Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - Family year in review

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year!!  Our year has been eventful, just before the New Year began we had our little Brandon, he was born on December 31, 2009.  Then while we were in the hospital with him our oldest son Morgan had his birthday and he turned 4.  So now since we are almost at the end of the year they are almost 1 and 5.  Time has flown by.

New Years Day 2010

So news about the family, I stay at home with the boys full time and love it.  My time is spent trotting Morgan of to his Pre-K school 2 days a week, Morgan’s extra activities, play groups, and grocery shopping.  Brandon so far gets to tag along with us.  I am very much into scrapbooking as you can see from this blog.  I am a design team member for a couple of on-line scrapbook groups and I also teach scrapbook classes.  Mike has been great to in letting me indulge my hobby so far, but the good news is that my classes that I teach pay for my hobby!!  It has also become my therapeutic outlet, a way for me to calm and center myself, plus a way for me to see pictures of all three of my beautiful children. 

Erin's 31st birthday

Mike is busy working with the Texas National Guard full time.  He just made the rank of Captain a couple weeks ago.  We are hoping that he can stay working with the National Guard, but with the budget cuts and the State of Texas spending less on military we are working contract to contract, and for us that is a month to month worry if he will still have a job.  He loves what he does and it is a great career for him, we just hope that money can be found to pay for him to stay there. 

Mike's Captain Ceremony

 

Morgan and Mike at lazer tag

Morgan is getting so big.  We compared his height to Mike’s height at the same age and Morgan is 6 inches taller, it will be great when he gets older he can reach all the stuff that is just out of my reach in the kitchen!  He loves his school, he goes 2 days a week, and once a week he went to a sports class that taught him all the basics for 8 sports like tennis, golf, soccer, baseball, and basketball just to name a few.  Morgan is so full of energy, I wish I had just a little of it, and loves to play with other kids.  He is very outgoing and loves to talk with people, even perfect strangers.  His favorite things right now are anything to do with bugs, dragons, dinosaurs, dragons, movies, dragons, and did I mention dragons!!  Needless to say this is the dragon Christmas and birthday.  He is so excited that he is turning 5, because next school year he gets to go to kindergarten and with the school (the public school walking distance from the house).

Morgan, Brandon, and Erin playing at the Pool at Grandma Elaine's house

Brandon is growing like a weed.  He is a great baby.  He loves to watch and now try and do everything big brother does, mostly to Morgan’s chagrin.  I am getting lots of “mom he is touching my stuff”.  Brandon is almost walking; he has taken his first few steps, but if it is to far then he just plops down and crawls to his destination.  His newest feat is he is starting to try and climb down the stairs, couches, and beds.  He almost can do it by himself.  He also just cut his third tooth, and the fourth is minutes away from coming in too.  

Brandon at 10 months

Our family is holding up the best it can.  It has its moments of hardship, as this upcoming march will be 2 years since our precious baby Kristen passed away.  Not a moment of the day goes by where I do not wish she is running around with her brothers.

Kristen at 3 months

I hope everyone had a great 2010 and I hope to see as many of you as we can in 2011!!

Christmas 2010

Best wishes, the Reed Family.

Canyon Lake Trip  -  Oct

Sketches4All Blog Hop - My RAK winner

I had a great turn out for my first blog hop and blog contest!!  There were some great layouts and comments.  But as with any contest it has to end and we have a winnner...........what everyone wants to know anyway, lol.

Thank you everyone for playing!!

It seems fitting that the person with most entries and the most layouts (therefore the most possibilities of winning) was the name that was drawn!!

So the winner is Betty Anne Orr!!  Congrats!!

Betty please send me a PM at sketches4all with your address so I can mail your RAK to you :)

Christmas Layout

I am using this layout for a few things, but mostly it is one of my boys (my little girl is the butterfly in the bottom left) for this Christmas.  Christmas to me means family.  That I can spent time with my family, is very special to me as I know all to easy how not having you loved ones around for the holidays is painful.  So this layout is in tribute to my children, all three of them.

I made the flowers, and the tutorial for them is on this blog from Amarilys

Silk Flower BloomsTutorial

I found this tutorial a long time ago to make little flower blooms out of old flowers and flowers cut from paper, but then I thought what about with silk, using the same technique.

So here is my silk flower blooms tutorial.  Sorry the pictures are so grainy, I will try and retake them soon.

Materials:
- silk flowers, I used 3-4 for my flowers, you could use 5, but need at least 3.
- hot glue gun (I have not found a tacky glue that works well with the silk flowers), you could also try glue dots
- scissors

1) Place a little glue in the middle of one of the flowers, I let it cool off before I touched it. I then pinched up the base the petals to give it a squished look.

2) Once it is squished up, cut the bottom of the flower off(at the base), this makes the flower flatter (or it is just a pointy mess) and fill out better when done

3).  Place glue on the middle of another flower and nest the first cut flower int he middle of the second.

side view

top view

4) Repeat the pinching of the base of the flower and cutting the base off like you did for the first flower.   The place glue in the middle of the 3rd flower and nest the combined 1st and 2nd pinched set of flowers into the 3rd (in the middle). You can stop here and have a complete flower, or you can do more layers for a fuller flower.   It all depends on the flower you use and the effect you want for how many flowers you layer.

Complete Layout with the flowers. All the flower on here were done using this technique.  The red flowers are a combination of silk and old prima ones I found in my stash.

Enjoy and hope you have fun making these!!

Swirlydoos 25 Tags of Christmas- Tag 2

Swirlydoo is doing a tag contest, and this is the one I made for the second day, monochrome green.

New Prima December 2010

December's PPP is a gorgeous mix of holiday products and traditional colors! Just look at the fun ornaments, sparkling vines and fluttering butterflies. Any of these products will add glamor to your products.

Sketches4All Annivesary Blog Hop

Welcome to the Sketches4All blog hop!

Before you read on too far, make sure that you have started at Melissa's (Isay) wonderfully written blog! If I am your fourth stop, then you are all good!

I have had the honor of designing for Sketches4All. I love the warm community, the great gallery, contests, and challenges our members offer. It is always a joy to share my life and my work there!

I have had many of my online friends became a part of Sketches4 All and they love the community as well. So...now it is your turn!

I created this layout below using the great sketch for this Blog Hop.

If you want to win this contest (and you know you do), then you have a few things you need to do.

1) Just follow along the hop to the next person and find the hidden letter on each person's blog to solve the mystery word. My hidden letter is .....I....... Make sure you leave a comment on each blog as you hop along to get credit.

2) Join the Sketches4All site.

3) Then use the sketch posted above and make your own project and post it on Sketches4All. Don't forget to put in the hidden word you found from our blogs when you post your project on the site.  More information about the sketch is at the site.

4) Make a post in the forum for this contest!!

That is it, easy peasy!!

ERIN'S EXTRA RAK CONTEST!!!

To be eligible for my RAK on my blog there are a few things you can do, each one will get you another entry into my RAK. I will pick a random name from the entries to win!!

1. Leave me a comment on this post you're in the drawing!

2. If you want another chance of winning, blog about the bloghop and/or tell your Facebook friends about it! (please link back your blog link and/or Facebook link so I can see in a post on my blog).

3. You can also earn an extra entry by signing up for my challenges at Skeches4All in Erin Reed's Challenges (please post in the challenge section that you have joined for this contest, if you already are a member then post again!!)

4. Become a follower, if you are already a follower then state so in your post, or if you are new let me know that too so I can give you credit for following.

For the REALLY eager - there are bonus opportunities!!.

4. If you post your entries for my challenges in my challenge group section of Sketches4All Erin Reed's Challenges (I have 2 of them) then each challenge entry will enter you in for 2 more chances each!!  Challenges will start Nov 29, 2010.  That gets you 4 more entries.

Do you realize that you can earn as many as SEVEN chances of winning...!  My Contest ends December 15, 2010 at midnight cst.  This contest is eligible to all countries and participants.

Even better, each design team member may be giving away a different RAK so don't stop here! Keep moving and visit everyone's blog!

Hop on over to Wendy blog! She is super talented and inspires me every day!

Have fun and I can't wait to see who wins!   

The blog hop ends at the ends DECEMBER 6, 2010, so hurry!!

Blog Hop coming soon from Sketches4All!!

Look back here on November 26th for a blog hop with lots of chances to win goodies, prizes, and RAKs from the design team members of Sketches4All.  See you then!!

Prima Color Challenge with a Swirly Twist

I used the color palate for the November Prima collection, but then used two of the challenges from Swirlydoo's and a sketch from Sketches in Thyme to make this LO of my daughter's angel. 

I used the new angel we got in our backyard. My daughter died at the age of 4 months, so since then for her birthday we have gotten something to remember her by. This year (her birthday is Oct 30) for her would be 2nd birthday we got this little angel and placed it under her tree we got and planted when she died. I did not journal any of this, as sometimes it is just nice to see a pleasant LO rather than dwell.

I stuck with fall colors as it is autumn and her birthday is Oct 30.

New Prima November 2010

Prima Product Pick-November and a NEW Twist!

Link to Prima

DT Sketch for sketches4all

On Sketches4all we have many challenges and contests going on.  One is for a sketch, and as a Design team member, my take on the sketch is below.  For more information or to join the contest, please follow the link Sketches4all

Entry for My Creative Scrapbook 3 Month Contest and Sketches In Thyme Sketch

I did some new techniques for this contest.  I used dollar store silk flowers and used them as a mask to create the white flower spaces on the page.  I then used the same spray mist and sprayed the silk flower to match the LO (they were white to begin with).  For the large flower I used a vintage button to pull the flower to make it smaller (it was too big).

The pic is of my mother and her family when she was a little girl (she is about 6).  Enjoy.

Bo Bunny with Sketch Inspiration Challenge

For this challenge I used the sketch to create a layout of my mother's family.  I used The
kitchen spice Bo Bunny papers, and a few of their colored back to back dot papers.  For more info on the challenge visit Bo Bunny.

Scraps on a Budget - Sketches in Thyme Contest

For this LO I used the Sketches in Thyme sketch.  I also used papers from Target from their dollar bin, so this LO is only about $.50 total.  Enjoy!!

Sorry this picture is so grainy, I needed to get it taken so I could submit it for the contest.

New Prima October 2010

Prima Product Pick-October & A Winner!

October's PPP is FILLED with delightfully spooky products which are perfect for your Halloween (and fall) projects!



Just look a the gorgeous flowers offered in purples, oranges and black...the whimsical chandelier-patterned Little Boo paper...smoky black E-Line pearls and alphas, creepy, crawling vines, and sparkly orange Sultan centers!


Prima has a wide variety of perfectly coordinating embellishments to go on your next project! Make sure to check these out for all your crafting needs.

For more info on Prima please see their site at Prima

Pages for my next class

I am hosting my next scrapbook class on October 23rd, 2010.  The two layouts are below.

I used water distressing and misting for both of these layouts. I also used my new zutter distress it all tool, so much easier than using your scissors to distress.

I was playing around with my sweet layout and found I felt that it might have needed something , so I altered it with these great flowers I got from a friend at another site http://sketchesforyou.ning.com/.  I entered a challenge to make these wonderful flowers you see on the layout below.  Tutorial to make them is at this site Fringe Flowers.  They are too fun to make, enjoy!!

Little Paper Letters

On many sketches and LO I have seen I see these little cute letters.  This is my take on how they are done.

1) Materials - ink, cardstock, scissors, adhesive, chalk, and letter stamps (I prefer rubber stamps for this).

2. Stamp out the letters for the word you want.  Do not do them order, stamp vertically, this gives it more of the illusion that they are not just cut out of a line.

3. Cut out the letters, do not worry that they are not perfect, this adds to the fun of the letters.

4.  Ink all the sides, I like to use chalk for this, but ink works too.

5.I like to use my Xyron for these little letters (they are about 1 cm square when done).

 6. Place them on your LO.  They looks so cute and they are so easy.

September Birthday - also has the retro V flowers that I did a tutorial in August.

 Below are some LOs that I used this technique on.  You can also do words, or use printed or hand written letters or words for the same effect.

Ribbon Star Flowers

I am sure you may have done these before, but here is my take on a cute little ribbon flower.

1. Items you will need.  Ribbon (this about 1 cm in width), paper piercer, brad, and a lighter.

2. Cut your ribbon to about 1 inch in length, you can make it longer if you wish. You will need 5 one inch pieces per flower, I cut enough for 2 flowers here.

 

3.  When you cut the ribbon it will fray, so I used a lighter and lightly burned both ends of the ribbon so it would not fray or pull apart.

4. Using your paper piercer, pierce one end of the ribbon to make a hole (if you use a mouse pad or foam mat under your ribbon it makes making holes much easier).  The take the ribbon off the piercer and push it onto the the brad in the hole you just made. 

5. Do the same for the rest of the ribbons until you have 5 total on your brad.  Make sure you fan them out so they do not overlap.

I hope you found this useful.  Enjoy.

Scraps of Darkness Contest

Here is my entry for the Scrap of Darkness Contest, for info about scraps of darkness or about the contest please visit their blog at Scraps of Darkness.

Faux Sandstone or Tigers eye Gems

I follow another blog http://gabriellepollacco.blogspot.com/, she has such wonderful pages and ideas.  One of which was faux polished stones. I loved it, but I needed brown gems, and I had only seen her gems as green or blue (turquoise gems).  So i thought, why not a tiger's eye or sandstone version.

1. What you need: brown ink, round punch (or shape you see stones), white gel pen, various shades of brown and tan map pencils, white map pencil, and kraft paper (or a medium tan cardstock).

2. Punch a circle out of the kraft paper and run around the edge of the paper to soften the edges and also to create a shadow effect to give the illusion of a dome shape.  I like to use my finger to ink the edge (I press my thumb or finger into the ink then rub against the paper to give the shadow effect).
  

 

 3. Take one of the brown pencils and start drawing lines, slightly curved.  Make some think and thin, blend some together. 

 4.  Using the white pencils blend the lines together and to also fill in some of the gaps.

5. Using the white gel pen create the illusion of a dome ans shine, draw a thick white curved line.

6.  Most stones are set in metal, so to create that look i took dark brown cardstock and cut out another circle about 1/8th of an inch bigger than my faux stone.  I then took a shiny paint like smooch ink in molasses to painted around the edge.

7.  Place you faux stone on top of your faux metal setting and you are done!!

I would really like to thank Such a Pretty Mess Blog for this great idea!!