Tutu's&GlueDots

It's about time!

  I am finally sitting down (at 10:45) to blog!  Geesh time flies huh?  I have been working like crazy after Alyson goes to sleep on the finishing touches to some mini books which I will post as soon as I photograph them.  But I CAN share with you some of my assignments that I completed forMy Little Shoebox this month.  This month I was given the Enjoy Life line of papers and it was a blast putting these layouts together!

This one is called Garden Girl.  Alyson grew this little plant with her green thumb last summer and I finally got to document it!

This one contains pictures from a birthday party that she went to last summer - and it only took me a year to scrap them -- I guess I was waiting for the MLS paper! LOL!

This one is a simple one of Alyson with her babies.  Notice how they all have no clothes on?  Why do kids do that? LOL!  You can't tell from this angle - but the yellow part of the pattern paper is all up on pop dots and the tags are tucked under.

That bloom is one of mine that is also covered with some Shimmerz.

And I tried out this Silhouette Shape - because I am thinking that I will make Alysons party favors (with different paper) like this.  What do you think?

I think it would be a cute cake - right?

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A couple weeks ago it was my turn to do a Tips and Techniques at Noel Mignon - well I decided to make a little digital download.  I used the cute little girl that is featured on the site and made the cards to the left.  Here is the link if you wouldike to download them - it is free!

DOWNLOAD

 

There is also a challenge going on right now and it is using this sketch by Jana.

And here is my interpretation of this sketch.

I used the new Rise and Shine kit and made a Halloween layout :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok well I think it this post is long enough - LOL!  I will be back soon with another post - I promise LOL!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Michelle

So I was very accomplished

this evening - did I phrase that right?  Or would that be properly?  AnywaY - I had a dentist appointment and they love me SO much there that they want me to come back next week!  Isn't that awesome - NOT!  I swear my teeth see candy and I get a cavity - sigh....just hoping Alyson has Mike's teeth and not my soft wimpy ones -- ok sorry off topic.  After I got home I immediately got my spray can of chalk paint and my frame that I am making for my kitchen/dining area.  I sprayed it and it came out of -- I have no idea if I did it the right way - but we will check it out tomorrow.  I also got out the black paint and painted a couple of frames that I have upstairs.  They were a nice wood color but I wasn't really 'feeling' them anymore so black paint it is.  Hopefully they will be presentable enough to post. :)

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Once again I started that post a cpuple days ago and am now finishing it up!  I did finish painted my brown frames black and they turned out awesome.  I also created a chalkboard frame that I have been wanting to make.  I had spray painted the cardboard and all went well - then when it was time for me to put the"chalkboard" in -- the frame came apart - not just kind of - like it was in 4 pieces!  Alyson was very concerned - and I was was miffed -- so we went to michael's and exchanged it - and I settled on a gold toned one - actually more silver -- but I like it and I am glad I did -- here is the finshed project. (boy was that a run on sentence?)

the coloring is a bit off - but you get the idea.  And I am now making one for alysons room -- because she wants one too - I guess her easel isn't good enough! LOL!

Alright -- well now on to some good stuff - SCRAPPY stuff!

Just in time for the holiday weekend is a NEW kit at Noel Mignon - it is availible TODAY!  And it is beautiful!  It is called Rise and Shine!  It is the perfect kit to kick off the summer!

Here is a layout I created with the kit and also used it for the latest mix it up challenge that you can find here.

The pictures came out a bit wonky on this one -- I used an action that causes that color cast on the photos but they look better in teal like - trust me!

And here is a close up...

And here is another layout - it is of the impromtu photoshoot. hehe.

Aren't the colors in the kit beautiful??  Love them!

And another awesome thing happening is we have 2 guest designers for the month of June!  They are Gretchen McElveen and Christine Middlecamp!  Awesome news right?  There will truly be some awesome inspiration!

One more cool thing going on.  Virginia is holding an online class on finding your scrapbooking style.  Click here for more information and to sign up.

 

 

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And here are a couple layouts that I completed for Dream Street.

Okie Doke - that is all I have for now!  I hope you have a wonderful Holiday weekend!

Michelle

Long Post

This weeked was SO relaxing.  Doing nothing but running errands, taking walks, going to the park and of course crafting.  I scrapbooked and Alyson made fun things like penguins out of toilet paper rolls (without my help).  Good times I tell ya.  I am also glad that this school year is coming to a close.  I will be sad to see it go (it might be the last time in a long time that I will have only 20 students in my class), but also sad because I have loved this group of kiddos (I like them all but some years are a bit smoother than others).  But before I check out for the summer I have to finish the next month out - haha!

I know Alyson is ready for summer break and keeps asking when she will be able to go on"vacation" (read: stay home with mom).  And it is coming -- I already have activities lined up for her - swimming (of course) and dance - looking into cheer or gymnastics as well.  She loves dance but I think that she would love to learn gymnastics and/or cheer so we will see what I can find.  She is NOT into the soccer thing anymore - which is fine -- at least she tried it right?

Well besides looking forward to the end of the year --I have been trying to get this place settled - meaning finishing some decorating ideas that I have in mind.  I have been hooked on this blog for a long while now -- but now that we are in a new place it has much more meaning because I am now decorating the way I want - yay! I have some plans for some Window Mistreatments - just need to find the fabric I like - wait scratch that - I just need to actually get out there and LOOK!  Sometimes I find myself being SOOO cheap when it comes to certain things and I can't bare to spend full price - so I usually wait or use a coupon.  But show me a new line of scrapbooking goodies and it is as good as sold. hmmmm need to change my priorities -- so that is what I am doing.  Do any of you have this problem?

I decided to start taking photos of the little decorating changes that I will be doing -- so it kinda holds me accountable.  I HAVE to do them eventually right? Please someone ask me in a month or 2 (or five) why I haven't shown my "home updates" - kay?  And if I ignore you I am probably really busy decorating or something - haha.

When we first moved in - I set up the frames eight away -- I even set up the empty frames with people that are not my family - LOL!  Those frames will be filled with more black and white pictures of Alyson.

 Now I like the frames and I think I have too much space in beteen the Love and the picture - but I have an idea -- we will see if it will work - I want to add more frames but don't want to get out of hand - kwim?  Any suggestions are welcome - well besides take them down.

And here is another area that I am working on -- it is the area above the bed - (I didn't take a picture with the bed purposely).  I have these 2 things here that I really like.  These goodies came from etsy and big lots. Can you figure out which?  My mom really like the print - but was frightened for me incase there was an earthquake and the birdie fell on me --- no worries -- but is one there pretty good with glue dots!  I have one item that I have the materials for and willhopefully have time soon to put up there - because it does really need that third item right?

ok so after I wrote the last paragraph --I stopped went downstairs - well wouldn't you know it there was an earthquake! Everything is fine - but when talking to my mom she asked about the bird and it is fine -- LOL!  See love glue dots!

Okso one more mesto show you -- this one really is a mess - I was playing with My Little Shoebox papers all weekend - and I just had to get a shot of some of the mess.  I wont let see it all that would be embarrassing right?

Like this isn't enough? LOL!  You otta see outta of the camera frame!  I especially like that my calendar still has April up - amd lookie at my idea board - I think I have more photos up there than ideas - LOL!

Welp - besides trying to decorate and scrapbook this weekend -- I of course did much more - like going to the mall, park, market, target, wal-mart, michaels, etc. etc. etc.  And I did it all with this cutie!

I got these for her at a jewlry store (you know where you get your ears pierced?) Well she saw this mask and just coul NOT live without it - so of course I got it for her (I know she is spoiled).  Anyways - I thought she would wear it for a bit then only bring it out once in a while when she plays dress up (which is everyday) - but she has surprised me and has worn it every single place we went this weekend.  LOL!  Even here while she was watching tv and I so rudely interrpted her --hehe!  We will see how long this one lasts!

While out this weekend I had to get some more crepe paper to make some more embellies for orders that I have to fill so I have had the crepe paper out - well Alyson wanted to use "just a little bit mommy" to decorate her room.  Well her is a partial picture.

I am not sure if you can tell but there are streamers in front and behind her.  Really all over the room - it looked like a maze -- she let me take this picture though -- and please do not pay attention to the unmade bed in the background we were JUST getting ready to make it ;)  Oh but please do take not of the swimsuit that she is wearing -- it is a 24 month one - LOL!  Luckily it is a 2 piece and she is thin  --- but she has a hard time with the top and she thinks it is time to give it to Lily (I will send it to ya Vic-wink*wink).

And soon after this she wanted to make something from Sprout so she made these bats - one is the mom and one the baby.

(you can kinda see where she got into my shimmez -- she loves the stuff)

She also made herself a penguin too -- I must take a picture of that one!

And you know -- because we had nothing better to do we made some of these becasue while at the market ALyson said her FAVORITE thing in the WHOLE wide world was bluberry muffins. (this is the first I heard of it).

She takes her job very seriously.

mmmmmm...they were delicious!

And now since I think I talked entirely too much - I should share one more thing with you.

ok - so this weekend when I opened my email to see the cover of the Scrapbook Trends mini book issue I was happy to see my book (along with others) on the cover!  Yay!  I know it is just the spine - but hey - it may be my only shot on a cover - LOL!  Here it is incase you can't tell which one it is...

Alrighty - that is enough yapping!  I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Michelle

Spritz anyone?

Well I was asked aboard the Shimmerz company at just the right time -- turns out they are coming out with a new product and it is called Spritz. 

And it is AWESOME -- I can't even compare it to what is already out there because it is SO much better - honestly!!  There is so much sheen and sparkle to this -- just gorgeous!  I can't wait to play some more with it - but here is a card that I "attacked" with the stuff -- I also used some Shimmerz:)

I know, I know you can't really see it too well - maybe this will help.

On the Orange flower I used Shimmerz in gold.  Beautiful - I tell ya!

I soaked the white crepe paper flower in the Spritz and used my heat gun to speed up the drying process and it worked out great!

In the days to come there will be more sneaks and finally how many colors this awesome Spritz will come in.  Go check out the blog to win some Spritz of your own!

Products: Cardstock: Bazzill, Pattern Paper: Fancy Pants, JilliBean Soup; Ribbon: Offray; Flower: Misc.; Flair: American Crafts

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And a few other scrappy shares are my last assignments for Treasured Scrapbooking.

This one is photographed a bit wonky!  All cardstock is the same color -- these are pictures from this past weekend that Mike took of Alyson.  The first swim of the Spring is always the best!

Working the tone on tone here -- not sure if it is too much but I like it:)

And some cards:

Well that is all I have for now -- I hope you have a wonderful Friday!

Michelle

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all you mommies out there had a wonderful Mothers day.  I know I did!  I got my favorite flowers (tulips) and Alyson got some as well because she thinks that they should have a "kids day" too! LOL!  Just like my girl!  We hung out at home for the beginning of the day and then we got ready to go to my mom's house to have a yummy lunch.

Since my mom's birthday is so close to Mother's day -- I hadn't gotten the chance to give her her gift yet -- so she got it today.  And here it is.

My mom has been wanting an apron and I ordered one a while ago knowing that I would give it to her for her birthday.  And doesn't she look cute in it?

I may want one too!

I took these 2 pictures while at stop lights -- I tried to catch her singing - but she wasn't having it. haha!

And then this one - but still no singing.

And I have to add some pictures from Alyson visiting her cousins -- (mike took these).

And I took these pictures because Alyson has had a fascination with bugs lately.  I mean she can not walk without stopping to check out some bug or other.  Well at my mom's she found a roly poly that she was getting a kick out of.  She was fascinated at how it rolled itself into a ball - and of course being the teacher/mom I am we had a mini science lesson.  Well she carried this bug forever - and I think sadly when she finally put it down it wasn't moving -- ahh well.  But here are some pictures before the death of the bug.

And of course I have some layouts/cards to share - I am thankful that I got some time to scrap!

There is a new challenge up at Noel Mignon this week.  It is to scrap a photo that is at least 25 years old -- sadly I realized that a picture of myself would do the trick.  So I grabbed this when I was at my mom's.  I mean look at the outfit - Jordache Jeans that hair - and don't ya like the way I am looking off into the distance - LOL!

I used the Penny Arcade kit for this.  I added the orangish paper from my stash as well as the American Crafts number.

And a couple of cards that I posted on the Design Team Blog

And I think that is all for now.  I am off to bed.  I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Michelle

Wednesday - hooray!

Yay - almost Thursday which is super exciting!  I have a Mother's Day tea coming up as well as a field trip! *Oh and thanks for all the nice congrats on the Shimmerz DT*

I have been so motivated to scrap lately -- it feels really good to get out of the funk I was in - I am crossing my fingers that is continues!

I am finally back in action with the Mix-It Up challenges! Yay!  And what a challenge to come back to!  We had to use the word  PERSEVERANCE somewhere on the layout.  Well geez -- I had lots of great ideas (with help from a colleague we will call ES-haha).  But none of those ideas came to fruition.  I did find some outtakes from our Valentine's shoot.  And it just reminds me how many pictures I have to take before I get "one" that I really like.  And here I only posted a couple that I thought were especially funny and then of course my final picture ---

The top black and white photo has princess (the cat) in the photo - she wanted to know what crazy thing I was doing with Alyson's hair - LOL!

The bottom one -- well as you can see - great smile - but the eyes are closed!

I realized after going through hundreds of shots how much I really keep going until I feel I get the "one". 

Go here to see what the rest of the designers made.

Products Used: Cardstock: Bazzill; Pattern Paper: American Crafts; Alphas: American Crafts, Adorn It; Rhinestones: Darice; Pen: American Crafts

And I have my May first share from Treasured Scrapbooking.  I gotkit #2 - and can I tell you I love it - the colors are not what I usually pick - but they turned out to be so easy and fun - here is my first layout.

These pictures are from Pajama Day at school.  Alyson has had them picked out for months - let me tell you how thankful I was to find out that there indeed was going to be a pj day - LOL!  I had her step outside and take a picture before we left. (yay me).  There is a little glare on the right - but the pictures look fine in person.

 

Aren't the butterflies pretty?  I love the colors.

ok - I want to share that I found a little (ok actually big) gem of a vintage store I stumbled upon.  I stopped by to see what they had because I had never seen it before -- well an hour later I was through -- they had so many yummy vintage things...I wanted to buy quite a few things but restrained myslef and only bought this...

A vintage music book that I have pans to make some fun things for in my Etsy Shop.

Some vintage buttons -- they were a buck for a scoop (I have more)

and some vintage ribbon ----

they had so much stuff that I know I will be going back and maybe purchase that milk glass pitcher that I found!

And one fun find that I got for Alyson at Marshalls - these cute shoes

 

I meant to take a picture of her wearing  them -- but that didn't work out - so I snagged them and took a quick pic before they get super dirty --because I know she will wear these everyday!  I know I would :)

Before I forget, My Little Shoebox has their big reveal of what all the design team did with the latest lines.  Click here to go take a look.

I promise you there is  a lot of eye candy going on there!

Well that is all I got for today - off to go pick up and play "gymnastics" with Alyson!

Michelle

What a week!

So much to do but it all went well!  This weekend couldn't come fast enough and thank goodness it has been so relaxing -- no commitments -- unless you call cleaning and laundry a commitment -- because I don't! Ha! 

I don't know if I mentioned it -but I made the downstairs walk in closet into my scrap space.  And I love how much stuff it holds (yes it is still a mess) but the lighting was horrible.  i have tried many lights and even the OTT-lite didn't work for me like I thought it would - so much so that mid page Alyson and I left to go to Home Depot and find something else -- and I did find something and it makes it SOOO much better and I can scrap taking my time (I realized I would rush because the light bugged me).  Anyway --- just a little f.y.i.

On Friday I cam home to this kit:

Penny Arcade

you can get it here. And I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful this kit is in person - just gorgeous!  Truly -- and the best part -- the kit is PACKED! 

So of course I had to dig into it.  Here is a page I created with it.

 

 

The paper is just beautiful --- oh and I have a new obsession -- Grunge paper --- that is what this layout was put on -- it feels like suede --- I love it!  You can even see that I stamped around the vintage paper. yum....

And a couple close-ups.

just yummy stuff!  I am loving all of the greys in this kit - with the teals and yellows.

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And in other crafty news -- I got a happy mail on Friday.  I was asked to join the Shimmerz Design Team!!  They have some beautiful bling that I can't wait to use on my layouts!  I will be sure to show you all!  Right now I am impatiently waiting for my goodies to arrive.

Thanks again Stacey and Jeni!

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And here is my last challenge over at Treasured Scrapbooking (my term is ending - I am sad to leave but will definitely still be on the boards).  It is an ad challenge.  I had a great ad picked out -- but with the move I have yet to bring my huge scanner in -- so I found something on the internet (I love the internet).  It is from the Justice catalog (a young girls store).  So first the ad...

I did a digital take on this --- all of the "materials" were from free kits that I found this week.

If you want to participate -- click here --- I will be giving out a RAK to one lucky participant.

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and of course just some fun pictures that I have been editing lately.

These are from yesterday -- don't ya love the outfit?  And those shoes were what we compromised on -- she always wants to wear flip flops or princess shoes -- and of course I said no -- so these were "ok" with me!

And she dressed herself because I told her she couldn't wear her Tinkerbell outfit that she had on - LOL!

(These were all shot in manual mode)

*No I didn't leave her struggling - she actually wanted to play with the swing instead of sitting on it. (in case you were wondering).

Since the park is connected to a school - the after school daycare often plays there -- this jump rope has been there 2 times this week.  Here she is jumping -- she is pretty good!  I was showing her how to do it without stopping -- she thought I was so cool (little did she know that I probably looked like afool) hahaha!

This one is a little blurry - but I like it.  Love the way she has her hands to keep her balance --and those red shoes - hahaha!

And here she is on her "horse" she is wrangling it as you can see. 

And soon after that we went home -- it was such a nice evening -- I love having the park so close!

And I took this one right after I set up her painting things. (she is very crafty like her momma).  As you can tell she has on yet another outfit - in this case it is her ballet outfit and on top of that is her art smock.

I originally wanted to get a picture of her with her smock - but this is what she gave me -- I did get others but they are not very good.  She is such a ham -- don't know where she gets it from!

Well I think I have posted quite enough for today - hehe!  I am off to cook some dinner and then scrap some more -- woohhooo - have a happy Monday!