student driver

Last month I showed you a camping layout and talked about how much I loved Basic Grey's new "Wander" line. I had to use it on another layout . . . this time about a little guy and his car. I fell in love with these pictures of Seth!

This is a sketch from Allison Davis in which she did a layout about her little guy and a car using completely different product. I tried to find it for you on her blog; I searched through multiple months and couldn't for the life of me find it again.

 I loved capturing his first photos in this car . . . totally pricelss! He has since used this car almost everyday . . . while he still loves it, the facial expressions just aren't the same as the first time!

Have a great Monday!

and the winner is . . .

#2!!! That's YOU AMBER!!! : )
I'm still trying to figure out how to post just the random number generator box, but I have yet to figure that out . . . so I did a screen shot instead. Sorry you can barely see it! I did the drawing too late for my kids to be in on it this time.

Hope you all have a great night!

published . . . again, and another giveaway!

I am feeling pretty blessed this week . . . My first time being published in  Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine happened in the same week as my Creating Keepsakes news! Scrapbook and Cards Today  is a Canadian publication that is quickly spreading across the U.S. You can order a hard copy of the magazine or download it for FREE here. When I think of this magazine, I think of the word fresh; it's always so clean looking . . . and of course inspiring!

This is the layout that was published:

I made this last year with my Green Tangerines October kit. To get the little circles to stand out, I adhered them lightly, sewed through them and then pulled them up on either side of the thread. I also added captions to each of the photos in PSE before I had them printed. A simple layout.

And now for the giveaway . . .

They sent me an extra copy of the Fall issue. Leave me a comment telling me what you are looking forward to about Fall and I will pick a winner on Sunday night!

Remember, you can also go here and download a copy for free! I'm on page 54 . . .  : )

and the winner is . . .

This little girl is always asking to be on my blog . . . so I decided to let her get in on the fun and draw a winner. Thank you girls for your all your thoughful comments, they made my day!

Laura, email me at brjohnston1 at juno dot com and I will put your notebook in the mail!

Thanks for playing along girls! Stop by tomorrow for some fun news AND a GIVEAWAY!!

giveaway!

I started this blog a little less than a year ago as a way to connect with my friends and family and as a place to share my creative stuff. Mostly my stuff is in the form of a scrapbook layout, but I like to share healthy recipes and what we are up to in our homeschooling world as well. I am so glad I started a blog. My friends and family feel much more informed . . . I simply don't have the time to keep up with phone calls, emailing pictures, etc as much as I would like to . . . kids will do that to a person.

Over the weekend my blog went over 10,000 hits and I thought I would celebrate with a giveaway! And I wanted to say thank you for stopping by and for the kind comments you have left me along the way. They really do encourage me and make me smile.

This giveaway is for my scrapbooking and NON-scrapbooking friends alike! Simply leave a comment, say anything, and I'll choose a winner Thursday night. I'll pop this composition notebook in the mail to you--the perfect place to record all those cute things your little ones say, a grocery list . . . anything you need to remember.

If you've never left a comment, don't be shy--just say hi! And if this is your first time stopping by, HI!

The patterned papers are Collage Press and Basic Grey. The "Remember," arrows and "Property of" are cut out of a piece of Teresa Collins papers. The letters are from Basic Grey. The number and polka dot tapes are from 7 Gypsies.

You can add YOUR name here! Good luck!

published!

This is my first time being published in Creating Keepsakes magazine, . . . so I'm a little excited! I just received my layout back yesterday along with a copy of the October issue. I'm on page 31 in the Reader Gallery. I originally did this layout for Green Tangerines Kit Club in March of this year. I had to pull it from my blog until now. It's one of my favorite layouts of my kids because they took all of the pictures during their rest time. As you can see, a lot of crazy dancing and making faces was going on. It was fun for me to see life through my kids eyes.

Have you heard of the book, "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake," by Laura Numeroff? It's one of my kids favorite books.  I fashioned the journaling off of the book . . . it was a fun and different way to record the story.

Thanks for letting me share my excitement! Have a great weekend!



green tangerines opening and a birthday layout

As I mentioned before, I've been busy making samples for my favorite scrapbook store store that is reopening this Thursday morning!!! The employees have been hard at work . . . often pulling all-nighters. I helped out a couple of nights ago . . . it took me one hour to unwrap two bays of Bazzill cardstock--and I was moving at lightning speed! If you are local and this is YOUR store, please know how much HARD WORK it takes to run a scrapbook store. If you are planning on being there for opening weekend, bring them a card, some flowers, homeade baked goodies--just show them how thankful you are that they are BACK!! Afterall, we have been without a scrapbook store for six months . . . not fun!

All of the patterned paper in this layout is from Fancy Pants newest birthday release. The little frog that I cut out is from We R Memory Keepers. Letter stickers are American Crafts. Sketch is from Allison Davis.

I've made these flowers before and I may have talked about them here before . . . can't remember. Using a 1"x12" strip of paper, accordian fold it all the way to the end. Attach the ends. The tricky part is popping it out so it lays flat. I have a punched 1" circle ready and I liquid glue the flower to it and then set something heavy on top of it and let it dry for an hour. Then embellish as desired.

Have a great day!

bank robbery, tad poles and a picnic

What do these three things have in common? They made up our weekend. Friday afternoon, Tim went to the bank and was the key witness in a bank robbery. The robber came in and stood at the teller right next to Tim and handed the teller a note. Tim immediately knew what was happening as the gal teller got all flustered. Tim considered tackling the guy and saving the day, but he didn't know if the guy had a gun or not and it probably wasn't worth his life over the small amount of money the robber most likely received. Meanwhile, the security guard was clueless the entire time and even held the door for the robber. After the robber left, the bank was locked and Tim was stuck until the police arrived--10 minutes later! Apparently their silent alarm did not work and the bank eventually just dialed 9-1-1. Tim had to give his statement and description and he may be called in later to I.D. the guy if they catch him.

Saturday we went for a family bike ride and found an open space in which the girls wanted to catch tadpoles. (Now that we don't have the ducks, they are on to something new!)

They caught the tadpoles with their bug catcher. The were not scared to touch them at all and got so excited everytime they caught another one! And yes, I realize it is not the 4th of July. The girls woke up this morning and decided they wanted to play "4th of July" dress-up.

Here is Seth taking it all in.

Sunday afternoon was spent at a park with the homeschooling group from our church. 180 people came! We had a bounce house, multiple outdoor games, water balloons and face painting. So much fun! I was ready for a nap afterwards!

Hope you had a great weekend!

anniversary cards

These bright and cheerful colors make me happy! I used Jillibean Soup's Pasta Fagioli line for this card and one of their new sprouts as a resting place for my "10." The "10" is some really old textured chipboard that I inked--no idea who made it. The brown letter stickers are from Collage Press and the mini jewels are from TPC Studio. I cut the "happy" out of October Afternoon's cardstock stickers--it originally said, "Oh Happy Day." I used the card sketch from Pagemaps blog.

My husband makes me cards for every occassion . . . it's his way of saving money . . . and he does have a creative side . . . or maybe he secretly wishes he was a scrapbooker (not). Anyway, I was intrigued a week ago when he asked me for some watercolor paper . . . and then I later found the kids watercolor paints out on the counter. I LOVE it! Such a creative husband I have . . . and he likes to save money to boot!

Have a great weekend!

10 years today!

I can't believe I've been married to this guy for 10 years. Time has flown! We've had our ups and downs and joys and sorrows, but we have stay committed to each other through it all. I am so blessed to be married to him. I couldn't ask for a better husband. He keeps me laughing on a daily basis . . . even on the days that life is hard. I'm looking forward to the next 10 years!

Don't we look like kids?

I don't have a recent photo of just the two of us, but hopefully I will soon . . . because of course I will have to do a 10-year-anniversary layout. We have a date night tomorrow night and then are going to San Francisco for a full day of biking and exploring in two weeks--I can't wait!

Stay tuned for handmade anniversary cards tomorrow . . . you know I'll have to share them!

duck release and other tidbits

Here is a little glimpse of what we've been up to for the past few days . . .

On Friday we had a field trip to Machado Orchards with one of the homeschool groups we are involved in. We got a tour of the place and lots of yummy samples! I learned things I didn't know about apples and peaches.

All of the kids were great listeners . . . our guide made it pretty interesting.

Seeing how the machine peeled the apples was a highlight for the kids!

Seth even got into the tour!

Remember when Tim brought home baby ducks? They are full grown now. Tim built them a little pond in our backyard, but since they are past the "easy to play with" stage, we decided it was time to let them swim in a big pond. Today was the big release day.

It took a few minutes for the ducks to know what to do with all this space . . . here the girls are encouraging them to head for the water.

Off they go!

A little fishing fun . . . we didn't catch anything but moss today.

Playing in the tackle box . . . actually, they told me they were organizing . . . a fun past time for both of my girls. Wonder where they got that gene?  : )

Seth sat happily in his stroller and ate lunch most of the time. So thankful I didn't have to chase him from the water and the duck poop that was everywhere!

I love three-day-weekends . . . we always get projects accomplished and have some fun family time. This past weekend our big project was cleaning out the garage and putting things on Craigslist that we wanted to get rid of. So far we've made $370!! It's always fun to make money on things you don't want!

Hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

waterpark fun

Back in April I used WRMemory Keepers "72 and Sunny Line" to make this layout. I absolutely loved the colors. I loved this line so much that I decided to make another layout with it . . . this one will be on display when Green Tangerines opens back up . . . and it's going to be soon my friends, very soon. I can't wait!

I was trying to make little fountains (the ones that squirt up) like the one Seth is playing in on the right hand side of the layout. They didn't turn out exaclty like that, but I think they are fun just the same.

There is an entire sheet of paper with each letter of the alphabet on it. I cut the "W' out which was perfect for my title. So fun and summery!

We "officially" start our homeschool schedule next Tuesday, even thought we've already been schooling with a relaxed schedule. I have big plans to finish getting all my lessons plans in order this weekend! Have a great holiday weekend! Enjoy the sunshine!