A Peak at Fall Decorating, Weekend Stuff and ScrapTiffany Monday

It always makes me smile when we open up Nicholas's back pack and find his weekly report with all this happiness and lots of good praise. He loves school and I love to see him doing well. And I guess Mike is picking up on photos I like to have, because he took this one Friday afternoon on his phone and sent it to me.

Mike and I both stayed up late Friday night playing. So we weren't really thrilled when our dog Mandi had an accident and threw up in the bed at 5 a.m. She's been sick and we think the medicine is bothering her tummy. Our poor sweet girl.

The upside is we got out early to do some planting.  The heat this summer has been awful, and our plants suffered. It was still in the 110 range over the weekend. After spending a fortune over the years to keep all kinds of flowering plants in our courtyard, we gave up. We planted Lantana in the pots and at the base of the fountain. I swear those things are like weeds and will grow in any kind of situation, at least they have color. So here's hoping to saving a few bucks at the nursery.

Our little herb garden bit the dust by July too. I planted a new one with some basil, rosemary and cilantro. I'll see how it goes. We also decorated for fall. I love my little scarecrows.

I'll share a few more fall decoration pictures later this week, but here is a glimpse of one arrangement I have around the house.

This week's assignment at ScrapTiffany was to use 4 photos on a page. I tend to use 1 to 2 photos on a page, but I have been trying to use more recently. So this was a good assignment

I cropped down 4 standard 4x6 prints to 4x3.  I put new Recollection's border punch to work. I picked it up at Michael's for $5.50 after the 50% off sale and Friday's 5 hour coupon for 15% off entire purchase. This was my only scrappy purchase that day, since my shopping mission was to find fall decorations.

I also used Studio Calico's Mr. Huey's Mist on the chipboard. I love that navy, and that white I'm pretty smitten with that one too. All 10 colors are a must have whether you like to mist or not (because you will want to after you get your hands on these)!

Check out the rest of the design team's work over at ScrapTiffany today and Friday. Lot's of good stuff.

Check back tomorrow for ScrapTiffany's Tuesday Tutorial. I have a freebie to go along with it.

Giveaway Winner and ScrapTiffany Reveal

Thank you so much to everyone that signed up and voted for my Dad's company in the GE contest.  I appreciate you taking the time to check it out. From the comments Random.org picked the following winner of a $25 Studio Calico gift card:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

13

Which makes the winner....

 erin m said...

Thanks for bringing this to our attention Michelle! I wish your Dad & his partner the best of luck in this contest. Such a great opportunity to help ALL of us out. I will pass the contest website on to my husband too. He enjoys learning about alternative energy & conservation.

September 13, 2010 7:58 AM

  So it looks like Erin may be shopping with me on reveal day (midnight, the 28th) over at Studio Calico. October kit sneak peeks went up tonight and they look delicious.

Erin, please send me an e-mail at: (michelle(dot)colormedaisy(at)gmail(dot)com, with your address info and I will have your Studio Calico gift card sent to you.

Again, thank you to everyone who took the time to vote. If you haven't voted and want information and links it can be found here.

Our ScrapTiffany challenge for the week was to scraplift someone. Recently I saw this layout on Rebecca Keppel's blog (my fellow ScrapTiffany teammate), I wanted to do a similar theme for my layout and used this layout from Nicole Harper as my design inspiration.

I also really wanted to use the stamp on the left that I recently found in my stash. One of my many nicknames for Jackson is Peanut Butter Pie. It was his first nickname really.  I called Nicholas Pumpkin Pie when he was born it came from one of my two favorite pies. So Jackson had to be nicknamed after my other favorite pie.

If you take the ScrapTiffany challenge to scraplift someone this week, send it to Tiffany to share with us.

Weekend Update

Another one bites the dust.

The weekend was filled with down time. We needed it. We had a bit of a rough week last week. We had an appointment for Jackson that was frustrating and we were dealing with the emotions of that. So we needed some down time and took it easy.

We watched silly movies, that did not get good reviews, but provided some laughter...

Mike, Nicholas and I read magazines on the patio....

Finally getting to enjoy a cooler early part of the day....

We played outside...

We ordered pizza, went out for Mexican food and got KFC grilled chicken take out.

We took naps. We (me) had a pedicure/manicure.

Sometimes you just need these things.

I only scrapped for an hour. It was all I wanted to do. I felt like reading, enjoying my family, watching movies, playing with my new camera lens, sleeping, and organizing my photos. I have 2 packages arriving this week with scrappy goodies, so I know I will want to immerse myself in all that pretty paper again next week.

I did have fun with that one hour. I did my ScrapTiffany challenge for the week. However, Tiffany is having a bit of trouble with her internet, so I will have to wait to post my layout until she can get the DT reveal up. Here is a peak for now:

Since I can't share the ScrapTiffany layout yet, here is one I did last week to document Nicholas's thing for blowing me kisses, which of course I love...

Using the Studio Calico Summer Camp kit, EK Success Label, Jumbo Star Border and Martha Stewart Starburst punches.

Hope you have a great week!

That's a Great Story

Although he can't read on his own yet, Nicholas loves books. He brings us books to read to him, his favorites lately are Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham and of course his beloved "Pigeon" books by Mo Williams. We read 4 of them every night, in the same order, before bed.

One night I got bored with the pigeon driving the bus, finding a hot dog, wanting a puppy and staying up late. I think Nicholas did too. So I changed it to driving a motorcycle, finding a sandwich, wanting a kitty and not letting Nicholas stay up late. It stuck and I am no longer allowed to read about buses, hot dogs, puppy's or the pigeon not being tired.

In the afternoon after Jackson has gone down for a nap, Nicholas heads to his room and finds his Pigeon books. He knows Mike can hear him through the baby monitor. He calls out each book and waits for Mike (or me when I am home) to acknowledge he is ready to start. He will then proceed to "read"/recite each book. With all of the changed words, all the intonations of the story, the works. It's cute.

I got these pictures of him one morning while the boys were destroying Jackson's room. Nicholas picked up a book and started reading to Jackson about monster's. Making it up as he went along, since he wasn't as familiar with this one.

 The layout was done as part of a lift of fave layout challenge over at Studio Calico. My layout was based on this one by Kelly Noel.  I finished the layout and didn't enter the challenge. But I am happy to have this little part of him scraped. And the title, that is what Nicholas says when he finishes a book. "That's a great story".

Have a great Wednesday!

ScrapTiffany Vintage Challenge

This week the challenge at ScrapTiffany  is all about Vintage.  I have been working through scanning and organizing our family photos going back to the early 1900's. Last week I posted this story about my Nana. So it made the perfect topic for a layout featuring her:

Check out what the other girls did this week over at ScrapTiffany and if you do a vintage project send it to Tiffany to share with us.

TGIF Friday

Me on Easter in the mid-70's. Maybe about 6?

I stayed up way to late last night trying to finish up slicing and re-touching the scans of my childhood and heritage photos. I had somewhere around 160+ scans that averaged 4-5 pictures per scan.  It has been a huge project, but as I saw that number dwindling down to 15 scans last night I had to crank it out.

My next task will be to try to approximate dates and tag people in the photos. I also need to look into a noise reduction plug-in for PSE. There are some photo's that need some more cleaning up beyond what I am comfortable doing manually.

I still have a lot a work ahead of me, but I have several stories I want to tell.  I it has been so rewarding to see pictures of my brother and me growing up, some I remembered, some I had never seen.  And to find so many hidden treasures of my parents and grandparents in all those photos was incredible.

Of course to be punished for staying up late, Nicholas woke up in the middle of the night, and ended up in our bed again. At least it is Friday.

On the list for this weekend....

• Order Studio Calico goodies for September (woohoo!)
• Finish fall arrangements to get them off the dining room table
• Go to the mall to get the boys some fall/winter clothes before my coupon's expire
• Lunch out with the family
• Scrap, scrap and more scrap (I hope this one isn't wishful thinking)

And here are a couple of layouts to share.  I am finished up through June my Month in Review (Project 12) layouts.

May 2010

May Side 1

May Side 2

June 2010

June 2010 Side 1

June 2010 Side 2

June 2010 Close Up (I love this fun Cosmo Cricket Chipboard)

I love my punches and Studio Calico month stamps for this project.  The photos and journaling are taking up so much of the layout space, just a few paper strips and accents are all I am doing on these pages to keep them similar throughout the year. Now to work on gathering July pictures.

Wednesday Check In & Monthly Highlight Layouts

We're closing in on quarter end at work, so it has been busy. I've been getting home late. I am looking forward to the end of next week when the worst will have past. Everyone in the house is sick except me, and I am really hoping the germs stay away. I have the worst luck for getting sick at quarter end when there is no way I can stay home and rest.

Over the weekend I worked on catching up on my month in review layouts. I finished through June.  Here are March and April using mostly Studio Calico's March 2010 Quilting Bee kit/add-on's, SC month stamps, and some digital stamps and elements to fill in my collages.  These pages for me are much more about the photos and the month's highlights than the product.

March 2010

Side 1

Side 2

April 2010

Side 1

Side 2

Close Up

I have been experimenting with making my own collages in either 8x8 or 8x12 and having them printed at Costco ($1.49 each). I pick out my favorite pictures from my monthly picture highlights (tagged using the system I started with Library of Memories).  Then pick the couple I want to be the featured photos and re-size those to 3X4 or 4x4 or so. Everything else is resized to 2x3 or 2x2, with a 2x4 or 1x4 as needed to fill out the page and work with the pictures.  I mix up vertical and horizontal and then start fitting them on my page.  I add or subtract pictures as necessary to get it filled in and pick my overall size based on the number of pictures. I have done up to 24 in a month.  With re-sizing and a double page spread it captures a whole lot of memories on one layout.

Oh and I finally figured a way to use those Hambly doily rub on's. They have stumped me, but I used up the whole pack on the April layout.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your hump day!

14 Years, Fish and Greetings

14 years ago on Tuesday I married this man...

We celebrated our anniversary with a long weekend at home, on our anniversary we spent the day with our family and took the boys to the aquarium and out to lunch.

Nicholas ran from one exhibit to the next to see the "fishies"...

We ate lunch at Claim Jumper. Meals out are always an adventure with a 1 and 3 year old...

Instead of eating his apples, Nicholas dipped them in caramel sauce and then ranch dip, and then wanted me to eat them....

At least when we got home, they were worn out and took naps. I joined them for a short nap and then headed to my scrap room.  I broke into this finally (Studio Calico August kit)...

Here is a peek at what I worked on for my ScrapTiffany challenge for next Monday....

With all that time off, I would have expected to get a little more time to scrap in, but my mojo just didn't deliver.  I made a quick anniversary card for Mike....

And last week I made this card for a baby shower I was attending....

I am glad the rest of my work week is short. The boys have colds, so I hope they are better by the weekend. Hope you have a happy Thursday!

Finally Friday

I've had a really long week. Here is my weekend Top Ten:

1. A 4 day weekend
2. Celebrating 14 years with my sweetie
3. Quiet mornings with a cup of coffee and no one awake
4. Lazy afternoons to play with my boys
5. Late nights to scrap with my new Studio Calico and Mosh Posh kits
6. Me time at the spa for a relaxing massage and facial
7. A family day out for lunch and a trip to the aquarium
8. Cooking some comfort food including my "almost" fried chicken and mashed potatoes
9. Sneak peek night at Studio Calico
10. A nap, or three

Here's to hoping I get out of work at a halfway decent hour tonight!

And another layout made with the July Studio Calico kit.

Hope you have a great weekend, I know I will. Happy Friday!

Words on Wednesday

I am ready for the weekend already. I was so excited when I got the e-mail yesterday saying my Studio Calico box had been delivered. I called Mike and told him to get it off the porch. So I was a bit mad last night when I went to get my hair cut and highlighted that he double booked.  I am usually there a little over 2 hours, last night it was 3 1/2.  Making me get home too late to see my kiddos and too late to do anything else. So I am looking forward to enjoying my box tonight.  In the meantime here is another layout from the Kelly Purkey Sketch class I am taking at Studio Calico.

It may be a little hard to see, but when I was going through the pictures from a Fathers Day family photo shoot, I saw this one with Nicholas sitting in the back completely done with the picture taking and definitely ready to go back to playing.  So I couldn't resist scrapping this outtake from the shoot.

Happy Hump Day!