I have a lot of catching up to do here! I can’t believe how behind I let myself get.

Okay, the news. I’ve been accepted to Pickleberrypop’s creative team! I’m so excited, I can’t even believe it! Unfortunately, since I really do need to start taking classes to keep my teaching certificate and I need an ESL endorsement by the time I return from my LOA, I couldn’t keep all of my teams. I let go of a couple of them, but the designers are probably better off just replacing me, since I really won’t have enough time to devote to them. I’m still with Heather Manning, Scrap Orchard, Pineapple Plantation Designs, Juno Designs, Candice Wong, Pickleberrypop, and one other one that I can’t announce just yet. Whew! That sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t.

I’ve also had a statement published in the current issue of The Daily Scrapper. It’s here if you want to peek (2nd from the bottom). That reminds me, I really need to scrap a page of Andy with his ukulele!

On the personal side, our Thanksgiving was great! There was some confusion about where we would go, since we thought my mom was going to be in Oregon for the holiday. But once everything got settled we ended up having Thanksgiving dinner with her, her husband, my 2 brothers, and my sister in law. It was a lot of fun. My little brother, Jeremy, is a chef and he did most of the cooking, which was a nice break for my mom. And my sister in law spent a lot of time entertaining my girls, which is always a bonus! Then we got to have a second Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday with Andy’s family. All four cousins had fun playing together and we all had a nice time.

Okay, I have lots to so while Sophie naps, so I’d better hurry and get some layouts posted! Remember, click on the layout to see full credits and links to kits.

First I have 2 layouts using the kit She’s So Sophisticated by Scarletheels Designs at Scrap Orchard.

I used the Scrap Orchard December Mystery Mega for this layout. It’s on sale for only $3 and it’s HUGE! But it will only be available at that price for a few more days.

I used the kit Mele Kalikimaka by Pineapple Plantation Designs for this next layout, plus a glitter style by Candice Wong. Actually, I can’t stop using Candice’s glitter styles. They’re so much fun! This picture is from a Christmas card photo shoot we did back in 2004. Look how little Kyra was!

Speaking of Kyra being little, check out this picture! I used the kit How I Wonder by Kristin Aagard and the heart shaped paper overlay is by e-lana designs, both at Pickleberrypop.

And here’s Sophie when she was a baby at her first Zoo Lights. I used the kit White Frost by Aprilmouse & Hanulienka Designs, plus a word art by Juno Designs and that glitter style from Candice Wong again.

We went to Sears today and had photos taken of the girls. Of course I just had to buy the package that included the photo cd, which means the copyright is all mine! So I get to share the photos with you here. I just love some of these!

I was chosen as one of the winners of the Scrap Orchard CT contest! Yippee! I’m having so much fun working with their fabulous designs. Here are the first two layouts I’ve made for them. I used the kit Mehndi by Ashalee Wall. As always, click on the layout to see full credits and links to kits.

For this one, I scanned one of our wedding pictures. I don’t like that Andy and I were apparently looking at different cameras when this pic was taken, but I thought it was a good picture anyway. I really need to scrap more wedding pictures!

This is Sophie when we went camping a few weeks ago.

Here are a couple of layouts I made with the Emily kit by Pineapple Plantation Designs at Scrap Orchard. I love this kit, it has so much texture and depth! I also used a SOda Pop template by Sine at Scrap Orchard. Her templates are so unique and fun to use! The glitter on the word Joy is from the Mega Glitter Style Pack vol. 1 by Candice Wong. I love glitter styles, and this one has about 24 different colors! It’s awesome!

This is Sophie at a Veteran’s Day parade we went to last week.

Here’s Kyra in her Bat Girl costume when we went to Boo at the Zoo.

I also have two layouts that I made using goodies by Juno Designs. I don’t have them posted to galleries yet, so these are the only two layouts that aren’t clickable, but you can find Juno’s gorgeous designs at Pickleberrypop and Elemental Scraps. She’s also participating in a design contest at Sunshine Studio Scraps right now, which is where I got the white kit in the first layout. You can find it here, and if you look through all 3 missions you’ll find tons of freebies by lots of designers.

This is my niece Alexis at last week’s parade. I thought this photo went perfectly with the white kit. The blue elements hanging from the side of the frame are by Jofia.

And this is Sophie in her mouse Halloween costume. I used Juno’s Forest Life kit, Cardboard papers, and Be Inspired template.

Whew! Can you handle just one more layout? I did this one for my guest CT gig at Pickleberrypop. The kit is by Dyp Design, click on the layout to find the link to the kit. 

This photo is of Sophie when she was a baby. I’ve always loved the expression on her face in this pic.

I decided to enter the creative team contest over at Scrap Orchard to see if I can get a guest spot on their CT. I had to make 2 layouts with their June Bugs Mega Kit in order to move on to the next round. There were so many great entries! Here are mine.

Well, guess what. I made it to the second round! I got to choose any kit by Polka Dot Plum, so I picked their Quirky Crow kit. Here are my 2 layouts with it.

Tonight at midnight is the deadline for entries, and I should find out soon if I get a CT spot or not. I’m so nervous! Wish me luck!

Okay, and here are some other layouts I’ve done lately. As always, click on the layout to see full credits and links to kits.

I’ve gotten two more layouts done in the past few days. This first one is using the kit Autumn Harvest by Scrap Shana. As always, click on the layout to find full credits and links to kits. I took this picture of the girls at Boo at the Zoo the other day. Don’t they look cute in their costumes?

And this photo is also from Boo at the Zoo, but I played with it a little to give it a dreamy look. This layout was mentioned in the Gallery Standouts at DST and was also named Layout of the Day at Elemental Scraps. Woo Hoo! I used the new collab called Fairy Special by Pineapple Plantation Designs and Irene Alexeeva at Scrap Orchard.

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve blogged! I really have been making layouts, but I’ve been spending so much time watching the election that I guess I just neglected things here. Andy and I sent in our early ballots the other day, though, so it’s over as far as we’re concerned. Maybe I’ll be able to stop paying such close attention.

I have a bunch of layouts to post, so if you like something you see, you can click on it to find credits and links to kits. The first one is the only exception, because I haven’t posted it at any sites yet. The kit I used in it is a collaboration between Juno Designs and Anja J called Colorful Nature.

Okay, here are the rest of them.

And this one is a picture of my friend Hope’s son. I keep getting these awesome boy kits from my designers, so I have to ‘borrow’ boys to scrap!

Yep, I’ve been accepted to another creative team! I’m so excited to be on Candice Wong’s team, her designs are so adorable! I made this layout with her My Little Cupcake paper pack and Celebrate! element pack. I also used a torn template by Tami at digiscrapaganza.com, which I think was perfect for this layout. As always, click on the layout to see full credits and links to products.

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I blogged last! We had Sophie’s birthday party at Chuck E Cheese’s a few weeks ago. She had a great time! Of course I took pics.

Here she is dancing in the outfit that she picked out for the party. She cracks me up!

At the party…

She does not trust that mouse!

It’s so hard to keep up with everything, but I have been scrapping and I have some layouts to share. Here’s my first layout for my new creative team, Juno Designs. Her stuff is awesome! As always, click on the layouts to see full credits and links to kits.

I have a few layouts using kits by Pineapple Plantation Designs. She’s been releasing some awesome stuff this month!

I took these during a hailstorm earlier this month. This kit is also by Pineapple Plantation Designs.

Here are a couple using gorgeous kits by Amanda Kay.

And finally a couple of layouts for Jule Designs.

Whew, I think that’s all for now! I also have one more new creative team. I’m so excited to be on Candice Wong’s team, and I’ll be posting some pages using her goodies soon!

I’ve made a couple of layouts with Scrap Shana’s gorgeous new kit called Autumn Air, available at Digiscrapaganza.com. Boy, it’s hard to find fall pictures in Phoenix! I think I managed to find a couple that did justice to this beautiful kit. As always, click on the layouts to see full credits and links to kits.

If anyone wants to see Hannah’s face in this layout, I’ll be happy to give you access to a copy if you have good reason to ask for it.

I love this layout! A few weeks ago, my sister in law and her kids came over for a barbecue. She brought over a little toy motorcycle that had been sitting in her dining room since Christmas and asked Andy to put it together for my nephew. Andy finished putting it together just as the kids were getting ready to go jump into the pool, so Spencer climbed onto the motorcycle wearing nothing but his swimsuit. Then he decided to show off the cool Superman tattoo on his arm. I thought it was the funniest picture, I couldn’t have planned it better if I’d tried! I used the new kit Spirograffiti by Pineapple Plantation Designs at Scrap Orchard. Isn’t it perfect for these photos?

Here’s another layout I made recently. I used the adorable kit Acryldenkerwolke by Jule Designs at The Digi Chick. I am so thrilled with my guest CT position there, her stuff is so awesome!

Here’s a layout I made with Amanda Kay’s adorable kit It’s All About Princess Lily, available at Sunshine Studio Scraps. I used a photo of Kyra, Alexis, and Hannah at Kyra’s fourth birthday party. I can’t believe how little they all were! As always, click on the layout to see full credits and links to kits.

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve posted a layout! I’ve been making them, just forgetting to post them. There are a bunch, but I’m going to split them up into different posts so each designer can be by herself.

I made this one for the Back to School template challenge on Heather Manning’s CT blog. I also used her gorgeous new kit, It’s a Beautiful Morning. Be sure to check out the challenge, as always you can win a $10 or $20 gift card to Heather’s store for a winning layout! And as always, click on the layouts in my blog to see full credits and links to kits.

This is an old picture of Kyra that I thought went perfectly with this kit. Everything is by Scrap Shana. I’m not going to link up all of the kits, but if you want to check out any of these products just click on the layout. It will take you to DST where you can find kit links in my description.

Here’s another old picture of Kyra, this has always been one of my favorites. She just looks so funky! And this is another kit by Scrap Shana, isn’t it perfect?

I think this is the last layout using Scrap Shana’s stuff. Isn’t it cute?

I love this next layout! I think the picture of Sophie is so perfect for this kit. The picture is from Kyra’s 6th birthday party at a girly salon place that had dress-up clothes for the kids. That hat was just too funny! Oh! And I need to tell you about the kit. It’s by Pineapple Plantation Designs, and I’m on her brand-new creative team! Yep, that makes 3 new CTs in the past few weeks. I’m on a roll! You really, really need to check out her stuff at ScrapOrchard.com, it’s just awesome!

And here is another layout using the same kit by Pineapple Plantation Designs. Isn’t it adorable?

I’m also a guest for Jule Designs this month! Man, I’ve been lucky lately! I’ve only finished one layout for her so far, but her stuff is absolutely gorgeous! Again, click on the layout for full credits and kit links.

Happy now, Erin?

We finally got the splint off of Granola’s foot today! I’m so happy! Eight weeks is a long time to have a dog with a bandaged foot, keeping it dry is a pain, and the poor boy really needs a bath. His foot looks pretty icky right now, the tape took off most of his fur and some skin, so it still has some healing to do. But at least it’s not broken anymore. Yay!

Wow, I can’t believe that I haven’t posted in a whole week! It’s all Stephanie Meyer’s fault. She’s the author of the Twilight series of books. If you’ve read them, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t read them, stay far, far away unless you have about 3 weeks to devote to them. Seriously, I can’t stop reading them! I have about 200 more pages to go in the last book, then I’ll finally be free. They’re about vampires, and I’m usually not interested in vampire stories, plus they were written for teens, which should have been another strike against them. But the story is a lot of fun and the books are lacking in bad language and overt sex scenes, which is fine with me. So anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to finish the last book today and then I can get back to scrapping!

Since I just posted about Heather’s sale and new products, I should probably show you some of the great stuff that I get to work with for my other creative teams! Check out these adorable kits by Amanda Kay over at Sunshine Studio Scraps. The previews are clickable.

I haven’t worked with this one yet, but I can’t wait to get the chance!

And here are some of Scrap Shana’s gorgeous kits!

Heather is having a back to school sale at her shop! You can save 40% on everything in the store through August 23rd. Plus, she has some new products that I’m so excited about! Check them out. All images are clickable.

I was really sick last week, but I’m feeling much better now, which is why I haven’t been posting. I’ve been trying to spend lots of time with the girls to make up for practically ignoring them last week. I did spend lots of time scrapping while I was sick, though, so I have lots to share.

First of all, I’ve had a huge shakeup in my creative teams! I really need to get those blinkies in my sidebar updated, because there’s only one that will be staying. I quit the Scrap Scandi Style team and Purple Paper Flowers is closing down, so that team went bye bye. I’m not upset with them, though. They offered to take all of us CT members along to their ’sister site’, but I declined. Instead, I’ve been accepted to join the creative teams for Amanda Kay at Sunshine Studio Scraps and Scrap Shana, who has stores at Been There Scrapped That, Scraphead, Digiscrapaganza, and Bits 2 Kits. Of course I’m still with Heather Manning, and she has some awesome new stuff in her store right now. It was the perfect time for me to get so many new teams, I really needed something to occupy my time last week!

Here are the layouts I’ve gotten done. As always, click on a layout to see credits and links to kits.

This is my most recent one. I used a bunch of stuff by Amanda Kay. Isn’t Kyra just too cute in this picture? I can’t believe I haven’t scrapped it before now, it has always been one of my favorites!

These pictures are of Kyra while she was walking to school the other day. I loved this outfit on her, so I couldn’t resist taking some pictures. This layout was mentioned in the Best of Digital Scrapbooking blog! Isn’t that too cool? Almost everything is from Scrap Shana’s August grab bag.

Remember when Kyra ran into her cousins at the Diamondbacks game? Well, I finally made a LO with one of the pictures!

Here’s a picture of Sophie from my brother’s wedding.

And another LO of Kyra. This is using Karah Fredricks’ new kit.

And finally, here’s my last LO for Scrap Scandi Style. I’m sad to be leaving them, but I feel like the time is right.

Whew!

I’ve made several layouts, but I haven’t been posting them. Well, here they all are! As always, click on the layout to see credits and links to kits.

Here are my little fishies.

Can you see the Panda in the background behind Kyra? I added another panda picture to this one just in case.

Here’s my little Miss Personality telling me a story about the Jonas Brothers.

I love this one. I used a kit by Amanda Kay (I’m on her new creative team, yay!) and Danielle Corbitt. You can check out Amanda’s adorable stuff at Sunshinestudioscraps.com

Kyra started the second grade today! She was so excited, she jumped right out of bed this morning and I had to talk her into eating half of her breakfast. One of her friends from last year called her last night, so that made her even more excited to get to school. She couldn’t wait to get there, so we left a little early and ended up standing outside the locked gate for 10 minutes. When she finally got to her classroom, she didn’t even want to go out to the playground. She just wanted to sit at her new desk and talk to her new classmates. Her teacher seems really nice, which is great, Kyra has had awesome luck with teachers so far (not counting one preschool teacher, but Kyra doesn’t remember her, so that’s good). Anyway, here are some pictures of my second grader!

Isn’t this just the cutest layout of Sophie? I love this picture of her. The title comes from a Jonas Brothers song, because she is such a huge fan. Click on the layout to see credits and links.

I made my first layout using products by Karah Fredricks! Her stuff is so much fun to use, and I am in love with her shadows! I made this layout using some pictures of Sophie that we took at the San Diego Zoo last year. I can’t believe how much she’s grown! If you want to see credits or links to the kits, click on the layout.

I just started my month-long gig as a guest on Karah Fredricks’ creative team! I’m so excited, I don’t even know where to start! She is a designer at The Digi Chick and has her own site called blueflombingo.com. Her stuff is so cute and fun, and I can’t believe the shadowing on her elements. I don’t usually use pre-shadowed elements, but hers are just so perfect that I may not have a choice! I can’t wait to get some layouts done with her products!

Kyra got her hair chopped off today! It was driving me crazy because her hair is so thick that it gets really tangled when it’s long. So brushing it is an ordeal that can take 20 minutes or more, with lots and lots of crying. I’ve been trying to get her to cut it for a while, but she refused. I guess she finally had enough, though, and let me get it cut today. She loves it! I always think she looks so cute with short hair, so we’re both happy. Here she is posing with Sugar, her Webkinz.

I thought this picture was too funny! It’s my nephew on his toy motorcycle. Get a load of that tattoo on his arm, and of course the fact that he’s not wearing a shirt just adds to the look LOL!

One more picture that I just think is hilarious. I came in from the back yard the other day to find this looking at me! How would you like to wake up to this in the middle of the night? Spooky! Granola has decided that if the cat can sit in the windowsill, he can too!

Gabs has decided to close her promotional team. I totally understand, it was becoming way more time-consuming for me than I had expected, and I can imagine that it was taking up a lot more of her time. Instead of completely disbanding the team, she’s come up with a great idea! She is leaving it open for designers to hire us as temporary additions to their CTMs! If a designer has a new kit and they want some extra exposure, they can post it on Gabs’ forum and we can choose whether or not we want to work with the kit. It’s a great way to get a new kit noticed! If you’re a designer who is interested, check out this forum (you’ll have to register first). This is an easy way to get some great scrappers to work with your new release!

Sophie has decided that she is one of the Jonas Brothers. For a while they were her brothers, but that changed a couple of days ago. Now she talks in a deep voice (well, deep for a two year old girl) and insists that I call her Kevin. What ever happened to Ariel or Belle? Why Kevin? Leave it to Sophie to skip right over the Disney Princesses and go right to the Disney pop stars!

Gina Marie Huff at Weeds and Wildflowers has a new collection called Delightful. I fought the urge to buy it for days, but finally I decided I just had to have it! I finally bought it today, and it’s awesome. I won’t tell you how much I paid for it, but I will say that I’m hoping to scrap at least 5 pages with it to get my money’s worth, LOL! So I put together this layout today with the kit, and I think it’s soooo cute. This picture is of Kyra when we went to Lego Land a few years ago. I was sitting right behind her, but she looked so much cuter by herself, so I edited myself out of it.

I’ve been slacking on the blog lately because we’ve been so busy watching the Tour de France. It was awesome this year! I was a little worried after 3 riders were arrested for doping, especially since the third one was wearing the King of the Mountains jersey and had won 2 stages. But thankfully he was the last man to get kicked out of the tour, and it ended really well!

We’ve also been busy shopping for school clothes. We’re finally done with that, and Kyra is really happy. School starts in just a few weeks, but I think we’re ready.

Be sure to check out Gabs’ blog for this week’s featured designer! While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to her blog. She has an awesome freebie coming up that you don’t want to miss, and her posts are always so much fun to see! This week’s featured designer is miranda scrapdesign, and here’s the layout I made with her gorgeous kit Lazy Days of Summer. I made this for the Scraplifted Daisies challenge at Purple Paper Flowers. They have tons of great challenges, be sure to check them out!

I also made this cute little layout of Sophie in her fairy costume. I used the kit Land of Make Believe by Dawn Inskip at Scrap Scandi Style. Doesn’t it go perfectly with Sophie’s outfit? As always, click on the layouts to see full credits and links to the kits.

And I made this one using the Birds of a Feather kit by Connie Prince at Purple Paper Flowers. I just love the look on Sophie’s face.

And did you notice my new Maren blinkie? Isn’t it too cute? If you haven’t checked out Maren’s story yet, click on her blinkie in the sidebar. You can also see who created it for me! She makes awesome custom blinkies, so if you need one made, be sure to check her out!

I don’t have much time to post this morning, I have to go wake up the girls soon so Kyra can get to VBS. Just a couple of quick layouts first.

ScrapShana is the featured designer on Gabs’ blog this week. I really loved working with her kit, La Bella Natura. It was awesome! And while you’re at Gabs’ blog, scroll down a bit and check me out! My animated page suffered a bit in the transfer, but it will be easy to spot! Here’s the layout I made with the kit. As always, all layouts are clickable if you want to see the credits or links to kits.

I also made this layout using the fabulous Hush kit by Dawn Inskip at Scrap Scandi Style. You’re not tired of seeing pictures from Bryce Canyon yet, are you?

And I just love this page. It was made with the Birds of a Feather kit by Connie Prince at Purple Paper Flowers. Aren’t those birds too cute? This is my nephew playing at our house on Memorial Day.

Okay, off to wake the kids.

Andy and I were sound asleep last night when Granola started barking like crazy. He only barks at night if there’s a storm, so we knew something was up. Andy jumped out of bed and went into the living room to see what was going on. He got Granola calmed down, then came back to our room. As soon as he got there, our doorbell rang and Granola started barking again. Andy threw on some clothes and said something about helicopters and cars all around our house, then went to see what was going on.

I was FREAKING OUT! It seemed like I was laying there in the dark forever waiting for him to get back. He finally came back and said that it was a cop at the door. Some guy was arrested in our backyard!!! We didn’t even hear it!

We have no clue what the guy did or how he got into our yard, but everything looks perfectly normal this morning. If it weren’t for Granola barking and the cop at the door, we would never have even known anything happened!

And of course the girls slept through the whole thing. We’re not going to say anything at all to them. That would have given me nightmares for weeks when I was 7! So if you know us personally, please don’t say anything about this in front of the kids!

Okay, on to less scary topics. How about some layouts?

In case you haven’t seen it yet, ikscrap is the featured designer this week on Gabs’ blog. I got to work with her awesome kit, Music Was My First Love. Here’s another layout I made with it. I’m thinking of re-doing the journaling, I forgot the mention that it wasn’t possible for us to get the piano into working condition. Maybe I’ll have my mother in law help me with the journaling, she knew the piano better than I did. Click on the layout to see the credits.

I also did this layout for the Purple Paper Flowers Template Challenge. I used the Fuzzy Slippers kit by Amanda Geils at PPF. Click on the layout to see credits and links to the kit.

And I have one more layout. I used the Freedom Rocks kit by Sherri Tierney for this one.

It really is a happy Monday around here! After poor Granola battled a stomach problem for most of last week, and having the vet on Monday tell us to just wait and see, we took him back to the vet on Saturday. They changed his bandage and said that his foot is looking really good! Yay! They also said that he had a bacterial infection, which accounted for all of the intestinal issues. He was starting to feel better by then, so obviously he was doing an okay job of fighting it on his own, but they gave us some medicine to help him out. Wow, does he hate that stuff! It’s really funny to watch him try to get the bad taste out of his mouth. But he’s pretty much back to his old self now, minus almost a pound of weight that he lost being sick. Since he only started out weighing 6lbs. 4oz. that’s a pretty dramatic weight loss! He’s looking even scrawnier than he did before, but I’m sure he’ll put it back on soon.

Okay, enough about my dog. How about some layouts?

This first one is using the kit that is being featured on Gabs’ blog this week. It’s called Music Was My First Love by ikscrap, and her 3-D rooms are a lot of fun to use! The full credits and links are available here. For this layout, I used a picture of Kyra when she was about 8 months old, and a picture of Sophie at about 13 months. It’s kind of fun making a layout where Sophie looks older than Kyra, LOL!

Last week I told you about my new gig as a CT member for Purple Paper Flowers. Well, I’ve finished my first two layouts for them, and let me tell you, there is a LOT of fabulous stuff to choose from over there!

The first one is of Kyra while we were waiting for the 4th of July fireworks to start. I was thrilled to find out that it was posted in the Gallery Standouts at DST! I used an awesome kit called Freedom Rocks by Sherri Tierney. Click on the layout for full credits and a link to the kit.

For this layout, I couldn’t decide which recent picture of Kyra I wanted to use, so I decided to just use them all! I used the fabulous Fuzzy Slippers kit by Amanda Geils. Click on the layout for full credits and a link.

One more layout today, then I’ll stop bugging you LOL! This is a picture of Kyra and Sophie during one of our hikes while we were on vacation in Utah. I love this picture of them just sitting next to each other. I used the gorgeous kit Viva by Monica Larsen at SSS (I haven’t forgotten about my ScrapScandiStyle CT!). Click on the layout to find the full credits and a link to the kit.

This has been a BUSY week with a lot going on, so bear with me! I’ve been meaning to update the blog, but the situation with Granola just keeps sidetracking me. I won’t go into all of the gory details, but I’ll just say that a dog with a bandaged foot should never get diarrhea. Not pretty. After four days of it, I’m not a happy pet mommy. But on the bright side, I’m getting really good at giving doggy sponge baths!

Since I’ve been such a slacker this week, there’s a lot of scrap stuff for me to catch up on. First of all, I’ve been accepted to a new creative team!!! I’m now scrapping for Purple Paper Flowers! If you’ve never checked out this site, you need to! There are lots of awesome designers and very friendly people. Unfortunately, since I don’t have time for more than 4 creative teams, I had to quit AnnaDdesigns.

If you haven’t entered a layout in Heather Manning’s CT blog challenge yet, you really need to! Everyone who enters will get Heather’s awesome Some Gave All alpha. It’s a font challenge, so it’s super easy! Check it out here.

I made another layout with the fabulous new Balance is Beautiful kit by Dawn Inskip. If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s the kit that’s being featured on Gabs’ blog this week. This kit is just packed with Dawn’s awesome doodles in black and white, so they’re super easy to recolor if you want! The popout is a picture of me and the girls sitting at the edge of Bryce Canyon, and the big photo is a different picture of the canyon.

I also made this layout with the fabulous Some Gave All kit by Heather Manning. See the little red, white, and blue 2008 on there? That’s the alpha you’ll get by participating in Heather’s CT blog challenge! Did I already post this one? Oh well, it’s cute so it won’t hurt to see it again. We took these pictures of Sophie while we were waiting for fireworks on the 4th. It was so windy that night!

It’s Monday, and you know what that means! Gabs’s team is unveiling a brand new kit today! This week’s kit is the gorgeous Balance is Beautiful by Dawn Inskip. I love Dawn’s stuff, it’s always so unique and beautiful, and this kit is no exception. I think it’s awesome how she uses black and white with just little bits of color. Check it out!

Isn’t that great?!?! And here is the layout I made with this kit. It was so much fun to use! I can’t wait to make another layout with it, there is so much in there!

…and guess what else? I’m going to be published! This layout is going to be in the July issue of Scrapbook News and Review! I’ve never been published before, so I’m very excited! And isn’t it such a coincidence that this layout is using tons of Dawn Inskip’s products? You can find the complete credits here.

On the 4th of July every year, they have a big celebration at the Peoria Sports Complex. This year they were supposed to have bouncers and huge slides for the kids to play on, so we went there on Friday so the kids could play then we could watch fireworks. Unfortunately, the wind was so bad that they had already deflated all of the big toys before we got there. It was okay, though. We parked ourselves in the outfield of one of the baseball fields and just let the kids run. They had a blast! We stayed for the fireworks, which were great. It was a really nice time, so I think we may have found our new July 4th activity. I made this layout of Sophie using Heather Manning’s awesome new kit Some Gave All. Be sure to check out Heather’s store, because she has info about how to get the matching alpha and add-on for free!

Then on Saturday we went to Gramee’s house for swimming and dinner. Andy and I had a lot of fun in the pool with our kids and my niece and nephew, then the kids played so well in Gramee’s house. I’m so happy that my kids are finally getting pretty independent, it’s so nice to be able to talk to adults and not worry about whether or not Sophie is playing in the toilet or putting small toys in her mouth!

I have another layout to show you. I’m absolutely in love with this one! I used a page tear by ON Designs and the kit is by Jeann Jeann G Design.

Granola broke his paw the other night! Poor little guy. I used the gorgeous new kit Secret Garden by Diamante Designs to make this page.

Doesn’t he just look so sad? I took this picture before Andy took him to the vet. Now he has a big bandage on his foot, but he’s looking better. Here’s a picture of him now. Not sure why it’s so blurry, but you can at least see the bandage.

Anyway, not much else going on. Since we live in such a miserably hot city, we’re not really doing anything special for the 4th. We’ll go to fireworks tonight, and a barbecue at the IL’s house tomorrow, but today will be a lazy, at-home day. I hope you have a happy 4th of July!

Last week I told you about the font challenge at Heather’s CT blog. Well, it started today and you’ll get an awesome alpha just for participating! All you have to do is match a font to your page…or a page to a font. Either way you look at it, it’s fun and simple! Here’s what I came up with. I used Heather’s Strawberry Mint Chip kit, plus a crunch time template by Michelene Martin and three different alphas. I don’t remember what the bottom alpha is (I’m horrible about that, but trying to get better) but the top alpha is German Caps and the girls’ names are written in Old English Text MT. We took this picture of Kyra and Hannah at Lego Land the summer before Sophie was born. Those of you who know Hannah won’t mind that her face is blanked out, you already know what she looks like.

Here’s the ad for the challenge and a preview of the alpha you’ll get just for participating.

so I’ll make this quick. If you want to know the distasteful details of my allergy/illness, you can check yesterday’s post. Andy stayed home today to take care of the kids so I wouldn’t have to. What a nice guy! He only has (I think) 6 more days at his current job before moving into the programming department, so I told him this is a good way for his co-workers to see how they’ll survive without him. Did I tell you that he was promoted? He got a job as a programmer with Choice Hotels, yippee!

I have a new layout for today. I made this with the brand-spankin-new, gorgeous kit by Diamante Designs called Hidden Secrets. You can grab it here. Here’s a little peek at it!

I took these pictures of Kyra in Mossy Cave during our vacation. Doesn’t she look so outdoorsey in her little blue skort? LOL!