November Scraptastic Club Kit 1

The November 1st kit is now available at Scraptastic Club! It features beautiful Basic Grey Pyrus papers and embellishments. Jessica really did an amazing job putting it together, and those stick pins are just outstanding. You really should go check it out!

I will be working with kit #2 in November, but I’m definitely buying that Pyrus kit too! The sneak peek for kit two is already up. It will go up for sale around the middle of the month. I’ll keep you posted. Here is the preview of that one so far…

Again with the gorgeous stick pins!!! I totally can’t wait to get my hands on those! Such pretty colors too! I’ll get my reveal up as soon as I can.

Cut It Out

This is the first of quite a few Halloween posts I have coming up! I am editing the photos a bit at a time. I’ve taken over 400 photos this weekend! We had a sleepover with my cousin Katie, Jordan went to Talladega, we went to the beach at the state park, we trick or treated at a community function, then we trick or treated around our neighborhood tonight! Like I said… LOTS of pictures.

Here are the photos I’ve finished editing from our pumpkin carving fun on Friday night. I bribed/begged my cousin to come over to hang out with us. She helped me out by taking all of the guts out of my pumpkins because she saw how freaked out I was by it. She only called me a weenie once! I really can’t help it. That stuff is GROSS!

Jordan and Ronnie cleaning out her pumpkin. She drew some type of hieroglyphics on her pumpkin that I was expected to cut out. It reminded me of those Transformers symbols. When she wasn’t looking I merged two or three of the shapes to make something remotely resembling a face. She was thrilled when it was done.

Katie digging out guts. I love her! (And not just because she got rid of guts for me!) She’s so much fun to hang out with.

Alexis with icky yucky disgusting pumpkin hands! Ewww! She doesn’t looked freaked out by it at all? She actually looks like she’s enjoying it. I don’t get it! 

Brandon did not participate in the pumpkin carving. He didn’t last year either. He’s just not a fan of the whole process. He refuses to even sit at the table while we carve and clean. So I don’t have any photos of him!

I do have a nasty photo to share! Everyone say it with me… Ewwwwwww! Just looking at this photo makes me cringe. I don’t know how I’ll even scrapbook it. My finger is inching toward the delete button as I type! LOL

I do love the finished result. Aren’t they adorable?! Everyone drew their own faces. The one on the far left was carved by Katie. He had an accident and has no nose and only one tooth left. Poor guy! LOL

Until next time!

Had A Bad Day

Every time we turned on the light in the little kids room on for the past few days, it made a popping noise and the breaker switch flipped. I called an electrician out to the house today and when he unscrewed the light from the ceiling this is what we saw!

It had caught fire!!! One of the wires shorted out. We are so very lucky that the house didn’t catch fire. The wires were burnt all the way up into the ceiling. The bill from the electrician ended up being $180 dollars and I had to go buy a new light fixture for $30, but all of it is worth the peace of mind to know that the kids will be safe! Alexis has an identical fixture in her room, and even though it’s not having any problems I’m still planning to change it out in about two weeks.

Jordan has been home from school almost all week and she is driving me bananas. She and Ronnie are supposed to be going to Talladega this weekend. I think she’s well enough to go back to school tomorrow! I have an insane amount of errands to do tomorrow to get ready for them to go. My cousin Katie is coming to spend the night too so that the remaining kids can drive her insane. I’m sure she’s going to love every minute of it. Wonder if I can make her babysit so I can scrapbook? Just kidding! I’m going to enjoy hanging out with her.

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween and a wonderful weekend!

That’s What Friends Are For

I went to the pumpkin patch with Jordan’s class this past Friday. It was fun and very eventful! I had four little girls that I was responsible for including Jordan. These are the same friends who hang out with Jordan at school. One of them even holds Jordan’s hand when she walks back and forth to the cafeteria in case she trips!

I thought it would be fun to share a few of the photos I took. The first thing they did was milk the fake cow. They took turns and then promptly pronounced it to be totally gross! (It kinda was.)

The four of them climbed all over the hay bales. The three other girls were able to walk on them, but Jordan crawled to be sure she wouldn’t fall. She is always so determined to do everything everyone else can do. She really inspires me!

They all thought that the pregnant cow in the petting zoo was super cool. They kept feeling her tummy to feel the baby move. That poor Momma cow was so huge that it made me have sympathy pains!

One of the last things we did before lunch was rubber duckie racing with water pumps! They really loved that part.

We all ate lunch sitting on the ground! By that time we were just grateful to find a place to rest because it was super hot. While we were sitting there I noticed a woman from our group crying, I walked up to her and found out that her car had been broken into in the pumpkin patch parking lot. I felt so bad for her! It’s such a shame that she had to deal with that on what was supposed to be a fun day! I told her to go down there and call the cops and I watched her kids. We ended up heading back to the school early after that happened.

We were supposed to go back to the same pumpkin patch with our three kids on Saturday but my sister in law called and asked them to go over to her house. Ronnie and I had a date day instead. We went out to lunch together and went to the bookstore to grab coffee and a children’s book the kids wanted. Then we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a new skillet for me. It was fun to just putter around together but it wasn’t long before we were missing the kids.

We didn’t do too much today. We all slept in!  We were recuperating from the busy week I suppose. I did a lot of cooking and cleaning. Nothing super fun to write about. Tomorrow I’m planning to scrapbook all day long!

Play On

I got all of the stuff in to do my next CSN review! Are you excited to see what I got!?

The first item I ordered was a desk chair that is really neat. It massages your back! When I ordered this I was trying to kill two birds with one stone. Every single time we go to the pharmacy, Jordan sits in a massage chair insert that they have in the waiting area. She kept asking for one of her own, and I thought it would be a good idea since she is frequently in pain due to her cerebral palsy. I also knew that Ronnie and I needed a new desk chair so I was super excited when I found this chair at CSN Stores…

It only took a few days before it was at my front door. Shipping is always great at CSN! I didn’t have any problems putting it together at all. The directions were clear and easy to follow. It is a very sturdy chair that rolls easily and the massage feature is nice. The only issue that I had with the chair is that it’s a little lower than I thought it would be as far as back support goes. Jordan absolutely loves it for the back massage feature. I have to pry her out of it when I want to get on the computer.  Just to prove it…

No, we are not keeping it outside. She wanted me to take a “nice photo of her in HER chair”. She totally cracks me up!

I also ordered this…

and this…

I love these puzzles! They are heavyweight, super thick, and well constructed out of solid wood. The colors are bright and they are really fun to play with. The kids haven’t been the only ones playing with them, I have too! I have a feeling they will last for years to come. Brandon absolutely adores them!

He plays with the fish one, but his favorite one is the tow truck puzzle of course!

I’d like to thank CSN Stores for sponsoring this review! (I was given the products, but was not compensated in any other way for my opinions.)

Tick Tock

Does anyone else feel like this weekend just flew by? I totally do! I have a few blog posts to catch up on today so please be patient with me.

First, I’d like to announce the winner of my of the Ideas for Scrapbookers blog hop RAK! The randomly chosen winner is…

Joy!!! Please email your name and address to me at miraclesmommadesigns(AT)hotmail.com! Thank you very much to all who participated.

Speaking of Ideas for Scrapbookers, I have a post with a sketch and free digital template up today. Feel free to stop by and check it out!

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2010/10/happy-together-templatesketch.html

Peek-A-Boo!

I know I owe you all some reviews and some photo sharing from the pumpkin patch, but I just had to drop by really quickly to share this layout. I love these photos of Jordan riding her horse! The Kitschy Digitals goodies were perfect for scrapping them. I promise I will be back tomorrow with more blog goodness including a winner from the Ideas For Scrapbookers blog hop!

Supplies:
Jessica Sprague Template+ 1.05
Vintage Cameras Kit
Fabric Covered Buttons Kit
Fresh Blooms Digital Kit
Granny's Attic Kit
Crystal's {Rainbow Sherbet} Collection
Kitschy Digitals Prize Ribbons and Rosettes

Photographs and Memories

My Mom came over to visit last Saturday. She brought my niece and nephew over to spend the night. We really had a lot of fun, it was just totally wild! We brought all of the kids with us to Hobby Lobby. That was an adventure in itself. I think I must’ve said “No, don’t touch that!” at least 100 times. We managed to get out without breaking anything or breaking our budget either. Gotta love coupons!

After that we brought them to the park. We made Ronnie meet us there so we would have extra help chasing the kids. I really wish that the weather here in Louisiana would get the memo that it’s supposed to be Fall! It was so HOT. Here they are playing in the water activity center…

Brandon and Christian found the sand box. It was like a magnet. Boys and dirty things! My van was full of sand. I really didn’t mind because they had so much fun!

I didn’t take many pictures because I was so busy chasing children. I really don’t know how people with more than three kids do it. I was exhausted by bed time! The good thing was that the kids were all pretty tired too. Except my niece, she ended up getting up in the middle of the night and waking Alexis up. My Mom found them playing Barbies in Lexie’s room and she made them go back to bed!

Here’s a photo of Brandon… He is so funny! I kept trying to take photos of him trying to sleep on the couch, but he kept covering his eyes.

Before I go, I also have a new vintage layout to share! I am just loving the feel of these Kitschy Digitals’ kits in case you can’t tell. They are so much fun to work with!

This is one of my favorite photos of the two of us. We were waiting outside of a plantation home to take a tour. I thought it would be fun to use the retro/vintage papers with it because of that!

Supplies: Kitschy Digitals' Fabric Covered Buttons Kit, Kitschy Digitals' Vintage Cameras Kit, Kitschy Digitals' Granny's Attic Kit, Kitschy Digitals' Vintage Photo Frames, Kitschy Digitals' Fresh Blooms Digital Kit, Kitschy Digitals' Prize Ribbons And Rosettes (Coming Soon!), and Word Art from Jessica Sprague's We Kit.

Falling For You

(If you are looking for the Ideas For Scrapbookers blog hop please scroll down!) I’ve got more creative team goodness to share! I’m having an absolute blast creating lately.

Did you know that Jessica Sprague has a weekly contest going on? When you use the products from More In Store Monday and load them to her Facebook wall you are entered into a random drawing for a gift certificate!

What are you waiting for? Go friend her! =0) Here's the link...

In other exciting news, Jessica has just released two new classes! An album for Tweens and one for Teens too. The designs are so bright and colorful. I can’t think of a single teen/tween that wouldn’t adore creating a book all about them! Check out the images below. They are linked if you would like to find out more information!

For Tweens:

For Teens:

I’ve also got a new layout that I created with products from Jessica’s store!

I used Cosmo Cricket’s Nutmeg digital Papers, Borders, Candy Candy, Elements, and Alphabet. The font is called Typewriter.

Ideas For Scrapbookers Blog Hop

We are celebrating our 1st birthday over at Ideas for Scrapbookers! It’s been a wonderful year of sharing tips, techniques, templates and more! You should have come to my blog from Nancy’s blog. Don’t worry if you are just finding out about the blog hop. I’ll post where to start at the end of this post!

My part of the celebration focuses on highlighting some of my favorite technique posts. It was definitely hard to narrow it down. My fellow contributing artists are seriously talented!

First up is a mini album idea that I’m planning to scraplift soon! Who would’ve ever thought to use a license plate as the cover of a mini album? Cathy, you totally amaze and inspire me! Check out her mini album here…

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2010/10/license-to-create.html

If you want to make shabby chic pages, then you definitely need to learn to distress! I really loved Nancy’s distressing tutorial. I didn’t know that you could use water to distress your papers! Way cool. Check out Nancy’s distressing tips here…

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2010/09/lets-get-distressed.html

Lisa definitely knows how to create amazing layouts! In this tutorial, she shows you how to make doily flowers! Totally gorgeous, and way easier than you would think. Check out her neat idea here…

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2010/09/flower-doily-tutorial.html

My favorite tutorial by Dolores has to be these amazing net flowers that she made. It’s such an innovative idea, and she makes it look simple. I’ve printed this one out to try it later. Plus, isn’t her layout just gorgeous?! Check it out here…

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2010/08/handmade-flowers-from-net-paper-hearts.html

This one is also on my to try list! The super rolled frames that Sara taught us how to make in her technique tutorial are so cool! I love how the dimension really draws your eye to the photo. Click the link below to view her idea…

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2010/08/create-your-own-rolled-paper-frame.html

Last but not least, I’ve chosen this photo altering tutorial by Pammy! It helps you create a dreamy story book feel to your photos. I don’t know about you but I LOVE editing my photos. Pammy tells you how in this post…

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2010/03/create-storybook-effect-for-your-photo.html

To celebrate our anniversary I also will be giving a small prize away to one visitor. (Including a pack of Thickers, and we all know how awesome Thickers are!) All you have to do is solve this little word scramble.

uttbon

birbon

kalch

prape

kni

You can leave me the answers in the comment field if you would like to enter. The winner will be chosen randomly. I’ll also give you an extra entry if you become a follower! Please note that in the comment field as well. It makes it a little easier to track.

The next stop on the blog train is Cathy’s blog!

http://scrappycath.blogspot.com/

If you just got started you can start all the way back at the beginning at Ideas for Scrapbookers to make sure you hit all of the blogs. I know I’m not the only one giving a prize, so you should definitely check all of the girls out!

I Like To Shoot People (With My Camera)

I did my first layout for JessicaSprague.com! I am assigned to work with Kitschy Digitals this month. I absolutely adore her vintage style! I dived right into playing with piles of awesome digital supplies, and this is what I came up with.

Journaling: I am the family photographer. You can find me behind the lens of my camera. Beware! If you aren't nice to me, I might just crop you out of my photos!

Supplies:

Kitschy Digitals Vintage Cameras Kit, Kitschy Digitals Clothesline Kit, and Kitschy Digitals Granny’s Attic Kit.

Feels Like Home

If you’ve been following my blog a while, I’m sure you’ve  seen my reviews for CSN Stores! It’s time for another review, and I’m beyond excited. I love browsing their site. There is so much variety. This morning I was looking at their excellent selection of dining chairs and the other fabulous home décor choices they offer.

Speaking of decorating, do you decorate your home for Fall? I’ve been buying a little bit at a time because Brandon decided that my house wasn’t decorated enough! My sister in law decorates her house for Easter, Fall, Halloween, and Christmas. Brandon went over there for a sleep over and when he came home he asked me where my decorations were. I didn’t really decorate when the kids were small because I was afraid they would pull it down or mess it up. Now that they are getting a bit older I’m working on it!

Are you wondering what I’ll be reviewing for CSN Stores this time? I’m not quite sure yet! I’m still browsing. There is so much to choose from. As soon as I make up my mind though, I’ll be back to tell you for sure!

Check it out!

I have a free digital template available on the Ideas for Scrapbookers blog today!

http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2010/10/fly-kite-sketchtemplate.html

Fabulous

If you read the Jessica Sprague blog you already know my fabulous news! I’ve been chosen to be on the creative team for her site!!! I am so beyond excited. She has all of THE best designers, and I get to take all of Jessica’s fantastic classes. When I found out, I jumped up and down and squealed so loudly my children came running! I’ve been pinching myself since I found out. Ouch! Yep. Still awake, and still SO thrilled beyond words!

It’s a big deal to me because I’ve loved her classes and products for a long time. Here are two layouts I’ve done with her Photoshop Friday feature. Every Friday she puts a tutorial and mini kit on sale to make a layout. For only $1.00!

 

Here’s a link to today’s Photoshop Friday episode! I totally plan on doing it after I come home from bringing the girls to vision therapy!

Fly Me to the Moon

Late last night I finally finished editing the photos I took when we went to Stennis Space Center on Alexis’ field trip. I found it really interesting and I wish that I would’ve had more time to read and observe. Instead I found myself chasing four busy girls who wanted to see everything in the 45 minute time frame we had. Here is some information about Stennis that I found on their website.

“The John C. Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi is one of ten NASA field centers in the United States. It is home to America’s largest rocket engine test complex where every space shuttle main engine is tested and future engines and stages will be tested for returning astronauts to the moon with possible journeys beyond. Because of its important role in engine testing for four decades, Stennis is NASA's program manager for rocket propulsion testing with total responsibility for conducting and/or managing all NASA propulsion test programs.”

They told us all of that and more in the presentation that they put on in the auditorium. Unfortunately none of the children remembers anything about rocket testing. What they do remember is that they were told that astronauts wear diapers when the shuttle is launched in case they get excited and have to go. They also wear diapers when they walk out in space for missions because it’s not like they can run in and rip off the suit if they have to go potty. It takes two hours to put the space suit on to go on a space walk. None of the children want to be astronauts anymore. LOL

This is the outside of the visitor’s center. I took it while we were waiting on the kids to arrive on the bus.

The girls in front of a model space shuttle. You can tell that they are growing up because the poses get so sassy! It was like America’s Next Top Model.

Here they were flying a virtual space shuttle and bringing it in for a landing. There was a huge line to do this.

The kids got to climb up into a space suit. They were all so very tiny compared to it. Alexis wanted to know what happens if astronauts pass gas in the space suit.

Here they are outside posing next to a huge anchor that’s used to hold down buoys in the Gulf of Mexico so that they can gather information on hurricanes.

After that we had lunch and headed home. It took me about an hour to get back because the trip was all the way in Mississippi. It was definitely worth the drive though because I had fun and I know they did too.