Life, Organization, Scrapbooking and Valentine’s Day

(Photo heavy post ahead)

2011 is already zipping on by.  We have been keeping busy with long work days, home organization projects and trying to fit in some creative/hobby time (usually late at night after the boys go to sleep.

Today’s challenge at ScrapTiffany was to use metal or wire. I ended up making 3 layouts using this challenge. This is the one I submitted to Tiffany for the design team layouts.

This layout was rolling around my brain since a few days after my mom passed away in December. The Orianthi song Courage came on the radio and I knew this was something I needed to make….

For this one I used some old metal flowers mixed with new. 

and this one I embossed a thin sheet of metal with the cuttlebug for the heart in the title and the photo corner. Pictures were from our photo shoot with Maggie Holmes.

We have been on a clean out, get rid of and organize mission lately.  Two weekends ago we attacked the pantry and the linen closet.

This is what the pantry looked like when we started.

And now, although I am not happy with a few things, so I have ordered some more of the larger baskets and will move some of the smaller ones to the laundry room cabinets. But it is nice to have a place for everything,.

This is the start of the new backsplash, behind the stove. I have one more piece on backorder that will fit below the shelf area down to the counter top. But this is making me very happy.

Superbowl Sunday was spent hanging around the house. Or climbing if you are Jackson…

Making some yummy treats…

Nicholas liked watching half time and the commercials more than the football game (just like his mommy)….

I was home early from a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. Jackson was playing and then suddenly it was quiet….

Nicholas now knows how to play Daddy’s train game on the computer….

This past Saturday, Mike’s mom came to watch the boys so Mike and I could attack this disaster.  Our house has a 2 car and 1 car garage set up. The 1 car garage has become a dumping ground for everything….

We took out everything opened all the bins and boxes. Moved all the shelves, swept, and wiped down everything.  Then we added new shelving and a file cabinet. And we actually have a garage again.

In January I also did the larger garage. It wasn’t as crammed with stuff. This side just needed a better set up and a good clean out.  I guess I didn’t take a before shot, but here is how it looks now….

my favorite area is this one. We do most of our grocery shopping at Costco, saving money is great, but storing the bulk stuff is a pain. Now it is all in one place, convenient to grab when we need it and easy to unload after the Costco trip each week.

Nicholas in daddy’s shoes (showing off the closet that is coming up on the list of things to clean out).

Mike has been busy working on his radio project.

We celebrated Valentine’s with a few goodies for the kiddos.

my Valentine’s present will be shipping from Verizon soon….

After the kiddos went to bed, my Valentine and I spent the rest of the evening enjoying

Dinner….Greek Salad

Wild Mushroom Lasagna and Meatballs….

and a movie…

Have a great week!

21 Years Ago Today....

We went on our first date...

So today is our "unofficial" anniversary. I couldn't have it any better.

Ask and you shall receive....I guess

I know I have been complaining A LOT about the heat this year in lovely Arizona, aka 'the oven". We have been hoping for fall, but really?

"Fall"-ing trees????  They said we had winds up to 70 mph in some parts of Chandler. Must have been in our front yard. This is the 4th or 5th tree  we have lost in our front yard in this spot. The first 2 died and the last ones were knocked over in storms. We have lived in our house 5 years, and between a severe frost in 2007 that killed a few other trees and the winds, our tree landscaping looks like we have lived here 5 minutes. I want my trees to grow up. 

I went on a walk this morning and the only other trees that were lost were in the common areas, no other homes that I saw. Just loving that we get to pay someone to remove the tree and plant another one. 

On the upside we may finally be heading towards fall. It should be in the 80's to low 90's for the rest of the week. Hasta la vista 100 degree temps!

Mike took the boys to Snip It's for hair cuts yesterday. They both look like little marines with their short do's.

Here's a card I made for my friend that is coming back to work today after a very long and bad illness. It's a scary thing to think you are going about your normal life your still relatively young, overall healthy and then wham, life stops you in your tracks. I am praying she is back feeling like her normal self soon. 

I made this with the new Pink Paislee/House of Three Parisian Anthology paper and trim. I picked up the trims at my LSS last week. I was paying for my other purchases and looked over and saw them peeking out of a box of new stuff that hadn't been put out yet. I asked if I could buy them even though they weren't up for sale. I misted the paper with Tattered Angels. It didn't show up in the picture too well, but it the glossy part of the paper is still creamy off white.

The stamp was found in the dollar bin at Michael's a month or so ago. They had a few "vintage-y" style stamps (birdcage, old fashioned key and old typewriter) that I got as well.  Oh and the trim....swoon.

Have a great Wednesday! 

Wednesday Home Decor Share and 2 new Layouts

A while back Becky Higgins shared on her blog a home decor project for making a fruit topiary.  I am in the process of planning some redecorating in a few rooms to change from browns and oranges to some bright happy colors (yellow, green, blue and white).  So this looked like a good thing to add to my new decor. This past weekend I finished up the first one. I do think I will paint the vase a different shade.  It isn't quite the green I am looking for.    

While making this I also had an idea for some fall themed arrangements. I ended up making 3 of them. I will share those soon.

I cannot wait for the long weekend, although Mike informed me that the cooler weather we've had the past few days (closer to 100 degrees than 110) will not be lasting through the weekend. So it could be another weekend stuck inside in the a/c.

This past weekend I was able to scrap quite a bit.  Here are a couple of layouts I did. I didn't love this picture, but since we have so few of the 4 of us together, I hung onto it. I can't wait for it to cool off so we can get back to the zoo this fall.

My original plan for the Studio Calico July kit was to work on past vacation pictures. So I finally used it for a layout from our San Diego trip from a couple of years ago.  I did a whole mini with beach pictures that Nicholas looks at all the time. So a one pager with my favorite photos from that afternoon at the beach will be enough for our Places We Go - Far Away album.  And that border below the pictures is one of the new EK Sucess jumbo scallop border punches. Can't wait to use more of them.

Have a great Wednesday!

ScrapTiffany Share

Today was my first blog post over at ScrapTiffany for Thrifty Thursday.

I shared how to make these pom-pom's from tissue paper.

And I also talked about the great find at Michael's that I used to make this page.

Check out ScrapTiffany every day of the week for great ideas and inspiration. Friday is the 2nd part of this week's design team reveal.  I can't wait to see what the ladies do with their self portraits.