Kiwi Lane Design Team Call

Well ... I did it!

I have never applied to be a member of a design team before, but I decided to put myself out there an submit my work to be part of the Kiwi Lane Design Team. I would absolutely be an honor to be selected, but I know that if I don't get it this time around there are other opportunities in the future. But I REALLY REALLY want it!

I have posted some layouts on here that I have done using my Kiwi Lane templates, but I thought I would show you another project that I came up with -- a clothes pin wreath with a ghost (a KL template).

I bought the clothes pins at Dollar Tree (it takes about 48 clothes pins) and I spray painted them the three different colors. They are really easy to paint because I just leave them on the paper that they come on. Once they are all dry I clipped them onto an embroidery hoop (super cheap with a coupon at Michael's). I just used white cardstock to trace my KL ghost template. I wanted to jazz it up a little so I inked the edges and then put glitter and then created two little eyes with black glitter. I have this hanging on my front door so I wanted to make it a little sturdier so I ran it through my laminator once the eyes were dry. I added some tulle to the top and I think it's pretty darn cute! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

DT Doodles -- Week 28

How fun to participate in another week of Kiwi Lane's DT Doodles! I really love the layout I was able to create and I am so grateful for the inspiration that the ladies over at Kiwi Lane provide on a regular basis.

Here is the sketch for this week. It was to design a card, but I didn't have the right templates and I had the idea to turn it into a layout for each of the kids' birthday albums. I absolutely love it!

And here is my interpretation:

This is an 8x8 layout and I used the following templates:

*the arrow from Adventure

*ring 2 from Rings

*Tags

*Strips

I had a splat looking shape, but it just didn't work out for this layout. 

There is also journaling on the tag behind the photo.

I messed up my blog!

So in an effort to clean up my photos in my Google+ I decided to delete a few albums that I thought I didn't need -- one of them being the album associated with my blog.

Thus, I need to go back through and upload all of the photos.

Please bear with me as I go through that process. I'm going to start with the most recent and work my way backwards.

Thanks :)

Friend Making Monday

I didn't realize I was hungry until I started answering these questions! 

"If you’ve taken part in Friend Making Monday then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!"

Foodie Questions

1. Do you make grocery lists?  Yes and I’m getting much better at sticking to it.

2.  Do you have a routine when shopping in your favorite grocery store?  I usually head to the non-perishable side of the store first and then I hit up the milk at the back of the store all the way up to the front to the produce.

3.  What is your favorite seasoning?  I don’t add a lot of seasoning to things so I guess I would just say traditional salt and pepper.

4.  What is the healthiest food in your fridge right now?  I just went to the store yesterday so I have lots of yummy healthy food like strawberries and grapes and lettuce and so on.

5.  What is the most unhealthy food in your fridge now?  I have a thing of cookie dough that is pushed all the way to the back. I bought it as part of a school fundraiser last October. It’s probably time to dump it.

6. What is the most exotic produce you’ve ever had? I’m not into too exotic of foods – I guess I would say a pluout. It’s a cross of a plum and an apricot.

*this is a stock photo from the web*

7. Tell us about your favorite local restaurant.  I really love a Japanese steakhouse that is local. I always get the chicken and the steak with fried rice. I give all of my mushrooms to my husband and I steal a lot of his onions. I love their salad and the dressing is delicious. It is very similar to Benihanas.

8.  What kind of pasta do you prefer (regular, whole wheat, etc.?)  I usually mix regular and whole wheat. I don’t have a preference. The type of pasta that I like is Penne.

9. If you could make one food calorie-free for an entire week, which food would you choose?  Kit Kat bars. I can’t get enough of them lately and I realize that they are 6 Weight Watchers points – more than I should be spending on candy.

10.  If you had to choose would you rather give up french fries or chocolate?  Oh goodness! I’m not obsessed with either of them so I don’t know which to pick. 

First night in a big girl bed

I know a lot of people transition their children out of their cribs for various reasons and at various stages. EM had just turned three and I was kind of tired of her being in her crib because we had everything to put together her big her bed so I just wanted to move her over. She had never tried to climb out of the crib (although she climbed into it often) and she slept just fine -- I really just wanted her to be in a big girl bed.

I took the initial and moved everything around in her bedroom (creating a massive mess!) and was able to set up the box springs and mattress just on the floor. The tricky part came trying to get the crib out of the bedroom. It was too wide for the doors so I had to have DC take it apart so we could move it out.

EM has slept like a champ in her big girl bed and we haven't had any problems. In fact, she will often just lay in bed awake in the morning just waiting for us to come get her. The funny thing is she doesn't get out of the bed -- at all. I say that now, but she really doesn't. There have been mornings where I hear her crying and I go in her room and she is holding herself because she has to go potty so bad. I want to just tell her to go open the door, but I figure she will understand that she can get out of the bed soon enough -- I don't want to speed up the process. I thought for sure when she figured out how to open doors a couple of weeks ago life as we knew it was going to change, but for now she still just stays in her bed like a good girl. I love her to death!

This is seriously one of my favorite layouts I have ever done. I love the sketch, I love the papers, I love the photos -- I just love how it all came together. I am definitely proud of it!

I used the left side of this Kiwi Lane sketch and then just changed it up slightly to make it my own.

The templates that I used were: 

Scallops mini 1A, 2A and 3A

Rings 3

The others were just strips that I cut. The photos were printed on a 5x7 and I cut them in half. 

The paper is the Freestyle line from Teresa Collins. It worked out perfectly for this layout and I have a ton of it still left so I'm sure you'll see it more in the future!

The two gold candies on the embellishment and from Pebbles in my Pocket and the large brads are from American Crafts.

The small alphas are from Making Memories and the larger alphas are from American Crafts. 

Seriously -- one of my favorite layouts ever!!!! Thanks for stopping  by :)

Independence Day Layout

What? Did I really do another layout and it has been less than 24 hours?! Yes, you are seeing that correctly! I think I'm finally getting my mojo back and I'm super happy scrapbooking. I have another project that I am almost finished with that I can't wait to share, but for now I just have this one-page layout. I wanted it to be two pages like the sketch from Kiwi Lane Designs, but I didn't have enough of the Bo Bunny paper that I was using.

Here is the sketch from the Week 26 DT Doodles:

And here is  my layout: 

I had most of the templates that the sketch called for, but I had to improvise in a couple of spots. The templates that I used were:

Happy Trails 2A

Chestnut Drive 1A

Strip Set 2 inch

Tags 1

Adventure 1

My photos were 3x3 and 4x6

The paper is the Anthem line from Bo Bunny and I am completely in love with it! As you will see later I made a whole mini-album with the patriotic-themed paper. 

The star brads and the glitter brads were just in my stash. I'm not sure what brands they are (I'm thinking American Crafts on the bigger ones).

Thanks for stopping by and looking! Feel free to leave a comment.

DT Doodles -- Week 27

I've never played along with Kiwi Lane's weekly challenge, but I thought after all of the fun I had last week with the blog hop I would join in on this as well.

I pulled out my Fancy Pants My Family paper pack that I bought at the Scrapbook USA expo a couple of times ago. I really love this paper because it has a different texture and weight than most of the other paper I'm use to working with.

Here is the sketch from Kiwi Lane that I followed:

And here is my interpretation:

I had most of the templates that the sketch called for, but I had to improvise in a couple of spots. The templates that I used were:

Bracket 2

Large Bracket 2 and 3

Cascade Trails 1A and 1B

Strip Set 2 inch

Adventure 5

Wildflower 2T

My photos were between 3x3 and 4x6

I can't get over how easy this layout came together and that now I want to go back through all of the weeks and do all of the sketches! I've definitely got some mojo going now and I'm super inspired to keep getting my scrap on :) 

Friend Making Monday (on Tuesday)

I was in such a good routine of keeping up with my blog and then the end of the school year happened and  I've embraced the laziness of summer and, honestly, my blog has been neglected. I'm dedicated to changing that, though, by starting up again with Kenlie's Friend Making Monday. 

"If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!"

Easy Answers

1.  Are you a planner, or do you prefer to see where the moment takes you?  I'm definitely a planner. I would like to be more spontaneous, but I like to know what I'm doing and when I'm doing it and how I can get the best deal possible.

2.  How often do you blog?  I was on a really good roll of blogging on Monday and Wednesdays, but lately it has just been if I needed to. I'm going to work on blogging at least three times a week, especially to show off my craftiness and to journal about my weightloss. 

3.  Do you color your hair?  Yup. I haven't done so since May and it is probably in desperate need of at least a root touch-up.

4. If you had to choose between running or riding a bike, which one would you choose?  I'm not sure. I like to run and I like to ride my bike, I just need to get a new seat for my bike so that my butt doesn't hurt as much and I could ride for longer.

5.  Have you ever traveled outside of your home country?  Yes -- I've been to Canada and Mexico and then last year I went to Paris and Italy. I'm headed to Germany in October and the Ireland, London and Paris in March.

6.  Do you like weddings?  Yes. I've only been to a couple, but I think the union of two people is a beautiful thing and something to be celebrated!

7.  What is your favorite guilty pleasure on TV?  Do I even admit this? Right now I would say that it is Big Brother. I'm slightly embarrassed to say that in light of the awful people on the show this season, but I just can't get enough of it. 

8.  Are you good at math?  My first thought would be no, but even DC has said I have been getting better at Math lately. I would say that it is due in part to the Math endorsement that I took through the school district.

9.  What is the last movie you watched?  Watched? or just had on in the background? The last movie that I actually sat down and watched was Madagascar 3 when I went with my mom, DC and the kiddos to watch it in the park. Before that I had taken the kids to see Epic and before that it was Monster's University. Do you see a theme?

10.  Share five adjectives that your friends would use to describe you.  Friendly, crafty, dependable, honest, trustworthy -- at least I hope that is how they would describe me!

Bonus:  Did you celebrate Independence Day?  If so, what did you do? We went to the city park and participated in the "races." They divide everyone up my ages started as little as 1 day old and you race to see who can cross the finish line first. LD placed 2nd in his age group. EM got a little disorganized and might have been the last one to finish. We went to the pool in the afternoon and enjoyed some hotdogs and fireworks at home in the evening. I would say it was a good holiday all-in-all.

Kiwi Lane Designs Blog Hop

I remember the first time I came across Kiwi Lane Designs -- it was at the Scrapbook USA Expo in Salt Lake City a couple of years ago. I had quickly walked past their booth and didn't give it much though. That is until one of my friends bought a few sets of the templates and was designing with them at our table. I was intrigued and quickly made my way back over to the KLD booth to see the templates in action from the pros. I was sold ever since!

I have a handful of designer templates, but was super excited when Kristy asked me to be part of the July blog hop and I was given the opportunity to work with the Happy Trails set. I love the happy vibe I get from these templates. They just make me smile :)

See what I mean?! Aren't you just happy now?

Just a little tip -- sometimes I try to use my templates with the paper face down. I inevitably always mess it up. The easiest way for me to trace my templates with my doing it exactly how I want it over the paper with my pencil and then I just ink the edges of my paper to cover up the pencil marks. I'm pretty sure I saw that at the expo from the KLD experts and it is something that I have used ever since. And I just love the look of it -- it really adds definition.

Here is one other layout I've done recently with my templates.

Thank you for so much for stopping by my blog! Don't forget that a random winner from ONE of the blogs (including the Kiwi Lane blog) will be given a $25 gift certificate to the Kiwi Lane Shop. So leave me some love and hopefully you win so you can pick yourself up some awesome KLD templates :)

In case you didn't start at the beginning of the blog hop here is the entire list.

1. Kiwi Lane http://kiwilane.com/here/blog/
2. Monique Liedtke http://moniquesscrapbook.blogspot.nl/
3. Jennifer Budge  www.thingsthaticreate.wordpress.com
4. Cari Locken    http://myandmythoughts.blogspot.ca/
5. Jennifer Nicholes  craftingmoments.wordpress.com
6. Regina Mangum http://thestampinbean.blogspot.com/
7. Becki Adams http://beckiadams.blogspot.com/
8. Julie Ann Cordero www.ourlifeinscraps.blogspot.com YOU ARE HERE NOW
9. Jessica Laureano http://scrapping2boys.blogspot.com/ GO HERE NEXT
10. Gail Owens www.glowormdesigns.blogspot.com