Well, it's been an interesting year. One that I'll never forget, that's for sure.
One thing I am grateful for is my family, my husband and 2 adorable little girls who love me unconditionally. I have such supportive friends although I wonder sometimes why they stick with me! ;0) I am looking forward to new year with exciting opportunities, regardless of where I'm at in a month. Either way I'll be doing something different in my career and am looking forward to the change.
My little craftiness has kicked off strong the last half of the year with a new etsy shop that I'm hoping to continue. Crafting gets me through some of the rough patches, especially these last couple of months. It's been nice to focus on something that I know will be there no matter what!
My kiddos are growing like weeds and I can't believe another year has flown by, I know I say that every year but it's true. Time goes faster and faster when you get older~ I do believe! This year I will take time to smell the roses, I've come to realize I need to do that more often. I will take time to watch my kids every movement for a day. It's amazing watching them and wondering what they're thinking. They are such smart cookies~ smarter than their mama most days! At least they outsmart me I should say!
Anyway, kind of a rambling post but felt like I needed to say it and hoping the new year is one where you take time to smell the roses too!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Baking
I've been baking up a storm this morning! I have a Christmas gathering this evening and am hoping the blizzard warning they say is supposed to happen doesn't! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this Martha Stewart recipe for Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies. If you haven't tried these you should, they are out of this world, melt in your mouth goodness!!
Here's the recipe:
Happy Baking!!
Here's the recipe:
Makes 36
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a shallow bowl, place 1/2 cup sugar; set aside.
- With an electric mixer, beat butter and remaining cup of sugar until combined. Beat in egg and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in dry ingredients, just until a dough forms.
- Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to 1 tablespoon. Roll balls in reserved sugar to coat.
- Arrange balls on baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges of cookies are just firm, 10 to 15 minutes (cookies can be baked two sheets at a time, but they will not crackle uniformly). Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; transfer to racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 4 days.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Christmas Spirit
I can't help but feel that little twinge, the Christmas Spirit is getting to me. As much as I have been in a scrooge mood over the last couple of weeks, it's weird, but I just want to decorate, get the Christmas music out, bake, crafting and SHOP!!! (ok, probably shouldn't go crazy on the shopping part!) I am putting together the little ones Christmas list on www.christmaswishlist.net. If you haven't used this, it's a great way to put your families lists in one spot and once an item is purchased then it's marked off the list so no one else buys it. I like to keep the whole family organized like that!
Need to get some Christmas tags made this week. Would be helpful if I had a Silhouette. The Tater Tots and Jello Blog is giving away a Silhouette! I'm entering! Are you? Check it out.
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Nicki
Need to get some Christmas tags made this week. Would be helpful if I had a Silhouette. The Tater Tots and Jello Blog is giving away a Silhouette! I'm entering! Are you? Check it out.
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Nicki
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thankful
To start off, this has been one of the roughest week's of my life. But I have to remember that everything happens for a reason and that when one door closes another door opens. I also need to remember to be thankful, so instead of dwelling on the past and what is to be the near future, here's what I'm very thankful for:
- My Family- A husband who loves me unconditionally, 2 healthy beautiful girls, 2 healthy and understanding parents, a sister who's always there to listen
- My friends- Who are always there for me when I need them, one specifically who, this week I cannot thank enough, you know who you are
- My home- we have a beautiful home, which I take for granted
- My health- although I feel like a truck has run me over, I am very thankful that I am healthy
Monday, November 1, 2010
Little Miss Momma Give Away
Just signed up for the Little Miss Momma Give Away! This lady is awesome, she has some great ideas and some awesome product give aways! Check it out!!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Halloween Tag Swap
Hi All~ thought I would share a photo of the tag I submitted for a tag swap at our local scrapbook store here in town over the weekend. I think it turned out pretty cute! I love Halloween, with this holiday, there's endless possibilities of crafting, oh what am I talking about, that's with every holiday!! ;0)
I started out with black cardstock and used some My Minds Eye paper for the bottom of the tag and the bat cut-out. The Bat came from the "Simply Charmed" cricut cartridge and I added a button and ribbon to embellish it. I stamped the trick or treat and added some copper brads and popped it up with a pop dot. The flower I made with a flower punch out of some beige and black paper then I added an orange brad to the center and used Stickles to glam it up. I think it turned out adorable and it kind of has a vintage feel. Love it when things turn out differently than expected! The swap is next week, so I can't wait to see what other folks created with their tags. I'll share once I receive them. This is my first swap so I'm hoping to do many more now that I've actually taken the plunge!!
Happy crafting!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Spooky But Cute Necklace
My sister gave me some adorable Halloween charms from Little Yellow Bicycle (LYB as I like to call them!). I told her I would use them for a piece of jewelry instead of using them on some scrap pages. So I made her this cute necklace with the LYB charms and I had some metal letter charms in my stash that worked perfect along side the charms to spell out "Spooky". I love making jewelry that's inexpensive and creative!
Here's the finished product!
Hope you're making something fun today!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Here's the finished product!
Hope you're making something fun today!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Scrapfest Wrap Up & Fall
Wow, the last couple of weeks have been busy ones! I haven't even had a chance to talk or post about Scrapfest! This will be a long post as I'm spilling all my thoughts!
We had a marvelous time~ at least that's what I keep telling myself! Despite the negative energy surrounding us that is~ or as we referred to it karma. It truly was biting us all weekend but we drudged through it! I'm typically a very positive, upbeat person, there's something about these weekends for some reason that usually gets me into a funk, whether it's service we receive or just some random thing that makes us go hmmmm.
To start off the trip, we left at 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning to get up to Minneapolis by 8:30 in time for check-in. The time flew on the way up, non-stop girl-gab helps! My sister and I don't get a whole lot of talk time in during the school-year since she's a teacher, so we had to make up for it! ;0) We arrived at the Mall of America right at about 8:35 a.m. to find a very long check-in line, karma check-point number one. Once we got checked in, we decided to make our way through to the make-and-take lines. The lines really weren't all that bad in the morning, we stood through quite a few lines and made some cute lay-outs and cards. Bo-Bunny had a really cute school layout and they gave us extra to make a second layout to go with it~ BONUS!! 2 Points for Bo Bunny!! Me & My Big Ideas had a cute Halloween layout as well as Prima, goodness gracious that have such cute paper, flowers and now adorable little pearls and gemstones to adorn the middle of the flowers. I could have created at their booth all day if it weren't for the other 120 people in line! Who else is worth mentioning from the Friday morning hours~ oh, Reminisce, they always have cute projects, a cute little Gingerbread house with their Christmas line~ they also receive a shout out because they were doing give-aways to every group! LOVE YOU GUYS~ and they're from IA City!! We wrapped up the morning and headed to Tucci Benucci's for lunch! My sis and my friend Rebecca had some awesome Sweet Potato Gnocchi~ still kicking myself for not getting that!! I had some Cheese Tortellini with mushroom cream sauce. It was quite tasty as well. Then came dessert~ I had Creme Brulee- not just Creme Brulee but Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee, oh went straight to my thighs goodness that was! My sister went with the Tiramasu and Rebecca had some yummy looking chocolate cake.
The afternoon consisted of more make and takes and one very long line I might add to make the Melody Ross necklace! I love to make jewelry so I was willing to wait the 1 hour and 45 minutes in line that it took just to learn how to use the stuff all to have it ruined by some little Archiver girl later in the evening (I'll touch on that in a bit.). Sorry this is getting long at this point we went to check in to our hotel before our evening crop back at the mall. But first we had to stop and get pillow pets~ all of our children had to have them so we made sure we got that out of the way and we couldn't buy anything else the rest of the trip because they filled up the car! ;0) Not really but close!
Friday evening consisted of the Cosmo Cricket crop at the Mall of America store. It was great fun those Cosmo Cricket people know how to have a good time! We met Julia and Lindsay the owners of the company and they had a great package of goodies for us with some adorable layouts and cards for us to make. They also showed us some techniques on how to make different flowers to decorate our pages with. Karma check-point #2, my number for prizes was on paper everyone else's number was on plastic, therefore I was never guaranteed to win so who would pick my paper number? No-one, it was a running joke for the evening. Silliness started to kick-in, couldn't quit laughing, lack of sleep does that! The Cosmo Cricket folks also gave us all an awesome 12 x 12 paper stack!! LOVE THEM!! Shout out to the Cosmo team, you guys were great! Back to the hotel to crash.
Saturday morning, up bright and early to head to our classes that started at 9:00. We all took classes, really nothing to brag about, except for one of mine, the company was October Afternoon and I absolutely loved they album they had come up with it was called Thrifty Nifty and it was a mix of vintage and floral patterns. Very cute! See pics. We did a little shopping and then more classes and then ended our day at the mall with a late lunch and some margaritas. Then off to Ikea before our Saturday evening crop. Ikea was amazing, never been in the store, always look on-line. Wow, it's overwhelming, I need a full day to look around in there at all of the stuff, just crazy!
Our evening crop was in Woodbury, like 30 minutes away from the Mall. Basic Grey hosted this night. Nothing thrilling to discuss except for the fact that I probably offended the smoker next to me that tried to pass off the smell onto her friend that supposedly smokes. Whoops! I do have to say the girls at this Archiver's store were the friendliest most polite, attentive group that I've ever experienced at an Archiver's. Typically this isn't the experience I have so I embraced it and was pleasantly surprised. Then we got a few layouts done and headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Sunday morning we woke up early checked out and headed home. With a re-cap of events on the drive from Minneapolis to Ankeny, it was all in all a great trip with great people and lots of laughs. Just glad we made it home safe! Amen.
Now, on to fall, looking to get the house decorated this weekend with my fall decor and Halloween stuff. I love Halloween.
Now for some parting gifts, pics of projects from Scrapfest 2010.
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
We had a marvelous time~ at least that's what I keep telling myself! Despite the negative energy surrounding us that is~ or as we referred to it karma. It truly was biting us all weekend but we drudged through it! I'm typically a very positive, upbeat person, there's something about these weekends for some reason that usually gets me into a funk, whether it's service we receive or just some random thing that makes us go hmmmm.
To start off the trip, we left at 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning to get up to Minneapolis by 8:30 in time for check-in. The time flew on the way up, non-stop girl-gab helps! My sister and I don't get a whole lot of talk time in during the school-year since she's a teacher, so we had to make up for it! ;0) We arrived at the Mall of America right at about 8:35 a.m. to find a very long check-in line, karma check-point number one. Once we got checked in, we decided to make our way through to the make-and-take lines. The lines really weren't all that bad in the morning, we stood through quite a few lines and made some cute lay-outs and cards. Bo-Bunny had a really cute school layout and they gave us extra to make a second layout to go with it~ BONUS!! 2 Points for Bo Bunny!! Me & My Big Ideas had a cute Halloween layout as well as Prima, goodness gracious that have such cute paper, flowers and now adorable little pearls and gemstones to adorn the middle of the flowers. I could have created at their booth all day if it weren't for the other 120 people in line! Who else is worth mentioning from the Friday morning hours~ oh, Reminisce, they always have cute projects, a cute little Gingerbread house with their Christmas line~ they also receive a shout out because they were doing give-aways to every group! LOVE YOU GUYS~ and they're from IA City!! We wrapped up the morning and headed to Tucci Benucci's for lunch! My sis and my friend Rebecca had some awesome Sweet Potato Gnocchi~ still kicking myself for not getting that!! I had some Cheese Tortellini with mushroom cream sauce. It was quite tasty as well. Then came dessert~ I had Creme Brulee- not just Creme Brulee but Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee, oh went straight to my thighs goodness that was! My sister went with the Tiramasu and Rebecca had some yummy looking chocolate cake.
Me & My Big Ideas Make and Take Layout:
Prima make and take layout (too cute!!):
The afternoon consisted of more make and takes and one very long line I might add to make the Melody Ross necklace! I love to make jewelry so I was willing to wait the 1 hour and 45 minutes in line that it took just to learn how to use the stuff all to have it ruined by some little Archiver girl later in the evening (I'll touch on that in a bit.). Sorry this is getting long at this point we went to check in to our hotel before our evening crop back at the mall. But first we had to stop and get pillow pets~ all of our children had to have them so we made sure we got that out of the way and we couldn't buy anything else the rest of the trip because they filled up the car! ;0) Not really but close!
Friday evening consisted of the Cosmo Cricket crop at the Mall of America store. It was great fun those Cosmo Cricket people know how to have a good time! We met Julia and Lindsay the owners of the company and they had a great package of goodies for us with some adorable layouts and cards for us to make. They also showed us some techniques on how to make different flowers to decorate our pages with. Karma check-point #2, my number for prizes was on paper everyone else's number was on plastic, therefore I was never guaranteed to win so who would pick my paper number? No-one, it was a running joke for the evening. Silliness started to kick-in, couldn't quit laughing, lack of sleep does that! The Cosmo Cricket folks also gave us all an awesome 12 x 12 paper stack!! LOVE THEM!! Shout out to the Cosmo team, you guys were great! Back to the hotel to crash.
Cosmo Cricket Layout:
Saturday morning, up bright and early to head to our classes that started at 9:00. We all took classes, really nothing to brag about, except for one of mine, the company was October Afternoon and I absolutely loved they album they had come up with it was called Thrifty Nifty and it was a mix of vintage and floral patterns. Very cute! See pics. We did a little shopping and then more classes and then ended our day at the mall with a late lunch and some margaritas. Then off to Ikea before our Saturday evening crop. Ikea was amazing, never been in the store, always look on-line. Wow, it's overwhelming, I need a full day to look around in there at all of the stuff, just crazy!
Our evening crop was in Woodbury, like 30 minutes away from the Mall. Basic Grey hosted this night. Nothing thrilling to discuss except for the fact that I probably offended the smoker next to me that tried to pass off the smell onto her friend that supposedly smokes. Whoops! I do have to say the girls at this Archiver's store were the friendliest most polite, attentive group that I've ever experienced at an Archiver's. Typically this isn't the experience I have so I embraced it and was pleasantly surprised. Then we got a few layouts done and headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Sunday morning we woke up early checked out and headed home. With a re-cap of events on the drive from Minneapolis to Ankeny, it was all in all a great trip with great people and lots of laughs. Just glad we made it home safe! Amen.
Now, on to fall, looking to get the house decorated this weekend with my fall decor and Halloween stuff. I love Halloween.
Now for some parting gifts, pics of projects from Scrapfest 2010.
October Afternoon Album:
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Organization & Weekend Getaway!
Who doesn't love jewelry? I have to say that is where I started in crafting, originally was beading and making bracelets and necklaces. There's so many cute things on the market right now to make your own, including a lot of scrapbook findings. I've got so many ideas but haven't started making anything yet because I needed some organization. I used this photo holder at my wedding 11 years ago and found it in the wedding box this summer while cleaning out. Thought I would re-purpose it and use it to hold some of the new jewelry findings that I've got. Maybe if I see them displayed like this it will motivate me to use them and start creating some new pieces.
Here's the before and after pics.
I am also close to being ready for my girls getaway this weekend to SCRAPFEST 2010~ at the Mall of America in Minnesota! Getting my pics printed and gathering the needed supplies. I can't wait to see what the hot new items are!
I'll be cropping Friday night at the Mall of America store for Cosmo Cricket and Saturday night in Woodbury at the Basic Grey crop. These 2 companies have some fascinating product, so excited to see what they have in store for us!
Til next week!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Here's the before and after pics.
I am also close to being ready for my girls getaway this weekend to SCRAPFEST 2010~ at the Mall of America in Minnesota! Getting my pics printed and gathering the needed supplies. I can't wait to see what the hot new items are!
I'll be cropping Friday night at the Mall of America store for Cosmo Cricket and Saturday night in Woodbury at the Basic Grey crop. These 2 companies have some fascinating product, so excited to see what they have in store for us!
Til next week!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Let's get ready to....
GO TO SCRAPFEST!! Well it's almost here, the moment I've been waiting for all year long! (ok maybe not the only moment I've been waiting for since my oldest DID go to kindergarten and I can't overlook that my youngest starts preschool tomorrow) BUT I truly have been waiting for this for a long time! Scrapfest is next weekend!!! So, this weekend I will be busy trying to decide what I'm going to take to work on. I'll be gathering photos and paper and stickers and all kinds of other stuff I don't need to drag along but I will because I can't live without it ALL!
We'll be leaving at the butt-crack of dawn on Friday, actually prior to the butt-crack of dawn 4:30 a.m. This is so we are at the mall by 8:30 when most sane people are just getting out of bed! All due to the fact that we do not want to miss out on all the amazing make and takes that our badges will allow us to partake in! I will be heading up with my sister and a friend of mine this year. Should be tons-o-fun!! We'll be attending the crop around town Friday at the mall and Saturday in one of the suburbs, the Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey crops! Love, Love, Love both of these scrapbook companies! They have amazing products!! I'm also taking a few classes on Saturday, leaving Friday for an all-day make and take marathon!
I have a few things to do before this all takes place...
1. Run 3 miles everyday to work off about 8 extra lbs I put on over the last 2 weeks just so I can put it back on while I'm away!
2. Decide to take a cricut or not to take a cricut~ that is the million dollar question!
3. Make a list of the must have products (this is the one time during the year I buy scrapbook stuff~ if you think I'm serious, you're crazy!)
And that's enough of a list to get me started!
If you're going to Scrapfest I hope to meet you!
Scrap It Swanky Sister~
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Little Ones Creations
Oh how I love spending the day with my girls, we are always crafting up something! Before my 5-year old headed off to kindergarten, I took some time off to spend with her and the 3-year old tagged along as well. What better way to spend the day then to scrap up some in the moment pictures! I had just purchased a new thermos and lunch bag for my daughter for school and of course the 3-year old had to have a new thermos as well. One Hello Kitty and one Littlest Pet Shop, I will be stealing these when they're tired of them, they're really pretty cute! Anyway, I took some pics of the girls with their thermos and printed them out on the handy dandy pogo printer and voila, we have some cute pages that the girls did all on their own, and I'm not kidding they slapped the pics on to these cute little page kits they picked out at Hobby Lobby on the clearance rack! A whole $1.99 to create these. I did help with the placement of the crown gems though~ that turned out cute!!
Then these happened... $1.00 glitter foam stickers from the dollar store, some hair clippies and we have new hair bling for the school year! (God LOVE the dollar store!!!)
The first week of school was great, now we're almost wrapping up the second week and we're still hanging in there. Still adjusting and with much tiredness I can say, this kindergarten stuff is for the birds!!
Hope all of you had a great first week at school as well! Hello fall and hello scrapbook season!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
P.S. Anyone else going to Scrapfest? I am! BOY am I excited!!!!
Then these happened... $1.00 glitter foam stickers from the dollar store, some hair clippies and we have new hair bling for the school year! (God LOVE the dollar store!!!)
The first week of school was great, now we're almost wrapping up the second week and we're still hanging in there. Still adjusting and with much tiredness I can say, this kindergarten stuff is for the birds!!
Hope all of you had a great first week at school as well! Hello fall and hello scrapbook season!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
P.S. Anyone else going to Scrapfest? I am! BOY am I excited!!!!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Banner of a week!
I know quirky title right? Well, I just took some time this evening to create one of these cute banners that everyone has been raving about in the scrapbook world! I had some cute floral paper leftover from a page I was working on and decided to use the scraps to make a "LOVE" banner that I'm going to hang on my door to my office, it signifies my love for scrapbooking/paper crafting!
Had fun using up some of my leftover scraps as well, the green little pom-pom ribbon at the top was also leftover from a previous layout! I LOVE using up my scraps~ I feel a sense of decluttering accomplishment (OK not really~ but it sounded good)!! :0)
This picture you can see more detail, I added some little pearls and the purple buttons were from Michael's dollar bin! I think it turned out pretty cute!
Well, I hope you have a banner of a weekend!
Scrap it swanky sister~
Nicki
Had fun using up some of my leftover scraps as well, the green little pom-pom ribbon at the top was also leftover from a previous layout! I LOVE using up my scraps~ I feel a sense of decluttering accomplishment (OK not really~ but it sounded good)!! :0)
This picture you can see more detail, I added some little pearls and the purple buttons were from Michael's dollar bin! I think it turned out pretty cute!
Well, I hope you have a banner of a weekend!
Scrap it swanky sister~
Nicki
Monday, August 2, 2010
Journaling
Today I was cleaning out the closet in my scrapbook room/office and I found a journal that I had started after my second child was born. I honestly forgot about writing that often and wish I would have kept up with it, but it's so crazy how fast the time has gone. From the first bath to the first time she rolled over, it's such an amazing experience having children. I feel like the day to day grind has me under a spell that I can't get out from under and need to remember how precious the time is with my girls. I wish I could freeze time, hold them under a microscope like we did when they were babies and look at how big their feet are now and how long they are. In the morning when we wake up I swear they really do grow over night. I think it's an extra sentimental time right now with my 5-year old starting school (and me secretly not wanting her to). Can you tell I'm having a very hard time with my babies growing up?
Reminiscing is one of my favorite things to do with the girls, I think they remember a lot of the times we share because I repeat it to them often. Especially my older child, she doesn't forget a thing!
Speaking of reminiscing here's the other October Afternoon line that I meant to post last week, that I'm in LOVE with!! It's called Thrift Shop and brings back memories of when I was growing up! I'm pretty sure my mom still has that camera! Check out the adorable journaling cards~ I'm going to start transferring my thoughts from my journal onto these types of cards for my pages. Too darn cute!
This week my goal is start a journal with weekly posts on my girls, one day it will be theirs and hopefully they'll love that I kept these memories for them. Enjoy your week!
Scrap it swanky sister-
Nicki
P.S. I love you B! Thanks for the comments!!
Reminiscing is one of my favorite things to do with the girls, I think they remember a lot of the times we share because I repeat it to them often. Especially my older child, she doesn't forget a thing!
Speaking of reminiscing here's the other October Afternoon line that I meant to post last week, that I'm in LOVE with!! It's called Thrift Shop and brings back memories of when I was growing up! I'm pretty sure my mom still has that camera! Check out the adorable journaling cards~ I'm going to start transferring my thoughts from my journal onto these types of cards for my pages. Too darn cute!
This week my goal is start a journal with weekly posts on my girls, one day it will be theirs and hopefully they'll love that I kept these memories for them. Enjoy your week!
Scrap it swanky sister-
Nicki
Publish Post
P.S. I love you B! Thanks for the comments!!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Bedtime!
Proud of myself today, not only did I have a full work day but I made a point to get a 3 mile run in and got the laundry caught up! That's a successful day in my book!
The only thing I think that could have gone better is bedtime! My 5-year old starts kindergarten in 3 1/2 weeks and I keep telling myself and her that we have to start bedtime earlier so that she will have a well rested brain and I will not be a crazy person trying to get her around and moving in the morning! (I can see how this is all going to play out already!) Anyway, so tonight I got the girls in bed by 8:30 but the actual time they fell asleep was at 9:15 (5-yr old) and 9:45 (3-yr old). I wish I had some fairy dust to sprinkle on them so that they would fall asleep and wake up rested and not grumpy! Oh well, tomorrow night we'll shoot for 8:00 as our in bed time and maybe we'll all be asleep by 9:00!! My plan is to take them to the pool, make them ride bikes and possibly get a walk in as well to tire them out!! We'll see how my evil plan works~ ha, ha, ha, ha. (that's supposed to be an evil laugh;) sorry lots of princesses in my house!)
I've been thinking about the first day of school layouts and what paper I'll use and where I'll take pics at and how we need to go buy school clothes and supplies! Oh geez, I'm overwhelmed already!!
Love the new Learning Curve line from Bo Bunny! I'll definitely be picking some of this up!
Wow that pic is really small, sorry, click on it to see a bigger version.
Learning Curve Collection from Bo Bunny
Next time I post I will be discussing my serious issues with my child starting school, I'm a very nervous parent I believe! Oh October Afternoon makes it all better, check out this adorable line of paper! I have some great beach pics for this line!
They have another favorite of mine, I'll post that one tomorrow! Speaking of tomorrow, Scrapfest class sign up!! Can't wait, I'm going to try and get into the October Afternoon class as well as a few others! So excited for another year of fabulous fun with my sister and friends!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Nicki
The only thing I think that could have gone better is bedtime! My 5-year old starts kindergarten in 3 1/2 weeks and I keep telling myself and her that we have to start bedtime earlier so that she will have a well rested brain and I will not be a crazy person trying to get her around and moving in the morning! (I can see how this is all going to play out already!) Anyway, so tonight I got the girls in bed by 8:30 but the actual time they fell asleep was at 9:15 (5-yr old) and 9:45 (3-yr old). I wish I had some fairy dust to sprinkle on them so that they would fall asleep and wake up rested and not grumpy! Oh well, tomorrow night we'll shoot for 8:00 as our in bed time and maybe we'll all be asleep by 9:00!! My plan is to take them to the pool, make them ride bikes and possibly get a walk in as well to tire them out!! We'll see how my evil plan works~ ha, ha, ha, ha. (that's supposed to be an evil laugh;) sorry lots of princesses in my house!)
I've been thinking about the first day of school layouts and what paper I'll use and where I'll take pics at and how we need to go buy school clothes and supplies! Oh geez, I'm overwhelmed already!!
Love the new Learning Curve line from Bo Bunny! I'll definitely be picking some of this up!
Wow that pic is really small, sorry, click on it to see a bigger version.
Learning Curve Collection from Bo Bunny
Next time I post I will be discussing my serious issues with my child starting school, I'm a very nervous parent I believe! Oh October Afternoon makes it all better, check out this adorable line of paper! I have some great beach pics for this line!
Seaside Collection from October Afternoon
They have another favorite of mine, I'll post that one tomorrow! Speaking of tomorrow, Scrapfest class sign up!! Can't wait, I'm going to try and get into the October Afternoon class as well as a few others! So excited for another year of fabulous fun with my sister and friends!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Nicki
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Lazy Sunday!
It's been a lazy Sunday today! Partly because of me, I've been blech feeling all week due to some vacation time and too much eating and not enough running! I was having a pity party today with my newly growing love handles~ I wish I didn't have to watch EVERYTHING I put in my mouth! But I do so again tomorrow I'm back on the wagon of eating good and running/exercising daily!! While wallowing in my self pity though I did have a chance to read a good book today~ which by the way never happens!! If you're in the mood for an uplifting book just as I was today, stop by the local library or book store and pick up the copy of Molly Ringwald's book "Getting the Pretty Back". It's a really easy read and I enjoyed it today while reading outside in the sun!
The rest of my day consisted of taking a cat nap with my 3-year old, watching 2 of my all-time favorite movies...
AND...
The Goonies~ Favorite from the 80's, I could watch this one a million times and never get tired of it!!
Hitch~ with Will Smith and Eva Mendez
AND...
The Goonies~ Favorite from the 80's, I could watch this one a million times and never get tired of it!!
So, the day wasn't half bad, tomorrow, I'm all sunshine and rainbows at 6:00 AM.
Nicki
Nicki
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Audition!!
Well folks, I did it again!! I submitted some items for the Bo Bunny Audition to be a guest designer on their team! I waited until the last minute as I know that I'm not half as good as the other people designing out there, but then I thought shoot, what the heck, I'll try again! So, I submitted a 2-page layout, 2 cards and an altered project, which this year I did a necklace. I've attached the pics here so you can see what I entered for the audition. I love making jewelry and this was a way to showcase how simple this necklace is yet how cute!!
Summerfest Layout:
Cards:
Squeeze Me Charm Necklace:
I guess we'll see what happens, but at least I can say I tried. I'll keep you posted!
Toodles!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Nicki
Summerfest Layout:
Cards:
Squeeze Me Charm Necklace:
I guess we'll see what happens, but at least I can say I tried. I'll keep you posted!
Toodles!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Nicki
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
July, already?
Hope you've had a wonderful start to your summer! I myself can't complain. I just can't believe how fast the year is flying by. My 5-year old will be starting kindergarten in 5 weeks and it just doesn't seem possible. From my June post I stated I was finishing up on a Baby album for my friend, and I did complete it a few weeks back. Here's a few of my favorite pages of the album. I used alot of blues/reds/greens on this album. It turned out really pretty cute.
Other exciting news... I'm going to be submitting another entry for the Bo Bunny auditions, due in a couple of weeks. Last year I didn't know about it until it was too late and submitted a rush entry, but not this year, I'm working away on it and I'll post my entry here the end of this week! Very exciting, it would be so cool to be able to create for Bo Bunny!
And on another note, Scrapfest sign up is around the corner, my sister and I will be traveling to Minnesota again for our annual trip!! Can't wait to have some me time!!
I will also be posting my room re-do pics. This project started awhile back, but I've finally got my scrap space in order and I will be painting and doing some final touches this weekend. I love the color, it's like a light Tiffany Blue~ very calming (which I need during the day) yet very inspirational!!
I do love how I have everything organized now where I can find things and am able to pull out what I need at anytime!! I've also really gotten into Jewelry making lately, so I hope to post some of the new creations I've come up with using the Vintaj line, check it out here: http://vintaj.com! LOVE IT!!!
Stay tuned for more scrapping/jewelry making news!! The creative juices are flowing!!!
Nicki
Other exciting news... I'm going to be submitting another entry for the Bo Bunny auditions, due in a couple of weeks. Last year I didn't know about it until it was too late and submitted a rush entry, but not this year, I'm working away on it and I'll post my entry here the end of this week! Very exciting, it would be so cool to be able to create for Bo Bunny!
And on another note, Scrapfest sign up is around the corner, my sister and I will be traveling to Minnesota again for our annual trip!! Can't wait to have some me time!!
I will also be posting my room re-do pics. This project started awhile back, but I've finally got my scrap space in order and I will be painting and doing some final touches this weekend. I love the color, it's like a light Tiffany Blue~ very calming (which I need during the day) yet very inspirational!!
I do love how I have everything organized now where I can find things and am able to pull out what I need at anytime!! I've also really gotten into Jewelry making lately, so I hope to post some of the new creations I've come up with using the Vintaj line, check it out here: http://vintaj.com! LOVE IT!!!
Stay tuned for more scrapping/jewelry making news!! The creative juices are flowing!!!
Nicki
Monday, June 7, 2010
What I've been up to...
A whole lot! That's what!! It's been a crazy few months! In addition to my full time job, my little one turned 3 (Whahhhh!!), trained for a 5k and completed the race last weekend, training for another 5k in a couple of weeks, traveled to PA for work, older daughter graduated pre-school, swimming lessons for both kiddos this week and also preparing for a garage sale this weekend and a wedding. Pure craziness!! I don't think I have enough things going on right now!
Anyway, through all of that ciaos I have been able to do a few projects, I'm working on finishing up a baby book for a friend of mine and I did a special mother's day book for my mother-in-law. Thought I'd share the pics before I delete them for more important footage! With this little album I used a clear acrylic circle album and decorated it with pics, sticker, ribbons, jewels and rub-ons! So much fun and a perfect present for the grandma's that don't live very close!
Anyway, through all of that ciaos I have been able to do a few projects, I'm working on finishing up a baby book for a friend of mine and I did a special mother's day book for my mother-in-law. Thought I'd share the pics before I delete them for more important footage! With this little album I used a clear acrylic circle album and decorated it with pics, sticker, ribbons, jewels and rub-ons! So much fun and a perfect present for the grandma's that don't live very close!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Busy, Busy, Busy
It's been a crazy month around here! I've been busy with my day job which is a very good thing, but it leaves no time for fun and creating!! I did pick up some fabulous finds lately though at the local thrift shop~ I found an American Crafts idea book called Color your Memories, it has some perfect ideas for pages! Love it and only $.79 cents, can't beat that!! I've also signed up again for Weight Watchers, trying to get healthy and fit, and found a WW cookbook, again only $.79. I love this time of year, there are always great deals at the thrift shops, people are spring cleaning getting rid of their old junk (treasures to me)!! I should also be clearing out some stuff, I've decided to hold a garage sale in June again along with some neighbors, as we have done the past 2 years. Pretty successful sales in the past, so hopefully this year we'll be just as lucky!
I'm busy working on a baby album that will hopefully be wrapped up this weekend. I'll post the final pics once I'm done! It's so weird working on baby boy stuff! But there is such cute paper and baubles for boys also!
Anyway, trying to find some inspiration for Mother's Day gifts. What are you giving your mother's for Mother's Day?
Nicki
I'm busy working on a baby album that will hopefully be wrapped up this weekend. I'll post the final pics once I'm done! It's so weird working on baby boy stuff! But there is such cute paper and baubles for boys also!
Anyway, trying to find some inspiration for Mother's Day gifts. What are you giving your mother's for Mother's Day?
Nicki
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Happy Easter!
I'm spending Easter with my family today! Watching the "old" Alice and Wonderland the kiddos got from the Easter Bunny! Trying to stay away from the chocolate eggs!
Hope you're having a fabulous day!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Nicki
Hope you're having a fabulous day!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~
Nicki
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
For the love of oldies but goodies!
So last weekend, I hunkered down and completed some pages for a lady I scrapbook for. It's funny how I always seem to gravitate to newer things out on the market. I tend to do some more traditional scrapping for her, that's what she likes. Since I hadn't stamped in awhile, I was able to get some stamps out for a Halloween layout I did and I also used my beloved Souffle markers~ I love these so much! Not sure why I don't use these more often, there's so much you can do! On the Birthday layout I did, I just cut out some letters from the Cricut machine and used the markers to dress them up with some dots! I also used these recently on one of my own layouts to create faux stitching around the edge of my pages. So simple and it adds great dimension to the pages. Lastly on the other birthday layout, I used my new Sweet Treats Cricut cartridge for the Title and #3, it has some adorable images!
Here's what I used to create these pages:
My Minds Eye Patterned Cardstock Paper
Title: "Halloween Time" Cricut- Alphalicious Font
Bazzill- Orange Cardstock
Pumpkins & Boo- Little Yellow Bicycle- Trick or Treat Clear Cuts
Stamps: Stampendous & Studio G
Bazzill: Gold Cardstock
Words: Cricut- Alphalicious Font with Souffle Dots
Stickers: Making Memories
Yellow Leather Buttons: American Crafts
Rub-ons: Top Line Creations
Bazzill Cardstock: Cream
Patterned Paper: Close to My Heart
Title: Cricut- Sweet Treats Cartridge
Brads: Basic Grey
Hope you're creating something fun this week!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~ Nicki
Product of the week for me!~ Souffle 3-D Opaque Puffy Ink
Here's what I used to create these pages:
My Minds Eye Patterned Cardstock Paper
Title: "Halloween Time" Cricut- Alphalicious Font
Bazzill- Orange Cardstock
Pumpkins & Boo- Little Yellow Bicycle- Trick or Treat Clear Cuts
Stamps: Stampendous & Studio G
Bazzill: Gold Cardstock
Words: Cricut- Alphalicious Font with Souffle Dots
Stickers: Making Memories
Yellow Leather Buttons: American Crafts
Rub-ons: Top Line Creations
Bazzill Cardstock: Cream
Patterned Paper: Close to My Heart
Title: Cricut- Sweet Treats Cartridge
Brads: Basic Grey
Hope you're creating something fun this week!
Scrap it Swanky Sister~ Nicki
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