Bellarific Friday

Just a quick post with my card for the last Stamping Bella challenge of the year. We were supposed to use stitching somewhere on the card, and even though faux stitching was allowed, I pulled out my sewing machine and gave it a whirl. I think I'm slowly getting better at it, but there's no way I'd show you the back of the stitched circle. It's pretty ugly... maybe I have the wrong kind of needle for stitching through cardstock?



I'm so glad it's Friday! We're off to see Christmas lights this weekend, and I have just a bit of gift buying left to do, and lots of wrapping and maybe even a bit of Christmas card making. Time to turn on the Christmas tunes and get to work!

bump...

That was me falling off the Project E bandwagon. I would still love to do something like this, but I just don't have time every day to scrap. So maybe for 2010 I'll do it once or week or something. I did do one more page before I hit the ground...



There's nothing quite like a clean set of cozy flannel sheets and a pair of pretty pink jammies, especially when it's cold outside!!

Bella Birthday Bash Hop

Welcome to the Bella Birthday Bash Blop Hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! If you've just happened upon my blog, you can CLICK HERE to start from the beginning at Bloggabella.

For my card I colored up Poppy Bittybloom using Prismas and gamsol to blend and then added a bit of sparkle with some glitter and a couple of Heidi Swapp jewels in the corner.



Three gift certificates for $100 in Bella Bucks will be hidden along the hop, but we’re not telling you where so be sure to leave some love as you hop!!! Make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! The winners will be announced on Monday, December 7 at the Stamping Bella Blog. MWAH!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to another Jessica's blog Farm Fresh Designs and see what crafty goodness she has for you!

Project E and John's Birthday

I came across a challenge to think of one positive thought a day and scrap it if you can that intrigued me. While I'm not much a believer in the power of positive thinking, I do believe in counting my blessings, especially on those days that I feel prone to grumbling. So here are some of the first pages that I've done for this project, called Project E for "essence of the day."

Working on Awana verses with the boys... I'm always amazed at how easily they are able to memorize the Bible.


Another week where Simon was traveling, and yet it gave me opportunity to get together with a friend whose husband was also gone.


Even though he's 1000's of miles away, I can still talk to my hubby!


This page isn't for project e, but is definitely a page full of thankfulness for one of my biggest blessings.

This little guy turned three this week... where does the time go? I still remember the first time I held him. (He's gotten a LOT bigger since then!)
Here he is blowing out his candles and probably getting some spit on the cake at the same time:

Cake was his one birthday request... the last family party we just had cookies and I think he felt like it wasn't really a celebration without cake! So when I saw this digital image from Mo's of the hamster stuffing his cheeks with cupcake, I knew it was perfect!


Well, I'd better get moving because I still have a sink full of dirty dishes and we're having 15 people over tonight for dinner! I need a house-cleaning fairy... if anyone has one, can you send her my way?

some new friends

came to play at my house last week...



These cute little Gorjuss girls were on sale and flew all the way from Scotland to hang out and color with me. I've been happily stamping, coloring, making cards and other projects as I find time during the week. We even rearranged our office space so that there was more room for me to craft down there in the evenings and still be with Simon while he works on his seminary studies. This is what my desk looked like last night... I have so many different projects going that it's hard to find space to work anymore. I guess it's time to clean up!



I made a card for the Sugarbowl challenge blog (now that I have some stamps to play with, I figured I might as well have a shot at some free goodies! You can see the sketch on the Sugarbowl blog, and here's my card:

Custom Doodle Contest

Just thought I'd pop in to let you know about a contest Kate Hadfield is running on her blog right now. Image is linked to her blog so you can go enter to win some custom doodles:



And a quick card I put together with her latest doodle pack.


On a side note, my latest hybrid project is up on the Hybrid Chick blog today if you want to go check it out...

Crazy Hair Night

Last week was crazy hair night at the Awana club that the boys go to. And of course there's a funny story that goes with it! Three weeks ago James came home that Sunday night and told me that the next week was "crazy hair night" at the club. Indeed, I had seen on the schedule for the year that this date was coming up, and so when the next Sunday rolled around, we got James and John up from their naps and trundled them into the bathroom where we applied various gels and hairsprays in an attempt to get their hair to stand straight out from their heads. Their hair was pretty long at this point because I had not cut it on purpose, just for this night, and the effect was pretty impressive I must say. Then we loaded them up into the car and headed off to church. As we pulled into the parking lot, I started looking around (to size up the competition for the craziest hair award) and what should meet my eyes? Normal hair everywhere I looked! That's right... not a single crazy head in sight, except for my two goobers in the back seat. Apparently James was off by one week; NEXT week was crazy hair night. Well, there was nothing to do but swallow my pride and send them in, looking like complete goofballs. We were all practiced up for next week though... and here was the result:


And you know I had to scrap it!!

(image is linked)

So there ya go! Crazy Hair Night, take 2!!

The Craft Stuff

Some recent pages and projects that I've been up to...

Two more months and two projects for The Hybrid Chick blog, and I'm already working on my next post for November (me? work ahead? hard to believe, isn't it! Usually I'm writing the post and editing the photos late into the night before the day it's due. This time I've sworn that I'll get it done early though!)

I've also been doing my hybrid projects for Shabby Pickle. The frame is sitting on my piano right now, a reminder when I start to worry that God is sovereign and knows exactly what I need. The little jewelry box came out so cute and I was trying to decide what to put in it and who to give it to, but unfortunately I left it sitting on the dining room table and one of the boys must have found it. It did not survive. Ah well... that's the beauty of hybrid. If there comes a time I need another box, I can just print one more out.

I have been scrapping as I get the chance, although I haven't been as good about taking photos lately so I'm starting to run a bit low on material. (Mental note to self: get out the camera tomorrow and use it!) Kate asked me if I would stay on her team after my guest spot was up and of course I had to say yes. I've been having so much fun scrapping and crafting with her goodies. Here is Simon, my math & physics nerd; a birthday card for my big five year old; and a page about my Grandma. The last two are also from the trip we made in May to see my family in New England. The photos might seem like just a little moment, but each of the pictures I have of my grandparents and my boys together is special to me. I want to be able to capture these memories for them so they can look back and see how much they are loved by their great-grandparents.

Some pages with Creashens goodies... my sweet, sleeping Pete; a redo of a page that I'd done three months after I discovered digital scrapping back in 2008 (here's the original); and me with my new fall haircut. It's wonderful having a hairdresser in the family!!

And, of course I'm still scrapping with Nicole's wonderful designs. The first page is some photos of John and me the day we left for India; then my sweet little niece, and finally a page with a mix of (mostly) goodies from the Digichick for the last speed scrap there.

Whew!! Are you totally crafted out?? I am! At least for tonight. I'm sure I'll find some more creative juice tomorrow to work on another project. I have been doing some stamping so I'll have to come back and show you what I've been making. For now it's off to bed for me though, morning always seems to come early on Sundays!

(I'm too tired tonight to go through and link up each of the projects individually, so here's the link to my DST gallery where you can find them all if you're interested in seeing the credits, or you can check out my new Flikr gallery where you'll find the most recent projects. Okay, off to bed for reals this time!)

Nite!

What I've Been Up To

I can hardly believe that it's been two months since the last blog post... life has been busy! I started kindergarten with James last month and it's been going surprisingly well. I had started him last year on the book Teach Your Child to Read in a Hundred Easy Lessons but he just wasn't getting it and I had taken too many breaks in between the lessons so we eventually gave up. We started at the beginning again last month and this time it's going great! I can't wait for him to be able to read on his own and if he's anything like me, I'll be prying his nose out of a book whenever I need him to do something else. I haven't had as much time to read as I used to (read: before I had kids) but I did discover that I am able to borrow audio books for free online through a program that our local library has. I just listened to a mystery book called Maisie Dobbs while scrapping, or doing housework, or before falling asleep. In fact, just this week I was extolling to Simon the benefits of listening to a book rather than reading it for, I said, "if I were reading it I'd no doubt be up all night in order to finish it, but when I listen it puts me to sleep." Of course, that very night I stayed up until two in the morning in order to hear the end of the book! So much for that theory.

In September we participated in a park outreach event that the church we are part of hosted. It was fun to meet people in the neighborhood and for the boys to jump in the jump house and get their faces painted. However I came home with three creatures:
this big tiger...

this little tiger...

and this furry dog...

who was a stray wandering the streets. We've had her now for a month, watched for signs advertising a lost dog, checked to see if she has a microchip, discussed multiple times whether we really want another dog, and named her Mocha. (Well, actually I named her Mocha, because the only thing better than coffee is chocolate AND coffee.) We're keeping her. The boys love her. She sleeps next to my side of the bed. She fills a little spot in my heart that's been empty since my last pomeranian died. And that's the end of that story.

I'll be back in a bit with some of the crafty things I've been up to; there's a stench wafting from the boys' room that needs to be attended to and I guess it's time to start school for the day...

First class all the way...

Well, not really first class actually... more like World Traveler, which is British Airline's way of communicating that they will pack you in as tightly as possible, with only enough room to cross your legs if you don't mind your knee up your nose. And believe me, that gets mighty uncomfortable really fast!



This was our transportation the first leg of our journey... the most ginormous plane I've ever seen. I honestly didn't know that you could get a two-story plane. As we were hurtling down the runway, I was trying not to think about how huge the force of gravity that we were attempting to overcome must have been. Simon, aka Mr. Physics, never worries about the takeoff because he knows all about the different physical laws that work together to get the plane up into the air. He only gets nervous about the landing. Me? I never get nervous about the landing because at least we're headed in the direction I want to be going... down. I've discovered that the older I get, the less I like to fly.

Ironically enough, the only stress on the trip over was while we were on the ground in London. Our flight was delayed getting in because of bad weather, and the flight attendant was assuring everyone that all the connecting flights would also be delayed. We also had some kind of medical emergency on the flight which delayed the disembarking by an additional 45 minutes while the paramedics came on to tend to the woman. By the time we finally got off and got through security, the monitor showed our flight to Delhi as closing in 15 minutes. Of course, right next to the monitor was a sign estimating the time necessary to reach our gate... 15 minutes, hence the stress. Now, no lie, Heathrow airport has the world's longest escalator... and it feels even longer when you're running up it in flipflops, carrying a backpack that's getting heavier by the millisecond, and gasping for air because you think your lungs are about to explode or maybe you'll just have a heart attack! We were second to last to board the plane and I was actually happy to have a chance to sit down again. It was a good thing we ran, because the plane took off right away... wait, just kidding... we sat on the runway for an hour before taking off. Oh well, at least I got some exercise.

Here's my first (of many, no doubt) page about our trip...

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I've been slowly trying to catch up on things I missed while I was gone. This is with one of Creashen's new kits and is Simon & I on our anniversary trip to Seattle last December.


And, speaking of Seattle... lots of families that love my mom and dad got together and sent them on a surprise trip to Seattle for their 30th anniversary this week. I am so excited for them (and amazed that with all the people in on the secret, no one spilled the beans!) I made a card for them... inside it says {you two make the cutest couple}.


And one last project: this one was so easy, but it turned out super cute (if I do say so myself!) A set of thank you notes for James to send out after his birthday this year...


Well, that's it for now. Way too much happened in India to put it all in one post, so I thought I'd spread it out as I have time to sort through photos and process everything that happened. It was an amazing trip though and I'm so glad that we were able to go!

Time for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up...

Another conversation with James

sitting around the dinner table tonight...

Me: I'm going to miss you boys.
John: You're not going to miss us!
Me: Yes I am.
James: Yeah, because we're going to Grandma's house and they're going to India for forever.
Me: not forever, just two weeks
James: Yes I know; forever is two weeks!

I guess when you're four, two weeks probably does feel like forever!

Getting Ready...

Tomorrow's the day... this is what my dining room table looked like this morning:

...everyone's clothes laid out in stacks, being double-checked and then crossed off the list. Slowly the piles are getting packed into the suitcases; there's only one load of laundry left to do and our carry-ons to be packed and then we're set.