Scrapbooking: New Goodies and More

So. It is Saturday and almost 2 am on my side of the world. It feels like it has been longer than a couple of days but Aida and I went out for breakfast Thursday morning. We went to IHOP. I decided to wait to go to the two local places I had scouted to try. We did go to a local cupcake & cafe afterwards just to try the cupcakes that got them named in the newspaper for three years. The cupcakes were delicious but the lady that actually helped my child and I was just not that friendly. I almost tired of hearing myself say that. And I do need to clarify.

I myself, when I am around people I do not know, I am quiet. I smile, greet them will respond in conversation if we happen to start talking. I do not have a problem with others that are just like me - kind of hesitant to speak to someone else, because I understand being that way...but a business owner being that way is kind of odd. You have a business, which means you would like customers and that should mean at least being cordial. You do not have to speak to me like I am your best friend but please do not look at my child and I like you wish we would run out the front door. Now I will say it was rather humid inside the place. They had fans on but it was still hot. No need for AC because it was barely 50 degrees, rainy and very windy. I thought that maybe the lady was flustered because it was hot and she was doing a lot of moving around. Either way, I will not be going back. Good cupcakes...perfect amount of sweetness...and not too much icing.Oh well! Not like I needed them. (lol!)

Cold, maybe?

Looking through photos and I realize why I do not post nearly as many as I have taken. I hate converting and editing! Lately, I have not done much editing to my photos but even the little touch ups on white balance or the brightness or adding a little matte finish or even converting to black and white, I just do not have the drive to do it. It has been a very rainy week and I was hoping that we would be able to get out and explore. It would be nice to take photos elsewhere and maybe of some things, so that my daughter is not bombarded and so that I can have some to look back on of where we lived for this time. 

I do have one to share today of my daughter. This was taken at the end of March. She had gotten some new boots in a larger size for next winter, but she really wanted to try them on. I kept telling her it may be cold. Well, she ran outside so quickly and once she felt the wind, it was over. I told her we would make it quick and this is all she would do.

Monday Blahs

Monday still feels like Monday- whether I work in an office or home, it is still my least favorite day of the week. I have no idea why! It is like everything that annoyed me all during the week is compounded on Monday. No idea why...probably all in my mind. Anywhhooo... I have not been scrapping as much as I would like. I thought if I had more time at home, got in some family time and got away from the stress of my job that I would scrap so much and that has not been the case. I even think my child believes she has her own personal server (i.e. me!). Her dad says this my fault for always being right there when she needed something when she was a little younger, but what was I supposed to do? Lol!! I will admit I may have and still do go overboard, but I cannot help it. The before-a-child me was selfish and hated to share, but after meeting my fiance and having a child, I am mostly different...lol! Mostly because I still do not believe in helping others that are not helping their self first. As far as my child, I would do anything for her...as most parents would agree when it comes to their children. 

I remember when I had to save as much money as possible to cover the bills for maternity leave. Or when we were eating sandwiches and spaghetti almost every other day to keep down the grocery bill. I even remember eating Cheerios on the way to work and taking sandwiches for lunch with peanuts, chips and water because I had no lunch money. BUT...it did not matter. My daughter was at a daycare with teachers/caregivers that loved her and took very good care of her; she had a closet full of clothes and plenty of diapers; and, we enjoyed weekends at home or visiting our families who always fed us and even were sweet enough to pay for the gas for our trip to their house and back. We were blessed in so many ways, so then and now I feel like I have to give her all of that and more. 

Sorry about that entire thought ramble...it all just came out...surely my hands were possessed.. lol! 

Now...I do have a few recent pages to share. I dug deep into my older photos to find some that really needed to be scrapped (or re-scrapped) and I loved going back and seeing how much has changed since those times and now.

My daughter was a month away from her 3rd birthday in these photos and it was Easter Sunday.

Finally...

Yesterday my mother was over to relax with Aida and I. Somehow I mentioned getting Aida's ears pierced. When she was a few months old, everyone kept asking if I was going to get them done and my answer was: no. I want her to decide when she is ready to make these type of permanent choices. With any decision, there is a certain time (in my mind) when it is okay for you decide the when and the where. Ear piercing- as long as she is old enough to understand that we have to take care of her ears and that there will be some pain involved- I was willing to let her decided when and if she wanted this done. I cannot remember having mine done, but my mom says that I was around Aida's age. So if I was...I don't even remember it so it could not have been too bad (I hope...lol!). Anyway, I told her it would be like getting shots at the doctor's office (which she never cries about) and she was okay with that. 

Black Friday Sales!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and time with their family. This year we decided to stay home and spend the day with just the three of us. It was nice to not have chaos and to do things on my own time during the day. I was able to style my hair, cook dinner, wash some clothes, create some layouts and "talk" to Santa about a few things a certain little person requested. My stress level was so low, and that meant, no migraine- which is always my ultimate goal.

That Time of Year

With all the Christmas kits debuting in the scrap booking world, I cannot help but get excited about the holiday season ahead. I am ashamed to say I still have plenty of Christmas photos to scrap from last year. I am not sure if it was because I took so many photos and I did not want to edit them, or I was just waiting for the perfect kit; there are a few photos I did not touch. So far- my two favorite stores have some amazing Christmas goodies. :) I tend to lean more towards the Christmas kit with traditional colors - red, white, green, but I love any good Christmas kit that inspires me to create a layout for my photos.

Love to Scrap

I usually do not stay with things for long-as far as commitments go, but I was thinking today of something that I have yet to give up. The one hobby I have stayed with the longest: scrap-booking. My preference will always be digital, but I have yet to get bored with creating layouts. Today's post will be short and sweet. I have had quite a tiring week at work and right now, I just want to create some pages. My favorite printer (Persnickety Prints) had a sale last week and I bought some print credits. Definitely need to get my 2011 book completed. There are photos I have yet to scrap and some I want to "re"-scrap just because I have a kit that I find more fitting. I try my best not to do that, but if I am not completely happy with a page, I cannot waste my money or time printing it. My 2012 album- ahhh..I never know what to do. I have actually printed some of my 2012 layouts already.....I could not resist seeing them in my hands...and I love them. Both of these albums are 12 x 12 and I have to say....I am pretty sure I will be able to see everything on these pages when I am older. So with that, I just want to share a few pages.

Mix It Up

Every now and then I pose a question to myself- usually when I am complacent and feel I have not "grown" lately in my creative hobby. I ask myself "what is my scrapping style." You could go to any site, forum or search and find many things to read about the different styles. I never felt like I fit in one box. It really depends on my mood. Sometimes I want more sharp & clean lines and other days I want effortless vintage and there are some days I just want to put things on page and go with the flow with an idea in mind. As far as colors go, I have and will use them all. I have had this crazy color idea since I was in Kindergarten at a Catholic school. At home, I always had the big box of Crayola crayons- 96 count and larger. The more colors, the more excited I was to color. Well, my school talked a lot about God - we had religion class and attended Mass at least once a week. I remember there was a section in our book talking about God made the trees, the sky, the animals, etc. That made me think.."hmm, God is everywhere...he sees everything...and he made everything." I took that idea and ran with it. I thought that I HAD to LOVE every color of crayon because God made the rainbows, which meant that he made the colors. This...right here...made me afraid and from that point on, I always made sure to get use of every single crayon I had and NEVER say, there was a color I did not like. It is kind of weird now that I think of it, but I am happy to be color friendly. :)

She loves Dora & Diego

Tuesday - Today was okay. Actually it was slightly better and worse than okay. How is that possible? Well...there are highs and lows to every day...lol! I don't know. I am just rambling. I tried to think of what to post because I have not been in the best of moods, so it is hard to write a post or create a scrapbook page when I do not at least feel 'content.' Nothing too much going on in my world. I went to see my parents this past weekend. Dad is doing good. I don't tell him or anyone (guess I am now) that I say a prayer for him when he crosses my mind. Cancer has been a recurring theme through my life- seeing family members go through it. It scares me. I have my theory on where the entire "cancer" thing came from, but I will not speak on it now. This is breast cancer awareness month. My mother and two of her sisters have been dealt that card to deal with in their own ways and each are doing well and cancer-free today. My grandmother passed from having breast cancer when I was a few months old. I hate that I did not get to meet her just because of all the stories of her I have heard. At the same time, I know that all things happen for a reason- even if we do not know or agree with it, there is a reason.

Last month, I took Aida to the McWane Science Center to meet Dora and Diego. There was a huge billboard we saw every day on the way home, so there was no way of getting past this event. I wanted to take her since we rarely do these types of things. I knew she would love it and she did. All the way there and back, all she talked about were Dora and Diego. She has to be one of their biggest fans. Every time I think she is out of her "Dora" phase, she falls right back into and start asking for Dora toys or anything that she sees Dora related. She also has a Diego doll with the Safari truck and jaguar; so of course, she was just as excited to meet him as she was Dora. I have plenty of photos to scrap of the day. Here are a few on a page I made:

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digital products used:

Revelry & Rivalry by Sugarplum Paperie & Erica Zane

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I also got another Disney page finished. I wanted to only use the traditional Disney colors on the pages, but I can never stick to one idea. I had some kits in my stash that I just HAD to use. Here is my page about Aida's balloon she was so happy about:

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digital products used:

Fuss Free: Sweet Day by Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs
Happy Now kit by Pink Paislee
Resolutions 2012 by Kimeric Kreations
Dad’s Day by E. Hansen
Penelope by Honey Designs
This & That Charming by Echo Park
Emerald Breeze by Fanette Design

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Well, that is all for now. I just finished watching Parenthood, so now it is time to enjoy the quiet. Aida is finally asleep and the TV is out for the night. I will just let the internet distract me as it usually does...lol! Later!  Thanks for visiting!!--

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Our Home Town

It's already Sunday. Where did the time go? I was able to get a couple of pages done since Friday. It seems like every time I sit down to create it is either the internet distracting me or I have mommy duties to fulfill. So, today I am declaring a scrapping marathon. :) More of my favorite shows are starting their newest seasons today: Once Upon a Time, Revenge, and Homeland. I have the DVR set, just in case I forget to tune in on time. I just know I will forget somehow. Now, I have a few pages I want to share before I get back to scrapping away the weekend.

All About the Words

We had a long rough night Thursday and Friday was pretty much the same thing. Aida has been waking up every night around 2 or 3 am to go potty. No matter how much juice, or milk she has or does not have before bedtime, it never fails that she wakes up at the same time. Thursday night she had a tummy ache and would not stay in bed. I hate when she has tummy issues; I hate seeing her in pain or uncomfortable.  Thankfully she was okay by the time she got settled in at daycare. I called to check on her a few hours after dropping her off and she was fine and playing as usual. When I arrived to pick her up, she just screamed "Mommy" and ran to me...almost made me lose my balance. Little moments like that keep reminding me of how much I am not ready for her to attend school next year (lol!).

The Days Behind Me

This has been quite a weekend. I took the entire Saturday to Henna  (+ Indigo)  my hair. I will have an entire blog post on this tomorrow hopefully.  It was a lonnngggg day...all I will say for now. Sunday we took our daughter Aida to the McWane Science Center to see Dora and Diego. Photos will come soon. I spent so much time on my hair that I was exhausted. I ended up styling it in mini twists and I love it!! Hope I can keep it up at LEAST two weeks because it took me about 11 hours to twist all this hair. Ugh!! I know right...that was half a day..lol! Right now I just wanted to share a few of my latest scrapbook pages.

Decisions

This weekend has been quite uneventful....and I welcomed it with WIDE OPEN arms.  I really needed some rest after this week.  I felt much more tired than normal and just did not feel like going anywhere. Plus, my guy had to work, so it'd be just us girls on Saturday. We did a little shopping. Of course, I had to pick up my copy of the Hunger Games movie. I actually enjoyed the movie, even after reading the books. The movie seemed rushed in some places but overall it was good; I did not expect to see each and every scene that I thought was important so that kind of ruled out some of the disappointment for me. I have not watched it at home yet, so that could change...lol!!

Marathon & Scrapping

Hope the weekend is starting off well for everyone! I was not sure what mine would be like at first, but I really wanted to make some time to create some pages. I have been cleaning up and going through toys for Aida's room makeover and that is just wearing me down. I still have a lot to do...but I guess I will stick with just doing a little bit at a time.

I started watching Drop Dead Diva on Netflix this week. Lovvinng the show. The concept was a little odd..or silly..at first, but I remember I did watch "Dead Like Me." The idea behind the two shows are not very different. Either way- I am really enjoying it so far; I can't stop watching it. So through my marathon of Drop Dead Diva, here are a few of the pages I have scrapped:

Looking for that one

Hey there! Ooohhh...what a Sunday it has been. I woke up out of a crazy dream. Last night I watched "An Officer and a Murderer" on Lifetime and I kept watching after the movie was over to see the true story. I kept telling myself I should not have watched any of it but I could not help myself. I ended up having a dream about those horrific home invasions and that I had to catch the guy. When I woke up, I was "almost" about to catch him...so my heart was racing and I was in a panic...until I realized I was dreaming. Lol!!! I have quite a few "save the world/people " kind of  dreams." No idea why! I have always wanted to work for the CIA...hmm...lol!

After all of that craziness, I started searching online for bedroom stuff for my daughter Aida. She will be going to school next year and I really need to get a start on getting her on a tighter schedule. Some days we do okay and other days I just let her go to sleep whenever she falls. I do not like sleeping and right now, (being open and honest here) my daughter sleeps in the bed with me. She has had a crib and toddler bed that she has never used. She has taken a few naps in the toddler bed...but that is about it. I am not ashamed of it at all. I just want whatever is easy.  I already hate that she has to go to daycare everyday so that I can go to work, but that's life...and this how I'm dealing with it. If I could, I would keep her with me all day. Now, I think it is time she embraced her own space. She has always had a room full of toys, clothes and whatever else she puts in there...but never slept in there. My cousin's wife gave her a tv...I thought that'd get her to fall asleep in there.... nope! lol! Sooo I have got to let that all go and get her used to being in her space and enjoying it. When I was around her age, I asked for my own room because I wanted to be able to play and close my door. Our house was small but my parents turned the den into a room for me.  I was too happy about it - especially sleeping in my own bed, alone. No idea why- but I just wanted my own space. I even remember picking out the pink paint. I had a white bed with little flowers on the headboard and a matching desk and dresser with the mirror. I think I kept that set until I was halfway through college..lol!  Sooo...yeah, I am getting Aida involved in picking the things for her room. I finally found a bed I liked and a comforter with her favorite color (purple) but not too crazy. I am going to get her some Princess and the Frog things to go in her room, which I know she'll get a kick out of.

Here's a photo of my little munchkin outside riding her bike:

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I thought she would be afraid to ride it but she has been trying to ride the thing since this past Christmas. She was a little weary at first, but that did not last for long. She has even been trying to stand and ride....that really tripped me out. I have a few scrap booking pages to share before I head off to get ready for bed.

This first page is about my sweet little great-niece- I love this girl so much and she is always so fun to be around, even if she's constantly eating...lol!

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digital supplies used:

Cindy's Layered Templates Set 125 by Cindy Schneider
Strawberry Fields by Jenn Barrette

Miss Aida in her new "big girl" (booster) seat. She just reached 40lbs so she will still be riding using the back of the booster with the harness.  I bought her a travel pillow for our trip to Florida and she is still using it any time she is in the car and wants to "nap."

digital supplies used:

Scenes From Real Life by One Little Bird
Splats N' Stains by Just Jaimee

... and more pages :)  ...

digital supplies used:

I Hope You Dance by Traci Reed
Cindy's Layered Templates - Builders 1: 6x12 by Cindy Schneider

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digital supplies used:

Fuss Free:Third Time is the Charm 5 by Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs
Country Fair Picnic (papers),Country Fair Picnic (elements),Country Fair Picnic Freebie ,Everyday,
Jacquard Ribbon Trim No. 2,Painted Alpha, Sunshine Sticker Alpha by Sahlin Studio
Petals,Trillium by Sara Gleason (Zinnias & Swallowtails)

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digital supplies used:

Goldenrod by Sara Gleason
Beach house (wood papers), Button It Up: Fresh, Grandma's Dresser,My Happiness, Autumn Afternoon Flowers by Sahlin Studio
Today Journal Cards by Valorie Wibbens

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Thanks so much for visiting!