fleas. Our cat brought them in and we have played heck trying to get them out. We have bombed and vacuumed and swept and mopped and nothing has worked! Finally, we have decided that the fleas have too many places to hide and so we've started working on decluttering and reorganizing and for each place we get organized and clean, we find there aren't any fleas to be found!

Jason and I have cleaned and vacuumed and he has shampooed carpets now, and the results are fabulous! Take a look for yourself. :)

The view of the living room from the craft room. I love the yellow paint with the white trim. :) We had a friend from work come last summer and do this for us so I knew it would get done, especially since I'm still waiting on the kitchen, hallway, bathroom, and boys' room from my husband. =P I'm probably going to look at hiring someone to do those areas, as well, so we can finish the floors in the hall and all that.

The tv in the corner, all by itself. Yes, I'm greatly aware that there are very few photos hanging on the walls. I've never gotten around to putting them back since we had the painter come a whole year ago! LOL! I'm actually working on a few projects to get some coziness back in the room.

The loveseat with my little cutie watching Wall-E.

A view of the sofa and you can see the kids' area peeking out from behind. Hey, look! There's a picture on the wall! There's actually another on the wall perpendicular to it, coming from the kitchen as well. But that's it as far as photos! hehe.

The room from the sofa. We get a lot of light, which I -love-. And you can see how open the room looks without the component rack that we had for the DVD player and sattelite box, which are now under the TV on the shelf. We put all of the DVDs and video games in the cabinet beneath and then we have a kid lock on it so that they don't get them out and destroy them.

Nemo's new home. When we took the component rack out of the living room, which used to be his home, we put him on top of the bookshelf, which is also newly organized.

The bookshelf and toy bin in the living room. This is the new kids' corner. :)

Mr. Ethan, who was pouting because his closet wasn't boring enough anymore. "Make it boring like it was, Mom," he kept saying to me.

The bookshelf. I spent a lot of time organizing the books so I'm hoping that stay pretty organized. We'll see, though, since Ethan thinks that they're not boring enough like this. lol.

All of their sheets and extra blankets. I cleaned a bunch of stuff we didn't need off of this shelf to get these here. They used to be on top of the book shelf and really just made the closet a cluttery mess.

A Raggedy Anne & Andy doll that Jason's Grandmother made for me before she passed. The boys also know these are play toys. They make a nice decoration. :)

Just a view of the little bear my friend Phil made me when I was pregnant with Ethan. :) It sits as a closet decoration (the boys know it isn't a play toy) with their winter hats and things.

Ethan's side of the closet, complete with organized clothes: jackets, sweatshirts, collared longsleeve, longsleeve t-shirts, shortsleeve t-shirts, collared shortsleeves. His pants and shorts are all in his dresser. :)

Cameron's side of the closet, complete with organized clothes: jackets, sweatshirts, collared longsleeve, longsleeve t-shirts, collared shortsleeves, shortsleeve t-shirts. His pants and shorts are all in his dresser. :)

The boys' closet in a glance. :)

This is my Thickers collection as well as some other little things; a Mother's Day card from my kids as well as a pressed rose from the bouquet they got me.

My little embellishment thing from Making Memories is even organized! I can find anything I'm looking for now, instead of digging to find it.

The table next to the door. I'm using that to display some minis that I've made or were made for me. :)

The shelves that many people drool over. I destashed a bunch from here and moved some stuff around so it was a little bit more organized than before. Someone remind me the next time I'm thinking about ordering: I don't need anymore flowers.

Just the view of the front door. :) I bought this wreath for the outside during spring, but I really love the touches of pastel I have added to an otherwise dark-colored room to bring in some brightness. :) The little heart thing came from my Secret Sister, Sue.

The tools and things I sometimes use. Since I got the Cuttlebug, I don't use the QuicKutz as often, but it comes in handy when you are using a QK die and cutting out multiple of something. The basket holds my Cuttlebug embossing dies and the bigger dies that don't fit in my QK folder.
Uh... I apparently forgot to dust the top of this bookcase before I took a picture. Either way, I love that I have a neat little personal touch out here to remind me why I scrapbook.

I got this bear years ago at a Writing.Com convention and he's right at home on the shelf with my idea books. :)

The room from the front door. The lizard wasn't on the buffet as she has been all summer because she was still in the garage from the fogging we had done yesterday that -sort of- worked.

And that's that! So far, all of the cleaning and carpet shampooing has been pretty successful. We also got the hallway closet done so we can now store our throw blankets in there, as well as our extra blankets and pillows for guests who come to visit our comfortable couch. lol. We only have our room, the bathroom, and the boys' toy area of their bedroom, and the kitchen. Our plan is to work on it a bit each day, for about 15-30 minutes, and then spend another 15 - 30 trying to keep up on all of the hard work we did to get everything else nice and organized. I'll let you know how that goes! :)

August Commit 2 Paper kit :)

2009-08-15T10:06:00.003-04:00

The August Commit 2 Paper kit is available for order! :) It features the American Crafts Moda Bella line, which is full of bright and happy colors. I really felt it was a throwback to the colors of the late 80s and 90s and used that to inspire my creations.

This page also features a sketch from Inspired Blueprints. I loved that the papers made a really fun, nontraditional Christmas page.

Next, I found some photos where the bit of color pop was very complimentary. This photo of my cousin and me at her high school graduation really suited the papers quite well!

And yet another old photo made it to paper. :)

The projects it inspired me to create were also fun and bright! First, I altered a gift bag and made a matching card.

And then for something completely different, I used the papers to make an origami day lily and vase.

I hope if you haven't already, you'll go out and get the August kit. It's really a lot of fun!

The layout that seemed to take forever...

2009-08-14T12:21:00.002-04:00

A page can look so simple, and yet take forever to make. Case and point:

I just couldn't decide on a title. I mean, really, how many zoo pages can a person make before she runs out of ideas on titles? Obviously for me, 3. So 3 of the 5 hours I spent working on this page was spent staring at it, trying to decide on a title. And that's it. It doesn't help that I'm feeling under the weather and I woke up with spots on my throat this morning. I have a doctor's appointment at 3 for that and I'm hoping it's tonsillitis brought on by allergies. I used an old PageMap for this one, though it's edited to fit my needs.

This one was so fun and took way less time because it was one of those photos that I immediately new the page title when I took it. lol. Ever done that? Named a page before you even scrapped it? Yeah, I know I have issues of the scrapping kind. I used a round PageMap for this one.

Here's our little cookie monster over this past weekend, looking as cute as ever. Isn't his hair getting long? It won't be long before I have no choice but to cut it. It's getting difficult to maintain since he doesn't like it being brushed.

If you noticed, I've put a watermark on his picture. I'm going to start doing this with any photo of the kids that I post on my blog. Unfortunately, I've become a bit paranoid about random people stealing photos of my kids and using them in adoption scams after it recently happened to a blogging mother. I still want to share the photos with friends and family, but if you want to print it without the watermark, you'll have to get access to my Wal*Mart group albums to do so.

This weekend was going to be a trip to the Grand Rapid's Children's Museum, but that may be postponed, pending the results of my doctor's appointment this afternoon. Please be tonsillitis! Please be tonsillitis! Please be tonsillitis!

The August Commit2Paper kit is releasing tomorrow! Do you subscribe?

fish and frogs

2009-08-13T15:08:00.005-04:00

I'm going to have to get used to late-night scrapping sometime if I want to get things done once I go back to work, so I decided to spend some time getting used to working in my crowded, but comfortable, craft room last night. I think once the basilisk goes back to work it won't be as bad.

I don't normally do flowers on boy, but I have a lot lately. And this was tropical, so why not?

In other fun news, we chased and toad around in J's Mom & Dad's back yard and got peed on. But we had fun, toad pee and all!

The top one is because we put him someplace where he would be safe from the dogs (and 4 year-old boys). He went around the side of the house and hid for a bit. Ethan kept going over and checking on him. I can see that we'll soon be having to tell him that, no, whatever animal he catches will not be able to live with us. hehe

In which I share things you may have missed...

2009-08-12T17:51:00.004-04:00

Now I think I know why I don't blog everyday. I don't really do enough to talk about! So instead, I will share a few photos of Cameron turning 2 because he is so adorable and I love nothing more than talking about my kids.

He has officially been without pacifier since his second birthday and although we've been tempted to give it to him a few times he hasn't asked for or needed one since he threw them away that morning. This is his first nap time sans binky. He didn't sleep very long, but he's gotten better. :)

In which I show how forgetful I am...

2009-08-11T14:43:00.005-04:00

I was going to share another layout today, and then I realized it was for the next Journaling Junkie challenge and so I'm going to wait to post that one. So, I will share another instead.

Ethan had his third ever dental exam and his teeth are terrifically white and healthy. He does have a small mouth, like me, though, and may end up needing braces later on. We'll see how that goes once his teeth start falling out and his adult teeth crowd into his little space that makes big noises. Now all he needs is a haircut and he'll be fully ready for school.

In the meantime, we're going to get as much pool time as possible before I go back to work next week. He's swam so much this summer, he has a permanent sunburn on his cheeks no matter how much sunscreen we use and he no longer needs floaties.

Sigh. He's growing up.