ten on tuesday

1. I haven't ran in almost 2 weeks, ugh. I changed that this morning and never again will I go so long. I was able to do the 3 miles, but just barely.

2. I got lots of happy e-mails last week. I will have a layout in the November Scrapbook Trends, 2 cards in a Christmas Card Idea Book, and 3 cards in the November CARDS.

3. We have been going to the pool almost daily. Kieran isn't quite sure about it. It is so strange to me because he has no qualms about the gulf...but the pool he wants to be held. Just the last couple days I have him sitting in the float for a little bit. He adores the beach...he could just sit with a bucket and shovel and be the most happy little boy there was.

4. Aislynn prefers the pool. I let her pick out a float and she picked out a gigantic dolphin that she named Darthy (she told me this is how you spell it). As soon as she can manage to get on it, it rolls over and she goes under water. She was getting very frustrated by this, so I told her to think of a different way to play with her and she decided to be a whale trainer. She pour water on Darthy and rubs her like she is giving her a bath (Kieran thinks this is great fun too!) and she pretends to give her fish and bowls of water:)

5. Over at the Nook, there is a challenge being held on the card forums for people with the June kit. The prize is a $25 gift card to the Nook, which you could use on a future kit, add-ons, etc. Read more about it here and I will hopefully have mine done to share on scrappy thursday.

6. If you need more convincing on subbing to the kits, this is what the July kit will be filled with. I cannot wait. This is my month to guest and I am already cooking up idea in my head for what to do with these beautiful papers. The August kit will have new yummies from CHA;)

7. I finally sewed something!! Well, with A:) She wanted to make a blanket for her build-a-bear friend, Daisy. I just so happened to have some fabric with daisies on it, so we made a little 20x20 inch blanket for her. Aislynn sat by me the whole time I was making it and she stepped on the pedal for me while I sewed the fabric together. It was fun doing that together and she was so proud of the blanket we made;)

8. And of course I am going to link up some recent pins...I love this quote so much. I think I need to do a page using it:)

9. This activity looks super duper fun. Taping a shower curtain on the floor and draw roads on it with permanent marker. Let your kiddos decorate it and then drive cars...or whatever their imagination thinks up:)

10. Another cute project. I can think of two little super heros who would like these, and a plus is that they would make good use of some of Shaun's old t-shirts.

make it monday: paint fun

I don't know what it is about paint and getting it all over your feet, hands, body...that appeals to kids so much. Maybe it is just that they love to get messy;) We have done a couple fun crafts based on things I've pinned, and I wanted to share them with you today.

The first one is the messy one and involves painting your kid's hands and feet, stamping them on to paper and then using markers and googly eyes to turn the prints into animals. The original link to this project can be found here:)

Aislynn's are on the left and Kieran's are on the right. A, as always, had to add her own twist and added some bling bling to her animals;) She also gave some of them names?! And I totally made K's lobster weird by making his claws come out of his head. Oh well:)

The next project came from this pin.

A and I did this during K's nap one day. We placed the paper into the salad spinner, dripped some paint on the paper, and spun! It was so cool opening the bowl and seeing how the paint and mixed and spread across the paper! Plus, A loves making the salad spinner spin...I think that thing is why she started eating salad:)

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I am going to *try* to get back into regular posting, but we are just busy bees enjoying summer things around here, so we'll see;)

creative scrappers sketch #160

Time for another reveal at Creative Scrappers! Here is sketch #160:

This sketch was a little scary to me at first because I normally do not use flowers on my pages, especially that many flowers, ha! But as usual, when I push myself out of my comfort zone, I end up loving the result. Here is what I came up with:

I used the May kit from My Scrapbook Nook. I made the paper strips smaller and used 2 photos in place of the one in the sketch. I really like how it turned out! I am using Shaun's computer and most of my ps actions are on my laptop, so that is why the colors look a little crazy! I think he needs to calibrate his computer screen (hint hint honey!). 

Some detail shots:

Now go and see what the other creative team members did with the sketch!! Remember that June's sponsor is Pixie Dust Paperie, and all you have to do do be eligible  for the prize is link up one layout using sketches 159, 160, 161, or 162 by June 30th!

In other Creative Scrapper news, Kristine is looking for some guest designers for June, July, and August, so check out the details here!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

ten on tuesday

1. I took Kieran to his 2 year well check last week and he was 34 1/2 inches tall and weighed 25 lbs and 9 oz. He is now in the 50th percentile for his height and weight. All of his development is right on track!

2. While on the way to this doctor's appointment, we passed the hospital and A says "Mom, remember that fun class I took the day before Kieran hatched out of your belly? That was fun, I miss it. Maybe I can go back next week when Kieran is all grown up and you are growing another baby in your belly." haaaaa ha. The class she is referring to is the siblings class, and I had to tell her that we probably won't be growing anymore babies;) I love that she said "when he hatched!" So funny.

3. Last summer we were obsessed with Haagen Daz raspberry and lemon sorbet. This year it is Edy's Black Raspberry slow-churned ice cream...it is soooooo yummy!

4. I took the kids on a nature walk on a trail over the weekend and Aislynn drew a list of things she wanted to find. The walk was kind of a let down when we didn't see any jewels, rainbows, or chipmunks.

5. Bubble baths cure the case of the mid-afternoon "Moooom, I'm bored."

6. A cool project I pinned...love the idea of special dates:)

7. another cool project. I know I keep saying I want to sew something soon...I will actually do it again someday:)

8. I think I should make these soon, don't you?!

9. This might make it less messy when Kieran paints? Which he looooves to do!

10. The June Nook kit is now available:) It is just so pretty! I have gotten a layout and a card out of it so far and hope to play more with it this week:)

make it monday: chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

I hope everyone had a great weekend, it seemed like it went by super fast to me. On Saturday, while K was napping, A and I decided to bake something and we decided on these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies from Smitten Kitchen. They were quite scrumptious and I am embarrassed to say they are all gone already! I just changed up one thing in the original recipe because we didn't have any peanut butter chips.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (I used smooth)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and peanut butte until fluffy. Add sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Place extra sugar onto a plate and drop rounded tablespoons of the cookie dough and turn to coat. Place on ungreased cookies sheets, leaving several inches inbetween each dough ball. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies might appear to not be done, but they are:) Don't overbake them like I did the first batch I put in the oven (even though when dipped in a glass of milk they were still delicious!).

4. Let cool on pan for 1 minute and then transfer cookies to wire cooling racks to cool completely.

photo, err, saturday?

I have been off this week. I think the long weekend threw me off and then when we go out of town or have people in town, it always takes a couple days to get back in the groove. We had folks in town for Kieran's 2nd birthday last Saturday. It was a fun little party. Kieran was a little shy at first, but he got over that pretty quickly. Especially when there were presents involved;)

He received Thomas and Cars stuff and that made him a very happy boy, but perhaps one of his favorite things was this bike from Mimi and Papa;)

When we sang Happy Birthday to him, he got all shy again and wanted me to hold him...but then he started clapping and when we were done singing, he was clapping, saying "yaaaaaay!" 

We had a couple birthdays in April, so he remembered after singing comes cake.

I made a red velvet cake, but I colored it the color of Thomas the Tank Engine. I was going to maybe do some Thomas design on it, but I ran out of time and my cake decorating abilities aren't the best;)

We got one of our typical family pictures;)

Mommy and the birthday boy!

Sunday we headed to the beach with Grandma and James and it was a beautiful day! Also our little beach was the most crowded I had seen it in awhile. We spotted some dolphins out in the Gulf.

Aislynn made a little slide by smoothing out a path of sand from our stuff to the water, and Grandma and James took turns pulling Aislynn and Kieran down to the water on the boogie board. Which they loved;) A tried to pull K, but a little too fast and he would slide off the board.

Then James dumped a bucket of water on A and she had to get him, so here she is chasing him, and Ki decided to join in the chase;)

a fave:)

And now for just random pictures throughout the week:

Aislynn was pulling Kieran around in the laundry basket:) Then she decided to hop in with him...

a pretty girl:)

a silly girl:)

painting

watermelon by the pool...

on a walk after dinner last night...

and finally, I am participating in a 30 day photo challenge that is floating around the web (discovered on Ronda Palazzari's blog through Deanna:

So my day 1 (self portrait):

pretty typical...dark circles under my eyes (I haven't been sleeping well lately), no make up, and hair up...

day 2 (what you are wearing today):

again, typical...the summer uniform consists of shorts, a tank top, and flip flops

day 3 (your favorite place)

Eastern Lake. This was easy, especially since it's about a 5 minute walk from the new place. The body of water you see waaaay back is the Gulf and that's the beach we most often go to, so that's where most of my beach pictures are taken. We used to go here when S and I were just dating, and now it is so cool to come here with our kiddos:)

I hope some of you will play along with me, it's okay to start a couple days late;)

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, I am determined to get back on blogging track Monday;)

pinch me

I might be dreaming. Tuesday morning I received a phone call from Jennifer of Echo Park. A was playing puzzles on my phone, so I didn't get to answer the call. A few minutes later my phone beeped, notifying me of an e-mail and when I checked it, it was from Jennifer asking me to contact her today. My heart started pitter pattering and I got a nervous feeling in my tummy. I called her back and she was so so sweet and invited me to be the first Fresh Face of Echo Park. I hope I didn't sound too silly and giddy on the phone, but I was super super excited!!! They made the official announcement just a few hours ago, so you can read my nerdy interview here:)

I still kinda can't believe it...I am seriously so SO excited. Thank you so much Echo Park, you have made this girl's scrappy dreams come true!!

creative scrappers sketch #158

It's time for another sketch reveal! I had so much fun with this sketch! I loved that there were 2 little pictures and one off to the side, I have been using this type of design lately and it's so fun!

Here's the sketch:

and my take:

I stayed pretty true to the sketch, I just flipped the 2 pictures to be vertical:)

Some detail shots:

Make sure you check out the Creative Scrappers blog to check out what the other creative team members did with the sketch.

 To be eligible for this month's prize from Pixie Dust Paperie, you just need to complete at least one layout using sketch #158, 159, 160, or 161 and link it up on the Creative Scrappers blog!
You still have a couple days left (until the 31st) to try for May's prize from Scrapbook Sussies, all you need to do is complete a page using sketch #154, 155, 156, or 157 and link it up on the Creative Scrappers blog. Have fun!

In other Creative Scrappers news, Kristine is currently holding a sketch team call and a creative team call. If you are even on the fence about applying, just do! Kristine is really fabulous to work with and some of my favorite pages have been made with the sketches.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

photo friday

Since Mr. K was sick earlier in the week and then turned into Mr. Clingy the rest of the week, I hardly took any pictures. So I decided to share some phone pictures too:) So from left to right, top to bottom:

1. Alaina, my sweet friend from high school, her little cutie, Eli, and Kieran   2. Making a Jackson Pollack style painting   3. pretty girl   4. this salad, but I added black beans (perfect summer dish)  

5. love footy jammies, they make me feel like I still have a baby and NOT a 2 year old:)  

6. more painting   7. and the start of the phone pictures...A+K giving their new build-a-bear friends baths   8. a note from sweet A   9. K devouring an egg roll at our favorite chinese place...he starts chanting "eh ro" as soon as we pull up in the parking lot   10. a picture for me from A, we're having a tea party:)   11. ponies   12. K getting a haircut...only cooperating *after* the sucker;)   13. at the library   14. we got a fish   15. a big red fish...A was scared of it, but K wanted to touch it:)   16.   at Barnes and Noble, playing with the Thomas table

I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend!!! We are celebrating Kieran's second birthday tomorrow and hopefully hitting up the beach if it doesn't rain!

echo park

For those of you that read my blog regularly and are familiar with my scrap style, you know I love Echo Park. They come out with amazing designs and color combinations and have really taken a piece of the industry with their fresh collections. They have moved into my number one favorite company spot and I have been waiting...and waiting...and waiting for a design team call from them. They are shaking things up a bit and holding a very non-traditional call, so here is me throwing my hat in the ring:) Some of these projects have made appearances on my blog before, so I will start with one you haven't seen;)

 Splash & Swim
(supplies: all from Summer Days collection; alpha stickers, elements stickers, journaling patterned paper, diecut patterned paper, scallops patterned paper, quilt patterned paper, scene patterned paper, rainbow patterned paper...other: Bazzill Basics cardstock)

and some close up shots:

This page came together pretty quickly. I created a frame by cutting an 11x11 inch square out of the scene patterned paper, and stitched it on to my cardstock base. I then added a 2x8 inch strip of the rainbow patterned paper across the bottom right of the page and a 2x1 inch strip of the scallops (magenta side) patterned paper to the bottom left of the page. I then added a 4x4 inch square of the rainbow patterned paper (the yellow polka dot side) to the top left of the page and a 4x1 inch strip of the quilt (green side) patterned paper to the top right of the page. I added a .25x11 inch strip of the quilt (green side) patterned paper across the top of the bottom strips of patterned paper and a .25x11 inch piece of scallops (magenta side) across the bottom of the top strips of patterned paper. I then stitched across these skinny strips. I added my photos next...a 3x2 inch photo on the bottom, and then a 6x4, 3x2, and 2x3 along the top. Next came adding all of the elements...I added the Fun in the Sun journaling card to the left of my top photos and my typed journaling to the right of my bottom photo. I then played around adding stickers and my title, using adhesive foam to pop some of the stickers up. That was the hard part...whenever I am using stickers, I very lightly place them so that way I can how they look, in case I need to move them. Once I was happy with where they were, I pressed down...and viola...done:)
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Totally Cute
(supplies: all from Little Boy collection: element stickers, alpha stickers, strawberry patterned paper, journaling cards, rad plaid patterned paper, buttons patterned paper, sail boats patterned paper, road map patterned paper...other: cardstock: Bazzill Basics)

and some detailed shots:

To create this layout, I only had a small strip of the road map patterned paper. I wanted to make the frame around the edge of the cardstock base, so I trimmed the strip into 4 pieces, measuring .25x12 inches. I then glued the strips on the edge of the page...the corners overlapped each other a bit, but that's okay;) The next thing I did was adhere my 6x4 picture to the left side of the page. I used a 1 inch circle punch and punched 2 circles from the sailboats (blue side) patterned paper and trimmed them in half. I cut the "remember these days"  strip from the journaling cards paper and trimmed a piece from the buttons patterned paper measuring .25x3 inches. I then adhered the word strip slightly overlapping the left side of the photo, the buttons paper strip above that, and 3 semi circles of the sailboats paper above that. Underneath the photo I adhered a 2x6 inch piece of rad plaid patterned paper, then a .25x7 inch strip of buttons (orange side) patterned paper under that. I then punched 3 circles from the sailboats patterned paper (blue side) with a 1.5 inch circle punch and trimmed those in half. I then added 5 of the semi circles underneath the orange strip. I added my title under that and my journaling card to overlap a bit of the rad plaid patterned paper and the photo. To do the pictures on the right side of the page, I trimmed a piece of the strawberry paper to 2x6.25 inches and rounded the corners. I then adhered that to the rights side of the page and adhered my 3 photos on top of that strip. Finally, I added some of the circle stickers from the elements sheet and some of the word stickers from the alpha sheet, as well as some decorative stitching on the page. **The sizes are approximate...I made this layout with mostly scraps from my beloved Little Boy kit so some of the measurements may be a teensy tiny bit off;)
********

Learning to Ride
(supplies: all from Springtime Collection: alpha stickers, elements stickers, spring day patterned paper, journaling cards, juneberry patterned paper...other: rhinestones: Me and My Big Ideas, cardstock: Bazzill Basics)

some detail shots:

Now this page *really* came together quickly because of that wonderful spring day paper all set up for me to make pretty;)
The first thing I did was add my photos, which were 4 3x2 inch photos. I added them in between the bike and the right edge of the page and just sorta overlapped them on the hill of grass printed on the paper. I then slipped the part of the journaling card underneath the photos and I added my title with stickers on top of the photos. Next I took the sun from the elements sticker sheet and placed it over the printed sun, using foam adhesive. I punched a couple clouds from white cardstock and placed them around the sun. Then I slipped the journaling card under the pictures. I then added some rhinestones to several of the butterflies (stickers and the printed ones). Finally, I typed the date on the juneberry paper and punched it out with a label punch. I added it to the journaling card. Super easy page to make and I love how it came out!!!
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It was so hard to narrow it down to just 3 projects, so if you would like to peek at more Echo Park projects I have made, you can take a peek here! I guess now is the time to hit the send button and to start crossing my fingers;)