Layout #251

Snow Day

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper & Chipboard: Cosmo Cricut; Jounarling Strips: Dymo

Layout #250

I've done it! I've met my goal for 2010. I have finally completed 100 more layouts. And I am only 6 months behind schedule! Which would mean I need to do a layout every 2 days in order to complete my goal of 100 layouts per year. As if. I enjoy my summers too much to stay inside & scrapbook. I'm waiting for my in-laws to show up for dinner which is the only reason I am inside blogging. It is beautiful out today. We went to the spray park & had lunch outside. So 100 more layouts is too many. I need to rethink my 100 layouts a year goal: How many do you think is reasonable?

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd & Reminisce; DieCuts & Stickers: Bella Blvd; Rub-Ons: Moxie; Wooden Tags: Chatterbox; Alphabet Stickers: Cosmo Cricut; Canvas Letters: Prima Marketing.

Layout #249

 

That's How She Rolls

I made the little flower embellishments on this page!!! Ok, truth be told Jen made one and I made the other two with her help. It was kind of neat to make something, I am so pro convenience that I usually just buy what I need already made. These turned out too cute. Thanks Jen!

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper & Stickers: Girls Paperie; Brads: Making Memories; Journaling Spot: Jillibean Soup; Other: Twine and felt.

Layout #248

1 Red Dress

More pictures from Molly's 1st Birthday. So cute right? I had to buy Valentines Day paper because it was the only stuff girly enough that had red in it. I love red, but it's hard to find in scrapbooking supplies. 

Materials: Patterned Paper: My Minds Eye & BoBunny Designs; Stickers: BoBunny; Alphabet Stickers: Scenic Route; Lace: Creative Impressions (I think).

Layout #247

Molly

I am done scrapbooking Molly's 1st Birthday! I'm not even done Miles' 1st Birthday (Yeah, yeah, I took too many pictures). It makes me happy that she will have a completed album someday. I've done 247 layouts in 5 years. That pretty much one layout a week....and at the rate I take pictures, I think that's pretty achievable.

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper & Die Cuts: My Minds Eye; Brads, Rub-Ons & Fuzzy Flowers: Making Memories; Alphabet Stickers: Scrapworks.

Layout #246

Little Bow

We missed out on what was going to be an 'annual' camping trip this year. It seems like just happens, and everyone was so busy. Maybe next year. In the meantime, I enjoyed scrapbooking the highlights of our multi-family trip to Little Bow last year. I love the pictures of Miles digging into his 'Worms & Dirt'. He sure did love that, I need to get that recipe from Kacey (If you're reading this, send it to me. Heeheehee). We've been out camping twice & I am really excited to get out again. 

Materials: Patterned Paper, Sticker & Chipboard: October Afternoon.

Layout #245

Camping Pros 

This is the only page I am going to post today that was actually not taken directly from a sketch. A friend of mine (Thanks Jen!) gave me these great sketches (about 100 of them) so I plan on using them to scrapbook for the next well, 100 layouts... I was so happy to have completed 7 layouts this weekend...there might be something to this whole 'sketch' way of scrapbooking. I am all over it.

Materials: Patterned Paper & Stickers: American Crafts: Journaling Spot: Reminisce; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts; Vellum Pocket: Colorbok; Page Extension: Close To My Heart.

Layout #244

Spring

Um, I love Mollys beautiful little Easter Dress (My mom picked it up in the States). It was something different than the usual spring colors but it suited her. She was just a tiny little baby last Easter and she was drowning in her 0-3 mos. dress. I got to use a flourish from my new Cricut cartridge (I now own eight!) Straight From The Nest. I bought it & Create a Critter on my trip to Washington for just $35!

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Stickers: Making Memories; Flower: Pink Paislee; Flair: American Crafts; Flourish: Cricut.

Layout #243

Egg Hunt by Haley Ross

I haven't been scrapbooking much. I've only done 3 layouts in the past two weeks....better than nothing. My Easter pictures were all over exposed this year....they look terrible. I had been messing around with my camera and when Brian took all the pictures it was still on the settings I had been playing with. It's hard to scrapbook bad pictures.

Materials: Cardstock & Just The Edge Strips: Bazzill Basics; Rub-Ons: Making Memories: Stickers: Jolees by You & Scenic Route; Ribbon: American Crafts; Other: Tags.

Owl Done!

Well, I finished my little owl first thing this morning before my kids were up. Here he is, sitting in Molly's window, he's totally cute right? I can't wait to make one with Sammy when she gets here in 4 more sleeps! I would recommend this project for teaching someone to stitch. It's quick (took me about 3 hours), easy & cheap (so if it's not for them, no harm done!). Here's the breakdown:

4 x Embroidery Floss

3 Sheets of Felt

A small bag of Polyfil

Approximate Total Cost $7.42

(And you have a small bag of polyfil left over)

I machine stitched the breast plate and edges on but you could hand stitch them if you felt inclined! So the only tools you really need are a needle & scissors.

Sunday Mornings & Evenings

I love having people over for meals, it's a great excuse to set a pretty table. I spend a lot of time in my kitchen but it isn't a chef's kitchen my any measure. My kitchen is a mish-mash of things I've collected over the years, things that don't match & things that are, well, useful (no matter how ugly). I recently replaced my drinking glasses with these recycled glass ones from Starbucks. Brian was complaining that there were too many small glasses, so naturally he loves the new ones. I know they aren't something that need to be 'replaced', but our needs change & I can justify adding new glasses as long as I get rid of the old ones....

 Extra crispy bacon. Who doesn't love bacon? Even the vegans I know say they miss bacon.

 Springy cloth napkins in napkin rings. Pretty.

A big plate full of waffles (there were two).

Breakfast was great & we were so full we skipped lunch!

 Tonight I started a stitching project from a book I bought a while ago. I love this book. It's so easy (I mean, really very easy), has great pictures, instructions & do-able projects. Tonight I decided to make a little felt stuffed owl for Molly. I'll walk you through the steps I took tonight (until I started going cross-eyed and decided to blog for a while).

I cut an owl out of felt. There are no patterns, but simple shapes like this are easy to freehand. It took me about 3 tries to get an owl I liked.

The owl on the left is the one I am making. So cute right??

 Machine sewed on the breast piece (also from a freehand pattern....turned out pretty good!).

Now I am busy stitching away to embellish the owl. I am about half way there but the lighting in my house is pitiful (as you can tell from my pictures) so I thought I should break.

Brian's cousin is coming to stay with us for three weeks. She arrives Friday & I thought I should have some little projects around for us to work on...just in case this rain doesn't let up! I hate teaching someone something I haven't done before, so this is my dry run. I think it's going to turn out great!

Hope everyone had a Happy Fathers Day. We sure did!

Bedtime Snack.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Tonight I made a small batch of Blueberry muffins...just the way I like them (pretty, non?). Most people would say I use too many blueberries. I probably do. In fact if I stir the batter too hard it turns blue. But if I am gentle & patient, they turn out beautifully. I bought a huge carton of blueberries at Costco the other day, my little family are practically fruititarians in the summer & they are almost gone. The best thing about summer is the produce (well right now I can hardly say the weather...). And sometimes, if I can get to them before they are gobbled up, I can make fresh muffins & they are the best way to end a summer day. Or even a dreary, rainy one.

Summer IS coming.

 Miles will play outside rain or shine. But it's just not the same trying to enjoy a homemade Popsicle in the rain. Last year Auntie Kendra went to Lego Land & got Miles (who has since become a little obsessed with Lego minifigures) this Popsicle tray. Because my blood pressure would sky rocket if I tried to let my kids have Popsicles inside, in our home, they are a summertime treat. Of course Grape Kool-Aid is a favourite, but so is Orange Juice, Banana Puree & Cranberry juice. So we just wanted to share our super cool Popsicle tray with you.



A Shoestring Where's Waldo Birthday Party

 I put my 'mom skills' to good use this week. Miles turned three, and while we don't do parties in our house, we do have family over for presents and dinner....and cake. So the night before Miles' birthday I was feeling a little guilty because I hadn't put together anything special for him. I was about to go downstairs and dig out last years Buzz Lightyear banner. On the way I stepped on a Where's Waldo book, which is not unusual, Miles is looking at those books daily. And that's where I got the idea for a Where's Waldo Birthday.

I got this image (above) from the Internet (On a scale of 1 - 10 how illegal is that?) and printed 6 large ones and 44 small ones. Then I found another image and made a little sign (below). I raided my Christmas linens for a stripped table runner & red napkins.

I cut the little images out & hot-glues them onto toothpicks (above). Then I made cupcakes (at 11pm) and stuck them on top.

 Miles already had a stripped shirt (a lucky hand-me-down from a friend) so all he needed was a hat. Here he is pictured below wearing the hat I knit for him that night. (Call me crazy.... it only took me until 1:30am!)

I stuck 6 Waldo figures (that I printed off the computer, about 6" tall) around the house (on the legs of tables, in closets....). Each time he found one, he got to open a gift! It was a great way to prolong a party with 6 gifts. It took us 45 minutes to open those presents! I bet he would have otherwise done it in 10!

....and the party wouldn't be complete without a Where's Waldo book....

Here is Miles with his new Radio Flyer scooter. I couldn't have planned the color-scheme better if I had tried. It will be perfect for scrapbooking later on.

I don't think I am full of 'original' ideas, but I am without a doubt creative. And I am so thankful for that when it is 11pm and I am feeling guilty about having nothing planned for my little 3 year-olds birthday. And the smile on his face made it worth every bit of effort. You CAN do a small party on a tight budget & without days of planning (although that's not why we don't do parties. I am a bit of a Hum-Bug and don't like throwing BIG parties that I don't get to fully enjoy, after years of throwing them at our store). Our family made the decision to keep parties small, but that doesn't mean they have to be boring.

Here's the breakdown for this party (2 kids, 5 adults):

Cupcakes $16

(I made buttercream icing from scratch or it would have been cheaper)

Dinner $14
(lasagna and salad) 

Red & White Decorations $5

(Dollarama)

I had the wool for the hat already & the supplies to print the Waldos.

TOTAL COST OF PARTY: $35

+ Presents from Monkey Mountain Toys & Games

June Bars

I found this recipe on a blog & can't remember which one, or even how I came upon it. So if you're reading this & thinking "She's ripping off other blogs." you are correct. I only get recipes from 2 places: Cookbooks & Blogs. I avoids online recipe sites, they are often unreliable & I end up wondering if anyone had even tested the recipe. With blogs, I feel like there's a greater chance that the blogger actually had success with the formula (or why post it?). So today when I came across these Chocolate & Peanut Butter Bars, and it happened to be raining I thought I'd give them a go. Miles was up for the task which is always fun.

I've renamed them June Bars. I do this. I rename recipes. Because I naturally associate them with a time, person or place anyway. Some of my favourite recipes are now referred to as "Marthas Cookies" (My friend Martha Klassen gave me the recipe), "Ryan Bars", "Oakmoor Salad", "Gondola Steak" (Which is actually made with Gorgonzola but that seemed too hard to say)... and now June Bars (Because it rains for the whole damn month & there's nothing else to do but bake).

(June Bars fresh from the oven. I cut them up into OVER-SIZED portions. Why not???)

1 cup butter (At room temperature is best)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup chunky peanut butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla

2 cups flour (I used whole wheat)

1 cup oats (I used 'quick')

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt (I use half-salt & it seems to work fine)

2 cups of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add butter, sugars and peanut butter into a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Add eggs & vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add flour, oats, baking soda and salt & beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread dough evenly into a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown & puffed all over. Remove from oven & cool. EAT.