christmas snow - pencil lines sketch 265

My sis and mom and brother were together last week doing some baking for the holidays and it started to snow! They know how excited the boys get just to even see pictures, so they sent a few over! ^_^

{And I so rarely have this kind of photo to scrapbook that I had to grab it right away! lol}

Stop over at the pencil lines site and see what the rest of the ladies did with this week's sketch as well!!

the witch is in

I have a tutorial/diy on this canvas up on the Fancy Pants Blog this week! Stop by for instructions to make this fun piece of Halloween decor!

pumpkins

I just wanted to take a minute today to post a layout that I made this summer around CHA time. It's been popping up as a top searched post here on my blog, so I thought I'd pass it along for the idea for this month's fast approaching Halloween holiday!

Layering patterned paper over and over in your layout is a great way to incorporate tons of fun - there are 6 patterend papers layered on top of each other in this one - and I've still maintained some of the "whitespace" that I love so much. I also kept things from getting cluttered by setting up a grid, and breaking the elements or photos into groups. Anyway, a little tip for your weekend scrapbooking!

We had so much fun carving pumpkins last year! It was loads of fun to use this Halloween line, Oct 31 from Fancy Pants to create this layout! It's definitely a fave!

Have a wonderful weekend!

daddy's boy

I love, love how our youngest has grown so close to his daddy as he's gotten older. I caught the shot a couple of weekend's ago at a pool birthday party - our youngest really struggles with being out and about amongst other kiddos {natural born introvert that experiences TONS of anxiety over it}My husband was doing his very best to reassure him...

{If you're curious about the background, I layered a flocked transparency over a piece of distressed paper.}

pencil lines sketch 251 - assistant

Here's my take for pencil lines 251! The title was inspired by Amy Tan's too cute "assistant" t-shirt!

Have a wonderful Monday!

autumn wreath diy

is up on the fancy pants designs blog. Go check it out and make something pretty for your home to celebrate the season!

sketch 263 for scrapbook challenges

My 3rd week of guesting for scrapbook challenges, and this was my take on the sketch! You can stop over at their forums to check out the sketch.

Have a lovely Monday! I did a TON of scrapbooking over the weekend, and can't wait to post all of my projects! ^_^

run like you mean it

Yeah. I'm one of those people. When I decide to do something. I really do it. There are VERY few things I've ever committed to in my adult life that I just let go. You know, one of those 110% kind of people...

This summer I've started back running. Years ago, I was a regular. But I let it fall by the wayside when schedule conflicts with having the kids came up. Then, at the beginning of this year, I told myself - you have to take time to take care of you. In order to be the best mommy to our boys, the best wife, the best you - you need to take care of yourself.


Sometimes, as givers we forget that it's not selfish to take care of ourselves. 

When we are our best selves, we are able to give our best to others.

Anyway, back to the running! I mentioned in this post that I was going to be starting the couch to 5k program. I. Am. Loving. It. I feel so good. Between switching to a vegetarian lifestyle and running, I have so much energy. And I feel happy. And healthy.

St. Nick - Final CHA release from Fancy Pants

Unfortunately, I did one of those, "Oops! Forgot to take a photo before I packed it off for mailing!" things with this layout. All I have is a clumsy iphone photo. {Because, I'm sure this is weird, but I snap photos of my stuff as I work. Then look it over and decide if it's done. Weird. I know. } I really do love it, though! Stop by the Fancy Pants blog to see what the other girls did with this great line of papers!

Tomorrow I'll share some of my other projects that I made for Nikki Sivils!

Summer's End - CHA release from Fancy Pants

Yet another line that just absolutely knocks it out of the park by Fancy Pants! This absolutely gorgeous line is great for so many things! Not just Autumn layouts! The color combo had me at hello, anyway! Aqua and orange?! Be still my heart!

Stop over to their blog for a peek at what the other girls did with this line!

pumpkins - oct 31 CHA release from Fancy Pants

Fancy Pants is sharing projects from the team today featuring the brand new Oct. 31 line on their blog today - for Halloween, of course! I had SO much fun working with this!

birthday fun

We celebrated both of our boys' birthdays over the weekend! They've wanted their little get together to be mario cart themed forever - and picked out the cars for the top ages ago. I, of course, had to add a bit of a crafty touch just for fun... So I grabbed some of the chipboard banner pieces that Fancy Pants made to coordinate with their To the Moon and Beach Bum lines to recreate the little banner that hangs over the finish line in the game...

Off to school - new CHA release from Fancy Pants Designs!

Fancy Pants Designs is sharing some of the projects that we put together with their newest upcoming releases on their blog this week, so I finally get to share as well!!  I can't tell you how much I loved working with ALL of the new lines - the colors and patterns are fabulous. I love how this school line especially has a bit of a hipster feel to it! ^_^ Take a peek at their post to see what the other girls on the team made as well!

best creations + punky sprouts = lots of fun

Stopping by for a quick vacation post! Not sure if it's really a vacation all this week as it's pretty much hubby home hanging out with us, and in between trying to run a bunch of errands and catch a bunch of appts. lol But we did have a great time last weekend!

I did want to share a quick post with my latest project for punky sprouts. Shelly {the owner} sent us some fun papers from Best Creations to use as well this month:

I also used lots of fun goodies from American Crafts and Fancy Pants! I can'tn wait to add photos of our summer fun!

brand new fancypants and pencil lines sketch 241

Fancy Pants Designs has an adorable new product line out called Baby Mine. If you liked their It's the little things release, this is another line that has a really similar {but different}feel to it! I couldn't resist using it for my take on this week's pencil lines sketch! You can totally see that it's great for way more than scrapbooking your baby! ^_^

Have a wonderful Monday! We're in the final throws of school. This week is portfolio evals and testing, then we're done, done, DONE!! WooHoo!

to the moon and back

I was a part of this post on the FancyPants blog this week showcasing some fun ideas for using their ribbons! Stop over to check out the other ladies' fabulous layouts and see my full layout!

fancy pants designs and pencil lines sketch 239

Love, love this latest sketch up by Anna! {AND this photo of our little guy on our latest trip to the beach last month!}

Pop over and check it out on the pencil lines blog! Play along for a chance to win as well!! ^_^ Happy Monday, all!

baby giggles

I got to make a "pocket chick pick" for this week! If you haven't checked out the Fancy Pants Designs blog in a while, it's one of the fun things the design team's been doing. We choose an inspiration piece from the facebook page to lift or use as inspiration! Stop over and check out mine this go round! I loved the layout by Zoe - here's a little peek at mine:

beach fun

A couple of pics from our recent trip to the beach!

This is our favorite spot to relax in the summer:

I really, really love this beach line from fancypants! It a perfect combo of playful and sophisticated.

follow your heart

I guess it's been on my mind. Since I created something with this title, twice recently!

To see the full layout, please check out the FancyPants blog!