Writing to you from the top of the Space Needle

.... okay, not really. I had this scheduled.

Joy and I had the blog this week and issued a School Supply challenge. You can see the details on this challenge here. You have until Saturday to create something so I hope you will play along! If you check out the blog today, you'll see the card I made.

I also have the blog today at Pink Paislee. I always post on the 4th, and this time, the theme was journaling, which was perfect for all those back to school anxieties I have. Check out my closeup:














You can see the rest of my layout at the blog. You'll notice I used some Karen Foster floss that apparently is all the rage at Studio Calico this month.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! If you have time and are looking for another challenge, there's always Project 12! (wink, wink).

Davinie

Cardalicious is back! and a little Pink Paislee

We're back! Janelle was on hiatus but now we are back with a new challenge at the Cardalicious card challenge blog. You simply must check it out!

This is my card for the challenge this round. Lots of fun new Pink Paislee here:

Supplies:
Bazzill textured cardstock
Pink Paislee Cupid Love Potion
Pink Paislee Mistletoe North Pole
Pink Paislee Expressions Berry Blue
Pink Paislee Expressions Whimsies Chocolate
Making Memories ledger labels
Sassafras In Stitch Blossoms
Twine: Studio Calico

Finished size: 4.5" x 5.5"

I also have a little peek to share with you:

Today is Tasty Tuesday and my day to post on the Pink Paislee blog. Head over here to see the rest of this layout and the Pink Paislee Cupid line!

Have a great day! Davinie

My Project 12 and some Pink Paislee

We've gone and lost our minds at this house. We have.
A couple of weeks ago we were doing our family jog, a 3 mile loop we run when Steve is home. He pushes the girls in the double stroller, and I let the dog pull me, lol.
We were running along and passed by a house for sale with a Garage Sale sign in the yard. Out front was a riding lawn mower. We've been looking to get another one because our current mower is having some issues. It also didn't have a bagger and I was tired of the cut grass in the yard.
We stopped. Steve took a look. We jogged home..
And then Steve got in his truck, drove back over there with some cash, and bought the darn thing.
While he was there he claimed something else. Something for "free".
On Mother's Day he got the call. They were ready and needed picking up.
Meet Oliver. And Coco.


I'll let you know these little sweeties are lucky cats, they really are. Morgan insisted the entire first day that her orange cat be called "Sleeping Beauty". Payton then settled on "Belle" for her cat. But then I reminded Morgan that the orange cat was actually a boy. Maybe we could call him "Prince"? My sister recommended "Simba" from the Lion King? But no. This cat was not a lion. So I wracked and wracked my brain for some sort of cartoon with a male character that she might like so that I wouldn't be forever calling "Here Sleeping Beauty, come here Sleeping Beauty" to this poor boy. I then remembered a cartoon from years and years ago about an orange cat named Oliver. Lucky me. She changed it.
And then we encouraged Payton to change her kitty's name, because to allow her to keep a princess name and not Morgan would have been a headache I can do without. Her kitty is a little girl, and on her own she decided that Coco would be a cute name. I love it!
So Oliver and Coco it is.
Young?
YES. I freaked out a little when we went to pick them up. I hadn't seen them at all, but the guy said they were ready to go. This wasn't the first litter he'd had either, so I assumed it wasn't random and that he knew what he was talking about. But these kittens are babies, BABIES. And what did I do? Steve was on shift and I had surprised the kids with them, so I just loaded the car and took them home. lol
I'm pretty sure they are 6 weeks.
We've already been in touch with a vet, and they are doing just fine. We keep them in a big dog crate in our mud room at night. A litter box and food bowl fits inside so they are happy as little clams. I need to do that to keep track of them, and to help Cooper get used to them without worrying.
Anyway...
I just realized what a whackadoodle farm we have here. I told Steve we now had to get 4 things, but then I realized... we have
1 dog
2 cats
3 chicks
4 crazy Fiero's and
5 cows
Can you say layout? lol

Suffice it to say... enough is enough!

I am excited to share the super swank chicken coop Steve has built. He just needs to finish a bit of siding.

Anyway, that is the craziness at my house. Chicks, kittens, and two very emotional girls. Oh, and Spring. And POLLEN. So they are a bit cranky too. I don't suffer from allergies, but it's hurting the rest of the fam.

So that's that on that.

I did want to share a couple of projects. First is my layout for my May 4 blog post at the Pink Paislee blog:




I also made this layout about one of Morgan's color days at school:


I had a lot of fun with stitching on that one. And little bits of paper. It was fun to use some scraps.

Lastly I wanted to share my April layout with you, for my Project 12 challenge:



I used leftover bits from my Garment District kit from Studio Calico. The only thing I added were the journaling spots from Elle's Studio.

Do you like those fun journaling spots?

If so, head on over to the Studio Calico blog. The sneak night giveaway just happens to include these same journaling spots!

Have a great day! :)

Now tell me.... Adam, Danny, or Kris?

Blog hop winners and some Pink Paislee

Good morning! The blog hop winners have finally been announced. We wanted to wait until all 15 had been chosen before making an announcement, and the post has been made. You can check it out here. Thank you so much to all who played along, especially Valechula, the winner on this blog! It was great to read all of those comments. Just so you know, I decided to leave the frame as is. Sometimes you just have to go with your first impression, you know? Should I make another, I probably would go with a kraft background to make my bunnies stand out more though.

As it's a Pink Paislee post, I thought I'd share my projects for this month.

First, for my blog post I had Saturday which is the Saturday sketch. You can check out that post here. I chose a sketch from the March sketches at Pagemaps, and this is what I came up with:





Supplies:
Pink Paislee Vintage Moon Full Moon for the background
Pink Paislee Tinsel Town 34th Street (stripe)
Pink Paislee Enchanting Pleasant (pink) and Delightful (butterflies)
Pink Paislee Enchanting sticker book
Pink Paislee Enchanting fabric flower
Fiskars Apron Lace and Scalloped Sentiment punch
Century Gothic font

I used the Enchanting line from the Winsome Collection, and I was also able to mix in some Tinsel Town and some Vintage Moon for my background. As I said in that blog post, I think I've changed my mind about my favorite product. The sticker books are definitely a must have, but I think the one thing I go to allll the time would have to be the Full Moon paper from the Vintage Moon Collection. I could use that on every layout.

For the next layout, I went back through and dug out some more Disneyland photos.
On our first day at Disney, I scheduled a dinner at Ariel's Grotto so my kids could meet the princesses. I figured they would LOVE that. However, I was a bit wrong. As soon as the princesses came out, both kids went under the table, lol.
Now, truth be told, it had already been a long day, with a 6am flight, a long bus ride, some rainy weather... so the kids were a bit overwhelmed. But characters were something that was difficult for them to appreciate.
That said, surprisingly because this is the movie they are least familiar with, when Belle came out in these beautiful and quite voluminous yellow skirts, Payton stood up and wanted to say hello. I often wonder if kids relate best to the princess that looks most like them. Payton was very interested in saying hello to Belle, whereas Morgans was all over getting a Sleeping Beauty dress at the gift shop.



Since I first got my hands on one, I have been very obsessed with my Fiskars border punches. This one uses the Scalloped sentiment punch. LOVE it. I have also become obsessed with the strip of paper left behind when you trim a border with your punches, so I used them on this layout as well.

Supplies:
Pink Paislee Fascinating Bewitching paper (background)
Pink Paislee Captivating Lovely paper (blue floral)
Pink Paislee Captivating Tender paper (blue)
Pink Paislee Captivating sticker book
Pink Paislee Captivating chipboard (brown)
Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Offray ribbon
Century Gothic font

Have a great day! I'll be back later this week with my layout for the March Project 12 challenge. You still have a lot of time to play along.

Davinie

Pink Paislee blog hop!

Hooray! It's the beginning of a weekend of blog hopping. All of the DT have done projects and ideas for decorations and cards to send for Easter. We had a lot of fun with our last blog hop, so we are ready to do it again with the new team.

First I wanted to share my contribution to my Easter decor this year. I found this idea in a fabric craft book:




Three little bunnies, hanging on the line.
I like it but there's something not quite right.... should I have done the background in kraft? Pink? I'm going to have to stare at it for a while and decide. :) I actually think I need to change the frame color. I bought it at Goodwill and it was an almost navy blue. I then painted it green, but the green looked too dark, so then I washed it Manilla, but now I'm thinking the frame needs to be pink.

Yes, this is how I roll, lol. Sometimes I need to mess with things, take a step back, and set a project aside before I finally finish something.

Along with our Easter projects, all of us are answering a questionnaire so you can get to know us better too. Check out my fascinating answers, lol.


1.) Where did you grow up? Do you still live there?

I was born in Homer, Alaska. I have lived in Hawaii, and now live in Oregon where my Mom grew up. I have lived in Central Oregon for 15 years, and have bought an ugly home to renovate, so we don't have any plans to leave any time soon. :)

2.) What is a typical day like for you?

I work part-time from home in the health insurance industry, so much of my day is spent trying to get work done while chasing my 3 and 5 year old around the house. All I need to work is my computer and the internet, so I am in front of this screen all the time. Morgan goes to school Wed-Friday mornings, so Payton and I are busy bussing her back and forth. My husband is a fireman and works 24/48 shifts, so he is gone every 3rd day for 24 hours, which means I am home scrapping and chasing off the boogeyman by myself.

2.) What is your favorite fashion accessory? Why?

Okay, I am so low maintenance the fashion police would probably cart me off if they ever found me, so this is a tough question for me, lol. I do have two holes pierced in each year and wear diamond studs and hoops most of the time. Does that count? Is that fashionable? Good grief. Oh, and in an effort to better take care of myself, I have been getting routine cut and color. And this is a big deal. So I'm going to consider my partial weave as an accessory.... and a great way to cover up the grey starting to come in. lol
Oh, one thing I do like is my Vera Bradley purse. I'm a fan of her designs and the homespun look. I also like that I can wash it, lol. I'm too hard on my purses to be a leather/coach/dooney girl.

3.) What is playing on your ipod right now?

I don't have one! Aren't I horrible and very very far behind the times!? I never leave my house. What do I need an Ipod for? And I got a new phone with a lot of room for music, so I don't think I'll be getting one any time soon. I've been listening to Tayler Swift and Maroon 5 a lot, though.

4.) Name one television show that you MUST TIVO each week?

I routinely watch the Amazing Race, Survivor, and Grey's Anatomy. There are a couple of other shows out there that I like to tune in to, but these three are programs I don't want to miss.

5.) What is your favorite movie of all time?

Oh dear.... this is a tough one. If we go by the movies I have memorized and can tell you line by line by heart, it would have to be Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from my childhood, and Dirty Dancing from my teen years. As an adult I guess it would be Pride and Prejudice? The modern version. I have yet to see the A&E version although I have heard many times that it's better. I'm just not sure that Colin Firth as Mr Darcy will do for me what that guy on the Keira Knightly version does. Those eyes get me every time.

6.) What is your favorite Pink Paislee product?

I am currently having a love affair with the sticker books. There is so much to work with in these books, and so many ways to use it.

7.) If you could only keep 1 scrapbooking tool what would it be?

A tool? I guess I can't do without thread. Because if I have thread, than I either have a needle, or a sewing machine, and either is a MUST in every project that I do.

8.) If you didn't scrapbook what other activity would you spend time on?

I have already combined two loves, so I'd say if I couldn't scrapbook, my kids would only wear clothes with "made with love by mama" tags in the back, because I'd probably sew. a lot.

9.) What advice would you give to someone who wants to start scrapbooking?

Don't worry a lick about design. Just choose photos that you love, and product that you love, and put the two together. If the end result is something you adore and are proud to show your family, there is nothing else that matters.

10.) What would you say your scrapbook style is today?

Hmm. I guess my style is clean and a bit homespun. As I said, I love to sew on everything, because of the texture it gives to my projects. That said, I also like to try different things, so I don't know that I could be pegged to a particular style.

And now the fun part!

To play along with the hop, simply leave a comment on my blog! You will be entered to win this:


You will have a chance to win this 15 times. Simply leave a comment at each of the DT blogs under their blog hop post. You can find links to the girls on my sidebar.

Good luck! Please post by Monday morning on this blog. We'll be drawing names and you should hear by Monday night if you are a winner. Be sure to check back, as I'll have more Easter projects and ideas over the weekend.

Have a great day! Davinie