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Saturday, November 29, 2008

Still nothing crafty to share...

I haven't done anything crafty for weeks and weeks now. Plus I don't see myself having any time to scrap any time soon. :( We are FINALLY over the bug we've been passing back and forth. Luckily we were better in time to gorge on turkey on Thursday! I'm starting to feel semi-human again, guess my PPD is finally going away. Still a tad down in the dumps-financially things are getting bad which is stressful and a little scary. Plus I can't tell you the last time I've gotten more than 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night, but I can finally think straight again and don't just want to lay in bed under the covers 24/7 so I guess thats good. ;)

Thanksgiving was wonderful because this was Alexander's first big holiday! Everyone of course passed him around and he was loving it. He's really been "talking" and laughing a lot lately. He's just way too cute for words. And Aaron is still the most awesome 2 year old EVER! He just blows my mind everyday. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Here's a few pics of my guys. Aren't they the cutest?? I had a friend come over and take some pics of us at home. They turned out great!




Look what I got in the mail!! These were the goodies I won over on Michelle's blog. You should defnitely go check out her blog. She is so insanely talented. Her cards are just gorgeous. I started a card with the HH wreath stamp and some of that beautiful Basic Grey paper, but haven't been able to finish it yet. This weekend looks like I'll be able to get some crafting done-cross your fingers for me!! :) I could use the break!

So, did anyone go shopping on Black Friday?? I did of course-I can't pay full price for anything! :) My mom and I go BF shopping every year, its our little tradition. Last year we stood in line outside at Toys R Us for 2 hours, then were in the line inside for almost 2 more hours. We're never doing that again! This year we decided to go to Walmart since they will match any and all other ads. Luckily our Walmart is open 24/7, so we got there about 3 and were able to shop, shop, shop! Everything that was on sale was under black plastic, but we were able to go through the entire store, scope out where the sale items were, and get the items we wanted that weren't on sale. The only thing I really wanted on sale was the $30 Leapster for Aaron. He played with one at the hospital when Alexander was born and loved it. I had said that I was done shopping for him, but I decided to sell some scrapbook stuff so I could buy him this one last present. This is the only one that's not secondhand, so I made it a good one! Anyway, I found the Leapster pallet that said $30 on them, but some nice person at our Walmart mislabeled the new Leapster 2's (these are $70 instead of the older ones that were $50) as the ones on sale, so I got the brand new $70 Leapster for $30! A manager had to come and she didn't believe me that they were labeled wrong, but the person behind us in line had one and backed me up! :) But that wasn't the REALLY big deal I got! One of the dollar stores had $5 Leapster games in their ad. I'm sure they only had 1 or 2 older, discontinued games for that price, but Walmart said they'd match any ad, so I figured I'd give it a shot! My mom got Aaron 2 games, and I got him SIX GAMES! The grand total for all of that would've been $270, and we only spend $70. GO ME! I'm a bargain shopper extraordinaire. :) If I didn't hunt for all of the deals, Aaron only would've had 1 game. Now he will be extra spoiled, but its well deserved! There were so many other things they had that I would've liked, and we really could've used, but I was good, because like I said, money is extra, extra tight! The only other thing I bought were some $1.50 towels because we are in desperate need, and a hot pink $9 Eureka stick vacuum. I bought a really nice large vacuum about 2 years ago, but our house only has hardwood floors, so we don't need a vacuum really. This new one is great though, plus it barely takes up any room. So I was nice and gave my mama my old one, cause she was going to buy a new one. And she has 5 kids at home still, plus they've not only cut her and my stepdad's hours at work, but they've given my mom and entire week off every month, so she couldn't afford a new one. Now we're both happy! Plus my new vacuum is pink, so that will make me want to clean more. ;)

Well, I think I've rambled on long enough. Things have just been so very busy around here-I wish I had more time to craft and share. But my life is completely in the hands of 2 little men whose names start with "A", and I can't really complain.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Ughhh...

I feel very BLAH. Yuck. Haven't posted anything in a few weeks, and I don't have anything crafty to show you today. SORRY! Aaron and I have been sick for almost 2 weeks, and now Jamie's came down with it. Thank goodness Alexander is healthy and perfect (and over 12 pounds now!!) Today Aaron and I are getting Christmas decorations out and baking some cookies. We need to get in the mood for Christmas and out of this funk we've been in! Hope all is well with everyone, and hopefully I can post some new stuff soon!

Also, you have to check out this blog candy on Debbie's blog. Have you ever seen anything so wonderful?? I would love those Copics-I'll never be able to afford them! I've been saving my money for a $30 Cricut cartridge for myself for Christmas, so that's all I'll be buying for a while. :(

Monday, November 10, 2008

What a great weekend!

Just wanted to share a layout, some goodies, and a recap of our weekend! Be prepared for a LONG post!!
Here's a layout of my little man. I don't know why the photos look blue, but they're not! Just another testament to my fine photography skills. ;) These were pics from our church picnic at a local park. Aaron had so much fun! I used a TLC kit for this layout. Everything is TLC-the paper, die cuts, and chipboard-except the little black letters. I think they are Doodlebug. This layout was a quick and easy, just the way I like it!

Here are some Halloween goodies I got at Target for the boys Halloween pages. I took so many pictures, I'm sure I'll use every last bit of this stuff. Everything was on sale of couorse, or else I couldn't have afforded it! I got a ton of K&Co. stuff-the paper pack, buttons, letters, die cuts and epoxy stickers. They are all glittery too--Hooray for glitter! :) I also got MM epoxy letters, adhesive felt shapes, and some KI Memories stamps. The ribbon, brads, and small photo albums were a quarter each. Oh how I love Target!! I think the most expensive thing there is the stamps, and they weren't even $3. I'm going to use the little albums to document the boys in their Halloween costumes each year. I'm so crazy about those two!
We had a pretty good weekend here. On Saturday, my mom and I went to a Consignment Sale. We had tons of fun and got a lot of great stuff. I've decided the boys are going to have a secondhand Christmas. They're young enough that they won't know the difference, and financially, if we didn't do it this way, we probably wouldn't be able to get them anything at all. We are also not really going to be able to buy for everyone else this year. I am going to make all of the adults a small scrapbook of the boys. I have 5 siblings, and there's no way we can buy each of them something. :( There's always next year though!
Anyway, I am proud to say, that I AM DONE SHOPPING FOR THE BOYS!! I'm ecstatic. At the sale I got Aaron a Leap Pad with a ton of books for $5, I got quite a few books (they already have 2 full bookcases!), DVDs still in the plastic, some clothes for both boys, including a onesie for Alex that says "Photos with Baby-50 cents" and has a camera on it! SO CUTE! I also got myself a few shirts and a pair of jeans for basically nothing. I got the new Nora Roberts book for $1! I was so excited. The cheapest I had found it was $20 at Walmart, so I'm thrilled. I started reading it Saturday night and finished it this morning. It was so good! We got so many great deals, and everything was in perfect condition. It was great.
And what made my weekend even better? I won a subscription to Paper Crafts from Angel!! I think I talked about it all night long. My husband had no idea what I was talking about, but that's ok! Paper Crafts is by far my favorite magazine. I had so much fun participating in the Rainbow Days of Angelosity challenges. Angel really got my creative juices flowing, and I feel like I'm a whole different crafter! Thanks Angel!!
And THEN, this morning, I found out that I won blog candy on Michelle's blog!! I am so excited to play with my new stamps and goodies. I LOVE High Hopes stamps. As soon as I get rich, I am buying one of every High Hopes stamp ever made! Along with all the ODBD stamps, every Changito, the Sesame Street Cricut carts, every boy sheet of paper ever printed....I could go on and on. ;)
I am beyond ecstatic. I feel so very lucky. You should go check out Angel and Michelle's blogs. They are both so talented!
So that's all of my weekend fun. :) Aaron has had a fever since yesterday, but I have a feeling he is getting some new teeth in the back of his mouth. I laid in bed with him all day long yesterday and cuddled him. I didn't get anything done that I needed to, but I loved spending the whole day with him! Alex even came and laid with us for a while too. I just love being their mama! What could be better than spending the whole day warm and cozy in bed with the 2 cutest boys ever?!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

And the winner is...

After a crazy weekend, I finally got Aaron to draw a name from the bucket, and the winner is Liz! Congrats! Please send me your address to browneyedbabeblb@aol.com and I will send your goodies out as soon as I can. Thanks to all who entered!

I'm hoping to post later today or tomorrow and tell everyone about our great weekend, but Aaron isn't feeling well, so I don't have a lot of time today. Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, November 7, 2008

My blog candy...

Please feel free to enter my blog candy. (I believe its on the 2nd page now.) I know I said 20 comments, but we have a busy, busy day today and tomorrow, so I don't if I'll get to it until then. So comment away, and I'll be back soon to announce the winner! I've also added a bunch of things to the box. Good luck!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

You take the cake!

Ok, here's my last card for the day. :( I need to make dinner and finish getting our things ready for the consignment sale this weekend. Hoping to make LOTS of money for Christmas! Cross your fingers for us!!

This is for Angel's Challenge from yesterday. These are more PP from my scraps! I can't believe I haven't used them sooner. I have so many scraps of gorgeous paper. I will be using them from now on! I think the paper is Bo Bunny, but I can't remember. I love the striped sheet! The stamp is another Lizzie Anne.

I hope you all have a wonderful night! I may be back tomorrow if I have time to make anything else. Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

Special Delivery

Here's a tag I made for a gift for a relative! I used Angel's challenge to use scraps. This was a scrap of MME double sided paper (I think!). And I used another Lizzie Anne stamp!

Hats off to you!

Here's a card I made for Angel's Day #9 sketch! I'm definitely going to be doing more sketches from now on. I can't believe I've went so long without doing so-I feel like I've been missing out on some big secret!

All the PP are MME from my scraps! I used scraps again! YAY! The stamp is Lizzie Anne Designs. Isn't it cute? I really like this card!

Happy Day Birthday Card!

Here's another birthday card for Angel's 18 Days of Angelosity challenge. Today is the last day of challenges. I have to tell you guys that I have had so much fun participating in this challenge! I normally only make cards on an "as needed" basis, but now here I am with a whole pile of premade cards that I can't wait to use!

I used one of Angel's sketches from her birthday celebration from last year. I used a scrap of Cloud 9 PP that I've had since the CKC over a year ago! That cute little balloon charm is from Joann's. I got it on clearance of course. ;) The little circles are from a stamp set from Target. There is also a set in my blog candy for someone to win!

I'm spending my day today making cards. I'm just having so much fun! I moved a little table out in the living room so Alex can be in his swing, Aaron can watch TV and play and I'll be right here! I will be busy tonight and tomorrow getting ready to take things to a consignment sale, so today will be the last day for me to play until at least Sunday. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Birthday-Angel's Challenge Day 18

Here's my card for Angel's challenge to make a birthday card!

I used another sheet from my DCWV Glitter Stack. My image is from a sheet of Penny Black acrylic stamps. Isn't he cute?? I didn't color him because I thought he was cute as is! I wrote my sentiment with this awesome Pentel Outline marker. It is a vibrant silver with a pink outline around everything. It is SO MUCH brighter on the card. I guess the flash washed it out, but it looks great on the card. Little crooked, but that's ok! Nothing's perfect!

Will be making and posting more cards later!

Hey Chick!

Ok, I had already posted this-no idea what happened to it, but here we go again! Angel's challenge for day #16 was to use anything birdy. Here's what I did.

SUPER cheap card! A piece of my DCWV Glitter Mat Stack, a piece of ribbon I got at Target (6 spools for $1), a scrap of TLC paper, my TW punch, and my own handwriting.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Charlie Brown Christmas for Angel's sketch #15!

Here is my take on Angel's sketch #15. I had to tweak it a bit because my image is fairly large, but here it is!

Do you love that stamp or what?? I'm doing all my Christmas cards with it this year. I normally try to do them different, but I'm in a time crunch, so this will be my card!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

My very own blog candy!!

Aaron and I got up early this morning and decided to do some shopping. I bought him and Alex matching jack-o-lantern shirts for next year, along with some other little things-all on clearance of course! Aaron got a really cute Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba shirt. Do any of your kids watch this show? Aaron goes crazy when it comes on! They have this song called "There's a Party in my Tummy"-- it teaches kids to eat things like vegetables and not just the "fun" stuff. Aaron sings this song at every meal! Its the cutest.

So while my little guy and I were out bargain hunting, we came across some scrappin' goodies at Target. I picked up some things and then decided to get some extras to offer to one of you lovely people out there! I've also added some things from my own stash. I may add some more, too, but just didn't have the time to dig for anything tonight! Shopping is exhausting. In addition to my goodies from today, there are a bunch of DCWV Christmas papers, some ribbons, and stickers/embellies from my stash. I've also included 2 uninked stamps-1 from Inkadinkadoo and 1 Debbie Mumm. These 2 lovely stamps were purchased last month at a yard sale. And as much as I love them, especially the Santa, they may just be too detailed for me to color!

I've been wanting to do this for a while, but just didn't have a lot of time. These boys take up every second of my day, but I am just loving every minute of it! My RAK may not be new and trendy items, but they're great just the same, and I'm excited to pass these along to someone else!

So, here are the rules-When this post reaches 20 comments, I'll randomly draw someone. So all you have to do is leave a comment and you'll be entered! If you post on your blog about my goodies, I'll give you a second entry. That's pretty easy, right? Good Luck!

Alexander's First Smile :)

Happy Sunday everyone!! Here's a page I did a few days ago. I took this pic while Al was still in the NICU. Here he was smiling at me. :) I'm so crazy in love with this little man. He is now over 11 pounds and I'm pretty sure he gets cuter every day! He smiles as soon as he sees or hears me, and I just melt.
That super cute paper is from a Junkitz paper pack I've had for a few years. I love those colors together! I couldn't tell you where the other stuff came from, but its cute!

Getting ready to post some blog candy (unless I get interrupted!), so make sure you check back!

Card for Angel's #14 Challenge!

Ok, you can't read that AT ALL, but this was the best I could get! The challenge was to use 1 layer of cardstock, and I got that from my scraps. I added a Prima stack and a rhinestone in the middle. The stamp is Stampin Up! and says "This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. -Psalms 118:24" I got this set at a yard sale for a few dollars this summer!

Well, thats all for me today! I need to clean and I'm going to spend time with my guys! Happy Sunday!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Angel's Challenge #2

Here's my card for Angel's color challenge #2. We were supposed to use olive green, red, baby blue and baby pink. My colors are all there, but they look funny. I seriously want to stomp on my camera. But crappy pictures are better than no pictures at all!
The snowflake paper is from the DCWV Christmas stack, and the polka dot paper is a scrap of ScrapWorks paper. That cute little snowman came from a huge pack of All Night Media acrylic stamps that I got at Ollies last year for 99 cents!

Whew! That's all for tonight. I did 6 cards this afternoon, so I'm happy. I also have some layouts to show you-hopefully I can do that tomorrow. Thanks so much for stopping by!

#6-Use scraps!

Here's my card for Angel's challenge #6-SCRAPS!
I hardly ever use my scraps. I don't know why. But I will start now! This was a fun card. My little froggy is a Penny Black. I have no idea where anything else came from! The "One year Older" was in my stash, and the papers were in my scraps-who knows how long they've been there! I think the party brad is from Around the Block, but I could be wrong!

Bookmark for my little reader-Challenge #8

Challenge #8 over at the 18 Days of Angelosity was to create a bookmark. Mine is super simple, but it will do the job! Aaron loves to "read", and I like to read to him daily, so this will come in handy for us!
The PP is a scrap from Scenic Route I believe. I found the little orange spiral clip in my stash. The letters are Sticko and that cute little car brad is from Queen and Co.!

Angelosity-Sketch #5

Here's my take on Angel's sketch for day #5. I turned the sketch sideways, and here's what I came up with!
Don't you just love that little Changito monkey? The stamp and the sentiment are Stampendous. The cardstock came from my scraps and that gorgeous flocked paper is from Heidi Grace!

18 Days of Angelosity-Color Challenge

This is the card I completed for challenge day #10. This was a color challenge to use moss green, chocolate brown, deep red and kraft brown. All my colors are there, but my little angel looks so washed out. Maybe I can talk Jamie into getting me a new camera for Christmas. :)
The patterned paper is from last years DCWV Christmas Stack. The mat is kraft brown cardstock from my scraps. How adorable is this angel? She is a Rubber Stampede stamp that I got at a yard sale-uninked!- for a quarter. I think she's so cute! I've never made a square care before. This one is 5x5 and I love it! I don't have any envelopes for it though!!

The 18 Rainbow days of Angelosity-My 1st completed card!

If you haven't checked out Angel's blog, YOU NEED TO! I've followed her blog for a while now, and I've been so excited for her daily challenges up until her birthday! I don't think I've ever done a card/layout based on someone's sketch. EVER! Can you believe that? I've been super busy with the boys this week, but I sat down today and did 6 out of 13 challenges. I'm so proud of myself! I also laid out a few more cards and a layout in my head. If you have been to my blog before, you'll know I'm a scrapbooker-not a card maker. Although I would like to be both. ;) I really enjoyed making my cards today, and the sketches helped SO MUCH. I think I'm getting into the hang of it now! I'm going to post all my cards (any my 1 bookmark) one after another, and here's the first one! Also sorry about the not-so-clear pics-I don't know what's going on with my photography skills lately!

This is from a sketch for day #3 of Angel's challenge. The stamp and sentiment are from Memory Box. How cute is that penguin?! I used a scrap piece of cardstock and the 2 PP are from my DCWV Glitter Mat Stack. Also used my beloved Pop-Dots. ;)