Live, Love, Laugh, Scrapbook!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Squirt

That is one of Trysten's nicknames and unfortunately he is living up to it! Out of all four kids he is the messiest! I won't go into too many details - I'll just say that we are now in a size 4 diaper and we are experimenting with the different brands to find one that works the best. The girls were all able to use the cheap WalMart brand of diapers but it looks like we are going to have to use the good stuff on Trysten. I have tried about every brand of stain remover out there as well. My girls were never like this - or not this bad, anyway - so it's been different! We're often the joke of the day at church as there have been some days I've had to change his clothes a couple of times - and that's only within 3 hours! Little stinker...literally!

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Maybe that's why he's smiling all the time - he just thinks it's funny ;-) At least he loves his bath time so he can get nice and clean - he loves to splash and get Mommy all wet, too!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Reunion Fun!

It seems like I just can't stay caught up this summer - so busy! It has been about 3 weeks but I'm finally getting around to posting about the DeVries Family Reunion we had. It was a fun weekend at the Reservoir - playing in the water, roasting marshmallows, playing Capture the Flag, and too much yummy food! I got to ride a Jet Ski for the first time ever - what fun! And my nephews were teaching me the proper technique for Tubing - I sure used some muscles that haven't been used for a while! Here are some of my favorite pictures - I only took 400 so it wasn't too hard to narrow it down ;-P

We played Capture the Flag Saturday morning - it got a little too crazy for the little kids but the big kids (including David, his brothers, and even his Mom) sure had fun!

Then this last weekend we went to Star Valley to spend some time with some of my family. It was also my 10 year High School Reunion so we spent a couple of hours there catching up with some old friends. There were a lot of friends that didn't show up so I was bummed that I didn't get to see them - it's been the whole 10 years since I've seen some of them! We did have fun while in the valley, though. We rode horses and 4-wheelers, went to the fair parade, and enjoyed the beauties of Star Valley! Even Trysten enjoyed the 4-wheeler rides, they put him right to sleep. We took a nice long one on Saturday - we packed a lunch and left right from the house and headed up to Cottonwood Lake. We went up to the slide area where Alan and two others were killed in an avalanche in January 2008. Then we found a nice little spot by a stream to enjoy our picnic. After that we headed back to the lake where we skipped stones and just relaxed on the shore before heading back. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend...

Brianna was jumping on the tramp...

...and Trysten thought it was quite funny!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

My Life According to Elton

I saw this on my friend Camie's blog and decided to play along!

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My Life According to...

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)"

Pick your Artist:

Elton John

Describe yourself:

Island Girl - yeah, right - but it's better then the other song I was thinking ;-P

How do you feel:

Blessed

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Describe where you currently live:

Honky Chateau

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:

Holiday Inn

Your favorite form of transportation:

Rocket Man

Your best friend:

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

You and your best friend are:

The Captain and the Kid

What's the weather like:

One Day at a Time

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Favorite time of day:

Indian Sunset

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:

Circle of Life

What is life to you:

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

Your relationship:

Can You Feel the Love Tonight

Your fear:

And the House Fell Down

What is the best advice you have to give:

We All Fall In Love Sometimes

Thought for the Day:

Believe

How I would like to die:

Madman Across the Water

My soul's present condition:

I'm Still Standing

My motto:

I Must Have Lost it on the Wind

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Try it! It's fun!

What's in the box, dear?

...says my dear hubby Monday night.

"Oh, just new toys for me and the girls" I reply.

What is it you may ask - it's my new Cuttlebug!!! I have been wanting one for FOREVER but I was somehow able to resist the urge. Then a couple weeks ago I saw a really great bundle on HSN so I called my SIL Sandy ( I can blame everything on her, she is an enabler ;-P ) to let her know about the specials they were having. She already has a Cuttlebug but I thought she might like the new embossing folders. Anyway she kept asking if I was going to get it or not and I hadn't quite decided yet and after a while she finally informed me that she had planned on getting me one for my birthday. So I finally broke down and ordered the bundle and she ordered me the new folders for my birthday instead. So now I am a proud Cuttlebug owner! The girls and I finally opened it up yesterday and started playing with it. The girls already have a CuttleKids and I originally thought about getting rid of theirs since I was getting the real deal but now I've decided that we'll keep both, which will be easier with 4 girls playing ;-)

Hopefully the new toy will inspire some new creations - I've been missing scrapping! I've made lots of cards lately, but I started (and nearly finished) two pages mid-June and haven't touched them since - I need to get my mojo back!

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So, now I'd love to hear your thoughts - what are your favorite dies or embossing folders to use with the Cuttlebug?

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Fair Results 2009

The girls and I entered some stuff again in the county fair this year - here it all is...

The girls were in the Kidz Stuff category and all participants get a ribbon for participating, but here is how my stuff did:

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My flip-up pages featuring Ghostbuster from 1985-2007 got a first and then a Champion ribbon and a $25 gift certificate from Ben Franklin crafts - good to know that Ghostbuster is still helping me win big! Here are the pages closed...

And they open up to this...

This page of Kaylee and Brianna won 1st place

This page of Brailee won something but I'm not sure what ;-P When I went down to the fairgrounds to look at the exhibits, I thought I remember seeing a Third place ribbon on it. I was out of town when they released all entries so I had a friend pick them up for me and there was no ribbon when I got it back, but the entry tag says "R" under Placing so maybe it got Red for Second? All of my First place entries have "B" there which I assume means Blue for First.

Here are the cards that I entered:

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I took this card from this workshop and turned it into a baby announcement using the Sweet Baby stamp set. I also added the words 'little one' from the Random Thoughts stamp set under Hello. Here it is before...

...and after. This card won First place.

This card was created for this workshop - it also won First.

This card won First as well.

I also entered the next two cards but I don't remember how they did - when I told my friend what projects to pick up for me I totally forgot about these ones so I didn't get them back ;-P I think the invitation got Second but I don't remember the owl.

Update - I went down to the fair grounds today and picked up these two cards - they both won First!

I also entered two of these ornaments in the Recycled paper sculpture contest - they won First. If you remember from when I posted them in December, they are made from old Christmas cards.

This was my first year entering photographs - here is what I entered. Only half of what I entered actually placed - I was really surprised with how some of them did - one of my absolute favorites didn't even place, and one I just threw in to get it in the category ended up winning Second. I look forward to entering more next year!

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This one of Trysten got Second in the colored portraits category.

This one got Second in the Patriotic themed category

This one got First in the candid black and white category.

This one got first in the any other b&w photo category.

The following pictures didn't place but I still love them ;-P

Thanks for looking!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

SOTM Blog Hop!

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring August's SOTM, which is called It's Your Day, a set of 26 stamps.

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This is the beginning of the hop - I hope you'll check out each of the participating blogs - this month we have 64 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! Here we go!
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Since I'm always making birthday cards, this was the perfect stamp set to play with - I have three samples to share with you today!

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Wishes Pattern - Gallery

I made the following card for my nephew who just turned 8 in July - I used one of Jeanette's Color Me Monday challenges, I just left out the color Bamboo. I used the cake layers to create a frame around the sentiment. Colors used: Clover Meadow, White Daisy, Heavenly Blue

Wishes Pattern - Lower Layers

I made this one for my mom's husband who also had a birthday in July. I struggle with masculine cards but I was pleased with how this one turned out - I love those Back Country papers!

I made the following card for a friend back in May for her birthday - I used two challenges for this card, a kwernerdesign color challenge and a Mojo Monday sketch challenge. I did a lot of dry embossing and sanding on this card - I stamped the bow stamp on the back of the Hollyhock paper, then traced with a stylus and sanded the front to create the starburst look. I added punched circles of Sunflower to the centers. Colors used: Hollyhock, Sunflower, Chocolate

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I hope you have enjoyed your visit here - now "Hop" on over to Kristie'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 August SOTM is only available until August 31st! 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, here is a complete list of participating blogs:

Jena DeVries ~ http://livelovelaughscrapbook.blogspot.com/2009/08/sotm-blog-hop.html
Kristie Horness-Herdener ~ http://goofyscrapper.blogspot.com/2009/07/its-here.html
Carla Ironside ~ http://carlacreates.blogspot.com/2009/08/ctmh-august-stamp-of-month-blog-hop.html
Deb Young ~ http://scrapbookczar.blogspot.com/2009/08/ctmhs-august-stamp-of-month-blog-hop.html
Alanna Moses ~ http://damoses.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-your-day.html
Paige Dolecki ~ http://paigespaperparadise.blogspot.com/2009/07/ctmh-its-your-day-august-sotm-blog-hop.html
Wendy Kessler ~ http://www.myscrapbookingblog.com/2009/08/01/ctmh-august-2009-sotm-blog-hop/

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Mother/Daughter Play Time!

The girls invited some friends over to play last week, but Kaylee's friend wasn't able to come over, so her and I got to play instead. She wanted to stamp so I pulled out some of my pre-cut card kits from past workshops and she picked her favorite card to recreate. I taught her how to "stamp kiss" - she had fun! Here are the cards we created...

Here is the original card from the pre-cut kit - inspired by Lisa Stenz from a few years ago.

Here is Kaylee's card - besidespre-cut paper, she did it all herself!

And I still had some of my stuff out from my Monthly Word Puzzle Make-Up Workshop, so I took my page title idea from THIS workshop and turned it into this card.

Just click on the pictures to view them larger - thanks for looking!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Cards for growing families!

I am so behind posting some of my card creations from this year! I have some posts scheduled for while I'm gone so hopefully I can at least start to catch up. Here are some cards I made a few months ago - there are lots of weddings and new babies this year so be watching for more in this category!

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I made this card for my cousin who had a baby girl this spring. I used a fun tip that I had heard before but never tried - I wanted to pop dot the flower Stickease, so to make the back not sticky, I just rubbed it with some baby powder - works like a charm! Plus it gave the card a fresh baby scent ;-) I used Life Delights paper and Stickease and the sentiment came from the Random Thoughts stamp set.

I used this sketch from CardPatterns

Here is a card I made for a friend who got married this spring - this one was inspired by Tiffany Cheney - you can see her inspiration cards here. I don't think you can see it very well in the picture, but I used the tiniest clear Sparkles for the bride's earings. I used the Magic Moments paper pack and Family Ties stamp set.

I used this sketch from Mojo Monday

Click on the pictures to view them a little bigger - thanks for looking!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Pre-Hop Post!

I’m so excited about the upcoming August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. There are 64 (!!!) CTMH Consultants participating! Check back here on August 1st - this will be the starting point for the blog hop, but don't worry, if you start somewhere else, you'll still make it all the way around!

In order to make the hop run smoothly, I’m testing out links to Kristie's Blog, she’ll be the one that you’ll jump to after mine. You'll be coming from Jody's blog to make a full circle in the hop. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with - I hope you'll hop with us!

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If you missed our past SOTM Blog Hops, you can check them out starting at the following links.

May - Be Yourself

June - Tender Tags

July - You've Got Flair

Monday, July 27, 2009

6 Months Old!

Trysten is getting so big, I just can't believe how much he's grown and that he is 6 months old already! He had his 6-month check-up this morning and he weighs 20 pounds 2 ounces and is 27 1/4 inches long! He is rolling and scooting all over the place - well, more like scooting in circles for now ;-P Every morning when I get him out of his crib, he has done a complete 180 and his head is where his feet were the night before. He is still such a happy boy and his sisters still adore him and can't get enough of him. We love him so much and we're so thankful he's a part of our family!

Stamp Set Sale!

I admit it, I'm a hoarder! I finally went through my stamp set stash and these are the ones I feel I can part with ;-) You can view the slideshow below - prices includes shipping. You can contact me at jvdevries22@hotmail.com if you are interested in any of these stamp sets. Feel free to make me an offer, I would be up for a trade as well!

*Retired Stamp Sets*
Month Blocks, Tiny Feet, Friendship's Garden, Confetti and Favors, Create-a-File, Loves Me Loves Me Not, Tender Tags, Easter Eggs, Todays Date, Annotations

*Used Stamp Sets*
Endless Love

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Update... The following sets are sold and on their way to their new owners: Tender Tags, With Love, Good Times, Days of the Week, Serendipity, Jump, For Baby, Music of Life, Give Thanks, Loves Me Loves Me Not, Be Yourself

Thanks for looking!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

What to do with this hair?!?!

Hello everyone! We are back from the reunion - had a blast! I will be posting pictures soon, I'm just trying to catch up first and get ready for a birthday party today, so just a quick post for now! The girls have a hair appointment next week - I'm totally at a loss as to what to do with Brailee's hair - I've come here for suggestions!

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Her problem is her bangs - they love to grow right down in her face. It's been so hard but we've actually been growing them out since February when she got that cute little bob cut. I think she looks better without bangs, but they just don't stay out of her face without a hair clip or pony tails, which never stay in long for my little 2 1/2 year old independent girl! Here are some pics of her hair - should I continue to grow out her bangs and hope they will eventually stay out of her face - or should we cut them again?

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This was her hair right before we cut it off into a cute little bob - I think her bangs look cute here, but of course I had curled them, which she doesn't let me do often.

Here is her hair out of her face.

And here is her hair in her face as it usually is - Cousin It!