a little bit of me.

{Lawn Party Revealed!}

Say hello to Studio Calico's May kit - LAWN PARTY!

(run - don't walk(!) - its now available in the shop!)

i loved this month's kit so much that i went a little crazy and created five projects with it...

..."I love us right now" is my 'member lift' page this month.  It's based off of (username) Reeni's stunning page that you can see here.  She was so sweet to let me use her page for inspiration - I loved her krafty background and scattered mini hearts around the central heart - and I'm so happy that I have this page about the 4 of us right now (with just 'hold-out-the-camera-and-take-'em' style pics) because of it.

..."the Cow says Moo!" --  let's just say that I'm not sure that these cow pics from our 'farm day' last october would have ever have been scrapped had it not been for the now infamous dairy cap stamp in PAPER LANTERNS.  I paired it with Black Zing! and used my Fiskars L circle punch here.  And somehow i'm pretty sure that my boys are going to find these photos and this memory HILARIOUS years from now.  ;)  so thank-you-dairy-cap-stamp!

..."10 Months" is the latest installment in Noah's every month baby scrapbook - and a super simple combo of papers & colors & minimal embellies that i loved from this kit.

..."You Two" is my official ode to SC PATTERNED PAPER this month (and also my girly fun page)!!! :)  Remember I told you that you'd want to hoard it?!  The colors are just scrumptious.  Playing off of the butterfly pattern on the SC paper, I die cut my big aqua butterfly so that I could fit my title on it.  The artisan pin behind the butterfly was included in ROPE SWING but can also be purchased seperately here.  The photo is a new favorite of mine - taken by my sister Kristi of her gorgeous 2 little girls.

...& finally my "Cute as a Button" Card was another quick little project to use some of the girly kit elements that I always adore, but sadly usually end up in my giveaway pile.  I've forgotten how much i REALLY enjoy making cards.  :)  And it's made entirely from PAPER LANTERNS - my favorite addon.

So that was May. 

I hope everyone enjoys this kit as much as i did!  :)

{Reveal Day Sneaks!}

Happy Studio Calico Reveal Day Everyone!

I saved my VERY FAVORITE sneaks for today to celebrate...

...that's even MORE studio calico exclusive print paper above.  the kraft butterflies are delish i.m.o.  ;)

...the above sneak is LAWN PARTY + PINK LEMONADE + a bit of chipboard from PAPER LANTERNS + the newsprint background stamp from ROPE SWING (on the butterfly punch!).  ;)

...& the kraft mini alpha above is from PAPER LANTERNS (my favorite addon of the bunch if i was forced to choose!).  These little foam adhesive mini squares are what I used behind the kraft alpha stickers to give a bit of extra dimension to my page.

Annnnnnnd - if you want to grab a few extra goodies to go along with your kit - here's what I'd suggest...  Black Staz On, JBS Chewing Gum Ink, Zing! in Black or Charcoal or Aqua, & Mister Huey in Calico Cream & Bluegrass...

Let the reveal day fun begin!  yay!  Hope you snag everything you're after!!! :)

{Lawn Party Sneak Peeks!}

With all of the Easter activity and fun over the weekend, it's been hard to find time to post my SNEEK PEEKS of the new Studio Calico May Kit - LAWN PARTY - which will be released TOMORROW (yay!)...

There are four addons that go along with Lawn Party this month - I NEEDED ALL FOUR!!!!  it's that fabulous of a kit, people.  ;)

...the cow stamp above was used with black Zing! for a glossy look - the stamp is in addon #3 Paper Lanterns.

...how fabulous is the #stamp used above that comes in the main Lawn Party kit?!  I have SO many ideas in mind for it...!  And it looks super-crisp paired with just plain black Staz On (a staple on my desk).

those doilies...  well, im in serious LUST with them this month.  They are one of the exclusive Studio Calico patterned papers this month, and I picked up 2 extra sets of MORE SC PAPER just so that I could hoard it.  ;)

...and sometimes it's fun for me just to do a TON of pink and girly for a change.  So i did.  Twice this month actually ;)  The above sneak is made up ENTIRELY with addon #3 Paper Lanterns - this is a REALLY GOOD ONE (if you have to pick just one!).

Even though the kit's haven't been "officially" posted just yet - you can see a lot more of them HERE on this thread - The stamps this month were amazing - I did lots of stamping and know that these stamps will be the type that make frequent re-appearances on my projects in the future!

Be back tomorrow with more to celebrate the fun of reveal day!

:)

{Hippity Hop}

The Easter Post Edition!

We've had a busy, BUSY week full of easter fun-tivities.  And i have lots to post since I've slacked on blogging all week.  ;)

To kick it all off, I coaxed Noah into modeling bunny ears for me last weekend...

Because we all know that i have an affinity for holiday headbands.  ;)

...and then Evan had an adorable little Easter top hat/bonnet parade at school this week - for which we I crafted his hat...

I'm not going to lie - I'm kinda thrilled that he actually wore it for the parade(!!!) -- we've come so far on things like that in the past year.

...and we also put together these goldfish "carrots" for his class party (I found this idea via pinterest - LOVE all the creativity that I've found linked up on pinterest) - the original idea & directions are posted HERE - i'm really not clever enough to come up with this on my own!!!  :)

...another pinterest-found idea (notice a theme here?!) are THESE handprint chickies (original idea and instructions in link) that I decided to put a new spin on.

I absolutely ADORE the idea of handprint holiday keepsake crafts.  Last November, I had really, REALLY wanted to do handprint turkeys with the boys - and just ran out of time.  SO when I saw this chickie craft, I knew that I needed to try it this week.

And because I want to keep these crafty chickies around for many MANY easters - i decided to do ours on stretched canvases (that I picked up at Joanns for 1/2 off) and with fabric pieced chicks.  I sprayed white canvases with a matte robins egg blue spraypaint and let dry.  Then sketched out my chick shape & pieces on scrap paper to use as a pattern template.  I selected my fabric and packed it with Pelon interfacing, and then trimmed out the chick parts.  Evan helped me assemble and glue both chicks together (with FabriTac).  And then we did the fun handprint part using DecoArt Acrylic Paint.

...I added a fabric initial to each chick (and the date to the back) - and now they're hanging out on our Easter mantel.

Along with all of the easter fun we also managed to squeeze in our Passover celebration this week (as we're a dual-holiday-celebrating family!).  We gave Noah his own piece of matzoh and he didn't waste ANY time at all RIPPING into it.  That's my foodie-baby.  ;)

And now we're just wrapping it all up & waiting on the easter bunny to visit on Sunday morning.

(((hop. hop. hop.)))

Happy Easter Everyone.

:)

{today.}

we had a super-cute day at home today.

& also the kind of day where i stop and realize that we're only a month and a half away from our baby's first birthday.

and then i think about the fact that i haven't even jotted his name down in his baby book yet - much less any first year baby "details".

or the fact that i have whole months to catch up on, with sorting photo files and processing images and loading photos online for printing for his first year album.

or that the # of videos that his brother evan had made from his own first year compared to videos from n's first year makes us look like our video camera's been broken for the past 10 months.  (which it hasn't)  ;)

OR that his birth story has yet to be written - it's still living in bits & pieces in my brain - and in text message history on my phone ;) - and that it REALLY needs to be translated into words soon.

& then i remind myself that i'm doing the best that i can.  (which has become my mantra lately)

and i play with my kids some more.

:)

*****

ps - thank you SO MUCH for all of the sweet comments on my hop layout (i read THEM ALL - and love getting them in my inbox)!  & the comment section is still open until tomorrow night if you haven't yet entered... comments now closed!

pps - monster onesie source = HERE.

{Studio Calico Blog Hop!}

ETA - WINNER INFO:

Diecut heaven here! And of course your subjects are the best!

Posted by: jennifer | April 14, 2011 at 08:43 AM

*****************

Hippity Hop.  ((The April 2011 Edition.))

Today we're celebrating the fact that the new SC lines - State Fair & Countryside - are now available in the SC shop!

Woot!  When first released - State Fair held my heart.  But since sifting through all the goods...  I've wandered over to the Countryside of things with my affection.  ;)

For this hop page, I used a BIG OLE photo of Noah that i adore.  AND almost an entire pack of the die cut tags from the Countryside collection, along with a few Veneer Hearts and the journaling prompt rubons (for the title "i hope")

...i love the way the die cut tags look all layered up on the top of the page.  The colors are very "me" right now.  :)

I'm lucky enough to be able to give away a couple of prizes as part of the hop - and I've chosen two of my favorite as used on this page...  (the die cut journaling tags)...

and (the yummy rubons!)...

So leave me a comment and maybe you might just win.  ;)

NEXT UP - TINA...

happy hop day everyone!

{Wordless Wednesday: Noah's Baseball Bat}

...(it goes everywhere)

...(that noah goes)

...(!)

:)

{N's Nicknames - A Layout.}

I thought I'd do a little scrapbook share to start off this week -- Created this layout at the start of the new year for the American Crafts blog - using lots of new goodies from their Classics line.

When i made this, I really just wanted to document - all in one place - a variety of the cute little names that we call Noah by...

I used an entire package of the Mementos Bookplates to frame an assortment of the names that we've given him over the past (almost) year...

 

"Noahpants" (where ever that may have come from!?) is by far our most used nickname - by ALL three of us now... ;)  love that.

other supplies: Hamlet paper, Monte Cristo paper, Aquatic Chipboard Thickers, Pearl brads, AC cardstock, Maya Road Mist

Happy Monday Everyone.

:)

 

{at 10 Months...}

This week has been a total blur.  I'm just thrilled to finally be posting noah's 10 month update.

Bc really, how are we now just 2 months away from one?!

((btw - i now have to use cheerios to persuade bribe my baby to sit still for a couple quick photos!!!))

And so, at 10 Months, Noah...

..FINALLY GOT HIS FIRST TOOTH (2 days pre-10 months (his bottom left) - and then the 2nd tooth (his bottom right) followed 2 days after!).

...is spunky and cute and adorable and funny - all at the same time on a daily basis.  And has such a great little personality emerging.

...reaches his little arms up to you whenever you walk near him, to be picked up asap.

...had to have his crib mattress moved down the to the lowest level after almost catapulting himself out.

...eats SO MANY DIFFERENT things -- and loves almost everything - pears, peaches, blueberries, brocolli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, avocado, carrots, squash (butternut and acorn), cheerios, baby mum mum cookies, watermelon, puffs, yogurt, and im probably leaving something off?! he's really only hated zuchinni, peas, and quinnoa.

...ADORES evan.  and his toys.  he can pick out the non-baby/evan toy in the room from a mile away and will then make a BEELINE for it.  :)  currently the little people with bendable arms/legs are his FAVORITE.

...Bounces to a rhythm and also "dances" to music so well!  and will "sing" in the car - its too cute.

...Scoot-crawls like nobody's business and will be halfway across the house, down a hall, and in another room before i realize it.

...needs a HAIRCUT!!!  it's getting a little bit out of control.  ;)

...now sleeps mainly on his belly.  or scrunched up.  wakes sometimes in the night - and we pop on his trusty mobile to lure him back to sleep.

...nurses 4 times a day.

...has an afternoon snacktime in the highchair with his new favorite mum-mum cookie (i finally found a baby cookie that worked for him - had so much trouble since gerber has changed their cookie formulation since evan was a baby) - and more often than not snacks while watching a DVR'd episode of dinosaur train.  :)

...weighs 19.4 lbs.  Is wearing 6-12 months clothes and just now moved into his 12 month sleepers.

...loves "playing" outside with Evan.  and riding in his "blue car" push toy.  or being pushed in the stroller (as long as the snack cup is full of cheerios!).

...thinks books are for the birds and gets annoyed when you try to read him one and either (a) grabs it and throws it across the room or (b) eats it.  :)

...entertains himself at mealtime by dropping cheerios off his tray (purposefully) for toby.  THEN LOOKING AT ME AND LAUGHING.

...figured out how to push/pull himself up in the low windowsill in our living room (while i was snapping his onesie pics!)

...and is such a little boy in the making.  which is just perfect.

xoxo, sweetpea.