Bits and Pieces...

...that end up making cards.

These cards were tags, etc, which were a part of a kit.  I made and used the cards a while ago, but I didn't quite know what I was going to do with the heart and tags that were a part of the kit.  So I just decided to put then on a card base and call it good.

Not much else going on this weekend, so keeping it short again.

Good night!

Darla

Eagle Watching!

If you are interested in seeing an active Bald Eagle nest, check out this website.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/decorah-eagles

WARNING...it is addictive, even though there usually isn't much going on except an eagle sitting on a nest.  Once in a while it gets exciting when the mom and dad change spots and the commenters are expecting the mom to lay another egg today or tonight.

So check it out.

Hopefully I will have some projects to share with you soon.  I haven't taken the time to do much scrapbooking lately, but want to get back into it again!

Have a good weekend, and happy eagle watching!

Darla

Cold!

I am so tired of cold weather.  Not much going on here, so will keep it short!

I haven't shared this project yet, so here you go.  It has some nice spring colors and butterflies to bring about warm spring thoughts!

This is just a plain notebook I got at Michael's and decorated the outside.  It could be used for a baby journal or even keeping track of schedules, notes to babysitter, etc.

This is a small trinket box that could be used for special baby items:  hospital band, etc.  Or you could make lotion potion (see recipe here) to be used by mom or baby.

This is a card that coordinates with the gifts...

...which fit inside this coordinating gift bag.

Think warm thoughts and spring will be here before you know it, or we can hope anyway.

Stay warm!

Darla

Storyteller...

Story one:  I picked up Hope from school today and noticed she had different clothes on from this morning.  She said she had a good day.  I asked her if she had an accident today, and her response "I am going to have to think about that".

What?!?

Finally, she said she had an accident, but it was this morning.  Then she got quiet for a while and finally she said, "mom I forgot to tell you why I have a different shirt on too.  A kid spilled milk on my head today at lunch and it got on my pants too and that is why I had to change and didn't really have an accident".

So I asked her if I looked at her pants there would be chocolate milk on them?  Her response "Well...and then more silence".  Then she finally said that she peed her pants at the same time the kid spilled milk on her so it wasn't really an accident.

Good grief!  She was trying to make the story work, but I kept calling her out on it.

Story two:

Hope came running into our room around 2:30 am this morning claiming she had a bad dream.  So I let her hop into our bed.  Joe had fallen asleep on the couch and hadn't come up to bed, so it was just me and her in a king size bed.  And she constantly talked to me from 2:30 am to 5:30 am.  Mom, is it morning yet?  Can I watch a cartoon?  I need a drink.  Trying to tell me stories, etc.  How much longer til it's time to get up?  Finally at 4:30 am, she asked if it was time to get up and I told her NO!  and if she talked anymore before the clock read 5:30 that she would be in BIG trouble.  She made it 20 minutes, and as soon as she started talking to me I said "HOPE" and she whispered, "Ooops, sorry".  I couldn't help but giggle, or maybe I was just delirious by that time.

Well, here are a few photos from the wedding I attended this weekend.  It was simply beautiful.

Above is me, Margaux (the bride to be) and Evon.

Below, we are at the cocktail/rehearsal dinner.  The location was beautiful and had lots of

outdoor fireplaces.  It was slightly chilly, so the fireplace felt good.

This is Evon and me at our table at the reception.

The first dance for the bride and groom.

The couple got engaged at the Kentucky Derby, and the drinks they had that day were called Oaks Lilly.  So at the wedding reception, this was the signature drink served and it was delicious.

Below are some of the tables and how they were decorated.  The flowers were fabulous!

At our hotel, we each received a gift bag that had small bottles of special wine called Chargaux (a combo of Charlie and Margaux).  Cute!

And finally, here is a photo of us with the blushing bride!

We had a great time and met a lot of interesting people.

Well, that is all for tonight!  

Darla

I remembered!

I finally remembered the other funny story with Hope...

We were in her bathroom and she was using the toilet when she looks up at me and says, "mom, I figured out why I always forget to flush the toilet" and she proceeds to tell me the reason is "because at school the toilets flush on their own and at home they don't".  It was just the way she said it that was funny, like she had a light bulb go off and she had figured out why she always forgets that simple task.

anyway, I just got back from my whirlwind trip to AZ for a beautiful wedding.  I have some pictures I will get loaded and share this week after I get them edited.  Me and my friend Evon had a LOT of fun together and it was really fun to meet some of Margaux's family and friends.  It was quite the gala and we heard it was even on the local news here in Iowa (since the groom's family is a prominent family here in the state).  The couple actually got engaged at the Kentucky derby and was interviewed on one of the national morning shows.

Well, I am going to rest before Hope gets home here shortly.  Have a good night!

Darla

I really should be...

...packing right now, but had some funny stories to tell before I get to that task.

Yesterday, Hope just randomly says, "mom, did you know that Alexander Bell invented the telephone?"  I was like, Wow!  Can't believe she knows that.

I know there was another funny story I wanted to blog about, but now I can't remember.  I should always do it as soon as she says it.  :)  If I think of it later I will.

I am heading to AZ this weekend with my friend Evon.  We are going to a wedding of a friend that we used to work with.  It is going to be a lot of fun.  Joe and Hope are staying home and if the weather is nice they are planning on cleaning out the garage (it has a lot of winter goo on the floor, so that is probably a really good idea).

Here is the project I made as my wedding gift...

The frame is a retired product from Creative Memories.  The brad like circles in each corner are magnets, so you can change out the layout as time goes on.  The papers and most of the embellishments I used were all from My Minds Eye.  They were just so elegant and perfect for a wedding themed project.

Above is a close up of the pearls I added from Prima.

Well, I better get to packing!  Have a good weekend and I hope to share some photos of the wedding when I get back.

Darla

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope yours was good.

I went out last night (in the dark) and drew a heart and message in the snow outside the back window so Hope and Joe would see it in the morning (I left them a tip in their cards too, so they wouldn't miss it).  It wasn't bright enough out this morning to get a picture of it and by the time I got home tonight, most of it had melted.  I prefer the melted snow.  Love the dripping and water trickling sounds outside as the snow melts and drains down the street.  Ah, spring is getting closer.

So here is a picture of Hope working on her Valentine cards last week for her classmates.

She copied each name and wrote them on the cards.  

She also decided she wanted to make each of her classmates a picture.  They were all very colorful.

Below is a card I made for the My Mind's Eye challenge #20-card.

I hope you get to spend some time with the one's you love the most.

Darla

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a pretty good one!

I woke up and went to work out where one of my good friends I hadn't seen in a while was there.  It was a good way to start the day.

When I got home, Joe and Hope greeted me at the door with my gifts, which included book on the new Nikon 7000.  Yeah, we decided we are going to upgrade our camera.  We will probably get it in the next few weeks.

I worked all day, and we had a lot of fun there too.  I have some great friends that made some AWESOME chocolate goodies for me.  So we had brownies for breakfast and pie for dessert.  YUM!

For supper we went to Ohana's steak house, where they cook the food in front of you.  It was fantastic.  Then Hope went home with Grandma D, Dawn and the twins to stay all night.  Joe and I went to see "Just Go with it" with Jennifer Anniston (who's birthday was also yesterday) and Adam Sandler.  It was really funny.  Probably one of her better movies, I think.

This morning, I sent Joe and Hope up to Grandma Karen's to celebrate her birthday tomorrow.  Happy Birthday Karen!  I am scrapbooking this afternoon and then working tomorrow.

So in honor of your birthdays, here is a birthday bag and card I made for Hope to give to one of her classmates on Sunday at her birthday party.

Well, that is all for today.  Off to scrapbook!

Darla

Bieber Fever!

Tonight, Hope told me she liked the commercial that says "Never Say Never", which is a promo from Justin Bieber's new movie.  I looked at her and said, "Oh no, do you have Bieber Fever"?  She just giggled and said no, I'm not sick!  Thank goodness.  I am not ready for Bieber Fever!

Here is the last Halloween Layout for a while.  This one covers almost all of the activities we did in 2010.

I actually pulled out the sewing machine to do some stitching on this layout around the journaling area... 

...and over the top of the year number stickers.

I mixed several different company's Halloween lines together for a nice blend.  They just worked.

That is all I have for tonight.  

Darla

Another Halloween Layout

Here is another Pumpkin related layout.  Hope has really been into rainbows for quite a while now, and last year she painted her mini pumpkin like a rainbow.  So here is the layout with those pictures.

I have one more layout from 2010 and hopefully I will get home from work tomorrow before it is dark to get a good picture of it to share.

Well, not much else going on, so will sign off.

Goodnight!

Darla

Spooky Stuff!

Ok, I know most people are making Valentine cards and layout, etc.  Nope, not me.  I am a little behind on scrapbooking, so I just finished making layouts of Halloween 2009.  I only have a few more layouts to document the happenings from 2009 and then I am done.  Yeah!

So here is one layout I completed this weekend.

I used a mixture of papers and embellishments on this layout from several companies.  There is Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee, Making Memories, Little Yellow Bicycle, Jenni Bowlin and a few other odds and ends.  As usual, I started with sketch, but I added a few more pictures to the left side of the layout.

The small "carve" bingo card is cut from the back of the packaging for the large Bingo cards.

That is it for today.  I have one more single page layout to share (that is done) and one more double layout from 2010 (thought I would do both Halloween layouts at the same time since I had the stuff out). 

:)  So stop back tomorrow to see the next "Spooky" layout.

Til then...

Darla

Recycle!

I wish I had thought of this idea years ago, because I would have a ton of...BUTTONS!

My husband works in a corporate office and has to wear dress shirts everyday.  So he wears them out pretty fast.  Recently I got the idea to cut the buttons off the shirts before he throws them away, and plan to do the same to his dress pants as well (maybe even the zipper since the zipper ribbon is a new trend I have been seeing).  You can never have too many black, grey or cream buttons.  Right?

I spent all day shopping.  I am not normally a shopper, but today I was on a mission to get a lot of things done.  I got a new dress and shoes for a wedding later this month.  I also bought a new scrapbook album for family pictures/layouts.  I took back some things and I bought some new sweaters/shirts.  Oh, and most importantly, I got ink for the printer so I could finish a few of my layouts I have been working on.  

So hopefully I will finish those up and get pictures of them tomorrow to share this week.

Here is one last Valentine card to share with you.

Ok, time to go scrapbook!

Goodnight!

Darla

Spelling Challenge

Hope had her PTC Spelling Challenge today.  We have been practicing the 20 words all week and she has gotten a few more correct each day.  This was her very first "written test", so I wasn't sure how she would handle that.  Well she did really good.

She got 15 out of 20, and the ones she missed were the more difficult words that have rules to them instead of just being able to sound them out.  AWESOME job Hope!  I am so proud of you!

It also looks like she took her time with her penmanship.

Well, it will be a busy evening for me.  The twins are coming over!  Nothing special planned, just play time and supper.  Maybe a movie later on.

I have another Valentine card to share too.

I love the colors of this one.

Well, that is all for tonight! 

Darla

Blizzard!

Well, Hope got out of school early today and the weather is just getting started around here in Iowa.  The snow is coming down sideways here in town, and I am sure it is really bad out on the open road areas.  I could really go for a snow day, so hoping they cancel school (and that they do it tonight so we can just sleep in).  :)

So she is watching a movie and playing with legos and I thought I would post another layout.  Edited to add:  This is how I found her just a minute ago.  Too funny!  She had herself squished into a 12x12 square tote, which is supposed to hold her toys.

I didn't really know what I was going to do with this photo, but knew that I wanted to scrapbook it.  Joe and I are HUGE Survivor fans.  Our friend Alma Hackbart's sister was on the show.  We went to a party here in town and watched a show with her and their family and friends.  It was fun hearing about some of the behind the scenes stuff.

The mask sticker and the torches were from an old pack of Jolee's stickers with a Hawaii theme.  I started out making my own torch and it just didn't look so great.  Then I remembered I had this pack of stickers and there you have it. 

I have also had some old paper (like many years old) with a world map on it.  I decided it would work for an embellishment to cut out Africa, since that is where the show was taped. 

Anyway, that is all I have for today.  Keep your fingers crossed for a snow day tomorrow so we can stay inside all cozy and warm.

Goodnight!

Darla