What a week(end)!

Phew! So glad we are rolling into August tomorrow. July has been great - Connor's second birthday, NKOTB, 4th of July festivities, and the final Kroger SpeedFest we'll work for awhile. Not sure if I've mentioned it, but the hubs works in racing and after 30 years the NASCAR race won't be at his track next year. It was a very bittersweet night, and we had to go two WHOLE days without seeing Connor, so all in all I'm glad it's over. Now it's on to Labor Day for SIX days of drag racing. Someday we'll actually get a holiday off work! :)

I did get some scrapping done early in the week - here's some of the goodies:

CREDITS: {Stash Builders} Project 365 Date Stamps 2 by SuzyQ Scraps,Land of Learning {Grid Solids} by SuzyQ Scraps and Land of Learning {Doodled Paper Alphas} by SuzyQ Scraps.

CREDITS: Just Plain Fun by Britt-ish Designs

Also, Suzy posted some Summer CT inspiration on her blog this week - check out the amazing layouts by all the summer members, I guarantee you there will be some inspiration in there. She picked up a layout of mine featuring Connor playing with the garden hose. Can you pick him out?

Lastly, I'm hosting my first chat at MouseScrappers this week! Join us August 4th at 9:00 pm EST to talk about Blogging 101. We'll be talking about how to decorate your blog and some tips for using Blogger and WordPress.



Oh - and one other thing. Nanie's Designs is having a great sale until August 3rd at Scrap Orchard. I went on a bit of a shopping spree this morning and picked up four of her template packs. Follow her on Facebook for the special code!

I prefer the 1989 NKOTB

The other night I got the opportunity of a lifetime (depending on your grade-school crush era) to attend a concert here in the city in a SUITE! How exciting - and that concert was NKOTBSB, i.e. New Kids on the Block and the Back Street Boys. Oh, the memories!

This wasn't my first reunion with my first love Joey McIntyre, I went to Chicago back in 2008 when they first reunited. I skipped the outdoor show here in Indy in 2009 with I was 38w3d pregnant with Connor. I knew if I went, I'd end up on Good Morning America with Matt Laurer asking me which New Kid I was going to name my son after and well, I wasn't *that* big of a fan!

I don't know what happened between 2008 and 2011, but the magic wasn't the same. I did however revel in the absurdity that was NKOTBSB. I think my tweets from that night sums it up best:

Who's ready for #NKOTBSB in #Indy tonight? I am!! Starting early at Harry and Izzys. Much fancier than the Deer Creek days.

Hanging in the suite at Conseco with my #BFF from college, having a beer, ready for NKOTB. It doesn't get much better than this!!

Mr. Schuster rocking out to some Paul Simon Mrs. Robinson #sweet

And follows it up with Golddigger? #youcannotmakethisstuffup

And the curtain drops!!!!!! Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Hmmmm, that's a lot of screaming for 9 dudes all dressed alike. Not much different than 1988 in here! #NKOTBSB

Flat out absurdity! Love it. #NKOTBSB

Aaron Carter should invest in Spanx

AJ from BSB just did the running man!

I don't remember it being this dirty at 13 years old

That got weird at the end

Oops, it's Nick Carter, the older one. My bad.

So, it was fun, but nothing compared to our 2008 trip. I'm sure we were the screaming over excited 30-somethings 11 rows from the stage back then. It sure was fun to hang out with college buddy with fancy seats, a great view and fun times.

Who am I kidding? I'd go again.

Fun and Free Tips from SuzyQ Scraps

I'm blown away by how much fun I've been having on the Summer CT for SuzyQ Scraps. All the other summer girls are awesome, and I have found some really great tutorials on Suzy's site. I can't believe I've been digital scrapbooking for over three years, and just learned how to do color matching using the eyedropper tool last week! Be sure to sign up for her newsletter for the 'Tip of the Week', special sales, freebies, discount codes and more.

I've always liked her style of designing, and I've been challenged to scrap photos I've put off for awhile, and I've gotten more scrapping done in the last six weeks that I did in the last year and a half. Check out her store at Scrap Orchard for kits that can be used for holidays, days playing outside, days stuck inside, trips to the doctor and much more.

Here's a few layouts I've done in the past week:

CREDITS: {Stash Builders} Patterned Kraft 2 and A Life Expressed...{Peacefully}, both by SuzyQ Scraps.

CREDITS: Oopsie Doodle: Swirls 2 and Bunny Hop, both by SuzyQ Scraps.

CREDITS: Dark Comedy Alpha by SuzyQ Scraps and The Sun Will Come {the Kit} by SuzyQ Scraps. Journaling: Connor was so grossed out by his pumpkin guts. He was fine to help, until we finished off the ‘sick’ part. He accidently touched the gook-y stuff, and well, that was the end of pumpkin carving 2010!

This week is a busy one in our house, and the 2nd Birthday Party was a huge success! I'll try and get some photos up later this week. We've been having a great time playing in our backyard lately, so I've added this new release from Suzy to my wish list:
Aren't those ducks and frogs the best! They will be perfect for scrapping lazy summer days hanging out at the lake or the pond. I also have some bath photos in mind for this kit. It's just $3.99 through Thursday as part of the Fresh Fruit sale. Find it here.

I hope your Monday is a good one and you're staying cool wherever you are. Perfect weather for staying inside and scrapping, if I do say so myself.

The Big 2!

My baby's second birthday is right around the corner next week, and his party is this Sunday. We're having it in our tiny home with our backyard that is like the Bristol race track - basically a 45 degree banking from the back door to the retention pond - so please send good thoughts no one ends up in the 'lake', they don't pass out from the eleventy-billion degree heat or they don't trip and fall over one another if it's pouring rain and we're stuck inside. I promise to take video either way.

We're having a Mickey Mouse themed party, and I'm pretty excited. I'm most excited about his balloons and the cake! Here are a few of the cake supplies:


Thank you Wal Mart! I'm sure you'd assume I'm making a cake, and cupcakes and being a domestic hero, but unfortunately my baby's birthday is right in the middle of the busiest two weeks of the year for myself and my husband. Enter JinAyla from the Bread Basket Bakery and Cafe. She whipped up Connor's cake, smash cake and cupcakes last year based on Ziggle Designs In the Wild Kit. It was amazing. Here's some leftover smash cake:

(We have better photos - I'll dig them out and update tomorrow. It's late and the terabyte drive is in the other room! LOL)

And the Kit:

We pick up the cake and cupcakes tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see it! I'll be back with Disney cake love this weekend so stay tuned!

PS - No Freebie Friday again, bad meejay. I think we'll work toward a First Friday of the month freebie for August. More to stay tuned for, right?

More layout fun and a tid-bit about county fairs

It's hot here this week. I'm talking serious H-O-T hot. But, I'd rather be warm than cold so my complaining is slightly less loud than others. It's dangerous warm even after dinner so we can't go outside to play. There have been A LOT of Dance Star Mickey Marathons in the living room this week.

We did venture out Monday, to the County Fair. Are they a big deal where you are? They are a huge deal here in the midwest. Connor loved it, and the heat didn't phase him. There was cow kissing and pig petting, and he couldn't have been happier.

I wrote a whole post on my family blog here, that talks about our visit and has more info on Indiana county fairs and our state fair. It's a fun little read if you're looking for something to do in the heat!

I've been slowing down in my layout doing, but I'm still loving my time with SuzyQ Scraps and my visits at MouseScrappers. The next 10 days are the busiest of the year in our house with work and the big birthday party, so I'm hopeful I'll stay on track. I'm still counting down the days to Disney though!

Me & My Shadow: A Life Expressed...{Peacefully} and {Stash-Builders} Patterned Kraft 2 both by SuzyQ Scraps. Font is The Great Escape.

Halloween Turkey: Turkey-licious {the Kit} and Turkey-licious {the Word Art} both by SuzyQ Scraps.

Dreaming Disney: This was for a Fresh Fruit Challenge as part of the Iron Scrapper going on at Scrap Orchard. You were supposed to scrap what you do to relax, and for me that is thinking about our upcoming trip. I used Me Hearties the Mini-Kit by Ziggle Designs and Stitch Hiccups #1 by SuzyQ Scraps.

I want to blog...really I do!

I have a list on my desktop of topics I want to blog about. I have stories to tell, layouts to show and Disney trips to plan! At the end of the day, I still work full time, mommy full time and now help take care of my husband's grandpa almost full time. Bear with me as I get into a routine, we'll get there. I hope you enjoy following along my little space of the blog-o-sphere, and we can all learn to navigate it together.

Over the last 10 days or so I have had some quiet time to do a layout here and there. This is probably my fave of the week:

CREDITS: A Life Expressed...{Simply} and A Life Expressed {Mega Alpha Stash} both by SuzyQ Scraps

I had to get my oil changed this week. It was no longer a suggestion by my vehicle, it was an all out barrage of blips, beeps and flashing CHANGE OIL NOW that I can't turn off until it's done. So off to Dugan Chevrolet I went. I was going to be there a bit I assumed, so I took my laptop with me. I rolled into the Quick Lube, and turns out it was also time for my 10,000 mile check up so I needed tires rotated and balanced as well. (I'm pretty hard on the tires, my last car had three sets in five years...) 35 minutes of waiting time awaited!

Dugan is not your average car dealership. The waiting room is like a spa to me. They have nice high top tables with chairs with appropriate sized backs, one TV at a volume level that appeared to be acceptable to all, a plethora of electrical outlets AND free wi-fi! It was my own mini-retreat. I got set up and ready to scrap. I even had to document my 'downtime'.



Those 35 minutes flew by and soon my service guy came to get me. I even got a complimentary car wash, so they must have seen how happy I was in the waiting room! He patiently waited for me to pack up the scrap stash and off I went. If you see me hanging out at the car dealership sometime soon, I must need some alone time.

It did get me thinking however. In just 35 minutes I could feel tension being relieved, worries and fears being calmed and just a general sense of balance. I guess I needed to realize that taking a break doesn't have to be a week long trip, a weekend getaway or even an afternoon shopping trip. It can be anywhere, for any length of time. I know I'll be looking forward to seeing my oil change light come on with much more enthusiasm in the future.

No Freebie Friday today, but we'll be back at it next week. August is just around the corner, and the next installment of three.six.five will be available soon. In the meantime here's a few more layouts from the week:

CREDITS: Pumpkin Patch by SuzyQ Scraps

CREDITS: Magical Vacation by Tracy Howard (retired) and Word Art by Britt-ish Designs. Templates by Denise.

My To-Do list

Even though I was up late last night, I'm up early because the little guy is really loud in the morning. It is funny to hear him yell 'HELP!' as loud as his can for me to come get him from the crib. At least he doesn't climb out yet!

The To-Do list is mighty long today, given our clean sweep last week. I still need to finish the kitchen and I have a mountain of filing to put away. But first on the list is spending time with my little family! We are off to the local Farmer's Market later this morning, then onto the National Powwow. But first, here's two layouts from this week.

This was for a Speed Scrap at Mousescrappers earlier this week hosted by Britt. We hung out in the chat room and had a great time talking Disney and family.



CREDITS - Papers: Magical Vacation by Tracy Howard, Alpha: Chunky Rainbow Alpha by Tracy Howard, Brackets and stitches: Just Plain Fun by Britt-ish Designs, Staples: Magical Vacation by Amanda Heimann, Squiggly doodles: A Life Expressed...{Joyfully} by SuzyQ Scraps. Fonts are Enchanted Prairie Dog and PeaCourtney

I did this one last night (when I should have been sleeping!) since I had that accidental nap yesterday afternoon. It still feels funny to scrap winter photos in the middle of July!



Credits: Christmas Celebration Add On by SuzyQ Scraps and Spring Templates by Scrapping with Liz. Fonts are Designers and Expletive Deleted.

I hope you all have fun weekend plans. I'd love to hear what you are up to. Will you scrap about it?

Well that was interesting...how about a Freebie Friday RoundUp?

So this week got away from me! Taking a week off then heading into one of our biggest work weeks of the year may not have been by wisest move. However, things will soon slow down, but return to somewhat 'normal'. We are hosting the National Powwow this week, and I've seen some amazing things, and learned a lot about Native American heritage and culture. I plan on sharing some of the photos and stories in the coming days.

Onto my interesting (albeit embarrassing) day today. I take a daily medication, it sits in my bathroom - the nice clean one - just next to the sink. Today I forgot to take it and remembered as I was leaving. I ran back into the house, grabbed the pill, downed it, then went on my merry way to work. About 45 minutes later, my mouth got real dry and I honestly thought I was going to pass out. It was at that moment I realized I had taken the muscle relaxer I had gotten out the night before that I take for migraine headaches. Talk about drugged out! I was a mess. I got all itchy, I fell asleep at my desk, and eventually called my mom - MY MOM! - to come get me so I could go nap. Thank goodness she lives nearby! I slept 3 1/2 hours and then she brought me back to work. I had plans for a super cute freebie today, but due to my inability to read prescription labels I have a freebie round-up for you instead!

A week or so ago I saw this great tutorial on making alphas from Emma for Little Green Frog Designs. She even gave away her Stars and Strips inspired worn alpha she made. It's still available on the blog.



Jessica is a new member over at MouseScrappers and has put together this adorable Mickey-related freebie. Her new blog is all about Handbags and Scrapbooks and I think she's going to share some great things in the future.



With the big birthday party coming up in a few weeks, I saw these on Amy Stoffel's blog, where she now creates for ScrapMatters. Aren't they cute! These printable cupcake wrappers and toppers coordinate with her new release, Cirque de Birthday.



I hope you enjoy some evening freebie hunting! I've also finished up a few layouts for SuzyQ Scraps - look for those tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend, I plan to!

Happy 4th of July!

We just got in from our hometown celebration, it was a really great event. Hosted by the Danville Chamber of Commerce, this was the first ever Family 4th Fest. The members and the volunteers did a great job and Connor enjoyed the games put on by the local Student Council. He was a big hit waving his flag - even though he prefers to use it as a weapon!

Tonight's my last night of vacation, so I did get some scrapping in earlier today. I've enjoyed my week off, things are cleaner than they were a week ago and I've taken a half-dozen bags to the Goodwill. Good work! Here's a few layouts that I did for Suzy over the weekend:

CREDITS: Bug Collectin' Kit and Blustery Fall Templates, SuzyQ Scraps

CREDITS: Snow-licious the Kit and Snow-licious the Word Art, SuzyQ Scraps

I also finished up Connor's 2nd birthday party invite - we are having a Mickey Mouse themed party in a few weeks! I even have my Mickey shirt all picked out. I'm ordering the cake tomorrow, and then we'll try and narrow down a gift. Do you have any good ideas for a 2 year old boy? Here's the invite:

CREDITS: Mr. Magic Alpha by Leslie Bodoh Designs; Birthday cake, black and white paper by See It, Snap It, Scrap It! and yellow mickey paper by wyld peas designs.

Hope you all got to spend time with your friends and family this weekend - holiday or not. It's been enjoyable for me to see the little guy hang out with all his grandparents. Happy 4th of July!

Freebie Friday!

Well today is the last official day of vacation, even though I don't go back to work until the 5th. I'm going to clean out the filing cabinet, and tackle the kitchen pantry and then we'll call #smithcleansweep11 done. Hopefully we can keep it this way awhile!

Don't forget that SuzyQ Scraps has dozens of items including kits, add-ons, templates, date elements and more in the 50% off retirement sale at Scrap Orchard. You can see Suzy's whole list here. Sales is through Monday July 5th - don't miss it!

For today's Friday Freebie I started working on a July 4th date element for a page of mine. As I did it, I thought it would make a neat set. Here we have the July edition of three.six.five, a series I hope to continue. You will find each month here on the first Friday of the month. It includes the individual PNGs for the dates, plus add-ons for the years (2002-2015) and add-ons for the suffix - such as 'st' for 1st, 'nd' for 2nd etc. It's pretty customizable for what you like in your date elements! I'll have tags and stickers to go with these too over time.



There is also a special 'holiday' version for the July 4th date this month, and I plan to do that for all major holidays.

You can download the freebie at the MediaFire links below. They are divided into two downloads - one of just the dates and one of the years with the add-ons. That way each month, you only have to add the dates download to your stash. Please leave a comment if you download - I'd love to hear what you think of the giveaways. Have a great holiday weekend - enjoy!

Years and Add-Ons
July dates