friday . . .

All I can say is sick, sick, sick . . . first it began with Nicholas, then Ryan, then Justin, then Ryan got better, then Nicholas got worse (double ear infection), then Justin got better, then mommy got sick :(  Everyone is better but mommy :(  I am tired, exhausted, but surviving.  Unfortunately Justin just had surgery (nothing serious) but he is unable to lift anything & is pretty much bedridden right now so he can't really help with the kiddos so no sick day(s) for mommy.  Just plugging through the runny nose, coughs, sore throat.  I have a mess of pics to share from the past few weeks - unfortunately I really struggled with my Halloween pics.  I just couldn't get any night shots - so many blurry pics.  Even though I took the class last month, I really need to review through everything & take some serious time to practice - oh to find the time . . . anyways - captions are below pics - enjoy :)





It looks like a crawl . . . just kidding Nicholas is still doing the army crawl - this is just for show :)





Yes, we are in the upright position - only on knees though :)





Side by side, my two little men :)





Seriously - could you ever resist this face :)





Spooky cookie graveyard making & spooky faces :)





Snow in October - say what???





First time exploring the inside of a pumpkin :)  And yes, he tried really hard to eat the seeds but mommy said no :)





Our pumpkin collection - I did the "Boo" one :)





Pre-trick-or-treating snuggles :)





Nicholas investigating his cousin :)





Is it bedtime yet???





Batman - ready for action :)





The only decent pic of my "little bat" - the quality, not so good, cuteness factor, fabulous :)





In all fairness this is not my husband's costume - it's mine :)  I stayed up until 3 am the night/morning before Halloween to make my flower costume.  A wood ring, cardboard, and some Jillibean Soup patterned paper along with a lime green sweatshirt for the stem/leaves.  I didn't get a pic of me but my husband did try it out so I snapped one of him :)





Ryan got this adorable monster hat from his Aunt & Uncle for Halloween - just had to catch some shots of him in it.  He was doing a "monster" pose, but it looks more like John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever.


Now, on to the scrappy front :)  I was asked to create a sketch and sample for a special challenge over at Citrus Tree Studio.  This is my second year doing this for them  - the owner Cindy is super sweet & I was given an adorable kit full of papers & embellishments from the Three Bugs in A Rug Collection Deck the Halls to work with.  Here is the sketch I created . . .




And the layout I came up with using the fabulous November CTS kit . . . 





And a card using the kit as well . . . 





Interested in playing along????  Here are the details . . .


Contest runs from November 1st through November 30th at Midnight (Eastern).  Each participant (registered member) should create a layout and card using the contest sketch and upload both to the "Sketch Contest" area of the CTS Gallery for a chance to win the Crate Paper 12 x 12 "Peppermint" Collection.  A separate (new) set of creations may also be entered for the Sketch Contest being held on the CTS Facebook page for a chance at January 2012's guest designer spot!!


Please note:  One entry per participant for each Sketch Contest and the same creation cannot be used for both contests.


For more information head on over HERE!!!  Hope to see some of you play along!!!!


ttyl - julie :)

wednesday . . .

I put on my old royal blue one-piece and climbed into a tub of bubbles with this one . . .

why??  Fear of water, no real rhyme or reason to it - but that's kids - right?? Out of the blue - what works, just doesn't anymore.  He LOVED the tub, I mean L-O-V-E-D it, but now he will claw at me like I'm about to drop him into a pit of lava.  I've tried everything, I mean everything, but in the end sitting with mommy in the bubbles was exactly what he wanted :)

Mommyhood is consuming these days, full of good & bad & everything in between - at the end of the day I am exhausted but amidst the tiredness I feel lucky & blessed and can't imagine not having these two in my life . . . 

Don't you just want to squeeze their cheeks :)


I have lots of scrapping to share - so much in fact I will not overload you with all of it in one post.  Today - Jillibean Soup - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!!!





Little crazy with the stitching - but I love sewing . . . on paper that is :)  Oh & that brown JB button - did you know I have a slight addiction to buttons - love 'em.  I have 15 mason jars full & an entire drawer full - I may need an intervention :)










Just love how these punched leaves turned out with a bit of pen definition & of course some splatters of mist in the background :)








Now this one tugs at my heartstrings a bit - love this photo . . .








A close-up of the journaling & the quote that inspired the whole layout . . .





Here is the sketch I created based on the layout - feel free to join in this month's challenge - we'd love to have you!!!  Check out all the details HERE.





And yes - a few cards . . . they are always a challenge for me but I am really starting to enjoy creating them :)





Hope everyone is well out there & thanks so much for continuing to read my blog even though I've been such a slacker in the blogging department :)  
ttyl - julie :)

monday . . .

Seriously - bad blogger award over here - I mean nearly a month since my last post???  What have I been up to . . . well mostly taking care of these 2 :)





Oh and a bit of household reorganizing, a redesign of my scraproom (just beginning this process but super excited!!), a photography class, a web design class, and losing a bit more of this baby weight (only 12 pounds left to go - total weight loss to date, 71 pounds, yes I gained 83 pounds with this pregnancy - let's not talk about it - hah!!).  Anyways - I haven't been doing as much scrapping as I would like but I know everything will fall into place soon enough.  So excited for the chilly weather & the holidays heading this way!!!  Anyone else experiencing any chilly fall weather????


Although I have lots of past projects that I still need to share here - I thought today I'd focus on a fabulous opportunity I was given by My Little Shoebox to be there guest blogger this past Friday.  I used their adorable Playtime collection & came up with this . . .





I thought the Playtime cardstock stickers were super cute & used them to embellish both circle elements on the page.  In this close-up you can see both the sun & cloud stickers.  To add some texture, I decided to emboss the clouds using my Cuttlebug & Swiss Dots embossing folder.  By adhering the sticker to some cardstock beforehand it ran through the Cuttlebug super easy!!





Although I love pre-made embellishments, it is always fun (and economical) to create your own.  In the close-up below I took one of the elements from the Playtime Daydream paper and cut it into a ribbon pennant shape.  Then I simply added a toothpick adhered with some glue dots behind & voila - instant embellishment!!





Oh & of course, a sketch to get your creative juices flowing :)







My Little Shoebox will be running a challenge with this sketch - head HERE to find out all the details so you can play along!!!


Be back soon with more (promise not to wait a month) - hope everyone is doing well out there!!!


ttyl - julie :)

tuesday . . .

Alrighty - sketches galore everyone!!!!

Earlier this summer I was asked by Cheri of Let's Scrap if I might share a sketch for their September challenge. She's an absolute sweetheart & many of my past members of 52 Sketches 52 Weeks participate in her site so I am always happy to create a sketch for them :) Here's what I came up with (yes - a 2 pager!!) . . .

Head over to Let's Scrap to find out all the details of the challenge & info on the great prize being given away :)

My monthly sketch for SEI is up as well - check out this month's sketch . . .

Here is what I came up with using the new SEI Holiday Cheer line . . .

Love these adorable die-cut trees and the cute snow globes in this line . . .

Check out all the details HERE :)

My final sketch share is for an online store called Cord Camera & Scrapbook Studio. They, in conjunction with Jillibean Soup, are running a challenge on the Cord Scrapbook Studio Blog this week. All you need to do is break out your JB stash & create a layout using this sketch . . .

Here's what I came up with using some Christmas Eve Chowder goodies . . .

And a quick close-up of these JB chipboard and sticker alphas - love 'em!!!

Make sure to upload YOUR layout to the Cord Camera Facebook page for a chance at winning an AMAZING fat pack (one of each of the new Jillibean Soup papers) - WOWZERS - how awesome is that???

Enjoy the sketches & be back soon to share pics of Ryan's first day of school tomorrow :)

ttyl - julie :)

thursday . . .

From freya-art.com

Have I mentioned I LOVE Pinterest??? This quote is definitely ending up on a layout soon - the longest title ever for sure - but worth it - so sweet :) Speaking of "new to the world" . . . Nicholas is growing, growing, growing - check out this 7 1/2 month old . . .

Oh the hair - his crazy, adorable hair . . .

And two little teeth coming in :)

And the pouty faces . . .

Just can't get enough of this little sweetheart :) And my other sweetheart . . . growing up too fast - wanting so much to be a "big boy" or "man" as he likes to say . . .

And in LOVE with superheroes - I mean seriously - obsessed . . . here's the Spiderman dance in action . . .

And just to show you how fast in all goes . . . from just a wee little one to Mr. All Grown Up . . check this out . . .

It both warms & breaks my heart to see this - I can't believe this was just 2 years ago :(

Anyone seeing signs of fall in your neck of the woods???? We've had some visitors :)

Looking for some Fall inspiration/ideas???? Check out my Pinterest board HERE - can't wait to try some of these :)

Haven't been doing as much scrapping as I'd like to recently - life has just been so busy . . . hoping some more time will free up when Ryan is back in school & we are all back into some sort of regular routine. I do have my Jillibean Soup projects from last month to share - seriously some of my favorites to date :) The first 3 traveled to CHA . . the layout was something I created inspired by this layout of Davinie Fiero.

This paper-folded design was so much fun & in person added such a cool dimension to the layout - I definitely recommend trying this one out :)

And tags of course - these are NEW products by JB Soup - the kraft tags come in 3 sizes & they are awesome!! I stitched like a crazy women in this layout & yes - even on these little tags :)

A few cards featuring the Homemade 6 Bean Soup as well . . .

And finally a layout just shared today on the blog for Maya Road week - this one a fun mix of JB Soup & Maya Road goodies!!!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those Maya Road wooden buttons!!

See that JB Soup kraft folder peeking out :) And of course, all the fun JB Soup stickers & die-cuts, can't layer up enough of them :)

Has anyone noticed there has been a ridiculous amount of Manufacturer DT calls this summer - I have & I have been so very tempted to try out. But I didn't apply - not for one - I mean I wanted to - don't get me wrong - but there are also so many other things I want to do & try - some scrappy, some not. So I decided to see what I might experience/accomplish/try if I didn't have so many deadlines . . .

First up . . . figure out my camera - it is sinful really - I have had this great camera for almost 2 years now & am barely out of auto :( So I signed up for this which starts in just a few days . . .

SUPER EXCITED!!!!

Oh and later this month . . . venturing into the blog design world a bit with a blog design class here . . .

I'll keep you posted :)

Hope you are all doing well & be back soon - promise :)

ttyl - julie :)