Little Moments (like this one) are Magic

As a parent, time just seems to fly by. Everyday faster and faster. Somedays it seems like those special moments just went by way too fast, but other times you see a moment and are able to fully capture it. That is always so exciting. I have come to discover that taking pictures of older children as they sleep is so magical. I was able to capture this picture of my two littles, along with our two furry family members last week and I just stood there and watched them for awhile and then I realized I had better hurry up, quit gawking, and get a picture before everyone woke up! Luckily, My trusty I-phone was nearby and the dogs opened their eyes but did not wake up the kids (thank you Daisy and Elizabeth.)

(A little backstory) lately, my two (ages 12 and 9) have been having a very hard time getting along, but this weekend they were the best of buddies and slept with the dogs together all weekend long. They are so innocent about this, but I know soon the time will come when they will not be able to do this anymore, but until then I will just capture those photos.

Without further ado, here it is:

A close up of the photo and tons of papers and embellishments

And a close up of the upper left corner embellishment cluster and title work

Supplies Used

This layout was created using the Studio Calico monthly kit-Sock Hop as well as the two add-on kits for November (Penny Loafers and Bobby Socks.)

Studio Calico Mister Huey in Warm Calico.

American Crafts precision pen .03 point in black ink.

Prima Chalk Fluid Edger in Old Road (for stamped sentiment "Hello, Friend."

Studio Calico Oh Snap stamp set (includes "Hello, Friend" and many other cute expressions and tons of arrows.

American Crafts this to that permanent adhesive

American Crafts this to that foam dots (round)

Scrapbook Adhesive 3D Foam Squares

Oh how I just love those two, I am so blessed with two great kids, they are such sweethearts. So now for some questions for you reader, have you been able to document any super special moments? You know, those moments that pull at your heart strings, moments you know you will want to remember forever? I would love to hear about your special moments, or send me a link and I will see how you documented it.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today, I appreciate you being here. :-)

Happy Thursday!

xoxox

Toni

Wordless(ish) Wednesday

I think someone was a little cold Monday morning waiting for the bus

Happy Wednesday!

xoxox

Toni

Autumn is in the Air

My family and I had such a glorious Thanksgiving Day weekend. My husband had four days off in a row, he has not had that much time off since Spring of 2011, so I was so thankful that he received that much needed down time. Thursday, we had our traditional turkey dinner, with just our little family of four, but we had a great time nonetheless. Friday, we packed (we are moving early next month.) Saturday, the kids and I went to see The Guardians movie, pretty cute. I also spent the morning watching them jump in leaves, they were so adorable and just had so much joy doing something so simple. Sunday, I went to Archiver's for a few hours, did some browsing, and completed most of the scrapbook layout that I am sharing today. One of the coolest things that happened this weekend, however was, that my husband gave me my Christmas present early:  A new camera. Gone are the days of my using only my I-Phone 4s for photographs, I now have a Canon Rebel and I adore it. I have only played with it a couple of hours, but have already got some good shots of closeups, inside happenings, as well as some great Autumn shots. My husband is the greatest-that is all I'm sayin'.

Without further ado:

And a close up of some of my embellishing:

Supplies Used:

• Studio Calico November Kit-Sock Hop (main kit,) 
• Silhouette Cameo cuts "A Favorite Photo" and Leaves, sorry I don't have the exact names for you, someone gave them to me.
• October Afternoon Midway Carousel (side B)
• Crate Paper Acorn Avenue 6 x 6 Paper Pad
• Crate Paper Acorn Avenue wood veneer shapes
• Crate Paper Acorn Avenue cardstock sticker phrases
• Crate Paper Acorn Avenue tape stickers 
• Orange Camera paperclip (received from a friend)
• Studio Calico Classic Calico v. 3 die cut frames

What about you? Have you been creating anything lately? What are you doing to celebrate fall? Is there anything more reminiscent of childhood and autumn than jumping in leaves? How was your weekend? Any crazy Black Friday Deals? Let's Dish.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, 

Happy Monday!

xoxox

Toni

Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

We have so many great pictures from our camping trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I decided to make a layout of just scenery, it also seemed like a great excuse to use all of my awesome Studio Calico feather veneers...they kind of remind me of leaves (sorta, LOL.)

Without further ado, here are the photos.

I loved the feather veneer in this kit and knew that I could embellish them in any way I chose. I love to play around with embellishments and make them coordinate. It's a problem that started with matching my socks to my shirt everyday through college-yup....I love to match, LOL. Since I did not have my embossing powder on me at the time, I just used some stamping markers to color them in and it worked brilliantly. I also was really excited that I came up with a way to incorporate the "Do What You Love" stamp above (and part of) the title.

This layout was made using Studio Calico's November Kit "Sock Hop" as well as Add-On #2 "Penny Loafers, and Add-On #3 "Poodle Skirt."

Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog, especially during this super busy holiday time of year. I appreciate your support and kind words.

Happy Sunday!

Toni

Hipsters and Homework for you 2

Halloween 2012: North Carolina Style. For Halloween this year, we used things we already had around the house for costumes. I considered it a personal challenge to try to come up with creative and fun costumes without spending any money. So what did we come up with? Well, since my daughter is obsessed with neon and has TONS of neon clothes, we decided an 80's girl was the way to go for her. And yes, I still have my crimper from 1990 and it still works, LOL. My son (age 12, ) is kind of out of the costume phase, so he just needed something that would allow him to participate. In seventh grade this year he has a lot of homework in his honors classes so we made him a "homework explosion." Very simple to recreate, just pin homework to your child and you are done. I should note that we received a lot of mad props for both of their costumes, the adults especially got a chuckle out of the homework explosion one. Also, mad props to the checking account:  0 dollars spent!!!

I scrapbooked their Halloween pictures using pastel papers and accessories. I am not a huge themey person really, but I find that kind of funny actually. I just loved how the new Dear Lizzy collection worked with all of the pictures I took. I used the Studio Calico November main kit from Sock Hop as well as add-on kit #2 Penny Loafers, and add-on kit #3 Poodle Skirt.

Journaling says, "True story. Very simple Halloween costumes this year. Crimped hair and neon for the 80's girl and pinned on homework for a 'homework explosion,' simple and fun. Created October 31, 2012."

So now that I have shared some Halloween layouts with all of you, what did you do for Halloween? Have you documented it yet? What about using non-traditional items for holiday photos? Is that something you usually do? I would love to hear from you.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, I really appreciate you stopping by.

Happy Thursday!

Toni

Layout Share: "But Mom I'm Doing my Homework"

Love this photo and story. Oh that boy, just love him to pieces.

And a close up of the journaling, I always include this, otherwise it is just pictures, and someday I figure I won't remember the story.

This Layout was made using Studio Calico's November Kit "Sock Hop" as well as Add-On #2 "Penny Loafers, and Add-On #3 "Poodle Skirt."

What are your thoughts on journaling? Are you noticing (like me) that many, many layouts are completed nowadays without journaling? What are your thoughts on the subject? Is it scrapbooking without the journaling, or is is just picture taking embellished with products? Always a good discussion, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter. I should note here that I think that scrapbooking and memory keeping should be done in a way that is authentic to you, I am just a huge fan of the written or typed (or camouflaged) word. I just thought this might make a good discussion for a Wednesday.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and as always,

Happy Wednesday!

Toni

Layout Share: "Doggy Chillaxin"

It has been so long since I have shared a traditional scrapbook layout with you. Why, you might ask? I have been super busy packing up our townhome to move to our new house. We are under contract to close on the house by December 7th, but we are trying to close much earlier (November 30th.) Nothing like eating Thanksgiving off paper plates, and moving during the holidays. Not really complaining, this is a tremendous blessing to my family, but things are a little hectic.

I took Sunday off this past weekend and then it-kind-of-rolled into Monday, LOL. I was successful in getting some house cleaning done and lots of laundry (seriously do not ask me about it, so embarassing,)  but not much packing. I just needed some creative "me" time. Anyways, I have four layouts to share this week and without further ado, here it is:

   And a close up for you:

I should give you some back story on this photo. This is our pekingese Elizabeth, a dog, that has a  lot of personality, and is constantly cracking us up, and  yes she does sleep, relax, and walk around the house, half of the time with her tongue out of her mouth. On this particular day I was watching the news on the couch and she fell asleep next to me, just like this. She doesn't usually sleep on her back, but this pose just cracked me up and I had to scrapbook it. The life of a dog? Rough isn't it.

This layout (along with the rest I am sharing this week) was created using the November Studio Calico Scrapbook Kit entitled Sock Hop. Studio Calico is a great kit club if you are looking for some scrapbook inspiration or a great online community of some seriously awesome and talented scrapbooking pals.

Thank you for coming to my blog today. I will have more layouts to share the rest of this week as well, so I would love to see you again.

Happy Tuesday!

Toni

Wordless(ish) Wednesdays

An 80's girl and a homework explosion.

I hope y'all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Happy Wednesday!

Toni