Sunday, December 25, 2016

Peace & Love

From mine to yours...

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Weekend Wrap-up

Last week was a little crazy with Darin finishing up on his model for school. It was a scale model of an apartment building and a tri-fold board to go along with it. He of course got into my stash and helped himself...bazzill, adhesive and even foil cardstock. My Cameo of course came in very handy when he needed a title for his board. All other attempts to assist were rejected...it's a good thing he's independent and determined, right?
Once the project was turned in, we had a wonderful quiet family weekend. The boys cut back on their sports for the winter season which freed up our weekends quite a bit. It will pick up again after the holidays but for now we'll enjoy it. We spent Saturday at a few stores and then visited out favorite sushi restaurant in Natick, Minado. If you love sushi, you need to give it a try.

Sunday, we stayed home and we each did our own thing. I hunkered down in the scrap cave and worked on Christmas cards and as I write this blog post, I have the entire pile of cards sitting on my desk waiting to be addressed. How many cards did I make? That's another post but I'll show you the adhesive tape in my trash...



Friday, December 9, 2016

Fave Finds: Xmas edition


It's that time of the year! A few ideas I found on Pinterest to make the season a little cuter and merrier!

How cute is this DIY Christmas Decoration? Wonder if I can find that Jolee's pack of stickers.


Teacher Gifts $5 and under  - this guide will come in very handy for all the teachers I have on my list.

Another list, Christmas Stocking Stuffer Ideas, that will come in handy when it's time to fill those stockings!

We'll have to make it out to one of these this season, Top 9 best Christmas displays in Massachusetts. Two years ago we made it out Springfield and that was awesome!

Another good list to have on hand is this handy 20 Photos you should take this Christmas.

White Chocolate Peppermint Potato Chips looks like a delicious treat for the holidays.

Two great ideas for cupcakes that are easy yet look amazing, going to have to try this Christmas Tree Cupcake and this Christmas Light Cupcakes.

This Christmas Tree Cream Cheese Danish looks easy, delicious and kid friendly for Christmas morning!

Enjoy the season!

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Project share

Pulling this out from the archives since I never did share it on here last year. I made this Beer Advent, an idea I got after months of searching for the perfect gift for my husband's 40th birthday and found a RUM advent but was way over priced. I took myself to the packie (liquor store) that stocked single bottles and asked for help choosing 24 different beers. The guy in the store gave me the weirdest looks and after they understood what I wanted, he dove in and actually seemed to enjoy picking out 24 bottles for me. He also gave me a box for that fit all 24 bottles and carried the whole thing to the car for me. Once home, I covered the top of the box with brown paper, added some washi tape and made numbered bottle caps...simple process of circles, scalloped circles that I folded up and glued them on.

Inspired, I used Echo Park's Dad paper pack and made a mini album to go with the advent. The idea was that we would take a picture of each bottle and hubby could critique the beer of the day.
 
 A year later, I am still waiting for him to hand over the pictures. He took them and made notes but...you know! Most importantly, he loved the gift, took the photos AND took notes, right? This year, I didn't get as creative but did manage to get tickets to a play of one of his favorite movies, The Little Shop of Horrors!

Monday, December 5, 2016

Weekend Wrap-up

It was a nice and quiet weekend for us. Our boys were away at a church retreat so we took the opportunity to head out for a date night on Friday. We ended up at British Beer Co. for dinner and then took in a play, The Little Shop of Horrors, at a local theatre. We had not been there before and did not know what to expect. We pulled up to the theatre, which was a house and absolutely loved the show. The cast did an amazing job. It was a small audience I had was having too much fun to take pics...didn't think it would be appropriate either.
Saturday, we stayed home and got some house work done before heading to a friend's baby shower. We got teased quite a bit about having a kid free weekend and choosing to spend it with friends and about a dozen kids under 8! That's how much we love our friends lol! We are kid magnets too...photo taken during the group photo.
Sunday, we went to early mass, went to our favorite diner for breakfast, spent the afternoon with the boys decorating and more got more housework done. Today, we woke up to this...Stay warm! Stay safe!

Friday, December 2, 2016

'Tis the Season

Lots and lots of classic and modern twists on Christmas papers and embellishments this season. This Christmas Classic collection is my favorite of all the new releases. I guess I am an tradionalist at heart...the classic colors get me everytime.
Reminisce's collection, Christmas Eve, is a new take on the holidays with more snow traditional colors. I will have to scrap some of our X'mas eve traditions and I have just the right studio (old school way back when) photos of the boys that I have yet to scrap...these papers will be perfect for them.
Pinkfresh is a new company and I am reserving judgement on this collection until I get it in my hands. Embellishments are super cute though.
Luke 2 by Photo Play is an amazing collection with just a dash of faith based references thrown in. Love the colors too...nicely done!
These two collections are a twist on traditional Xmas colors and the pink just doesn't work for me and my boy heavy home. Otherwise, they are super cute especially Bella Blvd's Holly Jolly collection.
Love the Retro Christmas line by Authentique...just perfectly retro.
Authentique's Classic Christmas line is another one that I could see myself using. Maybe this one for a Christmas album?
Bo Bunny has two collections out and neither are speaking to me :(
Kaisercraft as has three different lines out and, here is the collector in me talking, I would love to have all of them. Even Christmas Wishes...just because it is just beautiful!
Graphic 45...saving the best for last...didn't disappoint and has this amazing line. Just love!
Good Luck picking just one or two lines this year! As always if you see one you have to have, email me and I'll make sure I have a kit set aside for you.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Weekend Wrap-up

Our weekend started on Wednesday before Thanksgiving so I'll cover it all in this post. We spent Thanksgiving with our dear friends who are also Darin's godparents. Her mom, left in photo, is our expert level chef and always always has an amazing spread for the holidays. This year there were 2 turkeys, one regular in the oven turkey and the other a deep fried turkey by Darin's godfather. The deep fried turkey won hands down...amazing! My contribution were the greens, 2 different salads, and rolls. Another friend brought the ham and mashed potatoes. We stuffed ourselves silly and spent the day just hanging out!
We stayed home on Black Friday and put up our tree and some decorations. We spent the rest of the day shopping online and started a Christmas puzzle. Jori and I did the majority of the work and Darin put in the last piece. Sneaky kid stole a piece and waited until we were done and hunting for it before he stepped up with it!!!
We also received our first Christmas card of the season from Jori's XC coach...so sweet of him to send one out to the team. For the first time ever, we had to have a do-over on our annual ornament tradition. We bought Jori a cross country runner ornament, to the right of the card, and he hated disliked it...so much so I bought him a new one to replace it. It's a White Mountain Laser original custom cut and designed for me/him. Check them out if you have any custom work you would like done. Dave is a whiz at designing items especially out of wood!
Last but not least, we spent some time at Holy Cross for the 10th annual Courts for Courtney 3-on-3 Basketball tournament. Both boys had their own teams and had a blast. What a great event...love seeing the community coming out to support a great cause.
It was a nice relaxing 5 day weekend spent with family and friends. There was hockey and baseball thrown in the mix as well as a few trips to the stores but mostly we stayed home. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend as well!

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Monday, November 21, 2016

Weekend Wrap-up

What a wonderful weekend at Purity Spring's Mom n Me scrapbooking weekend. We worked and we played and I fought a cold all weekend. The photo booth was a great idea and was enjoyed by all, including your hosts and the vendors.
I taught two classes, the crazy birds and canvas class. Both classes were a mix of Mom's and Me's. I didn't get a picture of the adults but I did get the girls with their canvases...their skill level was amazing and their work just incredible.
Thank you all for a great weekend! I am looking forward to next year and will have more fun stuff planned for you!!!

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Sneaky Sunday - You Did It!

It's not quite graduation season but I found some great paper and just had to put this one together. It came out better than I imagined and the sparkly shiny paper makes all the difference. I kept it monochromatic so it can be applied to any and all graduation photos. You don't want to miss this one!

Friday, November 18, 2016

Random Friday

It's been a while since I've posted a I Am post so here goes...
~ catching up on all my DVR'd shows especially Code Black and Criminal Minds
~ listening to an audiobook called The Assasins by Gayle Lynds
~ eating too much ice cream and chocolate...Halloween chocolate needs to get out of my house!
~ enjoying the beautiful fall colors on display by Mama Nature out there
~ playing catch-up with freezer meals for the family while I'm away at events
~ looking forward to the holiday season with family and friends
~ getting out daily with this handsome guy
 
~ designing a new distress ink technique card class with the crazy cats and crazy dogs. Look for it in January!
~ wanting to get back into knitting starting with a shawl and learning how to pick up stitches.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Weekend Wrap-up

Hello Monday! I spent the weekend with Ready Set Crop at the Great Wolf Lodge in Fitchburg, MA. It has been a while since I've had the pleasure of working with Ready Set Crop...it is such a fun crop! I managed to get a nice overview picture of my booth and it has definitely grown over the years.

Tiffany, RSC organizer extraordinaire, is always so good about documenting the weekend and sharing on instragram. Check me out teaching my very popular Crazy Birds card class.
And since I was only 30 minutes away at GREAT WOLF LODGE, I talked my boys into coming up for a visit and a swim! They had a wonderful time even if the park was a little tame for these teen boys of mine.
If you ever get a chance to join the ladies of Ready Set Crop, don't hesitate...it might be at a crazy water park but it was nice and quiet in our corner of the property.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Sneaky Sunday - Field Hockey

Another new layout kit I have in stock is this Field Hockey 2 page layout. It's a quick and easy layout put together with Bazzill swiss dots paper, Core-dinations kraft core paper and some Siewleng custom die-cuts.


Friday, November 11, 2016

Fave Finds: Cooking edition



With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I've been adding new recipes to my Recipes to Try Pinterest board and am sharing some of them here. We'll start with some appetizers...

Sweet Potato Casserole Bites - love that they are bite size and so easy to put together!

Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Spread - and this cheese spread looks healthy paired with apples and pears.

This Roasted Brussel Sprout, Cinnamon Butternut Squash, Pecan and Cranberry side dish 
looks yummy especially since I love roasted brussel sprouts.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake - maybe this would be great for breakfast Thanksgiving day expecially if there are guests in the house.

Leftovers can be made into Warm Turkey Sliders, and I will admit I am looking forward to this. I'll have to buy extra rolls and hide them!

Drinks, can't forget the drinks...Cranberry Moscow Mule looks really easy and good.

And after stuffing myself silly, I'm going to need some of these mason salad (and maybe a few pasta) jar recipes.
Mason Jar Pasta Salad
Thai Salad in a Jar
30 Salad in a Jar recipes

Do let me know if you try any of these recipes. If/when I do, I will be sure to share.


Monday, November 7, 2016

Weekend Wrap-up

I had the privilege of spending the weekend with 125 Cool Croppers at the Radisson in Providence, RI. Firstly, I would like to THANK all the wonderful ladies that stopped by to chat and support my business as well as those that participated in my classes. I hope you had as much fun as I did. We sprayed some distress ink and I thought this was a cool shot and had to share...
A shout-out to the girls that joined me in my You Go Girl! canvas class. I am so amazed by the amount of talent and creativity every time I teach this class. I never in my wildest dreams thought this class would be so inspiring but at the end of every class, I just want to dig in and make another canvas. Great job!!!

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Sneaky Sunday - Zoo Adventures

This new layout kit is has TWO 2-page layouts that will highlight your zoo photos. There is lots of space for all of your Zoo or Busch Garden or Animal Kingdom photos. Paper line is by Bo Bunny Designs with plenty of Bazzill and Core'dnations cardstock thrown in.

Friday, November 4, 2016

Changing seasons

I pick Hello Fall for my favorite fall collection. Love the blue thrown in with the other traditional fall colors.
Carta Bella's Autumn line is my second pick...love the bright colors.
3rd would have to be Echo Park's "Fall is in the Air"...the colors with a hint of teal, perfection!
Photo Play has their own fall line called Falling Leaves.
Reminisce has their Best of Harvest collection. 
These next two aren't specifically fall  but would work for both fall and outdoor photos. The fox in Jillibean Soup's Mushroom Medley line (2nd photo below) is just too cute. If you're at a crop in November, I will be offering a two-page layout class using this line.

Plenty of Fall lines to choose from...last but not least, Authentique's Harvest
Bo Bunny's Farmer's Market
and Doodlebug's Flea Market