One Mask, Two Ways

Have you ever found yourself spraying that ink you love so much (cough, cough, Mr. Huey's Limited Edition Neon) only to find your mask looking like this?.....

I just didn't have the heart (no pun intended.. but, hardy har har.) to let mine go to waist... So after spraying the foundation for this page....



I decided to grab a plain sheet of cardstock to lay on top of the inked mask to see what would happen...

It transferred! Almost perfectly! I had virtually no precious ink waste! (If you're laughing at me right now because you're thinking.. "duh, we all do that!.. you just figured this out?!"-- then keep it to yourself, will ya?) (Ok not really, you can totally rub it in if you thought of it first....) (If your'e thinking..."no way! I should have thought of that sooner, before I wasted all of my liquid gold!--- you're welcome...and better luck next time.) Isn't it funny how simple little product stretching techniques can totally make your day? --or am I just a total nerd? (don't answer that last one.)

Great Big Family Vacation

 It was a full house in Gatlinburg....

Get ready for vacation picture overload....

Man we did a lot. We also did a lot of nothing. Sitting around staring at each other in our gigantic cabin balanced with fun activities. I'll admit, vacationing with this many people is not easy. We have a wide age range and interest level, and budgets vary from family to family. But we pulled it off.... and managed to do some pretty cool stuff together. 

These things including: zip lining//tubing//white water rafting//go carts//super soaker bumper boats//the longest carnival rides known to man//spoons//board games//scrapbooking//celebrating national ice cream day all week long//1,001 trips to the grocery store//taking turns yelling at our kids//etc.

I may have even bungie jumped.....

...which was terrifying and thrilling at the same time. Strangely no one else wanted to take the plunge.

I also dominated at Yahtzee. Seriously folks.... I had two in one game and one in another... all with the number 3.... two of those yahtzees after only two rolls! I KNOW, crazy, right?! I should play the lotto. Of course I kept the scorecard... cuz I'm weird like that... and I totally plan on project life-ing it... but you can all appreciate that, am I right?

Gatlinburg

Still reeling over my happy American Crafts news.... and celebrating..... conveniently I'm on vacation with Hottie's side of the family, tucked away in a somewhat peaceful cabin in the mountains of Tennessee. Here's our view....

We're doing things like zip-lining and rafting and finding random swimming holes. So I'm snapping tons of photos and will share soon. Isn't it beautiful here?

A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes

My wish came true....

I MADE THE AMERICAN CRAFTS 2013-2014 DESIGN TEAM!!!!!!!!!

(Yes, I am shouting.) Isn't that EXCITING?!

I still feel the need to pinch myself! June 27th I wished for this as I blew out the candles on my birthday cake and a couple of weeks later it happened! It's surreal. It's impossible to convey just how excited or honored I feel to have been given this opportunity. It was a dream of mine to be on this team. I'm sort of stunned this is all really happening (and am over thinking every little thing. classic.) Now to get my hands on those American Crafts goodies so I can get to work!

Check out the full American Crafts post with links to all of the other amazing design team members here.

Pretty Much Killing It: Project Life Edition

Project Life. Still keeping up. Still loving it. Have you all seen the new releases from Becky Higgins? Mini kits, themed cards, special editions, oh my. I am going to spend a fortune. Oh well. I'm on track with the project and have shown no signs of slowing down... so might as well keep up the pace!

Feast your eyes on these bad boys....

9 Months

9 Months in.....

 9 Months out....

This is one of my favorite baby ages. They are big enough to get around a little, to show a bit of personality, to sit and play for periods of time, to sleep well and follow a schedule... but not old enough to cause any real problems! I love my little man and still feel very lucky to be spending every day with him.

and just cuz I'm that kind of Mom here is an outtake. 

sorry future Dezmond, they can't all be winners!

Best Week Ever

Ok, so maybe best week ever is an overstatement. But I have to tell you, it was pretty great. Hottie gave me the most thoughtful bday gift..... a week long summer camp session for Nakiah and Evareaux. Aidan is at his Mom's in California for a bit so M-F from 830-3 it was just me, the babe, and the pup. Heaven.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my kids and all.... but it was nice to have a break! And get to do whatever I wanted to do! (sort of.) which it turns out is scrapbooking....(shocking?)..... I was a machine, pumping out page after page. ahhhh. so awesome.

Here's one I made. I've had these photos printed out forever (2 years!) and could never dream up a layout to do them justice. Today I just said, screw it! I've got an hour, I'm putting something down!

Soooooo awesome to spend uninterrupted time doing things like this. When he told me about my gift he said, "I just wanted to give you something that you always dream of having, that I wish I could give you more... time." I teared up. Here he was thinking I wouldn't even consider it a gift since it's something for them to do, not me. There I am thinking he could not have given me a more fitting gift. (I'm totally scheming to try to think of another way to sign them up for more camps.) 

Not sure I really used the week that wisely. But I scrapped a lot. Cleaned very little. Visited Peddlers Mall. Had breakfast in bed. Slept until 9 am one day (totally sleeping in). Showered... so basically all the things I normally only dream of doing. Now, whens vacation?

Puppies First Layout

Can't stop admiring Mr. Snicklefritz McGee... and taking a zillion photos (too many on my phone and not enough on my real camera. Note to self: photo shoot!) I just know that he will be big in a flash and we'll want to reflect back on these days when he was small and clumsy and silly. He's already gotten so much bigger!

I also decided to dedicate a couple of layouts to him already. Why not? He is sort of a family member, after all. Here's one....

So far he is a really great pup. He sleeps through the night without any problems... is relitively quiet during the day (except when we have company)... goes potty outside (mostly. #2, at least. tmi?)... doesn't mind spending time in his crate..... 

the big things we are trying to work on are no #1 accidents inside, and nipping/biting the kids. To be honest the nipping bothers me more. I know he's just being a puppy and is playing but I am worried this could continue for too long and be a problem down the road. Plus, the kids get really bummed out when he does it over and over and they can't seem to stop him. I can't always be there to intervene... I know it will all work out because we are working daily to make these things better and will talk to the vet to make sure we are on the right track. It all takes time and patience. In the mean time, who wouldn't fall in love with this face?!

American Crafts Dreams

Every year I try out for the American Crafts design team. Every year I fail to make it... (still hoping this is my year!... but, it's probably not since they said they would let the team know in early July and announce soon after)... I'm guessing I failed to make the cut. again.

But you know what? That's ok. I always say in life you never know unless you try, and sometimes you have to try, try again. AC is quite possibly my all time favorite scrapbook manufacturer. Certainly so, considering that they actually also now own Crate Paper, Studio Calico (the products, not the kits), & Pebbles Inc. If you follow this blog you know that these are my go to's. Anyway.

I've talked over and over about my love for American Crafts. But what I haven't talked about is how I try out for this team each and every year.... So I started this about 4 years ago, I think, maybe 3. (Ok, so not that many years, really.) 

I tried out because shortly after I began submitting my pages they were picked up for publications & it dawned on me.... hey, I love scrapbooking... someone likes my work enough to put it in their magazine.... maybe I should see where I can take this (this is a whole other tangent and it deserves it's own post... suffice it to say that I have NO idea how to go about marketing myself or growing my blog or getting the attention of manufacturers. I am just a silly girl with a big dream in the sea of scrapbook, clinging to a life vest.)

Now here is the reason I am writing about this... I'm going to level with you.... people will tell you not to go for the big design teams. They will tell you to start small and work with what you get. I say, why not try for both? Maybe you don't think your work is good enough or you don't have enough followers or a strong blog or that you won't make it, so why bother.... well I say that's bull. If it means something to you then go for it (but by all means don't chase AC cuz I don't really need more competition.) (haha, but. seriously.)

Last May I had the honor of being the guest designer for American Crafts. I was over the moon. They sent me this big box full of Amy Tangerine goodies and I almost died, right there on the spot. (& then someone would have had to pry them from my cold dead hands. too dark?) I vowed then that even knowing this is the Moby Dick of the industry I will go fishing each year. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll catch a whopper. 

Heres this years projects.....

I have no idea if it is even couth to post these.... like I said, I am clinging to a dingy.... I know nothing... but I do know you can't get it if you don't try. Do I think I am even really capable of ever making this team? Probably not. But that's ok, because I have lots of fishing gear (I mean, metaphorically, at least.)

Happy Fourth of July

Last years fourth was one of the worst holidays I've ever had, for a variety of reasons. To make a long story short I was 7 months pregnant, Hottie worked a 26 hour day, I attempted to take the kids the the parade and shenanigans downtown in 107 degree weather alone (Cuz sometimes I am under the false impression that I am in fact Wonder Woman.). It. Was. Terrible.

But you wouldn't be able to tell by the photos because these kids are troopers, and if there is icees involved they will endure just about anything.... and forget it before the ice melts...

I, on the other hand, have this holiday trauma forever engrained in my brain. So this year I was determined to make it better. I talked my sis in law into making a trip here from VA to see us. (using the puppy as bait. hahahaha, insert evil laugh here) We don't really have much planned and it is supposed to rain on and off here all day which will possibly cancel the fireworks.... but I have no doubt that having family in town will make it great.... or at least better than last year. (Isn't it awesome when expectations are nice and low? no pressure, whatsoever.)