Thanksgiving Place-cards

Making place-cards for Thanksgiving has become somewhat of a tradition for me. For the last 4 years I have made special place-cards for everyone that attends my Thanksgiving. This year I stepped outside my normal just paper place-cards and used some wood! At my local Scrapbook Store they had larger blocks used as photo holders. It inspired me to adapt their project into a Thanksgiving day project with a smaller block. All in all each one cost me less then a $1 to make!

This was another emotional one for me. My Grace is such a doll. There is so much about her to love. I just wanted to make sure she knows that. "Loved" is just my way of telling her.

I used my smooch spray a little differently. I took a small amount and put it in a paper cup. Then I took a tooth pick and splattered it on the page.

I also used the smooch spray to color my gray and white Amy Tangerine letters yellow to match the splatters.

Lastly I printed the pic out in both color and black sepia. I just cut out the leaf and popped it up with some foam tape.

 Emotional Scrapbooking

Lately I have been on a very emotional Scrapbooking binge. It can be very therapeutic for me. Not to mention my children get a sense of the real me. Its not always birthday parties and days at the beach. Sometimes its life's most basic moments that bring out the most emotion in me.

This layout "Stay This Way" is about my need to pause the moment that my children are at right now. I just wish that I had a pause bottom in my pocket I could hit so I could love on them a little longer at each age. I just want to soak it all in before we o move onto the next one.

I hid the journaling in an envelope because most people just don't want or care to read all that emotional gobbily-gook.

And then I used some twine from the Twinery....because whats a layout without twine anyway?

Who needs ribbon on a spool anyway?

I have not been able to get much scrapping done at night as I would like these past few weeks due to sick children needing some extra Mommy time. So, I thought maybe just maybe Olivia could handle Mommy scrapping for a tiny bit of time during the day. It all started out good. She played with her toys in her toy cabinet and then.........

 

She discovered my ribbon bin that I had brought down off the shelf. She squealed with delight upon pushing her little hands in all that silky shiny stuff! I thought oh, harmless, it's just ribbon and I can still use it if its jumbled up a bit and off the spool. But then.....

 

Oh, it makes me giggle to see your in this mess! That large tangled mess was so worth every bit of sanity I regained from scrapping and every bit of joy she had making the mess.

Family

 We had the delightful opportunity to have some family over to our house for the weekend. It was the first time that my children were able to meet some of their cousins for the fist time. It was so cool to see all the kids really enjoy each others company and get to know each other. In fact you would never know that they hadn't met until now. They all seemed to mold together quit nicely. I hope there are many more opportunists to come like this. It was a BLAST! in fact, so much so that we are all a little extra sleepy today.

 What I know For Sure

Its been a long time since we have had a little dose of Oprah inspired what I know for sure. So here it goes!

Fall is even better when you can wear tank tops and play outside in the nice warm sun.

 

Q thinks hes the next great photographer. Well, he is if you are into sneaky shots of the people who are working on our house. Seriously this is one of many many many pictures. Not sure when he took my camera but it made me laugh to find them.

 

 Being stylish is the only way to pick apples.

 

 Olivia now wears a hear clip all of 45 seconds before ripping it out of her unruly hair!

 Apples on trees are very weird to a baby. 

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I love making these onesies!

 Moments

Another page from Words to Live By

Just using some older Cosmo Cricket from my stash to create another page for my Words To Live By Album. I love this picture of my Q, I could scrapbook it over and over I love it so much.

Family Time

at the Apple Orchard

I LOVE family time. I love that I get a chance to have my most special people with me all at once. I love that even if it isn't a perfect scenario its still a memory created. I love watching my children grow. I love seeing them explore the surroundings at an event that Doug and I work so hard to create for our children. I love the little moments. I love that it doesn't have to be an elaborate event to make a huge impact. I Love this life. I love my family. :)

Vegas Mini

Doug and I went to Vegas back before school started for the kids. It was quick but jam packed with fun. So, to celebrate our very first getaway since Olivia was born I made this mini book! I used the Amy Tangerine line form American crafts that I just cant get enough of! I am sure to be using this line more in the future. (I purchased tons of it just to ensure that I do)

The Cover

 

I selected some of my favorite pages below: ( I mixed different sizes of envelopes throughout the album while all the paper is 6x11 with a few 4x6 sheets mixed in)

Here is an example of one of the envelopes. It was nice to have so I could stash extra photos or memorabilia in them. I also used some of them  for extra journaling

I also used some of the October Afternoon travel line that I had leftover from another project. It goes very well with Amy Tangerine might I add.

On the below page I even added the candle that was in our special dessert.

I had a blast putting this together! I cant wait to make another one soon!

Everything becomes a craft project

I think I might suffer from "over-crafty" syndrome.  In this house no gift can leave without a giant bow and handmade tag. No thank-you can go unsaid without a handmade card. No school project can be turned in without a child adding that special something from Mommy's  craft room. No birthday party can go without a handmade touch. No  winter hat can be store bought.

I give you exhibit A:

 

 

This is the outside of a letter that I had to write for Gracie. Her teacher asked that we all write her a letter of recommendation for a classroom job that best suited our child. (They have a mini economy and all the kids had to apply for jobs)  Could I just type a simple letter and stuff it in Gracie's backpack? NO WAY! Could I just add one simple stamp? CRAZY! I had to go all out adding a stamp, a butterfly, some bling and of course some doodling. I just cant seem to help myself when it comes to craftiness.

So, please tell me there are others like me?

I'm so excited to share that Miss Liv got her cast off today! To her, that cast taking off and ex-ray buisness was super stressful! The rest of the day she was a bit out of sorts. So, it is midnight as I type this. She is finally asleep on my lap. She apparently had to stay awake to make sure there was nothing else traumatic going on today. 

 More From Words To Live By

Cherish

Jornaling reads: May you always cherish life's quiet moments

Enjoy

Journaling Reads: May you always enjoy the little things in life

 

Nest

Journaling reads: May you always love your nest

 

Give

Journaling Reads: May you always give more then you get

Full Of Grace

Have you ever known someone that has a name that fits them perfectly? For me that is my Grace.  She has always been such a graceful girl. She gracefully tells her brother to stop. She gracefully says "Yes, Mom" when asked to do her chores. She gracefully takes on new challenges. She gracefully accepts others for who they are. She gracefully goes with the flow. She gracefully speaks her mind. She is Grace. I feel blessed to have her in my life.

Cupcake Party

As soon as I saw the newest birthday  paper by 3 Bugs In A Rug I knew that it would be used for Olivia's first birthday party. I made little things to decorate her birthday cupcakes with as well as a wreath and if I would have had more time I would have made a banner and a part hat.

 With gluten free, dairy free, soy free cupcakes. (They were not bad for what they don't have in them.) But, hey they look really delicious don't they?

 
I had to buy a cupcake scented candle from Bath and Body Works so even if they don't taste totally like a real cupcake at least it will smell like one! (Just might have to get candles for everything now..pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, Christmas tree at Christmas....you get the picture!)

 The special wreath I made. I love how it turned out! The "1" is removable so that I can reuse for other birthdays.

 The birthday girl herself. Such a sweetie.

 She wasn't so sure about that cupcake either, but it didn't take long and....

Look at that mess! I love the little hands all gooped up with cupcake!

But don't you dare try o take a picture of her with her brother and sister. This is her birthday!

Everyone Told Me....

Everyone told me that God would never give me two majorly energetic kids in a row. That the third child will just go with the flow, be passive and enjoy watching all that is around and take it all in before jumping in. Well, I have to tell you those people were SOOOOOOOOOO WRONG! While Q and Olivia are loads of fun they have determination and spunk! (I'm sure it will come in handy as adults...please someone tell me it will?)

Proof:

Yes thats a cast my soon to be 12 month old is wearing. (covered by  pretty sock of course) So for those of you wondering, yes a sub 1 year old can break their leg! Crazy I tell ya.

She doesn't let this bad boy stop her either. She gets around quit well with it and doesn't even seem to care its there. Her personality is such that nothing will stop her from getting what she wants. I'm positive that's just the personality trait that got her in this predicament in the first place.