Week In the Life 2013-- Monday Recap

This post should have gone up yesterday, but I was exhausted. A sick baby can really wear you out!

Monday was a pretty typical day for us. We started school the third week of August, so we are already in a good school routine. Jess had duty Monday morning so I took all three boys to school/day care, then I went on to work. A trip to Wal-mart, a simple supper, homework, and bedtime. All very typical occurrences this time of year. Here are my favorite shots of the day.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Morning skirt climber

 Monday morning backseat

Drop off at Elementary. I always wonder what they are talking about as they walk in together.

A pair of my favorite flats

New passenger up front (He has decided he is big enough to ride up front)

Self portrait in the visor mirror

Carter's Bio poem. He is scared of Hairless Cats...how funny...He says they are creepy. I agree :)

Help with teeth brushing

Reading Big Nate before going to sleep

Monday's photo count: 2 DSLR, 26 Point & Shoot, & 30 phone = 58 total photos

Tuesday's recap will be up later today.

(Not really a) Wordless Wednesday- Remember

Today is a day to reflect and remember. To praise God for those who survived and for those he put in harms way to save others. To thank him for the comfort he provided the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for the salvation that gives them the chance to see their loved ones again.

There I was standing on the stairs in the primary school, where I was teaching, getting the news that we were under attack.... That moment changed me and shook me to my core. May I never forget that day and the days that followed. May I always feel a protective pride for this great country and for all the freedoms I have. May I never forget the lives lost to ensure that freedom. 

God Bless America!

Take Two Tuesday

Saturday I created a card using vintage dictionary pages as the background. I simply tore the dictionary pages into small pieces and attached them with my Herma tape runner to a scrap piece of cardstock. I could have used Modge Podge to attach the pieces, but I really wanted the torn edges and texture to show.

 I love this Autumn Blueprint CMS 133 stamp from Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz. I stamped the oak leaf  in black ink on top of the torn paper and clear embossed it.

I used Tim Holtz Distress ink in Crushed Olive, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, and Fired Brick to ink the whole piece. I then painted the oak leaf with Iridescent Gold Twinkling H2O's. To finish the framed piece I flicked Perfect Pearl droplets in Gold and Perfect Pearl over it. 

I added a tag and die cut a leaf to add to the frame.

I can't wait to have this piece displayed on my fall mantle. 

Week In the Life 2013- Sunday Recap

I am documenting a Week In the Life this week using the basic guidelines that Ali Edwards created. You can see her 2013 post with guidelines here. She started her week today, but I chose to start our week yesterday. For me it is easier to start this project on a weekend day, rather than a weekday, because there seems to be more flexibility for our family on the weekends. This allows for more photo capturing opportunities. Plus in my mind a new week does start on Sunday.

In the evenings this week, I will be posting my favorite photos from the previous day along with the photo count for that day. 

Sunday, September 8, 2013: 

Morning sippy cup with 1/2 apple juice 1/2 water.

Helpful Dishwashers. (One cleaning up his spill, the other climbing on the already broken door)

Morning nap time bottle.

Little boys playing outside with BB guns.

Hanging out with Mama. He loves this!

Bath time. A rare happy moment. He is not a big fan of baths. Ready for him to outgrow this feeling.

I realize this is a Jude heavy post. It is quite possible that this may be a Jude heavy week. But I think that is honestly where we are right now & I am o.k. with that. We aren't ignoring the big boys, it is just that at 9 months old Jude is a major focus around here. We are constantly trying to help him with this or that or keep him out of this or that. It is a total family effort to get his needs taken care of. He wears us all out in a good, exhausting kind of way & I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Number of Pictures Sunday: DSLR: 75, Point & Shoot: 15, Phone: 33= 123 Photos Total

This Never Happens Layout

Back in July I captured a picture of Jude asleep on the rug in the living room. Him falling asleep like this NEVER happens, I mean never. He doesn't like to go to sleep and usually it is a fight to get him to nap or go to bed at night. So that was the inspiration for my layout.

I used up the remainder of this kit- June 2012 "Hello Sunshine" from Cocoa Daisy.

I looked back through the Design Team Gallery and found this layout by Kim Watson.

I loved the different strips of patterned paper. I had lots of that same paper left over, so I decided to mimic the strips on my layout as well. 

Lots of other little elements here as well. Some from this kit others from my stash. I loved the way this one turned out. 

I love even more that after I finished this layout all the little scraps from this kit went into my stash. So that is one more kit I have used up...only 40 or so left! I better get scrapping!  

Tomorrow I will have a framed fall decor piece using the same technique I used to make the branch card from Saturday's post. See you then. 

PS. Please take time to post I comment! I love hearing from you & if you have questions leave them in the comment section and I will answer them. 

PSS. Also be looking for posts this week from A Week in the Life. This week will mainly be my favorite shots of the day and the count of photos I took. Hopefully over the next few weeks I can put it all together in an album. 

Simon Says Stamp...Animal Antics Challenge

Back again with a card for the Wednesday Challenge Blog at Simon Says Stamp.

I am loving Stamptember. It is really helping me get back into a creative state of mind.



For this challenge I created a card using one of my favorite owl stamps from Hero Arts (I believe it is now discontinued).

I am pretty picky about the stamps I purchase and animal stamps are something I rarely buy because they aren't as versatile as other stamps in my opinion. But this little owl has gotten a lot of use over the last few years.

I stamped the branch on blue cardstock and the owl on a white cardstock scrap. Both the branch and the owl got painted with Twinkling H2O's (my favorite watercolors...love the shine). The owl belly is a piece of patterned paper that I stamped, painted, then pieced onto the painted owls belly. The sentiment is a Technique Tuesday exclusive kit/class stamp from a few years ago. The background got distressed with Broken China Distress Ink and then flicked with Perfect Pearl droplets. 

There are also faint pink and orange lines on the background because I ran my ink blending tool over the pink flower below the owl before it was dry. Oops! So to cover my mistake I added those lines...You wouldn't have known unless I told you. Ha...

This sweet card and the bookmark below will be dropped in the mail next week, headed to my sweet, eleven year old niece. I think she will love it. Kids always love mail..

Speaking of cute animal stamps, this is one I am seriously thinking of getting. I keep thinking of project ideas each time I look at it. 

This stamp is so different from what I normally buy, but it is so cute and I think it would be fun for a number of different projects. Plus I love a cute kitty!

Simon Says Stamp Stamping All Stars Challenge

This month is Stamptember over at Simon Say Stamp.



I decided since it is Stamptember and I love stamping, I would jump in and make a couple of cards. Since I haven't scrapped or stamped much since Jude was born in December, cards are better to start out with until I get a good mojo going again.

Here is the link for Monday's challenge Stamping All Stars. The challenge is to use one of your favorite go to stamps or inks to create with. For me one of my very favorite stamps is from Hero Arts. It is a large background tree stamp.

 

I have had this stamp for quite a while, but it is still my go to stamp for Fall.

For this Challenge I decided to make a card using torn dictionary pages as the background. I started by tearing and covering my scrap cardstock with the little bits of paper. I thought about using Modge Podge first to hold it to the scrap paper, but then decided to just use my Herma runner. I wanted the texture of all the little pieces to show.

After I covered the entire piece of cardstock with the paper, I stamped the background stamp in Versamark and covered it with some older copper embossing powder I had. Then I blended Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, and Crushed Olive Distress ink over the entire piece. 

It needed a little shine, so I mixed Perfect Pearls in Gold with water and used a paint brush to flick droplets over the whole thing. Then I spray Perfect Pearl Mist on it as well and blotted off the excess. 

The photo above is the last one I took of this project (I don't know why...*sigh of exasperation*). I did make this piece into a card, matted on olive green cardstock and placed on a 5 x 7 card. It also got a sentiment attached to it across the bottom. The card is now in a sealed envelope that is headed to a friend.

I love how this piece turned out.  In the picture above you can definitely see some of the texture of the torn dictionary pages that were inked, heated, and misted. It has a really cool heavy weight texture that I really love. I think I may do another similar piece using another stamp and frame as part of my fall mantle decorations.

Check back tomorrow for another card that I did for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog.