LO with All Boy by Corina Nielsen and Anne DeJong

journaling: Bryce received Rescue Heroes and cars for Christmas this year. His favorite was the Rescue Hero Robot that walked, talked and could pick up things. The remote contral car a close second.

credits: All Boy All The Time by Corina Nielsen and Anne DeJong at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns; Paper Scraps by Anne DeJong, blog freebie; Heavy-duty staples by Kate Hadfield at The-LilyPad; fonts: Misprinted Type, Batik Regular

I had to go digging a bit to find these pictures of DS getting robots and cars for Christmas. It's always interesting to dig up older photos, as I can see how much my photography skills have improved over the years. These were taken with our first digital camera and the resolution is not very high, so I didn't want to crop the pictures as that is as big as they get when you only have a 2 megapixel camera (which at the time was pretty good LOL). So, I left all of the distracting mess in the background so that the pictures wouldn't get lost on the LO.

I'm still buried under piles of things that need to be tagged to take the MOPS garage sale tomorrow. The end is coming into sight though, finally. It is amazing how many clothes and shoes 5 kids can accumulate, and outgrow, in just 6 months! The biggest pile left is all of the toys and dolls the twins want to sell to clean out their room a little.

Spring Sale at Scrapdish

We're starting the NSD sale a bit early, and celebrating the addition of 10 (!) new designers at Scrapdish with a week long sale. There are gobs of new kits, albums, elements, and templates up in the store and just about everything is on sale 25% off or more (dollar bin items excluded). I have a few new things, click the previews to go to the product in the store.

A second set of Great Grids templates:
and the first 4 templates are available in a collection now too: Great Grids Collection 1

Pyramid Boxes
the boxes are also available individually if you only need one size:
Large Pyramid Box
Small Pyramid Box

and those who have been reading my blog for a while just might recognize this set. It's been sitting on my HD for a very long time, and I finally gave the papers and a few of the elements a little updating and got it in my store. Maybe someone else out there has secret agent pictures sitting around waiting to be scrapped?
I also have quite a few older templates in the clearance section for 50-60% off- they are gone at the end of the sale, so go grab them now if you want them.

and with that, I've got to go correct a spelling mistake on Carissa's report and poster and get to bed. It's going to be a busy week with getting ready for the first MOPs garage sale of the year. I have piles and boxes of things that need to be tagged before Thursday morning.

New LOs

Jessica Bolton has a gorgeous new collection-Pastiche For the Boys- out at SBG this weekend, and it's on sale for a steal for the first week. It is a wonderful boy collection, but also with some gorgeous flowers too to make it extremely versatile.
(Pastiche means 'hodge-podge' BTW)

Here are the two LOs I did with it.

credits: by Jessica Bolton at scrapbookgraphics: A Pastiche For The Boys, torn note paper and barnstorm numbers from Not Quite Men, Pulled Loose and Basic Straight Stitches; fonts: TXT Stonewashed and TXT Scribbletti

credits: by Jessica Bolton at scrapbookgraphics: A Pastiche For The Boys, Fiber Balls, Foam Stamped Alpha, Eclectic Needs Neutral Buttons, Torn Hearts, Paint and slide from Not Quite Men, alphas from Not Quite Men, Love This Guy, Epiphany, and Summer Potentialities, large screw from Love This Guy, Eclectic Needs X-stitch; Date Stamps by Amber Clegg at scrapartist

and I finally finished up this LO of Brenna and Sarah playing with Brenna's new Cinderella dress-up doll that Aunt Megan sent her for her birthday. Sarah has the attitude that anything Brenna gets is hers too, which often times doesn't go over well with Brenna as I'm sure you can imagine. Overall, I think Brenna has been pretty good at sharing this. It helps that Beth lets them play with the Belle doll from her set that she got for her birthday many years ago.
(click to see the LO bigger)

journaling: Brenna received this Cinderella dressup set for her birthday from the Rodeffers a few days late. She loved it right away and spent the rest of the day changing her hair, dress, and shoes. As much as Brenna loves her new dolls, so does Sarah. She plays with them whenever she gets a chance. This particular evening she was singing princess songs to the dolls & moving them & the mice around the castle.
credits: Who Needs a Fairy Godmother, Happiest Kit on Earth and LO Template by Britt-ish Designs; Ultimate Stitches Not So Basic by Dani Mogstad, crown from charm doll kit at scrapartist, glitter layer style by Flergs, Shooting Stars by Christina Renee, gems by Melinda Staley; fonts: CK Script

We spent the morning at the zoo seeing the new Rocky Mountain exhibit that opened today. Very nice! I think they have done a wonderful job updating the zoo over the years. The grizzly bears were putting on quite a show and the river otters were obviously enjoying their new, much larger outdoor exhibit. It will be nice to go back later and enjoy the whole area again when it isn't nearly as crowded. I'm sure the zoo was even more crowded this afternoon since we went during their 'members only' special viewing time. I've got lots of pictures of course, but they haven't come off my camera yet.

Another week almost gone

Time sure does speed by these days. I've been collecting little things to put up here on the blog for a few days, so here goes:

Sarah gave me a hug on Saturday morning (4-19) and then said 'I Love You.' That was the first time I have heard her use those words all together like that. It made my heart melt. Mark says she has been telling him too- often 3 or 4 times in a row :)

Beth's tooth that was really out of place before she got braces has moved right where it is supposed to be already! amazing!

One of the ladies at church crocheted all of our girls ponchos and gave them to us after church on Sunday. Beth, Carissa, and Brenna wore them all afternoon and evening while Sarah won't even put hers on.

My laptop is running smoothly and quietly again after DH vacuumed it out for me Sunday afternoon. It really is amazing how quickly the dust accumulates around here now. It definitely seems worse now than the first few years that we lived here.

Brenna asked this morning if she could use some scissors to cut some paper. I said yes, but she also had to clean up her mess when she was done. She made a right nice pile of paper strips on the little blue table and has refused to clean them up when I told her it was time to do so. She has spent well over the amount of time it would have taken her to do it throwing a fit about how it is 'boring to clean up' and refusing to do it. TV priviledges have been revoked until she gets the mess picked up. Sometimes it's no fun having to be the grown-up.

I think I can say it is truly getting to be spring here. I just saw a fly in my kitchen and yesterday the girls were in the backyard for a while, but came in when they saw a bumble bee. We don't have too many bugs here- which is a good thing in my mind as I like it that way! My sis and BIL can keep the big ole bugs down there in TX as far as I'm concerned! some of the trees are finally starting to get buds on the ends of their branches and I saw a bed of daffodils that were up when I was out for a walk one evening last week.

Here's a LO I did with Corina's contribution to the latest FPD designer collab- my favorite Shortcake recipe: credits: By Corina Nielsen at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns: Funtastic, Bucket of Fun- Scalloped Mats, Trims 1, Painted Overlay, and Doodled Frames, Alphapalooza Doodlers 2, Alphapalooza Stampers, red ribbon from One Sweet Day, Matties- Big Squares; Heavy Duty Staples by Kate Hadfield; Baker's Dozen by Kate Hadfield and Jacque Larsen; Glitter Paint Splats by Christina Renee; Paint Brush Strokes by Michelle Coleman; fonts: CK Sketch, 28 Days Later

and I got to make this to replace a hybrid project I had put in some of my galleries, but hadn't gotten up on my blog yet: credits: Unamused Boys, note paper and ricrac from Outnumbered Girl, Wings from Little Darlin' Addon, Graph Cuts Alpha, Cardboard Cutouts, staple from Regiftable, Messy Painter, Foam Stamp alpha; fonts: LD Letterpress

A card I made was accepted for publication in the May issue of Digital Artist Magazine- whoo hoo!

and I did this LO yesterday for a challenge over at SBG to scrap about games you love to play. I'm not fond of Monopoly, but Mark and the kids sure do love it. I started this LO over two years ago and never finished it. I had photographed and scanned all of the pieces for it and done some extracting of them- I can tell my extracting skills have improved a lot in two years as I had to pretty much start over those first ones were so bad! LOL and goodness the kids look young in these photos too. You can barely see Brenna peeking over the railing below Carissa in the picture where she is saying "I'm Rich!" after winning the game, and Sarah is slung over Mark's arm in the top left picture as she is only 2 months old.

journaling: Mark used his Christmas money from the Rodeffers to buy a classic Monopoly game and introduced the kids to the world of real estate, mortgages, and going broke. They loved it
& spent a lot of time playing Monopoly with their dad during the school break.
credits: Photo Grids #1 by Jen Caputo; by Jessica Bolton: scalloped edge paper (Just Another Memory), green paper (Impressions of Anticipation), Teeny Tags; Paper Bag Alpha by Michelle Godin; Monopoly board and pieces photographed and scanned by me; fonts: CK Journaling Condensed

Bryce's birthday party wrap-up

credits: ABnormal by Lori Barnhurst at LittleDreamerDesigns; February Template from 365 Remembered and Hot News Alphas 4 and 5 by Lauren Reid at LittleDreamerDesigns; Acrylic-O-Holic by Traci Reed at SweetShoppeDesigns; fonts: TXT Stonewashed

OK, so technically he isn't twelve for a few more hours- but we will call it close enough as the birthday celebrations are finished. ;) We had his birthday slumber party Friday evening and it went very well. He had three friends over. They are all very nice boys and they are welcome to come again any time. I'm glad to know my son has chosen his friends well. A couple of others weren't able to make it, so maybe we can have them over another time. We ate lots of pizza, apple slices with caramel dip, pretzels and chocolate cake (again, purchased from the grocery store bakery- I have to admit I love how easy that is!! LOL) and drank lots of soda. The boys declared it a very nice junk food fest and worthy party fare. Bryce opened his gifts- he has quite a stash of cash now to do something with. He got some Star Wars books, a couple of Lego sets, and a Lego Star Wars computer game. They watched the Ben 10 show marathon and the Ben 10 Alien Force show premiere and just enjoyed each other's company. I went to bed about 11:15, came down about an hour later and told them they should probably be getting to bed too. I finally was able to fall asleep after that, so I don't know what time they really did go to sleep. Bryce took a nap Saturday afternoon though, and he has to be really tired for that to happen any more. It was a good time all around.

He has been wanting that computer game for almost two years and I finally broke down and bought it for him. When we got it installed Saturday afternoon on the kids computer we discovered that it needs some sort of special graphic card program called Pixel Shaders and none of the graphic cards in our computers have that- so he can't play it. He has been terribly disappointed all weekend over that. :( I feel bad as I know how much he wanted it and how excited he was to finally get it. Maybe we will get a computer in the future that it will run on.

What we've been up to lately

can you say busy? what a week! I'm glad it is almost over.

It's been windy and cold most of the last couple of weeks. We had another delayed start to school this morning because a snowstorm came through last night, after it was in the 70s just the day before. Spring can be awfully crazy here in CO sometimes! I took Brenna and Sarah out for a walk early last week trying to beat a storm and we didn't quite make it- it was snowing lightly before we got home, and I heard thunder too. I don't think I've ever been in a thunderstorm quite like that before! Brenna asks nearly every day when summer is going to be here as she is tired of the cold LOL I have to get her kindergarten registration papers filled out and turned in soon as I want to have the best shot at getting her into a morning class. I just think she will do better temperament wise in the morning rather than the afternoon.

The older kids all have major report projects they are working on right now. They only gave Bryce one week for this project which he has to have a poster for and do an oral presentation. He wasn't real pleased with having to actually work on it over the weekend when he usually doesn't have to worry about homework- mean Mama ;) His report is on the ebola virus (this is a science report on an infectious disease). I am happy to report that he has it all finished up and ready to turn in/present tomorrow- yeah! This project has not made him a happy camper at home with me pestering him all of the time about whether he has gotten anything done on it. He doesn't seem to have grasped the concept that if he just spends a few focused minutes on his work, then he would get things done much faster. Also the fact that if he doesn't understand what I've told him to do that he should ask another question or two until he does, instead of sitting there stewing about something he doesn't understand and wasting his time. It's done now- thank goodness! The twins have reports on inventors that thankfully are being done over a longer period of time and in smaller increments. Beth is studying Alexander Fleming (discovered penicillin) and Carissa is doing Ruth Wakefield- chocolate chip cookies. We have to come up with costumes and props for their presentations. I'm hoping that I still have a lab coat hidden in the bottom of my closet somewhere for Beth, and I'm sure that we will be baking a batch or two of Tollhouse cookies for Carissa.

journaling: In March at our dentist appointments we were finally told that it was time to take Bryce and Beth to the orthodontist. They got their new braces during spring break.
credits: By Dani Mogstad: Pop Rocks, Pop Rocks Mini Tag Album, stitched tag from Fresh Air, dark purple paper from Scared Silly with Jacque Larsen; LO template from April Girl Talk blog challenge; Pop Top Poppers by Kim Jensen at Scrapdish; beaded wire from Denim Garden by Misty Cato; Playing with Wire Alpha by Weeds and Wildflowers; fonts: CK Sketch

Bryce and Beth both got braces over spring break at the beginning of the month. We had to go in for extra visits a couple of times because of lost spacers and broken brackets and wires, so I spent way too much time at that office over the last couple of weeks. Bryce's estimated time-line for treatment is 24-36 months. Because Beth still doesn't have a lot of her permanent teeth in, she is only supposed to have them for about 10 months this time. Then, after she gets a few more adult teeth in she will probably have to have them put on again for another short period. They seem to be adjusting to the OK for the most part.

I went out last Friday evening and had dinner with a bunch of old friends from my MOPS group. We shut down the restaraunt, sitting in a corner in a back chatting away about what we had been doing lately. It was lovely and I really enjoyed it.

journaling: Jolin and Tina organized a MOPS reunion dinner so that we could visit and catch up with what everyone has been doing during the years since we all served together on steering at Pulpit Rock. A few people I had run into on occasion around town, but most I hadn’t seen in several years. A few I had even been thinking about not too many days before. We sat in a back corner of the restaurant and chatted for over 3 hours- it was wonderful and like it hadn’t been so long since we had last seen each other. ~April 11, 2008
credits: Circle of Friends by Christy Lyle at SweetShoppeDesigns; Folded Mats and Photo Grids #2 templates by Jen Caputo at Scrapbookgraphics; fonts: TXT Stonewashed, DB Florography, Century Gothic

Brenna received a late birthday package from Aunt Megan today, much to her surprise. I didn't even make her wait to open it. She loved it and spent most of the afternoon and evening changing her clothes and trying to put the tiny little shoes on Cinderella. We only had one mishap with a pink shoe right before bed time when Sarah was being a pill and shoved it in a crack in the floor. Luckily Mama was able to get it out with her trusty pair of tweezers from the scrapbook tools. Once again craft supplies save the day! whoo hoo! LOL

and a couple of other random pictures I've been meaning to post. Has anyone heard of Speed Stacking? Some of our friends' kids participate in the team version of this through their schools. Our kids became enamored after giving it a try at the last young families potluck, and when the cup stacks went on sale the next week I gave in and got two. Even Sarah like to try it, though she doesn't get the whole concept quite yet she likes to try and stack them in her own fashion.

Last month, Becky asked me for some help with designing a logo for their school's speed stacking teams. Obviously the logo that was done for them the previous year was made by someone with graphic arts training as it was quite complicated. And of course the head coach wanted something similar. I have yet to see an actual printed shirt, but I thought the overall design came out pretty well. They needed the shirts to wear to the big Speed Stacking competition in Denver at the beginning of April. Hopefully Becky will get the pictures from the competition off of her camera soon!

and here is my cutie-patootie trying her hand at using a hand punch.
I was trying to work on a project for PrimaHybrid the other day and Ms. Sarah kept coming over and snitching my tools and then trying to 'help' me. I finally convinced her that she wasn't to touch the project I was working on, and gave her a piece of scrap paper to play with. That satisfied her for about 5 minutes and the next time I turned my back on the real project for a minute she was back trying to put some extra holes in it for me. She is just a little too much like me sometimes! LOL

Tomorrow is Bryce's 12th birthday bash. It looks like it is going to be a small group this time- only 2 or 3 boys. They are spending the night and they are going to be watching the Ben 10 moveis that will be on Nick tomorrow evening. A nice quiet party- just the type I like these days ;) All of the kids that are coming are nice and have always been well behaved so I think it will be a nice time for everyone.

Oh, and before I head up to bed. Check out this article in the New York Times- RAKscraps got a mention in the section about digital scrapbooking!

I'm a Global Know-it-All

:P I found the From Our Blog to Yours quiz choice at SSD today intriguing and took the guessthe spot quiz:
I got 13/16 right -80%. I should have had 14, but I realized a split-second after I hit the submit button for one that the answer I just submitted was wrong. It is definitely a different view of some famous places. The two I got wrong were both sports related questions, so that wasn't surprising at all that I missed those since I have very little interest in what sports stadiums look like from the air LOL

Two new LOs

I actually got two layouts done today- haven't done that in a long time LOL I pulled some photos out of Daddy I've been meaning to scrap for a long time now and just decided to do it today.

journaling: Richard was always trying out new art techniques. I found these black & white photos in a box in the storage room with things from the years he was in the National Guard, though there was no date on the photo box there were placed in.
credits: Snap by Carrie Stephens at PrimaHybrid.com; Nets-Set01 and Splotches by Melanie Willmam (Melgen Designs); Clipboard clip from Memories by Michelle Underwood; Gridworks alpha by Misty Cato at SBE; Pristine Chipboard action by Atomic Cupcake; fonts: CK Becky, Typewriter

credits: Merlin by Holly McCaig; Doggie Declarations by Carrie Stephens at PrimaHybrid; Scribble Circles by Kim Christensen at PrimaHybrid; LO template by Becky Troxel aka webchyck for Studio Starts challenge at scrapbookgraphics; Jessica Bolton at scrapbookgraphics: zigzag stitches, cardboard cutouts, Teeny Tags Alpha and vintage mats; Everyday Essentials: Trims by Traci Sims at scrapbookgraphics; by Michelle Godin at scrapbookgraphics: Neutral Paper bag Alphas, File It Under Basics, star border and staple from A 'Lil Bit Boyish
fonts: Zapf Chancery

Pretty as a Picture

a few photos of the Magic Castle Vanity for you

journaling on pg2: Brenna was so excited about her Magic Castle Vanity that she went and cleaned her room so that there would be a place to put it after it was put together. All of the girls had fun playing with it after the party was over.
credits: at PrimaHybrid: Little Miss and Say It In Crystals Frames by Vera Lim, Glitter flowers overlay by Weeds&Wildflowers from Firsts collab by PrimaHybrid Designers; scalloped edge border from Shape Up by Dani Mogstad; gems by Melinda Staley
fonts: TXT Nuptials, DJ Fancy Flourishes

after doing the digital versions, I printed out the first page and 'dressed it up' a bit more with some crystals, flowers and glitter. It's sitting on the kitchen counter next to the telephone, and all of the girls kept stopping by all evening to ooh and ahh LOL

paper credits: by Prima Marketing: 6mm Round Center Kisses (#520700), 9mm Round Center Kisses (#520717), Bitty Bag flowers (#50698); 5mm rhinestones by Darice; glitter glue by Sulyn

Fairy Birthday Party LO

(click the image to see it larger)

journaling: We celebrated Brenna’s 5th birthday with a fairy party. Fairy cake, ice cream, Flutter Fluff (aka cotton candy), candy corn, and sparkling raspberry lemonade kept everyone’s stomach’s full. We made fairy necklaces and rings, and colored fairy pages before opening gifts. Brenna received lots of Barbie Island Princess things- a costume and accessories as well as the big Magical Castle Vanity. She jumped up and down with surprise and joy when she saw the vanity! Hannah gave her a My Little Pony Unicorn, and the Rodeffers gave her a My Little Ponly story collection. Beth & Carissa gave her some Barbies and a Tinkerbelle costume, and Bryce gave her a Dora video game.
credits: Vintage Garden Fairies by Dani Mogstad and Shabby Miss Jenn as SweetShoppeDesigns; Butterfly Garden and Beyond Borders by Flergs at scrapbookgraphics; LO template by Yin (modified); fairies and glitter from Magical elements, Day Dreams Collection by Meredith Fenwick at scrapbookgraphics; alpha from Esprit by Rachel Dickson at Scrapdish; fonts: TXT Nuptials

No, I didn't make the cake myself this time. I was lazy and bought it at the grocery store bakery. Brenna had one friend from church able to come, and of course Grandmama was here too. It was a nice, relaxing party. Brenna had one very small meltdown during the cake part- I lit the candles and the next thing I knew she had blown them out. Before we could sing or I could get a picture. She didn't like being told that she was supposed to wait. I lit the candles again and she grudgingly waited while we sang, then Daddy had to help her blow them out a second time. A few bites of cake and ice cream and she was happy again, thank goodness.

The biggest hit of the present haul was definitely the Magical Castle Vanity. Brenna was fascinated. Sarah was fascinated. It doesn't take a genius to see the conflict in those two statements LOL Sarah wanted to play too and Brenna didn't want to share, at least not with her little sister. So, we listened to Sarah fuss and cry for most of Saturday evening. thankfully, things have calmed down a little now. As long as Sarah could have the rose necklace and rings she was content today. Just don't try to take those away from her, or your ears will be sorry! Sarah needs a big jewelry box of costume jewelry, I think.

I've got pictures of the Magic Castle Vanity in action, but those are going to have to wait until tomorrow as it is late and the big kids go back to school in the morning so I had better get myself to bed.

Birthday Anticipation

credits: Vintage Garden Fairies by Dani Mogstad and Shabby Miss Jenn as SweetShoppeDesigns; Stamp Meets Stamp Frames and Sassy Lace by Christina Renee; star sparkle brushes by Skip; fonts: SF Happiness, CK Nitelight

just a quick LO post since I should be in bed ;) Hopefully tomorrow afternoon I'll have time to get some pictures from today's fairy party up for you.

5 Years

We celebrated Brenna's actual birthday yesterday with German chocolate cupcakes for dessert. We are having the big birthday bash in a couple of days, and that will have all of the usual party trimmings.

credits: by Corina Nielsen at FPD: Sophia papers, Bucket of Fun overlays; alpha and stitched trim and from Rock My Socks by Corina Nielsen, Traci Murphy and Gina Miller; journal strip from Fun & Fancy Free by Corina Nielsen and Kate Hadfield; stamped frame by Marcie Reckinger and stitching by Chere Kaye from All We Need FPD Collab; enamel and small silver actions by Atomic Cupcake; Stained Glass layer styles by Angela Sharrow at Scrapdish; Hodge Podge sketch challenge template by Emily Powers
fonts: TXT Antique Poster, TXT Brush Script, CK Chocolate Sundae

New PrimaHybrid projects

a pretty box to put trinkets in- love how this one came out with it's rich brown and gold with just a touch of red.

digital credits: Autumn Breeze papers and Happily Ever After papers, Fleurishing Silhouette Alpha by Iron Orchid Designs
paper credits: PrimaHybrid: Black Times Chipboard Alpha (#517830), Say It in Crystals Swirls in Black (#517311) and red (#517335), Floral Center Kisses 16mm (#520656), Sprites flowers (#517229), Elysee ribbons (#51920); Bare Elements box by Creative Imaginations; Ranger Distress Inks in black soot, vintage photo, and tea dye

and a card I made for a bridal shower I will be attending in a few weeks

digital credits: Rue 88 Coordinates, Scallywag Paintables, and Royal Gem Silhouette Alpha by Iron Orchid Designs; fonts: Cezanne and SBC Distressed Typewriter
paper credits: 9 mm Round Center Kisses by Prima Marketing, ribbon by Offray, cardstock by Paper Reflections

Easter portraits 2008

I took the kids up to the mall to have the annual Easter portraits takentoday. It went pretty well. Sarah didn't want to cooperate at first, but once I promised her candy if she let us take her picture she was all smiles LOL It's a good thing I was able to find a Dum-Dum lollipop in the bottom of my purse to give her once we were done taking her picture.

Miss Brenna is anxiously looking forward to her birthday party on Saturday. She is fully aware that tomorrow is her actual birthday. I guess I'm going to have to think up something special to do tomorrow for her since we are waiting until the weekend for the presents and cake and all of the party trimmings. We stopped at Build-A-Bear in the mall after lunch today and picked up a new ballerina outfit and raincoat for her bunny as a small birthday treat. I'll have to be sure and remind her of that tomorrow ;)