Happy Halloween!

First off wanted to share the cake I made for my mom's birthday.  The stem on the top is actually an ice cream cone I dipped in dipping chocolate.  I made this sort of cake a few years ago frosted and with a face but wanted to do something different this time.  I saw a pin on pinterest that inspired me.

 here is a little closer look:

The green stuff is icing in a can--I am NOT a cake decorator....the frosting is actually Betty Crocker whipped cream cheese tinted with orange food coloring....The recipe for the bundt cake is as follows...it was SOOOO yummy and rich!

Very Chocolate bundt cake
1pkg chocolate cake (Devil's food)
1pkg. chocolate pudding
1 8oz. sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 Cup oil
1/2 Cup Warm Water
8 oz chocolate chips
   
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cake, pudding, oil & water together.  Add sour cream and eggs one at a time.  Finally add chocolate chips.  Bake for 60 minutes.  Let stand 50 minutes to cool then gently shake it out.

This is our lovely pumpkin that the "boys" all carved, I was impressed!  (I was busy making mashed potatoes..)

So I was lucky enough to go to two parties today (they were at the same time!)  We did a little pumpkin rolling race:

 they needed an extra person, umm yeah that would be me!  This is the picture my son snapped as I was standing up that's why I look a little out of it! :)

just wanted to share a little bit of the day and holiday wishes of fun to you!  Hope you have a safe, fun night!  Thanks for the visit!

Happy Birthday mommy!

My mommy's birthday is today, I made this card for her a few months ago.  I can't remember where the sketch came from exactly....I misted the back of the card then I used my cricut gypsy to space and cut these flowers out of the card top.  After the mist dried I attached the top to the bottom with adhesive and sewed around the edges.  After that was done using my paper piercer I punched around the edges of the flower and along lines that I created using my ruler & pencil.  After all of that I placed the pearls in the center of the flowers & added this rubon.

I was really happy with how this turned out, it took some time but was SO worth it!

Today is our Primary Program for church.  I have the blessing of teaching the children from the ages of 4-11 to sing (there are around 60 of them), we have been practicing 8 different songs (one of them in sign language) since the beginning of the year.  The children not only sing but will also have speaking parts.  This program is our sermon for the congregation today, it's always every one's favorite because of the children and the special spirit they bring to the meeting.  I'm excited for them because I know they will do well!
So with that I need to run and get ready for the day so we can be on time to make sure I have the right music stand!  (there is one that is loose and dumps the music right on the floor!)
Thanks for stopping in for the visit--have a GREAT day!

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love my lens

I really love this layout, it took a bit to come together.  The story behind it was really fun, my parents and I were walking around the small town my mother grew up in.  It was just me and them (just like when I was young....) I had owned my new lens for about a week and I was still trying to figure out how to shoot with it.  They were my models, I guess I am hilarious when I take pictures, because they kept laughing at my frustrated faces....Glad I caught one of the pictures where they were really laughing.
It was in June of this year and it was COLD--see the water behind them--that's the Puget sound, so cool that I got these shots.
Everything you see is Bella Blvd., but from different lines....

Today was the first day of tournament play in Jr. High soccer, our girls won today and will go on to the next round.  Tomorrow is going to be tough but I know that they can do it!  I've been taking a ton of pictures and learning a lot taking manual....  I read on a photography blog to start with your recipe like this:
ISO 100, f-stop between 9-11, and your shutter speed at 1/500, you have to adjust for lighting.  But this is pretty accurate for my 70-300 lens....I'll have to share my favorites with you from the season on another post.  I've got to run and make dinner!  Thanks for stopping in for a visit!

A little sneaky peak for November....

Here's what is coming at you in November Scrapbook Circle:

LOVE all the fall colors.  We don't get all of these pretty colors where I am at, but we do get the crisp cool air--LOVE it! :)  I'll be sharing my creations soon!
Thanks for the visit!

Hallow's Eve....

So Scrapbook Circle is offering a Halloween kit, it's called Hallow's Eve it's packed with Halloween Goodness! :)  I just finished my Spooky banner:

a few closeups:

I used my cricut to cut out the letters and frames.  The spiders were punched out by my mom--She got a new fun Halloween punch!  I think it's Martha Stewart.... the ribbon, black paper and glitter paper are from my stash.
So glad I got this up BEFORE Halloween, I had to work on it here and there and I'm happy to say it's hanging up on my wall! :)

Today is chicken in a pot day.  A whole chicken fryer in the crockpot--it's my 9 year old favorite.  LOVE that my crock pot has a probe to tell you how hot it is inside and turns to warm once it's reached it's temperature.  Makes days like these, MUCH easier!  (got a soccer game tonight and craft night at the church tonight.....)

If you are interested in the Hallow's eve kit.  Click the words and it will take you right to the page where it is sold at Scrapbook Circle.  Thanks for stopping in for a visit!

grandpas truck

 These pictures have been sitting on my desk for a couple of years.  Why haven't I scrapped them--don't know, I decided that I was going to scrap them when I found the paper that fit I guess....  And I did in this months Fresh Picked kit!  

you have to know that this boy was SO proud to help out his grandpa--he loves this truck too! :)
You see those stars down there to the right?  I actually traced around a piece of chipboard star and then cut with my xacto--why?  I had already cut the sheet and had it sewn to the page!  I decided that it needed something else.   HORROR--I CAREFULLY flipped it so that I would not cut through the background and then placed it on my self healing cutting matte, I then backed each star with one of the studio calico scrap pads--I even used one of the stars behind the title.  fun stuff--this layout took me a long time because I wanted to get it just right.  The buttons are from my stash....everything else is from the Fresh Picked kit.
That's it for today!  Thanks for popping in for a visit!

This is some sort of record!  I've posted for several days in a ROW--guess that's what you get when you have a LITTLE more time on your hands! :)
How I love this picture!  This is one of the first "keepers" I took with my new camera...I actually took this with my 70-300mm lens....
For this layout I used a bunch of DIFFERENT lines of Bella Blvd., I just LOVE the circle paper--isn't it COOL?!

the title & circles were cut with my cricut, so excited that I "rediscovered" this cool tool! :)

Have you heard of the Cricut Craft room?  I just heard about it from my SIL, it's like Design studio except it's FREE!  yep, they even have it for the MAC which is awesome as the design studio was never something I could use.  you can design anything with any cartridge (like the gypsy) but you can ONLY cut with the cartridges you have.  So that means you need a connection between your cricut and your computer.  I'm excited about trying this out, I will let you know how it goes!
Thanks for popping in for the visit, really appreciate it! :)

Friends Forever

Yes, I scrapped this picture again! :)  I love it SO much--these two have a special bond and this happened to be a down day with NO practice.  This also happened to be one of my entries to the Bella Blvd. DT call....

 So love using pop dots and bling!  This page just makes me happy--I use all sorts of Bella on this page from random lines so I can't really name them all for you!
This is going to be a quick post--thanks for the visit today!

Today with my Dad....

My assignment for this month for Scrapbook Circle was to use the studio calico classic studio scrap pads:

I didn't want to just use them for journaling so I made flowers!

yes, a closeup:

 I had to experiment a little bit but came up with these lovelies--for the center I used the twine in the kit.  The scallop along the bottom of the layout are from the chat/talk bubble.  I just snipped off the pointy part....
The misting was just SO fun I used a pink paislee mistable for the mask and chalk white tattered angels for the mist.
a little note about these pictures.  these were taken in June in Washington state next to the Puget Sound in one of my FAVORITE places in the whole world.  Anyway, I was testing out my new lens and had my mom shoot these pictures--love that they're with my dad.  Don't really have to many together so the ones I do have are treasures.  I know I need to do better about taking my picture with my family members--I just DON'T like to be in front of the camera!  Do you feel like that?!
well, I've gotta run!  Thanks SO much for the visit!

Boo!

it's Halloween and I LOVE to decorate for it!  I used my Gypsy and the Happy Hauntings cartridge to complete this fun project.  I even used the layers in my gypsy--(I've NEVER used that feature before--don't know why...)

closer images of each:

I used the Fancy Pants Halloween line for the pattern paper.  the ribbon was stuff I had on hand, and the other embellishments came from a "lot" of American Craft Halloween that I purchased a few weeks ago from peachy cheap LOVE that place!  Anyway, on my assembly I cut out the back out of chipboard then put on the pattern paper then put the frame around the pattern paper.  The paper I used for the letters is sparkly and SO pretty-don't know if you can tell....
anyway, I made this as a birthday gift for my mommy her birthday is at the end of the month but I've given it to her already as she can enjoy it! :)
That's all I've got for now creatively.  So looking forward to this next week because it's fall break and NO schedule-Yipee!!
Thanks for the visit!

Halloween Teachers/friends gifts

Okay, I LOVE Halloween and I fell in LOVE with the K&Company line (it comes in a pad) when I walked into Michaels! The sheets are a nice weight and they are double sided--both sides are CUTE!  So I thought I would make up some legal note pad covers--you can buy them at your local office supply store (they are either yellow or white)...
Anyway, I added a bit of stickles, brads (I picked them up in the $$ section at Walmart) and stamped the message (also from $1 section of Walmart)

They all look better in person....my favorite?  I think it would have to be the second one...LOVE those dressed up people.
I am going to tie (with tulle) a bow and slip in a Halloween pencil which I picked up from the $1 section at Michaels--easy FUN gift!  Thanks for the visit--hoping your day is WONDERFUL!

Soccer Style

We are all about soccer--well...most of the time.  I'm the crazy mom that takes her camera to pretty much EVERY game, the only time I don't is when I know it's going to rain...How do I scrap these pictures?  Well, it varies really, here is an example of what I did with the last season:

 little closeup:

I really used this sketch:

I didn't include any journaling because it is part of a two pager!  The other page will be of my son and his team.
I went through all the pictures I had of this son and I printed each at 2x3".  I wasn't so sure what to do with the top photo and a light came on--put it up at the top!  This came together in about 20 minutes--really!
That's some kind of record for me.
That's all I have to share today-thanks so much for stopping by!

supplies used:

pattern paper/stickers: Echo Park dots and stripes

cardstock: Coordinations

button: American Crafts

journaling card: Jenni Bowlin

Zinger cakes....

August, September, and October are birthday months in our house.  I initially pinned this from Heidi Swapp...I loved the idea of using hostess zingers and cupcakes.  What's even awesomer (I know not a word....) we have a hostess bakery outlet semi close to my house.  I was able to get my boxes of treats for only $1.40 instead of like almost $4!  The best part they were still good.

If you notice the boy's "cakes" use the same elements, the only difference are the banners...the cakes were layered up depending on how many guests were coming, they each got a cupcake and a zinger (and ice cream) the kids LOVED having their own treat and it was EXACTLY the same size. :)  Both the boy's cakes I used the dots and dashes line from Echo Park.  The skewers I bought at Walmart in the kitchen section along with the toothpicks.

 Don't know if you can tell but the cupcakes are layered up and have stickles on them.  They are Maya Road.

 The girls that came to my daughter's party were SO excited about the cake.  I was excited to use pink (strawberry) cupcakes! :)  I had a fun time mixing lines of Echo Park for this one--my daughter was SO surprised--(her  "cake" was the first I made of the three)

I would TOTALLY do this again--basically a no brainer!  The actually assembly took me less than 10 minutes.  The making of the paper products a little longer.
I did keep each of the kids name banners, might just have to use them on their birthday layouts...or do a frame or something....
Thanks for popping in for a visit--sure hope that your day is WONDERFUL!

Elle's studio tags

I love them!  they are one of the most versatile embellishments and SO fun to use!  I especially loved the red ones included in the Fresh Picked kit --here is one of the layouts that really features them:

for the tags on the bottom of the photo I just cut them in half, pretty simple way of extending the tags....for the fun wooden letters (they are by Pink Paislee) I sprayed them with tattered angels mist--LOVE that red!
I need to make this quick, have to get dinner going and FINISH my Spooky banner BEFORE Halloween! :)  Thanks for the visit!

Hello there! a share.

My goodness it seems like forever since I've posted!  Life has been hectic, in fact we are right in the midst (can't say middle because we aren't yet!) of 6 games of soccer this week!  3 of those are for my girl--I'm loving it--it's tricky balancing everything but I have a VERY supportive team (my family who eats crock pot meals, set out their clothes, and do their homework--if they didn't we wouldn't be playing!)  I just finished up my HUGE Believe Christmas banner project!  It feels like I can breathe a bit more--don't worry I will share pictures with you when it's time! :)
The new Scrapbook Circle kit is out and the colors are lovely!  The kit is called Freshed Picked--perfect for Fall---and (today it FINALLY feels like it here in WAY to HOT AZ!  I've had my windows open all day--SO excited for that! :) )
I was asked to lift Andrea (for her layout and Rebecca's take go HERE)

closeups:

 you can't really tell but I misted the title with glimmer mist--it's quite sparkly in person....

I used my ruler to lightly pencil in lines to stitch over, it was really fun made it feel like a quilt.
Well, I'm off and running!  Thanks for popping in for a visit! :)