Beauty...

I love everything about Fall except that it precedes Winter! There is so much beauty to be found. Pumpkins, changing colors, crisp air, warm days and cool nights, Halloween, and I could go on & on :) This layout  highlights my daughter but is really about God's creations and how beautiful they are. I found this sketch on the Scrapbook News and Review site and didn't finish it in time to submit it. The sketch is by Emma Straface.

I'm in love with this My Minds Eye collection, Stella Rose. Such beautiful, saturated colors. Aqua is one of my favorite colors right now. The flowers are punched, sanded, then layered with the crocheted flowers and a brad. Misted the doily to tone down the white.

Cardstock: Bazzill, Bo Bunny; patterned paper: My Minds Eye; chipboard letters: Basic Grey; crocheted flowers: Prima; punches: E K Success, Martha Stewart; brads: Making memories, Paper Studio; pearls: Kaiser Kraft; die cutting machine: Cricut, Provo Craft ( Home Accent, Storybook cartridges); circle cutter: Coluzzle, Provo Craft; spray ink: Tattered Angels; pen: Sakura; adhesive: 3l, Therm O Web, Tombow; doily: Wilton.

Last night was Matthew's first time wrestling at 285lbs. He has lost almost 50 lbs since the start of wrestling season. He discovered the competition is much stiffer. He went from 2-0 to 2-2. I could see he was bummed and my heart hurt for him. It was easy to see the other wrestlers were much more experienced and older. He has a lot to learn and the willpower to do it!

Mimi's 1st basketball game was at the same time, unfortunately they were in different cities :( Daddy & Grandpa went to her game. I'll catch her 2nd game on Monday. Her knees are all floor burned, poor baby. Apparently her body can't keep up with her feet :) This is her 1st year playing basketball too. I just keep reminding them both that practice is the key.

The rest of my day will be spent with Grandpa Joe, first at the pacemaker clinic and then to his internist. The bonus is that I get to make a trip to Hobby Lobby and possibly a scrapbook store. Yea! The "Families" special edition from Cricut Magazine is out and there are 5 of my layouts in it :)) Check it out!

Beep! Beep!...I'm On a Roll

A cardmaking roll that is. Last week I got a wild hair up my ....well you know the saying, and made little stacks of patterned paper, cardstock, and matching embellies from my stash with the intention of making a bunch of cards. I'm proud to say I've whittled the stack down to about half. It is a really satisfying feeling to use up my old stash. My plan is to replace it with new yumminess.

Isn't this car adorable! Great for a little boy birthday or just because :) 

 Patterned paper, sticker: Echo Park; letter stickers: American Crafts; button: Basic Grey; diecut: Cricut (Storybook cartridge); punch: E K Success.

I adore this line from Echo Park, such bright happy colors.

Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper, stickers: Echo Park; diecut: Cricut (Stand and Salute cartridge); corner rounder: E K Success.

 My favorite of the bunch, isn't that birdie the cutest! The last two cards were inspired by a card I saw in Papercrafts Magazines Card Creations vol. 7, page 53 by Lea Lawson.

Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Echo Park; stickers: American Crafts; rubons, chipboard frame: Making Memories; punch, corner rounder: E K Success.

The kids are blissfully sleeping in, unaware they are having a "snow day", the rural roads are covered in a layer of ice with rivers of water on top. The temperature jumped from 18 degrees to 40 degrees and we actually had a thunderstorm last night. Weird! They say it's going to drop back down and snow again later today. I'm home on a low census day. Thought I was going to get to see Mimi's 1st basketball game of the season but foiled by the weather. Grrr.

A nap and maybe some scrapping are hopefully in my future, after I clean the tornado that is my scraproom up!

Fountain of Fun

My sister and niece came to visit last summer and we made a trip to downtown Saint Joseph. The unfortunate part is that they were here because my great uncle passed away. Saint Joseph is a resort type of town about 20 minutes away and the town that I commute to for work. They recently revamped a park by Lake Michigan and added a play fountain and carousel. The carousel is a restored one from an amusement park that was there in the 60's.

We made a day of sightseeing while the kids rode the carousel, did chalk art, swam in Lake Michigan and played in the fountain. When I say kids I mean Grace & Mimi, Matthew just rode the carousel and swam.  He's a cool teenager now you know. There will be more layouts from this outing in the future :)

This layout was created for a Creating Keepsakes sketch call. It was near sunset and the lighting was golden. I love these photos of the girls playing like little kids. They were so funny, trying to hold each other under the spray and get each other in the face.

The orange circle reminds me of the setting sun. Used some Prima flowers for a mask and used Smooch spray ink over them.

Pattern paper from Fancy Pants, chipboard letters and camera are K &Co.

Recollections glitter dots and Fancy Pants buttons.

Love this look on Gracie's face and Mimi's evil grin behind her. Such cousin love :)

It's a beautiful sunshiny day here in Michigan, a rarity in the winter. A foot of snow and 18 degree weather can't dampen my happiness to see the sun! Mimi is looking over my shoulder and Matthew is singing in the shower, they are hoping to go sledding. I want to get a day of scrappin' in, because I'm on call for twelve tomorrow and we know how that goes...

Autumn...a Little Yellow Bicycle Sketch Challenge

Phew! I think that was a record for me. Tonight I happened to be blog surfing and came across a sketch challenge on Little Yellow Bicycle's blog. Approximately 4 hours (one argument, dinner, and a broken vacuum cleaner) later, here is the layout:

I'm in love with these photos I took of Mimi at our local "Big Dan's" pumpkin patch. The light was amazing! You'll be seeing a lot of layouts featuring my sweet girl and those gorgeous green eyes.

Here is the sketch by Liz Qualman:

I didn't stray from the sketch much and the only product not from Little Yellow Bicycle is the cardstock. Cut the leaves with the "Graphically Speaking" Cricut cartridge. Instead of adhering the layers, I left them open on one end for dimension. Big scallop punch is Martha Stewart and the little scallop is EK Success.

Good thing you can't see me right now...all raggedy looking with chapped lips and a stuffy nose that makes me sound like Elmer Fudd with a cold. I haven't dressed, done my hair or put on makeup in 5 days. Have to go back to work tomorrow, they should feel special...they get to see the dolled up version!

Nasty Rash

Matthew was the rashiest (probably not a word) baby I've ever known. In fact he's still prone to weird rashes! He would come down with a "Surely he must have a fatal disease!" type rash at least once a month. I'd rush him to the Pediatrician only to have it disappear before we arrived. So...I got in the habit of taking pictures. These hives were courtesy of an antibiotic.

I know this space themed paper from October Afternoon doesn't really have anything to do with rashes...but isn't it cute!

Gradually using up my stash. These felt letters are from KI Memories and yet more Fancy Pants buttons.

I love the little boy holding the spaceship. I added one of the rubber charms on top of the sticker for a 3D effect. Hey! I can justify using a space theme, he has a star binky in his mouth :)

Off to bed now. Nursing a nasty cold. Thanks for popping by :)

"That was Really Random"

Is one of my son's new favorite phrases and my lead into this post of forgotten, random cards :) I've been trying to use up my huge supply of scraps by making cards with the leftovers from layouts. It is much easier to use the coordinating papers and embellishments I've already chosen, than to start from scratch each time.

The images on my Cricut cartridges call to me sometimes :) These Sassafrass papers felt very nautical to me and perfect for this sailboat. Used  the "Life's a Beach" cartridge. Inside sentiment says "with me".

This one is for a teacher friend of mine (hopefully she misses this post) and I used the "Wrap It Up" cartridge.

Added a little Stickles to the schoolhouse bell and used Fancy Pants papers.

Love how this one turned out :) A Fancy Pants journaling spot, button and papers were the perfect start to this birthday card. Added some Martha Stewart bakers twine, Making Memories flowers, and a Stampin' Up tag.

I've had these American Crafts plastic flowers in my stash forever! WR Memory Keepers paper, Echo Park sticker, and Fancy Pants buttons. The top layer (grid paper) is popped with foam adhesive.

Hope these cards made you smile!

At the Beach...

Is where I'd like to be right now, preferably in Florida or any other warm place! My hands and feet are freezing and take forever to get warm.

Echo Park's "Splash" collection jumped right out at me when thumbing through my papers, the colors were a perfect match for these photos of my kids at the beach. Lake Michigan is the perfect place to be in the summer. No salt water or jellyfish to ruin the experience :) My kids used to love going to Silver Beach. Not only was there a sandy beach and loads of sand, but a play structure and concession stand to make it perfect.

The colors are off on this one because I had to photograph it at night, then Photoshop the heck out of it! The background papers aren't two shades of blue either. I went with a simple look to let the photos shine.

Used Basic Grey chipboard letters for "Beach", first applying the paper and then covering in Modge Podge to add some shine (with the added benefit that the Modge Podge made the colors deeper). The journaling spot was stamped with a  WR Memory Keepers acrylic stamp. Fancy Pants buttons and Echo Park stickers.

Martha Stewart border punch. WR Memory Keepers baker's twine.  Oops...almost forgot "at the", American Crafts chipboard letter "Thickers" painted and Modge Podged.

Took Dad to one of his Dr's today. Resolved some issues in regards to his pain needs, thank goodness!  Apparently there is a shortage of 12"x12" Cricut mats, went to 3 different places in Kalamazoo and ended up buying 12"x24". I'm going to try cutting them into two. What's a girl to do...I need them now, not in 3 days ;)

More Christmas... I know , right. *Out for Publication*

You are probably ready to move on but I have one more Christmas project to share :) The Hallgren family Christmas was packed this year. So packed that we had to move our festivities to Mike & Jill's house (much bigger than Grandpa & Grandma Hallgren's) to fit everyone. Candi & her boyfriend Joe came from New York, Andrea's Mom, and Ryan's new girlfriend Addie were all new additions. All in all, I think there were 30 total! I had to come up with something to give each person. It's no fun not to get a little something at Christmas, no matter how small. I decided Puppy Chow would be a good treat (recipe to follow) and created these cute treat toppers to fancy up the cellophane bags.

Used the Cricut cartridge "Simply Charmed".

All in all I think there were 6 layers involved. I know, what was I thinking? I make 35 of these puppies! Thank goodness for the quantity feature. I just programmed in how many I wanted and it cut them. It really didn't take me as long as I thought it would and the smiles on Christmas were worth all the effort :)

Those of you that haven't heard of Puppy Chow are really missing out. Beware...it's addictive :P

Puppy Chow

9 Cups Corn Chex

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup butter

1tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Measure  cereal into large bowl.
2. In 1 qt. microwave bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter uncovered on high 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2 gallon resealable food-storage bag.
3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

I don't refrigerate mine and it seems it lasts several days before it becomes stale, although it rarely makes it more than a couple of days before it is gobbled up. Recipe courtesy of General Mills.

Low cencus day from work today. Cross your fingers I don't get called in, the roads are "slicker than snot" as my Dad would say. Hoping to get some scrapping in. Have a great day!