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**SCT giveaway still open below!**
what IS it about baby toys?
what makes them so alluring no matter your age?
the other day:
and close to three years ago:
or maybe the title of this post should be
miss harper never changes? hahahaha!
have a beautiful thursday.
xoxo
s
first and foremost, i've got some winners to announce!
since the moxiemandie winner never responded (and i didn't have her contact info!!), i chose another.
Awesome! Thank you Stephanie and Mandi for the giveaway! :-)
♥♥♥♥♥
and now for the 2 lisa leonard winners:
Love. Very very cool.
I would love this necklace. Thanks for introducing LL to me.
unfortunately, kim didn't leave any contact info. if i don't hear back from her in the next week, i will draw again next week.
way to go girls!!
♥♥♥♥♥♥
and now on to this week's giveaway!
A YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO SCRAPBOOK AND CARDS TODAY MAGAZINE!
i adore this publication. not only the publication itself (because it's full of creative, do-able,everyday layouts that i want to make) but also the woman behind it. catherine is one of the kindest, most genuine women i've met in this industry. and she's doing great things!
if you visit the website right now, you can download the brand new summer issue (seen above). here's a bit about the issue:
Our brand new summer issue showcases all this season has to offer! Inspiration is yours to find in SCT's Summer issue! Brimming with beautiful pages, cards and altered pieces, this issue heralds in the new season and says, "Hooray for summer!"
i also wanted to share that SCT is having a subscription special right now. Canadian subscriptions are $9.95 and US ones are $19.95. you can find the deal here.
if you'd like to win a subscription. leave a comment here by next monday night, and i'll announce a winner with next week's giveaway. PLEASE remember to either sign in when you leave a comment, or leave your email address.
and here are some links for scrapbook and cards today! if you aren't familiar with what they do, hop over and check it out. i know you'll love them just as much as i do. :)
have a beautiful, blessed wednesday!
xxo
s
**lisa leonard giveaway will be announced tomorrow, i had to bump this week's giveaway. feel free to enter if you haven't yet!**
just wanted to quickly share my july SC layouts!
july shopping list:
sleep time
12x12
the bow was made using the strip from the bottom of a sheet of the AC patterned paper.i cut the flowers from this sheet of AC PP...you'll see it later cut in a different way.
i love this paper. i really do. you can also find it in more patterned paper, since the add-ons tend to sell out quickly.
the title work is actually cut from a sheet of patterned paper as well! it's called daytime digits and you can find it in more add-on patterned paper.
our summer to do list
12x12
yes, that's the exclusive stamp from the main kit! i used chicken feed ink.
i really wanted to scrap this list. it kind of goes along with the "we go" blog post i did a while back.
i LOVE sassafras starters papers. i use them as the bases of layouts quite often. they are just such a nice change from cardstock!
i like how this one has the random "5" on it. i didn't even notice until after the page was done, but it works perfectly since there are 5 of us this summer.
keep your eyes peeled this week for some 4th anniversary challenges on the SC blog. this layout goes along with one of them!
6 mos
12x12
LOVE that chevron stamp. i stamped the six with the stamp and lemon drops ink and cut it with my slice.
the rest is pretty simple...i did use that yellow AC paper again, and cut it in a circle border instead of flowers. it's a pretty, bright, and versatile piece of paper!
sorry there aren't many to share this month...too much going on and not enough time to play!
hope your day is beautiful.
xxo
s
**last day to enter the lisa leonard giveaway!!**
have you made anything lately? we've been having fun over here and trying to make something every day.
here's what we've come up with lately:
i had a bunch of bazzill swatch cards around the house and wasn't sure what to do with them. i held onto them b/c i knew i wanted to use them (i wasn't consulting them enough to keep them for their original purpose).
i decided to make miss h a little book of sight words. i added some jump rings and sight words...easy peasy. she loves flipping through it.
we also made this fun paper plate rainbow ring toss that i found on pinterest. click on my pin and it will take you to the original source. it was fun to make AND fun to play. and we had all the materials on hand which is always nice!
i painted the biggest "h" from our mantel aqua. i was tired of the reddish/brownish rust color and i've been feeling our living room really needs another pop of color (besides the red china cabinet). i think this might do the trick!
we started summer of fun this week. i'm so excited and want to thank emilie for sharing this great idea on her craft blog! it's just perfect for my girls...the only modification i had to make was to take out all of the cards for the "activities with dad" category. :( boooo!
and as for my favorite crafting adventure of the week
i present to you our lions. and i use that term very very loosely. we are calling them our limousemonsters.
we started out with great intentions! we were going to make these lions that i found on unschool me:
so we got started. but we soon realized that the construction paper pack i bought last week only had red,blue,green,black,and white. WHAT??
so we improvised.
we colored paper plates for the faces:
but soon realized our googly eyes and pom poms were too small for the faces. we already had a major case of the giggles at this point. these lions just weren't looking right.
and then mama had a glue incident:
the bigs were flat out laughing at me at this point. hmmph. harper said "MAMA! you're the biggest and are SUPPOSED to be the best at art!!!". she's clearly never seen my impressive stick figures. i am SO an arteeeeeeeeeeeeeest.
see?
don't act like you're not impressed right now.
it was all downhill from this point on.
harper started making moustaches:
sadie was trying to eat the glue, i think...
but we had SO much fun making our liomousemonsters. or whatever the heck they were.
teeeeheeee!
art is so in the eye of the beholder.
happy monday, y'all!
xoxo
s
cardstock,patterned papers, bows,black letter stickers-jbs
yellow stickers-american crafts lullaby thickers
doilies- martha stewart
american crafts precision pen
just chillin' teen slice design card
last week, harper and i had a discussion about why barbie needed to marry a SOLDIER. i commented on my fb blog page that wanted to get this story down right away. some of you echoed that sentiment and encouraged me . i figured instead of just SAYING i needed to get it down and then forgetting about it, i'd just do it asap.
journaling:
h:mama, we need a boy doll so the princess barbies can get married! me:okay,barbie has a friend named ken! h:is he a SOLDIER? he has to be a soldier b/c those are the bravest,most handsome guys! atta girl harper! i am so proud of you and i'd have to say i agree!
why don't i get more stories like this down? MUST work on it.
hope your day is beautiful and blessed!
xoxo
s
my babies are SEVEN months old today!!!
lucy left, cate right cate left, lucy right
cate front,lucy back cate left, lucy right
cate lucy
lucy left,cate right cate left,lucy right
cate left,lucy right lucy left, cate right
they are SO fun right now. smiling, laughing, scooting,
blowing spit bubbles. sitting,cackling(cate), bouncing,grabbing their feet. feeling everything. so curious.
sitting, eating solids, drooling.
facial expresssions to DIE for.
seven months is even more fun than six months.
lucy:
18 1/2 lbs. snuggly,sweet,smiley.loves blowing raspberries. loves bath time,just started sleeping on her tummy. fuzzy hair,HATES green beans but loves just about everything else.almost too long/big for her car seat carrier,drags herself around on her belly,enjoys licking her sister's head and poking her agressively. not super verbal.
cate:
16 1/2 lbs. obsessed with grabbing her feet and trying to suck on them. will eat baby food but pretty ambivalent about it. does this weird noise/cackling thing all day long (see in video below). gags herself constantly with her hands, always slightly perturbed. rocks back and forth on her hands and knees all day long.loves baths, cries super loud as she is falling asleep, but always falls asleep first.
happy 7 months, my precious baby girls!
xoxo
**lisa leonard giveaway still open below!!**
for those of you who use pinterest, you can find my boards here.
i'm still using pinterest pretty much the same way i always have, as a virtual pinboard for things that catch my eye while i'm looking at my favorite blogs.
here's what's caught my eye lately.
kid's car wash via hip hip hooray
matching game via two friends two cities
handmade chandelier via heartland paper
fun breakfast ideas via the crafting chicks
container magnets via martha stewart
vintage suitcase end tables via cupcakes and cashmere
toilet paper wall art via tatertots and jello
chicken wire frames via lemonade makin mama
a must have dress via farfetch
perfect "welcome home" dress via eshakti
vintage tin supply organizer via bhg
door via my ideal home
mimosa margaritas via delish
via lay baby lay
WHEW! pinterest is total visual and creative overload. i always leave my boards with a fire to create AND feeling completely overwhelmed. HA!
and speaking of inspiration, if you haven't picked this up, do so IMMEDIATELY! i've read it 3x already and love every single page!
hope your thursday is beautiful!
xoxo
s
**lisa leonard giveaway still open below!**
i'll admit it.in the past i've fallen into the trap.
you know that trap...the one of self doubt regarding my photos.
the trap of thinking that i need to NEVER USE A FLASH!
and that photos i use on layouts need to be amazing. that they shouldn't be grainy, or composed wrong. and that if my photos don't have a certain level of perfection i shouldn't share them. or scrap them.
it's ridiculous.
below i see my husband meeting his daughter for the first time. i see me telling j that we've had a baby girl. i see generations and the love they share. i see so much i could have missed if i waited for the perfect shot. i see love. period.
who cares that they are blurry. who cares if they are grainy.
i do not have time to get my camera on the perfect setting before i take every.single.photo. hopefully one day i will, but today i do not.
sometimes i say screw it and USE THE FLASH. sometimes i SHOOT ON AUTO! GASP! but i'm sorry, when i have a million kids doing a million things at once, and i have ONE second to take one photo...sometimes it's on auto. shock and horror!
sometimes i use my iPhone. sometimes i don't have a camera at all. b/c i think it can come between me and living. i want to live the moment...experience it. so sometimes i don't have a camera at all.
i am not a professional photographer. i've never claimed to be, nor do i ever have a desire to be one. i really don't know how to use PSE.
my snapshots are just that. snapshots. my life is not beautiful and crisp all the time. sometimes it's messy. and composed wrong. and blurry.
i don't want to have to edit all of my photos.
and i've gotten to the point that i'm okay with that.
because the heart of my photos is there. the love is there. the emotion.the ties. the affection. these ARE perfect to me.
i'd rather have a million messy photos documenting US than hundreds of perfect photos.
i'm not going to get caught up in it anymore.
you want to know something crazy? i don't think i've scrapbooked any of these photos!
photography truly interests me. but now isn't the time for me to learn how to do it the way i wish i could do it.
i'll leave the professional quality photos to the professionals. no more pressure on myself to learn how to be an outstanding photographer.
i'll admire others that are outstanding photographers, and i'll keep attempting to keep documenting our story in an outstanding way that is realistic for me.
whew! i feel better already. :)
eta: this post is not meant as a "oh, woe is me, please tell me i'm fabulous" type of post. it's a stream of consciousness post about my thought process regarding my photography as just a mom, not a pro. these are thoughts i had yesterday when i came upon the first image of me holding the phone and telling J we'd had a baby girl. i realized how much i loved that photo, even though it was not "technically" a good photo.
this post is about the fact that it doesn't matter. just like i don't believe anyone will be scrutinizing my pages one day looking for "the visual triangle" i don't believe anyone will care, or notice, that i used a flash. :)
xoxo
s
first up-
the winner of last week's moxiemandie giveaway!
all from cafe press
sorry, i couldn't resist. *snicker*
but seriously...i think it's time for a custom tee for ME. :)
hope your weekend was lovely!
xxo
