exciting things

My desk is coming along. The wood for the legs is very "green" still so we have been setting them outside everyday in hopes that they dry fast so they can be painted before we bring the desk in. Troy has the top completely finished and now just has to cut and assemble the legs.

I CANNOT WAIT!!!!

It is going to be great. I have some plans to put a shelf up above my desk just to house some odds and ends. Things that will be on this shelf include these cool Apothecary jars. I will wait for the big reveal to show you what I plan to put in them.

I'll give you some more sneak peeks into what is going on in my scrapbook room over the next week.

Challenge #11

Alright things are up and running now it appears!

Here is my challenge #11 which was

Tilt your design on an angle



I had an interesting time with this one. I finished it yesterday and just kept coming back and looking at it. I went to bed hating it. I woke up loving it.

I'm not a big buttons type of girl, but I have tons of them (because they do look pretty) and decided I better start using them.

I just drew a frame around the b&w picture with some acrylic paint and a foam paint brush (remember I'm trying to do things I've never done before). I think it turned out cute.

Painted the CHEESE letters with white then went over them with Ranger Crackle Paint.



I had a hard time with journaling. If you go back up and look at the whole page there really is not a good place to journal. Sometimes I just don't want to ruin a page with my yucky handwriting. So I decided on a hidden pocket with my journaling inside. Look at the whole page above and on the right side you can see a little orange tab that says "pull."


I just glued a little envelope under the page and then cut out a white piece of cardstock to stick inside and glued a little tab on it and hid my journaling. Something fun just for Khloe to go back and look at when she gets older, not everyone that flips through her album gets to read it. Just to my special little peanut from her mommy.


Turned out to be one of my favorite pages. I love all the colors.

I have picked a new challenge for the week. Challenge #12 is

Format your journaling as a Mad Lib

Fun, right? We played with those Mad Lib's all the time when we were kids. Now if I can just remember what adjective, verbs, adverbs, etc are I'll be in good shape! ;)

Good news.....things are progressing fast on my new desk!!! Whoot Whoot

I'll share some more pics tomorrow. Maybe even a few of the annoyed woodworker who didn't want me to take his picture. :)

Today was sooo nice. We all got outside and while Troy worked on my desk, Khloe and I raked up some leftover leaves from the fall that we had missed and cleaned up my hosta beds.

Just nice to be outside finally!

makes me happy

My challenge page is done for the week, but since it got dark out before I could snap a good picture of it, I'm going to wait till tomorrow for some good light. So I will post the challenge results and the new challenge tomorrow.

In the meantime at our house my new scrapbooking table is being started!

It has been awhile since my husband has had time to do anything handy. He still really doesn't, but he knows how much I need a bigger table and he really does not want to put one together from Ikea. He hates that place! ;)

I had forgotten just how handy he is. I got my new Pottery Barn magazine this week and started ripping pages out and showing things to him that I wanted him to make. I think he is starting to regret his decision to remind me that he knows how to use power tools.

Oh and be sure and check out my Our Life 365 Days blog. It is finally up to date!

don't want to send flowers?

I mentioned last week that one of my friend's mom had passed away. I wasn't able to make it to the funeral and was so torn up about it. I didn't want to just send a plant of flowers, because that is what everyone does and let's face it, after a week the flowers are gone, and if you are anything like me the plant is usually gone too after a week or two.

So I needed something really meaningful and something that she would have forever to remind her of her mom. I just couldn't think of anything and then all of a sudden it hit me. I raced to my computer and, of course, hopped on the Etsy site. This is what I pulled up.

PERFECT!!!!

I got her this exact necklace (minus the names on it) with an inscription on it and added a little pearl to it too. Francisca @ SilverSpeak was sooo terrific to work with. She got it done in record time for me, since she knew I was in a big hurry to get it to my friend. We worked for a couple of hours emailing back and forth getting it just right and she got it sent out the next day directly to my friend and I believe she got it within 1-2 days. Amazing, right?

Just wanted to pass this on for those of you who are like me and don't want to send flowers or a plant for something. I think this is a great gift idea.

i'm crazy over these

I'm starting to get things together for Khloe's Easter basket. Trying to stay away from a lot of candy so I thought I would just get some little toy fillers instead. I found these Crazerasers at Christmas for her and she loved them.

She only has 2 sets and I had been looking for them again, but I had gotten them at a specialty toy store and hadn't seen them again. We went to Target the other day and low and behold there they were....in with all the Easter toys. So I LOADED up. They are only like $1.39 I think and they can be taken apart and put back together. They are really cute.

I think they are recommended for age 6 and over....but Khloe has never been one to put things in her mouth so she does really good with them. If you have little babies in the house I probably wouldn't recommend getting them, just because when they come apart there are TONS of little teeny tiny pieces.

So she will definitely be getting a set of these in her Easter basket.

Challenge #9....check

Put the finishing touches on challenge #9 last night, which was

Draw inspiration from media

I had a lot of fun with this layout and took a lot of risks, by doing things that I had never done before. I'm pretty pleased with the layout.



It is the first two page layout I have done in a long time. Everything except for the "moments like this" is stamped. I know...outside my comfort zone. I do stamp a lot on cards...but stamping on a page is a whole different story. I kept worrying about screwing it up and not being able to change it. It all turned out great though I think.

Here is a closer look at the individual pages.

I used my smooch ink to dot on some pink to match the swirls around the photo.


Oh and remember this was my inspiration for the page.


Onto starting my challenge #11.

I also wanted to share some good news at our house.

I made Khloe an appointment at the chiropractor yesterday. Took her in and turns out she had a misalignment along her spine which was causing her to have colicky like symptoms. He said it wasn't causing her pain....just causing her nervous system to react differently.

Last night....brand new kid. NO crying, whining, or throwing fits. NONE WHATSOEVER! Let me just be very clear in saying that from the time she came home from daycare to the time she went to bed every single day Khloe cried or whined almost constantly, which is not like her at all, which is why I thought she was getting teeth.

We put her in bed last night (which the past few weeks had been taking at least an hour to get her to sleep every single night with lots of crying) and she was asleep in less than 5 minutes with no crying. She slept all night until 7:30 this morning. She woke up and there was NO crying or whining about getting dressed and leaving, and trust me, usually there is lots of tears, lots of fighting and takes FOREVER to get her out the door. She was soooo cooperative. AMAZING. It makes me wonder how long her back has been out. Poor girl couldn't control her emotions.

We have the best chiropractor...he works miracles. I already sent him a nice thank you. You can't imagine how long it has been since there hasn't been a crying kid at our house. It is a REALLY nice change.

Maybe now would be a fine time to try the potty chair again....since she is so cooperative.

it's time to dance......

WHOO HOO!

My favorite show has begun. I love Dancing with the Stars. With the exception of the last season, I think that is a show that always has a good season. I'll just give you my picks and my ones that I think should have never been put on the show.

I really liked Erin Andrews. Not a lot to say at this point. I think she is good. I think she will go far. I really like Maksim too. They are a good combination I think.

Even though they got slaughtered, I really liked Kate Gosselin (gasp..I know I'm not usually her biggest fan) and I love Aiden Turner (only because I have watched All My Children most of my life).

Of course Nicole Scherzinger is going to be good. I love how all of the people with previous dance experience come on and say "yeah, but it is nothing like ballroom." Oh give me a break. She is good though and Derek (her partner) has always been one of my favorites.

I have had enough Jake Pavelka (the bachelor) to last me an eternity. Everytime that guy opens his mouth I can taste the throw up in mine (sorry to put that picture in your mind). I loved his quote tonight on national television "Proposing to Vienna was the honor of my life." Are you kidding me? Be sure and keep the fasad going for a couple more months, Jake, until you have milked it for all it is worth. YUCK!

Poor Buzz Aldrin...how can you not like him. But he needs to go....right after Jake.

So those were my thoughts tonight....there were a few other people. They kinda fell in the middle for me. I think Chad Ochichino will go far, especially since Cheryl is his partner. Ooh and how could I forget Evan Lysacek. I liked him and Anna.

It's a little too early for me to pinpoint it. Most years I have been dead on...except last season...who could have guessed that disaster.

I do think Erin Andrews and Evan Lysacek will go far...possibly to the final 3. I'll put up my picks next week after I see them one more time.

As for the rest of my evening......

Still dealing with this nasty cold and also dealing with a crying child. She HAS to be teething. She is only this naughty when she is teething. Luckily we only have 4 more to come in. They are the big ones in the back and if her pain is equal to how she has been acting, then they must really hurt. They better come fast cause I don't know how much longer I can deal with the kicking, screaming, crying fits and waking up 2-3 times a night again.

The problem is people keep telling me that the three's are worse than the two's.

I can't wait.

Challenge #10 results and new challenge

My challenge #10 was

Finish a page in 45 minutes

Not happening at my house. I swear I got interrupted at least 10 times. I don't know how long it actually took me to do this page. I do think it was over 45 minutes. So I probably failed this one...but nonetheless it got done.


Once I get my sewing machine I do want to do a few zigzag stitches around the pictures. I really need to get this sewing machine. Right now though I don't have a place for it.

Troy has been working on making my desk. We decided it would be bigger and cheaper if he just built it. Hopefully I will have it posted by the end of the week. I can't wait!!!

I have NOT finished challenge #9 yet, which was

Draw inspiration from media

I know exactly what I want to do now, however I need to make a trip to the craft store for a couple of supplies. I have been behaving with my spending so I am going to splurge a little bit for some new supplies. :) Can't wait for that either!

So my plan for this week is to finish #9 and do #11 this week.

Here is #11

Tilt your design on an angle

Well I think I'm calling it an early night tonight. I'm fighting a cold and all I want to do is lay on the couch. I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with this crazy weather.

just what I was looking for

It's been a long week...and it isn't over quite yet.

Thought I would get on Etsy and do a little looking around and came across a little letterpress number 3 I had been looking for at this cute little store. So decided to make a small purchase tonight.



I'm really eyeing the M too.....hmmm

rollercoaster

What a day.

I have two really close friends. You know the ones that you always know will be in your life and would do about anything to help you out.

I went and saw one of them this morning. She just had a baby girl last week. It is her first baby and she has waited FOREVER to have kids. It was so cool to see them together. Her little girl is just the cutest little thing ever. I kept telling her that I was going to steal her and take her home with me (she thinks I was kidding). She is on cloud nine.

I got home from there and probably within an hour I got a phone call from my other best friend's husband. It is usually never good when the husband calls and I knew something was wrong instantly when I heard his voice.

Her mom had been battling leukemia and had been doing well. She died suddenly last night.

My heart broke for my friend.

She is pregnant with her second child and has had a tough pregnancy and only has about 2 months left. I can't even begin to imagine how she is feeling right now.

I hate that there is not one thing I can do to make any of this easier for them. No one deserves to have something like this happen....especially not her.

The tears just start to flow every time I think of her.......

march 18

Not quite time for sandals yet, but time to polish the toes.

Happy St. Pats

I'm feeling lucky today!

Went to the dentist and NO CAVITIES!!! WHOO WHOO

Found this cute little pendant at cathywalters' shop on Etsy. It says "Lucky" on the back.

I love her stuff....just haven't decided on a pendant for myself quite yet.

sneak peek

Just wanted to give you a little sneak peek to what I have been working on for my Challenge #9 which was

Draw inspiration from media

I found this picture in one of my magazines and ripped it right out

I thought this would be great inspiration for a page. I loved the layout and how they made it look like they put 4 small pictures together to make one big one.

I set out on my mission.

I had a tough time finding a photo to do this with and then I came across my photos of Khloe at the park this last summer. I decided to do the close up one of her on the swings as the main photo and then I picked out five smaller photos of her swinging on the swings and printed those out to kind of flow behind the big photo. I haven't laid it out yet so I'm not sure that it is going to work out the way I want....but we'll see.

Here is how I did the big photo

I opened my photo up in Photoshop and clicked on the rectangular shape tool. I changed the color to white and drew my rectangle as big as I thought I wanted it (you can resize later).

Then I added another layer and clicked on the marquee tool. I drew this one just slightly smaller than the rectangular shape I just made.

Then I clicked on the original shape layer and then clicked on the eraser.

I just started erasing the photo inside the marquee. You can go "outside the lines" and it will only take out the picture inside the marquee. Leaving you with a nice white border.

Here is the end result.

Then click on the marquee tool again and click it anywhere outside of the photo and the dotted lines will go aways around your picture.

Repeat the process for your additional frames and here is what my finished photo looked like.

I just got it printed out today and I'll start putting everything together!

cuteness

I have a serious obsession with owls lately. Check out this little cutey I found on Etsy. It is from a little shop named Contemori. The shop is out of Italy....but they ship to the US!

Whoo Hooo!

Or should I say Hoooot Hoooot! hee hee

Challenge #9 and #10

I did not finish my challenge this week. I am getting close, but I took on a little bit more than I could chew with this one and it took me a little longer to get my pictures right and get them reprinted. So hopefully within the next couple of days I will post the results. I am however going to post my new challenge for this week.

Finish a page in 45 minutes

Yeah right....is this even possible? I am going to have to be really organized to get this one done.

Alright so on to some funny news for the day.

We made our "big" supper again tonight and had broccoli/cheese soup and potato skins. So we ran out of chicken broth for the soup so I sent Troy and Khloe to the dollar store to get some. They came back and Khloe told me she got some playdoh. I couldn't believe that Troy let her pick something out. Only because all I ever hear is "Khloe has too many toys, don't buy her anything else." So I NEVER in a million years thought that Troy would let her pick something out at the dollar store.

She walked into the kitchen with this

And my question was answered. This wasn't necessarily a toy for Khloe...it was more for her daddy.

So after Troy demonstrated how it worked, Khloe was about moved to tears all night from laughing so hard. Troy wasn't far behind.

After we practically ripped it out of Khloe's hands before bed tonight, Troy holds it up to me and says "Can you believe this stuff was only a dollar?"

My response...."Yes, I can."

It's the little things.....really.

relaxation

Enjoying the moment tonight......

To me, sometimes there is nothing better than a clean house.

Just laying on the couch, in the quiet, with my laptop, being lazy, and loving every minute.

Happy Friday Night

progress

Big week around here. We went from this.....

.....to this!

Amazing, right? Yes it is the same room. :) It always blows my mind too what a fresh coat of paint does for a room. Looks brand new...and really big!

Now don't start thinking that my child is deprived and these are all the toys she has. That is certainly NOT the case. She still has a HUGE bookcase full of books upstairs, a table to draw on and a big toy box in her room full of toys. Not to mention about 10 stuffed animals/babies to choose from. I figured I would kind of keep an eye on what she doesn't use on a day to day basis and move that stuff downstairs as needed. Most of the little stuff fits in her toy box so I'm fine with letting her keep that upstairs. At least we got all the "big" awkward stuff out of her room and our living room so we can at least walk and sit on our furniture!

Ahhhh, spring cleaning has officially begun at our house!

Challenge #8 results and Challenge #9

The challenge this week was

Include a note or greeting card

I didn't have much time this week to work on this page....it shows a little! I do love the color scheme though...since pretty much everything else in Khloe's book is pink.

I will for warn you that the picture is terrible. I changed some settings on my camera on Thursday while we were playing around taking pictures and whatever I did is making my pictures really grainy and blurry. I definitely need to change the settings some how again. You can tell I'm just starting to try and shoot on different settings and it is hard to get things just right. I did take a new picture later...but for some unknown reason both of my camera batteries are now dead. So I will have to replace the picture tomorrow after I'm charged up again.

On to next week....

Challenge # 9 is

Draw inspiration from media

You can take inspiration from books, music, film, magazines, etc. I just saw something today in a magazine that sparked my interest in this. It is going to take a lot of time though to figure out this technique if I can get it right. Hopefully I will have results by Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

treasures

I worked on a little project for Khloe yesterday. I had done one of these little boxes before to house all of her ponytail holders, clippies, and sunglasses. This is the one that sits in her room.

She has these little "Polly Pockets" now that just get left all over the house. Tons of little tiny pieces, so I decided to make another little box for her to store Polly in.

So the boxes and my new paper from BasicGrey came in the mail on Tuesday and I couldn't wait to get started yesterday.

Here is what the box looks like.

I just used a craft knife and cut the knobs off the front so I could paint it white.

Then I just used Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the drawers, sides, and top. Then I just went over the top of it with Mod Podge again and glued the knobs back on.

Stuck a few tiny rhinestones on the knobs and decided to put a cute little bird and some hearts on one of the drawers. I'm not usually one to use all of the "extras" that come in the BasicGrey packs....but this time they really outdid themselves. I love the turtles and birds. Cute, aren't they?

only a few months left.....

...until we can be sitting outside doing this again.




I can't wait!

Challenge #7 results

Finally getting around to posting the results. I, of course, got sucked into "The Bachelor" this year....like I do every year. Every time it is on I do my usual "I am NOT watching this season." Then the first episode airs and I'm sucked in. I especially had to watch tonight because I am a HUGE "Dancing with the Stars" fan and they announced who was on the show tonight. Much better cast than last season! Thank goodness!

Anyways here is the results from my Challenge #7 which was

Finish a layout in one hour

For those of you who know me...I usually spend anywhere from 2-4 hours on one page. I can honestly say I have NEVER finished a page in under an hour. So this truly was a challenge for me. I had about 5 minutes to spare amazingly enough on this page. Even after spending about 10 minutes trying to get my Glossy Accents unclogged. :)

I had a lot of fun with this page simply because I tried a lot of new things. I have never stamped a phrase on a page (note how close together "those" and "eyebrows" are) and I have never used the wording as my focus on the page. I think it worked out great using just the three smaller photos. I do plan to add some stitching to the paper on the side once I find my new sewing machine (I did have five minutes to spare).

The big background paper is from Scenic Route. They are going out of business and have a great sale going on at their website. The other paper is from BasicGrey Indian Summer. I LOVE that paper and have been wanting to use it ever since I got it.

I used four of the Fragments at the bottom and glued them onto the paper (that is what I needed the Glossy Accents for) and cut around them. Then I added a little heart from the Grungeboard (check out the low price there!) and added a little pink Smooch paint to it and some Golden Glass Bead Gel and it was finished.

I can hear the poor little peanut in her room coughing up a storm while she is trying to sleep. It could be a looong week.