Ella's 6 Weeks of Sketches (#3)

Ella Publishing Company is posting 6 weeks of sketches on their blog. Try out the current sketch for a chance to win a free ebook or even a Cricut Expression! I did Sketch #3 last night. I loved that I could use 5 photos. Inspired by color combo #94 from Color Combos Galore.

Sweetie Pie & George

Betta #2 aka Peachie Pie is no longer with us. We keep talking about getting a few little fish instead but once we got to the store Cali told me she just wanted a "regular" fish which she explained meant another Betta. She says THIS is the last time she wants a Betta. Once she finally decide on one she turned around and saw some "little bitty" ones. They were the females and the Petco lady told us we could have a male and female in the same tank and they should be fine as long as the male isn't too aggressive.

Meet George (Betta #1 was Georgie Porgie as in "pudding & pie")

and Sweetie Pie

I've Been Sewing

When I'm not at my computer desk in the evenings, I'm often right over here at my scrap desk...

I do think I could win a prize one day for World's messiest scrapbooker. Well, last week I got really inspired by all of these links and grabbed my sewing machine for a little experimenting. Before you go any further I have to warn that I am terrible at sewing, I know how to physically work the machine and that's about it. Its not for my Mom's lack of trying though, I just never took her up on offers to learn how. Now I wish I had! Instead I learned from my husband who learned from the Army, of all things!

First I was really eager to try this sweater dress made from a $3 Goodwill sweater. It turned out pretty ok, but I was terrified of the whole sleeve process. I just tried it anyway and they look decent but are too tight. She tried it on for me but hasn't worn it again, I will have to re-do the sleeves somehow.

Next I found this El-Cheapo Shirt Challenge and loved this easy Treasure Pocket Skirt. I actually would still wear this shirt but probably shouldn't its shapeless and baggy and faded. So I chose to make Stacy & Clinton proud and just cut it up. I thought it would be too short for my long-legged girl so I added some scrap fabric to the bottom for extra length. I keep thinking I want to add some kind of trim where the pink is attached to hide my terrible sewing. She loves this one and has worn it around the house quite a bit, so much that I already had to wash it twice.

And last was the easiest and my favorite of all. This was a shirt I got at Wal-Mart last summer for maybe $5. I must have been in some kind of colorful mood that day. I do love pink and brown. I may have worn it once. Since it already had a great shape to it and a nice embroidered collar detail I simple cut in on the sides and the neck to size it down for a Cali-size dress. Later in the week I even got adventurous enough to make Barbie a matching dress from the scraps.

I let Cali use my bathrobe the other day and now she wants one of her own (because it keeps her tummy warm), so maybe I'll try this next.

4 of 52

Building projects together at Lowe's. This one was much, much simpler than the fire trucks! I can't tell you what this is though because we are sending one to Daddy for his birthday.

Still Here

Staying busy non-stop and making time to workout on a daily basis which means less time for blogging. I promise I have things to post about but right now I'm due for a little workout and then I can relax and watch a show for the evening.

Haircut

The last time she got a real haircut was over a year ago. She said she wanted one and did fantastic sitting still and listening to the lady. On the drive home she said "I wish Daddy could see my short hair." We sure are lucky to have the internet!

Before

After

P.S. The facial expressions are just an added bonus.

New Ideas

Just stumbled on an amazing list of crafty ideas at Blue Cricket Design. Each Wednesday she hosts a "Show & Tell" where nearly 200 crafty bloggers share what they've created that week.

So far..
I'd really love to try this girl's sweater dress.. was very impressed by this monster shirt and this Lego table and this art tote. These little mice would make adorable Valentine's treats. I would have never thought to do this and I'd love to try this with some unwanted DVD cases.

Ok I'm off to rifle through my old sweaters...

3 of 52

He sat in my lap, I had the camera in my hand and I thought "oh, perfect opportunity for this week's photo!"

Scrap Rendez-vous

My wonderful friend Alexandra is welcoming everyone to join in her fun Scrap Rendez-Vous challenges. This month (from Jan 15th to Feb 14th) you simply need to alter something.. anything.. just make sure to use your scraps. I really liked her scrapbooking sketch book so I picked up a blank journal on clearance at B&N today (for $2.02) and made it my own. The fun, rainbow background was existing. I added handcut letters, buttons, and rub-ons. The quote at the bottom says "Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine." - Anthony J D'Angel


I've already put it to good use writing a list of favorite sketch inspiration sites, future title ideas and drawing out sketches of favorite layouts I find online. It's definitely better than my previous system of writing ideas/sketches on random scraps which just inevitably get lost.

Follow Instructions Carefully

Our favorite train station hosts a monthly family day and this weekend they had some folks from Lowe's to share their "Build & Grow" project. Today we got to make firetrucks. By "we" I mean "mommy" and by firetrucks I mean I made (or attempted) four of them. I thought I was doing pretty well jumping back and forth helping Cali & D with each step. There were tiny nails to put in tiny holes and big hammers to pound them in with. Not much an almost 3 and a 4 year old could really do. They helped where they could but it was truly minimal. So I got all the way to the part where I have my axle in and discover I had put on the entire bottom piece upside down, there was no hole for the axle to go into. Also I forgot to align the holes for the hose reel. And the bumper and siren got mixed up (although that wasn't entirely my fault). Long story short they gave me two more kits to start over on. I decided to pay better attention and maybe glance at the instruction sheet a bit more. Third times a charm right? Nope, I put the side piece on the wrong way again. Kids have completely lost interest and are exploring the exit and fire alarm (ok just Diego did that). I go ask if I can pry off the side, they offer me another new kit. I say no thanks, I'm already on my 3rd one. I manage to pry off the side and attempt to re-attach it properly. My nail goes through the bottom. I give up on that one. I start over and figure they can just share this one if I ever manage to not screw it up. My dear friend Dana comes to the rescue, hers is done and she salvages my #3. I finally manage on the fourth try to produce a decent fire truck. Kids are happy, I've learned my lesson.

From the mind of a 4 year old

The Night Before the Wild Things Came
the story of Hen, Ben, Ten, Ken, Pen, and Comast
by Cali

Hen and Pen were coloring on Diego's blankets and then they went to the potty and flushed themselves. After that they went in the pool and bounced a ball on their heads and the other monster, Ken said "No!" Then Hen and Pen said "I love you Diego" and Pen left to go draw with a pen (he likes pens because his name is Pen). Hen went to go back in the potty, he flushed himself down, then flushed back up. Then they all went to start over again.

And now a little about Swimmy, Timmy, Ham & Shrimp...

Shrimp looks just like a shrimp. Swimmy looks almost like a bear but he doesn't have feet, but he has hair because monsters are like crazy.

2 of 52

One of our very favorite things to do as a family is to go for a hike and a picnic. This was a new spot we had never been before. Other than the breeze it was fairly nice out. And yes I still have hair its just all up under that hat that David let me borrow since I left mine in the car.

2 Cute/Remember

It's always so nice to get back to my scrapbooking table after I've been "too busy" for awhile. I thought I was too tired to scrap tonight but I sat at the computer and started finding inspiration all over.

This page was inspired by the "Bookmarks" Challenge at Two Peas. You simply go to your list of bookmarked "favorite" layouts and use this week's specified page and layout # as your inspiration. You can see my inspiration page here.

Then, while browsing the Two Peas gallery I found this beautiful layout which led me to the very inspiring Color Combos Galore network.

And yes these are older photos. When I gave myself the freedom to scrap without rules (like not having to do every photo chronologically before moving on to the next) I ended up with gaps in my albums. But not to worry, there are no rules. I can just do them as I feel inspired!

More from Great Wolf

Now that I have more time to blog again I wanted to share some favorite pictures from our trip to Great Wolf Lodge. It was one of those times where money really did buy happiness, and it was worth every penny for the wonderful family memories. Cali keeps saying she can't wait to go back again and the other day we even pretended our living room was a wave pool.

Thankful for YOU

I had the opportunity to spend some time at my favorite craft store sans children this weekend and grabbed a stack of new papers. I used 7 different new papers on this Thanksgiving layout inspired by this LO by April Mensik at pink sketches.

Grow!

I had the rare luxury of nearly 4 hours home alone yesterday while David took the kids on a date to Chuck E Cheese. I happily spent that time editing photos and scrapbooking.


Paper by Fancy Pants, rub-ons by Love Elsie, clear "grow" and butterfly by Deja Views (a gift from my wonderful friend Alexandra). Inspired by a Julie Bonner LO titled "Dreamy".

1 of 52

A new version of the 52 weeks challenge hosted by Karen at Forever in Blue Jeans. Starting the new year with 1 of 52. Here's D and I "shooting bad guys" at Great Wolf Lodge. David had some fun with it on our new Corel Paint Shop Pro.

Great Wolf Lodge

We decided to splurge on a little family vacation while David is home... partly because we only get him for 2 out of 52 weeks and mostly because he has missed out on the last three summers with us. Our kids are crazy water babies and one thing we wanted to do most was visit a water park together. Instead of waiting for this summer we surprised them with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge, which if you haven't heard is an amazing resort lodge with a huge indoor waterpark! Yes, an indoor water park complete with wave pool, kiddie area, tube rides, water slides, hot tubs, etc... When we were ready to pack we simply told them we were going on vacation to a hotel and I snuck their swimsuits & goggles in the bag when they weren't looking. Of course they woul have never imagined there could actually be an indoor waterpark! We loved every minute of it and spent as much time in the water as possible. Enjoy the videos.

Gigaball

My brother Daniel and his wife Stephanie love to surprise the kids with something big and exciting for Christmas every year. Last year it was Kota the Triceratops, and they said they had to think long and hard how to top that one! They did really well with this Gigaball!

With the help of our Craftsman air compressor I was able to fill it up in about 45 minutes, (while the kids were napping on "Christmas") then we sent them outside for the big surprise.

(I didn't' quite get the coloring right when I edited this lat one)