Christmas Canvas....

This was a gift for my sister in law. Is it bad that I kind of wanted to keep it? I have been meaning to make a canvas for our home (since I really need to get on the ball and finish decorating), but it feels way better to give than to receive.

To make this I got my Iris box of scraps and pulled all of the vintage papers that I liked as well as a few red accents. I had found some vintage labels at a stamp show awhile back and hadn't really found a use for them...until now!

I cut my circles in various sizes and just started adding circles till I felt like it was done. Sorry that there isn't more of a science to it, I wanted it to feel a little random. I did place my red accents on purpose to make my visual triangle and added buttons to connect some of the circles and "ground" others.

That's it!

Seriously, it was a lot easier than I thought and I can't wait to make another!
I used regular acrylic paint as my base and I used Gloss Gel as my glue and sealer.

Milk/Egg Free Pioneer Woman Sheet Cake

I wanted to post a few links and share with you some of the things that I made this year as gifts.

But first let's talk food. :-)
This is the sheet cake recipe and instructions.

While this is a great recipe, Colin wouldn't be able to eat it.
This is my version.

Milk and Egg Free Pioneer Woman Sheet Cake
2 Cups Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Mix Together

1/2 Cup Buttermilk (I use 1/2 Cup Rice Milk and add 1 Tablespoon Vinegar)
2 Eggs (3 Tablespoons Oil, 3 Tablespoons Water, 2 Teaspoon Baking Powder mixed together in a separate bowl till it fizzes. This is my general replacement for two eggs in any recipe)
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
Mix this together in a separate bowl and then set aside. I just use a large measuring cup that I use for the "buttermilk" and then add everything to that.

2 Sticks Butter (fleishmanns is milk and soy free)
4 Tablespoons Cocoa
1 Cup Boiling Water
Melt Butter, add cocoa then mix. Add boiling water and then let bubble for about a minute.

Mix your flour mixture, buttermilk mixture and cocoa mixture together. Pour into a sheet pan and bake for 18-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

While this is baking work on your frosting.

1 3/4 Sticks Butter (fleishmann's is milk and soy free)
4 Tablespoons Cocoa
6 Tablespoons Milk (I decreased this to about 3 Tablespoons Rice Milk and then added 3 Tablespoons Water since Rice Milk is really sweet)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Pound Confectioner's Sugar

MIX THIS REALLY WELL! Otherwise you have lumps of sugar.

Unless you like lumps of sugar :-)

As soon as your cake come out of the oven pour frosting over sheet cake and spread.

Once I get the hang of making this I have a feeling this will be my quickest cake and frosting recipe. I can do this in under 30 minutes from start to finish.

Seriously, this is the best little chocolate cake that I have ever made.

If you make this let me know what you think...and as always, if you have any questions let me know that too.

I will do my best to answer them in future posts, by email or in the comment section.

And don't worry, I also made some crafty gifts too that I will be sharing later today or tomorrow. :-)

Merry Christmas From Our Family to Yours...

Photo Card downloaded from Becky Higgin's Website.

We are nearing the end of our Christmas weekend and plan to hit up Hershey Park today as well as a bit of shopping for me at the outlets.

And if I manage to wander into the scrapbook store I swear it will only be for a few minutes :-) As far as I am concerned, that is the perfect ending to a perfect weekend. Which included a date with my hubby to see the Princess and the Frog. (Who cares if we were the only adults without children there.) Very awesome movie by the way!

When I get home I will upload the photos of the gifts I made this year. I realize that this really isn't too helpful for Christmas, sorry about that. But it still may give you ideas for birthday or thank you gifts. Or just gifts to yourself since it is oh so yummy!

Also on the agenda...
Toffee Recipe with photos :-)
My Sheet Cake Recipe
Chili Mix Recipe and Template Links
And answering questions about the overlays I made in Photoshop for Project 365.

Oh and there may be a photo or two of my adorable son who was wearing a Mickey Santa hat with his Mickey sweater. However, for some reason I didn't get any family photos of us together. No worries, I plan on having a "reshoot" before taking our tree down.

I'll be back to share soon but until then, I hope everyone enjoys every last bit of this Holiday weekend.

Guess What Came Today....

Three of these.

One for Mommy.
One for Daddy.
One for Colin.

And I got them on sale.

The Fausts are going to be all matchy matchy this holiday season.

I seriously can't wait :-)

Scrapping Bella Winner!

I used random.org to choose a winner however you will just have to trust me since I'm not using my home computer to upload a screen shot.

The random number chosen was......41!

That means
apron girls said...
Your stuff is way too cute! Love those blocks and the Christmas To Do. Congrats on the Bella Babe.

December 20, 2009 1:51 AM

So Apron Girls please send me your contact info to kck182 at comcast dot net to claim your prize!

Again thanks so much for your sweet comments and playing along!

The Weather Outside is Frightful...

But my productivity is sooooo delightful! :-)



Since I have loads to bake....



Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It's a blizzard here so it is PJ and movie day. Colin is thrilled. I however am not sitting on the couch watching TV, I am placing last minute gift orders and baking.

And ummm, updating my blog.

A girl's gotta have priorities!

Here's my December Collage Press LO. Note, I used the Joyride line with SUMMER PENN STATE PHOTOS! Now THAT'S versatility!



P.S. Thank you so much for all of your encouraging words and comments! I can't wait to get started with my Bella duties and I look forward to getting to know everyone better!

Project 365 Photos...(Photo Heavy)

A few highlights from the past two weeks...


11/28: Started Christmas shopping...in NOVEMBER! That's pretty good for me :-)


11/29: Colin did a great job of giving away toys he no longer plays with. He donated them to "the little boys and girls who do not have any toys."


11/30: How cool is it that Colin's drawings are starting to look like people. Weird looking people but people nonetheless.


12/6: These two guys being very happy that I am home from my girls weekend to Christmas shop. Again...I'm getting a lot of this done EARLY!


12/9: *sigh* I just love this!


12/10: BEST SHEET CAKE EVER! I modified the version that I saw here. The one I made is Milk, Soy and Egg free baby!


12/13: We got our tree this weekend and every time I look at these ornaments they make me smile.

So I Am A Bella Babe!

So I was contacted by the very fun and witty Emily, owner of Stamping Bella, to see if I was interested in designing for her new scrapbooking website, Scrapping Bella. It didn't take me long to say yes to playing with really cute stamps and a fun mix of products. However it did take me a little longer to email her my headshot and bio :-)

So checkout the blog here this week for the official announcement!

To say that I am excited, flattered, inspired, excited :-) would be the understatement of the year. However, I am most of all grateful for the opportunity!

And if you haven't had a chance to check out the website I would encourage you to do so now.

Go ahead, I'll wait :-)

Isn't it awesome?!

Okay that's it for now...I have some new LO's to share and loads of Project 365 photos to share that will shed some light on what the Faust clan has been up to over the last couple of weeks.

Excited? Me too!

The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur so I am anxious to see what we have been up to too!

Oh what the heck! Here's that LO that I was working on in this post where I realized that glue and toddlers don't mix.
You see that ribbon at the bottom of the photo? It's covering the big glue spot courtesy of Colin Faust.



In the end I did thank him for "helping me" with my scrapbooking.

The ribbon was a nice touch!

*ETA* Have you seen all this stuff?


The very generous Emily is providing my readers and new Bella friends a chance at winning all of this loot! So comment on this post to be entered for your chance to win!

Good Luck everyone!

Quick Update!

I have HUGE scrappy news to share...well at least HUGE to me :-)

Not to make you wait on the edge of your seat but I am on my way to work and well....it will take me more than 30 seconds to post the story.

I didn't fall off the face of the earth I am just being super productive in the Christmas department!

So productive that I have gotten totally behind in my blog stalking ritual :-)

Never fear, I will be stalking your blogs shortly as well as sharing my news.

Now back to your regularly scheduled day :-)

Christmas Planning...

I am thrilled to say that I have gotten most of my shopping already done.
Impressed?
Me too :-)

I am definitely a last minute type of gal so this change of pace feels a little weird but I like it!

I think that this planner has helped a lot and I love crossing things off of each list.

And just in case I forget how many days that there are left to Christmas I have this....


These were my design team projects for the Collage Press Blog. If you haven't had a chance to leave a message over there be sure to do it right now! They are giving away the entire Joyride line and it is seriously the best Christmas line ever!

I Should Be Packing...

But I am doing a bit of laundry so that my family can have clean socks while I am gone...I'm so nice :-)

I have quite a few LO's to share but I'm not sure if I am able to share them here yet or not. I do know that my Joyride projects should be posted this week on the Collage Press Blog.

I am hoping that a bit of the Christmas spirit will rub off on me during my girls only, best place on earth, Christmas shopping trip this weekend.

Now if I can just get my stuff packed and a little sleep I will be set. :-)

Please send good thoughts my hubby's way since he will have our little monster to himself till I get back. Colin has "assured" me that he will not stay up late eating popcorn or candy. I will be thrilled as long as no one gets hurt and they each get some sleep.

And Colin brushes his teeth before going to bed.

Sometimes you just have to lower your standards.

All kidding aside, I'm sure everything will be fine and I know my hubby will do a great job!

New Layout

Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill. Pattern Paper: Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey. Ribbon: Cosmo Cricket. Chipboard, Rub On and Mists: Maya Road. Chipboard Button: Jenni Bowlin. Brads: Target Dollar Spot. Fence Rub On: Martha Stewart. Stickers: Creative Imaginations.

I love that I was able to use up a few older items with newer paper. Love that!

Just saying hi. I couldn't sleep so I decided to actually do something rather than toss and turn. I may regret that tomorrow but oh well.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is enjoying their weekend.

Thanks so much for the comments about the online photo sites and stories about the page protectors. I feel much less stressed since I can start putting the album together instead of having everything out and about. Slowly I am finding a system that works to take my photos, edit them and print them quickly. I am thrilled that I decided to do this since I know I am taking the time to take photos that I wouldn't normally take!

Well that's it for now...I plan on working on a few projects right now...hope to share soon!

Ham and Project 365...

There she is! I got it done and even made some corn pudding too. I haven't had that in ages and since Colin was at school I figured it was safe to bake eggs in the house.

On another note, guess what happened?

I purchased We R Memory Keepers 4x6 page protectors to use in my American Crafts Modern Album. They didn't fit. So I figured that I needed a different album yet I'm cheap so I purchased a Pioneer D Ring album with a coupon. I got the album home, put in the page protectors...they don't fit. I figured "Great, now I have to purchase the expensive album." Just because I am a quick thinker, I brought along a page protector when I went to the store to purchase the expensive WRMK's Linen Album. I tried the protector and THEY DIDN'T FIT IN THERE EITHER!

So I called WRMK's and they explained that they were probably a bad batch and that I should return them. Well I purchased them in Hershey which is more than a hop, skip and a jump away. When I explained that it would be difficult to get there they told me that they could ship new ones if I covered the cost of shipping. The SHIPPING COST MORE THAN THE PAGE PROTECTORS!

That was the best that they could do. *sigh*

Needless to say I now have American Crafts 4x6 Page Protectors.

And I actually like them better.

Take that WRMK's!

So I Need A Ham In 11 Hours...

So if you see me in the grocery store in my PJ's don't stare too long, okay? :-)

I'm actually not sure how I'm going to make this happen but no matter what I'm sure it will be nuts and adventurous. At least it keeps life interesting, right?

I do have a good reason for procrastination.

I have been trying to learn how to put two vertical photos on a 4x6 so I can use them in my Project 365 album. Once I get something like that in my head I don't let it go until I figure it out, on my own.

So I'm pretty sure I figured it out even thought there may be a better way.



I resized both photos to 2x3 and then moved them onto a blank 4x6 document in Photoshop. I used the grid feature and checked "snap to grid."

Even though everything was resized it still felt like I was stretching the photos and distorting their proportions.

(Although not so much in this photo, that tree is really that wonky and I made it a point to not waste time cropping and editing photos for this project. So even though those trees bother me a little side by side like that, I am letting it go. See, progress).

So I have been scrapbooking even though I haven't shared anything in awhile. I have 5LO's currently in progress, a few new LO's that I should be able to share soon, a project that will be posted on the Collage Press blog next week and oh yeah...that ham to bake.

Yeah...I don't know why I'm on the computer either.

Project 365...

I officially started today but Friday is the day I decided to use as day #1.



Nevermind that the photo that I am showing you is from Saturday, lol! I love that little bit of paint on his face! We went to Color Me In and painted pottery all afternoon on Saturday. It was totally fun and inspiring!

Expensive, but inspiring!

I have spent most of last night and tonight researching and deciding how I wanted to do this. I ended up purchasing We R Memory Keepers 4x6 photo sleeves and started printing the free download from last year's Project 365. I'll see if I can find a link to share with all of you.

The 4x6 page protectors do not quite fit in the American Crafts D Ring album so I plan on using a coupon and purchasing a We R Memory Keeper album for this project.

I'm excited and a bit nervous by the whole process. I really want to keep up with it and have already enjoyed putting together the first page. I'm excited to have a photo from each day even if there was poor lighting or not everyone was looking.

This will be a great way to keep up with all of the stories I want to tell but struggle with finding the time to scrapbook an entire LO. I can really see this as being my "storage binders" like in the Library of Memories class. I really want to make a greater effort to print photos this year so that everyone can enjoy them, not just the ones that made it into the scrapbooks.

So for those of you who did this last year and are in the home stretch, any tips?
Has anyone else completed this without the kit?
Are you planning on buying this year's version of Project Life?

It Feels Good and Bad...

To stay up all night.

I haven't done this in awhile and I'm sure I will end up paying for this while at Hershey Park this afternoon.

Oh well at least I got some things done.

I worked with the new Home Front Line and my Collage Press stuff.

I "think" I figured out my photo dilemma. I processed 381 photos, just resized and sharpened using the batch process tool in PSE. I then deleted all of those extra photos from my organizer and reorganized my folders. I uploaded a few sample images different places to compare. Hopefully I will know for sure next week.

I created our Christmas cards and finally figured out how to use the move tool in PSE.

While reorganizing files I realized that I had downloaded the Project 365 journaling cards thinking that maybe I would use them for something and completely forgot about them.

So yeah...I'm planning on doing Project 365 in 2010.

It's a good thing since I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting one.

I'm just sayin' :-)

I Need Photo Help ASAP...

So I have enjoyed scrapbooking out of order, learning Photoshop Elements 3.0 and printing photos at home. One major downfall of that whole process is I have 3000 photos currently in my Photoshop organizer. I have asked Matt to backup my files for me for Christmas. That is really all that I want this year. I want someone else to research the "best way" and do it for me. (Don't panic, I do have most of these files on a thumb drive and photo CD's but I would like to have them be even more secure).

So in the mean time I would like to print all of these photos. Yep, all 3000. I then want to put them in albums. I've realized that I am the only one who gets to enjoy them as I look through my files deciding what I want to scrap.

So I need suggestions.
1. First I need to learn how to batch process my photos in PSE. I would like to at least sharpen all of these before printing and then if I reprint later to scrap I can adjust more if needed.
2. I need to learn how to save my files properly in PSE. I have noticed that some of my images saved at 200DPI. This of course resulted in grainy prints. When I hit "save as" I save as a jpeg using the highest option. I currently do not resize to 4x6 or anything so that I can print whatever size that I want in the future with the larger image.
3. I need suggestions of an online developer. I really would like my photos printed on professional paper. I have ordered from Shutterfly, Kodak and Kodax Pro and haven't been happy with any of them. I also realize that I may be having color issues related to how I am saving images.

So where do you get your photos printed? How do you save your photos and have you ever placed this large of an order somewhere?

I'm definitely going to do a small batch for comparison before doing the whole thing. If I place that large of an order and they are crap I will cry. Mostly because I have just wasted money, time, ink and paper.

So any info is greatly appreciated. :-)

Well It Finally Happened...

After ages of leaving LO's in progress accessible to preschool hands, Colin finally decided that my LO needed "some help."

Colin: "Mommy where's the glue?"
Me: "I don't have any."
Colin: "Well what is this?" As he walks across the room and finds a tacky glue bottle.
Me: "It's glue but please don't use it, we are getting ready to leave."

We finish putting our shoes on and as we walk into the garage Colin says...

Colin: "So Mommy, what do you think of your scrapbooking? I made it special for you. I wanted to scrapbook with you so I made it special."



So I walk slowly over to my counter and see how special Colin made my almost finished LO. He glued a string of scrapper's floss to the photo with coordinating buttons.

GLUE. He used GLUE.

So I walked backed to the car and I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was tempted to ground him till college because he was so happy that he helped and that I liked it.

When I came home I removed the evidence and I may cover the spot of clear glue with an embellishment or possibly reprint the photo. Colin was upset that someone moved the buttons and I told him that the glue didn't hold it.

Colin: "Well I better get more glue."
Me: As shrieks of panic go through my body. "You know that would make a really nice necklace."

He is now happily making me a necklace that I WILL wear in exchange for him laying off of my LO's.



Who knew scrappers floss was so versatile?

Did I mention that this LO is due tomorrow morning?

Disney Planners

This is last years planner. I used cardstock to write all of our important info that I would reference a lot during the week. Allergies, places to find special food, hours, reservations and height restrictions. I of course did this the night before so I used 4x6 laminating sheets to sandwich my cardstock and pattern paper to protect them from damage since they would be handled a ton.

Things that worked...
Everything was in one place.
It was easy to find in my bag.
It was cute.

Things that didn't...
The laminating sheets didn't make it through the whole week.
They didn't hold up to the rain.
Some of my handwriting was hard to read.

So here's the updated version...



I made it smaller, I did it ahead of time and I focused my information by day so it was easy to tell which parks were open late each day.

I included a list of Colin's allergies, (it's easier to hand this over then worry that I forget to say something), park hours, where we could get Colin's special food in each park and all of our reservation and confirmation numbers. I forgot to take a photo of the back where you can see a coordinating pattern paper. After printing these onto cardstock, adhering pattern paper, cutting to size and embellishing I took them to Staples and had them laminate it.

This worked much better.

And it was still cute. :-)

Seriously This Week Just Flew By...

I realize that it was my first week back but still, are things really that crazy? It felt like as soon as I would get up and get going it was already time to start winding the day down and get ready for bed. It felt like it had been ages since I made something and I'm pretty sure it was starting to get to me, lol!

So I went to a little crop and my son's daycare today. I just brought a few things...still more than I needed, and worked on two LO's. When I came home and started putting things away I realized that my "do dads" had gotten a bit out of control. I have two bowls on my desk that I throw little embellishments in so I don't forget about them. Well, for the last few weeks I have been just dumping stuff in there and not actually using anything.

So they were a complete mess!

So I reorganized those which then led me to putting everything away from the crop. Then I realized that I had too many scraps in my scrap bag so I needed to sort that. And while I was thinking of that I realized that I hadn't organized my pattern paper in awhile or my cardstock....

So it's now 1AM and my room is much more organized and functional.

Unfortunately, I'm too tired to function in it!

So tomorrow friends...I shall have photos to share, some scrappy projects and random witty remarks to start this next week off right!

A Recent Share...

I just added this to my gallery in the last few days and thought I would share it here too. The Past Due stamp is from Studio Calico, have I mentioned lately that they make my favorite stamps? Seriously, this LO came together really quickly...the ones I like the most always do for some reason. I have been keeping my eyes peeled for more of these brads that I used on this LO. I got them in the Target dollar spot over a year ago and never used them. I have no idea why I didn't because they are fab but who knows? Probably because I forgot that I had them. I really need to have a limited number of things on hand so I can remember everything that I have. I have been organizing and purging my space lately, definitely helps me remember what I have. I'm also thinking about moving some stuff upstairs. It's great to have a dedicated room but during the day it seems so far away. It would be nice to be able to create during an impromptu soccer game in the living room.

A girl's gotta multi task :-)

Especially considering the holidays are almost here and I just started thinking about the dress I will probably make for my husband's Christmas Party. Which is pretty impressive for me since I still have about a month to go. I thought about buying one but it is much for fun stressing Matt out that it won't be finished in time.

That's pretty good for me :-)

Disney Recap...

Let me start this post by saying that this trip was exactly what I needed to recharge my batteries. Which is interesting since going to Disney pretty much depletes any existing energy while there. This trip was no exception. It was incredibly hot...(so much for mild weather), crowded and exhausting.
But oh so much fun!

We arrived on Sunday. I must say that taking a later flight and being organized helped a lot. We left without a hitch and didn't run into any speed bumps until later that evening when we were all excited and hungry. After our first little big kid meltdown we decided to skip the parks Sunday night and went swimming.
Yep, we swam until almost midnight! I kept telling Colin that this was crazy and that we should be sleeping. But we knew we were going to sleep in the next day and figured we might as well swim when we don't have to worry about getting burned.

On Monday we decided to hit up Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom...homemade shirts and all.


Doesn't he just look so relaxed?

We stayed at the Pop Century Resort which was definitely our favorite Value Resort. The transportation was great and we hardly waited very long for any of the park buses. We did spend some time checking out some other resorts while park hopping and I have to say the Animal Kingdom Lodge definitely has a few perks...



How about seeing one of these out of your window. I took this photo on the safari but when we stopped at the lodge to use the bathrooms we saw a few while waiting in the lobby. Now tell me that's not cool.



I did manage a few decent pictures in front of the castle but this is the only one that I have on my camera. I have a couple on our Photo Pass card and now will just stalk my email to see if they will send me a promo code for it to be cheaper. I just can't justify the expense when I have almost all of the same images on my camera.

I really wanted to write down all of the funny things that Colin said but for some reason I got too busy and forgot.

The few that I remember are...
"That's what I'm talking about, baby!"
"No Mommy you hold onto to those...we will need them to take another vacation!" (said in response to me asking him if he wanted to throw pennies in It's a Small World)
"I can't make my body settle down."
"You were lying, that ride was scary!"
"Mommy, I'm sooooo gonna dunk you under water!"

But the best was Colin ringing the bell on one of those bikes that you see on the boardwalk that seat 2-4 riders. Well we rented one at Disney's Boardwalk Resort and my stomach still hurts from laughing and the ab workout that I got while peddling. It's a good thing Colin was so good at his job because I am sure we would have run someone over. Not to mention that he was too cute for anyone to yell at him for making them get out of the way!

Other highlights...

We had two character breakfasts and I bribed Colin with race cars to take photos with the characters in Animal Kingdom. They were so cute since everyone was wearing their Halloween costumes.



We walked around Epcot during the Food and Wine Festival and had a snack during a Boys to Men concert.

Again, tell me that's not cool.

We rode the monorail 865 times and HAD to sit in the back of the bus each and every time that we rode it. Although we did better this trip in that he didn't have a complete meltdown when others were sitting in the back.

It feels like we did a ton but also feels like we hardly did anything. Oh well, it's not like we won't ever go back. As Colin says, "we can't throw our pennies in the water because we need to save them to take another vacation. I just looooove vacation!"

So I'm sure we will be saving pennies....and nickels, and dimes, and quarters and bills for awhile so we can all have a break to recharge our batteries and to see the mouse!

Now if I could just think of a witty phrase for our next set of tee shirts....

RAK Winner...

Meggan said...
Hope your enjoying your family time :-) Thanks for this awesome RAK!

CKMB scrapbooknmommy
Meggan

October 26, 2009 12:30 AM

So Meggan email me your address to kck182 at comcast dot net and I will get some newly released goodies your way :-)

Next post...Disney Photos!

Hopefully....

Your Halloween was filled with more treats than tricks :-)

I'm currently editing photos, doing laundry and choosing a winner for the giveaway. I will update this evening with the winner and a bit of a recap of our visit to the mouse.

I LOVE getting an extra hour in the fall.

Collage Press Challenge...

I am hosting a challenge over on the Collage Press Blog.

I will be picking a winner one week after the challenge goes live.

Be sure to let me know if you play along!



I am officially on vacation, I soaked up enough screen time today that hopefully I won't miss the Internet at all while I'm gone. I'm planning on unplugging this whole week and just enjoying my family.

Well, I'm gonna try anyway :-)

Since I'm close to 200 posts and this way you have something to do while I'm gone...how about a giveaway?

I have loads in my giveaway pile of newly released stuff that deserves a good home. So comment here if you are interested.

I will choose a winner next weekend!

Thickers may be involved, I'm just saying :-)

Have a great week!

Golly We're Almost Ready!

I can almost hear his voice on our wake up call in the hotel room. "Oh boy! It's time to start our day, see ya real soon!"

I realize that I am a grown up but there is just something about seeing the mouse that just makes me happy. I am so looking forward to this trip and if I can get through tomorrow I will be set.

Everything is pretty much done except packing up my documents and camera chargers. I plan on bringing my little camera too and letting Colin take pictures. I got a new camera bag that I can hopefully put my camera, Colin's stuff, purse stuff and whatever else I think we need without feeling like I am carrying the entire hotel room with us around the park. This way my camera will be easily accessible and I hopefully won't feel like it's a pain to get it out. (Which I admit to sometimes being too lazy to lug it around.)

On a Halloween note, we decided on a costume.
Well, I did and Colin went along with it.
I found a Superman costume from a few seasons ago at the Halloween store for $4.97!
It actually doesn't feel like crap and is pretty well made.
Colin was happy but insists that Superman needs a mask because, "Duh Mommy, superheros wear masks. Silly Mommy!"

What do I know?
Although I do know that the Transformers song does not go...

Transformers...in the sky
Transformers...in the eye
Being in the battle...
Bringing on the strong...
The Deceptecons...
Yeah!

And yes, I do have him singing this on tape.

Classic. :-)

I've Been Meaning To Blog...

But I have been sleeping. :-)

Between getting ready for the trip and our weekend at Penn State, I'm beat.

So a quick update and then I am planning on a little mind clearing paper playing.

We went to the game, yes they cancelled tailgating and no, it wasn't that bad.

We had a great time and enjoyed hanging out in our old stomping grounds.

I am almost completely packed for our trip. Although the only reason is because we are now wearing pants instead of shorts. So instead of putting our summer stuff away, I put it in our suitcase. You have no idea how much I impressed myself with that one, ha!

Thank you for all of the Halloween recommendations. I think what we are going to do a mix of a homemade costume with a few store bought basics. So I think Colin will either be Batman or Dash. It just depends on which color dance wear I can find cheap, lol. Who knew that the girls clothing section held so many possibilities?

And since no post is complete without a picture, how about a random one to go with a random post?



Well, I'm off to finish my challenge LO for the Collage Press Blog. Can't wait to share the details and I hope all of you get a chance to play along!

Colin and I Need to Have a Serious Talk...

about Halloween. I mean there's only three weeks left and one of those we will be in Disney. So I have been doing a little online browsing to see what is out there. If you ask Colin, he wants to be Batman. All of the Batman costumes are pretty lame or REALLY expensive. I was thinking that he would make a really cute pirate :-)

The added benefit to this would be that he could wear it on the trip and do the pirate experience in the park. I think he would like it and if you bring your own stuff, it is pretty inexpensive.

But I do call Colin my little monkey...


I really like this one a lot and have always been happy with Old Navy's quality of costumes for the price. Especially when I wait to the last minute and they go on sale :-)

Or I could start working on this...

I think this would pass as Batman to Colin and I'm pretty sure if I let him pick between the 3 this would be the one he would choose.
Oh why oh why can't someone make cute costumes that aren't super expensive...under $20 that aren't junk? Is it really that difficult?

Not to mention I need to start thinking about my dress for Christmas.

Have you found any cute Halloween costumes that I might be missing? I have checked out Old Navy, The Children's Place, Gymboree, and One Step Ahead.

I really would rather buy something this year but I don't want it to be junk and would love it to actually fit and make it through the washing machine.

I'll admit...I have pretty high standards.

New LO...

And a bit of self doubt. I spent Friday night at Times to Remember at the Hershey Outlets. I try to do this at least once a month but it has been awhile since my schedule and their midnight crop schedule matched. I go up by myself, spread out my supplies and try to get as much done as I can. This is usually when I realize that I think too much about stuff and sometimes can be painfully slow.

Friday night I only brought a few supplies and just the LO's that I was working on. So I of course forgot a few things that would have made my life easier and was having a hard time with this LO.



I'll be honest...it's only now starting to grow on me. I wanted to finish this first before working on anything else since I started it about a week ago and just was tired of looking at it.

So I called it done and sat it to the side. Well I just kept looking at since I wasn't happy with it. What I liked was the tone on tone color scheme, the die cut paper that I journaled on and the stitching. That was about it. I struggled trying to balance the die cut paper and the rest of the LO. But I was bound and determined to not pull it apart and start over.

In the end I added the floss, buttons and half pearls in the middle, yet it still didn't feel right. Then I added half pearls in the top right corner, that didn't do it either. It wasn't until I added the punched sun embellishment with the staple and half pearl that I started to feel better about it.

Did I mentioned that I also dropped my stamp onto my photo?

Now that I stepped away from it for a bit I am happy with it. I wish I didn't waste so much time on it but I am glad it was done.

More importantly I got this funny story onto paper.

But I will admit, I had a few "I'm a terrible scrapbooker, why even bother to submit stuff," moments.

Luckily I came home, slept and then looked through albums with Colin today and remembered exactly why I do this.

So self doubt gone....scrapbooking can resume :-)

Disney Countdown Chain...

This was our rainy day project for today. Since we are getting so much closer to our upcoming trip and Colin is getting better with time I thought this was the perfect activity for today.



I used two 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of cardstock and 1 scrap piece of pattern paper. I cut the cardstock to 1 1/2 strips with my paper trimmer. I then let Colin put some left over letter stickers where ever he wanted. He enjoyed the first 4 or 5 but then wanted my to do the rest. I used glue on around the rings to adhere them.



After I assembled it, I wrote the number of days left on the inside of each ring. So each morning when we get up we will cut one off.

I found some ribbon that matched my curtains and figured that it was either hang this here or on a sprinkler. I thought the curtain was a much better choice. :-)

I have a few other Disney projects that I am working on this weekend and I also have new LO's to share.

I also think I'm getting pretty close to my 200th post. When I do we will do another HUGE RAK! So make sure to be on the look out for that!

Here's The Pumpkin Patch...

Here are just a few photos from the patch. I haven't edited them all mostly because I have been *gasp* going to bed early. While I do enjoy feeling well rested, I actually feel a lot better when I get things done. Doesn't really matter what it is, as long as I can cross something off of my list. So I got a Sweet Tea on my way home and I'm hoping to get a little scrapping in as well as some Disney planning.

I worked on our "Disney Details" book and when I finish it I will post photos and describe why I include the information that I do. I did this last year for the first time and it was super helpful!

I did have a light bulb moment the other day. As I am transitioning to fall clothing I realized that I could actually start packing for our trip and not have to wait till the last minute. Since there's no point in putting away shorts just to get them out again in a few weeks! Every once in awhile I have a good idea, lol!

Who knows, maybe I will even get our tee shirts finished a few days before we go instead of the night before. What a concept!

So I Was Going To Post Pictures From The Patch...

When I saw this one instead.


I have been feeling a little "off" today and really couldn't put it into words. However, this photo seems to sum it up for me. I always think it is amazing all of the emotions that one can feel when looking at a photo. It doesn't even matter if it is a photo of a loved one or just an amazing shot by an awesome photographer.

The funny thing is, Colin wasn't upset or anything in this photo. Maybe a bit annoyed that I wanted to take his picture and he had already told me no. He just happen to be looking intently at a few flowers.

So no pumpkin patches today...probably tomorrow.

I'm hoping that a good night's sleep will help me find a bit of balance. Maybe that balance will help me juggle my upcoming week. Although, I have a feeling the whole month is going to be pretty rough :-)

I guess I should plan on getting a lot of sleep!

L8TR LO...

So here's the funny story about this one. I had these felt letters that I wanted to use but there were very few things that I could spell for a title. So I glued down
L8TR and figured I would find a way to make it work. Well I had completed almost everything on this LO except the embellishments and journaling. I loved it so much already and honestly...I think I was afraid to mess it up. So I would pull the LO out, look at it and then put it right back. Well I finally finished it! I'm happy with it and best of all...it's done!

I keep telling myself that done it better than perfect!

This seems to work a lot better for scrapbooking than sewing. :-)

I also wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for the sweet comments about my projects and my blog. I read every single one and stalk your blogs accordingly! Just wanted to let you know that your comments bring a smile to my face. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'm No Vera Bradley....

But I am pretty impressed with myself. :-)



I enjoyed working on this and was thrilled that I learned a few new things in the process. Keep in mind, I decided to start sewing when I took a lesson with my machine so I could learn to sew on scrapbook pages! When I realized how this whole thing worked with fabric I was like, "I can do that!"

Remember this post?
Speaking of which, I wonder what I am going to make this year?

So another crafty obsession began where little time exists to dabble in the one I already had. But alas, I recently organized my room and it is fully functional for all my creative ventures that time allows. (AKA I organized my fabric so I actually know what I have and I can actually get to my sewing machine without sitting on the coffee table).

The materials for this purse were pretty inexpensive. I used two fat quarters for the exterior and two fabric napkins from Walmart that I found on clearance.

Grand total for fabric...$2.75!

I seriously always stop in the Pottery Barn Outlet not to decorate my home but to find inexpensive fabric items that I can use on sewing projects. For me...mostly because I'm lazy...it is so much easier to work with smaller portions of fabric than trying to cut what I need from yards of it. Then there's the whole OCD folding issue I have. Don't even get me started on that! So with my limited time, sewing bags out of napkins works for me!

Hopefully it works for everyone else since I think this is what everyone is getting for Christmas. :-)

Busy Day...

I seriously think I did like 13 loads of laundry in the last two days.
I scrapped, sewed, played, cleaned, organized and stayed up for the Studio Calico Reveal. Can I say that this month is just stinkin awesome? Honestly I think I could sit and look at the gallery forever, seriously.

Anyway I have loads of pages to share and even more to photograph. So while you are waiting for the debut of my new purse....(which is almost complete), here is a LO that I completed recently during Spirit Week at Colin's preschool.



I think this is going down as one of my favorites! I just started pulling products that went together and used a lot of my favorite embellishments that I have been holding onto for awhile.

I'm also seriously obsessed with that border punch.

Okay that's it for now, I'm going to try to finish my purse and get to bed in an hour.

Do you think I can do it?

Me neither!

Ha!

Girls Night Out...

Me, Jenny, Emilie and Mary

It has been so long since I have gone out for dinner and a movie that I wondered if I would even remember how to do it, lol! I had a great time and got a much needed break to just stuff my face and chat with lovely women.

Can't wait to do this again and hopefully everyone can make it next time!

So hopefully this break will leave me energized to complete the HUGE task of getting a bit more organized in the next two days.

I am planning on sewing a purse tomorrow and I realized that I really have no idea what kind of fabric I have. I know I have a ton but I really couldn't tell you where it is. So apparently I need a better system because you know I'm a nut about using everything that I've purchased. So I have this crazy idea of tearing apart my scraproom and finding a better home for my fabric stash.

I have a feeling that Matt will be freaking out about this time tomorrow.

Maybe I could just close the door? :-)