The 32 oz. Prime Rib

As soon as Zane and I decided on where we were going for vacation, Zane started looking up steak houses. The man loves a good Prime Rib! Of all the things we had planned for vacation he was most looking forward to visiting Clint's BBQ for a 32 oz slab of meat. EWWWW! After our day of hiking, we were all starving and thirsty, the time had come. Again can I say EWWW! Don't get me wrong the food was great, we loved the mom and pop feel to the place, and especially enjoyed visiting with Clint himself. I never thought Zane would finish the "roast", but he did, well almost..... There was a little pile of blubber (aka fat) left on his plate. Normally he would eat this too, but there was a little bit to much fat for him. Again EWWWWW!

Gales Pond

There is never a dull moment with these two in tow. I took Emily and her BFF Kylee to Gales Pond for a little outdoor adventure before the rain rolled in. They even let me snap a few pictures. There are number markers along the trail. Emily and I had Kylee convinced we were walking 19 miles. She said "are you sure these are miles, they seem pretty short"! Then we told her they were mouse miles. We even seen a beaver, sure glad we didn't see any snakes. I am not usually one to venture in the woods without Zane by my side.





We took several pics, these just happen to be the ones I started Editing. I am really trying to learn my way around Photoshop Elements. Very slow going so far. Thank goodness for youtube or I would be forever lost.

Wow! What a change in pace

This page is all about our hike down the mountain. I used a sketch from a Scrapbook Generation Sketch book. Love these!

pg.1

The clouds are stamped with a stamp from the CTMH Around The Block set(D1377), pink photo corners stamped with a corner stamp in the CTMH Delightful Things set(D1369), Title stamped with CTMH posterboard alphabet(E1014) then I dabbed some liquid glass on the dots of the pattern paper. Hard to see in the picture. The circle border is punched with a EK success border punch.

pg.2

Title circle cut out with a Spellbinders die, then used a circle block buddy to stamp the letters from CTMH Pennant Alphabet set(E1018) in a perfect circle.

close up......

The tree is one of my favorite tree stamps. So versatile! It is from the CTMH Grown with love set(D1372). I then covered the leaves in liquid glass to make them look shiny and wet. I put some small pieces of foam under some of the leaves to give the tree some dimension.

2 pages together...


A lot of cutting, inking and detailing went into this one. I need to journal yet, my least favorite part!

The Bear encounter.

Back to vacation pages.... On our way down the mountain we had quite a boost of adreneline! Yup! This bear was one of 2 we seen. The first was a small one right of the trail that we walked right past. Tyler said very casually "there's a bear right there". Yikes! Then we walked upon this beauty. He / She was much larger and quite content nosing around the woods while we watched him for quite sometime. We finally had to walk within 15 feet of him to continue past him. Once he spotted us, he scurried to a tree and watched us pass.

As you can see from the picture of Emily on page 2, Emily was not happy about the situation. She was on the verge of petrified. She was quite upset I kept taking Mr. Bears picture.

Although we were quite scared, it was the highlight of the vacation. Something we will never forget, that is for sure!

2 pg. layout....


pg.1....

I stamped the pink "X" border around the large picture mat with the x stamp from the CTMH A Game set (A1113). Title is cut with Cricut, I think Gypsy Wanderings font. Edges of smaller pictures distressed with CTMH edge distresser.

pg. 2....

The journaling area stamped with the journaling block that comes with the you and me kit that is only available this month. LOVE this stamp. I haven't journaled yet because I need to think of the right words to express our anxiety and adventure. Is on my to do list.

close up...

I wanted to add a little dimension to this mostly picture layout. I had these nice little circles left from the punched border strips. Since the papers are double sided, I was able to flip them over and pop dot them to the border strips for a little added interest.

Only 1 piece of pattern paper was used on this page. Love double sided paper. 2 patterns for the price of 1!

Ballet page

Phew! What a crazy couple of weeks has been. As much as I love being a busy mom I am sure glad life is resuming to normal. Emily had her 8th dance recital last weekend! By the end of Saturday I was soooo ready to play with some paper. It had been nearly 2 weeks since I have been able to create something "for me". I don't know about the rest of you, but I tend to get a little cranky when I don't have time to create. This hobby is such a stress reliever for me.

I decided to take a break from the vacation pictures and do a layout with the fresh new dance pictures we received at Friday's recital.


Papers are CTMH sweetheart and title is CTMH Pennant alphabet. I love this set! My favorite thing about alphabet stamps..... the ability to change the look of the letters quickly and easily. The photo corners are from the stamp set that comes with the Lucky Workshop On the Go kit.



I am anxiously waiting to have some Fanfare paper in my hands for the Jazz layout... Hurry Fed Ex! Until then it is back to vacation pictures. 12 more pages! YAY!

Making progress

Another 2 pager for the vacation album. I am nearly as excited to see this album making progress as we were when we finally made it the 2.6 miles up the mountain to Rainbow Falls. I am sitting here wishing for some warm weather and the day these pictures were taken it was at least 90 degrees. We were so hot and sweaty during this hiking adventure. "Brutal" is the word Zane uses to describe our day. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

I wish I could remember who makes these papers, I think Creative Imaginations, not 100% sure though. I do know the sketch I used is from one of the Scrapbook Generation sketch books. They are awesome, you can find them here



I designed the leaf border along the bottom with a leaf from the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge. The title is cut from Gypsy font and Street sign. I worked out all the cutting details while sitting in the dance studio while Emily was rehearsing. This is one of my favorite things about the Gypsy, designing page elements while waiting at practices, riding in the car, etc.

The only stamped image on this page is the photo corner in the upper Right corner. I use this stamp from the CTMH Take a Picture set (C1440) quite often. A quick and easy way to dress up a corner.

National Scrapbooking Month!

Close To My Heart has a couple of great specials for the month of May! They have a great kit called "You & Me" available for purchase for $34.95 or only $15 with at $50 purchase. You can also get the kit for free by signing up to be a CTMH consultant. I was so excited to see the stitching stamp in the stamp set that comes with the kit. You know me, love me some fake stitching. Tee Hee!

During the month of May if you sign up to be a CTMH consultant it is only $65 (with shipping / tax $83.21). This is a supurb deal! Even if you have no intention of ever selling products, it is a great way to get at least $250 worth of products depending on which options you choose. If you have been thinking about trying out Studio J for digital scrapbooking, you can choose a 1 year membership as one of the options. This alone is $99 regular price. Plus, you would get a discount on the printing / shipping of your layouts since you would be shopping from yourself.

You can find all the details by visiting my website, just click on the "shop with me" logo on the right. I would love to have you on my team and will help you every step of the way!