a little bit of me.

{Studio Calico: July's Elmwood Park Revealed!}

Studio Calico's July Kit - Elmwood Park - is now available

 And this is what I made with it...

...First Day/Last Day is my Main-Only Project this month... i love that chevron stripe-y SC exclusive print paper and used it here to tie my non-color-coordinated pics together.  ;)

...Hello Vacation is another favorite beach vacay pic taken last month.  Addon #4 Monkey Bars was my favorite by far this month - used the yellow thickers here and the buttons as well as the pretty aqua striped washi tape.

...Hi, Hello - this card uses bits from the entire kit that I loved.  The cute little hello tag, and stick pin was part of the Capture the Flag addon.

(& finally)...HEY YOU!  loved the wide gross grain ribbon (part of Capture the Flag) and thought it was perfect for a card.  I folded and pleated it to get this look, securing the folded pleats with fabric glue, then running the non-pleated portion of ribbon under my sewing machine.

Happy almost-July Everyone!

:)

{eleven}

...to the man who somehow managed to make each of these 11 years better than the last.

thank you.  for taking care of us, for being the best father to our boys, and for loving us all - every.single.day.

xoxo, me.

{Right Now...}

RIGHT NOW, I AM...

...Playing catch-up at my desk this morning - listening to John Mayer's newest, and thankful for a few hours of babysitter time.

...Really grateful for summertime - despite the lack of freetime having both boys home and playing referee most of the day.  Our lack of any real schedule, and later wake-up calls is refreshing.  :)  We all desperately needed the break.

...SO GLAD I treated myself to a Kindle last week.  Best thing I've done for myself in a while.  I've been reading ALOT this summer, & both the $$avings and convenience are awesome.  This was the first book i read on it.  Loved it.  Reading this right now - and totally enjoying it as well.  :)

...LOVING the new, upcoming Studio Calico July Kit - Elmwood Park.  I've made three layouts and 1 card so far and wondering if I have time to squeeze anything else in this week?!  This sneak is from my main-only page for the month:

...amazed that we are currentlly in Week 25 of the year, and that I've almost made it HALF A YEAR with my Project Life album - and have managed to keep up with it for the most part, with just a few bits and pieces here and there to fill in.  I know I've been asked to share my process - and plan to sometime in the next month.  :)  I also need to update some PL postings on the blog, and have been thinking about how to reduce the time involvement there - I may switch to just posting smaller shots of the week, instead of EVERYTHING...?!  Here's a little peek at Week 17 that I instagrammed last week...

...Counting down the days until my summer fave - Big Brother - starts.  Thinking a premier party may be in order?!

...Super-excited for Evan's little basketball summer league to start this week, Eric is his team's "coach" this time around, which should be entertaining for all.  ;)

...and obsessed with Instagram, as you can clearly see from this post.

:)

{Studio Calico's Hey Day!}

It's "officially" HEY DAY!!!

Studio Calico's newest collection - Hey Day - just hit the shop... And we're having a Hey Day Arrival Party!  wahoo!

I was lucky enough to get a box of this collection a few weeks ago, and have already been putting it to good use both on projects and in my PROJECT LIFE album.  The colors (lots of AQUA & ORANGE) - were MADE for me!  :)

The wave pattern paper was perfect for this layout about Evan's new "word" for pseudo-surfing (aka balancing on a boogie board when it's low tide!)... SURFER-DUDE'ING - sure to be an instant classic word for our family.  ;)  The reverse side is the orange print that I used a strip of abover the photo.

The banner shapes at the top are part of the ephemera pack.

(Glad we got this memory - photos fron Hilton Head - down in the form of a scrapbook page!)

I'm kind of in love with the Hey Day sentiment stamps - so perfect for both cards and little Project Life tags - I used the "You are my sunshine" on BOTH projects, and then also the "snap shot" (LOVE THIS ONE) on the layout.

The 6x6 paper pad is made for cards - I used the papers from this pad for my Hello Sunshine card here.

...AND I also used lots of MIST.  :)  The Mint Julep + a little Shine is the best combo, in my opinion.  You can mist directly onto the "mistables" in this collection - they are "naked" alphas and embellies just waiting for you to add the MIST!

Be sure to check out the SC Blog for more Hey Day FUN!!! :)

Products used on my HEY DAY Projects:

InLinkz.com

{Noah's Dino-ROAR 2nd Birthday!}

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOA-RRRR!

is what Mr Noahpants has been telling us for the past 4 months or so anytime he sees a dinosaur.

((And really up until a few weeks ago when his "Mick-MEE" (read: Mickey) obsession took over, he wasn't into any one thing so much to make it party-worthy.))

...& so his second birthday party theme - Dino-ROAR - was decided, by me - the official party planner at our house.  ;)

The "ROAR" letters are chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby that I spray painted with gloss paint - super simple.  The blue frame is by Organic Bloom - these spunky frames (lots of styles and colors) are sold through photographers, & I am in love with them (& lucky to be able to offer them to my photo clients!).

We made sure to do lots of balloons (OR "bah-ooooohs" as Noah says), bc he LOVES them right now.  I went through two of the take-home helium tanks at target - but it was so nice not to have to go out and get them done.

I am so lucky that my sister was here to help me with the party prep - AND fluff all of the poms the night before.  :)  xo to kimmie for that.

I framed the invitation on the party table as well as an 8x10 of Noah with all of his "loves" printed on it right now - quick, easy, & cheap extra decor!

The pennant banners were all made by me - since my fabric stash is slowly taking over my office, I figured I'd put it to good use.  ;)

Another reason I'm glad my sister was here - we got cute family shots from the day! 

And an extra photographer on hand to snap during the party.  Woot.

I ordered N's "Roar" tee from Amy - She's amazing, and it's seriously like she lives inside my brain for a minute when I tell her what I have in mind - this was perfect!  (there's also a big "2" on the back, not sure if it's visible in any of these shots...)

There was a bounce house set up in our backyard - that i wasn't sure Noah would like or not - SILLY ME, he LOOOOOOVED it - including attempting to let himself back out of house on his own(!) so that he could climb back in while we were taking a break.  :)

There were pretty much dinos EVERYWHERE...

(...including the guacamole)

(and the cupcakes...) - Rex from Toy Story topped N's.

...which he enjoyed sans clothes at that point in the party.  :)

I found this cute jumbo dino balloon to hang out with our treat bags.

Which I broke out my Silhouette machine and paper scraps to add a little "Dino-ROAR" too.

After Noah's party wrapped, (and we all ate another cupcake!) - we headed to N's favorite - the "Beeeeeaaaa-ch" for a picnic dinner and playing.

& I somehow still can't wrap my head around the fact that my BABY is now TWO!

xoxo, birthday boy.

:)

{happy #2}

to mr noahpants...

He spent the day bouncing, playing with friends, eating cupcakes, drinking capri suns, opening presents, and running around the beach (at night) --- and loved every minute of it.

Love this pic that my sister snapped of us at cupcake time!

(many more party pics, soon!).

xo, birthday-boy.

:)