Scrapping.

I'm pretty sure scrapboooking is one of my favorite things to do. It just makes me so happy. :)

So I got the June Studio Calico kit, and I did this layout right away...


Older photos of my niece, Brenna (taken by Jeremy), that I've been really wanting to scrap. I can't believe how much she's grown. These photos are almost THREE years old. I just can't believe it.

Joy Madison and Stephanie Howell of the Studio Calico design team really inspired me here. Joy inspired me to do the scallops over the photos. And Steph inspired me to do my journaling over spots. :) I love scrapping my handstands. :) All products are from the May and June SC kits...


And I've already scrapped this story of Alaura and me, but I didn't really like the layout, so I thought I'd re-do it. :) Got these SEI papers at Winter CHA this year, and I was so excited to use them. :) I added white AC Thickers... of course. :) Ooh! And I love the mini alphas by Making Memories...


Can't wait to scrap some more with this June kit. It's so awesome. :)

Planning.

For about three months, I've been planning a trip home to Colorado... for my 10-Year High School Reunion.

And the other day, my mom says, "Hey! Did you know that your 10-Year High School Reunion is the SAME weekend you're going to be in Colorado?!"

Tee hee.

I heart my mom.

p.s. She is a *very* bright lady. In her defense, she works NINETY hours a week. (No, I'm not exaggerating.) Okay... some weeks she may *only* work eighty...

Smiling.

I've been kind of in a slump lately. For the past several weeks. Just feeling very... not myself. It's been strange. But then the other day, when I started scrapping again?! I felt SO good! I guess I forgot how much I love to scrap. Or how much I enjoy it. It was such a nice feeling to realize that I'm in a better mood if I'm sure to do something crafty. Tee hee. Lots of smiles here now. :D

Last night, I finished this layout:



*sigh* I had such a great time doing this layout. For several reasons...

1. My nieces are the most beautiful girls in the world. :)

2. I used up ALL (but one) of my Sassafras chipboard flowers.

3. I used a scalloped square punch to make the photo corners (I just cut it in half; then cut the centers out).

4. I actually used a *colored* background! (go me!)

5. I got to use some Thickers I had not opened yet. :)

6. My nieces are the most beautiful girls in the world. :D

And I can't wait to scrap some more...

Crafting.

Sometimes, I can be a real dork. Soooooometimes... ;)

So... I have these red shoes, right?! Super adorable red mary-janes?! Remember?! Yes. And sometimes when I wear them with a non-red outfit, I need something else red (according to my friends at Studio Calico... and you know, most women...) to "tie" it all together. So I jumped on Etsy to find a cute, red bracelet. Well, I sifted through about a hundred bracelets before I realized something...

Hey! I'm crafty!

Yes, after scrapbooking and altering stuff for about three years, I'm just realizing this.

I could make my *own* bracelet! HA! And it would be free! Well, relatively free. :)

I called my mom to tell her this. I was like, "Hey, Mom! I'm crafty!" And her response in a very cute, I'm-trying-to-be-cool-but-can't-really-pull-it-off voice?! "Ya think?!?!?" That made me giggle.

Anywho, I got to work with some yellow ribbon, some red buttons, a little red flower, embroidery floss and a needle. Oh! And then I picked up some snaps at Michaels. :)


I REALLY love this bracelet. I can't wait to wear it! Yay. :) And my arms are kinda hairy. Sorry about that.

And posting this reminds me of something else crafty that I did recently...


I have my oven mitts (because they're cute) and my apron (because it's this one ... the cutest apron EVER) hanging on the wall in the kitchen. This red oven mitt was boring, so I sewed on a felt flower (from American Crafts) with blue embroidery floss. Much cuter now! I'll try to take a photo of that whole wall sometime, but it's really hard because the fridge is in the way. LOL. And I'm not sure why you'd want to see a photo of my kitchen wall...

And after I was all happy after realizing that I'm crafty, I also realized that I haven't scrapped since May 4th! FOURTEEN DAYS! So yesterday, I did two layouts and started a third. Here are the last three layouts I did:



This shopping trip happened TWO years ago, and I've been wanting to scrap it since then. But I didn't feel inspired until now. :) I really love how it turned out. I should have taken a picture of it in better lighting. Yuck!

And then this layout I did about this cRaZy house we saw in Newport, Rhode Island. Seriously, who needs 19 ladders?! They only had 3 or 4 dudes working. Laaaa-zzzy! And this cool-awesome-neato-wow paper from Studio Calico?! Perfect for this photo! I was so excited when it arrived on my doorstep. (My friend Michelle came up with the title for this layout...)


It's been a while since I've loved a layout I've done. Like... LOVED a layout. As in... finished it and said to myself, "I LOVE THIS!" That's rare for me. So imagine my surprise, when I finished this next layout in about an hour and then said to myself, "I LOVE THIS!" It doesn't hurt that my hubby's cutey face is staring back at me.

I love that I ventured from my go-to white cardstock. Black! Me! Yay! And... I don't like chipboard much. I don't like stickers much either. So it surprised my socks off when I did this entire layout with stickers and chipboard stickers (all Sassafras except the letter stickers, which are Heidi Swapp)! LOL. I'm growing, I think... LOL.


That is all for today. Lots of photos.

And I think I may be becoming crafty...

Introducing.

Last July, a cat appeared at our building. She was so sweet, purring and rubbing up against me and the puppies. She took a liking to them RIGHT away. Following them around, trying to cuddle them on our walks. Very sweet. The puppies loved it... at first. LOL. Then they were like, "Whoa, Kitty! Back off! I'm trying to pee here!" They snapped at her a few times when she didn't let up.

And she did.not.care. At all. She still followed us EVERYwhere. If she wasn't outside when we came out for a walk, she'd find us. And she'd follow us on our walk (again, brushing up along side of them while they tried to do their business). If she didn't like the route we were taking home, she'd go a different way and meet us back at the stairs.

A few months ago, she started following us *all* the way up to the 3rd floor. So... we let her in. Then we started feeding her and loving her. Hey, she loves us! And she's cute! And sweet! And hungry! And, and, and...





She doesn't have a family. So she adopted us. And we call her Kissa (which is Swedish for "cat"). I so enjoy having her in our home. She doesn't sleep overnight, and that's fine with me (and my asthma... tee hee). And when we move, I'm pretty sure we'll take her with us. :)

Flowering.

I would love to buy fresh flowers every day. They're just so... lovely. :)

I saw these at the grocery store tonight... for only $3.33... how could I pass them up?!

I heart flowers. :)

Reading.

Mairen (my sister's youngest) talked pretty late, but then she started reciting her alphabet at three. At age 3 1/2, she was sounding out letters and learning her sight words.

And now, at age 4, she's reading:



She is in Pre-School, but they're not teaching this at her school. My sister works with her at home.

Gosh, she's just the cutest. :)