Just me My Soldier and our 4 little chicks

yearbook

i thought i'd share my layouts for the october kit, yearbook, at studio calico.

i chose to get add-on one, fall festival. i love all of the add-ons, but i'm always wary about accumulating too much "stuff', know what i mean? i enjoy creating much much more when i'm not overwhelmed. so i thought long and hard and decided that fall festival was the best fit for me.

these photos of harper in the dead central texas leaves always crack me up.

i decided to document the fact that we don't really have a "fall" here in TX, but that i'll fake one if i have to.

i cut one of the maya road envelopes in half, and framed the photos with them. they make a great place to add journaling.

don't be scared of tilting your photos. it adds a nice "collage" feel to this layout.

i painted the corrugated letters with making memories paint in acorn

and outlined them with my white uniball signo pen.

the splash of blue paint on the label sticker is making memories paint in lagoon

it's the only color of paint i use regularly, and it seems to go with so many colors.

these basicgrey and bo bunny papers just screamed out for "fall" photos.

and considering i don't have too many (see above;) i chose to do a layout about harper's love of pea coats and how i think it's genetic.

the cluster of flowers are the bo bunny rubons layered over jenni bowlin journaling cards. i cut them out and embellished them with brads, some more of the basicgrey stickers (LOVE THEM), and i cut some of the green fleece american crafts squares into leaves.

the journaling pen is the uniball signo and the corrugated letters are painted with my white sharpie. i depressed the tip and "blobbed" paint onto the cardstock, then rubbed it in with my fingers.

as a final touch, i outlined the patterned paper block with my .01 american crafts precision pen. i'm really liking adding that touch lately. it adds a bit more "pop".

as soon as i took these photos a few weeks ago, i knew i had to document them via a two-pager. there were just too many photos that were meaningful out of this batch, and i didn't want to limit them to a one page layout.

i really enjoy doing non-traditional military pages (without camo, insignia, etc) and this kit provided the supplies i needed.

i was surprised to find there was enough khaki, gold, brown, and olive green to make a military layout.

i framed two of the photos with inked pattern paper. the fancy pants pom-pom trim added the perfect simple touch. i topped it with a sassafras bloom, a fleece american crafts flower, and a die cut circle/sequin raja center topper.

i was almost out of the woodgrain alpha and the cardboard alpha, but i found that i could combine them to make a funky, masculine title.

i punched the "september" from studio calico exclusive patterned paper using this mcgill tab punch.

as soon as i saw the studio calico patterned paper with the months, i knew i wanted to use it to document growth.

i printed small photos of the girls over the past year, one for each month.

i matted them with the sassafras patterned paper edge, and mounted them on the calendar paper.

i tucked the strip of paper with the months under the calendar paper, and numbered each month and photo. note that that october, november, december have question marks by them. i have no problem with that. is it perfect? no. but i really wanted to use this idea and i didn't want to wait until 2010 to do it.

i made the title with the cosmo boyfriend stickers, layered over the bo bunny tree rub-on.

once again, i outlined the patterned paper blocks with my precision pen and a ruler.

the background here is the back of the sassafras sunburst paper. and no, i did not sew on it...it came that way. LOVE that. they made this paper for sew-phobes like me.

i cut a piece of white cardstock and misted it with orange maya mist.

on top of the cardstock, i adhered maya road kraft envelopes (back side up)

a scattering of flowers and raja sequin flower topper added to the romantic feel.

i printed photos of j and me in a photostrip and tucked them into one envelop. the title went on top .

one envelope is used for the (mushy) journaling and the other is simply for decoration. i might add another note there later.

and you KNOW i had to add a bow somewhere. ;)

these photos of harper on her first day of preschool make my heart so happy.

i wanted to scrap them, but not in a completely traditional "first day of school" sense.

the background paper here was a no-brainer. the scantron paper made a great photo mat, and SHOCKINGLY i had to punch it with my apron lace punch.

the row of embellishments is layered sassafras papaer whimsies, AC fleece shapes, and my mind's eye brads. the journaling shapes are cut from the same Studio Calico calendar patterned paper i used on the "wish" layout (well, on several of the layouts). and more bows, of course.

at this point i had TOTALLY run out of letter stickers. but i decided to cut the negatives from the sheet of chipboard alphas. i glued them and stapled them (didn't want those suckers to fall off).

the "sunshine" above the title is a sassafras paper whimsy flower that i cut to look like a sunburst.

Whew!! What a post! Hopefully it was helpful...and as always, I'm more than happy to answer any of your questions in the comment section. Happy Tuesday, sweet friends! xoxo

the triumphant return of flea market finds (plus a little creative therapy)!!

first i want to share a layout i did for the latest catalyst at creative therapy.

the prompt was: who's the person that supports you most in your life, intellectually and emotionally?

and clearly, this was a no-brainer. ;)

sorry to say it did not photograph well AT ALL. the photos are not that dark on the layout, not even close...and the corrugated cardstock is a little shimmery and didn't  translate well at all in the photograph. sorry about that!

paper- k and co corrugated carstock, vintage sheet music, collage press (green)    

die cut flowers- k and co

twine- vintage

pink flowers- anna griffin

labels- jenni bowlin

ric rac borders- jenni bowlin

damask rub-on- jenni bowlin

alphas- jenni bowlin (tiny), american crafts

Thanks for letting me join in this week, ladies! I loved the challenge.    

In other news, for the first time in a very long time, the howell girls hit up the flea market today.

My friend Reyanna joined us and it we had a blast.

i must interject here, she asked me "does harper talk this much all.the.time?? answer: yes. it's payback, i'm told.

when i was in first grade, my teacher told my mother that "stephanie talks so much, we know what color your sheets are". 

good

Lord

have 

mercy.

I took a 20 dollar bill and left  with a one dollar bill. Plus flea market cooties on my hands and copious amounts of sweat. it is HOT here!;)

My favorite moment had to be when I paid a buck for the milk glass dish (see below), and the vendor, who was a lady with quite the impressive

....uh....bosom???

pulled the change out of her....bosom. 

uhhh is this where the saying keep the change originated??!?!?!?!?!?

but i smiled and told her i was impressed with her WAD of cash, and that my bra would only hold fifty cents or so.

Moving on-

Here's what I found:

i LOVE this. LOVELOVELOVE. and the trays come off so I can hang them on the wall if I don't want to display them this way.

i'm going to arrange my vintage print blocks on this little brown shelf:

hobnail milk glass dish of the aforementioned bosom money.

WELL WORTH it:

calculator. wonder how people would look at me if i whipped this out at the grocery store to calculate. HEE!

barbie doll case from sixties. GOOD EYES on this one, reyanna. the dude gave it to us for free, but we felt kind of awkward about it, so we insisted he take a buck from us. :)

tiered serving dishes. note the flea market filth upon the dish (with sadie's spilled juice on top). that's what i get for sticking my goodies underneath the double stroller!!!

two old brooches. sounds like i'm insulting them by calling them that.

haha. aren't they sweet?:

that's about it, my friends. a lovely day, for sure.

thanks for coming to play, reyanna! 

hope you all had a wonderful, blessed weekend!

xo

s

ETA: The October SC kit and gallery go live tonight at midnight EST. I chose Fall Festival this month (add-on one) in addition to the main kit and can't wait to share my layouts...this months offerings are beautiful.

                                                         

beautiful light

i've noticed some gorgeous light lately.

i love this time of year. we may not get a traditional fall here in TX,

but i love the cooler air, the sunshine, the beautiful light at the end of the day.

in my backyard right before the sun went down the other day:

and this morning in the bathroom:

hope you have a beautiful weekend full of love, laughter, happiness, and light.

love to you all. xo

craft-tastic news. (yes, i'm a dork)

i'm the october guest designer for elle's studio.

my gallery will go live on oct. 1. i had a BLAST playing with her new christmas and halloween tags and journaling spots.

i thought i'd share a few peeks of what i'll share here next week.

it feels great to finally be able to share all of the fun scrappy stuff i've been working on the past month or so.

plus another little simple project that i don't have sneaks of.

can't wait to share!

happy thursday! xoxo

and just like that i pushed him up against a wall.

story time.

so j and i met in june of 2000. we were pretty much boyfriend and girlfriend from the very beginning. none of that "dating" or "getting to know each other" stuff. 

we knew we wanted to be together. we really liked each other right away and we were pretty much inseparable right from the get-go.

i'd had two serious-ish boyfriends. one who was TOO nice to me and let me get away with too much, and one who was just the opposite. not nice to me. mean, actually. didn't let me get away with anything at all. 

like the lyrics to that jo dee messina song...i needed a man to stand beside me. not in front of or behind me.

and in june of 2000 i met him. now let me point something out. i looked at college as a time to date. a stepping stone for finding the one i wanted to marry. but i was NOT like those girls at baylor who were there for their "MRS" degree. and there were lots of them. at a conservative baptist school in the south? you betcha there were lots of them.

but not me. i was having fun. a social butterfly.

flitting from this boy to that boy, and not trying to "marry" any of them.

until i met james carr howell.

the first night i met him i was...um...besotted (to borrow a word from jane austen and from my friend may flaum). seriously. and how could you NOT be. have you seen his eyes? his smile? the cleft in his chin? his olive skin? okay, i digress.

i met him at a stop light on the way home from work. yes, you heard right.

do not fear, i was not a "working woman" or "woman of the night". not that kind of work. that's NOT what i mean when i said that college was for having fun.

i was driving home from work (a place called sea and ski) when my friend luke pulled up in his pickup with a cute boy in the passenger seat. he asked where i was headed. i said home (getting increasingly more flustered by the moment-flustered by the boy in the passenger seat) and he said they were headed to watch a hockey game at beverly's, a local seedy bar that we all adored.

beverly was a redhead who'd had a bit of a hard life. she was truly kind of like betty from army wives. a bit "grizzled" and a recovering alcoholic. but not recovering well. she was known to secretly hit the sauce and then pull out her portable karaoke machine and carry it around all night singing maudlin love songs. i sang backup to brooks and dunn's neon moon with her one night, and she loved me from that point on.

lots happened at beverly's. gossip about boys, breakups (one, over the phone, right after my grandfather had died...that boy was NOT very sensitive) , crying in bathrooms (after said breakup), and even the viewing of the very last 90210. bev's was a big part of my college experience. but i never expected to meet the man i would marry there.

that night, after work, i walked in wearing jeans, flip flops, a tank top, no makeup except for a smidge of lip gloss, and my hair in a bun. cute, huh? not. 

but he didn't care. believe it or not, the new boy only had eyes for me. he flirted with me. he stood up for me when luke made fun of the fact that i'm not well-endowed in cup size (it's true. i've always been an "almost a", and i've always been a bit sensitive about it). luckily, i met a "legs and booty" guy. so, like i was saying...he stood up for me.

he looked at me all night long. all.night.

while we sat around a big table talking. while we played pool. while we played shuffleboard. at my friends house, later, where we talked more. and laughed and laughed and laughed.

funny thing is, i didn't really think he went to west point. i thought he was a UT boy who was acting like he went to west point. he had mentioned he was on his way to austin the next day. he kind of looked like a UT boy, but way more laid-back. the guys kept ribbing him, saying things like "cadet" howell, but he did not seem like a soldier. so i just thought it was a joke.

turns out he was a cadet. duh. ;)

and the trip to austin was to see a girl he'd been dating off and on since high school.

but let me tell you this. he never went to see her. ever again.

because that night, under the stars, i may or may not have pushed him up against a brick wall. and kissed him until his head was dizzy.

but let me say this. i'd NEVER done anything like that before. i was not a hussy, a tart, a tramp,a trollop, a broad, a floozy, or any of those old- fashioned, southern words for HARLOT.

heeee. i loved him. or at the very least wanted to make out with him for the rest of my life.

i mean, really. have you NOT seen those eyes, that smile...... i could go on forever.

and please forgive me for my moment of trollop-ness.

who would have EVER thought that i'd credit beverly's and the dallas stars when talking about how i met my husband.

next time, how i ended up telling him i loved him as he was walking out of the bathroom.

always so romantic, i am.

happy wednesday. xo

 

the ranch

a while back i was asked to create a layout for the jenni bowlin studio inspiration blog.

looking at the papers from her town square line, i knew immediately what i wanted to do.

every summer when we go to the ranch, jimmy and harper sit outside on the very first night we are there. they sit in the same spot, and they watch the sunset. i have started a tradition of snapping a photo of them in the same place each year. 

i decided that these were the photos i was going to scrap.

all products- jenni bowlin

i had this die cut paper that i'd had in my stash for quite some time. it didn't match the layout at all, but i loved the edges of it. i trimmed the edges off and used them as brackets to frame my design.

the new border stickers are some of my favorite things from jenni's newest release. i used them for journaling, but also stacked them to make ruffles under my photos, and a scalloped trim above my photos.

i accented three chipboard buttons with vintage baker's twine. at first the scalloped trim/buttons were layered at the top of the top photo. the design still needed something.

i found this rub-on and layered it onto a vintage book page. it added the perfect touch.

i noticed that there was too much "white space" at the top of the bottom photograph and it looked a bit washed out. i simply added the title directly on top of the photo, and that took care of the problem.

oh, this page makes my heart happy. can you believe how much she has grown? can't wait to carry on this tradition and one day have tens of dozens of photos of them in this exact same spot!

that's about it from my end. it's raining buckets here and we are all a bit sick, so another lazy day is in the cards, i believe!

happy tuesday! xoxo

Sunday Funday

Okay. That is a lie. Today is NOT a funday.

Here is how last night went. 

9pm-12am Sadie cries. Molars coming in, she is not happy. I hold her, rub her back, give her Tylenol, you name it. She is very mad at me. 

12am- Put Sadie down and move Harper to my room. They share a room and when one can't sleep I have to remove the other, so that they both don't suffer.

Didn't work this time.

12-1am Harper stares at me and talks to me.

1am- I take Harper back to her bed. Sadie finally seems to be asleep

6am- Harper starts moaning loudly. For no apparent reason. Today, she will either tell you she a: was having a dream b: missed mommy c: was dancing

6:01 am- entire Howell family is awake.

since then, both children have been having complete breakdowns about every .10 second. they are both down for nap now, so we'll see.

it's just one of those days. we all have 'em, huh?

thought i'd share all my sneaks today.

so far, with this kit, i've done

1. a two page layout (army themed, no less!)

2. a layout with misting

3. a layout with paint

so i think it's fair to say this kit has lots of possibilities. and it doesn't hurt that i LOVE fall and love fall photos.

reminder: i got the main kit and addon 1 (fall festival)

\\

all frames- kitschy digitals

and just for fun, and as proof that life does indeed go on,

even on the craziest of days,

exactly two years ago:

and one year ago today:

happy day, sweet friends.

xoxo

snapshots from around the house

fall decor is up

(can you spot something that doesn't fit on the mantel??)

halloween costumes have been purchased.

yes, i am aware that this is by far the tackiest mermaid costume on the face of the earth. 

but atleast it's not...err....slutty. yes, i said slutty.

lots of the mermaid costumes (FOR TODDLERS) look slutty. no thank you.

shiny material is never good. but i'm hoping to add some shell accents and make it a little

uhhhhhh classier???

an embarrassing amount of layouts have accumulated waiting to be put away:

fall shoes have been purchased at target.

newest library books

(and old favorite magazines)

sit on the bedside table waiting to be read

yes. that is a stephenie meyer book. sorry twilight junkies, NOT a fan of her writing.

my teenage cousin gave me this book to read a while back and i haven't been able to get into it.:

pretty ribbons from JoAnn waiting to be used:

that's about it for now. i'm sneezy and exhausted, so i think it will be another early night again tonight.

i went to bed at 9 last night. soooo weird, but so good.

love to you all.

xoxoxo

wednesday miscellany

random, random post today.

a. oh my gosh, y'all loved those tags, huh??? i love them too.

179

louise hughes said...

I love your blog, and reading your stories!
I think of you lots and admire how brave you all are.
Lulu UK

Reply September 15, 2009 at 04:57 AM

way to go, louise! send me your info and i'll forward it on to Veronica at Shabby Chic Crafts. and by the way, if you liked what you saw in the last post, please hop over to the shop and buy some. i'm all about supporting small, mom-owned businesses, and i want you to be, too.

b. in other news,if you are in the central texas area, Crop Paper Scissors  is having some awesome classes this weekend. melodee langworthywill be in town this week end.

SCHEDULE:

Friday, Sept. 18th:          CROP NIGHT with Melodee Langworthy  6 PM - Midnight  -  $10   Includes snacks, drinks and 10% OFF purchases.

Saturday, Sept. 19th:      "Fall / Halloween" Album   9 AM - 12 PM  -  $55

Saturday, Sept. 19th:      "Totally Random Times" Album  1:00 PM - 3:30 PM  -  $55

Saturday, Sept. 19th:      "Jingle All the Way!" Album  4 PM - 7 PM  -  $60

***  Due to the expense of bringing in a guest instructor, all classes must be prepaid.  If you register and are unable to attend, you will receive a class kit. There will be no refunds. ***

 

 

i hope to make it to the store to take the "totally random" album. i think it's so pretty.

emmalie will also sell these as kits.for info/registration call 254-751-7020

c. next up- another studio calico october sneak peek:

 

d. best mail day ever.

my primas from 2 peas

 

 

an AWESOME birthday gift from the precious vanessa. thanks so very much for putting a big grin on my face today, sweet friend.

e. a iphone collage of life this past month.

left to right-
1.monkey shenanigans in the kitchen2-3 j convincing harper that the water refill station in the middle of a random parking lot was a space shuttle launching pad. he was "talking to the astronauts" through that little door. harper totally bought it and i was laughing so hard i was crying. he is SO random!4. sadie's new favorite thing. she's figuring out how to properly throw a fit. this was while we were waiting for harper during ballet. bless her little heart.5. princess. all day every day.6. AUTUMN BEERS are here!! wheeeeeee!!7. fall mantel done.8. rain, rain go away.9. i might have to go back and get this from big lots. it made me laugh SO hard. monster costume=perfect for sadie.10. as elise blaha says, my mini- blair waldorf ( but much less diabolical) in front of the jcrew store window in austin. she chose this outfit herself. headband? check. pearls? check. what. a. prep.

Happy Wednesday everyone!!Tomorrow's post? Grumpy people.Love to you all!

xoxoxo

monday mega-giveaway! CONTEST CLOSED!!!

first off, i want to thank you for the wonderful response to my engagement story. y'all are so sweet, and even more than that...I LOVED reading your engagement stories. so many things made me smile yesterday. each time i'd receive a comment in my inbox, i'd get excited. such a great response!!

i have more stories to share, i think i'll do one a week or so.

last night was sneak night at SC and here are the sneaks I did for the slide show. 

i got addon 1 (fall festival) this month, and i'm in love with the rich, vibrant, fall-ish colors!

gosh, i love autumn! can't wait to sit down and do lots more layouts with this kit.

and now on to the giveaway. :)

Shabby Chic Crafts has just released their Holiday Items!! They are full of vintage goodness.  

This year they created the perfect Christmas journaling kit. If you plan on making a December Daily Album, then you must get your hands on one of these: 

They also added 3 sets of advent numbers to choose from, perfect for those advent projects! 

If Christmas seems too far away, no worries.  Shabby Chic Crafts created some beautiful fall and Halloween themed journaling products perfect for those spooky Halloween memories! 

Don't forget to check out their blog for some great inspiration, tutorials and fun giveaways!!

Here is the best part! They have compiled a beautiful giveaway! 

One winner will receive a 5 sets! Some fall, Halloween and Christmas! Winner's choice!

 if you are interested in this giveaway, leave a comment here and i will choose a winner wednesday night.

have a beautiful monday! xo