Washi Wednesday

Last week I was sitting at my desk totally uninspired but wanting to create. I had at least 30 min. before someone would need a butt wiped or a juice cup filled (it's reality people... and don't worry... I wash my hands first)... Then I looked over to see my tapes sitting all pretty and organized in the little rainbow rows I've arranged... and it hit me. Washi Wednesday! It's been forever! So I grabbed a couple of rows worth of colors and got to it.

Oh Washi Wednesday, I have missed you so...... 

Here's What I made....

I took some pictures along the way to show you how it came together.
First I tore a long piece of tape and then doubled it over so that it would stick to itself.
Next I cut the upside down v's.
Then arranged the pieces in the order I wanted on the page....

 You can see faint pencil lines I drew on cardstock to serve as guides for the banner placement.

Once I had enough tapes cut and arranged to fill the page I slid them off to the side out of the way (still in the order I want)....

Then I added one row at a time to the paper to be sewn on.

I used the tiniest dab of adhesive towards the top to keep them in place for my sewing machine....

Then I began adding the rest of the rows.
Sewing right on top of the row underneath as they overlapped....

Here's what it looked like before the photos and embellishments were added....

Then I searched for the perfect fun photos to match... (usually I do this in reverse. I start almost every layout with a photo first and then pull supplies accordingly.. but when you're stuck in a creative rut sometimes reversing your normal process works wonders! and the washi was calling to me.)

I found this photo booth strip of me and Hottie that I have been wanting to scrap forever and I must say I feel it's the perfect fit!

Then I dug into my stash for some layering options, sparkles, stamps, finishing touches.

Here it is again...

And here's to hoping that I can complete some Washi Wednesday posts more regularly in the future! God knows I have enough tape to post for the next year.

Color Me Rad

Last Saturday I ran the Color me Rad 5k with my sister in law, Amber. It was SO MUCH FUN! And FREEZING. It literally snowed (the tiniest bit, but still.) while we were running. brrrrr. These Cali girls almost froze their Wonder Woman socks off!

Here's us before.....

I'm tugging on my shirt... probably because I'm not used to working out in shirts that are so tight... and honestly I was wondering if I'd look fat in the photos and if this was my best angle.... then I switch it up and inform Hottie that if I look fat in these photos it will be all his fault.....

We laugh that we were both making these little shifts... hand here, leg here, hip there... to look as skinny as possible....

(side note: luckily I feel like we were looking prettttttty good. hard work paying off!)

Then after waiting around at the start and bopping to some rad tunes to keep warm(ish)(ok. not warm at all, we were freezing.) we started the run. 

Hottie and the rest of our crew were at a couple of the color stations....

How cute are we?! (I'll answer for you... we are super cute) With our Wonder Woman socks flapping in the wind and our matching hairdos.

Here's after....

We didn't get as bombed as I thought we would. and froze. and ran in the mud. and our kids got a bit tooooo cold. But. I love this stuff. I live for fun races like this. I couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear. I feel proud when my kids see me running in the crowd and crossing the finish line. It was super cool to have a running partner to complete the race with... and dress all matchy match and cute with. So glad Amber and her family made the drive from Virginia to do this with me.

It feels pretty cool that on any given day I can get up and run a 5k like it's no big thing....

(and a medical update: My niece is doing fine now. They left yesterday afternoon after staying an extra night to make sure she could travel safely. She's still not 100% but is getting rest and is breathing a lot better. Thank goodness for that. So glad they are in tune enough with her to realize there was a big problem and taking her to the hospital before things got really ugly. Parenting is rad.)

Party of 5. and a half.

Here is a throwback photo (wow, belly. Just. wow.) on a recent layout. 

While I was prego I just kept thinking how strange it was that we were about to be a family of 6. SIX! Yeah. We take up so much space at restaurants, ya'll. It's bananas. I still get totally weirded out when we load up the car to go somewhere or are walking around as a family. There are just SO many of us! haha, I'm a weirdo. Maybe one day I will get used to being a party of six.

On another note, I ran a really rad 5k this morning with my sister in law. It was so much fun and I have pictures to share so I'll do that soon. Sadly my little niece came down with croup overnight and they are with her in the hospital now (she's doing ok. just scary. and needing breathing treatments and observation.) so we have a house full of kiddos and only two adults..... lets hope they don't realize we are outnumbered. needless to say we have our hands full. ... and I can't stop worrying about poor Cambry.... isn't it the worst when the little ones are sick?

Black and White

I've been majorly crushing on black and white photos lately. Don't get me wrong, I love lots of bright, bold colors in my life. (You can often find me wearing blue or red or sometimes even bright green pants.. I am all in on that trend, even if I have no business wearing skinny jeans.) But when it comes to photos sometimes nothing compares to having the image stripped down....

I find black and white photos to be timeless. and sort of... I don't know how to explain it... quiet, maybe? They seem more still. more contained. softer. I really have no idea why they makes me feel those things but they do. In the past I've kept a bit of a lid on my editing for these images, it just seemed like overkill. Now I'm thinking I'll just go for it... I mean, I take so many photos anyway, might as well have some in my new favorite. 

Especially since they are inspiring some different kinds of layouts...

Originally I thought about doing this layout all in kraft. Or all in black and white. Then some gold and sparkles weasled their way in. What do you think? Have black and white been rocking your world lately?

Happy Oscars

It's the night of the Academy Awards and usually I get very excited to tune in and see all of the stunning gowns and red carpet fodder. The pageantry. The host (Seth Macfarlane is going to be a fantastic fit--- people will be shocked at how good he is... mark my words). The frazzled and eloquent acceptance speeches. But tonight I just pushed the record button on my DVR so I could take it all in at some later time, when I have time (so, next moth, probably. or never.). Also I'm spoiled by that thing and love to fast forward through award shows like nobodys business. (and also, Hottie could not be less into watching things like this so I spare him. I'm such a good wife.)

Anyway. File this under things you don't really care or need to know about. haha. Really the only reason I even brought up the Oscars is because I dressed my boy up in a bow tie. It seemed like fitting attire for such a black tie affair....... 

that, and he's already grown out of it so it was time to snap some pics.

Playing Favorites

Every once in a great while I get a serious surge of scrapbook mojo and I create a string of three or four layouts that I could not be more proud of. Sometimes they are out of the box for me. Sometimes they just sit right in the sweet spot. If I knew what caused this perfect storm of creativity I would most certainly bottle it up to take a swig daily. Alas, it only happens from time to time so I have to treasure those layouts when I can.

 This is my very favorite. By far.....

I cut strips out of all of my favorite Crate Paper, papers, and arranged them randomly around the page and things just sorta fell into place after that. Next I overlapped them randomly and then dusted off the sewing machine (what a difference making the time to sew on pages makes. they look so much more finished to me.). Next I threw on some of my favorite embellishments. Couldn't be happier with the results....

Things I learned in Virginia

Ok. So. A couple of weeks back we made the 6-ish hour trek to where Hottie's family lives in Virginia. We wanted to surprise his parents who were visiting there. It was fantastic. We were there for less than 48 hours, sadly. But still made the most of our trip and I'm so glad we went despite the snowy conditions on the roads.

Here's what I learned in Virginia....

I really miss these faces.

 I mean, I knew I missed them before the visit. But. This made my heart ache a little. We are so used to having them close by. It's bittersweet when we see them. It tugged at my heart a little when Evareaux's Grandma leaned into the car to hug her goodbye, tearing up. I hate goodbyes, they are the worst.

This is the cutest. sweetest. most laid back dog. ever. He'll always be the real Bolt in my mind. AND. I may or may not be actively making plans to steal him the next time I see him. If coveting dogs is wrong, I don't want to be right.

I LOVE running while it's snowing. I had no idea where I was going but I knew I needed to log 5 miles that day so.... I just went. And I swear I earned new wrinkles from smiling my fool head off for an hour straight.

Then I learned that Virginians apparently don't like sidewalks. Like, they have something against them, I guess. My options for safe running were fairly limited. So, Shel Silverstein, I have found it... Viriginia is where the sidewalk ends.

We are a crazy bunch of breeders. These are not even all of the cousins from Hottie's side of the family. We were missing four. These kids are just from two families worth..... (finally, after years, a cousin pic)