Can't get enough buttons!

I am pretty sure that I could use this Button Buddies set on every single card!!! I am already hoping for Button Buddies 2 in the next catalog!

I went back to my old light tent with no lights for this picture. It is annoying because I only have enough light in my room between 9 and 10am. It is not too convenient!

Happy stamping!

Quilling

Does anyone still read this? I have been thinking about quitting blogging. Anyone want to talk me out of that?

Any who....I really like this card in person. But the picture is BLUH!!! The card is Kraft color and then I used quilling for the design. It was featured in the Stampin' Up! demonstrator magazine this month and it looked so cute that I had to give it a try right away! I like the flowers....which hard to see in the pic. They are made with an 1/8 of an inch thick strip of paper. I rolled it, glued it down and added a rhinestone. Easy!


Anyone have some picture tips for me? I have tried all different ways of using my ott lights. And my pics look worse than when I didn't have any light at all. Help!!!

Making a Splash!

I have several cute cards stamped that I really want to share. I took pictures. But the pictures look terrible!!! I can't show them to you! Hubby is gonna play around with my lights and see if he can get things working better. In the mean time, I have a 2 page scrapbook layout to share.

Here is a closer look....

A good lesson for you scrappers out there- Use patterned paper to break up the pictures! Sometimes I will be flipping through a magazine or surfing blogs and see a layout that I like. But then I think "I don't have enough pictures for that." Or maybe "I don't have enough horizontal pictures for that." Use paper!!!

A little birdie says "Thank You!"

I made this card quite a while ago. I CASED it from a card in the Stampin' Up! catalog. I liked that the patterned paper layers is lifted up and the bird is flat against the card front. That caught my eye (strangest thing, right?) and so I had to make my own version!

I am leaving it short and simple today!

Happy Stamping!

Here's to good friends!!!

I still can't figure out my new lights. My pictures are blurry. But hopefully you get the idea anyway. Another card made with Button Buddies...I just can't get enough of this stamp set!!!! I stamped the flower image in Old Olive. Then on a scrap, I stamped it again in Pumpkin Pie. I cut out the vase and popped it up. Add some super cute flower shape buttons and viola!

And I am sitting here reflecting on some amazing friends that I have! One friend, in particular, is on my mind tonight. No matter the miles between us- she always makes me smile! I hope that everyone has some friends like that!

A break from the chaos...

I had no idea that it would take me so long to get back to my blog! I beg your forgiveness! Let me explain (or just scroll down to the pictures)...

First, you know the usual list of chores that you come home to after vacation. Six people sure do make a lot of dirty laundry! And then there is the grocery shopping, unpacking and regular house work. This was made even more difficult since my parents came over the day after we got back (to celebrate my birthday) and we went out with friends the following night (more celebrating and repacking the kids for grandma's house). By Saturday, I was just plain exhausted. I slept in, slept through a movie with the kids, took a nap later and went to bed at 9.

Next, the kids started school this week past week. So we had to go to Open House at the school on Monday. This is not like any other Open House I have ever been to. It is stressful, crowded, irritating (why so much darn paperwork?!!!) and just plain chaotic! We had to bring so many school supplies for each of the 4 kids that we had to make multiple trips to the car in order to carry them all in. Crazy, right? And then I had to send the kids to their first day of school on Thursday. It is the first year that all of the kids are in school. Laynee is in Kindergarten, the twins are in 1st grade and Kyler is in 2nd grade. I am the super sappy mom that cried like a baby the day before school started, on the playground when I dropped them off and all the way home. I may cry all over again as I type this! I remember when they were all babies (4 in diapers at the same time!), I would dream about the day that I would "retire" and get to send them all to school. And now that the time has come, I desperately wish that they could be babies again.

Finally, my week became busier (and I cried some more) because the twins had their birthday on Saturday. They turned 6. How can that be right?!!! 6???? All day long I kept thinking "I remember exactly what I was doing at this moment 6 years ago." I remember it like it was yesterday! So we started the festivities on Friday. I brought cupcakes to school. (The day before I make 6 dozen ice cream cone cupcakes. I learned a very important lesson: When the directions say to only fill the cones half way- they really do mean it. So I had to toss 2 dozen cupcakes that oozed batter everywhere and had to send my hubby out for more cones.) On Saturday, their actual birthday, we had an entire day of fun. We made pancakes for breakfast. We opened a whole ton of presents (I think I went a wee over board.). We gave them everything they needed to redo their room to make it more of a big girl room. Since they couldn't agree on a theme (The twins are nothing alike.) we went with half the room in a ballet theme (Makenzie) and half of the room in a rock star theme (Danika). Then we went out to lunch, the bookstore and to make pottery. Finally, we went to dinner with their grandparents and home to open a ton more presents.

The rest of this week doesn't look any less chaotic. I have 2 doctor appointments, Kyler has an orthodontist appointment, Laynee's birthday is on Wednesday and all the girls are having a swimming birthday party on Saturday. Wowzer!

Can you see why I haven't had time to post (or stamp)? I actually have a bunch of cards made, but haven't taken the time to photograph them. My husband even got my ott lights and a smaller (more practical) light tent for my birthday. I am excited to try it out.

Now on to the stuff that you actually come to my blog for. First I have the most simple card that I have ever made. And even though their is a lot of white space and only one layer- I still love it. It is still cuter than any store bought card (in my opinion). And I made it using my new favorite stamp set: Button Buddies.




And now, because I feel so guilt about not blogging in so long, I have a little scrapbooking lesson/challenge for you. It is OK to make a scrapbook layout WITHOUT any pictures! It really is! After all, we scrapbook because we want to document our family's story. Any sometimes the story doesn't have or need a picture. So try it! Challenge yourself to make a layout without a picture! Maybe you want to talk about a goal you made, a big decision that you made or feeling you had about a change in your life. I have some examples of recent layouts that I made without pictures.

This one talks about my obsession with couponing. I could have used a picture if my stockpile, coupons or a store. But I didn't have any good one- so I relied on some fun embellishments. And I think they look much better than a picture would.

I turned 30 a couple of weeks ago. I got a little sappy about it. (Big surprise, right?) Being in Disneyland on the big day helped to distract me though. But I also thought it would make me feel better to document all the amazing things I got to do during my twenties. There are lots of different pictures I could have used. In fact, I could have made an entire scrapbook about the subject. But I didn't have time! And I had way to many things to include to have room for pictures. So I made a list and skipped the pictures. After all, a lot of those pictures are on previous layouts.

Wowzer! My twenties were awesome! I graduated from college, did lots of traveling, discovered stamping and scrapbooking, made incredible friends, married my high school sweetheart and had 4 beautiful children. It was so much fun to list it out!

So there is. The longest post you will find on my blog! I will be back soon!