Happy (almost) New Year

Well with the state of the world sometimes it is hard to find things to be "happy" about lately. So I've got a couple of pick me ups for you. First is this adorable page with Peyton on it. He is my everyday pick me up. Whenever I am feeling blue I just head on over to where ever he is and he changes it all. He is always goofy and silly. He loves to laugh and play. Most of all he loves to make others happy with him. The second pick me up for the day is that the Close to my Heart brand spankin' new spring 2009 idea goes live on-line tomorrow! I am so in love with the new paper packs. All you scrappers with little girls just wait until you see daydream! And been dying for some new "lady" stamps the MS. collection is for you! There is so many fun new things I can't wait to put in my first order and start scrapping with them!

On a side note we are moving this week so excuse the lack of blogging!

Merry Christmas

Well the holiday has sneaked up on me. I still have somethings I plan on posting if I ever get the time to sit down and upload the pictures which is hard to do when you left your camera at someones house. So if I don't get to it I am so sorry! For now I want to wish everyone a blessed and merry Christmas. I know this is a hard year for many people but remember to look for all of God's blessings big and small. Can't wait until the new year comes with more fun scrapping and paper crafting goodies.

My Guy

Gavin is just such a sweet little man. His love for Lightening McQueen is unwavering. Remembering when it all started seems impossible. He has moved on to like other things as well. I mean we don't watch cars 20 times a day anymore and he doesn't wear his cars pj's 24 hrs a day. Every toy he touches doesn't have to be related to the movie and our conversations don't always involve some sort of comparison to the movie. He has grown. Apart of me is very pleased that we have moved on but another part is sad because it means he is growing up. There is no better way in my opinion to "get over" those sad/happy moments then to go back and search through your photos and come up with a good old scrapbooking page to put the memory to rest and your heart at ease.

pattern paper and stickers : bo bunny

cardstock: bazzil

Brads: unknown

More Challenges

It seems I have been hard up for ideas lately. I guess the idea tank is just out of ideas. What is a girl to do? Well, this girl heads over to splitcoaststampers and does some "idea" stealing or maybe it would be better to call it borrowing! Not only do I get to see hundreds of pages and blogs they host challenges that really get the mind cranking again. Believe me my mind needs some cranking. I could really use some good classes right now. Hanging out with the kids all day really does something to it! Anyway here is the link to the challenge here!

Yup these challenges really got my mind a moving. I think it started moving so fast that I forgot what my inspiration was suppose to be in the splitcoast challenge here. I promise that it started out that way but then it grew a life of it's own...what do you think?!

1st page

paper: sandlylion

stickles, Close to my Heart color ready alphabets

random buttons

2nd page

all items by Reminisce unless otherwise stated

Green die cut and ribbon by Close to my Heart

IFC18

So every once in awhile I love to go and do the challenges at Split coast stampers. This challenge was to use embossing on the page. After debating whether or not I should really be scrapbooking today. I mean I do have tons of laundry to do, torn paper all over the house (so who has heard of flicker? He is the new character on Handy Manny. My son is obsessed with him. I mean OBSESSED! He has been drawing, coloring and cutting him out all week. I have about 300 flickers hanging around my house with all the scraps of paper hanging around too. If I try to throw them away guess who finds them and gets very upset. They even have a bed in his room right now. Okay that was a little off topic but I was just trying to explain why and the amount of paper all over my house right now!) and I have to go into work tonight. I really, really , really do not need to be down scrapbooking. So to justify my unyielding desire I "killed two birds with one stone" I did the challenge AND used the new promo paper pack and stamp set from Close to my Heart! Plus CTMH white core cardstock is perfect for embossing! So I did some straight embossing and then grabbed my distressing kit and started sanding away. This is what I ended up with. Go check out all the other people who did the challenge here!

Wow, you look good today!

Well, I'm a mother of three, I get up early, I do house work and to say the least I have a very unglamourous lifestyle. A long time ago, like maybe three years, I use to get dressed everyday. I use to get my hair cut and colored. I use to never leave the house without my toe nails painted...even in the winter. I actually use to own a full length mirror and wonder how in the world anyone could NOT have one in their house. I use to buy expensive make-up from department stores and splash my favorite scent on. I bought my clothes from places like Banana Republic and Macy's. My shoes ALWAYS made the outfit just right. Well obviously now-a-days things are a bit different (otherwise I wouldn't have brought it up) Now I roll out of bed and hope that the shirt I pull out of the wash doesn't have buggers on it from when the boys were using the pile for a safety net. I fumble in the dark for a pair of matching socks and hope that a pair of my "cozy" pants are free from stains and not all in the wash. Between this I am yelling at the kids to stop playing and start brushing their teeth, combing hair, putting shoes on, changing underwear...I think you get it. I quick wash my face, brush my teeth (trying not to notice the four tons of toothpaste in the sink) and head out the door. This has been my life for awhile. Honestly it never really bothers me. I never really think to myself "gosh I must look REALLY bad" until one day I actually "get ready" and a lovely person will come up to me and say something like "you look really nice in blue." I can't help but laugh because what they really mean is " you look really nice when you get dressed." So is my life. I may not change it. I preferred my sleep to my beauty these days. Although someday I hope that everything I own doesn't come from Target's 75% off section, and that my shoes will once again be my passion and that I can walk out of the house every morning knowing that I don't have dried toothpaste on my face.

What do you think?

So my blog has a new look what do you think? Do you want one? I found mine at www.thecutestblogontheblock.com go check it out and decorate away!

Thankful for little girls

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am thankful for so much. I have so many blessings in my life. These two little girls are one of them. They are cousin's born just two weeks apart. They are so lucky to have eachother. They are going to grow up together and be able to share it with one another. I've never had a sister but I bet this is the 2nd best thing.

Just a page

Just a page of Mikayla's first day of Kindergarten. I look at these photos and it reminds me so much of my days at St. Johns. I have many memories there. I love the education I received. So many of the teachers touched my heart, showed me compassion and taught me about God. I am glad that at least for now Mikayla can go to a school that provides the same caring environment that SJV gave me.

Splitcoast challenge SBVC52

I love splitcoaststampers.com not only do they have tons of stuff for all of us stamping freaks they have tons of stuff for scrapbookers as well! Challenges are always fun and this was one of them check it out here. If you are interested in making some of these flowers look a couple post down and I have a link to the tutorial and I say how I made mine.

S is for School

Gavin didn't go to school this year. Things are so crazy in our lives that I just couldn't justify putting him in. Money is tight, times are tough and through it all I would rather have him close by and making me work a little harder! So I took the pictures of him last year and pushed them to the back of my stuff. I think I was still a little upset that he would be "missing out" on something. Well the school year is under way and I am feeling a bit better about my decision. It has made him closer to his little brother. It gives him time to be "boss" of the house since Mikayla is in school all day. Even more important is it makes me try super hard to find fun things for him to do. The "pain" and "sorrow" has gone so now they finally made it into the scrapbook with no remorse or regret. Do you have photo's like that? Ones sitting around that are just to "hard" to scrap right now? Even if I don't know it at the time I've realized that somethings are just too hard to scrapbook right now. I don't want to remember, I don't want to face it or I'm too angry to think about it. So I push them off into my box and make excuses like "I don't have the right paper" or "I'm not in the mood right now." I think scrapbooking makes you grow. It makes me face things that I may have put off for years but instead they are right up in my face saying "when are you going to scrap me!" Today I am glad for them. It's made me look at my decision and say "Yeah, it was the right one, maybe not the easiest one but the right one." Gosh what would I do without this hobby!

Let me take you back...way back.

Sometimes you buy paper and you just know what you are using if for. This is one of those times. I just loved this paper. I saw it and it instantly reminded me of this day. Even though it happened five years ago I just knew this is what I wanted to put on it. I was so proud once it was all finished I had to show it off to my husband who kind of laughed at it. I couldn't believe what he just did. How dare he laugh at my artwork! How dare he make fun of my passion! Right before I got really mad he says "Boy, does she look like Peyton." Well, that's better and he is right she looks just like him.

Another CTMH pearl paint tip

Alright so I first saw this tutorial on this website. As I was watching it I thought "hey that would be a great thing to do with Close to my Heart's pearl paint." So I made three flowers doing three different things. For all of them I found two pieces of scrap paper that I liked and punched out a bunch of different sized circles. On one set I took my edge distresser and roughed up the edges. I placed all the circles out and painted over them with the CTMH's pearl paint. I let them dry slightly. I took the circles that I used with the edge distresser and put a brad through them and squeezed the edges of each circle. The next set of circles I did the same thing (these ones did not have distressed edges). The last set I crumpled all the circles in a ball and then flattened them back out and put a brad through them. These are what I ended up with. I didn't need to get them wet like in the tutorial because the paint keeps the paper movable. I did use my heat gun to set them. I hope you have fun making some of these flowers. I'll post a layout as soon as it's done.

1 year and counting

Well it's almost been two years and that little man still steals my heart. I know you are not aloud to have a favorite but this boys just is sometimes. He is constantly happy. He loves to make people smile. Being silly is just his personality. From day one he's been like this. So I decided to make a page every year that describes my favorite silly things he does to make people laugh. His first year I decided to talk about the "look". When Peyton was little he would tilt his head down and make is big eyes look way up and move his head around until he got your attention. Then he would shriek with joy which of course would make anyone smile. He'd give a big smile kind of like saying "mission accomplished." Year two is approaching fast and I am debating whether to talk about his tackling hugs or his "I love you" hitting!

Let them eat cake!

If you have paper in every corner of your scrapbooking space raise your hand. (my hand is raised) Last month I did a craft show and decided to get ride of some of those clutter filled scrap folders. Well, since then I have decided to clean up my space and I soon realized that I have paper stashed everywhere. I have bags from scrapbooking stores filled with paper, project folders filled with paper, CTMH boxes filled with paper not to mention my other folders and files and carries filled with paper. Of course I started to organize and put it away and I soon found a pile of paper that has no partner and has no home. How sad to have no home. How sad to have no one that is just a little like you. So I thought to myself everyone needs a home and I decided to make a "junk" folder for my extra paper to go so it has a home. This is not junk by the way, its just paper without a goal in mind. Well you can't just hang out with no goals can you? I will not stand for that so I mad a goal for myself and my "junk" paper. My goal is to make a page or some cards or a project out of my junk paper once or twice a month when I sit down for a random scrapbooking session. I put the folder close by so I can glace through it when I need to. I am hoping that it will inspire me to use up that paper I just had to have and remind me that I do not need more paper with no project in mind for at least a little while. I also decided that I am going to make a change jar with some of the paper and every time I use a piece I am going to stick some random change laying around my house in if for a reward. Once all the paper is used up I'll have a nice little stash to spend just on scrapbooking stuff. I encourage you all during these hard times to find ways to stay inspired, keep creating and reward yourself for meeting your challenges.

A new fun blog

Okay this is a little late coming but please go check out Close to My Heart's founder Jeanette Lynton's blog at www.jeanettelynton.com She is doing a 27 days of thanksgiving. Each day she is telling us what she is thankful for. Plus there is always awesome artwork.

A sample

Today is the day. I am off to the craft fair and just thought I would post a sample of the cards I am selling. Wish me luck.

Happy Halloween!

Back in 2005 my little Gavin refused to be a chicken. I found this costume and fell in love with it. I thought it was just a big ball of fluffy happiness. The money was wasted he wouldn't keep it on. As you can see from above how he felt about the costume. So now it is time for Peyton to wear it. I finally have a child who will wear my adorable little chicken. I'll post a picture of him in it later. Hopefully he doesn't change his mind about it!

Thank you, Thank you.

Sometimes I reach a point when I am stamping that I've just had enough. I can't stand the thought of having more ink on my fingers, of pulling out all my markers or hunting through my hundreds of stamp sets to find that perfect image. I hear the gasping as you read this. How in the world could I get sick of it? I am not sure the answer to that but sometimes I do. So to calm my nerves and to make myself feel a little better I created this. A card with no stamps. I love the way in turned out and I think I may even send it to myself. I'll write something like "thank you Ms. Kelly Kuehn for remembering that card making is suppose to be fun and there are no rules. You are just so darn creative sometimes and you deserve a big pink sprinkles cupcake. Love, Kelly" What do you think? I know I wish there was away to get sprinkles cupcakes every day too.

Nice package.

Get your head out of the toilet that's not what I'm saying. I love these sayings from My Favorite Things. They make me giggle. The packages are from A CTMH stamp set. Simple but charming wouldn't you say?

Just for smiles.

Yet another stamp from CTMH life's a jungle stamp set. These little animals just steal my heart. I have been so busy this week and I am starting to panic. With some help from my cousin I am heading up to do a craft fair this weekend. I keep looking at my boxes of stuff and thinking, is it to much, is it to little. I feel a little bit of panic setting in as I count down the days...only four. I think I have to get off this computer and back to crafting. AAAAAAHHHHHH!

God Speaks, do you listen?

I love when God speaks to us. It's not always easy to find but it's there. From rainbows and yellow tulips (that's for you Keri!) to strange hummingbirds God speaks to us all the time, we just need to take the time to listen. I forget this on so many days. I forget that God is there and that he loves me and he will only hand me what I can handle. There is a lot that makes me bring this very heartfelt topic up tonight. (A little off the path of my usual pink scrappy-ness) Besides my encounter with a very rude customer tonight, my effort to get back in school, praying for my little brother and the over all state of the world one of my friends is facing some scary stuff tomorrow. She is battling breast cancer. I hear you all sighing. I know that feeling to. I think about her everyday and wonder how she is dealing with it. How does she get up every morning and function. I mean she has four young children (one who is also battling cancer...I know!) Yet she has the most beautiful soul I have ever seen. If you want to hear an angel or be inspired and feel surround by love this women is it. Kind, brave, amazing these words can't describe her. I often think to myself "who am I to complain!" Yet, the last two weeks for me have been a mix of blah and more blah. I came home from work tonight and just wanted to sleep the rest of the week away and wake up when things were a little warmer (literally!). I forced myself down here to finish up some things and came upon her update on carepages. She is going in for a pet scan tomorrow to find out how big or very very very little the cancer may be and as she puts it "interestingly" one of her child's memory verses for tomorrow is "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me. " Psalm 50:15. So God spoke. Isn't it just amazing.




Well, I couldn't just leave you with that could I?! So I made a card for her too! See there is nothing like some pink-scrappy-happy to cheer a person up.

No Lion around!

I am a bad blogger. I have left you all hanging, I know. Well no one returned my money or my other personal items. I really loved all the wonderful comments, emails and phone calls to cheer me up, thanks so much. So the best way to get out of a yuck is to start crafting again. So here is an adorable little card I made using close to my heart's life's a jungle stamp set. I totally "stole" the mane idea from another crafter. I hope you enjoy!

Love this blog

Hey I just found this blog and love the ideas she has on it. GO check it out!
http://www.lynnskie3.blogspot.com/

What would you do?

So today a very distracted Kelly left the grocery store without a very important envelope in hand. It's one of those great little envelopes that banks put your money in. Not only is my $100 gone I still hadn't taken out my driver's license or my debt card (both needed for identification reasons). I didn't realized they were gone until later this evening. So I called up the only store I had been all day to see if by chance a kind person didn't actually steel my money...or at least turned in my "personal" items. This is how my conversation went.
"Hello (name of store)"
me-"Hello, I was wondering if anyone turned in a lost TCF bank envelope. I left it at the counter earlier today. It had a driver license, credit card and some cash in it"
"Cash (short pause) no"
That was it. She hung up on me after that. Not only am I extremely upset that I lost a lot of money, had to cancel my credit card and am facing an hours wait at the Secretary of state I was treated unkindly and with no respect by a place I spend my money at! So after dealing with an unhappy husband and shedding a few tears I got to wondering "what would I do." If I found that kind of money, actually any amount of money with all the information to return it to it's owner what would I do? Of course I would return it. Ironically my SIL left her wallet at the post office this past weekend. Once she realized it was gone she said to me "what would you do?" I told her I'd mail it back to her... I'm at the post office! Anyway, what I really wanted to say, at least what I was starting to say is at what point did our attitude shift from "oh someone will mail it back to me" to "great so glad I paid for someones groceries?" At what point did I lose all hope in human compassion and understanding? At what point did I just assume that no one would be like me? Before I even called the store I just assumed that someone just took it and was walking around thinking "it's my lucky day" It makes me sad that I feel this way and for my own belief in human kindness I hope I get a pleasant surprise and a renewal of common good. I hope someone proves me wrong and makes me feel embarrassed and even more sad for my assumptions. Sorry for this rather depressing post...I think I need some stamp shopping. Unfortunately I have no debit card, no cash and no ID to even go to the bank to get any.

A celebration for me!

I made this card in celebration of me getting sprinkles cupcakes again! I know many of you are now insanely jealous that I have devoured these scrumptious cupcakes not only once but twice now. The tiny thought of them makes me smile from ear to ear. Not only that but I am planning on ordering one of their t-shirts. As soon as I get my little hands on it I will put it on take a pic and the rest of you and sulk in your jealously. I wonder if enough of us beg if they'd be willing to open up a shop right her in Michigan! Grosse Pointe would be a great location considering it's minutes from my home. Seriously now doesn't that look JUST like me up on that cupcake. Well it's at least the way I feel!

Cards in a box!

Cards in a box! Don't you just love it. I made this out of the small pizza boxes I bought from just4funcrafts. This is a great website to get some of your basics for a great price and their shipping rocks! Inside is 40 gift tags for your Christmas presents. I haven't picked a lucky person to receive this yet but I thought it would make a great teacher gift or something. I used the close to my heart creative basics eversong paper, the no peeking stamp set, the red sparkles and the chipboard is from maya road.

I spy.....Uncle Bryon!

Mikayla is learning all about neighborhoods at school right now. For one of their homework assignments she had to make a building in her neighborhood. She was assigned the police station. Well lucky for her Uncle Bryon just happens to look super handsome in his uniform and sent her a picture to use in her project (thanks Bryon!) Now all you scrappers out there know how excited I was to do this. I busted out the paper and fun flock. The white gel pens and liquid glass. Now the only thing I (I mean we...this is Mikayla's project right?!) need to add is an American flag and a handicapped parking space. Just perfect...

a giggle for you!

I came across this card in my stash. I looked at it and giggled (oh so naughty too!) to myself. So here is a giggle for you!

I hate shopping.

This may come as a surprise to many of you. I hate shopping. I love the buying part. The hunting for the perfect item (even better when it's a great price!). I love shopping for my kids. Scrapbook shopping is an instant pick me up. What I hate, I mean really hate is when you HAVE to shop. It seems that when you are in dire need of something simply fantastic all those cute little shirts you saw last week are gone! (It is one of the greatest mysterious of the world.) Today I was on the hunt. I had my husband's approval to buy. I didn't even care if it was on sale. I just wanted something, anything for this upcoming special event (like the one I am attending tonight). Store after store disappointment after disappointment, I just couldn't find something that screamed Kelly which of course has to be cute and sassy. I walk the malls all the time! Usually with kids in check, a Starbucks in hand and no money but the 20 dollars that is needed to buy diapers or toilet paper or pay for that silly field trip I forgot about. Then suddenly the most stunning item ever will be in my view and I just will not be able to get it. I feel the pain as this piece of beauty is just so out of my grasp. Yet, when I am geared up and ready to go it's all gone. It's like someone came and stole every cute piece of clothing ever made. So I drag my poor darling husband around from place to place with a stellar crowd of tired kids. In the stores Mikayla is annoying everyone with her constant questions and observations. Peyton starts screaming while the very angry (probably at the crowd of children in the dressing room) 20 something who is just buying another night-at-the-bar shirt, which was totally the wrong color for her, trips over his stroller. Then Mikayla decides to be Hanna Montana in front of the mirrors jumping on and off the step singing "It's the best of both worlds!" All the while I am staring at an array of tops that just aren't me and are rather blah! (I know you are all wondering where Gavin is aren't you? Well he is an angel and just doesn't get in any trouble. All the sales ladies looked at him adoringly and I know they were wondering what happened to the other two...) Anyway, I leave for home with a shirt that is totally not suitable for a "special" event but was on sale and decided would be great for my first PTL meeting and two pairs of pants for Matt. The irony of it all. I hate shopping.

Cocktails anyone?

I have a love/hate relationship with impulse buys. I am a true advocate for getting rid of all junk. I preach at school functions how I dislike the money that is wasted on small toys and paper ripping erasers. I complain that my children don’t appreciate or respect the things that they have. I groan when we arrive at McDonald's and the kids start whining about getting a toy. Yet, I never fail to pick up at least one dollar item in the check out line. What a hypocrite I am! Lately I’ve been practicing the art of diverting my attention away from those made in china, instantly on a recall list, ever clever and inviting pieces of junk. As I stood in line one day I desperately tried not to be tempted by the bins of colorful goodies. I thought even staring at the rows of candy would be less of a temptation. Suddenly, this caught my eye (please look above!) Honestly who can resist a cocktail? Obviously I can't. I bought it against my better judgment too. How could a stamp set that cost just a dollar be any quality? Why would I even gamble with my hard earned money? Again, against my better judgment I did the "it's just a dollar" shrug and went away with it. Now thanks to my bad junk spending habits I have this delectable card to show. I think I may even go make myself a cocktail right now! A martini sounds good. Maybe I'll even make it a pretty pink one and top it off with some strawberry cupcakes! I just love Fridays!

Gavin's 1st Soccer Game

The rain kept coming down. It poured in buckets. Even under the umbrella we were not safe. I use to drive past these fields, warm and cozy in my car thinking "what on earth are these parent's thinking!" I have officially become one of "those" parents. I sat in the rain, waiting for my child's turn in the game. I waited with an impatient 6 year old and a running around 1 1/2 year old for my little Gavin to join his team. The moment arrived and I yelled and cheered and sat in the rain becoming more and more drenched by the minute. Nothing, I mean nothing in the world could have taken me away from watching. He chased after that ball. The glee of every kick overwhelmed him so much he had to stop and wave at me every time his little foot touched the ball! Gavin was so happy, so proud of himself and he had so much fun. I guess you can now add "soccer mom" to my list of names. I deserve it after sitting in the pouring rain for an hour to watch a four year old play ball!

Adorable Cards!

It has been an eventful weekend. I totally had to miss out on Close to my Heart's regional celebration (I am so bummed I couldn't go). Lucky for me my BFF Kristen was so sweet to show me all the great things that they made, all the fun topics they discussed and to top it all off she gave me a challenge and I met it! (I'll be expecting my new bag shortly right!?) The other great news is that she also introduced me to another CTMH sister who gave me a template to make these adorable card kits! These sweet little boxes made out of our new magic moments paper hold 10 cards and 10 envelopes. I could just eat these little things. Below is a sampling of the cards that are inside. Let's give a big thank you to Rebbecca for showing me how to do these! (I can hear the crowd roaring...can you!) Well I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Off to School

It's a sad and happy day at my house. The first day of school. Mikayla was "charming" of course, having to get up so early this morning didn't do well for the princess. In the end the excitement prevailed and she even stopped to pose for mom's camera. What am I going to do with out her. I'll be the only girl in my house of boys...bored boys I should say. Anyway, wish my family and I luck as we head into the first grade, start dance classes, play soccer and try to hatch it out for another year.

I know what you are thinking "what a bad mom! She didn't even take her to school on her very first day!" Really stop, I am such a tender heart. I thought I would share in the joys of raising our children with her father. He never gets to do the very special stuff like me. Being such a hard worker he misses out on so much. How could I deprive him of this wonderful moment in our daughters life?! (and lets forget the fact that I got to stay home and not worry about getting the boys dressed or myself, lounge around, play on the computer and not get started with my day until after 9.) I am such a giving person aren't I?

Meet Stella!

From the one and only Stamping Bella comes a new (to me) addition. Her name is Stella. Stella is not sexy. Stella is not perfect. Stella does have a whole lot of fun though. She has that "I'm fine the way I am" attitude. Stella says it how it is. There ain't no messin' with Stella. She is sassy and flirty and although not a super model by any means is happy. If I was a stamp I'd be Stella. (Doesn't the crown say it all!) I've only ordered two so far but I plan on having them all. You can get me (Stella) on the phone or hugging a cupcake or swimming in a martini glass. Stella has stolen my heart I think Matt better watch out.

Is it love?

Do you remember young love? I do. I had a huge crush on a little boy in my class named Nick. He wasn’t the most popular little kid but he had glasses and at the age of 5 his brown eyes stole my heart. Now that I am all “grown” up I try to shy my children away from forming attachments to others so quickly and without reason. I want them to have a large group of friends and NEVER leave anyone out. Mikayla likes everyone but early on she showed strong attachments to certain kids in her class. Gavin on the other hand hasn’t really shown a preference to anyone. He is always a go with the flow kind of kid and doesn’t mind having other kids around but still is fine just being by him self. Recently this has all changed. My sweet little boy has fallen in love. He has the biggest friend crush on an adorable little blonde girl named Jessica. Jessica is the only person he wants to play with, he talks about her all the time, when he sees something that reminds him of her he says “oh Jessica would like that.” That little blue eyed angel has Gavin wrapped around her tiny finger. What is a mother to do? I must admit it’s not a match that I oppose. Jessica’s mother is one of my favorite people and I’ve admitted often that I would love to be apart of her family. They would never have a problem with inviting both sets of parents over, even Matt likes them. I guess at the age of four it would be a little unrealistic to start shopping for wedding dresses or booking a DJ but a mother is permitted to dream isn’t she. I always thought I would be dreaming of Mikayla’s wedding and picking out the perfect husbands for her. She has had no interest in boys. She only admitted to me once that she thinks a boy is cute. So for now Gavin will have to do and I know Jessica wouldn’t mind me tagging along as she tries on dresses and taste the cakes!

Hello Friend

Back when the close to my heart summer idea book came out I fell in love with this little stamp set called fun times. The stamps in it were just little critters frogs, turtles, a lizard and a snail. Above the stamp set was a little card with the turtle on it that said "hello friend" I thought that was just SO cute. I would point it out to everyone and say "isn't that just sweet." I never really had a chance to use it or make the card. Well I finally did do it and to my great surprise I didn't even copy the card like I had planned to in the beginning. Instead I've been on this let's get rid of stuff streak and have been trying to use up all my scraps of paper and old packs to make room for more stuff (yup the new fall/winter idea book just came out and my list is a mile long!) So here is my version of hello friend!

Away I go!

Okay I know it's been forever since I posted. I am leaving on a camping trip tomorrow...I know me and camping I can't believe I agreed to go either. Anyway check out my gallery because I uploaded most of my pages that I did over my scrapbooking weekend! I'll be back in a couple of days and hopefully have some new stuff for you all to look at!

A Daisy

I just took these pictures at the Detroit zoo. I just love daisies. I think they are the friendliest flower. Don't they just say hi! I look at them and they make me happy. They make me feel light and sweet. They don't have that deep passion feel of roses or old feel of carnations. Daises just seem to lay it all out there and when it's all out there it's just a simply sweet hello. So I guess this is just a little post to all of you from me that says...HELLO!

I just love love love cupcakes.

Okay so I just love cupcakes. I know you all know that. So I made this card tonight for a very special person. Someone who without knowing it made me feel welcomed in a strange place and who is the bravest and strongest person I know. Someday I'll tell you the full story but for today know that I put a lot of me into this card so that she could feel as happy and free as the Bella on this cupcake. With all my prayers and love.

The Favorites are...

Of course my cupcake page is my favorite! It's pink isn't it? It took me forever to do. I had to make sure that every little detail was JUST RIGHT on this sparkly, fun, eatable page! I have to give a big thanks to the table of girls next to us who supported me in this beautiful piece of work. One even suggested the "real" cupcake at the bottom...what a great idea! Tracing and cutting out the chipboard letters from Close to my heart was so time consuming but I think it really made the page pop like I wanted it too. I just love my title! Each letter comes with 9 or 10 in different fonts and sizes. You can even cut out the letter (like I did with the n) in order to get even more use out of them. I used Heidi grace cupcake paper, bazzils gorgeous bling cardstock and my very own blog entries for the journaling. This is a close runner up! This was the very last page I completed around 2 am! I just love how it turned out. The title is really bold , the pictures match just perfect and it just really catches my eye. The chipboard letters I bought from Archivers...I forgot the brand...chip chatter maybe? Help me out if you can. The patterned paper is 7 gypsies, I've had it for years, I just knew I would find the perfect use for it one day. That is why we have a stash isn't it? On that note. Don't you just adore when you find that perfect thing among the supplies you already have? Organzing my stuff is almost as fun as making the pages sometimes.
I love the soft feel of this page. It's all about the things Mikayla calls her little brother. The main nickname, Bunch Bunch. I don't know why. What a silly girl. I used the caprice paper and stickers from Close to my heart. Chatter box chipboard letters with making memories paint and some great ribbon from Target's dollar section ( another one of my addictions!)

So Jealous!

I am so Jealous of all those girls going to CHA. That's all you hear about for weeks before and weeks after the event. Then there are poor little people like me who just aren't invited! This past weekend we were talking about it and how we're unable to enter into the coveted event. Yeah us outsiders have no clue how to get in but would all love a pass. We don't want to wait until the companies get all their new products to the stores either. Not to mention the people you could meet there. I can just see me walking next to Stacy Julian and being like "Wuz up girl! I just love your new book!" I'd be all dressed in pink and she would make a sure sweet comment back like "I just love your shirt" or "OH, you are the pink scrappy girl from that super pink blog, I just love it!" I would also love to meet some of my stamper friends on splitcoast stampers and ask them a few questions like "how do I get in your club!" I don't really have time to be in the club. It's not really a club anyway more like a job. I have one of those. Actually I have two of those now. Anyway, it's late and my hubby is turning the big 3-0 tomorrow and I have to save up my energy for the jokes and the teasing because he is just sooooooooo old now. (He's got a couple years on me!) I promise after my adorable (old) husband's party I'll post some pictures of my pages I did last weekend. I was the craft teacher at Vacation Bible School this week and have had no time for anything. I miss all my blog hopping and challenges.

what a sweet family!

We went to Grand Rapids last weekend to visit my parents and spent one of the days at Grand Haven. Look at this adorable picture I took of them!

(right is size order!)

What a weekend!

I just had so much fun this weekend with Jana at scrap palace. It is worth every penny. From delicious home made meals.

To Cute decor

To a ton of scrapping room

This awesome place had it covered. Not only was every little detail attended to all weekend, the place was scattered with my favorite color (pink of course) which totally gave me the scrappin' vibe to get some pages completed. I finished a total of 25 pages this weekend. I have so many to show you I just can't wait. Here are a couple more pics for you.

Thanks so much to the owners Amy and Pierna for making this an awesome weekend.