Scrapbook pages! and New Year's Goals!

All scrapbook pages made using Karla Marano's January 365 kit
Currently selling for $2.00 at Divine Digital

Bet you thought I forgot about my goals and taking pictures of my messy house, right? Nope. I just thought I'd post them a week at a time. I have even decided to scrap my journey. Gotta give myself lots of accountability. I have also decided to do one room at a time and add a new rom to focus om every two weeks. building habits is the goal. I am starting with the front room. This room gathers toys, clothes, trash, ellectronics... So the goal is to have kaden help pock up betwee toy choices and do one final clean up as part of the bedtime or DH coming home routine. This room should be emptied out and vaccumed each night. I need to find a place for blankets. As you can see my progress is the front room has been middling so far. I cleaned it up really well for the first photo shoot day. Then the next day I did laundry all day and ended up with some not put away at the end of the day. But most of the laundry was gone by the next day so I consider that a success. :)

What should I consider cheating for my goals? LOL! As long as I am actually cleaning then it's not cheating. I can't just move things out of the way and take the picture. I have to put it in its proper room. Sometimes just getting it in the correct room is all I can handle right now. But that is ok for now. Once I've added the proper room to my list of "to dos" those piles will show up and I will find new homes for them. For example, I am discovering that I have too many blankets in my front room. Only two are ever in use at once- so I need to find a place for the rest so they can rotate in when the others go out for laundry. :)

Monday Mommy craft

So today is my opportunity to show off the crafts that I have been working on. I did finish a scrapbook page and a halloween costume this past week.
Obviously I just did the pants soooo they don't quite match the shirt. I still like them though and they are glow in the dark. :)

I used a template which I think I love! It is Yin Designs template 62. I'm guessing I found it through Ikea Goddess. The kit which I also LOVE is by Karla Marano. Her link is in my sidebar. The kit is called A Boy's Playground. It is great fun! She has a new kit out right now that is all helicopters and airplanes. Another of her recent kits is all about bumps and bruises! So cool!

Announcement card

So I used the circled template from Fei-Fei's stuff. I love it. All I did was plop in a photo and add the stats. You can find it on Shaui's blog.

I love this photo because it looks like he is smiling- he is only about 6 hours old in this photo. I don't like all the clutter in the background though sooo... I may take another photo and use it instead...

Wintry Wonders

I have had this kit (Wintry Wonders) for awhile from the awesome designer Karla Marano. I have been meaning to dig out old photos of my siblings and I growing up in the winters of Michigan. But I haven't gotten around to finding the cd and sticking it in my laptop... SO I decided to make this LO about what Winter is like here in SoCal. The Journaling reads: Winter in SoCal means putting on a sweatshirt at the beach. You may not know snow but you have been to the beach in all seasons. This winter was the first time you didn't want to go in the water- too cold. Kaden March 17, 2008

Oh and the Alpha I used is by Amy Collofello- Spaced Out kit. She competed in the Apprentice Challenge at Little Dreamer Designs.

I also made a new header for my blog! How do you like it? The background paper and ribbons are all from the Wintry Wonders kit as well. The alpha and other elements are from a CT appreciation kit that our CT received from numerous designers called Grateful 4 U. It is an amazing huge kit that I am excited to work with more.

i may or may not be on here a lot in the next few weeks. Baby Asher could come any day now. I am hoping for sooner rather than later as I want to see the little wigglers smile. :)

Scraplifted .... Myself!

Digidare's (see sidebar links) challenge for this week was to scraplift yourself! I decided to scraplift this LO but I turned it on it's side since the photo I wanted to use was vertical instead of horizontal.
credits: The word art, Papers, and elements are all by Mindy at Fresh Brewed Coffee(see side bar) Paper and elements are part of her moody blues kit.
There are some photos that just need to stand on their own. I thought this one that I just took of Kaden blowing bubbles was one of those so that's why I chose to scraplift the above LO for it.

I love the hand drawn bubbles from 2peas Rhonna Farrer's Splish Splash kit. Matt didn't get them. Let me know what you think. Other credits- quote word art is Katie Pertiet Quote challenge for Designer Digitals(they have the most amazing freebies for their challenges- I am always getting inspiration there), the Background paper is from Karla Marano's (Karla's stores are both in my side bar) Back to School kit, and the font is CK Artisan I think... It's CK something...

My little boy is growing up too fast! He just turned 2! He was so cute blowing out his candles. He was afraid to get close to them at first and kept saying, "Hot! Hot!" :) Look for those LOs later this week. :)

menu plan

Monday- we went to Yolanda's- a delicious mexican restaurant. Kaden was really well behaved and chowed down on the rice and beans.

Tuesday we had Chicken Crescent rolls - recipe courtesy of April-

Chicken Crescent Rolls

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese

1 Tbsp pimientos, chopped (optional)

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1 (8 oz) can refrigerated crescent rolls

2 cups chicken, cubed and cooked

1 Tbsp butter, melted

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup croutons, seasoned & crushed

1/8 tsp pepper

3 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp chives, chopped

Blend cream cheese and melted butter. Add chicken, salt, pepper, milk, chives and pimientos; mix well. Separate crescent dough into 8 triangles, as marked. Spoon ¼ cup meat mixture near base of triangle and roll up, crescent style. Brush each roll with melted butter; dip in croutons or dressing crumbs. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot with any favorite cream sauce (or cream of chicken or mushroom soup, diluted with about ½ can of milk).

I added a little season salt to the chicken before adding it to the mix. I also used Montreal steak seasoning instead of salt and pepper.

Wednesday- Beef stroganoff- unless DH objects- then I'll switch it up with a different meal...

Thursday- sweet and sour meatballs

Friday- homemade pizza (Kaden's 2nd b-day!!!)

Saturday- enchiladas

Sunday- leftovers and Cake and Ice cream for Kaden's b-day!

new LO using Karla Marano's Cupid's crush, Heritage Harvest, and Heartfelts...

No Gestational diabetes and a few new LOs

So my results didn't have the little H next to them indicating gestational diabetes. And I didn't get a follow-up call from my doctor so I am assuming that my results came back within the normal range! Yay! I have been thoroughly enjoying Valentine's chocolate all week! My DH brought me home a Chocolate Sin Cheesecake that is divine! Perfect comfort food.

The Fresh and Easy market seems like a good place for me to go for produce. The prices were about on par but the produce seems better than our other grocery stores. All of their veggies come prepackaged (not sliced- just in bags) and they have best enjoyed by dates on them. I really like that aspect of them. I need to go back to the gleaners too- I think I will get my bread that way. Bread always seems to go bad before we eat it all anyway- so I my as well get it for free. And I could use some more fresh flowers. :) Though I do have some beautiful Easter lilies that my DH got me for Valentine's. I love that he is non-conventional and doesn't get the typical rose. Though I appreciate any flower- I like that he looks at them a little and chooses one that he thinks is pretty. The lilies make my whole house smell good too. :)

I had the privilege of using Karla Marano's Travelin' Track 29 kit this weekend. Here are the two LOS that I made with it...

My new LO

I scraplifted this LO:
http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=123388&cat=fav

I have had this LO in my faves for awhile over at DST. Karla Marano's new Cupid's crush elements inspired me to scraplift it finally. I used Cupid's Crush papers and elements, and her Heartfelt elements as well. All are available at www.divinedigital.com

I also used Retrodiva's Another Boho Alpha and Shabby Princess Harvest Spice Alpha for the title. Journaling font is Tom's Handwriting.

TFL!

National Hug Day contest

Alice Koh is giving away GC's to her store for lucky winners of her National Hug day contest- January 21st. You can check it out at her blog. Here is my entry for the contest:
Credits:
Alice Koh Designs(check out her blog above)-
Background paper- Wickedly Kirstie
Glitter stars- Starry Starry Night
Cords- Strap Basic

Shawnery Mathis(Plain Digital Wrapper)-
Yellow and Green stars- Fun Times
Cardboard stars- Beauty in Nature

Retrodiva(www.digitalfreebies.com) -
Alpha- Summer Picnic

Journaling reads:The sun rises and sets for Grandma on you little man. Grandma loved

getting in some loves and laughs during Christmas 2007. You made her happy by asking for

her and not being too clingy to Mama and Dada.

Quickpage giveaway

I guess I should have posted about this earlier. I am such a slacker sometimes... anyway... For my CT we all made Quickpages using Karla's Midnight Snow grab bag. It is a VERY fun kit with lots of wonderful bling. The QPs have been great all week. Mine just came available today. :) Here's the page that I created with it. Go to Karla's Blog to get it. Check out her previous posts from all last week for more... and keep checking for more this week. Quickpages are pages where all you have to do is pop in your pictures and add a title or journaling to the side and tada- scrapbook page done!

2 Christmas pages

Photoshop 6 has the most amazingly easy extraction tool. It took me two seconds to extract the images in the 2007 page. Awesome!

I scraplifted a page from lilypad designs for the 2007 page. The link is in my blog roll.

I used Carrie Bombria's Cinnamon Nutmeg kit, Aja Abney's My Wish for You, Retrodiva's Be Merry Alpha, Scrapprofessor's Believe, and Cinzia L's Friday freebie . :) Happy scrapping...

Getting back in the groove

I love love love this photo that I took of Kaden back in April. He looks so serious! I saw this kit today in the freebie's section of Scrapartist and the Word art was just too perfect to resist. I love the bright colors of the kit and the bling. The kit is My Wish for You by Aja Abney. I believe she is a new designer at Scrapartist. I have been waiting for the right kit to scrap this photo. This seemed just right.

I added some more bling by putting in some of the silver swirls from Karla Marano's grab bag available at Divine Digital. :) Gotta love the bling!

Finally did some Scrapping!

Well technically I have done a 4 or 5 pages since I last posted. What a slacker am I ?! Sorry! Life has been busy. We spent two wonderful weeks in Washington for Christmas. It was so great to have Matt for 2 weeks and to see both of our families. I have lots of fun photos to scrap. Photos are so inspiring! I have some funny Kaden stories that I need to scrap too. He is starting to talk a lot and it is very funny. He is quite a character. So anyway... pages...



I used Scrapproffessor's freebie kit Believe. I just love the expression on Kaden's face and the fact that the words on the page are in direct opposition to what Kaden wants to do. :)

I used Karla Marano's Autumn kit to put together the above page. Plus I used an alpha from Retrodiva. You can find the autumn kit at Karla's store in my sidebar.

This page of Thanksgiving break fun at the park was made using Karla's Blessings kit. Go to her store in my sidebar.
I used 3 of Karla's kits to put this page together. And the title is Shabby Princess Harvest Spice. Karla's kits that I used are Backyard Buganza (solid orange ribbon), Rainbow kit (stars), and Pastel breezes (the three papers I used).

The first three pages I did as part of a brag book for my dad. That's what he requested for Christmas. The bottom LO I created for a challenge by Rose at Rose Mcdigital Designs. Check out her blog in my sidebar as well!

Pumpkin Patch

I love the fall!!! Fall and Spring are probably my favorite seasons- for the temperate climate and all the wonderful colors! Shawnery Mathis made this awesome kit Autumn Memories to go with this time of year. This is our son's second fall and the first one where he can start to appreciate the fun stuff that goes on. We took Kaden to this awesome farm near us. They have a Harvest Festival going on right now so with your admission fee you got to ride in a tractor drawn wagon, lose our way in a corn maze(which has significance for my husband and I as we met going to a corn maze with friends we had in common), watch an animal show and pig races, look at various farm animals (including goats that walk on planks above your head and baby pigs), and of course pick from hundreds of pumpkins. They also had some wonderful vendors selling yummy food. It was a ton of fun. Of course I snapped tons of photos and have been itching to scrap them. So here is the page I came up with. Let me know what you think and go check out Shawnery's Autumn Times kit at www.digiscrapdesigner.com.

More Fun Times

heehee. I love the photo of Kaden putting the hose on Liam. It's a good thing Liam liked it otherwise he would have taken Kaden down! This was our first night in Utah. It was so refreshing for Kaden after the long car ride. And good for him to get a little more dirt off before going in the bath. Liam is much more adventurous in the pool than Kaden. He dives in and does belly flops. I hadn't realized how cautious my boy is before. Though he wasn't as cautious when he was younger. Liam was a good example for Kaden. He's four months older and wiser. :)

Appropriately I mainly used Shawnery Mathis' Fun Times kit- available at digiscrapdesigner.com
I also used he Beauty in Nature kit for the cardboard elements and her Back to school kit for the ricrac and paint splashes and circles. All available at Digiscrapdesigner.

The title is created with A Cox's Dymo alpha. And the journaling is in SBC Love Mom. And that's everything...

Here's my newest LO. On the drive to Utah we let Kaden out of the car to run around at a rest stop. They had just had a fire- one of the largest in history I believe. The dirt was covered in ash and some of the picnic tables were charred. Kaden ignored the picnic tables but he loved the dirt obviously. I had to clean him up in the sink which was no easy feat. :) All the people who saw him thoroughly enjoyed his joy at getting messy. Everyone talked about how great it was to be a kid. They told him not to grow up and told me to always let him play in the dirt. I used Shawnery Mathis' Fun Times kit available at www.digiscrapdesigner.com . It's a perfect boy kit and yet the primary colors would be great for a girl page too. Basically it is versatile. I also used a postcard and road sign from C. Shields Road Trip kit and the Alpha is a Paper Towel Alpha by Dirty Feet Designs. The Alpha is SBC Love Mom. Below you can see Shawnery's preview for the Fun Times Kit.

New LO

I used Karla's Back to School kit and Graph Doodles for the bulk of the page. Her store link is in my sidebar. The music doodles are by Kate hadfield and the Sing Alpha is Retrodiva.

Just getting back in the groove of scrapping. I have tons of photos from our trip to Utah that I want to scrap but I haven't been feeling creative lately. There are some really fun photos of Kaden covered in Dirt at a rest stop and of him playing in the pool with one of his friends. Also I need to scrap the photos of him with his Great- Grandma. I also need to scrap our exciting news!

I am 11 weeks prego! We are very excited. I am due on April 18th.

Oh and karla is having another sale and a chat so check out her blog(in my sidebar) for more ingo.

Been busy scrapping and KKD CT call

Shawnery Mathis has come out with a Back to school kit. Since my son is much to young for school I thought it would work well with my Kindergarten photos. heehee. That was a long time ago. Amazingly I still remember the names of most of the people in my class. Just first names for the most part. I probably can remember them because we remained in school together until I moved in 4th grade. I kept in touch with two of them for a little while after that. Anyway. Hope you enjoy my trip down memory lane...

Based on feedback I altered this LO from the one I posted earlier. I Made the photo more the center of attention and made the stars smaller. I really like the ruler frame and the gold star. This is made with Karla's back to School kit, her stars freebie on her blog, Scrapgirl's folded corner template, and Kate Hadfield's Doodle paper Alpha.

We had a fun day in Santa Monica last week with one of my best friends, Catherine. Kaden loved the teeny tiny aquarium and Catherine and I loved the shopping. I used Shawnery's Beauty in Nature kit and Seebee's Photo cluster freebie from her blog.

I love Scrapbook.com and some of my favorite artists there do this simple graphic style. I love it but have a hard time leaving so much white space. Matt doesn't like it as much either. I think it is beautiful though. This is my first attempt at it. I realized afterward that most of the people who do this style make it 8 and 1/2 by 11. I think that is a better size. I may have to do an album like this of some of the more serious photos of Kaden. I have the album and sleeves so I might as well . Extra bonus I can print it out on my own printer. For this page I used Karla's blog freebie Denim and Grunge for the background paper. The brushes are Choice Spring by callmereal designs and the fonts are Pristine, Garamond, and Poor Richard.

Karla is having another CT call! Check out her blog in my blogroll for more info. I love being on her CT and highly recommend it!

TFL!

Suggestions welcome

Kaden riding with me in the Ergo. Still loving it. We went to Santa Monica for the day and I carried him most of the time. He was so much happier- I think he likes being up high and looking around as well as being close to mommy.

Here's my latest LO using Karla's back to school kit. I've been wanting to make some growth chart milestone pages of Kaden and I thought the Rulers in this kit would be great for it. I may keep experimenting with this- not sure this is my favorite design for it. I also used a curled edge template from Scrapgirls and Kate Hadfield's doodle alpha. And Karla's freebie stars from her blog. I also used a brush by Jason Gaylor.

Suggestions are welcome.

Mohawk Mishap

Recently my husband asked me to buzz his hair. He usually keeps it a little longer and spiky on the top but he was feeling the summer heat and wanted it shorter. I think it's the easiest kind of haircut for me to give him and he looks good in it so I agreed. He is in charge of setting everything up for me to cut his hair and also cleaning it up afterwards. So he set up his chair and everything and handed me the clippers .... WITH NO ATTACHMENT. I looked at them and then thought- oh yeah he wants a buzz so this should be fine. NOT FINE! I shaved his head! Poor guy! When we realized that I had shaved it he asked for a mohawk for one night. If I had cut straight he might have kept it longer but truthfully it looked a little funny and the next day was church and a poorly cut mohawk just didn't seem in the right spirit for church. So he kept it for just one night and wore his hat when we went out. It was pretty funny. The next morning I shaved his whole head. I am so glad that his hair grows fast! It looked normal again in about two weeks. Poor guy! I won't make that mistake again- I hope!

The Cardboard in this LO is from Reelynn's Beauty in Nature kit. The Duct tape frame is a freebie from Designs by Valerie Foster- she just got picked up as a designer for scrapbook.com! The tattoo brush is by Jason Gaylor. And the rest is from Mindy Armour from her kit A Guy Thing Muchie. The Fonts are Courier and For the Hundredth Time.