Seriously….. Boys are too fun for words. I should say they are a different kind of fun. This kid LOVVVVVES to be outside. He especially loves playing in the water and being wet. Even if that means he has to sit in the dog’s water dish to do it! I adore this little man. He adds so much personality & adventure to our home filled with girls. It’s kinda cool to see Monster Trucks and Balls and action figures laying around the house. ♥

So this week’s challenge over at the Hero Art’s Blog is to create photo cards or use photos in your stamping projects. The only one I had ever made until this week was this sweet photo card of Brody when he was just a few days old. I forgot how much fun it is to use photos on your cards. This was a great challenge for me for several reasons but mainly because I have OODLES of wallet-sized prints just sitting in my photo box waiting to get used. My favorite card I did this week was this one of Macey and her big toothless grin. I don’t normally scrap using Purple. Purple and I don’t get along. But since it was a card and I could use purple in a small dose…. I went for it. LOL Then I created two more cards and an 8 1/2 x 11″ layout using my stamps and photos. I forgot I had this sweet photo of Kerry’s daughter Megan. I took this SEVERAL years ago! I will stick this in the mail to you Kerry!

This flag photo is one I have used many times, many different ways over the years. My brother Ryan took this photo and it’s always been a favorite of mine. Of course while I was creating this week I had to make SOMETHING patriotic with the 4th being tomorrow! What are ya’ll doing to celebrate? We are going to a BBQ and swim party with some friends then of course watch and play with some fireworks while having some ripe red juicy watermelon! Can’t wait!

It’s been sooooo fun to “play” this week with whatever I felt like doing scrappy-wise. I’ve been workin’ my bizzay little hands off the last month for Bo Bunny designing more cardstock stickers to go along with all their fun new releases that will come out in a few weeks!!! I’ve designed 6 new sets of stickers!!!!! It’s been crazy but soooooo fun! I’m so blessed that Bo Bunny actually likes my work!!! It’s a scrappy dream come true!!!

Okay…. I betta get going. The girls and boy and I are going to drive out to Shane’s work today and meet him for lunch. My daycare kiddos are still on vacation until Monday. Speaking of Monday….. PLEASE tune in on Monday for details on how you can see the next round of Gallery Idol cards that will be posted on the Paper Crafts website!!!! We have all been working away on our “Wedding” cards!!! YAY!!! I will need as many votes as I can get to advance to the next round. The competition is fiercely talented!!! See ya Monday. Until then…..

♥ HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! ♥

GIRL!!!!

We will be seeing pink once again! Brody will forever be THE ONLY BOY. LOL! But that’s okay…. now he has a baby sister coming that he can pick on, protect, smother with love…. all that good stuff! I’m super excited! How can I not be? We haven’t even begun to pick out names but we still have plenty of time for that. But feel free to post and tell me your faves! I love love love the name Roxy or Roxie for a girl. We’ll see. YAY! A GIRL!!!! ♥♥♥

I’m in shock!!! Apparently my cute lil VW Bug Birthday card caught someone’s eye… it’s the reason I made the TOP 20 of this year’s Gallery Idol Card Contest put on by Paper Crafts Magazine!!! You can read more about it here and see the other Top 20!!! I am thrilled, elated, and oh so excited to be advancing to the next round! Our theme is “Weddings”. We have to create a wedding card. Kinda nervous since I RARELY do wedding cards but I’m just going to have fun and see what happens!

That’s what I did last year when I advanced clear to to the Top 5!!!! Just had fun! Seems like FOREVER ago but it was about this same time last summer! Wanna little peek down memory lane? These are the cards I made for last year’s Gallery Idol. Some of my faves ever as I tried to dig deep in that creative mojo pool!!! Anyhoo…. I will leave you with these and hope ya’ll have a great week! Mine is starting out awesome!

We had a full house this weekend…. just like we do every other weekend. LOL Sometimes I wish we had a pool in our back yard. Other times I don’t. But the girls still find ways to cool off. Shane dug out the slip N slide from last year and set it up. That provided HOURS of outdoor fun for the girls AND Brody. He loved it! He mostly just sat at the end in the little pool of water and giggled every time the girls slid down and grabbed him. It was way cute! I will be sure and get photos next time. The girls also filled up a ton of water balloons and had fun with those.

How are you keeping cool this summer?

I’ve been working on some super summery goodness the last few days. So I will leave this fun layout and cards with ya! The cute girls in the Summer Fun layout are my BFF Lisa’s. And the ice cream embellishment on the yummy Birthday Wishes card came from Renee! Thanks again girl! We actually did a girls night on Saturday. Went to the movies and saw The Proposal. OH. MY. GOSH. GO see that movie! It was the funniest I have seen in a VERY long time. And speaking of YUMMY…… yah… Ryan Reynolds in that movie. *swoon* LOL Then we headed to Renee’s place to scrapbook while her hubby and mine hung at our place with the kids. Good times.

Have a great week!

Toodles!♥

So I got the biggest scrap-related surprise EVER today! One of my scrappy-stampy friends Lucy emailed me from overseas congratulating me on my CARDS magazine cover!!! I was like……. “WHAT???” “HUH????” LOL I told her there must be some sort of mistake or oversight.

So she sent me this picture and sure enough they used my wedding card on the overseas version of the JULY 2009 issue of CARDS Magazine!!!!!!! I just received my May CARDS mags and this card is inside but it isn’t on the cover here in the States.

Doing the happy dance over here!!! This is my first cover and even though I have to track a copy of it down….. I am uber-duper excited!!!! I am still in shock and this news totally made my week!

Thanks sweet Lucy for giving me the heads up!!!

Happy Friday Ya’ll ♥

I’m super excited to share this little mini-album with you! I created it for Shane to keep on his desk at work and to give him for Father’s Day from all his little munchkins. I used the awesome Bo Bunny Grease Monkey line designed by the fabulous Misty Choate!!! Girl has MAD digi-skills!!!! She knows how much I lurve her! Wink!

I was given an assignment on the Bo Bunny blog to create a gift for Dad but it doesn’t look like it will be shared there until Saturday. I’m cheating and posting it here on my blog so if there’s anyone still wondering what to do for Dad for Father’s Day…. this might just inspire you. I finished this in one night and I’m a pretty slow scrapper so this really is a quick & easy gift to make. I used one of these inexpensive 5×7″ plastic table top frames you can pick up at Michael’s for two bucks. I used my crop-o-dile to punch the holes through the plastic but a drill will work if you don’t have a crop-o-dile.

I had each one of the girls hand-write a personal message to Dad/Shane next to their photos. We didn’t see Kacie & Karlie until Wednesday and I had already photographed everything so that’s why their notes are missing. But it’s all cute and perfect now! I think Shane will really like this and it doesn’t take up much space to keep on his desk at work. I even added a page for “us” at the end and there’s a message from me to him on the orange tag you can pull out from behind the photo.

So what do you think? Pretty fun huh? PLEASE post any questions you might have and I will be happy to answer them in the comments! This is one of those mini-albums that ANYONE can do and it was super fun to put together! I love that I was able to finish it in one night because I’m not very patient with projects that take forever! HA!!!

I have some more Bo Bunny stickers to design still (YAY!) so I better get going but I just wanted to check in and say Hi!

Toodles! ♥

So myself and a couple of other Bo Bunny design team members were given a blog assignment to “Focus on Flowers”. Do anything we wanted with them… something old… something new… whatever…just let them shine. There are several fun ways I used our fabulous Bo Bunny flowers on this layout of Kacie & Karlie.

First— an easy way to add texture and dimension is to layer them like I did with the orange and yellow ones. (Be sure to click on the photos to see larger images)

Second— I stamped brown dots on the yellow flowers to add interest & detail. I used the acrylic stamp set from Bo Bunny called Dis-Stress Me Out. Before I stamp on silk flowers I apply adhesive to some plain paper then lay the flower down flat so it’s easy to stamp on and doesn’t move while stamping and drying. See photos and close-up.

Third— Flowers don’t ALWAYS have to be used as flowers. HA! I cut some green flowers in half for the leaves on my pumpkin tops. I inked them a bit to dull the color before sticking them down. I drew and paper-pieced these three pumpkins together. Fall will be here again before we know it so I will try and get the patterns for these posted on my blog soon for ya!

Fourth— and last thing I did was to fold a flower in half to give it a different look then still added a button for the center. See the yellow flower in the lower left corner of the layout.

To see what the other girls did to Focus on Flowers be sure and visit the Bo Bunny Blog. Amazing stuff over there!

*Pregnancy update* I had an OB apt today and they set me up an appointment to get THE ultrasound done on Tuesday, June 30th at 10:30am. So I will be sure and post sometime that day and let ya’ll know what the sex of this baby is. Daddy is 120% convinced it’s another boy but I honestly have NO CLUE. LOL The pressure of having a “BOY” is off now although it WOULD be super cool if Brody could have a little brother. Either way we are excited and will keep ya’ll posted. Oh…. and while I still have “BAD” days…. I am doing much better and am slowly getting through this “morning sickness” junk. YAY!!!

Okay… I gotta share this fun find! Remember several weeks ago when posted a layout I created with my cousin and his fiance? It was their engagement photo and wedding invite. Anyway…. I was peeping out the family blogs and ran across this photo of Aaron & Lee holding the framed layout I created for them! Thanks for posting it Kim!!! I’ve been giving these away as gifts for YEARS and I have yet to see an actual photo of the bride & groom with their gift. It totally made me smile!

Okay…. better run! Tune back in later this week! I will share the fun Father’s Day gift the girls and I made for Shane!

Toodles! ♥

Macey has been asking since before school got out if she could get her hair cut short. As a Mom of 5 girls and with all the hair combing that goes on around here….. I wasn’t about to talk her out of it. Especially with summer being here. Macey’s only stipulation was that she still wanted to be able to put it in a pony tail. DONE. A couple of days ago I got brave and actually cut her hair myself. 12 inches of it. CrAZY!!!!! But she loves it and I do to…. even though it makes her look a bit older to me. She’s happy. And cute as ever.

So more creatures to share. Well…. one in particular anyway. I have mentioned many times since moving here how much my girls love that it’s a wild wonderland in our back yard with all the different creepy crawlies they can find on any given day back there. This little guy they actually found across the street at the park. They’ve even gone as far as naming him “Jerry”. I have to admit he’s kinda cute. Maybe it’s his size. LOL When the girls were much smaller their obsession with hunting for little bugs & animals used to worry me. But I’ve gotten used to it and now I find myself glad that they are always wanting to play and explore outdoors instead of spending hours and hours on the couch watching movies or playing video games. They have such wildly creative little minds so being outside is an adventure for them just like it was for me as a kid. Plus….. how can it not make me smile when they burst through the backdoor of the house excited to share their latest discovery?

Here’s a couple more cards I created yesterday. The first one I made as another entry in the Gallery Idol contest. I love these Pink Paislee papers! The second one I made for one of Cassidy’s BFF’s. Her birthday was yesterday and Cass asked me if I would make a card for her to give to Aislynn. She helped a little. Mostly just picking out the fun cake sticker on the front. It’s a perfect card I think for a 7 year old. Aislynn’s party was at Maley Swim School in Ridgeland and I am sooooooo glad the day finally came! You’d have thought it was Christmas for Cassie as she counted for WEEKS how many days were left until Aislynn’s birthday! LOL Oh!!! And I wanted to post a link to the font I used on these cards!!! CLICK HERE to download “Beyond Wonderland” at Fontspace.com. I love Fontspace! Soooo many fun fonts you can download for free. Beyond Wonderland is one of my new faves so I thought I would share.

All the girls are with their other sets of parents this weekend so it should be pretty quiet around here. I am busy working on some more Bo Bunny stickers and catalog samples. Sometimes I pinch myself when I think about how lucky I am to be working for them and doing what I love!!!! You are in for some more jaw-dropping releases this summer!!! I keep saying it doesn’t get any better but then it does. I ♥ Bo Bunny!

Enjoy your weekend!

Toodles! ♥

We made it home safely from our trip to AZ. Rolled in around 4am Monday morning. The drive home was brutal. Seemed like it would never end. But we are so grateful we were able to make the trip happen. We spent quality time with family & friends. The time passed too quickly. I was a bad Mom and didn’t take near as many photos as I should have. Shame on me. But I will try and share some over the next week or so. Here’s a few of our favorite highlights of the trip:

*Brody got to meet Aunt Stephanie (Shane’s sister) for the first time and it was the sweetest moment ever as she couldn’t keep the tears from falling once she had Brody in her arms.

*Big family get-together celebrating my cousin Tanner’s return home from his Mission to China. Great Aunts and uncles… cousins… second-cousins…. so much family it was awesome.

*Getting some REAL Authentic Mexican food at Serrano’s. Our family favorite.

*Staying the week with my Mom & step-Dad & watching them get to know Shane’s girls and Brody better. Thanks for the crash pad Mom! Miss you tons already!

*Swimming…. lots of Swimming!!!

*Started and finished “New Moon” on our trip! Holey Schmoley!!! Can’t wait to see it in theatres! CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRAILER!!!

*Scrap-shopped! WOOT! WOOT! Attended a crop with all my girlfriends at the Scrapbook Barn! So much fun!

*Shane got to go 4 wheelin’ with his brother!!! Made him happy!

*Just hung out and relaxed with family. Spades & Phase 10 with Nadine, Tami, Elly, and Hillary!!!

Good Times!

Okay…… thanks for hanging in there through the vacay update! Now to share some scrappy creations!!! And a challenge to play along with!

Here’s several cards I’ve done recently. Each one very fun! The first one was the Make-N-Take I did in AZ for the crop. I also submitted it to this week’s challenge over at the Hero Arts blog. We were challenged to use a die cut & a Hero Arts stamp on a card. I can’t tell you enough how inspiring that place really is! And the prizes they giveaway weekly is truly AMAZING!!!!

Okay…. the second card is one I am submitting to this year’s GALLERY IDOL CONTEST with PaperCrafts!!! Remember that from last summer? The one where I actually made it into the TOP 5???? Well….. it’s that time again and the first round’s theme is Birthday cards! We can enter as many submissions as we’d like this round! I am trying to qualify for the TOP 20 and make it to the next round. So I will keep you posted on that…. cross your fingers and toes for me! LOL I also submitted my VW Birthday Wishes card and my Shaped Birthday Cake card!!!

Alrighty…. and the last card…. I love how this turned out! You see the little flower embellie I made out of cardboard? I’ve created them for several projects and I actually made 20 of these to give away at the AZ Crop. I had a couple extra so I am giving one away here on my blog! Keep reading for more details! Oh…. and I have to give credit for the design of this card to GOT SKETCH and this week’s super cute sketch!!! I pretty much just followed it exactly without changing a thang! Love the colors on this!!!

You see that GORGEOUS room???? I wish it were one in my house!!! I ♥ the colors to pieces!!! That’s why when we were challenged over at the Bo Bunny Blog to use an AD and scrap a layout based on it…. I chose this!!!! These colors are seriously mouth-watering!!! It inspired this layout of my girls! Simple but fun and again…. loving the colors! Very girly! So here’s the dealio…… Julia issued a challenge over at the Bo Bunny Blog to our readers. We want you to find an AD and let it inspire you to create a layout. That’s your challenge! And if you post your creation over there by Monday, June 22nd you will get put into a drawing to win some of the new “It’s My Party” release!!! Have you seen that line??? YOU REEEEALLY want to play along!!!
And if that’s not enough motivation… come share your challenge creation here as well and I will be doing my own giveaway too! Post your creation here by June 22nd and you will be put in a drawing to win the May/June & July/August issues of PaperCrafts magazine as well as one of my little handmade flower embellies. I am also throwing in some of that ribbon many of you asked about when I posted THIS card. I found some in AZ and stocked up on it! YAY!!!!

Okay…… sorry for the EPIC post but it’s obviously been a while! Can’t wait to see who plays along! Hope ya’ll are having a great week!

Toodles! ♥

I love this girl soooooooooooo much! I can’t believe my sweet Macer Girl is 10yrs old today! A whole decade! Double-digits baby! Crazy how time flies! Seems like I just posted one of these for her 9th birthday!!! We did the cake and presents today but what she’s REALLY excited for is heading to Arizona tomorrow!!! More Birthday celebrations there! She’s soooooo excited…. as are the rest of us! Here’s a few more of my favorite photos of Macey. You’ve probably seen some of them already since they ARE my faves but at least they show a little of this girl of mine getting bigger! And I know I am a bit biased but this is one cute kid!!!! ♥♥♥ Love you Macey!

………………..So we are busy, busy here trying to do laundry and pack. Road trips are definitely a horse of a different color with 6 kiddos in tow! All I have to say is… Thank heavens for DS’s and DVD players right??? Especially for Brody right now. He LOVES to watch Shrek so that one is for sure coming with us! LOL Anyway….the other thing I am busy wrapping up is the fun stuff for the crop at the Scrapbook barn on the 4th. Here’s a little sneaky peeky at one of the projects we will be doing! Nothing big! Just something fun! I may or may not check in again before we get back so if I don’t…. hope everyone’s having a fabulous summer so far! When I get home it should only be a couple more weeks and then I get to go to THE ultrasound and find out the sex of this baby. Shane’s convinced it’s another boy! LOL. Wishful thinking for him! HA!

Okay! Toodles! ♥