Sneaky Sunday

Carrying a new to me brand Paper House Productions and loving their two new collections.

Flashback Friday

Flasback to when I taught my first ever scrapbooking class...the Lullaby Album at Maria's house. I had a full class and remember being super nervous. Fact, I'm always super nervous before an event and calm right down once I get there. The lullaby album had a title page, and then 12 lullabies plus space for a pic of baby on the opposite page - one more each month of the first year. I believe everyone had a choice of a boy or girl album and we used Chatterbox papers!

Sneaky Sunday

I remember the days when all Jori wanted to do was line up his hot wheels and drive them one at a time on the roads of his town rug. And when Darin went through a train phase and always had a train with him everywhere we went. This new layout is perfect for those pictures and I plan on using the title A Boy and His Toys. This is a quick and easy 2 page layout...reserve yours today, I only have 9 in stock.

I Am...

planning our summer vacation

hoping to also get in a camping trip
working on layout kits to add to the store for the fall
adding lots and lots of cool new scrappy products to my wishlist
reading as much as I can while my schedule is a little lighter than normal
trying not complaining about the heat but the humidity is a different story all together...so glad it finally broke
balancing work and fun while the kids are off from school. This may be the last summer they're willing to stay home and hang out with me
breathing deep as they try my patience...don't get me wrong, I love having them home just not the bickering
enjoying the rest of baseball season

I will be taking a little hiatus from the blog to enjoy the summer with my family. I'll be back before you know it ;)

Nailed It Wednesday

Looking for a dessert that was easy to make and also easy to transport, I came across this S'mores Brownie Bar recipe by Deliciously Sprinkled on Pinterest. It was super easy to make and everyone at the softball game loved it. So much so I don't have a picture of it. I'm sure I'll be making it again, and again.

photo by Deliciously Sprinkled

Share A Card Tuesday

It's so nice out I thought I'd try to get some work in out on the deck. And then of course the clouds rolled in and I'm back in the scrap cave. Today I am sharing with you the cutest card I've made so far. This is stamp set by Paper Smooches called "Let's Roll". There are several other sayings and sushi types but I haven't played with them yet. I had to dig up some rusty masking skills and got creative with my limited copic colors.

Weekend Wrap-up

We set off on Friday for Rochester NY for the annual La Familia 4th of July softball game. We went for the first time last year when the boys had a break from baseball and it was forecasted to rain all weekend here in MA. This year, their cousins started texting way back in May and the boys were insistent that we go again. Once we knew their schedules were clear, we decided to make the 6hr drive.

 Saturday morning, after breakfast, we got a call from a cousin that another cousin had bailed on a donut eating contest he signed up for AND if one of the boys would like to participate. D said "Why not!" and she said, "Get here ASAP. Contest starts in 15 minutes!" He had cold feet in the car and kept saying he was stuffed from breakfast. We told him to just participate and no problem if he only ate 1 donut. We got there and were told to eat as many as he could in 5 minutes, the rest he could take home. He had a tray of 24 fried cake donuts and cups of cider to wash it down. He was Antonio for the contest and that's the cousin's boyfriend next to him. Results: D ate 1, cousin's bf ate 4 and winner ate EIGHT!!! We took over 3 dozen donuts home to share with the rest of the family and they were delicious.

Group pic before the game...more showed up later while some left for work/other activities.

Epic paint war battle after the game and here are the cousins...they kept at it long after everyone gave up. Ages from left to right...soon to be 14, 13, soon to be 15, 14...love when they're so close in age.

Slip n Slide back at the house, bocce, corn hole, etc etc before heading over to another cousin's house to hang out before walking over to the river for fireworks. It's a carry your own chair/blanket affair and we were the ones sent over early to grab a spot. Our group tripled when the fireworks started.

It's so much fun to get to spend time with family. We're thinking this might be an annual trip for us. Hope your fourth was family & fun-filled too!!!

Sneaky Sunday

Back again for another Sneaky Sunday post. This time I have robots and gadgets to share with you. Kaisercraft's K-bot collection was the perfect line to put together 4 pages - two 2 page layouts - to highlight the boy in your life. They are titled All Boy and Best Buddies. There is quite a bit of fussy cutting involved but so worth it. Wait 'til you see the pages.

Fave Five

Just some random stuff I found on pinterest. This looks like an easy enough project...wonder if my boys would help me with it. Now that they're teens, craft projects with mom isn't quite so cool anymore.

Sea glass jewelry...be still my heart. I have a pile of sea glass in a jar from our time in the pacific and it would be awesome to make them into wearable jewelry. In my spare time, right?

And this sign...I'm thinking I need to make one for my store. Yes?

This! This made me almost spit out my coffee when I came across it. So super accurate especially the part about "what my mom thinks I do"...I think it should say "what my FAMILY thinks I do". No one quite gets it.

Someone once asked me if I got tired of scrapping baseball pics. My answer was it's not too bad, I just do a layout for each kid for each team they play for and when I started listing them...we just looked at each other and laughed. Seriously this year alone, Jori's album will have layouts for the three teams he's on plus All Stars. These Sports Page Titles will definitely come in handy.

Garden Tales 07.02.15

A little late for a post but better later than never, right? We'll start with this cutie visiting my parsley when I really need her at the dill's since there's aphids moving in. I tried moving her over but she decided to fly away home. 

Here is a patch of the healthiest cilantro I've ever grown. I let the plants from last season go to seed and left them alone. They're growing all around the tomatoes and we're using them as fast as we can. 

And just in case you're wondering why the tomatoes are a weird color, it's a weird hybrid that I thought would be interesting to have in the garden.

Moving on...I Spy a baby zucchini. Always so exciting when I find one. I'm a pessimist when it comes to the zuchinnis and squash. 

There's even a little hint of red on the raspberries. Can't wait!!!

Share A Card Tuesday

OWhile at Ready Set Crop a couple of weekends ago, I had the opportunity to shop their yard sale. One of the main offerings were some vintage Stampin' Up stamps. I bought a few and couldn't resist playing with this one, Basket Full of Fun. Not a lot of time to play around but I got two cards done. Not in love with this card.

For the second card, I decided to leave off the distressing inks and make it a little more colorful. I think it might need a strip of solid cardstock behind the striped paper. 

Which card do you like better?

Weekend Wrap-up

What a weekend! Friday, we bought Diego his own doggy pool ($5 at Walmart) and he seems to be loving it. Even stuck his nose underwater and blew bubbles. Darin is lobbying for a bigger deeper pool to see if Diego can swim!

Saturday saw us on the ball field for a double elimination championship game. The boys lost their first game by mercy rule...get your act together geesh...and won the second game to emerge West Side Babe Ruth 2015 champions! It was a battle right down to the end and this momma is so proud of her boys...Jori pitched the last inning and Darin played amazing defense on 2nd.
Sunday evenings are hockey evenings...we've been stuck with the 7:20pm time slot for the last few weeks and boy was it tough to drag ourselves out in the rain last night! He  played great as usual and despite getting their butts handed to them by the elite team, Darin and his house league team managed to score 2 goals.

Summer vacation is in full swing here and I've bought myself some time every morning to work while they accomplish a few things on their to-do list (summer reading, physical activity and chores). How's it going at your end?

Sneaky Sunday

I've been busy in my scrap cave designing and kitting new layout kits. The goal is to get a kit per week done throughout the summer. I started with the cutest paper line from Kaisercraft called "Hello Sunshine" and made 4 pages - two 2 page layouts - titled Wild About You and Hello Sunshine. These layouts will beautifully highlight baby or toddler photos...and for once I actually have pictures in mind, just need to print them out!

 These will be in stock for my next crop, July Scrap-A-Way.

Garden Tales 06.25.15

Not much difference that I can see in the garden except for bigger raspberries, more flowers, plenty of snap peas and creepy crawlies (warning you may not like the last pic). Not too happy with these pics either...the camera is acting up a little and I couldn't quite get the right settings...ugh!

Share A Card Tuesday

Quick & Easy seems to be a theme when it comes to my card making. This card is one of a bunch that I made using some older papers in my stash as well as a very old SU stamp set. A little inking, a little coloring with copics and some fancy glittery paper made the card.

ps. I'll try to get a better pic when I pull out the big camera

Weekend Wrap-up

How was your Father's Day weekend? We had a nice quite weekend with a little of everything mixed in. We started off Friday evening with some quiet family time at home, getting some chores done and an early bedtime. Saturday started with a baseball game, where some of our friends came to cheer Jori's team on followed by lunch at a chinese buffet with said friends. Totally impromptu but so much fun to get to hang out with our friends. Then it was home for some rest...the Mr. napped, the boys played video games and I kitted (needed to be done so I could claim my desk back).

When dad woke up, the boys went out for some baseball in the backyard where they got a good workout learning not to drop the ball because this happens...

Sunday, we celebrated the Mr. with a waffle breakfast and a movie, Jurassic World. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and had ourselves a late sushi lunch. It was back home for a little bit before we headed back out to hockey. He couldn't be happier that his cast was off and could be back on the ice...he's the kid in the bottom right, gray jersey, yellow socks.

Sneaky Sunday

Kits using 6x6 paper pads are back! Introducing my latest creation called "Best Day"...this is a 4 page (1 two page spread and 2 one page layouts) layout kit. It also comes with a 12x12 sheet of chipboard stickers to make embellishing easier. Kit is $18.

Flashback Friday

Flashback to, I believe, the very first crop Jean and I hosted. We started with all day crops at the Hampton Inn in Sturbridge, MA. We had their small conference room and were allowed to bring in our own food. This first one, Jean and I both brought our stores and it eventually evolved to taking turns. I still miss those all day crops :(

Prizes...it's not a crop without prizes!

Look at those design runners and bags. We are really dating ourselves here!

Fast forward to 2015 and we're getting ready to start a new season with THREE weekend crops. We're still working on the contracts with the hotels but I can tell you to save the following dates...October 1-4 and February 25-28. We have one more for Spring but are still working on dates, we'll let you know as soon as we can.

Garden Tales 06.18.15

The weather has been all over the place the last few days but today is looking like a beauty. I took these pics with my iPhone 5 after a walk with Diego. Everything seems to be blooming and growing...happy looking plants without my help whatsoever! The pollinators are out and it's looking like a good start.