Gather up your tears, keep em in your pocket

I said I was going to re-think how I do my journaling. Well I should say I am going to try to journal more. FYI it's been hard, but I managed to journal on this page. YAY! It was quite difficult. Sadly it is not very much journaling either. Lame on my part. However I do like it.
They have this great park here in Stockton with a HUGE fountain that the kids can run through and get absolutely soaked!

We have such a great time there and it's free! Haha I am all about free. I sometimes am tempted to wear some shorts and a tank and run through it myself. Alas I don't wear shorts. My legs are terrible! Hate hate hate them.

If my legs were nice I would so be in that dang fountain! I may one day just run through it in my pants. *wink*

Do you have a awesome place in your city you like to go?

I passed my RDA! YESSSSSSSS! I am so super excited. I still have a few obstacles to get over to get my license, but the best part is no more tests! Going to get my fingerprints done today. After that just need to renew my cpr license and then I'm golden!

I had a wonderful weekend. Saturday Gina came and picked me up and she drove us (Tricia and Ashley) to AIS. Ginger and Diane were already scrappin away when we got there.


Ashley, Ginger and I had a funtastic time. Laughing, scrappin and eating way to much. I tried chow fun. Scraped 1 page. Yes 1. Lovely time.


Sunday the hubs and I got up and went to the flea market. They had so many vintage suitcases it was insane. I didn't get one tho. *sad face* I didn't even ask the price. I wanted to save my little bit of change for me and hubby to get a burger at 5 guys and we did. YUM! I love Sundays with my man.

Came home swam and watched Scream 4. Not bad. Wasn't expecting to much from it so I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Ha! It is getting close to one of my fav times of year so you know there will be lots of horror flicks in my future. Yay!

♥♥♥

I heard that your dreams came true

Hello there! I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I have 4 children. 2 boys and 2 girls. Being the middle child can be hard. I wanted to make something special for my daughter Aria who is the 3rd child. Just a little something to let her know she is loved and thought about just as much as the others.


I sat with my supplies and thought what could I make her that she would like and be proud of. I came up with a little name plaque

She can hang it on her wall or the door to her room. I had to use one of my very fav GCD lines "fun house" to create this plaque.

She adores it and proudly shows it off to all her little friends that come to play.

Do you have a little girl or boy who needs something special just because? I created this step by step so you can make your own!

Supplies needed
Strong glue *I use beacon 3 n 1
scissors
pencil
Glitter/stickles
Pop dots
Fun house frames
Fun house Crepe ribbon
Ribbon of your choice
Medium Doily
Chip Art Chipboard alpha
Chip Art chipboard butterfly
Chip Art Chipboard album shape
Chip Art tool and Flower from mini shapes
Fun house paper line:
Under The Big Top
Main Attraction
The worlds Greatest
Shooting Gallery
Sideshow
Assorted garlands
Resin frames



1. Lets get started! Gather your supplies. Choose your background paper. I chose the Shooting Gallery from the fun house line.


2.Take one of the shapes from the album and trace it on the back of the paper you choose. Cut out and glue.



3.I fussy cut the Horse girl from Sideshow and a frame from The World's Greatest. Pop dot horse girl and set aside.





4.I stamped the chipboard butterfly with the flower in the Mini Shapes. I then painted it with some glimmer glam. Pop dot your butterfly. Set aside.


5.To make the flower at the bottom I cut various size circles from The Main Attraction and Under The Big Top papers. Rough the edges and then spray with water. I used my little spray bottle for the Chip Art tools. Curl the edges up, smoosh and push till you get the desired look. Set aside and let dry.





6.Once all your circles are dry I glittered the edges. Set out some white glue and roll the edges in your white glue. For the sparkle I used Mica Snow. Roll the edges in the glitter or mica and let dry.



7.Once they are dry assemble, glue and add your pop dotted butterfly to the middle of your flowers.



8.I cut a doily in half and added that to the bottom back. I also used the crepe paper blue and pink ribbon from Garlands. Adhere about a half inch from the bottom.




9.For the letters I traced all my letters on Shooting Gallery. Then cut out. I didnt use the chipboard under my paper only the paper. *tip* Make sure to trace your letter backwards so when you turn it over it will be the right way. Cut out letters, ink the edges and pop dot.



10.Time to put it all together. I first glued my frame to the back of my horse then glued the horse girl down. I used a pop dot for the flower so it would hold and glued that in the center of the blue crepe ribbon. I also added a resin frame behind the flower to help it flow. Place your letters. I staggered mine so they would fit and it looked more pleasing.





11. Last thing to do is add a little jewel to your butterfly, a button to the frame and your ribbon to hang. Viola you are done! I added a few stickle dots to the letters and my frame. I wanted them to stand out and not get lost with all the patterns.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I would love to see if you made a fun name plaque. Link it up here and I will be sure to check them out!

Put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls

I love layering and dimension. I cant stand when my page feels flat, looks flat and is flat. Have you noticed? :) I have dimension down and pretty sure I got layering down. You know what I DON'T have down? Journaling. I hate finding a space for it. The reason, my writing sucks! I mean I have the worst handwriting in the world. Ok maybe not THE worst but its pretty bad. I hate the way it looks on my pages. My quest is to make journaling a priority.

I am rethinking how I put my pages together. Planning. I think I have come up with a solution. I will try it out and report back asap. ;)

For now we go journal-less (yes I made that word up ha).
I love shoes.

I love being a girl.

This page I hope showcases that. I bought these shoes at the thrift store (brand new) for $3. They are sparkly, funky & really neat. I couldn't pass them up. I have gotten a lot of compliments on them. My cousin took this picture of my shoes because she too thought they were pretty awesome. I used Amy Tangerine's line. Adore it so very much. Have you gotten to play with any of it yet? I think I have made almost 5 pages with it already!

So how do you feel about journaling?

P.S. My next post will be a tutorial. Don't miss it!

P.P.S. Only 7 more days!

♥♥♥

Send me away with the words of a love song

I decided I would start trying to do a week in the life. The reason...I take pictures almost everyday. Instagram is kind of my week in the life already. I am not really making any changes except taking a few more pictures. Here is my attempt.

Hubby made me breakfast. Yummy!

Finished up a lot of deadlines. :)

Tried a pinterest recipe. Salsa chicken made in the crockpot. Pretty delish and easy.

Movie date night with my hubby. Went and saw The Help. LOVED IT!

Found out someone has been making messes in my scrap room. Couldn't have been me!

So I cleaned it.


Hubs and I took a swim in the pool. I love him so. Look at how cute he is!

Caught a praying mantis for the kids (and myself :)

Had a complete fit because I lots this! Found it the next day. LOL!


Snacked on cherry tomatoes and made a grilled Havarti cheese sammy. Mmmm!

Had a tiny little B-day party for my dad.

Tried Chicken Thai pizza. And liked it.

Ended my week with a little more scrapping. Used a lot of the Amy Tangerine line. Had a wonderful week indeed!

♥♥♥

Look how you want me now, I dont need you

I should have followed my instincts, went with my gut, listened to my heart. Wow. Today I feel a little betrayed. A little hurt. A lot upset. This industry truly is heartbreaking. Why do we need validation? I don't get why we put ourselves through this to have people judge us and our work. I do it. I get upset and then I tell myself it's time to put my big girl pants on. The wounds heal and I forget what a bitch this industry is. Then I do it all over again. Glutton for punishment? I guess so.

Should I have learned by now? I would say YES! Do I? NO! Annoying? Indeed. I only share with you because I know you all have felt (and still do) the same way. I am a real person with real feelings. I post what I want here, when I want, how I want. I will not apologize for me because we all know if you don't like me you don't have to be here.

I have spoke with so many of my friends and they all have the same stories. I am reminded of something a friend said this past weekend..."this industry chews you up and spits you out." I think that is true for this and life in general. Its just sad when it is something you truly love doing. Oh well c'est la vie!

♥♥♥

You must be mistaken

Everyone seems to be doing a week in the life but I think I will keep it simple and show you a weekend in the life of me...Not that I am special and you really care but hey, just in case you do. *wink*
~Ashley Ginger Kerry Lynn Kristi Diane Me~

I had such a wonderful weekend. I think I have been saying that a lot lately. Went up to Berkley with Ashley, Ginger, and Diane. We met up with Kerry Lynn, Kristi, Nikki, Daniela, and Kari at scrapbook territory. Laughter, bitching, snacking, and of course a little scrapping, was had.

I finished one page and started another. Played with the new Amy Tangerine line. Super cute stuff called for a super cute picture or two.

My silly daughter Raven. I love taking pictures of her when she will allow me. She is sooooo beautiful. My real life model.

Love using punches and I am seriously in love with those medallion punches. This one is from Martha Stewart. I also used stamps on this layout! Again from the Amy Tangerine line.

To stitch or not to stitch.
I say to stitch. So I did.

I started another layout but I didn't finish so that one will be coming soon. We had a mini photo shoot because we have so much fun that we forget to take pictures. I demanded Kristi get her totally wicked camera out and start shooting.
~Me & Ashley~

She takes wonderful pics. I love them all.
~Ashley Kristi & Me~

I took a few but not many.
~Kristi & Ashley~

Sunday planned a picnic with the kids at our favorite park.




Then hubby and I had a date night. Our fav restaurant with our fave couple…us! Bawahaha!


I love their fried mushrooms. Tuesday is movie day and I am hoping to go see the help. I forgot to mention we went and saw Harry Potter (freaking loved it and totally cried like a baby) and Crazy Stupid Love (another great one). I love watching movies with him. Date nights are so lovely.

I worked on a tiny sweet mini today. I think I am in love with it. That does not happen often with my creations. I will share soon!

♥♥♥