Me and Mine

Sneak Peeks...

2012-01-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

I have a few fun sneak peeks for you! I'm in love with the February Citrus Tree Studio kit that I'm working with because it's right up my alley, especially for boy layouts. The kit features KaiserCraft's Hunt & Gather line and is perfect for all of Gabe's fishing pictures from 2011.

Don't ya just love these peeks?

The full reveal will happen on February 5th so hop on over to Citrus Tree Studio to check out both kits!

Kit projects

2012-01-05T20:10:00.000-08:00

I feel like such a slacker for not posting since Halloween...really, have I been that busy? The answer is yes. Although I really enjoyed spending time with family over the holidays, I just don't feel like I took much time to slow down and enjoy the everyday moments. Oh well, maybe next year. LOL

Thank goodness for Citrus Tree Studio and Cindy's ability to inpsire me with her kits. I created some fun projects in December with the "Blue Hills Meadow" kit and now in January with the "Forever Mine, Valentine" kit. You can find both of these kits here.

First, I'll show you my December projects as I really enjoyed the layouts I created with the kit. Early in December we took a family trip to cut Christmas trees. We spent the day hiking around the woods and roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over an open fire. It's fun to see what everyones definition of the perfect smore is! Such a special day with my parents, both older boys, and my brother's family.

This next project is actually a picture of Gabe taken over the 4th of July weekend. The paper, even though winter paper, is perfect for this photo in my opinion. I just love it.

Another layout using photos from last years snow fall. This year has been so dry that I had to scrounge up snow photos..he-he.

Finally, a few cards using this beautiful kit:

So are you ready to see the bright and fun Citrus Tree Studio January kit? Holy moly, you know how I feel about the color pink...well this kit is packed full of it and I had a blast! The "Forever Mine, Valentine" kit features My Mind's Eye "Love Me" patterned papers and a ton of fun embellishments including a paper mache puffy heart!

Here are my projects using this kit so far and thank goodness for our cutie patooties, Ruby and Henry, because they are such great subjects to photgraph!

So here is the puffy heart I was talking about. I decopauged the patterned paper over it, added some paint, stamps, rub-on's and voila...it turned out sooooo cute!

My final project is the product spotlight photo display for sale at CTS. It has so much possibilities and each of the designers has altered it with their own unique talents. I painted mine with white paint and then stamped and stenciled over the top of it before sealing it with Diamond Glaze. Turned out fun.

Happy New Year to you all. I don't make resolutions (because I always break them) but I will try to update my blog more often. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from our little Jawa...

A month full of birthdays and fall fun...

2011-10-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

I think October is probably one of the busiest months of the year for us. Not only do we have 3 birthdays but we also have to cram in the last of the season canning, garden clean-up, and all of the fall festivities we can manage. I love October. I love single thing about it. Gabe is at such a fun age right now because he looks forward to our traditions as much as I do.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the month so far. The first is a picture of my brother waiting to give Karisa flowers for homecoming. She was voted Homecoming princess for her Freshman class.

Karisa and her mom.

Look at this amazing picture. Henry was feeding Ruby ice cream at Gabe's birthday party. Aww, twin love.

Our big 8 year old with his ice cream cake. His special request this year.

This picture of Gabe was taken at Drapers in the apple orchard with my cell phone camera. Can you believe I forgot my memory card in my big camera? Man, I can be such a blonde sometimes. Thank goodness they turned out pretty well.

Yesterday we went to the Pumpkin Patch in Terrebonne. The theme of the corn maize was Star Wars this year which is right up Gabe's alley. His cousin Karl got him hooked on Star Wars and the maize was awesome. You go through the space ship to get to the maize entrance.

Umm, Dave may be a good navigator in the woods but he doesn't follow maps well. Ha-ha.

Look who we found in the maize!!

Dave was pretty happy that Gabe made it to the top of the climbing wall to pose with the Oregon Ducks flag. Poor little Gabe is a Beavers fan and wasn't too happy that he had to climb the Ducks side of the wall!

Shooting the pumpking cannon...

Finding the perfect pumpkin and no wheel barrows to be found anywhere...

Thanks for letting me share and I hope you are enjoying fall as much as I am!!

Hayrides and Halloween Kit

2011-10-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

The October Citrus Tree Studio kit is up! "Hayrides and Halloween" features American Crafts Nightfall collection and is packed full of fall goodness! Here are my reveal projects with the kit:

Check out this fun little mini album. It is included in the kit!!

...and one final layout, for now.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to pick up one of these kits today. It's perfect for all of the fall and Halloween photos you'll take this season! You can find the full kit contents here.

Redwood State Park

2011-10-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

As part of our trip "down shore" (as my Philly friend called it), we also hiked through Jedediah Smith National Park to see the redwoods. Wow, those trees sure know how to make a person feel small and insignificant. Here are some of my favorite photos from our hike:

I loved that you could just drive through those massive trees. Many of the pull-outs had hiking trails leading off of them which we explored of course. So, so cool.

Check out this double mushroom...only one stem!!

And finally...my mantra for the weekend.

Find your path...

I had a great weekend, thanks Kathy for helping me find my path!

Hello Ocean...I've missed you!

2011-10-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a few months but I'm back at the beach with my friend Kathy. This time we are at the lower Oregon coast though spending time exploring the coastline between Bandon and Brookings. Tomorrow we plan to dip down into California to check out the Redwoods. I've never been there so I'm sure it's going to be amazing!

Just a picture of some of the rocks below the condo we are staying in. We hiked down the hill and explored the beach caves and tide pools. Such a great morning!

This was the coolest sea cave. It actually goes all the way through but it made for a fantastic shot of Kathy way off in the background playing in the tide pools, cool huh?!

Did I mention how much I love pelicans? Look at these cuties that I captured by the Coquille River lighthouse. They were just hanging out on the rocks!

The Coquille River Light house. A small but very beautiful light house!

The Natural Bridge. You can actually hike across it but who would actually do something that stupid? Me. If I had better shoes on. Ha-ha.

Sneak Peek

2011-09-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for a little sneak peek of the October kit from Citrus Tree Studio? If you love fall and Halloween...you're gonna love this one!

The kit features American Crafts "Nightfall" patterned papers and it has some really fun add-on products!

Projects for The Scrapbook Manor

2011-09-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

I have recently started doing some design work for Karen at The Scrapbook Manor and Shoppe in Walworth, WI. She was kind enough to send me the entire Blissful and Glowing collections to work with. Can you say...amazing?! Both of these lines are gorgeous and so much fun to create with!

Here is my first layout using the Blissful Collection. It's a picture of our cutie nephew Kyle in his little rubber boots. He loves his boots!

The next three projects are created using the Glowing collection...so fun for Halloween. Both of these lines have mini alphas and coordinating die cut elements perfect for creating entire layouts in a snap!

If you get a chance, please check out Karen's website and she's on Facebook too!

More GCD Studios projects

2011-09-15T21:18:00.001-07:00

Now that Heidi has shared my projects on the GCD Studios blog, I feel comfortable posting them here as well. This first project is a frame that I created using a simple wooden frame from Michaels. I painted the entire frame with chalkboard paint and then layered the patterned paper and embellishments over the top. I love how it turned out and eventally plan to let Gabe write on it with chalk. I just couldn't do it before I took the picture though...ha-ha.

Here is a close-up of the embellishments I used. I covered plain chipboard elements with the GCD Studios paper from the kit and added some twine and a banner title, fun huh?!

Another fun card...

and two layouts...

Thanks again GCD Studios for letting me design with your wonderful September kit!!

Guest Designer at GCD Studios

2011-09-14T05:59:00.001-07:00

I am very excited to share with you my first projects using the September Kit of the Month over at GCD Studios! I feel honored to be chosen as one of their Guest Designers!!

I'll share more of my projects as they are posted on their blog. Thanks for stopping by!!

Just some fun new layouts...

2011-09-09T19:40:00.001-07:00

Back in August I went on an amazing weekend trip to The Scrapbook Manor with a group of my friends from CTS. As you can see, we actually got some scrapping done!

Karen at the Manor had several of the new Authentique paper lines in her store and I fell in love with all of it! Wow, it's gorgeous stuff...

Soon I will be able to share with you my September projects for GCD Studios. I was chosen as a guest designer and I'm soooo excited!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Sneak peek and a few of my favorite projects...

2011-08-29T21:40:00.001-07:00

Are you ready for a little sneak peek of the September Citrus Tree Studio kit?? It's a beauty... filled with Grant Studio's and MME patterned papers.

The following two layouts are from the Citrus Tree Studio August kit. It's called "Picnic in the Park" and believe it or not, it's still available.

And last but not least...

Two of my favorite layouts. Ever. The bright, bold colors of the "Summertime Fun" kit were perfect for all of the crazy pictures Gabe and I have been taking lately. You know the ones with us eating watermelon and silly pictures of our chickens...grazing, yes grazing in our yard. Really?!

Thanks for stopping by!!

I blinked and it's August!

2011-08-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

How could it possibly be August already? I'm feeling guilty for severely neglecting my blog but as you can see in the photos that follow...I haven't been neglecting my family. Work has been crazy for me but we still managed to squeeze in a vacation and several weekend get-aways. Here's a recap starting with a beach trip in June:

June also brought a dance recital for Tanner. Tanner started in dance last fall when the dance studio offered scholarships to the high-school football players. The players increased their strength and agility through ballet. Yes. My 6'1" boy took ballet, slippers and all.

He did amazing. I was so proud.

We also added some new additions to our family. 6 to be exact. Yes, our crazy life continues with free ranging chickens.

Golf lessons for the 3rd year in a row. Gabe figured it out in a big way this year. He may not be the next Tiger Woods but he's sure trying!

This picture is of Gabe climbing into an airplane during the Young Eagle Flyers program at the airport. This was Gabe's very first flight and he had a wonderful time with his pilot, Mr. Berg. He even got to talk on the radio!

4th of July. Instead of riding on the hospital float this year Gabe walked along side it with me and helped hand out flags. He's such a great helper!

It can't be summer without a Slip 'N Slide. Well, two Slip 'N Slides to be exact. The first one only lasted one day before it popped. Probably the best $9 we've spent in a long time.

July brought a sad event for Dave's family. His step dad passed away and while it was hard, it did bring the family all together for several weekends of fun.

I did manage to squeeze in a weeks vacation and we took a day trip to Camp Wendi and Badger Lake in the Mt. Hood wilderness area. The wild flowers were amazing and as you can see Gabe caught himself a little trout. He was not happy about releasing it but he finally let it swim away.

More fun with family hanging out at Uncle Dan and Aunt Nancys. This is a picture of Dave, his mom, and sister Maria.

Last but certainly not least, is the county fair. We managed to go every day but one and also managed to drop a fair amount of cash in the process. Gabe had fun riding the rides though.

The next two pictures are of my son Tanner and his wild horse race team. The fair rodeo was the first time I've actually seen him compete and let me tell you, it was not easy to watch. The guys have to stop the wild horse, put a saddle on it, and then one of them has to ride it down to the other end of the arena around a barrel. This is pure stupidity from a mother's point of view. Yes, this is the same kid who ballet danced in a recital two months ago.

As you can see, they didn't win. Theron got bucked off and thank goodness he didn't get hurt.

Thanks for letting me overload you with photos. Hopefully, now I can keep up a little better with my blogging!!

Fruity Cutie Colors Kit from Citrus Tree Studio

2011-06-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

It's June 5th...you know what that means?? Two new kits have been revealed at Citrus Tree Studio. The first, Jardin Brilliante features the GCD Studios Soul Food Line. Oh my gosh, it's adorable!

The second kit is the one I worked with. Its called Fruity Cutie Colors and features a Bazzill Basics Grandma's Feather Bed 8X8 paper pack and the coolest Hemp twine in spring colors. Love that stuff!
You can find this kit here:

Here are my projects for the month. I have one more layout to reveal but I'm holding it back for challenge day on June 10th. If you love scrapbooking challenges, you should stop by on the 10th to see what the new Design Team has in store for you!

A few cards:

And finally, this is the product spotlight for the summer term. It's Kaiser Crafts Beyond the Page Layout Stand, which is also available for purchase at Citrus Tree. I used paper from my kit, paint, modeling paste and Mod Podge to alter it. Lots of fun stamping and stenciling techniques on this one!

A close up of the stenciling with paint and modeling paste:

Thanks for stopping by!

"Kitschy Kitchen" Kit from Citrus Tree Studio

2011-05-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the new kit from Citrus Tree Studio yet? It's super cute! Kitschy Kitchen features the Nan's Favourites line from Kaiser Craft and is adorable for cooking/baking photos! Here are my projects for the month using the kit:

This layout is of Gabe and Sydney from last Easter. So fun!

Gabe and his gingerbread snowman from the last holiday season. I think I'm finally starting to get caught up on scrapping some of my older photos!

Don't ya just love this little goodie box? It's included in the kit...now I need to bake something to go in it! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Spring!!

2011-04-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

"Hello Spring!!" is name of the April kit from Citrus Tree Studio. Can you say adorable?! Even with lot's of pink (and you all know how much I love pink- he-he.), I was able to make some super fun projects this month and pretty much used up every scrap of paper from the kit! The kit features the 3 Bugs "Chloe" line. Here are my projects for the month: The first is little Ruby with her grandma. This photo was taken last summer and is one of my favorites!

Ruby's cutie-patootie twin brother, Henry...

A few cards...

And a sweet layout of Joan from her 80th birthday party in January...

Finally, the kit has two of these little favor boxes in it. They were super fun to alter!!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my projects. The kit is located here if you want to see a full list of all that's in it and it's a "must have" in my opinion!

Are you ready to crop??

2011-04-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Please join us for Citrus Tree Studio's Spring Fling Crop beginning tomorrow evening! It's going to be loads of fun and Cindy is giving away some amazing prizes...

Treasures and Trinkets

2011-03-06T19:34:00.000-08:00

"Treasures and Trinkets" is the name of the amazing kit from Citrus Tree Studio for March. The soft, natural tones of the Scribble Scrabble Nana's Trunk patterned paper really inspired me create some fun projects with the kit. I think this first one is my favorite because of the stitching and the large butterfly rub-on.

I bought this little wooden flower pot at Michael's for $1. I based coated the entire thing with a cream colored paint and then altered it with the contents of the kit. The flower pot itself has a light misting of the add-on Metallic Patina Maya Mist (also available at CTS). I just used a stiff brush to smooth out the texture of the little pot. Cute huh?

Here are the last two layouts I created with the kit. I think this kit is one of my all time favorites!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tokens of Love Kit by Citrus Tree Studio

2011-02-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was reveal day at Citrus Tree Studio. Cindy is offering two kits for the month of February and I created with the Tokens of Love kit featuring the SEI "With all My Heart Line". Trust me, this kit will not disappoint...here are my projects:

This sweet little wooden door hanger is included in the kit. I painted it white, covered it with crackle glaze and then inked over the top to accent the cracks. The "Heart Pocket Treat Hanger Template" is from the Jan./Feb. 2011 issue of PaperCrafts Magazine.

One final layout of Gabe and his girlfriend Julie. He's been in love with her since he turned 3 and vows to marry her someday. She's a lucky gal...lol.

If you get a chance, check out both kits at Citrus Tree Studio...you can find them here. Thanks for stopping by!

Sneak Peeks

2011-01-30T07:54:00.000-08:00

Are you ready for a little sneak peek of one of the Citrus Tree Studio kits for February? Here is my little peek of the "Tokens of Love" kit featuring S.E.I.'s "With All My Heart" patterned paper:

Perfect for Valentine's pictures and projects, right?? Yumm-o!

Cinderella Ball

2011-01-30T07:47:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was Tanner's Cinderella Ball. He wasn't planning to go but was chosen for the court so he quickly found a date (not Ryan, ha-ha) and got himself all dressed up. Here's a few pictures of Tanner and Ryan before they left for dinner.

Tanner and that darn hair. I know...It's only hair, right?

80th Birthday Party

2011-01-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

Happy, Happy 80th birthday to a very amazing woman!

We celebrated Dave's moms birthday on the 15th with a very nice party held in The Dalles. 5 of her 7 children were there along with their families and many of her friends. The food was wonderful and the cake was very tasty. Here's a picture of the birthday girl herself in the tiara Janis made for her:

This is a picture of Gabe in his tie. His cousin Karl had a tie at Thanksgiving and Gabe really wanted to wear one to his grandma's party. Believe it or not, we made a special trip into town to find that boy a tie-- and I must say he looks pretty darn handsome!

This is Dan and his whole family; Nancy, Sonny, Henry Paul and Ruby June.

Just us...

Dave's sister Dianne, her daughter Hali, and granddaughter Piper.

Dave's brother Jim and his family; Alex, Karl, and cutie Kyle.

and finally, this is Steve and his family; Janis, Dawn, Charlie, James, and all of the grandkids.

Don't you just love this picture of Joan and Bill? I do. Trust me...Bill just barely tolerates me and my camera. Ha-Ha.

This next picture is one of my favorites from the day. Gabe, Karl, and Zach. They had the best time playing together that day. So, so cute.

Happy Birthday Joan!

Flea Market Finds

2011-01-13T20:37:00.000-08:00

The name of the January Citrus Tree Studio Kit is called Flea Market Finds. It features the Crate Paper Restoration line as well as some pretty amazing embellishments from Crate Paper, Pink Paislee, and Maya Arts. This kit is packed full of gorgeous paper and you also get 30+ corrugated chipboard pieces! Wooohooo!

Here are my Design Team Projects for the month. The first is just a sweet little layout of Gabe and his cousins from last summer. I know you've seen these pics many times on my blog but I must say that they are timeless.

The next project is the little wooden perpetual calendar that Cindy has for sale as the product spotlight. This calendar is fabulous and would make such a great gift...unfortunately, I'm not sure I'm going to part with mine! Ha-Ha.

For some reason I seem to be addicted to making these little flowers lately. They are so easy and have such a beautiful dimension to them. Don't you agree?

Finally two more layouts. The first is of my mom and aunt taken during our annual trip to Hood River last fall. I just knew the embellishments from this kit would be perfect!

Another picture of Gabe from Draper's Orchards. I'm pretty sure I've used this picture before but it's another one that I think is wonderful.

Thanks for checking out my projects for the month. If you get a chance stop on by Citrus Tree Studio as the new challengs for the month have been posted!

Citrus Tree Studio Crop

2011-01-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

For those of you who scrapbook, it's not too late to stop over at Citrus Tree Studio for the New Year's Crop hosted by the guest designers. I've managed to complete 4 of the 7 challenges and came up with some pretty fun projects. The first layout was created for Kelly's "Year of the Rabbit" Challenge using mostly green with a touch of bling:

I made this for Cindy's template challenge. Gabe made one for his dad with pictures on it and it turned out pretty stinkin' cute...

What, a 2-pager?? Yep, I actually made a 2-pager for Angie's "Year in Review" challenge. I L.O.V.E. it!

and finally...a layout about Frosty's visit again this year. The photo is a little dark but I love how the misted background turned out using embossed cardstock.

Happy New Year and thanks for stopping by!

Wilson Family Christmas Pictures

2010-12-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

We celebrated on Christmas Day with our family in Dufur at Dan and Nancy's house. Nancy was a wonderful hostess and made sure everyone was comfortable and happy. I love taking pictures of the kiddos but I'm sure they were ready for me to go home and take my flashing camera with me!

This picture is of Maria and Emilio. Hali, Piper, Maria, Kris, and Emilio came up from New Mexico to celebrate Christmas with us. It was wonderful to see them and see how big Piper and Emilio have grown in the past year.

This is my buddy Henry. I can get him to smile but his sister is a different story...I don't think Ruby likes me or my camera! lol

Don't ya just love this picture?? Ruby sure loves her grandma!

Dixie Lou and her grandbaby...such a sweet picture of the two of them!

We even had a visit from a super hero...Sonny aka "Robin". I heard that he may have even transformed into Buzz Lightyear at one point during the night as well.

The big boys by the bonfire. Karl has an injured eye and looks pretty cool with his pirate patch!

Cutie Kyle and his rock star guitar. He is the sweetest little boy (in my opinion...Alex. ha-ha)!

You should have seen how much work it was to get all of these kids in the same place at the same time. I think I took about 20 pictures and this one was the closest I had to all of them looking in the same direction. Aren't they wonderful...a whole new crop of Wilsons!

Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you!!

Christmas Pictures

2010-12-26T18:03:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Gabe decided that he wanted to have 5 Christmas celebrations this year and we pretty much will-- Christmas Eve at Grandma's, at home with just us, at uncle Dan and aunt Nancy's house with our Wilson family, and finally a small little celebration with Jaron and Megan when they get home from Texas. Whew, 3 down and 1 to go!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas at home.

Tanner and his new laptop. He was pretty darn excited!

Ahem, Gabe and his new 410. Against my better judgement but a gift from his daddy....

Gabe and grandma cracking crab for Christmas Eve dinner. It's an old family recipe and our Christmas tradition. yummy!

The kiddo's playing at grandma's house.

Just a fun picture of Tanner and I. This happens so rarely anymore and I sneak a picture whenever I can.

Thanks for stopping by!

Vacation

2010-12-24T06:46:00.000-08:00

It sure has been nice to be on vacation for a week. It's allowed me to get caught up on all of the traditions of the holidays as well as spend some quality time with Gabe. We've been sledding, baking, building snowmen, and shopping until we drop. lol

It's not Christmas time without baking gingerbread cookies. As usual I ask myself why I keep doing this every year but I always come up with the same answer... it's not Christmas without them. Here are a few pictures of my little helper...

Hmm, look what happens when I turn around...It's a gingerbread snowman!! lol

Gabe even helped decorate...

Just some fun pictures of our snow adventures. My favorite part was building the snowman with Gabe!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Special Visitor

2010-12-24T06:35:00.000-08:00

It isn't Christmas time without a visit from our very special friend, Frosty the Snowman. Frosty visited Gabe on December 19th and brought him another wonderful book this year.

This year grandma and grandpa were visiting when Frosty showed up. It was their first experience seeing Frosty and I think they were just as excited as Gabe!!

Snow Day...

2010-12-05T16:24:00.001-08:00

It's amazing how much fun you can have with 3 inches of snow on the ground! We pulled out the sled and the 4-wheelers and played until we were half frozen...

Yes, I got on the sled too. I'm thinking I'm going to feel it tomorrow! lol

Snowball fight! Just kidding. Dave really didn't throw it but it made for a funny picture...

Mmm, there's nothing better than a fire in the fire pit and a nice cup of cocoa to get you all warmed up. Happy Sunday!

Citrus Tree Studio December Kit Reveal

2010-12-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

Today is the day...the reveal of both Citrus Tree Studio kits for December. I created with the Christmas Potpourri kit and loved each and every one of my projects! I must say that the Girl's Paperie Tinsel & Twig line has to be one of my most favorite Christmas lines. Ever.

Here is what I created this month:

I actually pulled out my stained glass supplies and created some ornaments with the scraps left over from my kit. It really felt good to solder again and I definitely need to work on my technique! LOL

No solder on this one but I did use decopauge to make it shiney...

And finally...a little mini using the add-on Maya road tag album and Eucalyptus Spritzer. I have yet to fill it with pictures but I'm working on it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sneak Peek

2010-11-29T19:36:00.000-08:00

Are you ready for a little sneaky peeky of the December "Christmas Potpourri" kit from Citrus Tree Studio? Cindy put together two more amazing kits this month...you're gonna love 'em!

Thanks for stopping by!

New Citrus Tree Studio projects

2010-11-07T06:47:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of designing with the Autumn's Treasure kit from Citrus Tree Studio this month. I loved working with the Kaiser Craft "Lush" collection as Kaiser Craft is one of my absolute favorite companies. Here are my projects for the month of November...

Don't ya just love fall?

Most Inspirational Player

2010-11-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

Tanner had football awards on Thursday night and along with lettering again he was awarded "Most Inspirational Player". He was voted for by his team mates so it made it extra special. I'm such a proud mom!

Thanks for stopping by!

Crop projects

2010-10-30T06:37:00.001-07:00

It's been a week since the crop ended at Citrus Tree Studio but I thought you might like to see some of the projects I created for the various challenges. Sorry about the picture quality of some of the layouts but I took the pictures at night and haven't had time to re-photgraph them....

I think I'm addicted to these little coaster layouts! Not only are they adorable but they are so quick and easy to make!

Thanks for stopping by!

Just some super cute Fall pictures...

2010-10-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took our annual trip to Hood River to pick apples and visit the Harvest Festival. Gabe's cousin Rachel met us there and they had a wonderful time hanging out together for the day. Just so you know...honey crisp apples are the best. ever.

...and the pumpkin patch last weekend:

Happy Fall y'all!

Football Season has started!

2010-09-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that my Tanner is a Senior and this will be our last year of sitting on cold, hard benches watching high school football for a while. The season started out awesome as the boys won their first game last night against the Hawks. Go White Buffs!

Paisley Heights

2010-09-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

I've sure been a slacker lately about updating my blog. I can't belive it's been whole month since I posted my August Citrus Tree Studio projects and now I have September ones to share! The September kit features KI Memories Paisley Parade line and it's so much fun and very versatile! I really enjoyed working with Pink this month but...shhhh, don't tell Cindy! lol

The first two layouts are of our twin neice and nephew, Ruby June and Henry Paul. This paper line worked awesome for baby layouts and I left the journaling blocks blank so their mom can fill them in.

Below is my last layout with the kit. I was able to accent my Splash for Pink rafting photo nicely with the pink papers! I used the paisley's from the kit as splashes and covered them with crackle glaze to give them texture.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sand Castles and Seashells

2010-08-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Sand Castles and Seashells is the name of the August kit from Citrus Tree Studio. This kit is so much fun and features the Rusted Sun collection by Fancy Pants. It was perfect for me to scrap our beach pictures from June...take a look:

Isn't it cute? It's available soon so stop on over at Citrus Tree Studio and check it, you'll love it.

July kit projects

2010-07-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

I just realized it's been a while since I've shared my Citrus Tree Studio kit projects. For the month of July I had the pleasure of working with the Palmetto Summer kit featuring the Pink Paislee Queen Bee line. At first I was really worried working with a 6X6 paper pad as my base patterned paper but I actually got 4 wonderful projects out of it with paper to spare.

This first project is for my July "alter it" challenge. I bought a plain little wooden birdhouse at Michael's for about 2 bucks and then added patterned paper, embellies, and a clock. I think it's one of my favorite projects to date.

Next is just a fun layout of me and Gabe's day together while Dave was away. I misted the background with green Smooch Spritz and brown Maya Mist.

Another little altered project, a canvas. This is the 8X8 Home Basics canvas for sale over at Citrus Tree as the product spotlight. I used gesso and Smooch Spritz as the base and then layered the paper and embellies over the top.

Finally, this is my last layout. I wanted to stretch myself and use the gorgeous patterned paper with a masculine subject...T-ball. It worked.

Thanks for stopping by!

Check this out...

2010-07-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

Our rafting pictures from last weekend are in! We rafted the Deschutes River for the "Splash for Pink" event as a fundraiser for breast cancer services. Believe it or not, I have lived near this river my whole life and have never rafted it before. I will be signing up again next year!

This is the Wapinitia rapids...class 3 (I think) and not so bad.

Next is Box Car. It's a class 4 and was pretty tough. We made it just fine but our raft was completely full of water towards the end. Yikes-- but what a rush!!

Finally, this is Oak Springs...another class 4. We were good until our guide, Tony, said..."now remember what I said if you fall out...hold your breath". What, are you fricken' kidding me?? lol, no problem...

TTFN!

Home from the beach...

2010-07-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

The beach. I love the beach. There is nothing more rejuvenating then spending time by the ocean and remembering that there is so much more to life than the everyday doldrums. We just got back from 3 days in Lincoln City and spent time checking out some of the sights up and down the coast near where we stayed. Not to mention Dave and I did a little gambling...lol.

These first pictures are of Gabe playing on the beach. Even in the freezing cold drizzle, Gabe could spend hours playing in the sand.

Seagulls. I love seagulls. I know they are probably considered the scourge to the coastal dwellers but I think they are cool.

Gabe playing in the tide pools. I kept telling him "be careful, the rocks are slippery and if you fall you'll get cut". Uh-huh, who falls? Me. Right on my rear end. Dropped my camera, cut my hand, and looked like an idiot. You know, one of those falls that you jump right up and look to see how many people witnessed your extreme gracefulness? Yep. Me. lol

This was the coolest purple starfish. I've seen them before in aquariums but not in nature. It was right up against one of the rocks we were exploring.

During our visit to Newport, we stopped and toured the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It was really cool and we climbed all 107 stairs to the top. I didn't count them mind you...Dave did and Gabe was convinced there was 1247. My thighs thought there was 1247 steps too. Geez, I'm out of shape.

This is the beautiful, killer staircase. At the top they give you a button that says "I survived the climb".

Ok, just a cool picture of the light bulbs that light the sucker up. No more whale oil, lard or kerosene.

Thats enough pictures for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Digging up the past...

2010-05-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

in Sumpter. We love everything about Sumpter from the huge flea market to the gold panning down by the old gold dredge. We had a great day and even found some gold.

This was the park ranger lady showing Gabe how to pan for gold. She was a tad bit grumpy but Gabe didn't notice.

Gently swirrling and dipping the pan down in the water allows the lighter stuff to float to the top and out of the pan. The gold is the heaviest and tends to stay near the bottom. The whole experience was fun and took me back to the days when we used to camp in Sumpter when I was little.

Dave and I joined in and we all brought home a little baggy of gold, Iron Pyrite, and garnets.

This is a picture of the old gold dredge. This was one of three that worked the valley and still sits where is was taken out of production in the 50's. Rella gave us the tour and she was the nice park ranger. lol

Thanks for stopping by!

When dad's away...

2010-05-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Mom and Gabe play. Today we went to the park, had a McDonald's picnic, shopped for Dave's birthday present, and planted part of the garden. Such a great day!

Citrus Tree Studio "Delightful Things" Kit

2010-05-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the May kits from Citrus Tree Studio yet? If not you've got to check them out. I played with the "Delightful Things" kit and fell in love with the birdhouses!

Here are the projects I created with the kit...

This final project uses the add-on Home Basics Canvas Page. I did a lot of stitching on this one and loved how it turned out. I think I'll pick up a few more for gifts...very quick and very easy!

Thanks for looking!

Mothers Day Weekend

2010-05-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been a weekend of projects and precious moments spent with family. Yesterday we went to Dufur and finished the deck on Dave's sisters house. The deck gives Bill and Joan an nice place to sit in the sunshine during the day.

This is a picture of Dixie and the boys planting strawberry plants for our Mothers Day gifts. Aww...

Gabe the climber...

Love this picture of Gabe and his "Dufur grandma". He loves her so much...

It's a Mothers Day tradition for us to prep the garden area for planting. Dave tried out a little Mantis tiller and it worked wonders in the boxes. The one we used was borrowed but now we must own one...

Just a fun picture of Jason. As many pictures as I seem to take I have very few of my brother.

Jaron and grandma. For some reason Jaron managed to get out of performing ANY work today.

Gotta love this picture. When Dave turned on the water to test the lines we had a few mini-floods. Yep, the Mantis worked very well and clipped some of the water lines. $25 and two trips to the hardware store later we were back in business!

Hope your Mothers Day was as wonderful as mine. Thanks for stopping by!

Student of the Month

2010-05-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

We have a Student of the Month in our household. Gabe finally did it...he was able to stay Safe, Respectful and Responsible for the whole month of April. Yep, that means no trips to the yellow circle. lol. Look at our happy boy!

The first thing he did when he got his medal home was hang in right next to his shooting trophy. It's very sweet!

T-ball has begun!

2010-05-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

So starts the season of freezing our fannies off watching a bunch of kids running the wrong direction; dog piling on the ball, and chasing butterflies...

Gabe is cold and so ready to be done, ya think?

Prom Pictures

2010-05-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

Prom. Aww. Tanner's growing up and it makes me sad. Here are a few of the pictures of he and his beautiful girlfriend Moriah. The corsage:

Tanner and his hat. The hat that hides the crazy hair. It's only hair, right? We had a short time line to get ready because Tanner stayed the night with Jaron on Friday night and they got in a car accident while Jaron was bringing him home. Thank goodness they didn't get hurt...so scary.

Here they are...Tanner and his Moriah. They looked amazing. Enough said.

National Scrapbook Day Crop at CTS

2010-05-01T08:54:00.001-07:00

Don't forget to stop by Citrus Tree Studio for the National Scrapbook Day Crop. There are lots of prizes and great challenges to inspire your weekend! Here are the two layouts I've done so far:

Thanks for stopping by!

Big Weekend Project

2010-04-29T18:40:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I got a wild hair and decided to re-do the pond and stream we have outside our house. It's been leaking for a while now so I knew there was a hole in the liner somewhere. Dave humored me and helped but little did I know it would take two full days! The worst part was catching all 26 of the fish and they weren't happy about being cooped up in a 5-gallon bucket.

This is what the pond looked like as we were getting started. The pond plants were quite overgrown and eventually had to be pulled out in one big mass with the 4-wheeler. There was also so much muck that the siphon hose kept getting plugged.

Here are Dave and Gabe trying to catch the last 5 of the fish. Those little buggers made it through all of the dragging, stomping, and pulling to get the matted plants out of the pond. As far as I know there weren't any casualties...

This is the pond with the new liner. It didn't take long to fill but the work was in the rocks. Stacking all those rocks on the ledge and around the top was back-breaking work...for Dave of course! lol

...Finally, a picture of the finished pond. It has a 15 foot stream that dumps into the pond with a little waterfall. It looks so much better and I'm hoping I don't have to do that again for another 7 years!

It's always so beautiful in the summer when the plants and flowers are in bloom. My little piece of serenity.

Its challenge day!

2010-04-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

I love challenge day at CTS. I really enjoy seeing what the other designers come up with to inspire creativity throughout the month. My challenge this April is the art inspiration challenge. While I didn't choose a piece of art, I did decide to share one of my favorite pieces of scrap room decor. Here is my inspiration piece:

I pulled colors from the frame and the flowers and incorporated the natural feel into my layout with the embellishments. I used the alternate CTS kit from the one I designed with to create this layout. The kit is called "Painted Prairie" and it's absolutely beautiful!

Make sure you stop by Citrus Tree Studio and check out all of the new challenges today!

Citrus Tree Reveal

2010-04-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

For my design team projects this month I got the pleasure of working with the April "Butterfly Skies" kit from Citrus Tree Studio. This kit is beautiful. And pink. Thanks Cindy (smooch)!

Here are my projects for the month. The first one is a layout of my niece. I made a mask and used the Smooch Spritz to create the leaves. It turned out really fun!

For my next project I altered some little wooden blocks. I base-coated them with cream colored acrylic paint and then used the kit to create a fun little Spring decoration for my shelf.

...and finally, another layout. Since the kit reminded me so much of Easter, I grabbed some pictures of Gabe coloring eggs a few years ago and created a fun little Easter layout.

If you haven't had a chance to check out Citrus Tree Studio yet, you should because Cindy is offering two kits for the month of August. The second kit is called "Painted Praire" and is equally beautiful...you can find it here. Thanks for stopping by!

Easter Fun

2010-04-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

Look at this cool egg, fun huh? Gabe and his little friend Sydney colored eggs and decorated sugar cookies together on Friday night. They had a combination of the regular egg dye and some you paint on with a sponge. I loved how the sponged eggs looked when the kids were done with them...much better than the rubber bands and crayons Jason and I used growing up!

I think my baby is growing up. I was getting ready for our Easter dinner and I overheard Gabe ask Dave..."Dad, tell me the truth. WHO IS the Easter Bunny?" All I could do was quietly laugh and wait for Dave's response. Thank goodness he's on his toes because he told him, "I don't know but he's big, white, and fluffy". First it will be the Easter Bunny, then no Santa Claus and before we know it...he'll be a teenager. Why do they have to grow up?

The Easter bunny was up early again this year and as you can tell from the pictures, Gabe was too. We were out tromping through the yard at o'dark-thirty, freezing our butts off, all in the name of fun. Look where the Easter bunny hid one of the eggs. Priceless.

Thanks for stopping by!

Scrappy Projects

2010-03-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've updated my blog so I thought I'd share some of my scrappy projects from the past month. This first layout is one of my new favorites. "F is for Football" is a picture of my son Tanner at Football practice this year...right before he broke is hand. The base is chipboard, torn and distressed. It's such a cool effect for a football layout.

This layout documents Gabe's crazy story about how his teddy bears got a hair cut. He just threw them up in the air and their hair fell out. Really.

The final picture is one of Gabe and Tanner with their trophies from trap shooting a few weekends ago. Tanner won the youth division and Gabe got a trophy for being the youngest shooter. Believe it or not, Gabe actually hit two of the clay pigeons! Scary. Very Scary. He's only 6 and it's a mothers worst nightmare.

What a great day for a BBQ!

2010-03-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

The weather was beautiful and I was surrounded by family, what could be better than that? Jaron turned 23 on Thursday so we BBQ'd for him today. Mom and Dad came up and we spent the afternoon playing in the yard. Here are some pictures of the kiddos:

Gabe up in his favorite tree. He loves to climb and I'm just waiting for the first broken arm and trip to the Emergency room. lol

Tanner and his sweet hairdo. He's such a funny kid! I can't wait for the day when he looks back on this and says..."What was I thinking??"...you know, we all do it.

My big birthday boy and his Meg. They've been together since high school and today is the anniversary of when they started dating...awww!

Thanks for stopping by....

Almost spring

2010-02-20T12:27:00.000-08:00

Today is one of those bright, sunny February days in which you really want to be out in the sun but it's so darn cold...you can't. The cold hasn't stopped Gabe though...he's been outside most of the morning practicing his T-ball swing!

I did manage to get two new layouts done this week that I'm really liking right now. The first is for Nicole's embossing challenge at CTS and the other is for Cindy's Q-F Challenge.

Can you tell I'm ready for warmer weather?

New Layouts

2010-02-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

Just a few new layouts to share with you...

This one uses the yummy "Sweet Life" kit from Citrus Tree Studio. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should because it's packed full of goodies!! The rest of these layouts I created for some of the challenges at CTS too.

Thanks for taking a peek!

January Recap

2010-02-08T18:09:00.000-08:00

So much for my New Year's resolution to update my blog on a more regular basis...broke that one already! January was filled with many activities and not all of them happy. My sister-in-law lost her soul mate in a terrible accident during the first part of the month. It was a tough time for the family but the bright spot in all of it was seeing all 7 of the siblings together for the first time in 15 years. Out of the extreme sadness came the typical Wilson sense of humor and so many wonderful, supportive people walking side-by-side with us.

I did manage to get some scrappy time in during the month and completed a few layouts. As usual, some of them I am happy with and the others...well, not so much. I have to apologize up front because these pictures are horrible. I just haven't had a chance to re-photograph them before posting.

Finally, the Sunday before last was gorgeous. The sun was shinning and it was a lovely, warm January day. I was able to get some fun pictures of Gabe and Lola playing in the yard. She sat for the longest time just watching him blow bubbles waiting for just the right moment to attack him with Lola kisses.

Who wouldn't want a little Lola smoochie??

Thanks for stopping by!

6 year olds...

2010-01-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

Cleaning Gabe's room last weekend was quite an adventure. Not only was it a complete disaster area but I also found some very interesting suprises. It was like a fact finding mission gone bad. My first suprise was this:

Turquoise fluff. Yep, turquoise and another pile of brown fluff close by. As I cleaned I found another clue...a pair of kitchen shears. Uh-oh, you know what scissors, a pile of fluff and a quiet 6-year-old equals?

You guessed it...a stuffed animal barber shop.

Poor Lion.

To this day Gabe swears that he didn't do it. He threw his animals up in the air and their hair fell out. Yeah, right. I suppose I can be thankful that it was the stuffed animals who got haircuts and not Gabe.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

So far so good but it's only two days into it!

Citrus Tree Studio started out my scrappy new year with a bang. The guest designers are hosting a crop--and it's still going on until midnight tonight so there is plenty of time to squeeze in a few of the challenges. Believe it or not, I managed to get them all done! Sorry the pictures are so crummy on some of them because the weather hasn't been cooperating...

This one uses Christmas paper on a non-Christmas themed layout:

This layout uses shaped photos:

This one had to be grouped with white space all around:

This challenge required the layout or card to have at least one edge that was punched, shaped, etc. I used a die cut piece of paper for a template and did all four sides:

An ATC using a technique you haven't tried before. I inked, stamped, tore and distressed vellum. Geez, I haven't used vellum in a long time!

And finally, circles...lots of them. Actually the challenge called for at least three photo's and three circles.

It's been fun...thanks for all the challenges girls!

Scrappy Projects

2009-12-31T12:18:00.001-08:00

Aww, you gotta love vacation. Yesterday I spent the day scrapping with Kayla and actually got three layouts finished. I tested out my new bottle of cherry red Maya Mist and fell instantly in love...so much so that I now feel like I must own every color! LOL

Thanks for taking a look and Happy New Year's Eve!

Two posts in one day!

2009-12-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to show you my latest project. I finished it up for my mom as a late Christmas present and of course she walked in before I was done and ruined the suprise. Anyhoo, it's a 7 Gypsies Printer Tray that I altered using the "Winter Melody" kit from Citrus Tree Studio. All of the pictures of the kids are from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was so much fun to make!

Happy Holidays

2009-12-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

Where do I begin?? It's been forever since I've blogged and I have a whole month to catch up on. Yikes! This year we did all of the usual traditional activities and added a new one which was going to see the holiday lights at Eagle Crest. That was a whole adventure in itself that I won't even try to explain...

For starters, Dave and Gabe picked out our Christmas Tree this year while I was out shopping. They did a pretty darn good job and had it all set up by the time I got home. If Gabe would have had his way, he would have decorated it too!

Gabe and I also baked our usual gingerbread cookies...yep, 180 of the little suckers. Every year I say I'm not going to do it again and every year I add an extra 40 or so. I guess it's like childbirth...you forget the agony you were in until you do it again. lol

And then there was our yearly visit from Frosty. It isn't Christmas without Frosty's visit!

Finally, we have Christmas. Christmas Eve is always spent with my family at my mom's house. The kids have their yearly tradition of cracking the crab so that grandma can cook it in her special BBQ sauce for dinner. Such a great family recipe and wonderful tradition.

Here are a few more pictures of Christmas Eve:

The following picture of my dad cracks me up. Would you trust this guy with a pistol?? LOL

And finally a shot of the three boys together.

On Christmas Day we went to Dufur to Dave's sisters house. On the trip over the fog had created the most beautiful winter wonderland and we had to stop to take some pictures in the frost.

Cool, huh? Here are more pictures of Christmas day with the Wilson's:

My sister-in-law with her beautiful baby belly. She's due to have twins in March but will probably deliver in February. I told her I was going to show this picture to the babies when they get here!

Kyle is one baby that I can never get to smile. I know he does...just not at me especially when I have my camera aimed at him.

Happy Holiday's and thanks for stopping by!

First snow...

2009-12-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

The first real snow of the season fell during the night. Even though it was just a dusting it sure got Gabe excited. Unfortunately, it's just the fine powder kind of snow because it's so stinkin' cold but that didn't matter to Gabe...he still made a few snow angels and did some body surfing on the lawn. He's such a funny kid!

Check out these little tags I made for Cindy's Quick-Fire Challenge over at Citrus Tree Studio. Darn cute and very easy:

A new project

2009-11-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

It seems like I don't get to spend near enough time in my scraproom these days but I have finished a few new projects. The first is another little Teresa Collins recipe book using the Cosmo Cricket "Early Bird" Line. I also used a few die cut journal spots from Collage Press for accents. It turned out sooo stinkin' cute in my opinion and I plan to give it away for a Christmas gift so thats why there aren't any recipes in it. Here's a peek:

I did another little layout for a challenge at SBCH. The challenge required me to use bling and a black and white photo and since I didn't do many layouts of Gabe's first day of Kindergarten that's what I documented.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs...

Reveal Day at Citrus Tree Studio

2009-11-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

Once again it's reveal day at Citrus Tree Studio. I loved the kit for November and it was fitting for all of the football pictures I've been taking lately. The kit is called "Sports Zone" and features the American Crafts Junior line. Here is my first layout which is very much reflective of the kit:

This next layout uses the same kit but I flipped the papers over and added some extra items to make it a fall-themed layout.

...and finally, November was my month to create a project using the Teresa Collin's Recipe Album kit. At first I wasn't quite sure about making a sports-themed recipe book but it actually turned out pretty cute!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to pop on over to Citrus Tree and pick up your November kit before they all sell out...it's an awesome kit!!

Halloween Photos

2009-11-01T06:55:00.000-08:00

For only trick-or-treating at 8 houses Gabe made a haul this year! His little candy bag was packed full thanks to the generosity of our special friends and family. It was a really fun night but I'm a little bummed that we didn't even get one trick-or-treater at our door this year and you know what that means...all that candy I bought will end up getting eaten...by me.

Gabe was so excited...can you tell?

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

Random Fall Photos

2009-10-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

Weekend before last we took a short trip over to Hood River to take a few photos and buy some apples at Drapers. Both Gabe and I were sick but we couldn't miss our yearly trip...it's been our fall tradition since he was a baby. Here's a few photos from the day:

Gabe has become quite the little poser lately. Not sure where that came from but I imagine it has something to do with the fact that I take a million pictures of him! Sorry buddy...you don't stand a chance. lol

This isn't one of my best shots but I think it captures the "joy of discovery". It's candid and for a change Gabe was just being Gabe.

...and finally, the real reason we headed over the mountain. Fresh apples and pears from the orchard...there's nothing better than harvest time.

Early Birthday Party for Gabe

2009-10-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

Even though Gabe's birthday isn't until Thursday we thought we'd have a small family get together yesterday. Who knows...I'm sure we'll probably drag this one out clear through next weekend by the time we get done with the school party and hopefully a little family party with Dave's family.

I wasn't thrilled with Gabe's cake but it was last minute and he didn't care what the lady whipped out for him at Walmart.

For those of you who don't know Tanner very well...this is his new style. He thinks it's cool and I think it's a disaster. It's only hair right?!?

...Jaron came down too...

...and this is how I get through family get togethers. Cheers!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-12T17:57:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we took Gabe to the Central Oregon Pumpkin Co. This years theme was safari and the corn "maize" was pretty darn fun. This was my dad's first year going through the maize so he and my mom let Gabe and I drag them through to the end. It was tons of fun until the wind picked up and it got cold on us. Here are a few pictures of our adventures:

And the day isn't complete without a strawberry topped funnel cake and some carmel apples. MMMMM.

World Card Making Day Event at Citrus Tree

2009-10-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

Today is the final day of the WCMD Event at Citrus Tree Studio. The Design Team has put together 10 really cool and very easy challenges for this event and as usual Cindy is rocking the give-a-aways for participating. Here are a few of my projects for this event so far...

I created this little ATC for Nicole's challenge about the time I enjoy spending with Gabe while Dave is on his trips. We have so much fun together!

...and finally a little altered notebook.

If you haven't stopped by Citrus Tree Studio lately, you still have time. Just pop in an say Hi in the check in thread and start creating!

Tanner's Buck

2009-10-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

For someone who is just getting over a round of the swine flu...it sure didn't stop him from hunting. Tanner got another nice buck this year (4X5) despite a broken hand and the flu. He was pretty happy but it makes me wonder if he's going to get a let down when he shoots something smaller that a 4-point in the future. lol

Broken hand

2009-09-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

Doesn't it just figure? We have a great new football coach, a team that just might win a game this year and what happens?? Tanner breaks his hand in practice...hmm. Hopefully, he'll only be out until the cast comes off.

Football season has officially begun..

2009-09-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

Friday night was Tanner's first football game of the season. The White Buffalo's have a new coach and the kids seem pretty excited about him. Here's a picture of the starting line-up...Tanner is #64.

Unfortunately they lost this game but the season is just getting started.

Antelope Hunt in the Steens

2009-09-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know Dave took Gabe on his first Antelope Hunt in the Steens Mountains last week. The hunted with my dad, brother, nephew and a few of Dave's friends. I think Gabe got his little legs walked off but they both had a great time. Here's a few pictures from their hunt:

This is a picture of Dave, Gabe and Carlton.

The beautiful Steens Mountains in the background.

Reveal day at Citrus Tree Studio...

2009-09-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

It's reveal day at Citrus Tree Studio. The September kit is packed full of rich, yummy goodness and is perfect for fall photos! Here are my projects for the month:

and one last card...

Thanks for stopping by!

Scrappy Inspiration

2009-08-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

The August "Nature's Playground" Kit from Citrus Tree Studio has been revealed and it is beautiful. I really enjoyed working with the Jenni Bowlin "Front Porch" Collection and the GCD Studios "Chic Bebe" line. Cindy also included a little Maya Road Butterfly Album and lots of other goodies to make it a really fun kit. Here are my projects as well as my challenge layout for the month:

Here are some close-ups of the banner. For both designs I used glossy accents to give the butterfly's the shiny appearance of tile. The red ones I used the patterned paper from the kit and applied Pink Paislee Press-on's for my design and then covered the entire thing with the glossy accents. Viola...it came out cool.

And finally here is my color challenge layout for the month:

I'm bummed that this picture is so dark because the cardstock base is that beautiful embossed cardstock from Bazzill. It's nice stuff!

Vacation

2009-08-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

Aww, vacation. Don't you just love them? Unfortunately, this week was not long enough. We spent time at the fair, went camping for a few days and now it's time to get back to work tomorrow. So here are a few photos of our adventures this week:

This is a picture of Gabe on the hospital float waiting for the fair parade to start.

Gabe and Grandma on the Ferris wheel. Cute huh?

We took Grandma and Grandpa's boat out for a spin on Monday and Gabe had a blast...

...and a few camping photos:

This last photo is what we did on Friday. The green chev made it's last voyage to Bend and we brought home this sweet ride:

Don't ya love it??

Oh, the frustration of technology!

2009-07-30T12:58:00.001-07:00

On Sunday night-- probably just after I blogged last, my computer died. Yep, blue screen and white letters are never a good sign and since I've had the sucker for at least five years, do you think I could find my system restore CD?...nope--still looking. I managed to hook up my old dinosaur Gateway that has been in the closet for a long time and it actually got me on the internet. Now mind you, it won't load most pages and I can view the forum at Scrapbook Dreamer but it won't let me post there. In fact, it won't let me do much of anything but surf. Thank goodness for a Dell account and next day shipping. Hopefully my new PC will be here today by fedex and I can actually be cyber functional again. I can't believe how much of a computer addict I've become!

We've spent the past few days camping at Haystack Reservoir. Although it was blistering hot and mosquito infested, we had a pretty darn good time. I'd show you pictures but this old computer can't handle photo editing so they will have to wait for another day.

Christmas in July...

2009-07-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

The Christmas in July Crop is happening as we speak over at Citrus Tree Studio. It's kind of fun to get in the holiday spirit not to mention get caught up on all those photo's I didn't get scrapped last year. The biggest challenge for me so far is to find enough holiday-themed paper to complete all of the challenges.

If you haven't checked out the crop yet, you really should because Cindy has some fabulous prizes to give away and tons of RAK's just for completing challenges. Here are a few of my projects for the crop:

I altered this little frame with the intention of giving it as a gift this year. I can't tell you who since it's a secret...LOL!

This is probably one of my all time favorite pictures of Dave's mom. She was actually playing the drums along with the kids as they sang and played their instruments in the picture frame picture above. What a special time.

Golf lessons

2009-07-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

Golf, can you believe it? I don't golf and neither does Dave but Gabe is taking golf lessons. I'm pretty sure he won't turn out to be the next Tiger Woods but he is having a good time. I think his favorite thing to do is roll around in the grass and practice placing his ball on the tee!

Tomorrow night will be his final night. They have a Jr. Tournament planned with a BBQ and award ceremony...I'll take lots of pics to share but for now, here are a few layouts. The first one is for Angie's Ad Challenge over at Citrus Tree Studio.

I think Gabe was a little tired this night...what do you think? Look carefully, he really is holding up the two finger peace sign! LOL

The second layout is for the photography challenge at Scrapbook Dreamer. The focus needed to be on outdoor photos. You can't get more outdoors than the driving range. Thanks for stopping by!

New card and some Dreamer layouts

2009-07-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me, you know that I'm not a big card maker. When I do make a card it is a big production because I can never get them to come out like I envision. It's probably because I have a hard time scaling down my layouts! LOL

Ok, so here is a little card I made tonight for a co-worker of mine who loves pink and thinks she's a princess. In my opinion she is a princess and the most amazing one ever. Happy Birthday Stacee!

For some reason I haven't uploaded my Dreamer layouts for the month. I've created three so far and I'll show you two because I'm not all that happy with the third one. It's been bugging me since I put it together. Thanks auntie, your perfectionism is rubbing off and you know who you are...he-he.

"Days of Summer" Kit

2009-07-09T20:18:00.001-07:00

I'm such a slacker when it comes to blogging these days. The Citrus Tree Studio "Days of Summer" kit reveal happened a few days ago and I'm just now showing you my projects. If you haven't purchased this kit yet you should grab it quick because I really think this one is going to sell out. It screams summer and is packed full of goodies!!

First, the cards. There are two of these included in the kit.

...and now the layouts.

Citrus Tree Studio Sneak...

2009-06-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Ohhh, did I tell you how much I love the July kit from Citrus Tree Studio? It features the "Endless Summer" patterned papers from American Traditional Designs. Here's a peek of some of my projects:

and another...

This kit is very versitile and great for summer pictures. It goes on sale July 5th and you've got to get it!

Scrappy Stuff

2009-06-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've done any scrappy blogging. It just feels like I've been to busy to get in my scraproom. Here are a few layouts that I've created besides my design team stuff that I can't reveal yet... :)

Livin' the Beach Life is my Art Inspiration Challenge Example over at Citrus Tree Studio this month.

Did you check out the pinwheels on this one?? I've seen them used a fair amount lately so I figured out how to create my own and did a tutorial on it over at Dreamer. The picture on the "Grubby Boy" layout is another one that I took at the beach. Thanks for stopping by!

A new milestone

2009-06-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Gabe achieved a new milestone this week...he learned to ride his bike without training wheels! Oh my gosh it is so darn cute. Dave took off the training wheels on Sunday and by Wednesday he was on his own. He even packed his bike upstairs from the basement last night because he thought I might let him ride it in his room! Yeah right, nice try.

Here is a picture of Dave teaching Gabe how to ride on Monday night. He jogged along side him holding on to the back of his shirt to keep him steady. Thank goodness Gave kept moving or he might have choked to death! LOL

Here is a picture of him on Wednesday night. He did it!! Don't worry a bicycle helmet is first on my list to buy this weekend...

Pretty darn fun, huh?

Our Oregon Coast vacation...

2009-06-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

I love to go to the beach even if it's just for a few days! We just spent the past three days in Lincoln City for a short vacation and had a blast. I went on my second deep sea fishing trip and this one included crabbing...I caught my limit on sea bass and even brought home 7 dungeness crabs! Too bad Dave gets sea sick because I really think he would have fun.

We did a whole lot of kite flying and playing on the beach, and Gabe even tried surfing on a kick board. The water was freezing but he kept going back for more! Here are some pictures of our trip:

Gabe is pretty sure this is a surf board...he even tied it to his ankle! It was the best $17 bucks I've ever spent on hours worth of entertainment.

I love this picture of Dave and Gabe flying the kite. I know it's pretty far away but to me it's just a great shot of the two of them together.

A beautiful Oregon Coast sunset.

Ok, so this isn't a glamour shot but this is what I look like after a 5 hour fishing trip when I had to be on the docs at 06:30 for a 07:00 departure. Look at that sweet bass!

Another great shot of the crab pots as our deck hand was getting ready to throw them off the boat. He would yell "trailing" as he threw the bouy and the rope in the water for each pot. When the rope got to the end, he threw in the pot and yelled "in the water" to the captain. It was cool.

Our big catch!

Yum, I brought home 7 of these babies!

On the evening before we came home we caught up with Dave's brother Jim, his wife Alex and the boys. Gabe and Karl played and played on the beach together. It's great that they are so close in age because it has made them best buddies.

Another fabulous reveal day...

2009-06-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

I just posted my projects in the gallery over at Citrus Tree Studio. Cindy put together two wonderful kits for June and both are very different. The first kit is called "Easy Rider" and features the Glitz Rebel Line. It's great for boy layouts...take a look:

I was also able to create a little birthday card out of the kit too:

And finally, here is my project using the "Zinnia" mini kit. I wanted to use a younger, softer picture of Gabe since the kit is pastel and spring-like.

Both kits were amazing to work with so hop on over to Citrus Tree Studio and check 'em out.

June Scrapbook Dreamer Projects

2009-06-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to use the Scenic Route "Grafton" line for my DT projects over at Scrapbook Dreamer. It's an older paper line but it was so much fun. It screams summer and got me really excited about using bright, bold colors again. Take a look:

Aww, look at that little Gabe! 2005 seems like such a long time ago...

Cute huh? This week I'm on vacation. The kind of vacation where you are supposed to relax and unwind from the stress of being at work. Have I been able to do that? No. I'm really trying but for some reason the anxiety has set in and keep feeling like I missed something. I guess it goes to show that I need to take more vacations to figure out how to get it right...

Sneak Peek for June

2009-05-27T06:29:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for a little sneak peek of the Citrus Tree Studio "Easy Rider" Kit? I LOVED it!

The full kit along with the "Zinnia" mini kit will be available for purchase on June 5th. This is one to get because it's packed full of goodies!

Weekend projects

2009-05-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

Why is it that my weekend projects always turn into huge, multi-week affairs? This year I decided I wanted raised beds for my vegetable garden instead of the great big flat garden I usually have. I figured that once in place it should be much less up keep in the end. Who knows if that is true but it sure has been a lot of work. Thank goodness Dave loves me otherwise he may have divorced me over this one! LOL

What I thought would be a weekend project has taken us two weekends and the drip system still isn't quite right. Tanner has been running the Bobcat for us filling the boxes and has gotten quite skilled at it. The Bobcat is controlled with joy sticks and foot peddles so I'm guessing all those video games he plays has paid off. Here's a few photos from this weekend.

Tanner waiting for the next box to be placed...

These are the boxes. There are 20 of them ranging in size from 4X12 feet to 4X4.6 feet. We made them those sizes so they would fit together like a puzzle with 3 foot walkways in between. Make sense?

Our little mud monkey.

Yep, he's all boy!

Awww....

2009-05-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

My baby is growing up. Tuesday, Gabe graduated from pre-school and got registered for big boy school. He was so excited and his school did a wonderful job with the graduation ceremony. Look at this happy little face:

I had an early meeting on Tuesday morning so I didn't get to be a part of him getting ready for graduation. I showed up just in time for the ceremony to start and when it came time for his class to come out for the singing portion of the program I asked Dave, "What happened to the clothes I set out for him to wear today?" He said, "Gabe didn't want to wear what you put out for him, he dressed himself." Gabe had on shorts, a camo shirt, white socks and sandals. Good grief.

Time Warp Event at Scrapbook Dreamer

2009-05-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

If you haven't stopped by Scrapbook Dreamer lately you really should. The DT is hosting a month long event and the prize is a $50 gift certificate to the Dreamer Store and a guest design spot for July. Each Friday two new challenges are posted based on decades of time from the 1960's to the future. Besides the grand prize there will also be random prize winners drawn from participants so make sure you get your creations uploaded and posted in the forum!

Shopping and new stuff...

2009-05-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Have I ever told you that I absolutely hate shopping? Hate it with a passion. Today Gabe and I shopped 'til we dropped, almost literally. He was such a little trooper the whole day and his eyes were pretty heavy on the drive home. Hopefully, we don't have to do that again anytime soon.

I haven't done many new projects lately but my June CTS kit came in the mail today and it got me all excited again. The ideas are flowing for some really fun projects. Speaking of projects here are the few that I've been working on this weekend.

The first one is my layout example for the Citrus Tree Studio challenges posted today. I issued the sketch challenge for May and used the remainder of my scraps from the May "County Fair" kit. You may recognize this picture, it's the one that I took of the kids on Easter.

This next layout I did for a challenge over at Kit 'n Kaboodles. For this challenge you needed to "alter" paper flowers. Jules posted 10 different techniques for altering flowers and I chose to ink mine. Kind of cute and so stinkin' easy.

The inked flowers close-up:

And finally, a Mother's Day card for my mom. Hopefully she doesn't check out my blog before tomorrow. This is for the butterflies and bling card challenge over at Dreamer.

Citrus Tree Studio "County Fair" Kit

2009-05-05T05:55:00.001-07:00

Today is the reveal of the Citrus Tree Studio "County Fair" Kit. The vintage feel of the kit really lends itself to scrapping those wonderful summer days and harvest time photos. I really, really liked this kit!

Ack, this next picture is bigger because I had to upload it with photobucket because my computer is giving me fits this morning!

I still have one more layout from this kit but you'll have to wait until the 10th to see it since it's for a CTS challenge. Did I tell you how much I like these Jenni Bowlin lines yet? :)

Winning...

2009-05-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

Geez, it feels good to win something once in a while. Dave and I went out to the casino today for our little "date". We don't do it often but it's something we like to do, just the two of us. We both like to play the slots and the penny machines with the fun bonuses are our favorites. Today, I actually won some money and walked away with cash in my pocket. Yipee!

The quality of these pictures are crummy because I took them with my cell phone. Of course it was on the down-low (shhhhh) because you aren't supposed to use cell phones while you are sitting at the machines. $547, cool huh??

I finished one more layout this weekend for the "Use your stash" challenge at Dreamer. I used up some old chipboard alphas that have been in my stash a while and since I've fallen in love with Thickers, I've been neglecting some of my other really cool alphas. These ones were a little boring but I added some glassy accents and voila...a fun layout of Tanner.

Gotta love all of Jenni Bowlin's new lines. After working with an assortment of her papers for the May Citrus Tree Studio "County Fair" kit...I just couldn't get enough of all of Jenni's goodies. I bought the full Varsity line and printed tickets directly from the Jenni Bowlin website but I suggest you wait for the CTS kit reveal in two short days. Cindy has perfectly coordinated papers from all three new lines (Varsity, Trendy, and Farmers Wife) with just the right cardstock and embellishments for a fabulous kit.

Just a few new projects...

2009-05-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

I spent the day with Kayla today for her birthday and we scrapped most of the day...no kids, just plain ol' girl time. I had a wonderful, stress-free day and was very productive! I actually finished one card and one layout and almost finished two others. Not bad.

Here are some of my latest projects:

"Quack-Quack" is a layout I did for Dreamer using the 3 Bugs- Snips & Snails line.

I created "April Showers" for my "Mix-it-Up" Challenge at Dreamer. This month's challenge is to create a layout using something unexpected. I used a rainey, umbrella picture with flowers. It's not your typical boy layout!

Finally, this card is for Cindy's Quick-Fire Challenge over at Citrus Tree Studio. It uses a template out of the May/June issue of Paper Crafts Magazine.

Citrus Tree Studio Sneak Peeks

2009-04-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a little sneak peek of what we got to work with for the May Citrus Tree Studio "County Fair" Kit. It's the new Jenni Bowlin paper lines and "Farmer's Wife" has been so much fun to play with!! The kit will be available for purchase on or about May 5th. Enjoy!