A New Challenge

I do have a layout to share tonight, but first I wanted  to talk about how excited Ty has been to start t-ball. He has been anticipating it for months now. He has had a few practices & received his "Riverdog" uniform two weeks ago. Since then, he has shown everyone who walked through our front door his new, admired threads! He was supposed to have his very first game last Thursday, but alas, it rained & t-ball was cancelled for that day. His next game was sheduled for this past Saturday. He woke up & the first words out of his mouth were "Mommy, am I gonna have my t-ball game today?" And would you believe, it rained that day & his game was cancelled again! He was bummed but was a good sport. Although, he did tell me the following day that  he didn't think he'd ever get to play a game. He is so anxious to get out on the field & try out his new skills. Once at practice, he caught a ball in the air that was thrown to him & his pride was immeasurable!! We hope to have the first game this Friday. (Please, Mother Nature, no rain!!! A little boy's heart couldn't handle it.)

And here is a layout that I finished today (just in the knick of time) for a sketch challenge on the My Mind's Eye blog. Here is the sketch:

And here is my layout:

Almost everything here is from My MInd's Eye, most of it from their Miss Caroline collection. I love every bit of it!!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you guys have a terrific night!

~Stephanie

Sharing

Good evening all!
I wanted  to share my latest layouts with you.
These were made using the April kit from My Scrapbook Nook. And I have a lot more to make (my May kit arrived on Friday & it's fabulous)!

This picture was taken on our trip to Marco Island back in 2009. My kids loved it there!
The kits from MSN really make putting a layout together uber simple!! I love how many I can make & how quickly they come together.

This layout was done for a color challenge on the forum at My Scrapbook Nook.
Here is the photo that you had to draw your colors from:

 
You also had to scrap something from your everyday. I did a layout about how Ty loves to collect & play with his Cars each & every day!

I have so much fun playing along with challenges! It really  helps me get motivated to scrap & to find a starting point.

Hope you all have a wonderful night!
~Stephanie

A Simple Card

So I realized tonight that I had never posted this extremely simple card I made (yes, I did say CARD)! I am not much of a cardmaker but really wish I were. I love seeing the gorgeous creations of fellow crafters, I just can never seem to create a card that seems delivery-worthy to me.
But here is my attempt at a birthday card:

I just cut 3 different sized strips of paper & stacked them to look like a cake. Then I added 3 more strips of paper that I punched with a border punch. I thought this gave it the look of icing. Topped the "cake" with a hat pin & hand wrote "make a wish" & Ta-DA. That is my birthday card.
See? Nothing fancy at all. Maybe one day I can make cards that will cause others to drool (or maybe not)!
Have a great night all!!
~Stephanie
 

Serenity

This layout was done for the latest challenge at My Mind's Eye blog. The challenge is to use hexagons on your layout. I know they are all the rage right now & I love them! I simply printed a hexagon template off the computer & then cut favorite MME papers in that shape (very subtle).  
All papers are from the My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline collection; twine is also MME; alphas are AC Thickers; and I used a mix of stickers.
This picture is from my brother's river house taken almost THREE summers ago! It doesn't seem like that long ago. Why does the time go by so quickly when you don't want it to?!
Thanks for popping by! Hope you have a great Monday night! (And I am also hoping that Leah is not getting sick! She's complaining of a headache & stomache:( )
Healthy thoughts!
~Stephanie

Two Weeks Ago....

was Easter day. We were at the beach in North Carolina with all of our family celebrating; well all but Mom & Dad. Dad didn't want to drive four hours to the beach & Mom was in the hospital in Norfolk. She had been medevaced the day before out of Corolla after falling down the stairs at the house we were staying at. She was confused & disoriented after the fall & started calling for her mother who has been dead for almost 6 years. It was quite a scary scenario to say the least! You see, my mother is my saving grace, my hero, my best friend & confidante. She is also the light of my children's lives. The mere thought of losing her was more than I could handle. We were all pretty shaken up that day. Several tests were run in the ER & she was found to be okay, just a severe concussion & hematoma on her head along with lots of bruising all over her body. She was sent home on Monday, April 9 & came back to Richmond. We came home the following day.
 Despite the tradegy mom suffered, it was still a nice get-away & a great Spring Break for the kids. They were thrilled to be at the beach with family & their cousins; to be able to swim in the pool; decorate eggs; have an Easter egg hunt; the bunny visit them & so on & so forth!!
When we got back in town, we took them to the zoo & Leah & I had a girls's day where we got our toes done & saw a movie, Mirror, Mirror. They had time to play with friends & lots of family  time with the four of us too!

The beautiful sunset over the sound.

 Easter morning!

Playing on the dunes.

Beach time.

A cheetah at the zoo (Ty's favorite animal)!

It's hard to believe the break is over & that now there are a very limited number of days til summer!!
We are all so grateful that Mom is doing better & getting stronger with each day. We keep telling her how she needs to be careful & take care of herself-we all want her with us for a very long time!!!

I want to share a layout that I made today while it was pouring down outside! This is made using the April kit from My Scrapbook Nook featuring Crate Paper's Storyteller line. I love everything in this kit. I know I have said that in the past, but they are always chock full of wonderful things!

This photo is of Ty from September of 2010 when we went to Field Day of the Past. He loves going & always has such a good time! I have loved this photo since I snapped it as he was riding on the motorcycle ride there!

There was a challenge up at MSN to use a quote on your layout. The title here is from the song "Breathe" by Anna Nalick. I have always wanted to use this line on a layout of Ty & thought this was the perfect picture!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Hope you all are enjoying Spring!!

~Stephanie  

Inspired By

Hey friends!

We are getting ready to leave shortly for the beach for 5 days. So I wanted to do a quick post & show my latest layout that I did for the member inspiration challenge at My Scrapbook Nook. The member that was chosen was Zarah & here is her layout:

Isn't it stunning?!! I love all of the elements & dimension!

I have also always loved Jen Jockish & her amazing style! When I made  this layout, I  had Jen's style in mind & used a loose sketch of Zarah's l.o. So my inspiration was born from both of these incredible ladies.
Here is my layout:

I used the March kit from MSN again (still love everything about it!) & inked my cardstock to begin then started adding layers. This was so much fun to make!!! I have always admired how Jen uses scraps on her pages, so I made a point of using papers that I had already punched out of & love the way they look.
There are so mant talented scrappers out there that I am always inspired by & I had a blast making this l.o., so I think  I may make "Inspired By" a regular segment on my blog!

Wishing you all a wonderful & Happy Easter!
~Stephanie

March Recap

I can not for the life of me believe that it is April already!! Time is slipping through my hands too quickly. Each month that passes brings us one closer to our baby starting Kindergarten!! And I am so not ready for that! Time needs to slow down for real.

I wanted  to do a review of last month since I was so bad at blogging!
Drew & I started the month off celebrating 13 years of marriage! (There were many days when I never could have imagined that I'd be saying that!!) We went to dinner at Fleming's & had a fabulous time, just the two of us. It was very nice & relaxing & the food was excellent!!! If you like steak, I highly recommend Fleming's.

 The following weekend I went with a bunch of friends to the beach for girl time. It was a much needed get-away & a lot of fun!! The kids & Drew were busy painting Leah's room & rearranging her furniture. (I will post before & after pics later.)

I helped with Ty's St. Patrick's Day party in his class. The kids had fun decorating shamrock necklaces & crowns, hearing stories & eating green snacks! And Ty was thrilled (as was I), that I could be there!!

Drew & I went with some good friends to see Zac Brown again! We had a great time & as always, were amazed by his performance!!

The pollen here has been unbelievable & my kids were suffering bad. They now take Claritin & it seems to be working & helping them feel better. AS you can see in the picture, Leah is making pollen pies!

And Ty started t-ball this month & is so very excited to now be a River Dog!! He has been awaiting this event for months!

Lastly, here are some cards I made this month. I broke out of my comfort zone (making layouts) & tried a few cards. For some reason, to me they are so much harder to create than a 12x12 page!

I made this card using papers from my scrap stash, a stamp, ribbon & pinwheel. Simple & understated-that seems to be how all my cards turn out!

This card I made for a challenge over at My Scrapbook Nook. It uses My Mind's Eye papers from their March kit. I really like how this one turned out!!

Well that's all for tonight!
~Stephanie