you adore him

It has been "one of those weeks" and after Joe and Maribel went to bed I headed straight to my scraproom and closed the door. Those two tucker me right out most days so it was nice to get a little me time in. I needed to create a page for my challenge for this weekend's online crop at Skrap n' Chat. We're celebrating National Scrapbooking Day with a lot of fun and creativity starting tonight at 5pm AST and will run all weekend long!

So here's the full layout I put together until after 3am this morning. Gotta love those late night urges and of course those deadlines that pop up might have something to do with it too.

These two are my shadows. M follows me around everywhere I go and the same goes with her little orange furball. I swear these two were paired up in a previous life because there is nothing that Maribel could do to this cat that would make him break this kinship. Just the other day I came home late from a meeting and Milo greeted me as always and when I sniffed his fur (yes I sniff my cats often, don't laugh) I noticed he was smelling...um...unusually fresh. Like baby powder scented fresh. Come to find out that Maribel had dumped an entire bottle of baby powder all over her cat, her bed, her couch, her floor, her princess castle, and herself. Aye ya yi!

 I've been playing around with my clay stash and thought how fun it would be to make my own embellishments. I made the heart shown above, the mushroom and the button in the bottom  left corner and painted them for a little added plus. I love how these turned out, they were so fun to make and I will definately be making more. Just you wait and see ;0)

Supplies:
All paper, stamped flourish, stickers, and crochet flower is the delicious Dear Lizzy;
Prima lace;
Skinny alpha stickers: Reflections
Thickers;
Handmade button, heart, and mushroom

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awake awake o little seed

push upward to the light...

Our seeds are beginning to sprout. I'm not a plant killer after all. Yippee!
Bring on the Basil =)

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my favourite future professional

 

This weekend I paid my sister inlaw, Anna, a visit at her school and catch her in her element while I waited for my turn in the chair. I also got to check out all the funky hair doo's that I won't ever be able to get as long as I work in a govt office but boy they looked fun to have. Some day, just maybe...

This was her first week on the floor cutting real peeps hair and I of course had to come in to show my support. For only being a couple months in she is already super awesome at what she does so I know she will be raking in the big bucks once she is let loose in the public ;0)

Alas, my virgin hair is a virgin no more. *deep breath* I didn't want to go too drastic so I thought some peek-a-boo streaks would keep me in the "cool mom" category. 4 foils was all it took and I love them!!! Did I mention how awesome she is? Well, it's worth mentioning twice, fo sho!
It's so cool to know a hairdresser!

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live long and prosper, or at least i hope to

I have been working very hard at making my life more {green} and helping out our Mother Earth. Seriously-I hope to live my days here for a long long time to come so I really felt like I needed to make some better choices here. In effort of making changes for the better, I have starting using our recycle boxes for get this- recycling! I know! Poor Joe was the only one who took out the recycling, but not any more.
I have also made an extra effort to remember to keep the cloth grocery bags in my car to save on shopping bags-ahhh I can feel my blood turning green already! I must be turning Vulcan or something-ha ha! A little shout out to all the Trekkie's out there! Snort Snort!

In honor of today's world recognized Earth Day, I created this LO to document my commitment I have made between me and our Mother Earth.
It didn't seem right to use all new product on a 'going green' layout so I recycled some old magazines that I had stockpiled and put them to use. Also, instead of using a new piece of plain white card stock, I used the backside of a patterned paper that I wasn't so hot on. That way it still gets used and nothing goes to waste. 
Yup, I'm feeling pretty good right now. ;0)

Happy Earth Day!

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happy gopher day!

Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

This is the one day a year where you can tell your boss to get his own dang coffee ;0)

For the record, I have an awesome boss who may or may not read my blog...

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garden sill

I woke up a little sad this morning because it meant that the weekend was officially over. Maribel and I had so much fun while Joe was at work that I felt a little guilty that he couldn't be part of it too. Then the guilt went away when he called to tell me how much fun he had at work that day.

One of the things M and I did together this weekend was plant our own little garden of herbs and flowers on our kitchen sill. It was so fun and really easy to do. I used some seeds from a little herb garden kit I received one Christmas but never got around to planting-oops, and some flower seeds with some "just add water" potting soil from Target's dollar spot and a cute planter with watering can, also from Target's dollar spot.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love Target?  

Maribel was such a pro when it came to planting the seeds. She knew just what to do, stick finger in dirt, plant seed, cover seed up, sprinkle with a little water. Voila. Our little gardener. I'm wondering if it's a bit too much to rely on her to keep these plants alive since I have a bit of a rep for being a plant killer....maybe just a little.  When she woke up this morning the first thing she did was check to see if her seeds had sprouted.
I guess a lesson on patience is in order.*wink*

Happy Monday!

P.S. I'm participating in Ali Edwards Week In The Life project beginning today. Basically I document a week of my life through photos and journaling and what ever else I find along the way. I love little projects that you can look back several years later and remember the little things that went on that you may or may not still be doing. I haven't decided if I'm going to blog the process as I go or just do it as a seperate little project. I guess we'll see...

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tangles beware

Right at this moment these two are my best buds. Maribel has very fine, thick, curly hair and is always tangled from everyday play. It was a constant battle to tame this wild mane until one evening when my awesome SIL Anna came home from school with the best detangling tip ever.

First thing is to dampen the hair with a detanagling spray then using the paddle brush, brush the hair in diagonal strokes from the top down, (almost sideways) and that's it. It's so simple and takes half the time to brush hair. It is amazing and too good to keep to myself!
Hey, anything that keeps Maribel from running away screaming when I say, “Let’s brush your hair” is a favourite in my book! Except when Joe chases her with his best Gremlins impression because even that creeps me out.

Oh and speaking of Gremlins the movie, did you know that Howie Mandel was the voice of Gizmo? Just a little useless random fact I recently learned.
Hey, I'm always good for randomness ;0)

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maribel boo-boo baby

Normally she is called Maribel Boo Baby but today it is Maribel Boo-Boo Baby. She bumped her nose on our way out the door and insisted that she needed a band-aide and that she can do it all by herself.
Such a big girl! lol

I had tons of fun stuff planned today but you know what happens to the best laid plans...
Oh well, there's always next weekend or the one after next.  I have some projects I've been working on that I can't wait to share! Stay tuned ;0)

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pure bliss

I just wanted to share a quick page I created using a Kirsten's Kreation Original sketch! You wanna talk about talent, this chickie's got loads of it! She not only inspires me constantly with her scrapbooking, but her photography makes me want to learn Manual Mode ;0)

I can't get enough of watching Maribel peddle her little bicycle down the sidewalk. Seriously, how did she grow up so fast? I'm sure I'll be saying that a lot but I really mean those words. The title not only shows my feelings towards my little spit fire of sunshine, but also her feelings when she rides around the block. She looooves her new bicycle!

Lots of Dear Lizzy goodness here mixed with some other yummies that I had in my stash! I have to be good for awhile now as I'm trying to save up for my trip home in July. Eep! My sister's due date is the 13th and I'm trying to figure out a way to keep the baby inside until I get there...what to do, what to do...

Happy Friday Eve!

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today is a smiley day

It's the little things that keep me smiling today.

Like drinking my juice from my cup that is always happy to see me,

Finding the parking space closest to the door at the grocery store,

and having the happiest cashier ever ring up my purchase.

Seriously it's true when they say that smiles go miles!

Have a smiley day =)

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skip the pollen, bring on the pixie dust!

It's been pouring down pollen like it's no one's business and my sinuses have been practicing the "YOU- SHALL-NOT-PASS" scene from The Lord of the Rings, so I popped some allergy medicine and we headed over to WDW Animal Kingdom. If I'm gunna suffer through this, I might as well have some fun while I'm at it.

We saw the Bug's Life show, uncovered some dinosaur bones and went on a Safari ride. Maribel loved it all but the Bug's Life show. It was a little loud and scary for her so we pepped things up by grabbing lunch and a little shopping. If course we couldn't leave the park before paying a visit to a certain someone special...

This was Maribel's way to rebel from standing in line for half an hour to see the Mouse. She was excited for 25 minutes of it but when she realized that we would have to actually make contact, she became little miss shy girl who had some Klingon's on the starboard bow. When you gotta boogie, you gotta boogie!

I hope your weekend was full of sunshine and Klingon free!

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20 random things

Just when you think you know someone. Here are 20 random things you may or may not know about me...

1) I'm really shy until I get to know you, then all mitts are off.

2) I don't like gossip. Seriously people, it's not becomming.

3) I love cats, but can appreciate dogs

4) My sense of smell is terrible. Terrible I say. On a scale from 1-10 with 10 being 'Blood Hound' worthy, I sit at a 4. I can't smell poopy diapers so guess who got to change those ones?

5) I have a nail thing that if I hear people clipping their nails I get physically naucious. Just the thought of it now makes me queazy...

6) I love hugs but nervous to give them in case people don't like them...

7) I would rather sit at home and watch a movie with my family then go out partying all night praying for a safe journey home.

8) I never wanted to scrapbook. I knew how obsessive it could be so I swore I would never ever ever do it. Yeh, well you can see how much I hate it...

9) I met Joe online and we met in person for the first time 1 week before we got married.

10) I would love to create for a living. I spend more time at work jotting down project ideas then any other notes.

11) I've met Muhammad Ali when I was young. I remember him being super tall and extremely kind. His body guard wasn't going to let him take a picture with us but he said otherwise and suggested we move into a hallway where there was less mall traffic.

12) I collect stuffed camels. Humphrey Beanies to be specific. I'm up to 5...

13) I can tell when a spirit is around...but they don't ask me to do things for them so it's okay.

14) I tend to personify inanimate objects and not notice I do it until someone starts chuckling...then I stop....until I forget about it and do it all over again.

15) I can't fall asleep unless I have my sheets between my toes. True story. You can aks my sister. No, wait. Don't ask her. She'll tell you other weird things about me that might scare you off. Sisters are great for that.  

16) I was born 10:10 on the 10th and weighed 10 lbs and was the 10th grandchild, but my favourite number is 13.

17) When I was 18 months old I grabbed my G'Pa's freshly boiled coffee and took a drink then burned my mouth, chin, and chest with 3rd degree burns. I was hospitalized for 10 days but through much prayer and blessings, I only have the faintest scaring. I am petrified of boiling water.

18) I've never had a pedicure. They scare me. Like, a lot. I do my own although I'm sure a professionally trained person would do a better job

19) As a child I would always ask my birthmother why she never gave me black hair (it was dirty blond to light brown back then). My hair now is all virgin (natural) hair and its black. I love it. ;0)

20) I sing along with commercial jingles. As a kid I would do it to drive my brother Phil nuts. On purpose. I was a brat.

I know I'm a special kind of special and that's okay!

Happy Friday!

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everyone's sleeping...even the rats

Everyone went to bed early. Even the cats left me on my own. I found my remote to my camera and wanted to give it a shot. I mean, what else is there to do?

*Shhh Don't want to wake the sleeping dragons*

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52 more scrapbooking challenges

I bought this book the week it was released and with no exaggeration I look at this book everyday. Seriously, I do. I am always finding new things that I haven't discovered the previous time and it continues to inspire me now as it did at first glance. There are so many colourful and creative layouts thoughout the book that keep my creative juices flowing. So I had planned on beginning the 52 challenges in January doing one a week and well it's now April. I guess now is as good a time as any, eh?

I had the suggestion from my friend Kim to print the challenges onto paper and put them into a jar and each week pull one to do. That way it's random and I'll get to each one in the year instead of doing all my favourite ones and possibly not finishing each challenge. I was so excited by her friendly suggestion that I had enough justification to go and pick up this candle from my guilty pleasure, Anthropologie.

The jar is so pretty and I knew I wanted to use it for something scrappy after all the sweetness was burned out.

It was a toss up between this one or the turquoise one but since I love pink the best you can see which colour won.
Eep! I can't wait to get burning and get scrapping but not at the same time because that wouldn't be safe. But seriously 52 scrapbook pages in a year is quite a bit for me. And that's not including what other pages I create for the challenges at SkrapnChat. Oi.
Am I crazy for starting this? Okay, wait....don't answer that.
Last year I created 62 pages not including cards and such so I think I can do this.
Wish me luck ;0)

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easter terrariums

I was inspired by a recent issue of Martha Stewart's Living magazine to create my own Easter terrarium center pieces. I may or may not have performed the quality taste test on several pieces of....well I won't bore you with the details of each jelly bean, malt chocolate speckled egg, or milk chocolate robin's eggs. But I will share that the grass is edible. Green apple flavoured to be exact ;0)

In the break between General Conference talks today, Maribel and I coloured some eggs. Yay!
psst I'll let you in on a little secret. *I have never died eggs before today. Ever. For rizzle.* I definitely had fun and I know Maribel did too. I love how creative Maribel is but she is also a little impatient.

Tomorrow we will be turning these colourful 'fruits of the chicken's bum' into delish deviled eggs but as you can see, one won't be making it tomorrow.

" 'Dust one little egg Mommy? Can I have 'dust one? Teensie Blue egg?    Please?"

Fine. Just one...

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i blog, therefore i am

I wanted to create a page designed around my blog for quite sometime now but I didn't have supplies in exactly what I needed so I improvised.

I started by covering the brads in glue then dipping them into some Martha Stewart flock to match. I can't stop petting them heehee. I also hand cut the two strips for the ornate looking thing on the sides, it's from the Making Memories Sabrina line I've been hoarding.
I adore things handmade so I wanted to keep that on my layout because it is something that I believe in whole heartedly. I love supporting the SAHM's and will continue to do so til the end of my days ;0)
I found a picture of a Memorex tape online and printed it out and used an American Crafts Slick Writers to make it look like the one over there ==>

For the longest time I have wondered, is it really worth it?
While I sit on the comfort of my bed, or desk searching for the right words or something to fill the in-between posts, I have thought about letting the blogging life go. I mean it can be a lot of work at times, and I am trying to simplify things. But then I look back through all the past posts, those pesky quitter thoughts vanish into the gaping void which is my brain and I remember why I do it.
Because I love it!

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