Burried in pink with no time

This Sunday we're holding my littlest baby's 1st birthday party. It's Wednesday and I have just about everything to do. Again the curse of being creative is that everything must be handmade. So on my wishlist to complete is a Happy Birthday banner, party favor pillow boxes, a 2-page layout featuring pictures from her first year of life, and some other miscellaneous things that are still in the designing phase deep within my mind. How much you want to bet I don't get those done?

Whoops, gotta run, forgot I left water boiling on the stove. Know that I will post pictures of whatever is created here soon.

Wish me luck! I feel like I end most of my posts with that statement. :)

My baby's not a baby anymore!

Today Hannah attended her first day of school. It's a pre-school program offered through the city. We barely got her into this session because it's considered mid-year. All of the parents that have had their kids enrolled since Fall have priority registration. So enough kids must not have returned and I got in line just in time to snag the last spot.

The stress of getting there this morning took all possible emotional, sentimental feelings about my oldest baby going off to school away. And we were doing so good. I had her backpack packed, emergency contact forms all filled out, and her sharing item ready to go. Her clothes were on, her hair done, breakfast eaten and teeth brushed. Makaela and I were dressed as well. We got in the car with 25 minutes to spare. I was on a roll.

And then ...

(1) road construction -- the kind where you sit on one end

with a traffic guy holding up the stop sign. And you sit and watch a long line of cars slowly snake their way through. And you grip the steering wheel tighter and tighter, hoping and praying each car in the string is the last one, so your traffic guy can radio to the other side that he's sending his line through. Because you have a toddler you have to get to school for her first day darn it all (insert other word for real version).

(2) we finally arrive to the site only to find her school is locked within a gated community and I don't have the gate code. And there's no sign indicating the code. I scrolled through the list of names very quickly and didn't see anything that looked like what I needed. And I find I left all informational paperwork at home on the kitchen table. Why would I need it right?

(3) I have no cell phone reception where this place is. So I can't look on the web to find the code or the director's phone number.

(4) I have to drive 2 miles away before my cell phone will hold a signal long enough to make a call. I finally get through and get the code.

(5) we get inside the community and are looking for the building. I see one with the playground and it matches the address so we stop and I get both girls out of their seats. Only to find ... you guessed it ... this is not the right building. So I throw Makaela back in her seat. Get Hannah into the front seat, fasten her seatbelt, and pull a Britney Spears. I don't have time to get her tightened up in her own seat again only to get her out 30 seconds later.

We finally made it, but I swear, if I was ever going to have a heart attack, today would have been the day. Her FIRST day of school and we got there 20 minutes late. Terrible!!!! I am sure I am not the first parent to have had this problem. I swear I read through all the paperwork multiple times and didn't see anything about a code. Wouldn't you know, when I got home and re-read the paperwork, there it was. The gate code! Arghhhh! Tell me this happens to other people. I feel like this was such a typical day for me. Sometimes I think that God just likes to have a little fun with me. Throw me a few obstacles. Nothing too serious. Just enough to get my blood pressure up. I don't really thing He does that, but I am sure it's entertaining to watch me freak out.

Anyways, Hannah had a great time. They seem to do a lot in only two hours. She shared her cymbals (she just had to bring them). I am sure the teachers loved that! Did some artwork. Had a snack. Played on the playground. And even danced. I think my initial concerns of her making friends, her being nice to others, others being nice to her, the teachers paying enough attention to her have been alleviated. Phew!!!!

So we'll see how Thursday goes. At least I know the darn (insert other word for real version) code now. :)

Berry Good Friends

Here's a picture of a layout I did for SGT. I took the girls and met up with our friends at the Cal Poly Pomona strawberry patch last month. I had no idea you could pick your own strawberries. It was such a great experience. And the strawberries were delicious. They were so good that a few days later we went back to pick some more. Then we dipped them in chocolate. So good!

The paper used is Bella Blvd's "Swing Into Spring". I drooled over this company when we were at CHA this past Winter. Their lines all coordinate with each other. This layout is probably one of the funkiest I have ever done and yet one of the simpler ones. I dry brushed some red acrylic paint onto both pieces of background cardstock. Then I cut 2x12" strips of patterned paper out. I overlapped them and adhered them to the cardstock. Then I randomly adhered my photos to the page. Stamped the Remember This with white ink onto red cardstock. Placed a button in the center for some added dimension. While I had the buttons out, I scattered a few on my layout. To get the white lines, I painted an edge of scrap acetate with white paint and "stamped" it onto my layout. Then I took my white gel pen and journaled away. So simple!!!! The title was made with a little help from my computer. My Silhouette cut out BERRY. Then I used Word to create the "out with some" and "good friends". I applied some black Stickles to BERRY to give it a strawberry look and viola! Done!

I really enjoyed going out of my comfort zone and experimenting with acrylic paint. It wasn't as messy, or difficult, or time consuming as I had previously thought.

It's still Easter in these parts!

Well I know Easter is far behind us now, but I am just getting around to posting some pictures. So bear with me. These are the girls' baskets. Wouldn't you know I spend all that time trying to make Hannah's purple (her favorite color) and she runs for the pink one. Guess I was unsuccessful in my purple endeavor.

Here's Hannah's tag. On the back is a note from the Easter Bunny - telling her to be good for her mommy and daddy.


And Makaela's tag. Again with the note on the back.

And the family picture. No, we're not all angry people. It was just very bright and I was being too stubborn about my photo location. One of these years I will get these family pictures right.

So I hope to soon be posting some pictures of projects I am working on for Scrappin Good Times. Speaking of which, they just put out a ton of new product. There's lots of good stuff to be had.

There's also a little matter of my baby's first birthday coming up in a couple of weeks. That will keep me busy. Gotta get crafty on some party favors. I was a bad mommy and sent out an eVite instead of making invitations. I just ran out of time. So I will have to mock one up for her scrapbook.

OK I am off and running again.

Happy Easter!

I'm wishing you and your a very Happy Easter!!!

I am still in Easter Bunny mode as I try to assemble two Easter baskets. The curse of a scrapbooker (or probably any crafter for that matter) is that you can't just shove a little grass in, top it with some goodies and be done. Oh no! I am trying to persuade my Silhouette to cut several different flowers in various sizes so that I can adhere them to the side of Hannah's basket. Her favorite color is purple and Michael's didn't have any purple baskets. So she got a normal basket and Mommy (aka Easter Bunny) is on a mission to make the darn thing purple.

Then once that's all done, tags need to be made for the baskets. Again, no small task. Gotta have layers and inking, and bling and flowers and more. I think it'll be a real late one tonight. I am now very happy we went to Church this evening.

I hope it's a wonderful day for all of you tomorrow. I am going to try my hardest to just enjoy the girls enjoying themselves. So what if there hair is all messed up in my pictures. Or if they're still in their PJ's during the hunt. Whatever right?

Pat Pat - Updated

That's me reaching around to pat myself on the back. It's not too often that I get REALLY excited about a project I create, but these little guys have me feeling pretty good. I have updated this post to list the colors of alcohol inks I used on each egg. These colors are to the best of my memory as I did not take notes as I created. The key to this look is the Blending Solution. This is what allows all the colors to mix together to make such pretty patterns. My method was to take a felt pad, add a couple drops of alcohol ink, add a drop of blending solution and dab all over the egg. Then I would get a new pad and do the same with a different color. I never mixed my colors on one felt pad. You really just have to work with it. The Blending Solution can lighten colors as well as remove them.


Here are some detailed pictures of each egg. I colored them with my Ranger Adirondak Alcohol Inks. Just place some drops of various color inks on a felt pad, add some Blending Solution, and "sponge" away on the egg until you reach the look you're going for. It's fairly simple. Clean it is not though. My fingers were stained some pretty funky shades for a day.

Then you just embellish to you heart's content. Here I glued some trim around the egg and topped with some flowers and a crystal. (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Lettuce, Meadow, Raisin, Butterscotch, and Stream)


A closer look at those flowers.




This one just got some sheer ribbon and a strand of sequins. Can you see the gold in that egg. I used some Gold Mixative (also from Ranger). (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Gold Mixatives, Stream, Lettuce, and Meadow)



Believe it or not, this egg was my least favorite til the end. I glued some Prima flowers around the middle and topped each flower with a teeny little butterfly. The butterflies have a dot of Stickles on them. (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Wild Plum, Stream, Stone Washed, and Butterscotch)

For some reason, this egg makes me smile. I feel like it's dressed in a skirt and bonnet. (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Butterscotch only)

Top view of the flower. I used placed a large blob of Perfect Pearls into the center of the flower and set a crystal on top. Waited a bit for it to dry and viola!

Some ribbon, ric-rac, and a crystal flower to dress this guy up. (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Wild Plum, Red Pepper, Butterscotch, and Cranberry - I think)

I think this one is my favorite and the picture doesn't do it complete justice. He is dressed up with some Making Memories ribbon and topped with a QK die cut flower from patterned paper which is then topped with a Prima flower and crystal. (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Raisin, Lettuce, and Butterscotch).

Top view.

Still not totally sure about this guy. I created a swirl out of crystals and dots of Stickles. (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Wild Plum, Stone Washed, Bottle, and Butterscotch).

For this one, I just tied a piece of ribbon into a knot and glued to the top. Then I sporadically placed crystals all over the body. (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Lettuce, Stream, and Raisin).

I had the hardest time standing this one up its photograph. The charm and button make it a little side heavy and it kept taking a dive on me. (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Wild Plum, Butterscotch, Stream, and Lettuce).

I like this one a lot too. There's 4 mini butterflies randomly placed on the upper half of the egg. Then two Making Memories flowers are layered with a larger butterfly resting on top. I used Perfect Pearls to add a little something to the bodies of all butterflies. (Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink colors used: Butterscotch and Red Pepper).

I actually busted out my glue gun for this project and used it for almost everything. It dries so quickly and doesn't harm the egg.

I hope you enjoy these and perhaps get inspired to try the alcohol inks. They are really neat and the possibilities are endless.

Finally!

So I am finally digging out the Easter decorations and much to my dismay, we don't have that many. A few little hanging plaque like things that say "WELCOME" or "Spring" but certainly not enough to make you think it's actually Easter if you walked into my house. I think I have a date with my Silhouette tonight. Nothing like decorating the house 4 days before the holiday. Guess that means it will be Easter in my home until at least May. :)


In keeping with Easter preparations, Hannah and I just finished some egg coloring. She was SO much better this year than last year. Definitely more careful which is a wonderful thing. So far, no broken eggs and no spilled cups of color. My hairstylist friend told me last night that she can't say dye, even though that's the proper term to use with Easter eggs. It's because "you don't dye someone's hair, you color it." I think she passed her complex onto me, because notice Hannah and I "colored" eggs.


So here's a picture of my little girl who is growing up WAY too fast and her masterpieces. More egg coloring to be done tonight when Daddy gets home.

And check back either tonight or tomorrow for an Easter project I am so excited to share with you. I am pretty happy with myself and that doesn't happen too often. Just need to find some spare minutes to add some finishing touches and then snap a few pictures.

Also, I found out what was wrong with my blog or should I say computer. Somehow I had managed to expand the font size on my web browser so anything I was looking at was much bigger than I am used to. This explains why no one else saw the problem. All is well again.

Hmmmm ...

Does my blog look weird to you all? Like the font is a little larger? I was playing around with trying to add a new background (it didn't work) and now, when I am looking at my blog, everything looks enlarged by quite a bit. It's not the worst thing in the world. Will be better on my eyes. But I have no idea how this happened. I deleted all the coding I entered into spaces so my settings should all be as they were before and yet things are bigger. Hopefully it didn't screw up what you guys see. I am guessing it didn't because I am noticing the same thing when I look at anyone else's page that is a blogspot.com blog. Let me know if I jacked it up though.

Good night!