This is fun....:)

BG Love

Have I mentioned that I love Basic Grey? I have? Well I'll tell you again..... I LOVE Basic Grey. They just have an amazing way of making colors and patterns mesh together like they were meant to be.... in a way I would have never seen on my own. I sure wish I'd inherited "the eye" for stuff like that, like my mom has. Fortunately for me, I don't have to do it alone, scrapbooking manufacturers have done all that work for me. All I have to do is cut it all up :)
I finished this layout this afternoon -- in a rather rushed way actually -- but I'm fairly happy with it. You just about can't do it wrong with such beautiful papers.

I love this photo. Grace was about one month old, and practically fit in the span of Billy's two hands. It's so amazing how fast they grow! I am so thankful for my camera. Makes it certain I will never forget little precious moments like this one.

Biiiiiiiiig Trees

On Labor Day we went to the Redwood National Forest in Northern CA. We love making this trip and I never get tired of it! It's close enough to our place that we can make a day of it, see some sights, have a little picnic, walk through some of the beautiful groves, and make it home before bedtime :) A tourist was kind enough to take our photo at the end of the walk. A rare moment with all of us in front of the camera! Of course Cassie did a little of her own exploring -- this was her first real excursion anywhere and she loved it! She's still a little confused with what the leash is all about, but she gets better every time.

Here's a picture of Katy sitting in a crevice in a tree -- yes that is one tree! That was a pretty big step for her to get up there. She's normally pretty cautious about being up high, and she was a good four feet above her Daddy's head when she got all the way up there!

-- and then another of the girls standing in front of a fallen tree. What you see behind them is the underside of the tree and the part of the root system. Pretty amazing, huh?

You really can't grasp from pictures just how majestic these trees are. They are so beautiful!

For a little perspective, here's Billy standing with the girls. He is 6' tall and completely dwarfed next to the trunks of those trees.

This was the one tourist-y thing we did. We thought the girls would get a big kick out of it, and they did!! This is the Tour-through Living Tree. We drove our van through it when we left and they thought that was really something :)

Overall, a really great day. I would highly recommend visiting there if you can. It's kinda like the Grand Canyon -- the pictures are pretty, of course, but when you see it in person it takes your breath away.

KnK September Kit Reveal #2

This layout is my favorite creation from this kit! I used an acrylic sheet that was in a previous kit (May 'o8, I think), the Basic Grey Doily, the super-cute 3 Bugs paper, and one of the big chipboard ladybugs. This is my first attempt using an acrylic sheet as the base for my layout and now I am wondering why I waited so long to do it! I really love how it turned out. The photo is my sweet Katy, on her first birthday. She actually had ladybug themed invitations and a ladybug cake, so naturally when I saw this kit I thought of those photos immediately :)

Next is a birthday card I made for my Granny (whos birthday is September 12th, Happy Birthday Gran!). I used the little ladybug stamp and embossed it (using the red embossing powder on top of that dark rosy color may not have been the best choice -- but you can still tell what they are, right? ) and then I used some black diamond Stickles for the dots. I also embossed the "Y-O-U". Reminded me of how much I love the embossed effect.

This is the cute 7 Gypsies altered purse. The first photo shows the finished product on the outside, and the second is a peek at the album, which I first covered with paper and a few little embellishments and then attached a photo sleeve to each section. Both sides of the album are done this way, so that you can change out the photos as often as you want.

So there you have it! With the September kit I created one double-layout, two single-layouts, a card, and an altered purse complete with album. :) And a still have a few paper scraps left, I could probably manage another card or two! This was one of my favorite kits to date, for sure. Thanks for having a look!

Studio Calico Sketch Contest

Go here: http://www.pagemaps.com/blog.php for details of this great sketch contest! I had fun with this and while the end result of mine doesn't look exactly like the sketch, I got some great inspiration from it. Thanks PageMaps :)

Who's King-of-the-Hill ?

Now that's entertainment! Who needs television? Did you see that head-butt?! Keep in mind these are tiny fawns, still with spots. I rolled on the floor laughing when I saw this! I wish the quality was better. It looks a lot better on my Windows Media viewer.

Video credit goes to my Dad :)

Can you say.... LAZY?

Our little lady has decided it's just too much for her to stand up to eat or drink.... she has to lay down or else she might faint from the exhaustion of it all. Too funny!

Look how big she's getting! I can't really even hold her in my lap in the car anymore, and definitely NOT while I am driving. She has landed on her favorite toys though, an old slipper and a pair of last summer's flip-flops I hadn't brought myself to throw out yet. Not the spendy little bouncy ball and toys we got her from the pet store. What is it about puppies and shoes? At any rate, our little princess is really settling in to her place in the house. On the couch, on the bed, on a lap...... course I don't think I'd have it any other way. :)