Sunday, January 27, 2013

January LOAD #53 - Love U

The end of another weekend and a new start to another week. Where does the time go? This weekend flew by at break neck speed. Did I even accomplish anything? Not sure. I did finish a layout this evening, it is #53 (#22 traditional) for the January LOAD (LayOut A Day) over at Let's Scrap.  Another layout of little miss Maddie this Christmas!


For this layout I played along with the Scrap That - February Sketch. It is a great sketch, and although I can never quite produce the amazing works of art that the Design team does, I was happy to get this photo scrapped. 

I scrapped this layout for the Colorful Creations - Favorite things challenge this month. The challenge was to  make a layout of your favorite holiday and in the link back to the gallery tell them why.  Christmas is my favorite holiday.  It has always been as I just love the season of giving and the true spirit and reason for the season. Now that Maddie is a part of our lives, it seems that much more special. Seeing everything through her eyes makes my heart sing.  

Here are a couple of close-up photos:




Materials Used:  paper - Basic Grey, ribbon - unknown; chipboard stickers - BG; rub-on - Creative Memories; pins - CTMH; brads - BG; bling - Want 2 Scrap.


Thanks so much for visiting. Your comments mean so much to me!

SYTYCS Round 4 & January #52 - 15 Months

Happy early, early Sunday! I just completed my SYTYCS Round 4 over at Colorful Creations.  


This challenge was to use: 
  • Diecut (bought or handmade)
  • 3 photos
  • colors in combo ONLY

Select ONE from the list below to use
Masking
Bling
Brads
Flowers
Stars
 
NOTE PLEASE READ: you can ONLY use on of the items listed above, however you can use more than one of that item  for example, if you choose to use stars, you can use more than one star but you CANNOT use anything else on the list so then your list of items would be (diecut, 3 photos, color combo and stars) nothing more.

Color Combo: Colors: White, Black, Cream, Grey
 Sketch

This challenge was REALLY hard for me. I interpreted the "Use only ONE of the items... and nothing more" to mean no stickers, no ink, no pens, no journaling, no rub-ons, etc.  It is VERY hard for me to not journal something as I feel that is a large part of the scrapping experience. I used all four colors, bling, 3 photos, and my die-cut was created with my cricut cartridge, Art Philosophy. My page is very simple and not at all like my usual style. 

I also am counting this toward my January LOAD (LayOut A Day) over at Let's Scrap. This is #52 (#21 traditional). Now I just need to figure out how to complete the "adjacent" page.

Materials used:  paper - unknown; bling - Heidi Swapp & Want 2 Scrap; quicktuz - Lucy.

Thanks for visiting!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

January LOAD #50 & 51 - Christmas Greetings

Happy Saturday! Someone has 4 teeth coming in and been crying and fussy all day. Poor little thing. This is my January LOAD (LayOut A Day) #50 & #51 (19 & 20 traditional) over at Let's Scrap. This is Maddie this Christmas...isn't she just too cute?


The left side was made for the Design Team Challenge #54 over at Let's Scrap. 

The challenge is to create a Christmas layout, use some sort of distressing technique, whether it is sanding, inking or any other distressing technique you know of, use 2 different colored cardstock, 5 different pieces of pattern paper, at least one sticker, die-cut or rub-on, and lastly, a small strip of paper, if you don't have one, you are allowed to use a border sticker or even a ribbon. 

I used 5 patterned papers (the green vertical strip, the red photo mat, the brown horizontal paper strip, the striped horizontal strip, and the green photo corner created with my Quickutz). The two colored cardstocks are the yellow background and the cream strip punched with a border punch. My distressing was Goldrush ink I used around the edges of all the papers and the border punch strip (this is hard to see in the picture). My sticker is a cardstock sticker with the title "Christmas Greetings" and I used gold ribbon behind the sticker and blue ribbon horizontally at the bottom.

You also have to use a Let's Scrap sketch, so I used the following sketch: 7-11-12 

For the right side of the page I used a sketch from Let's Get Sketchy - January Week 3.  Here is the right side:

Here is the sketch:



I also played along with Colorful Creations - Say it with words challenge for January: to use the word blessed.  I used the word blessed on the right side of the Layout on the office tab and also in the little journaling block where I described why we are so blessed to have this little one in our lives.

Here are a couple of close-ups:




Materials Used:  paper - Bazzill, Basic Grey; ribbon - unknown; paper clip, journaling note and chipboard sticker and stickers - Basic Grey; rub-ons - My Minds Eye; pop dots - Forever in time; trimmer - Creative memories; quickutz - Photo corners; border punch - Martha Stewart.

Thanks for visiting!  There is still time to join in the challenges above!

Friday, January 25, 2013

January LOAD #48 & 49 - Our Little Lobster

Happy Friday! Thank goodness! I have not been very productive this week. I was traveling and simply exhausted, so I have been working on this layout for DAYS! This is #48 & #49 (#17 & 18 traditional) for my January LOAD (LayOut A Day) over at Let's Scrap


I created this layout using a Let's Scrap Sketch 2-1-12 for the Scrap Your Stash Challenge #24
The challenge is to use a Let's Scrap Sketch and the following: at least 3 patterned papers, 1 cardstock, sticker letters, 1 die cut, ribbon or twine and add 10 pieces of bling.  I used 5 patterned papers, 1 cardstock, three types of letter stickers, two spoon die-cuts, twine, and 17 pieces of bling.

I also played along with The Paper Girls Challenge #24: use wood/wood grain embellishments or actual wood on your layout. I pulled out a really old wood grain pattern paper I had and die-cut spoons with my cricut for this page. They match the ones she was actually playing with, almost perfectly!

Here are a couple of close up pics:



Materials Used: paper - Creative Memories, Basic Grey & Unknown; bling - AdornIt; crabs - Jolle's by You EKSuccess; twine - unknown; sticker letters - Thickers Heart, The Paper Studio and Basic Grey Serendipity a& Shine On; journaling blocks - Jilibean Soup; cricut cartridge - From my Kitchen.
Thanks for visiting!



Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Project Life - Week 3


Welcome to Project Life 2013! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay a while. I'm Jessica, wife to Juan, mommy to 1 year old Maddie. I am also an electrical engineer by day and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.

I am using the digital kit on shutterfly (hopefully Olive once it has been released), find more info at http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog. This digital version uses Shutterfly and is SUPER easy to use! See my completed pages for 2012 using the Shutterfly Cobalt kit HERE.

Each Monday/Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she is hosting a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the buttons at the bottom of this post.


And finally, my POTW (pictures of the week):


Tuesday - Maddie likes to attract my attention when I am scrapping by crawling under the table and grabbing my legs. She has also started spinning my chair around if I am on the laptop. How can I resist this face? Tonight during Maddie's bath I tried to get her to lay on her back to float and rinse her hair. She wasn't too thrilled with it, but let me for a moment. I explained to her if she let "swam" on her back like Elmo, we wouldn't have to dump the water over her head to rinse the shampoo. She seemed to understand and then let me. I might have figured out how to kill two birds with one stone.



Wednesday - Look at the goodies I received in the mail today! I was the winner of Jen's 2012 Top Ten Giveaway over at Live the Moment. Thanks Jen, I can't wait to scrap some Christmas pictures with all this delicious stuff!




Thursday - Maddie loves her playroom. We haven't painted or done anything with it since we moved it, but she loves being in there with her toys. She is very active with her pop-up animals right now. She can make these three animals pop up every time by herself, and sometimes a fourth, but usually needs help with the fifth. She grabs my hand/fingers to show me that she wants me to "help" her. Maddie let me help her float on her back in the tub again tonight to rinse her hair. I'm hoping this will solve our hair rinsing issue.




Friday - Juan has been sick most of the week and stayed home from work for three days this week. Unfortunately he has passed on his germies and today I was terribly ill. We have very different ideas of what "staying home sick" means. The days he was home, he went to the grocery store, a movie, ran around downstairs with Maddie, etc. When I stayed home, I confined myself to our room and basically slept the entire day. He said I needed to get out of bed and "fight it", I said he needed to go to bed and "rest". We will just have to agree to disagree.



Saturday - Today was pretty low key. I still didn't feel well, so we spent the day indoors. Maddie is really figuring out her shape sorters. She is even starting to recognize the shapes and find the correct hole herself. 



Sunday - Blocks and legos of all sorts are still used daily in our house. Maddie has started stacking them, but still prefers to knock them down.2013-01-15 (Tuesday) Tonight during Maddie's bath I tried to get her to lay on her back to float and rinse her hair. She wasn't too thrilled with it, but let me for a moment. I explained to her if she let "swam" on her back like Elmo, we wouldn't have to dump the water over her head to rinse the shampoo. She seemed to understand and then let me. I might have figured out how to kill two birds with one stone. Maddie has 2 of her incisors bust through on the bottom.  She is about to get her upper ones and her molars on the bottom as well, poor little thing.



Monday - Maddie loves to be chased. When Daddy chases her he says, "Mooooo" and for some reason that sends her into giggle fits as she is running. She likes to be "caught" and tickled as well. This video is great of her being chased and giggling hysterically. See it HERE.

Thanks for visiting!


The Mom Creative


Sunday, January 20, 2013

January LOAD #47 - Christmas 2011

Although still feeling yucky, I did manage to finish a quick layout today. This is #47 (#16 traditional) for the January LOAD (LayOut A Day) challenge over at Let's Scrap. This is our family Christmas 2011.



I used the following sketch from Scrap Much - Sketchy Friday.

I also played along with Colorful Creations - Anything Goes challenge. The challenge this month is to create a layout using Christmas/Hanukah/Winter photos.  I'd also like to see a few layers and some different types of embellishments.  I used layered stickers, layered 

paper, buttons, brads, and chipboard.  Here are a couple of closeup photos:




Materials Used: paper - MME, layered stickers - MME, chipboard - MME, buttons - MME, brads - MME, glitter stickers - the Paper Studio.

Thanks for visiting!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

January LOAD #46 - New Routines

This is my #46 layout (#15 traditional) for the January LOAD (LayOut A Day) over at Let's Scrap. I also played along with this month's challenge over at Once Upon A...Sketch.


The challenge was to use the following sketch and the theme: The start of something new..." however you like. Whatever that sentence inspires you to scrap then go for it. 

Ideas for journalling: Include the theme sentence as your title, a new job coming up or the beginning of a new job and in the past and what it meant to you, a child's new toy, a new house you are building/moving in to or one you have moved in already, a new year and what it means to you, a new attitude, the start of a new school year, a new relationship - yours, a family members, your child's, a new friendship, new wardrobe, new diet, new phone, new haircut...


Your layout must incorporate this theme and the sketch below. 

Please make sure that we see some sort of journalling on your layouts and please tell us where your journalling is . You are allowed to journal in any language but please tell us where on your page we will find your journalling. Remember journalling has to be a bit more than a title, or a generic comment. Hidden journalling is perfectly fine.

I interpreted the theme as "New Routines, New Experiences" While in Aruba, Maddie's schedule and routine was completely thrown off. Nothing was similar to home, from diaper changes on the bed, to bottles on pillows propped on the bed. What was amazing is that she adjusted perfectly. Even a small wooden crib for naps and bedtime seemed ok as long as the whoosh of the palm trees could be heard. Such a wonderful experience for us all. My journaling is all over the page via multiple journaling blocks.

Here are a couple of closeup photos: 



Materials Used:  paper - Creative Imaginations & My Little Shoebox; journaling blocks - Sandylion & unknown; bling - Want2Scrap, flowers - unknown from stash, letter stickers - Pink Paislee and Making Memories.

Thanks for visiting! 

SYTYCS Round #3 & January LOAD #45 - Aruba



Happy Saturday! I am desperately fighting being ill. I stayed home yesterday with a fever and slept most of the day. Today I am not feeling much better, but trying to at least get out of bed. Here is my layout for Round #3 of SYTYCS (So You Think You Can Scrap) over at Colorful Creations




The challenge was to use the following sketch and ALL of the following elements: Border punch,2 pattern papers, Handmade pinwheel (tutorials on youtube), Washi tape (CC has tutorial on how to make your own), and
2 + photos
I used a border punch from Martha Stewart layered with Washi tape (pink with white polka dots), and a layered felt strip.  This was also the first pinwheel I have ever made. I used a brad in the middle and rolled paper for the stem. I used washi tape for the leaves.  





This is also #45 (#14 traditional) for my January LOAD (LayOut A Day) over at Let's Scrap. I am a bit behind on traditional layouts, so I need to do some serious catching up!

Materials used:  paper - Pebbles and unknown; title stickers - thickers; woven labels - Basic Grey; washi tape - unknown; border punch - Martha Stewart; felt lines - Queen& Co., journaling block - CTMH; and brad - basic Grey.

Thanks for visiting!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

My Layout is Posted at Scrap Our Stash

I played along with the "tag you're it" challenge over at Scrap Our Stash and my layout is posted on their blog today! Check it out here!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Project Life - Week 2


Welcome to Project Life 2013! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay a while. I'm Jessica, wife to Juan, mommy to 1 year old Maddie. I am also an electrical engineer by day and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.

I am using the digital kit on shutterfly (hopefully Olive once it has been released), find more info at http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog. This digital version uses Shutterfly and is SUPER easy to use! See my completed pages for 2012 using the Shutterfly Cobalt kit HERE.

Each Tuesday/Wednesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she is hosting a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the button at the bottom of this post.


And finally, my POTW (pictures of the week):



Tuesday - Part of Maddie's night-night routine includes brushing her teeth. We are in the early stages of learning, but she is catching on very quickly and brushes "back and forth". She only has 8 teeth right now, but we are trying to teach her the importance of brushing early. Tonight during Maddie's bath, she didn't want me to use the shower hand held to rinse her hair. I used the pitcher and she said, "no, no, no". This is the first time she has been adamant that she didn't want to rinse her hair. Looks like baths may no longer be such a fun experience. She is learning to voice her opinion.


Wednesday - Peak-A-Boo! This is becoming a common site at the end of my scrapping table. Maddie often pops up like a Jack-N-the-Box to play Peak-A-Boo. She also loves this game over the back of the couch.


Thursday - Maddie has not quite figured out how to open doors, although she is very close; but she does manage to find you if you need a bathroom break!


Friday - Nana brought Maddie some new clothes this past weekend. Today Daddy showed her how to use them as hats. Maddie thought it was just great! Today was the first nice day in weeks so I took Maddie out front and let her walk up and down the sidewalk. At one point I said, "Let's walk back toward our house." to which she replied, "house, house, house" over and over.




Saturday - Nana joined us to take Maddie to the new Perot Museum, but it was sold out so we headed to the Aquarium instead. Maddie LOVED running free. She was at a constant run for 2 hours straight. She was mesmerized by everything. The owls were her favorite. She pointed and kept saying "whoo whoo". The jaguar moved while she was at the glass and scared her...she patted her heart over and over. Then when we walked away she waved to it and said, "Bye-bye". She was too cute and exhausted by the time we were done. Maddie is repeating so much: She can say the letter, O (O is her favorite letter), T, I, and repeat any words we say: TV, bub (for bubble guppies app on the Ipad), mon (for monkey), mov (for movie), turt (for turtle), brrrrr co (for cold), one, two, pi (pig), ber (beer), and many more.


Sunday - I made dinner tonight, salmon! I've never made fish before and I was worried. I found a recipe on pintrest that looked easy so I gave it a try. Layer tin foil, lemon, salmon, and pats of butter and then wrap the foil tightly. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. It was QUITE delicious, Maddie loved it. The only problem, Juan bought a large enough filet to serve 8!





Monday - I heard a lot of squaking in the front yard and investigated. There was about 15,000 birds in the green space across from our house. There were even birds in our trees and about 20 walking around on our grass. It was quite a sight, birds of every color. There were only there minutes and then the entire swarm flew off simultaneously. Quite a sight!


The Mom Creative

Thanks for visiting!