In the nick of time!!

Yes, ma'am! I wanted to do this MME blog challenge before the 20th and then today I realize it's the 20th...YIKES! So here I am last minute printing pictures, throwing this layout together, and then taking a picture of it in the wrong lighting! Why do I do this...LOL Oh, well, I'm just happy I finished this layout of Travis and his new journey in to cross country racing. He's loving it and we're so proud of him :D


Now to get back to my scrap room and clean the horrific mess I made...lol Have a great night :D

Summertime banner

I had forgotten to post this banner! I was so proud of myself for buying the banner kit from A Kiss On the Chic and ACTUALLY completing the project...rare thing for me, but I'm trying to change that. It looks cute on my mantle :D


Off to finish up some cleaning and then hoping to scrap!

Baby love!

Yep, I love this little man! He's such a good little baby and he's starting to get to that really cute stage where he goos and gahs at ya...so sweet! These pictures were staring at me, so I just had to get to scrapping them. My sister is going to have a full book before you know it. I used Melissa Frances Hush a' Bye -- pretty baby paper for sure!


For this layout, I used sketch #63 from Creative Scrappers.


One of these days I'm going to find just the perfect spot for taking pictures...ya, one of these days!

BPM August reveal

The time has come for us gals to upload our DT creations for this month. I actually finished up early which is a very rare thing for me...lol Seriously! Usually procrastination fuels my creativity, but not this time. Kind of odd really. Anywho, let's get on to debuting the Solo kit with my layouts and cards.

Here's my favorite because it makes me smile every time I think of my friends coming all the way from Oklahoma to celebrate my birthday with me. Words can't begin to describe the fun I had!


I traced a Technique Tuesday chipboard template to get the outline of this layout. The circle is actually a piece of cardboard I had gotten in another kit a while back.


This one is self-explanatory...lol Collin will beg you to death until you finally give in out of frustration. Well, actually, he begged my brother over and over, but we knew they were going to go fishing eventually. He just didn't understand the concept of time that fishing had to be done later in the evening after the heat of the day has gone. Collin actually caught a "bullhead" catfish as he describes it, but I wasn't around to get a photo and my brother forgot...big bummer!


And here are a couple of cards. This one uses July's Back Porch Memories stamp set. I loved the cupcakes!

This one uses up some of those cute feltie things that come in the Solo kit.


Make sure to check out the other girls' creations in the DT Gallery.

It's the 1st...

so I'm going to show you the AWESOME Back Porch Memories kits for the month!
The gorgeous solo features BG June Bug...fun papers for sure!


The medley features BG Lemonade, new Three Bugs, and OA Cherry Hill!


and just look at these stamps!!!!


My early layout for the month is one of Collin at a local festival which features his favorite ride...the race cars! Yeah, cuz you know they go really FAST...lol Funny that every one kept asking who the girl was in the photo and I have to keep saying...I don't know, just a passenger LOL I even embossed using this month's stamps...woo hoo! The pendants are cut with a GSD file from Quickutz. I've been trying to use the Silhouette more often...trying! My journaling is under the second pendant where I layered two pendants together to lift for the journaling.


Then I have a color combo challenge going on for the month of August at BPM using some of my favorite summer colors. Come check out all the challenges and play along to be entered for a great prize from Paula!



Here's my layout using BG Lime Rickey -- love that paper!! I stitched around the edges, but it's hard to see with the white thread. I cut the circle border and the frame using QK digital files.


And, lastly, I leave you with a layout I created of my little nephew, Gavin, using Pink Paislee papers and a bit of Crate Paper embellies.


I think that's it for now. We're off to the beach today if I ever get off this computer and finish gathering everything up. Wishing you all a happy scrappy day!!

OMG! What a weekend!

I seriously don't know where to begin...honestly! After picking my bestest Okie girls up from the airport on Thursday night, we sat on the deck talking until the wee hours catching up. It was actually nice enough Friday that Carolyn and I braved the pool and floated around in there for a while until Dave came to pick us all up to go out to dinner at my favorite BBQ place. From there we headed to my sister's house where everyone was waiting for us to get on the party bus. Off to Boogie Fever where we danced and danced. The night was soooo much fun!
Here's my sister and me

Cheri, Carolyn, me, and Kim at Boogie Fever...woo hoo!


So Saturday comes and we are chilling for pretty much the entire day, but had $50 in Chinese food delivered. It was an awesome smorgasbord...mmm~! I take the girls up to Archivers, so Kim can visit her very first one. They loved the store and then we were off to a restaurant for Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Cheri was so sick of food by the end of the night that she never wanted to eat again!

Now comes Sunday and the day is planned to go to Ikea. Kim had never been and wanted to go.

It's funny that we get there and go straight to the food -- love me some Ikea meatballs! Kim didn't eat and decided to go look around. Right after eating, Cheri jumps up and says she's going to find Kim. Carolyn pretty much does the same, leaving Marisa and I at the table. So I'm thinking at this time that Cheri's had enough of this trip and is ready to go. We find them and literally from that point trot through Ikea at a pace probably never known to that store....lol Now I'm thinking why in the heck did they want to come here if we were going to go through the entire store within a half hour? Next stop, Cheri says let's hit the scrap store. Well, I'm always up for stopping in at one of my favorite scrap stores -- Scrappy Chic. We're perusing the store (by the way I was so proud of myself for not buying ONE thing!) and now Cheri tells me she's not feeling good and we have to go. Okay. Now that's starting to explain why she's acting weird. Off we go, but I decided to take a different way home instead of going straight back to the freeway. She's in the back seat asking me why I made this choice? How long until we get back? What exit will we get off the freeway? I'm thinking...DANG, she's being impatient! So we pull down my street and I see my mom and sister's cars parked out there. I'm thinking...oh, they wanted to come by and see my friends one last time before they leave -- how sweet! Dave meets all of us at the end of the drive way and tells me that he has my birthday present, but I have to put this shirt over my head along with a pair of head phones....HUH!!?? What's going on????? Why are you hiding me from my new laptop...lol


Well, after being lead through the dark and bumping into mirrors on the car and bouncing off the side of the house, I arrive in the backyard to have all that taken off and see my backyard decorated and filled with people yelling...SURPRISE!!! I had NO flipping clue my husband had planned this behind my back. The only reason he got away with it is because I've been so busy getting everything ready here at the house for their visit to notice. Now all these things popped in to my head why he wanted to do certain things like put up the big white tent we use for parties, etc. Yeah - it wasn't a laptop, but it was ONE HECK of a PARTY!! You all got me pretty good, I say. Thanks for making the 40's look a lot better

The day has come!

My bestest friends from Oklahoma (Cheri, Carolyn and Kim) are arriving tonight...woo hoo!!! Almost a year ago while at a retreat with them, they said they would come visit me for my 40th birthday. While I believed them, I knew it was almost a year away and thought no way is it going to happen. Well, low and behold, it is happening!!! I'm so excited!! Now my birthday isn't until next week, but we can start celebrating now; can't we?! My sister has rented a party bus for 12 of us to go out tomorrow night. We're going to show them the city and then we're off to a club called Boogie Fever...I've wanted to go there for forevah!! I love me some disco being a child of the 70's and all...lol I guess turning 40 isn't all that bad; right?

BPM July DT Creations

It's the 10th so we get to show all our designs made with our monthly kits. I already showed my first layout using the MME on the first of the month...I seriously need some more of that paper! I think I might own some...lol

Here are the rest of my designs:

a little tag to use on a future layout


Collin just adores his new little cousin! He loves to hold him and sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" over and over to him...lol


a layout using the Bo Bunny Popsicle for my "Layout in 15 Minute or Less" article


and lastly this is a layout using our monthly Page Maps sketch


I had a blast working with this kit because it was so summery and fun! Unfortunately for you it's sold out but is being waitlisted. Told ya Paula creates some GREAT kits! LoL Make sure to check out all the other design team creations by clicking here

Twilight Mini and more

Well, the 4th has come and gone with the kids and I having a great one-night camp out with my brother and his family. We went to a campground not far from us and it was beautiful! I just wish I could sleep better and that the friggin' air mattress would not deflate on me every single time!! The thing is practically brand new and has deflated since the second time I used it, however we can never find the leak. I'm taking it back to Sam's Club and complaining! They have good customer service and I know I can get a new one...hopefully! Collin caught a huge catfish, but unfortunately I wasn't there to get the picture and my brother forgot. Marisa caught an eight inch rock bass, too! We had a blast and will be planning another camp trip soon.

So for my niece's birthday we got together to celebrate. We ended up at Chili's (even though it was originally supposed to be my favorite BBQ place -- Slows -- yum!) after the kids went to laser tag. I guess I had told her I would make a cake for her birthday and thankfully she reminded me. Kind of stunk because I had let my SIL borrow my cake stuff so I had to go buy some duplicate supplies...oh well! Not the best job in the world on this cake, but it's really all about how it tastes; right!


The little mini book I threw together for her using a Maya Road apple chipboard album, some MM valentine papers along with some MME and Doodlebug. I had to throw in some Prima flowers and bling, of course! I was proud of myself for actually bringing out some stamps to use on this project -- felt good!


I wish I had gotten the picture of Gab when she put the book to her face to kiss it...camera wasn't fast enough.


And now just to throw one last picture in of my little bubs -- gosh, he's the cutest and we just can't get enough of him! Even Collin just adores his little cousin, Gavin. I can't believe he'll be eight weeks tomorrow already! Yeesh! Brings back memories seeing him in his car seat which used to be Collin's when he was an infant. Gosh, time flies because my baby will be seven in two days!!!


I'm off to play with some scrap goodies and then get some things done around this house. My computer time has to be scarce... I'll try to listen to myself!

Another month...

has come and gone...sheesh! I've put everything around my house off until the last minute and now it's cram time! My terrific gal pals from Oklahoma will be here in 15 days to help me celebrate my 4oth birthday. I get so anal when people come to visit and I start projects that I shouldn't around the house. Well, I'm trying not to do that, but I am fixing and cleaning things that should have been cleaned and fixed a while ago.

Like for instance, today I thought I would plunge the sinks in the bathroom because they were running slow. What happens??? They stop up all together and some black gunk comes out....can you say YUCK!!!!!! So when Dave got home he spent the next three hours trying to figure out the problem. He snaked the drains and they still wouldn't allow the water to drain. It just so happens his friend Brian calls and tells Dave he had the same problem once and they called a plumber who went on top of the roof and ran the snake down the vent pipe...huh??? So Dave bravishly gets on the roof (he hates getting on the roof...well, more like getting off the roof...lol) and runs the snake down the vent (?) and viola!!! The sinks drain GREAT now!! Thanks to Brian for saving us $100 (or more) on a plumber...woo hoo! Love having a handyman husband that's for sure!

Now on to better things. The Back Porch Memories July kits are up and they are some GREAT ones....when are they not really :D
Here's the Solo:


Here's the Medley:


The fabulous stamps:


And finally, my first layout using the MME Breakfree in the Medley....love this paper!!!


Okay, that's it for now. I now have to lock myself up in my scrap room and finish a little book that I started to make for my niece's birthday which is tomorrow. I'll share it as soon as I'm done. I think I'm going to love it so much that I'm going to have a hard time giving it away...lol It's a mini on the subject of Twilight...her most favorite movie in the whole world right now because it has the love of her life in it -- Edward! So with you, Gabster girl!!! I have NEVER been hooked on a set of books the way I was with those. I cried...I laughed...I fell in love...ahhh! I even contemplated becoming a vampire
Peace out!

June DT Reveal

I had so much fun with the Zinnia paper from MLYB. I can see a few more cards or even a layout or two coming from this still. So it's the 10th already and now we get to show you all our goodies we designed this month. You can check out all the other spectacular stuff from the DT here.

I'll start off with a favorite little thing of mine. I love when I'm able to actually create something I can use as a home decor item. I found this cutesy frame at Michaels on clearance and knew I could do something with it. Voila! This is what I came up with....

I'm thinking I've got to get a better picture of this. I swear the camera is not cooperating with me lately...ugh!

Quickutz releases new digital cutter files every couple of weeks and when I saw this one

I knew it would be perfect for these pictures of Marisa and all her silliness.


Then I did this one to savor my last year and actually last month in the 30's. I have hidden journaling in the tags behind the large photo of me. I actually like these photos of myself which is a rarity. Marisa was taking pictures on Mother's Day at the restaurant and she got these. Plus, I think any photo looks better in black and white...lol


Then lastly, this layout was done for my "15 minutes or less" newsletter article this month. I used black cs from my stash as I thought it made the papers just pop.


That's the end of my scrappiness from this week. I felt like doing more, but there's so many other things that need to be done around here. I finally just finished planting flowers in the backyard. I swear the backyard is taking forever to get together this year!

Well, off to prepare for tomorrow's field trip. I'm going with Marisa and her 4th grade class to our state capital -- Lansing. We are taking big motor coaches which should be a nice ride. I couldn't imagine taking a bouncy yellow school bus all the way there. I'd be so sick...lol
Until next time...

JUNE!!

Whoa! I can't believe it...well, yes I can because it does always come right after May So of course being the first of June, I get to show you my early layout from Back Porch Memories! However, before I do that let me just show you the scrumptious kits this month...you'll love them for sure!

The solo kit features MLYB Zinnia -- gorgeous papers!


The medley has Basic Grey Lime Rickey, Scenic Route Garden Grove, and Cosmo Cricket Early Bird in it.........an AWESOME MIX of papers for sure!!


Oh, and these stamps couldn't be more perfect for summer!


Green and purple happen to be my FAVORITE color combo! I've always thought it such a springy soothing mix. That's what makes these Zinnia papers one of my faves for sure. Now for my layout...one which my sister would probably shoot me for using that picture..LOL I try to tell her that it's the moment that's important because in the end, our kids our grand kids won't be picking apart how we look(well, at least I hope not...lol) They'll just be happy to have the photo of us to look back on especially this sweet photo of her with her children (wow, that still sounds weird...children...when she's only had one child for ten years). I love this photo because no matter how tired she looks after just giving birth, she's such a beautiful person both inside and out!


For the month of June, I host a challenge at BPM. My challenge is an easy one...scrap a special guy in your life or in the life of another. Here is my layout depicting a "new" special relationship my niece has with her little brother...so sweet!

LOVE the BG Wisteria line...so soft and pretty!

That's it for now. I have so much work going on around the house and being so lazy about getting it done. It's going to rain here today, so that will be my excuse for not going outside and getting the rest of the plants in the ground...lol
Take care and have a blessed day!
Tami