Just me My Soldier and our 4 little chicks

welcoming 32 with wide open arms.

Okay. So today I'm the big 3-2 . WHEEEEEEEEEEE!! ;)No really, I'm grateful. Grateful for my health, grateful for another year, just grateful.

And blessed. And loved.

Blessed by the grace of God. Thank you so much Lord for getting me through this past year. It very well may be one of the most defining years of my life. I feel so much stronger, independent, competent, and brave now. This past year shaped me.

Blessed by these sweet girls.

Who teach me every day that they are resilient, beautiful, and strong.

 That they can make me happier and frustrate me more than anything in this world (sometimes at the same time).

blessed by the love of this man. who "gets" me and puts up with my antics. not only puts up with them, but laughs at me.

this man who can make me laugh until i fall on the floor in a heap and pee my pants b/c i'm laughing so hard. 

this man who fights hard and leads his men with bravery and honor

this man who is a shining example to my girls of the men they deserve.

men who will treat them like a treasure and like they are the most beautiful women on earth. and will have them believing that they are.

blessed by a wonderful family

friends

a hobby that i love

our first house 

a life that is beautifully

wonderfully

crazily

infuriatingly 

hilariously mine.

filled with promise and hope and love.

So, thank you Lord. For another year. For everything.

Here's to the next 32.

xoxo

s

Cotillion and a Special Cause

Let me introduce you guys to Cotillion.  A preppy, delicate, elegant kit that has become my favorite. 
I mean, what's not to love about pearls, florals,tulle, butterflies, lace and rhinestones?

Nothing, I say.

A very Stephanie kit.

Here is an explanation of each layout.

I WISH

my first page showcasing disney photos. these photos of her, and the pure belief on her face, blow me away. i wrote about all of my "wishes for her". 

i used the "b side" of a basicgrey paper for the background, and trimmed the lace paper to showcase the photos. i also added a pearl brad to the wand in each photo.

that gorgeous butterfly intimidated me so. it was big and beautiful and i was terrified i would mess it up. i'm HORRIBLE at rub-ons. so i applied it to a piece of white cardstock first. i tend to ruin pages by applying rubons in the wrong place.I accented it a bit with pen and ink and distressed the edges. i added two of the maya road pins as the antennae.

TIP: remove the backing from your rub-on CAREFULLY and SLOWLY. if it sticks in places, stop, and pull the backing off from the other direction. i almost had a nervous breakdown getting that bad boy off. =)

BUBBAH!!

i adore this photo of sadie and i've been holding onto it for quite a while. 
She LOVES bubbles with a passion and yells BUBBAH! every time i get them out. i decided to go with neutral tones here to keep the focus on the vibrant photo.

 

the "bubble accents" are created from the making memories tulle flowers, the making memories pins, and circles punched from the making memories foil flowers using a martha stewart circle punch. i loved the idea of the crystals on the pins hanging like "drops", so i stuck them through the tulle and just let them hang (with a glue dot under the crystal).

TOTAL PREP

i love this one. i do. this photo has always cracked me up and i'm so glad i got to use it. i love love the anna griffin darcey papers and they complimented this photo perfectly.

i created the bow with the border stickers and layered them. the butterflies are cut from the SC exclusive paper that comes in the main kit.

18 MONTHS

a simple layout documenting sadie at 18 months. i probably could have added more "stuff" to this layout, but chose not to.

all anna griffin, except for the photo block, which is basicgrey.

the b/w circle pattern around the floral block is the border tape, as is the green floral strip over the photo block. i anchored it with two pearls. can you tell i sort of loved those pearls?

TRUE AND PURE

these photos of J and H are so special. i decided to write about how true, pure, and unique their bond is. the left side of the block is comprised of three jenni bowlin journaling cards trimmed and stacked.

then from left to right, i layered 2 strips of the journaling tape, a piece of the lily bee paper, a large piece of anna griffin paper with the right side trimmed into scallops, and a thin piece of the border stickers. each piece is inked with chalk ink in creamy brown.

i love the idea of a tone on tone title, especially considering what the title is.

the photo strip is mounted on SC exclusive paper.

the journaling is on the itty bitty tags that come in the back of the JBS memo tablets. LOVE them.

the embellishment clusters are comprised of a sticker from the anna griffin sticker sheet, a butterfly cut from the anna griffin tag journaling cards, a pearl brad, and a stick pin.

Hope you enjoyed my romp through the Cotillion. ;)

One more, very important thing. My friend and fellow Texan Monica is doing something pretty extraordinary. 

PLEASE visit the link above and donate to her cause. 

Lain and Angie from Ella Publishing have donated a copy of the first three e-books published by Ella as an incentive for participating in Monica's virtual food drive benefitting the North Texas Food Bank.

Hope you liked today's post, it took FOREVER for me to put together, I've been working on it since last night! 

Happy Friday, sweet girls!

xo

PixiePetals Winner

way to go girlie, email your info to me and i'll pass it on to AesaLina!!

Back this afternoon with SC reveal info as well as a cause i want to share.

xo

100

Nikki M said...

LOVE that photo! The Spunky LO is PERFECT as well! I so love your style. Those crochet flowers are beauties too. Hmm, with 2 little girls of my own, I think I could find a great way to use them. Have an adventurous day!

ReplyAugust 25, 2009 at 10:43 PM

Pixie Petals- CONTEST CLOSED

***If you are interested on sponsoring/advertising on this blog, please read the post below. Thanks!!***

One of my long time readers, AesaLina, has a precious store called Pixie Petals. 

Pixiepetals are a blossoming of vintage-style embellishments inspired by authentic crochet patterns. These petite, delicate flowers are perfect for scrapbook layouts, cards, or mini books. They can purchase already coordinated sets at pixiepetals.etsy.com or email  for custom orders. Also available at the store are 100% vintage embellishment kits.

She sent me some of her adorable crocheted flowers to play with. Here's what I came up with:

patterned papers- october afternoon (text and dot), basicgrey (graphic)

flowers- pixie petals, vintage cabs, basicgrey

alphas- american crafts

punch- fiskars apron lace

How sweet are those little flowers??

Now here's the fun part. AesaLina is giving away a pixiepetals set to one of my lucky readers:

If you are interested, leave a comment here and I will draw a winner on Thursday.

Happy Commenting!!

Before I go, I'll leave you with a photo I took on my iPhone today. Every single time I look at it, I laugh out loud. You see, this is SO my girls.

Their facial expressions say it all.  I can just imagine the teenage years, and it chills me to the core. HEE! Oh, their sweet tees are by my friend Amy Tangerine.

Happy Happy Tuesday! xoxo

Sponsor Note

If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising on my blog, please email me at 

stephaniehowell8(at)gmail(dot)com and I will share the details with you. You can also find the link to my email address under my photo in the left column.

More to come later today. I'll leave you with a photo (of course).

Happy Tuesday! 

xo

p.s. my friend Liz  wanted me to share something with you. spark the event. A creative journey to uplift, inspire, and spark your creative spirits within. To learn more, go HERE.

 

and some disney randomness that i haven't shared. HA! xoxo

nothing like recharging those batteries a little bit

warning: photo heavy post

we are back from a weekend away with some of our favorite people in the world.

it's a new annual tradition and this year was year number two.

we meet up at a beautiful ranch here in texas and it's something we look forward to all year long.

this is the kind of "texas scenery" that makes me remember why i love texas so much.

this year we celebrated jimmy being home. 

these guys have known each other for years.

i credit them and their families for contributing to the amazing man j is today.

i love seeing them all together. throughout the last 10 years i've heard lots of the stories they love telling.

and now i'm pretty sure i laugh just as hard as they do when they tell the stories.

before i share the photos, here is a side note.

sadie broke my lens the first day we got there. poor little thing was terrified of the dogs and knocked my camera right off the table. :(

so all of these photos are with my kit lens. which i haven't used in a year.

the first set of photos were HORRIBLE. all blurry and the color was way off.

so i gave up and shot mainly in monochrome. that's why they are almost all in b/w.

with that being said.

this weekend was all about celebrating:

some amazing scenery

beautiful new babies:

and a new puppy:

our children and the people who love them dearly:

relaxing, talking, and relaxing some more. oh, and LOTS of eating:

I know some of you read this. and if you are reading, know that we love you.

and we thank you for your friendship, love, and encouragement. you mean more to us than you can possibly know.

can't wait for next year.

happy monday, everyone! xoxo

Sadie Bug

did this for a call for pages with ten photos.

look at this crazy girl!

i made this photo collage in my photo editing program and printed it out all as one piece. love these chip stickers by basicgrey. i buy them in almost every line they come out with.

as far as these photos go, i sat sadie in front of our french doors and shot some photos of her in beautiful natural light. i adjusted the exposure and sharpness and then used maggie's SIMPLE color boost action. i love how they turned out.

happy thursday, sweet friends.

xo

 

cardstock- bazzill

patterned paper- basicgrey (yellow floral), prima (pink houndstooth, yellow behind photos)

labels- october afternoon

chipboard accents- basicgrey

gems- kaisercraft

alphas- american crafts

my sunshines

she:

 

• talks a mile a minute. she doesn't stop to take a breath  most days.
• if she's not talking, she's singing. lately it's any song from "the little mermaid". can you say obsessed? 
• is the tannest little thing i've ever seen. she's brown just like her daddy.  
• makes me dress her like a princess most days.  
• uses hilarious words. lately she's said "distinguished", "inappropriate", and "random".  she picks up EVERYTHING. a certain potty-mouthed infantryman is having to watch his p's and q's. ;)
• will start preschool soon. only 2 days a week, but i still can't believe it. wasn't i just pregnant with her? 
• loves books just like  mommy. her favorites are skippyjon jones, fancy nancy, llama llama, and pinkalicious.  
• she's  a charmer and negotiator.  
• testing boundaries. and mommy is up for the challenge. =) 
• just beautiful in every way.  

she:

 

• is a trip. a complete and utter trip.
• she snatches, grabs, and put in her mouth anything she can get her hands on. she taught me the true meaning of "baby-proofing". 
• is all wild hair and new teeth. cutting molars is NOT fun for her. check 'em out in that picture. poor thing! 
• isn't talking much. i was worried for a minute b/c harper could say 9384209340293 words at 18 months. but she understands EVERYTHING. but for now it's lots o' grunts, gesturing, and pointing. cavegirl sadie. 
• isn't eating much. but she would eat cheese and yogurt 24/7 if i let her. 
• runs, jumps, climbs, and does it all with a big grin on her face. 
• if you chastise her, she blinks and tries to kiss you. it's SO hard not to smile when she's being naughty. 
• says AYE!!! for yes and NAHHHHH. for no.  
• is obsessed w/ her mama. i just taught her to say "MY mama!!!" and maybe i shouldn't have. haha. 
• is heart-breakingly beautiful as well. the two of them couldn't look any more different but boy are they both beautiful.  

Happy Wednesday!!

xoxo

p.s. the dresses are from target! 

so typical

I intended to simply share a layout today. 

Audrey Neal  emailed me a while back asking me to do a layout for her "Letters and Words" challenges that she does on her blog.

The challenge went live today and I was all set to share the layout.

Then I noticed something odd.

Let me give you the back story here.

Audrey emailed me a month or so ago. I was thrilled to help her out, even though the challenge she gave me seemed a bit out of my comfort zone. That's what "challenges" are for, right?? =)

She asked me to use masking tape on a layout. Right away my brain started thinking of different things I could do with masking tape.

Being the dork I am, I ran to the grocery store that day and got several different widths of masking tape. I started playing around and finally found a way to use it that still felt like "me".

I completed the layout quickly once I figured out what I wanted to do. It was so much fun to make!

I LOVED the layout. I couldn't believe that I had used masking tape AND stamps on the same layout.

I was so so so proud of myself. So Proud.

Fast forward to today.

I go look at Audrey's blog and notice something odd. Yes, the layout is posted, and yes, the challenge is posted, but it's not the challenge I did the layout for.

The challenge is to make a title with non-traditional materials.

So I go back and check my initial email from Audrey, b/c i'm CERTAIN that she asked me to use masking tape.

Here is what her email said:

The challenge is to use masking on your layout.  How you interpret that is up to you, of course -- there's no right or wrong.

Uh....I'M AN IDIOT.

masking.

not masking tape.

how in the world did i mis-read that?

and how confused was she when she got my layout.

I emailed Audrey this morning apologizing and explaining my confusion.

She said she felt bad asking me to redo it and instead quickly changed the challenge to another prompt she had on her list.

I feel so silly. ACK! So typical. I'm embarrassed, but  i'm not surprised in the least.

The spaz strikes again.

I so appreciate how graceful Audrey was about the entire incident.

Hahahahahaha. So here is the "mistake layout":

and i'm still rather proud of myself even though i apparently made up my own challenge. =)

patterned paper- my minds eye andreavictoria collection

punches- fiskars apron lace, ek success embossed scallop

wooden letters-  making memories

labels- twogirlzstuff (etsy)

stamps- hero arts basic alpha

lace- melissa frances

flowers, buttons, twine- vintage

leaves- prima (cut off of flowers)

I lightly applied strips of masking tape to cardstock before i punched them. That way the tape didn't stick to the punch. After punching, I simply peeled the tape off of the cardstock and adhered it to my paper.

So there you have it. Bless my little heart.

Hop on over to Audrey's blog (linked above) and play along. You can also check out a fun journaling challenge at Journaling Junkie. Thanks for letting me play along, Stefanie.

Have a beautiful Monday, everyone!!

xoxo

s

sneaky sneaky

Hey girls!

First and foremost, thank you SO much for your sweet words on my last post.

I'm not going to stop blogging, that's not what I meant at all. So, no worries. I think I'd go nuts if I didn't blog. It's therapeutic! 

Last night was "Sneak Night" at a certain site. Hint: They are my most favorite scrapbooking kit club in the world!!! TeeHee. You got it, SC. I know that was a hard one for you to figure out.

The kit this month is called Cotillion. I have to tell you that it is delicious. All of  my favorite things all rolled into one. Part preppy, part vintage...pretty much perfect. Lots of Anna Griffin Darcey, Jenni Bowlin, Making Memories wedding. Okay. I'll stop rambling about how great it is. But I have to tell you, it might be my all time favorite.

Hop on over to SC (link above) to see the sneaks. I have a couple to share though.

my first layout with disney photos! keeping in the stephanie tradition, it's not really a themed layout...just my thoughts about the photos of harper at cinderella's castle. i do plan to do some themed layouts with my WDW photos, as well.

a layout about sadie and her bubble fascination. love this one and can't wait to share it.

Well, that's it. Two layouts so far and I hope to do many, many more.

J is still on leave until the end of August. i was really wishing he would be off for my birthday, but he won't. I think my birthday celebration will definitely have to include a date night!! (and a gift card to ann taylor loft...these are my only wishes. hee!)

I'm off to clean our messy messy house (as harper keeps reminding me with a disapproving look).

WDW story for the day: One night we had dinner at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Hotel.  

We had reservations, but had to wait for quite a while to get into our Cinderella character dinner. There was a nice gentleman playing piano for the guests in the lobby. We went to sit and listen, and Harper was completely enchanted by the music. She loves music and loves to sit and listen to any sort of performance.

After a while, she got up and danced. She must have danced around the piano for 30 minutes. She was skipping, twirling, leaping, and waving her wand at the guests. Every time the man would finish a song, she would bow. The man LOVED it. He winked at her, talked to her, and took her song requests. It was just so sweet and magical. She felt the music so much that she had to dance. It wasn't annoying or loud, or rude....just sweet and soft and calm.

It was one of my favorite moments of the trip.

happy friday, friends.

xoxox