Oh my DIY!

We are constantly up to our eyeballs in DIY projects around here it seems. We have been in the process of redoing the kitchen, our kids rooms, the deck, finishing projects in the family room and dining room...the list goes on and on. (oh, now I have decided to bite the bullet and swap the playroom and office/craft room because the latter has really outgrown it's space. Jami... are you out there... you wanna help??? ;)) Anyway, I digress... I wanted to share a cute little picture I made for my daughters new room. It is a pink poodle ballerina room... she chose the theme herself. I think it comes from a combination of her love for pink, ballet, Fancy Nancy, and the fact that she somehow thinks that poodles really are pink. She cracks me up, when I was making the sign she kept telling me "I think it needs more glitter"... All my life I have detested the color pink, but now it's starting to grow on me, as if I had a choice since Maddie fell in love with the color at age two and the obsession has never wavered! ;)

I used a 10x10" canvas as the base for my project. I love to use them for projects like these. You can also mount your scrapbook layouts on them to make some non-traditional artwork for you home!
The ballerina is an old cake topper... I'm kinda obsessed with them. I use cupcake picks in lots of projects. Something about them just makes me smile.
I used lots of vintage goodies from my childhood on this project. The pop pearl necklace, the rhinestones, and the pink beads were all part of my grandma's collection of jewelry I used to play with. After she passed away, I found the jewelry in the back of a closet in the same red box she kept it in for me as a child. She had saved it all those years! It makes me SO happy that it now has a home in my daughters room! I also used some vintage mica flakes, old lace, and some millinery flowers off of an old hat. It was a really fun project to do and a great creative release from all these DIY projects! ;)

I've got some new things happening in the shop this month, so stay tuned for some previews!
Have a great day!!

Wednesday Night Scrappin!

My pal Jami and I have been scrappin on Wednesday nights. It has been SOOOOOO nice to have one night a week (well most weeks anyway ;)) to get some layouts done, have some fun girl time with my friend, and get a break from everything... and we always have lots of yummy coffee and some kind of goodie so you know I'm in heaven right there!

This is a layout I did last time we got together. I'm really trying to finish up some page kits I had put together a while ago so I can stay focused on my "keep 2009 current" plan.
I used some vintage wooden bingo markers for the flower centers. I LOVE these things! They are one of my fav. embellishments. My stash is getting low though, so I'm going to have to track some more down!!
I also used some of the Bright and Funky Journaling Cards from my shop. They match Pink Paislee papers so well, I love to use them together. (they also go really well with the October Afternoon lines....)
Go here to check them out!

No scrapping with Jami tonight, but I'll be doing some projects here at home for the Creative Chaos design team. I'll share those later! Have a great day!

Oh and PS incase you were wondering, we survived the whole first day of kindergarten trauma. Parker LOVED it and had a great day!! :)

His First Day Of School....

I just can't believe 6 years has come and gone so fast. When Parker was born I thought school seemed so far away, now I can't believe it's here. Everyone says it's the hardest to send the first child... I hope they are right! Being a stay at home mom, it's so hard to imagine Parker being away all day 5 days a week. Montana does all day kindergarten now. He was so excited! He had his outfit all laid out the last night and he actually took time to fix his hair this morning. He said goodbye to his brother and sister about 20 times. "Bye Concon (aka Connor), you won't see me very much now. I love you!" "Bye Mado (aka Maddie) will you miss me cause I'm going to be gone a long time?" It was cracking us up! We didn't realize we were sending him away for so long!:) I kept reminding him you'll be back this afternoon hon, but he was so excited I think he would have packed a sleeping bag and stayed there if we'd have let him! :) We took him to his class, met his teacher, and he said "OK Mom, you can go." I however, was not as nearly as cool and calm as he was. I fought tears, while I convinced him I'd just stay a few more minutes for some pictures. I'm SO PROUD of him! I watched other kids cling to their parents, cry, and try to escape as my Parker walked over and started chatting with another boy... and even though it hurt like crazy, I am so glad he is a confident kid ready to take on the world (aka kindergarten). I wore my big dark sunglasses and tried not to think about what was going on as I headed off to the parents meeting. I'm pretty proud of myself, as long as no one asked how I was I held it together. Of course now that I'm home... :) well that's another story. For all you other first timers out there today, my heart is with you!
Hugs,
Renee

Happy Scrapper!

I have been such a happy scrapper lately! I've been doing more scrapbooking the last month or two and then I have done in quite a while. It's so nice just to sit down and work on my photos! I'm always doing so much crafting for the shop or for other people, it's been so nice to work on projects for my family!! ...and nice to use up some of those supplies I've been continuing to buy...

This is a layout I did for the Creative Chaos Team. Jenn is so amazing, I just love her jotters!!
I cut one of the jotters in half and layered it behind a photo on each page. You can do so much with journaling cards...they are AWESOME!
I also stitched on a fun ruffled border out of pink and white striped fabric. Just "crumple" it up as you stitch it to the paper to create a shabby ruffled strip.

Have a great day!

We just love the Fair!

Last week was Fair week here in Missoula. It is definitely a summer favorite in my family! The kids LOVE to look at all the animal exhibits. They are convinced we should have a farm with sheep, pigs, horses, and chickens. Now after the fair this year they've added ducks, goats, and rabbits to the list. Pigs and chickens seem to be the absolute favorites though. This is a layout I did a week or two ago from some old fair photos I hadn't scrapped yet. I had it sitting out in my living room and everyday my youngest son (2) would walk over to it and say "pig, me go! pig, me hand!" (aka "I want to go see the pigs" "I want to hold a pig in my hand") He was so excited about the fair it was the first thing he asked about in the morning. A week has gone by now and he still says "Mama, me go pig" when he wakes up. It's so cute!
I made the flower accent from punched circles that I inked, distressed and layered with a cute star brad. So easy and a great use for scraps!
I used one of my "Quote It" Mini Journaling Cards from my shop. Go here to check them out!

I'll have some more fair layouts and photo ideas to share from this year. I hope to be scrapping them soon since my goal is to keep 2009 current!

Have a great day! Oh... I put some supplies up in the shop yesterday, cute stamps, stickers, etc. Be sure to check them out!

Back from Vacation

Hey there! Well I'm back from a terrific vacation. I love the ocean, and well lets face it, you don't see a whole lot of it when you live in Montana. :) So our trip to the Oregon coast was a real treat for my family. We stayed right on the beach in a big house with my husbands family. We played in the sand, saw a ton of sea lions (which are about as plentiful as deer are around here), explored tidal pools, sand boarded (like snow boarding only on sand), went crabbing and dug for clams, laughed a lot, stayed up way to late, and cooked massive amounts of seafood. It was wonderful, and I wish I it lasted longer. Anyway... onto a fun layout Miss Jami made using some of my journaling spots from my shop.
I just love the colors, stitching details, and smudgy brown paint. She used journaling cards from the 100% Travel set, the Butterfly List set, and the Out West set. Go here to get some for yourself!
Look how she distressed a border around the edge of her photos, so cute! Thanks Jami!!

I'll be in and out this week trying to get everything back in place from our trip, answering emails, and mailing out orders. Have a great day!