february freehand scraps gallery....

Just wanted to quickly post my pages that I made with the February Freehand Scraps kit. Loved the colors and embellishments this month!

I thought that little sticker with the bird on it was so cute and perfect for these pictures I had from the park this summer. I just made a little banner and clouds from the patterned paper and did some stitching on them. The letters in "park" were the pink fabric American Crafts thickers. I inked them with some green ink which was an easy way to make them match my page a little better. Love that those fabric thickers are so easy to alter if you need to. I did try to spray them with some turquoise glitter mist, but it would not soak into the fabric.....not too sure why not!?

This is the first 6x12 page I have ever made. I got some of the American Crafts 6x12 page protectors at their warehouse sale last month and was excited to try them out. I am so behind the times on this one. This size didn't really interest me until I realized it would be a good way to document these monthly milestone pages that I have been doing for Cannon. They usually contain so much text that I have a hard time coming up with a page design. On this one, I am just going to make a separate 6x12 page with all the test with maybe an embellishment or two and then I will just put it in the protector on the back of this one. A very simple page just using some of the cute embellishments from the kit.

I loved all of the patterned papers in the kit and wanted to use a little bit of several of them so i came up with this design. Just did a little more stitching and colored the title thickers with some brown ink this time.

I love to make a page every year with our christmas card and a short summary of our Christmas. I put these in a special album. These papers and the snowflake embellishment were just the perfect colors! I added a hambly rub-on and a button and called it good.

I especially loved the gallery this month. The other girls did such a great job! Check it out here! Also, Heidi is having a big sale on previous kits. They are 40% off, such a great deal! The list of kits still available is here.

these two.....

I love taking note of all the ways these two boys are alike and different. Most of the time I think they are complete opposites, but then every once in a while I will notice a little something that reminds they are indeed related.

- Cannon is pretty rough and tumble while Charlie is very cautious. We were playing at the play structure at Carls Jr. the other day and Cannon would climp up higher than Charlie would. I know Cannon still has some of that "no fear" mentality that babies have, but Charlie has been cautious since day one.

- They really look nothing alike. Most people would never guess that they were brothers. The only big similarity is their bright blue eyes.

- Cannon likes to make lots of noise and get messy and Charlie likes the quiet and to be clean. Cannon loves the vacuum and gets excited when he sees it. He also thinks the very noisy paper shredder is pretty cool. Charlie hated them as a baby. If Cannon is starting to get upset or fussy, Charlie is very quick to tell Cannon "that is enough of that!"

- Charlie was very easy to get on a schedule and liked it. Cannon has not been on the same schedule for more than 3 days in a row in his whole life. Just when I think we are making some progress on one, he decides to get up at 4am just for fun.

- They both are very sensory sensitive. They love to rub their faces on soft things and smoosh their faces into pillows. They both sleep on their tummies with their arms tucked up underneath them. They are both very sensitive and particular to touch.

- They both were late talkers and walkers. Cannon is close to walking, but he is very cautious like Charlie was. I think he could do it, he just needs to get up the courage to just let go. He is also just now starting to babble and imitate a lot. Charlie was the same way and then once he did his language skills took off like a rocket.

Two boys have been too much fun. Love watching them grow and cherishing their unique characteristics.

check it out, please!....

Just wanted to share a few links that I have come across that I think are worth checking out.

The first is Cora's for Calla. Cora's for Calla is a weekly raffle that is going on to help the Johnson Family. They recently had a little girl named Calla at 26weeks. The raffle is to help the family with the extra expenses they will incur while they have a little one in the hospital and another sweet boy at home. Check out their blog, they have such a beautiful family.

The second is for an 11-year old girl named Taylor who is hoping to collect 365 blankets to give to the babies in need in her community. Check out the rest of details here. It just warms my heart to see young kids showing so much compassion for others, something I hope to instill into my boys. So awesome.

freehand scraps sneaks and crafty time....

I finally figured out that if I was going to get the creative time I wanted then something was going to have to give. This week, that was computer time. I waste way too much time on the computer and at the end of the day, have nothing to show for it. So, this week I limited my time looking at blogs and facebook and and took a few minutes here and there to work on some projects I have been working on.

First up are my projects for Freehand Scraps. The February kit is cute and colorful. I love the combination of red, teal and tan (and even a little pink thrown in the mix!) I especially loved all the patterned papers and had a hard time choosing which one to use, so I had to use a little of each one! Here are a few peeks...

I had so much fun scrapbooking these pages. It is usually hard to get started, but then I have such a good time and wonder why I don't do it more. I am hopefully going to make some more time this month to do a few more pages.

I also finished Heidi's birthday present and she has received it so I am excited to share!

This is the first rag quilt I have done with fabric that is not flannel. I fell in love with this fabric from the Wonderland line by Moda and had to give it a try. The colors and patterns reminded me of Heidi and I knew I was going to make it for her for her birthday. I think I will definitely make another quilt like this again. It was so fun to make.

The other project I have been working on is rag burp cloths. Eric's manager from his old branch in Boise is having a baby boy and he asked if I could make some for him. I made a few sets because they are so easy and nice to have on hand for a shower gift.

It feels so good to have these projects completed. And as a reward, I am spending a little extra time on the computer tonight and then I am off to bed early! :)

cannon at 15 months.....

You are at such a fun age. Your little personality is in full bloom and you are full of spunk and adorableness.

A few things about you at 15 months old:

- You are a champ at pulling up on and walking around furniture. You are starting to stand alone for very brief moments, but are pretty cautious when it comes to anything else. I think all the illness you have been through over the past 2 months has really hindered your progress in this area.

- You have the prettiest skin tone with sparkling blue eyes and reddish brown hair. Everyday your hair seems to look a little more red. I love it.

- You usually go to bed around 7:30pm and get up anywhere from 6 to 7am. You are down to one nap per day.

- Over the past 6 weeks you have been teething, had a double ear infection, had the stomach flu at least twice, had a seizure, went to the ER twice, had croup and RSV/bronchiolitis. It has been a very rough time, but you are feeling much better now and we are happy to have our sweet boy back to normal.

- You are working on eating more foods. You lost your appetite for many weeks due to all the sickness so you were mostly just drinking milk and gatorade. You lost almost 2 pounds. Over the past few days you have tried many different foods and you definitely know what you want. You are not afraid to just spit it right out. Right now you like oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, some fruits and cheese.

- You weigh _____ and are _____tall (will update once we go to doctor)

- You love to play with your toy drums and nesting cups. You love to stack the cups and put them inside of each other. You like to put things into containers and of course you like to play the drop game. It is so fun to see mom or dad pick up your toy 1658 times in a row.

- You are crazy about your mama. You are starting to get a little more comfortable around strangers, but you are always keeping an eye on me. You also get very jealous of Charlie and your dad. If your dad gives me a hug in front of you, you will get upset. It is cute.

- For a while you wouldn't let me feed anything to you on a spoon or fork. Now you will usually take a few bites from me, but then insist on doing it yourself. You aren't too bad at it!




You are fiesty, independent, easily frustrated, lovable, a cuddler when you want to be, over the top adorable and the perfect completion to our family. You have kept us on our toes and changed the rules just when I thought I had this mom thing down. Love you Mr. Moo.

charlie at five years old.....

It is hard to believe you are five years old Charlie Brown. You have grown up so much this past year. You are such a big boy full of love, energy and joy.

A few things about you at five:
- You have such a sweet and sensitive nature. You truly care about others' feelings and well-being.
- You are totally into Legos, Spongebob, Michael Jackson, Nintendo DS and Ghostbusters.
- Some of your favorite foods are peanut butter and honey sandwiches, apples, pineapples, cheese, go-gurts and chocolate milk. Your favorite colors are blue, yellow and pink. (yes, that is right, I said pink)
- A few days before your birthday you said to me "I can tell that I am about to turn five because my voice is starting to change."
- You are so excited to start school. You talk a lot about your school in Idaho and ask when you will get to go here in Utah.
- You go to bed at 9pm and are usually up around 8am. You are still having a little trouble with bedwetting so you wear training pants at night just in case.
- You weigh ___ and are ___ tall. (will fill in once we go to doctor)
- You are still struggling a little with your fine motor skills. We practice writing your letters everyday and you have made significant progress over the past few weeks.
- You are very cautious in most activities. You don't like to climb very high or go on big play structures because you are afraid you might fall.
- You have an incredible memory and attention to detail. You remember every commercial and theme song you have ever seen/heard. You can remember things we did from over 2 years ago and you will just bring up random memories - things we never thought you would remember.
- You LOVE music. You are very discriminatory when it comes to music. You do not like soft, slow songs. You love classical and rock. Right now some of your favorite songs are the Ghostbusters theme song, The Final Countdown by Europe, We Will Rock You by Queen and Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson (is he really my kid? None of these are even in my top 100! Plus they are all from like 1985)
- You are really starting to show your independence. You insist on getting in and out of the car on your own, opening doors on your own and getting dressed all on your own. You have even started to pick out your own clothes for the day.

I feel so incredibly blessed that I am the one that gets to raise you and have you in my life every single day. You have taught me so much and my heart is overflowing with love for you. Thanks for being you buddy.

looking forward to some creative time....

Between the move, the holidays and all the sickness around here, something just had to give and unfortunately it was my crafting time. As we try to find our "new normal", I am hoping to make some time to craft. I need it. It really does make me happy and I never regret the time I spend doing it. I did take one night last month to make a few projects with the January Freehand Scraps kit. I am so thankful that I get the chance to design with Heidi's kits. Sometimes I wonder if I didn't if I would ever get any scrapbooking done. I wanted to set a goal to make at lease one layout a week, but I already dropped the ball on week one. I am planning on trying to catch up this weekend if the family is cooperative. Check out the rest of the gallery, it is a fun kit!

I wanted to do my normal journaling strips for the journaling on this one, but decided to try the tags instead. I am not crazy about the results, but it was nice to do something different. I tend to get in to certain habits and then forget that there are other techniques.
I love the button flowers from Sassafras. I especially love that the buttons are already threaded. I like the look, but generally don't take the time to do it.
I knew I wanted to use that gorgeous flower from Bella Blvd., but just couldn't get it to work on one of the boys' pages. :) It was perfect for a card though. This card is going to a very special friend. I know she reads my blog, so be surprised when you get it, okay??

Those cute Maya Road sheer robots were fun to use too. I have never seen them at any of the stores around here. And the October Afternoon journaling stickers are just perfect for any page.
I have one other project that is in the works that I can't share yet because it is a (late!) birthday gift. Hoping to get back to that this week and get it in the mail.