Some more love...

Just popping in to show a few more pictures of some select pages of my Love U mini book from yesterday. It's always a challenge when you use a pre-selected group of pages for a mini book because, inevitably, there is at least one page in the mix with which you have no idea what to do!! This right hand page is a piece of heavy upholstery fabric. I almost just quietly disposed of it, but then reconsidered and came up with this page...using a mini bingo board from Jenni Bowlin and a piece of fabric I freehand cutted into a heart. A few sequins attached with some french knots to finish the look....

This "L" is from a booklet of letters and words from the Girls Paperie line with a few fabric scraps stitched on...

And no book would be complete without a photo of "the boys" hangin' out together...

Hope you are enjoying your weekend with family and friends!! It's a beautiful clear day so get out and soak in the sunshine!!

Love U Mini Book

I just completed the Valentine-themed mini book that I started back in February... well, I actually finished it about a week ago but took a break from the regularly scheduled programming for the very fabulous Moulin Rouge Artistic Affaire which was as amazing as expected!!! (Sorry..no pics of the event..too caught up in a whirlwind of creating and having a good time to take pictures!) However, I finally had a moment to snap a few pics of the book today so here they are!! I ordered the book from here..she sends you all the pages with some extra embellishments. I then dig into my much-too-large stash and add lots of other goodies.

Our first beach "practice" trip before going to Hawaii....

The cover is actually clear acrylic so the first page with the cut-out heart shows through...

I'm not too fabulous with the sewing machine, but I was kinda proud of my "L" for Liam. I got the idea for the saying from the etsy shop "Sparkle Power" where I recently ordered this cute poster!

This page was inspired by one of my favorite new blogs called The Pink Couch. LOVE this blog!

I have a few more pics I will post later this weekend...thanks for stopping by!!!

Hawaii Mini Album Part 2

As promised, here are some final pictures of the mini album from our Hawaiian vacation. Wow! Two blog posts in one week...I feel like I've really accomplished something, and it's only Tuesday! :P

One of the biggest "adjustments" of traveling with a baby was the lack of time to get a Starbucks in the airport! That is always something I look forward to right before boarding the plane but, alas, no time for Starbucks after you get the full pat down search and no extra hands to hold a drink. *sigh* Once I got on the plane, I was craving some kind of goodness and thankfully they sold these dark chocolate candy bars on the plane which were the most delicious combination of salty and sweet.....there were angels singing!~

The cover....

We went to the Red Dirt Shirt Factory featured on Dirtiest Jobs on TV. Rich bought a T-shirt, but I have yet to wash it since it needs it's own wash cycle or it will turn everything RED!

Thanks for checking back...enjoy the rest of your week!!

Hawaii Mini Album Part 1

While preparing for Hawaii, I was pining over making a journal/mini album of our trip. I had done this once before when we went to Park City but that was a pre-baby vacation! However, after reading a post by Amy Tan about her recent trip to Hawaii, I just had to do it. I gathered some scraps from my table..leftovers from other projects.. and made a collection of similarly themed tags, paper scraps, stickers, etc. I used the 8 x 8 Maya Road Binder Album which is a great album as long as you don't use too many bulky add-ons. Each evening, after Liam went to bed, I'd take all my supplies out and make the page for that day..just one layout. Here is Monday, Feb. 14th.....

(The postcard part is actually a flip out with other things written underneath it.)

Day number 2 along the western part of the island... I even glued on some sea glass pieces I found along Glass Beach.

Day number 3 along the eastern side of the island...

Our last day...
A final picture to remember....

I still have another page and the cover to post as well as some of the flip out sections. Be back later this week!!!

Aloha!

Greetings from Hawaii!! We just returned from a week away in paradise...*sigh*. Wish we could have stayed longer but, as they say, all good things must come to an end. We had never been to Hawaii before so we decided on Kauai, which was a perfect fit...lots of green lush vegetation, waterfalls, ocean, and roosters??? Yes, roosters! Roosters that start crowing at random times, including 4 am! However, other favorites far outweighed the cock-a-doodle-dooing...including shave ice with macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom, banana frosties, lots of fresh ono and seafood, and Hawaiian hot dogs with mango relish!

Here is my dream home.. TURQUOISE!! ...right across the street from the ocean where we also saw baby sea turtles swimming in the surf.

My husband enjoyed lots of surfing while I was content to enjoy amazing scenery while running along the shore! Tag-team style, of course, since vacationing with a baby was definitely a change in mindset...no boat tours, no ziplining, no 8-mile hikes back to a hidden waterfall... {not bad} just different.
Liam at the beach for the very first time. He LOVED it and he loved to eat the sand. Just when he'd have a fully coated hand is when he'd want to suck his thumb. Go figure! To be expected...

There was lots of color and beauty everywhere you looked! We definitely plan to return when Liam is a bit older and more self-sufficient. I even took a little time each night to make a mini book with journaling of our day's activities! Hopefully I will have some time to take pics today and post it later in the week. Mahalo {thanks} for stopping by...have a great weekend!

December Revisited

Happy weekend!! I finally got around to taking some pictures of my December album. I purchased the album from the very sweet and talented Debee Campos. I think I've mentioned her work before on my blog. If you've never visited her blog called Art as Life, you must stop by. She just opened a new etsy shop, Inspire Lovely, which is stocked with all sorts of sunshiny (probably not a word) goodness!!

So here is my little guy with his Christmas outfit on, all ready to deck the halls...

The cover of the album, inspired by Debee. The "flowers" are actually red sequins which I french knotted onto the cardstock.
The toy soldier on the left is a fun pull toy that was my husband's when he was a boy. I thought the handprint was a great idea to look back on and remember how small Liam was!
Liam's Christmas ornament for 2010...picked out by mommy at mommy's favorite store, Anthropologie!! Can't go wrong with anything from there!!

Daddy and Liam playing the African drums during a "music lesson" over the holiday break. The style of this page was inspired by a new blog I've been reading by Vee Jennings.
That's just a sampling of some of the pages. I was happy with myself that I am finally using the sewing machine that I got for Christmas last year!! I haven't sewed one piece of fabric with it, but sure have stitched a lot of paper using it!! Lots of fun!!!!

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone out there has had a positive productive start to the new year!! It seems like just yesterday we were putting up the Christmas tree and now it's Martin Luther King Day weekend! I've been busy with lots of creative projects even though it doesn't look like it on my blog. I had some computer problems over the holidays so I didn't want to load pictures onto it if I was going to have to buy a new one. The glitches seem to be worked out so I'm going to try to play catch up and post some things I've been up to later this weekend. Here is one of the very best things I've been up to...watching this little guy grow!! He's almost 9 months old..wow! Not crawling yet but everyone tells me not to rush it and enjoy having my house in one piece.

A few other things that kept me busy in the last month were the December Daily album, although it turned out to be just a December album...no daily! I also signed up for the One Little Word year long class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. That really has helped to get me excited about 2011! My word for the year is NURTURE...I think you can guess why! Lots to nurture in the year ahead...for myself and others. See you back here later this weekend...enjoy the warmth and sunshine if you are in southern CA!