Grow...With Love!

Trysten is 8 months old today! He is growing up too fast - he is crawling everywhere, climbing over obstacles, and pulling up on everything! He likes to play 'So Big' and he loves to clap his hands so he enjoys 'Patty Cake'. I took these pictures last week and couldn't wait to scrap them. When I saw the weekend sketch contest at Practical Scrappers on Saturday, I knew I wanted to do something fun with the tree where the circle element was on the page. Then once this week's sketch over at 52 Sketches posted, I knew they would be perfect together and it would give me a chance to use all (or most) of the pictures that I took. I was going to use my Grown With Love stamp set, but the felt was funner to play with ;-)

I had this poem that I had saved and knew it was a perfect fit. The original poem is by Diane Woolley, but I changed a few parts to make it work better. Here is what it says:

At first you didn't lift your head, you didn't know to smile. The time before you knew my voice seemed such a long, long while. I couldn't wait for you to roll, and then to sit and clap. And now you're off and crawling, not helpless in my lap. How could I forget, how fast a baby grows? That every little baby stage soon comes, but sooner goes.So I'll enjoy the fleeting time before you learn to walk. And treasure every tiny noise before you learn to talk. For soon you'll learn to walk then run, and talk and sing a song. A little boy you will become, the baby will be gone. Little Trysten, please take a bit more time to grow into a little boy, for while you're small, you're mine!

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This is the sketch from Practical Scrappers - even though I didn't get mine done on time for their contest, I still had fun playing along!

Here is the sketch from 52 Sketches

CTMH Products Used: Animal Cookies paper pack and stickease, Heartfelt Wonder felt pieces (brackets, tree trunk, circles), Circle Coluzzle, 1/4" circle punch, Vellum, Font CD

Other Products Used: 1/2" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch

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Are you ready for more trees? Here are a couple of cards I made last week. I LOVED this Grown With Love stamp set when it came out and got it right away, but this was the first time I've finally used it - now I have so many more ideas running through my head, I can't wait to play with it some more!

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This was the card I made for my SIL Hannah - using the beautiful Grace papers I made this fun Tri-fold card. I started one of these fun folding cards back in June - it's super easy, I just never got around to 'decorating' it until now. I will definitely be doing more of these. You can find the instructions HERE.

Here is the card closed...

And open...

Then this one was the first card I made with this stamp set - I tried something different by turning the circle in the pattern of the card (from Wishes - Bullseye) into the tree top by stamping the leaves all over. I used Jeanette Lynton's color combo from last week's Color Me Monday. Maybe it's just the colors or the circle behind the tree like that, but it seems really 'Halloween-y' to me - if that were a word ;-)

So after that card - I had to play with the Halloween idea, using the Enchanted paper back with some Black Textured CS. I think it turned out cute! The cute little bats came from the retired Fall stamp set and they are popped up with pop dots. I used the same Bullseye pattern from Wishes, but this time I turned the circle into a moon.

Wow, I didn't expect this to be such a long post, but there's no turning back now! If you've stuck with me this long, thanks for looking!

Wordless Wednesday

Birthday Cards - by Guest Stampers!

Today you get a break from me ;-) Enjoy the fabulous work of Sandy and Shirene for today! I have been creating and have lots of stuff scheduled to post the rest of the week so stay tuned!

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Here is the card my SIL Sandy made me for my birthday. I love all the layers and glitter!

And since my Open House was just a couple of days after my birthday I had a card contest - Shirene's card, shown below, was the only entry I received, but how fun is this card - I love the unique fold and circle cut from the front! Sorry I didn't get a better picture - I didn't realize this one was so bad until after I gave the card back.

Thanks, ladies!

Princess Birthday Card!

Here is a quick card I made for Izzy for her 3rd birthday - she loves princesses and bling and even had a castle birthday cake, so I thought this was just perfect for her.

Wishes card pattern - Keyhole

Products Used (all CTMH): Daydream paper pack, Princess stamp set (retired), Happy Birthday stamp set, Prisma Glitter, pop dots, Clear Sparkles, Hollyhock and Spring Iris ink pads

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Thanks for looking!

Childhood

Here are a couple of cards that I created a while ago using the fun Childhood stamp set - it's a favorite of mine!

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This was the card I created for David's brother and his wife who welcomed a new baby boy to their family back in July. I even stamped a fun border on the envelope.

I used the Twitterpated paper and the following sketch from Mojo Monday.

Here is a fun moving card that I created for one of my nephews who is turning two in November. His brother got this moving train card for his birthday earlier this year, so I wanted to create a fun one for him, too! The kite flies! I have step by step pictures that I took while creating this card so if anyone is interested and would like to know how I did it, I can put a tutorial together - just let me know!

I used another sketch from Mojo Monday for this card as well.

Thanks for looking!

Family Update

Wow, it's been SO long since I've really given a full update about my family - so now you have been warned, this is a LONG post with lots of pics ;-) Oh, and I forgot to mention before, thanks to my friend Camie who got me started on the Wordless Wednesday posts, and my friend Melissa who got me started on the Friday Flashbacks - it's been a fun, easy way to post. But then I still have to do updates like this, of course! Hmmm...where to start...

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...well, we have discovered in the last couple of weeks that mosquitoes and Trysten just don't get along. No matter what I do to protect him, they find him and his body doesn't react too well. Plus the darn skeeters have been so thick since the end of August - what a nuisance they are! On Thursday, August 20th, he got bit on each leg - they swelled and pussed and scabbed and were on their way to getting infected, but with a little Peroxide they cleared right up. One week later, on Thursday, August 27th he got bit again, this time on the face. On Friday it was looking a little red, and then Saturday morning he woke up looking like this...

...so I got him into a doctor that is open on the weekends, got him on an antibiotic and it cleared right up. Then two weeks later, on yet another Thursday (yes, there is something about Thursday mosquitoes - they are the worst) he got bit on the forehead and swelled up and scabbed over again. I used Peroxide again because it was in a safe spot to do so and it cleared right up. We're just going to have to be more careful!

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As for me - I turned 28 a couple weeks ago - I can't believe I'm getting so close to 30 ;-P This year when I went to the eye doctor for the first time ever, it finally hit me that I'm not as young as I used to be. I now have to wear reading glasses - but it's been nice because I've finally been able to read again! Before I realized I needed glasses, I would start a book but then I'd get a headache or just not be able to focus, so I'd give it up.

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David has been feeling older as well - he got hit with allergies last year (his first time ever) and they were even worse this year. He gets hives, his eyes swell shut, and his throat closes up and they really take a toll on him! Hopefully it won't be as bad next year.

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Now on to the subject of TEETH! Brianna has her first loose tooth and she is SO excited! I wonder when the tooth fairy will finally get to visit her?!? So now Brailee is convinced that she has a loose tooth as well ;-) And then Trysten had his first tooth pop through last weekend. He should have a second one any day now. Kaylee has to get a minor procedure done next month - I won't even try to spell it or explain it, it's something to do with the skin that attaches her lip to her gums. I didn't even realize it was a problem until she went to a new dentist earlier this month. Apparently Brianna will need it as well, but hers can wait for a while. It's supposed to help with the gap in her teeth once it's taken care of.

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I still can't believe that September is more than halfway over - this whole year has gone by so fast and summer just flew by! We had fun swimming - the girls all took lessons this year (their first time) and my little fishies loved it! We also enjoyed our daily bike rides and walks - the girls especially loved riding to the 'Dead End' for our Ladybug Hunts...

Another favorite from this summer - picking Raspberries! We picked LOTS of berries this year but never made anything with them because they would get gobbled up too fast!

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And these pics are from just this week - to show my mom how our pumpkins have grown! She brought the girls a pumpkin plant when she came for their dance recital and this is what we have now - I never expected them to get this big! We've grown pumpkins before but they were not bigger than a basketball. Right now the biggest one is 'caged' in because David moved the jungle gym to mow the lawn one day and it didn't get moved back right away and the pumpkin and vines quickly grew through and around it! Brailee posed next to them to give an idea of how big they are.

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We finally replaced our sliding door - it's so nice to finally have a screen and a door that the kids can actually open on their own! I even had a hard time with the old one sometimes. Plus the new one is nice because it has the blinds INSIDE the door so nothing for the kids to get tangled in and no blinds to clean ;-)

Bye-bye old door!

Trysten likes the new door, and leaves adorable little smudges all over the window.

We've repainted our entire living room, but I loved the color I already had in there so I didn't change it, but David replaced all of our Base Trim. We even painted our huge shelves on both sides of our fireplace, which meant we had to move the fish tank, so it got a much needed full tank cleansing - it looks so much better! We still have some painting to finish up down the hallway, but the big, messy project is done - for this year anyway!

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The best thing about cool mornings is the hot air balloon that often flies over our house - sometimes it even lands in the field right behind our house. The girls enjoy watching it, especially in their jammies!

Well, I think that's everything - I have some more pictures to share but I'll save them for another post. If you've made it this far, thanks for sticking with me ;-)

Flashback Friday

1995 - Leslie, Kevin, David, and Jeff - 4 Brothers, 4 Eagle Scouts!

I think these are the first pages I have ever done of David from when he was younger. I completed these pages on Sunday - it was a fun project to do, and perfect timing as this year is the Boy Scout's Centennial year. This was in 1995 when he and 3 of his brothers all got their Eagle Scout award at the same time - an extremely rare feat, as it says in the newspaper article. I still need to see if I can get a new copy of the article as this is all my MIL gave me and it's missing the second page. The right page is a pocket page with a letter from our U.S. Senator congratulating them on their accomplishment. I used some fun 3-D Scout stickers that I purchased years ago from Hobby Lobby and they matched this Rowdy paper just perfectly.

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You can click on the picture to view it larger.

CTMH Products Used: Rowdy paper pack (retired), Building Blocks alphabet stamp set, Friendship Alpha - small (retired), Solo 4, Outdoor Denim ribbon, Natural Hemp, 3-D Foam Squares

Other Products Used: 3-D Eagle Scout stickers from Hobby Lobby
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Thanks for looking!

Cousins

Here is a quick layout I did earlier this week using Sketch #37 from 52 Sketches. This is an older picture, from more than 5 years ago - but it's always been a favorite of mine. I just love the look on Hunter's face as Kaylee is trying to give him a kiss ;-) When I first got my Treasures stamp set I went looking for this picture and any others that I took that day because I remember lots of dandelions/wishes from that day. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I still have, but it still worked with this stamp set!

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Click on the picture to view it larger.

CTMH Products Used: Tinkerin' paper pack, Twilight Textured CS, Green staples, Treasures stamp set, Save the Date stamp set, Holiday Red buttons, White Hemp, White Daisy pigment ink, Holiday Red ink, Twilight ink, Clover Meadow ink

Other Products Used: Zig Marker, White Thickers

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Thanks for looking!

Wordless Wednesday

Birthday Wallet

Here is the birthday card I made for my FIL last month - thanks to Dannie Graves for her tutorial with measurements and instructions found HERE. This was super fun and easy and I can't wait to make more now!

The girls created their artwork pieces on gift card sized pieces of CS so they fit right in the wallet.

And instead of cash, there were coupons for hugs and kisses and fun quotes and thoughts about grandpas.

Products Used (all CTMH): Desert Sand CS, Cocoa stamp pad, It's Your Day stamp set, Piercing Tool, Cocoa Marker, Pewter Brads, Corner Rounder.

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Thanks for looking!

October Word Puzzle

Here is this month's workshop - I used the *NEW* Grace paper pack along with the October Word Puzzle, September SOTM Treasures, Fabric Finishes stamp set, and the Everyday Celebration stamp set - available only in the National Stamping Month card kit. Click here to see more on this kit. My workshop is going to be on Friday, September 25th, but if you're not able to come, don't worry - you can still complete the projects! If you purchase the Grace Workshop Kit that I am featuring this month, it includes the products needed plus the cutting guides and instructions for both the layouts AND the cards so you can create them on your own - how cool is that!

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Click HERE for complete workshop details. The Grace Exclusive Workshop Kit that I am featuring this month is only $29.95 (retail value $33.85) and includes the Grace Level 2 paper pack, Beautiful Flourish stamp set, Rustic Edge Anchors, and a Workshop Guide. What a great deal! But there are also other pricing options for the workshop - ranging from $5 to $40.

Anyway, here are my creations - you can click on the pictures to view them larger.

12x12 Option - Those who select the Basic Option will only create one page - choose from the right or left page. Anyone who selects the Deluxe, Super Deluxe, Exclusive, or Exclusive Plus will also get the option to create both pages with paper left over!

Card Option - Those who select the Exclusive Workshop Options will get to make at least 6 cards - with lots of paper left over!

6x6 Option

Here are the layouts and cards exactly as they are created in the Workshop Guide - you can see that I changed mine a bit. I didn't get the Exclusive Workshop Kit this month, so I didn't use the Beautiful Flourish stamp set that comes in the kit on my samples. You can click HERE to request more information on this month's featured kit.

Thanks for looking!

Beauty...

...is in the eye of the beholder. I thought that title went perfect with this picture - I just love how excited Brailee gets every time she finds a 'wish' - and I let her spread her wishes all around my yard because I love to see her so full of joy ;-P

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I used the following PageMaps sketch for their Studio Calico sketch contest.

I love this picture, even though it's not the best - Brailee looks fine but the flower was hard to see because of the shadow and its soft/light look so I tried to enhance it with a Dimensional Element circle and a little vellum - I stamped the vellum to create another flower overlay - I don't think you can see it in this picture or not. So then I decided, to go with the sketch, and continue the vellum look, I stamped more flowers on vellum and adhered them up the side. That's where this layout loses it for me - now I look back and wonder if vellum is the way to go or if I should have used a transparency again like I did with THIS layout. What do you think? After I added the vellum I just kinda stopped with this layout as I'm just not thrilled with it - I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

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Click on the picture to view it larger.

CTMH Products Used: Twitterpated paper pack, Friendship Alphabet (embossed with Clear EP), Embossing Stylus, Sanding Block, Treasures stamp set, White Daisy stamp pad, Dimensional Elements On Target, Vellum, Crystal Blue and Sweet Leaf stamp pads
Other Products Used: Photo Corner punch (SU!), computer font (Missy)

Flashback Friday

This is Brianna (in the middle) with cousins Isaac and Meghan - woodcutting trip - Green Mountain - September 2004.

Wordless Wednesday

Lunchtime Conversation

Brailee and T were just full of topics on Friday - this is what was discussed while I fixed lunch that day...

B: We don't like insects.

M: We like some insects.

B: I don't like grasshoppers

T: Grasshoppers have yuckies on them.

B: I don't like them on my head. But I like ladybugs - they tickle me!

I love it!

Morning Conversation

I got a kick out of this conversation between Brailee and T this morning and just had to get it down before I forgot it. T (he's the boy I babysit during school) said something about his grandma and grandpa's farm - here is the conversation that followed...

B:Do you have animals on the farm?
T:Yep, we do.
B:Do you take water to the animals?
T:Yeah, we have pigs.
B:Oh, I like pigs.
T:We have sheep - they say "maaa!"
B:I like sheep. *pause* Mom, do you think I like sheep? I not 'fraid of them.
Then they continued to talk about farm animals and the different sounds they make - too cute ;-)

On the Move...part two

I posted this about Trysten on the move a few weeks ago - well I'm proud to announce he started crawling last week!

Here is a quick layout I did earlier this week. I took these pictures a couple weeks ago, before he started crawling, and then when he started crawling last week, I was inspired to do these pages. This is what I was saving my Everyday Celebration paper for - it just matches his jammies perfectly!


I used the Aspen WOTG guide for these pages - I just changed the widths of the strips to fit my pictures - I really LOVE how this layout turned out, especially the right page. You can click on the pictures to view them larger.
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Products Used (all CTMH):Everyday Celebration paper, Dutch Blue and Chocolate Distressing Inks, Chocolate Ribbon, Chocolate Brads (Bigger, Basic, and Bitty), Dutch Blue button (from the Summer Craft Buttons), Chocolate and Colonial White buttons (from the Basic Craft Buttons), Field Trip Alphabet, Little Boys stamp set (for the dinosaur), Chocolate, Dutch Blue, and Sweet Leaf stamp pads.
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Thanks for looking!

September SOTM Blog Hop!

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring September's SOTM, which is called Treasures, a fun set of 13 stamps.
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This month we have almost 70 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Don't forget the new CTMH Autumn/Winter Idea Book goes live today - you can view it online at this link. And don't forget to check out the Sneak Peek Hop to see the new products in action!


I have SO many pictures of my girls and Wishes (as they call them) so it just came down to picking which one to use! I have a few more pictures that I printed off to use with this stamp set, but this one of Brailee last May is the only one I have used so far - I have a feeling I will be playing with this stamp set a lot more in the future! For this layout I played around with some transparencies - first I embossed the "flower" with White Daisy EP, but it seemed to bold - KWIM? So then I stamped it in White Daisy pigment ink and it gave me more of the soft look that I was going for on the transparency. Then I cut it out and layered it over the corner of the picture. I also embossed the title on a transparency with White Daisy EP using the Boutique Alphabet. The stem was embossed using Olive EP. The loose "wishes" were stamped directly on the Garden Green CS using the pigment ink.
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CTMH Products Used: Promise of Spring paper (no longer available ), Garden Green CS, White Daisy grosgrain ribbon, *new* Wonder Heartfelt Die-Cuts (Olive bracket and circles), Amethyst Waxy Flax, White Daisy Pigment Ink, Smoky Plum stamp pad, Olive Marker, Piercing Tool.
Other Products Used: Stampin Up! Scalloped Border punch, transparencies, plastic canvas circle. I used the following PageMaps sketch for my inspiration.



Now "Hop" on over to Nona's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the September SOTM is only available until September 30th! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!
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If you get lost on the hop or find links that aren't working, click here for a complete list of participating blogs.
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Here is one more small/quick project that I created using this stamp set. This is a fun scalloped box made from envelopes - I got the idea from here. I used my Coluzzle envelope template and I can't wait to make more using all of the different sizes. I used Twitterpated paper and I also stamped the tissue paper - I will fill this with goodies for a friend.

Thanks for looking - enjoy the hop!

September SOTM Blog Hop List

Here is a list of blog hop participants for our SOTM Blog Hop in case you get lost along the way - have fun hopping!

Jena DeVries
Nona Davenport
Katy Donaldson
Cibele Glazer
Laura Dame
Lori Leng
Jamia Bankhead
Melissa Laverty
Pamela OConnor
Sheila Bennett
Adeline E. Brill
Wendy Kessler
Beth Naumann
Barbra Otten

Terrie Dodd
Judy Burger
Jessica Booth
Leisa Hubley
Helen Onulak
Debra Van Patten
Juli Clark
Sarita Schraeder
Michelle Robinson
Maricar Harris
Antoinette Herrin
Kathleen Androlewicz
Cindy Leek
Dawn Heuft
Barbara Harris
Alanna Moses
Laurie Levnik
Tanya David
Karen Norman
Jan Moxey
Tammy Lea Pinchard
Paige Dolecki
Kelly Triggs
Sherry Thompson
Deb Young
Nancy Ball
Chris Shouse
Dawn Ross
Brae Montgomery
Laurie R Newton
Haley Dyer
Carol Taggio
Amy McVey
Carla Ironside
Jen Rubio
Kristie Horness-Herdener
Jill Lucas
Wanda Riley
Miranda Kurz
Jody Gustafson
Susan Brooks
Kami Welter
Jennifer Patrick
Julia Menssen
Shannon Pelletier
Linda Shewchuk
Brenda Harmless
Donni Alvarenga
Nancy Brown

Traci Godbee
Pam Klassen
Lori Miller
Kimberly Smith
Caren Goldsein

Misty Jackson