Berry Sweet Card

I needed to make a thank you card for my sweet aunt (hi Aunt Sheila!) who bought the girls a gift and unfortunately I had been putting it off.  I am usually very prompt when sending thank you cards but I don't always make them.  That is my dirty little secret!  I buy cards about 60% of the time for all occasions.

Just over a week ago I finally stopped procrastinating and made this easy card using the Cricut Country Life cartridge.  I went with a plain white background and used a Martha Stewart border punch across the bottom.  Then I added a strip of American Crafts ribbon, the strawberry and phrase.  I added Stickles to the "sweet" to help it stand out against the strawberry.

Normally I would have added some colored or patterned paper rather than leave it white. I feel like by using the white background it leaves it feeling crisp and clean.  I like that the hearts on the ribbon kinda look like strawberry seeds to me.

So there it is...an easy thank you card that I waited too long to send. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

The Stylish Blogger Award Has Arrived On My Blog!

I was so, so lucky to receive this award twice!  Thanks to my scrappy friends Dana and Ashley!  With so many blogs out there it is fun to receive and pass this on to my fellow bloggers. 

Here are a few rules when a blog receives this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share 8 things about yourself.
3. Give the award to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award

So, here are 8 things about myself:

1.  Being a mom has been the greatest joy of my life!

2.  I am a Starbucks junkie!  I can't get enough of it.  Now that the closet Starbucks is 45 minutes away I will somtimes get two drinks...one when we first arrive in Nuremberg and another before we leave (but I only do this if James isn't with me)!
3.  We have been living in Germany since July of 2008.  I am so glad we have had this opportunity to travel while we have lived here.
4.  I love to plan parties...I like seeing everything come together perfectly and people having a good time. 
5.  I was in the US Air Force for 9 years.  It was the best and worst paying job I ever had.  I made so many amazing friends that I miss bunches.
6.  I enjoy all sorts of crafting but scrapbooking has become my favorite hobby. 
7.  When I was a little girl I loved the movie "Space Camp" and wanted to be an astronaut.  Once I realized that math was not my favorite or strongest subject I decided that wasn't the job for me.
8.  I don't like having to think of things to say about myself!  :-)

Since I am lame and I am not familiar with many other bloggers I am only passing this on to 4 fabulous bloggers (please don't hold it against me): 

1.  Andrea:  http://andrea-preciousmemories.blogspot.com/
2.  Amanda:  http://asjmade.blogspot.com/
3.  Angie:  http://thefeathersinmynest-mommiextwo.blogspot.com/
4.  Heather:  http://craftyscrapbooker.blogspot.com/

Thanks again to Dana and Ashley!  What a fun way to share our blogs with others!

iPod Case

After thinking we lost an iPod back in October while we were out of town I ended up with a new iPod Touch.  James took my old one which was newer than the one he had that disappeared.  Since I carry my iPod with me nearly everywhere because I love the camera and the girls love the free game apps I wanted a case to protect the screen while it was stored in my purse. 

I was thinking of purchasing a cute case from Etsy but I have a hard time buying things I could probably make myself, especially since I already had the necessary fabric to put it together.  I am not a great seamstress but I can get by and sew simple things.  So when I saw this tutorial by Tammy over at Not JUST A Housewife it was just the inspiration I needed to finally make my case. 

The tutorial is easy to follow and the case went together quickly.  I used some Amy Butler fabric I had on hand along with a plain pink cotton to finish it off.  I added a giant ruffle across the back and since it was the first time I ever attempted making a ruffle like this I am fairly pleased.  It is just slightly off but not enough to make me want to go back and fix it.

The really cute pink case that my iPod is in is a Speck Candyshell Case and I loooove it.  It does not slide off at all and has a great rubber-ish protective lip that sticks up a bit off the top of the screen to give it a little bit of protection since we know how sensitive the screens are. 

Happy 4th Birthday Aubrey!

Four years ago today my life changed forever.  I became a mommy!  Aubrey is an amazing girl, so much like her mommy and daddy it kills me sometimes.  She wears her heart on her sleeve, just like me.  She is not afraid of much, always willing to jump off something or try new things, just like her daddy.  She loves hard, takes care of others and can be so thoughtful that I am blown away by the gestures.  She learns fast like James and is moody just like him too.  And this girl has some serious dance moves....she does not get that from me :-)  She really is the best of both of us!

Four years ago I felt a love that was so strong, so deep, so unconditional and I never imagined I could love someone so much.  Happy 4th Birthday Aubrey!  You bring so much love and joy into our lives and we are blessed beyond words.

Wild Park

We have had a nice stretch of warmish weather so far this month so we decided to take the girlies to the Wild Park in Bad Mergentheim on Saturday.  We had a fantastic time walking around the easy to navigate park.  The girls were getting grumpy just as we left though as it was quite a bit of walking for them. 

One thing I adore about parks and zoos here is the abundance of petting zoo's!  Lolo loves petting all the animals and it is one time she is braver than Aubrey.  Aubrey tends to shy away from the animals unless they are much smaller than her.  I always have a hard time getting Lolo to leave the animals and by the time she has pet everything she possibly can Aubrey has usually wandered off with her daddy. 

I was able to snap a few photos that I love as most of the animals were out and about.  There were only a couple of creatures that decided to hide while we searched their enclosures for the slightest movement of the animal.  Here are my favorite photos from the afternoon....

What did you do this weekend?  How's the weather in your neck of the woods?  I know many of you have had a long, hard winter and I hope it comes to an end soon. 

Have a great Monday!

Five For Friday

Happy Friday!  It will be a good Friday for us because James will be coming home for the weekend.  The girls miss their daddy. 

Here are my 5 favorites from Pinterest this week:

1.  I loved this pillow from Scrapbooks, Etc.  This would be a great Mother's Day gift for a grandma! 

2.  I love this baking sheet turned tray idea from Martha Stewart!  I may try this using spray paint and painters tape.   I have several baking sheets that are too big for my very small oven and this would be a great way to finally put them to good use.

3.  This flower arrangement is cute and I adore the bright colors.  I would have a hard time keeping the girls out of the Peeps!

4.  This necklace from Bellawish on Etsy.com is adorable and an great gift for your favorite shutterbug!

5.  I can't wait to try this Farfalle with Watercress, Cherry Tomatoes and Feta dish from Fitness Magazine!  We are trying to add more vegetarian meals to our menu and this looks tasty and healthy.

What are your favorites this week?  Any plans for the weekend?  I plan on sewing a small pouch for my iPod since I carry it with me a lot and do not want to scratch the screen.  We should get in some family time too since James is home and he will miss Aubrey's birthday on Tuesday. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Snow White and Aubrey

One of the fun things about having young girls is that they love to dress up!  Aubrey received a Rapunzel dress for Christmas and I swear she has been living in it since.  One day I heard her calling me over to "Kiss ME!" and she was laying down on their little pink couch and covered up with a blanket.  She had a small scarf gathered up as a bouquet of flowers in her hands.  I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was Snow White and I had to kiss her so she could wake up. 

This is has been a regular occurence since then and it makes me smile.  She works so hard to set up a little area for her to become a princess and I enjoy seeing her creativity and imagination at work.

Blessed Layout

I completed this layout months ago, maybe November.  It was a gallery highlight over at Club CK for the week it was posted!  I took the photos while we were in Krakow, Poland last summer.  I loved the photos but they are a little orange because we were sitting under a big orange umbrella.  I forgot to try and fix it in PSE before I had them printed.  James is doing his best Rock impersonation in the photo!  It makes me smile when I see it.

The brown cardstock that I used as the base is Bazzill.  The patterned paper and embellishments are from the Basic Grey Pyrus collection.  I went along the edges of the papers with a white chalk ink before I adhered them down.  I used my sewing machine to add stitching around the outside edge and to form my journaling lines. 

Thanks for stopping by today!



Body Art

A couple of weeks ago James and I were cleaning.  James was picking up the toys and markers that had been pushed under the couch either by the cats or the girls and I was mopping the kitchen and laundry room.  Even though James was in the livingroom with the girls Lolo was able to sneak into a corner and give herself some dots...all over. 

Lolo even managed to add plenty of spots to her tummy!  Good thing it was a Crayola Washable marker and it pretty much all washed off.  Just a few faint spots were left behind. 

I am amazed at all the things Lolo has done that her big sister hasn't!  Aubrey has never written all over herself or tried to get into things she shouldn't.  I have to watch Lolo like a hawk!  :-)



Can You Guess...

Where our last big trip is going to be?  No?  You need a hint?  Ok.....here it is:

We are going to Croatia in June!  I am so excited.  I have wanted to visit there since I saw a tourism ad on CNN International a couple of years ago.  James decided that he wanted to visit when he saw a video of Plitvice National Park.  We are going to drive so we can take our time and stop when we want.  James spent most of the week researching hotels and places to visit and we made the final reservation last night. 

On our way back we are also going to spend an afternoon in Vienna, Austria.  We thought about spending more time in Vienna but most of the top sights there are museums and we just don't visit many museums with the girls.  They are generally well behaved but I swear once we enter a place that requires they use nice indoor voices is the very second they start screaming, fighting and crying.  I love my sanity so we tend to avoid places like that.  I don't want to ruin the experience for other people.  So, just an afternoon in Vienna will be fine for us.   

Has anyone been to Croatia?  I would love to hear your favorites from your trip...food, sights, beaches, etc.  

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sketchy Thursdays Layout

After seeing Sketchy Thursdays mentioned many times on the Club CK forums I thought I would check it out.  I work better when there is a challenge and I do like using sketches so I completed a layout for the Sketchy Thursdays' challenge this week.  This is my first time playing along and I am pretty pleased with the way this one turned out.

I used Bo Bunny papers and pom pom ribbon and some Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Stickers for my title.  I used a Martha Stewart scalloped circle punch to cut the snowflakes from the patterned paper that are on the top.  I also used a Fiskars border punch along the top and bottom of the page.  Finally, I used my sewing machine to add some stitching.  My thread was a verigated purple and white and I like it on this page. 

It sure is nice to get to use older photos too!  These photos were taken in January 2010.  If it wasn't for challenges and sketches I don't think I would get nearly as many layouts finished. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy March

Can you believe it is March 1st?  Wow!  The first two months of the year have really flown by.  2011 has been good so far but the tough parts are coming.  James will be away for training most of March and then preparing for an inspection that may have him working late for a bit.  Then yet another (hopefully the last) deployment later in the year.  We have some good things mixed in like a couple of trips including a nice long one in June.  On top of all if this we are still trying to figure out where in the USA we want to settle down once James retires from the Air Force next year. 

Enough about life!  Here is a layout I made just last week.  I was inspired by the incredibly talented Elizabeth Kartchner to create this page.  I like it minus the overly pink journaling block.  I tried to tame it with stickles but it didn't help.  The bright pink just stands out against the peachy colors on the page.  I snapped the photo of Lolo back in November but just had it printed off last month.  The title is from an older Jessica Andrews song called "I Wish For You" and I have always wanted to do a layout using it. 

That is all I have today!  I hope you have a fantastic Tuesday!