Love this boy, these photos were taken a few years ago but I FINALLY found some paper that fit what I wanted to do, THANKS Echo Park!  I wanted to keep the layout simple but still focus on the photos...

 A few closeups:

These are the other two hanging on my wall:

You can't tell from this picture I don't have any closeups and this one is in the frame now....The center of these flowers are french knots and the flowers are distressed & hand stitching...I remember making this layout for a DT, and I worked for HOURS on it.  My hubby suggested that I frame it, there the idea was born to keep the tradition going...
Thanks for the visit today!

Baptism day...

I made this layout a while back...I love the groovy American Craft papers, they are embossed and just LOVELY!  These pictures are almost 1 1/2 old but SO fun.  I made a collage at snapfish and printed this out at 8 x10, I wasn't sure how I was going to make these all work (at the time, this was before I printed my pictures all smaller...)

this is the layout that will go in my boy's book--tomorrow I'll show you the page that goes on the wall with the other two....
thanks for the visit--hope that you are having a WONDERFUL day!

bread sticks and Stromboli

here is the promised bread stick recipe:
1 1/4 cup Hot water
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 Cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon

Combine all ingredients.  Knead 3 minutes.  Let sit 10 minutes. roll out on cookie sheet cut into strips.  Spread butter on top and sprinkle with Italian seasoning (I add Parmesan cheese too!)  Let sit 10 more minutes .  Bake 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
This is yummy!

The other day I was wanting to make homemade pizza, for my recipe see HERE.  Anyway, Sasha Farina posted that she made Stromboli, it's basically Pizza rolled up!  I thought I would try it and the crowd at my house says MORE PLEASE--I had enough dough to also make bread sticks--I seriously ate 5 before I told my family that the food was ready, they were THAT good!  :)  I followed her link to the recipe you can see it HERE, but I want to copy it "just in case" it disappears one day!

*REMEMBER this comes from the Laura's Latest BLOG*

Basic Pizza Dough

yield: 2-12 inch pizzas, approximately 1 lb. of dough
Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
3 cups bread flour {give or take 1/2 cup…depending on the heat & humidity}

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix.  Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands.  Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean!  Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn’t dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That’s it!


Stromboli Ingredients:

1/2 lb. pizza dough 
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
9 slices salami
7 slices deli honey ham
1 egg, beaten
dried parsley & parmesan cheese {optional}
extra pizza sauce for dipping {optional}

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line large rimmed cookie sheet with parchment or spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Spread pizza dough out on baking sheet to be approximately 10×16. Spread pizza sauce over 2/3′s of the dough lengthwise, leaving a 3×16 rectangle of plain dough along one of the edges. Top sauce with half the grated cheese, salami and ham. Top with remaining cheese. Brush the plain strip of dough with the egg. Fold in the sides about an inch and brush them with egg. Roll up like a jelly roll lengthwise starting along the long edge of dough topped with all the fillings and ending with the plain strip of dough on the bottom of the roll. Brush the entire stromboli with egg and gently cut slats in the top of the dough every 1-2 inches. Sprinkle parsley and cheese over top and bake 8-10 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Remove from oven, cool 5 minutes and slice into pieces. Serve with more pizza sauce.

**her blog has pictures with how beautiful it looks**

Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks
yield: 1- 12 inch pie

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough
2 tablespoons softened salted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese {use the real stuff!}
1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
{salt & pepper, if desired}

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don’t have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet…a tip I got from Natalie!}
Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}
Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. {That step is totally optional!}

This long post was TOTALLY worth it--ENJOY!

The year 2012...

first I want to apologize, I'm just to lazy to put this album on to a one page spread...you're going to have to scroll...this was not my original idea I saw it on Elizabeth Kartchner's BLOG and it inspired me.  This is what I came up with:

do you notice STAMPING?!  I know don't fall out of your chair--one of them is studio calico, not really sure what the other polka dot stamp is...but I like it! :)

I'm only going to show everyone else's picture side, not their journaling side.  My son would like his to remain "secret"

 My youngest and I had a blast making these envelopes, we sprayed different colors and wiped the envelopes through them and let them dry..

 the papers are from an old Crate Paper set (rubons/stickers included).  The assembly of the kit went relatively quickly, the filling out of the papers was a WHOLE different story!  But everyone did it, it will be fun to read what we wrote next year.... ALL of the printouts are linked to Dear Lizzy BLOG. The fun thing about this is that you could do this RIGHT now if you wanted--who says that you have to do EXACTLY on the first of the year! :)
So yesterday my desk came!  I ordered it in anticipation of my birthday next week and was SO excited and it came, the assembly was quick especially with the helping hands of my youngest.

isn't is pretty?!  My cricut is not going to stay on that bottom shelf, but for right now it is there.  I still have to put things away.  but I'm happy to report that my rolling tote has a home to the right, next to the window as well as my trash can.  Makes sense that it is on my right since I'm right handed...ANYWAY!  I was SO excited I had to share!
Thanks for the visit today!

little sneak of what's coming this next month...

from Scrapbook Circle:

CHEVRONS, yellow, blue--YUM!  If you want to see the complete listing for Remember This go HERE!

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf

These picture are some of my favorites--they CRACK me up!  My son received his wolf advancement for cub scouts..after he put on the mask he had to howl.  You can tell by the way he is holding his hands that he wished he wasn't up in front of everyone else!  What a trooper though!

here are some closeups:

all of the items minus the larger letters are from the You + Me from Scrapbook Circle.  This is a quick post have LOTS of things to do today!  Thanks for the visit!

quick spagetti sauce

Yesterday I made a new favorite of ours, Quick Spagetti Sauce.  This recipe came about when I wanted to have spagetti but realized I didn't have ANY spagetti sauce!  I looked it up online and with a little trepidation tried it for the first time--it was a HIT!  I've since tried it with meat, without peppers (we didn't have any), and in the crock pot. (you cook your veggies and meat then add all ingredients in the crock)  My favorite way to have it is in the crock pot after it's simmered a few hours on low--YUM!

I got it from Recipes.com:

1 green bell pepper, chopped (any pepper will do)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced (I like garlic I add 2 more)
1 (20 oz can whole tomatoes)--(I use diced because that is what I have)
2 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning (my favorite place for spices is Penzey's)
1 cup chicken broth (I add the whole can)
1 6oz can tomato paste

in skillet saute pepper, onion.  Add garlic and saute a minute more.  Stir in tomatoes and chicken broth--remove from heat.
Place mixture in blender and blend until the desired level of chunkiness is achieved.  Return to medium low heat.  Stir in tomato paste.  Cook 20 minutes, stiring occasionally.

*I will have to post the recipe for my bread sticks another time!*

It's totally delicious!  Thanks for the visit today, let me know if you try it.  And if you have any recipes you'd like to share I love trying new things! :)

Snowball fight!

I'm still using the Jack Frost kit from Elle's Studio, so fabulous!  ANYWAY, I think these are the last of my snow pictures from last year, these crack me up--especially the one where my son has evidence of being nailed right on the chest!  I used my cricut to cut some snowflakes & the buttons, twine are from my stash, everything else is from the kit. 

 closeups of course!

 added a little bling:

these are some of my favorite pictures because this was one of the first times I took my new camera out for a photo shoot! :)  One other little note, the small picture on the top is popped up with pop dots--love that affect gives you something interesting to look at!

I wanted to share real quick is how I finish the back of my layouts when I have a bunch of stitching.  It looks like a mess.  I carefully pull the front piece of thread through the back.  (gently pull the back thread and it will cause the thread to "bubble"pull that all the way through until you have both of the pieces of thread to the back)

 Then I tie them in a square knot.  Right over left and left over right.  I have tried many different ways to adhere my string to the back this way seems to keep it tight on the front.  Hope this little tutorial helps, AND makes sense! :)

Thanks so much for the visit-hope you have a good one!

week 2 Project Life....

okay, I have to admit that week two preparation got thrown off due to the holiday on Monday and everyone home.  But it all worked out okay, I did a bunch of prep work including mapping where I wanted things to go and printing pictures and rounding the corners (I want my book this year to look more uniform) this may sound like a lot of work but I'm enjoying the process SO MUCH more!  That being said here is week 2:

 I do have to tell you that I have things in between in sheet protectors, (grades & map to the science center) Miracle of miracles batman!  There are a couple of pictures of me!  (one is a self portrait!)  Does anyone else not like their picture to be taken?  I'm trying to enjoy it more, but I sure feel more comfortable BEHIND the lens! :)

I have a few printables I purchased from Marcy Penner's etsy store, click HERE to see what she has, remember that you can change the colors!

That's it for today kids, thanks for the visit!

Front page as promised....

As I promised!  The title page to my Project Life!  I finished this last Saturday, surprising to me it took me a while..but I am REALLY happy with how it turned out.  I wanted to include things out of my stash but also use what came in the kit.  

The only picture that is from 2012 is of my hubby and I.  (THIS is the picture I had taken for this year!)  The others were leftover from a print job I had and were the perfect size.  If you have a question about anything included here, just ask!
Sorry this is going to be a quick most today!  Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

yesterday on this page was featured on the Scrapbook Circle blog.  the post was regarding the printable in the January kit You + Me--I really enjoyed working with it this month!  Printables are unique to the Scrapbook Circle and are made for each kit.  And one of the cool things is that they can be manipulated a bit in Photoshop.  I'm not an expert and still learning but did play with it AFTER I made my layouts for January.

 little closeup of the banner:

Do you notice where the printables are?  the little banner Love you and the journaling spot.  I love this picture of my hubby and I, my hair is a mess (it was a HUMID day for AZ) and sadly it was the ONLY picture we took together!  Sad, I know--this year I vow to make a change!  We've already had one taken so at least we are caught up to last year! :)

See that fun little punched scalloped circle/seal?  That is my FAVORITE punch right now.  I bought it for my Believe banner and I'm SO glad I did I have used it for a lot of different things.  It's by Martha Stewart and I bought it at Michael's....

I forgot to mention that this was based off a sketch that I pinned on Pinterest I "believe" it was from Pencilines....I snagged it off someone else's blog! :)

Well, I'm off and running today--thanks so much for the visit! :)

New Kicks....

I challenged myself with this layout!  At Christmas time we bought this bottle of club soda to make some homemade root beer.  The bottle intrigued me and I took a picture of it not knowing what it would inspire me to do. Then I remembered I took a picture of my new shoes--perfect combo!

Challenges:

1. use the design of this bottle to create a layout.

2. use the picture of my new shoes as the focus of my layout.

3. use ONLY cardstock!  NO pattern paper.

my take on my own challenges:

A few close ups:

I used my trusty Cricut Gypsy to help me out with planing out my page. I like using my gypsy because you can use layers which provide you a view of the creations on different layers so that you can get an idea at what size to cut your objects. (You could also do the same thing with Cricut Craft room--I just happened to want to watch a show with my kiddos....)

1. I picked a circle using the Accent Essentials cartridge (this came with my Cricut Expression), if you do not have this cartridge, there are several others that have a circle on them.  (you can use the Search option on your gypsy or Cricut Craft room--type in circle and they will pull up all available cartridges) I picked a size I wanted 1.5" and copied and pasted this a few times.  Then I changed the size of my circle to 1", .85" & 1/2" repeated the process.  Each of these circle groups were matched like they were on the bottle on my gypsy

2. Next on Layer 2, I worked with my title using the Opposites Attract cartridge I sized the title so it would fit with my circles.  For the word New (I used the opposite feature) I sized it to be 1.5" high, then using the K_E tool (I like to call it the scoot tool) I scooted all of the letters together so I could meld them and so that they cut as one word.  I did the same with the word Kicks, I sized it to 2.5" tall and using the scoot tool connected the letters.

3. The sunburst were cut at 1.5, the smaller is cut at .5" (on Layer 3, again to measure up to the rest of the work I) with the Accent Essentials cartridge.  I used white cardstock then sprayed it with tattered Angels Ink.  The colors I used were Key Lime Pie and Silver Sugar.  )If you click the links they will take you to where I purchase my glimmer mist.)

4. After all items were cut I backed the main page with different colored cardstock.

5. Using my any where seal punch I punched out the red.

6.  I adhered everything to the page, then journaled.

I really had a great time with my own challenge, making everything work to celebrate my new kicks!

Thanks for stopping in for a visit!

playing....

Elle's studio had a little sketch challenge:

I played a long using their Jack Frost kit (I bought in December).  Here is my take:

 I have to tell you the mist is FABULOUS in this kit--Mr. Huey's it was my first time using it and really loved it.  The maya road snowflakes came in 2nd--they're misted lightly...Do you see the large snowflake peeking out from behind my daughter?  That is an Elle's studio tag as well as the things in the right corner and strip that says let it snow....

I've been a absent a bit from the old blog spending time with my family.  Grateful that everyone is healthy and happy for the most part! :)

Kids are off to school after a long weekend and I've got some catching up to do!  I worked on the cover of my Project Life and I will be sharing that this week, I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

thanks so much for you visit today!

Dinner at Joe's

okay, I thought I had posted this layout already!  Here ya go:

 of course closeups:

I added the last picture because you can't really tell that I misted in the first one!  I used a mask from my stash--I've had it FOREVER, I think it's Heidi Swapp.  I used the white chalk ink from Tattered Angels--I love the affect it gave!
These pictures of course have another story besides being birthday pictures, they were some of the first I took after my photo class back in August 2011--they were shot in MANUAL mode!  I've shot that way and not looked back, it's been a challenge but I've loved EVERY minute of it!
I'm off to a field trip with my boy today AZ Science Center here we come!
Thanks for the visit today!

I feel like a genius! :) Project Life...

I actually learned something, had an A-HA moment, found something that ACTUALLY pertains to me and Scrapbooking.  I feel excited, it might not be new to you but to me it's like HALLELUJAH!   I was reading On Marcy Penner's blog about project life and she posted THIS tutorial!  I loved her digital elements but didn't really care for the colors (I literally had one of her items in my cart the day before but didn't buy it because of the colors!)  So after I saw this tutorial I jumped at the chance to buy something from her etsy shop and got busy changing colors in Photoshop Elements.  (that was one of my scrappy goals--getting to know Photoshop Elements better...)

Then yesterday I was reading Becky Higgins and she mentioned that the lady who designed the Clementine edition of Project Life had come out with digital journaling cards.  They can be found HERE.  Guess what?!  You can manipulate them and move them change the color AND they are on sale!

and TODAY Rhonna Farrer gave another tutorial on changing colors!  You can see it HERE, I haven't had time to play with that idea and have NO idea if it will work with Photoshop Elements but I thought I would pass on the knowledge any how!

With all the ideas floating around I decided to make a Project Life board on Pinterest you can see it HERE.  I do have a follow me button on my side bar as well ---->

Here is page 1 of my project life....

page 2:

I promise to take better pictures next time.  I've decided to be more organized about it.  I use a project folder to collect pictures, and memorabilia.  then I journal on Monday, I have been journaling about each day in my notes section of my computer--this is linked up in icloud from my phone as well.  It's a pretty cool feature.  Once I journal that certain day I delete it off my calendar....I feel SO MUCH better about this process--organized and free.  Last year I was hit and miss with the journaling and had to go back and remember and i couldn't and I felt bad, this way feels more like me and MORE fun!
I would love to hear about your project life experiences please feel free to share your links in the comments section!
Thanks for stopping by!