artwork

What do you do with all of your child's artwork? Is it stashed in a large portfolio behind the sofa? A thin box beneath the bed? Is it collecting dust bunnies on a counter somewhere?

I am a decluttering type of gal. I love placing garbage bags outside on the curb for a local charity to pick up. They frequent our neighborhood, so I am always getting rid of stuff! While I don't pass on my child's artwork, I don't keep it all. I take pictures of most of it, keep a few favorites and then toss the rest. Yes, it was hard to do at first, but my closets thank me on a daily basis . . .

This is what I do with all of those pictures that I take of their artwork! This is a sampling of some of Faith's best artwork at age three. I kept the layout simple so that the focus would be on the artwork. While it would be fun to have a picture of her actually drawing, I didn't have a good one, so I used a picture of her that I had taken at three that I hadn't used on another layout. 

The Design Team is busy working on the samples for the May Kit, and this is just one of the sneak peaks that is going on over at the Green Tangerines Kit Club blog this week. Be sure and check out the other gals cute work! The May kit will be unveiled on May 5th! Stay tuned.

And just a reminder, Ella's Spring Training Event starts today! If you missed the info before, it's not too late to join in the fun . . . here is a sampling of what's going on:

Get Ready to Learn About...

Expert lighting tricks for your photographs
Single-sentence journaling: four simple strategies
How to create a gorgeous stenciled page background
Adding inspiring tricks to your design toolbox
Paint and poetry: a tutorial you'll never forget!
Creating photo-booth effects for your photographs
Distressing 101: paint, sanding, and beyond
Discovering and embracing YOUR signature scrapbooking style
How to "get the shot" that truly captures your subject's personality
And MORE

Check it out! Have a great day!

happy easter!

Happy Easter from our family to yours! God bless!

crazy with photobooth

Switching from a PC to a MAC has been frustrating, but fun. I still have a lot to learn. Even thought it's been frustrating at times, once I figure out how to do something, it actually is saving time and making things easier . . . but again, still a lot to learn. One of the FUN things about owning a MAC is the Photobooth program that came with the computer. My girls discovered it and are thrilled whenever I let them play with it! So, I thought I would document some of the CRAZY photos!!!

Kelly, the owner of Green Tangerines, said she was creeped out by some of the photos . . . but she still hung it up in the store!

I used my April Kit for this layout.

Hope you enjoy your day!

not my usual . . .

This is not my usual layout . . . I don't own a Cricut and I'm not much of a die-cut gal. I have nothing against them, it's just not an expense I wanted to invest in for something I might only use on occassion. BUT I had to make some waves, a fishing pole and some fish for this layout! My trusty scissors and a steady hand helped me get the job done!

Faith loves her fishing layout! It was a bit time consuming, but the smiles I got when Faith saw it were worth it! I used my April Kit with the blue banana leaf paper--I love the extra texture that it added. There were plenty of buttons in this kit which made perfect "bubbles."

This past weekend we went fishing. Here is the first fish that she caught with her new fishing pole!

Have a great day!

winner and a layout

And the random winner of the heritage goodies giveaway is . . .

Congrats Monica! Email me your address at johnstonhouse at gmail dot com and I will get your goodies in the mail! And for the rest of you, be sure and check out Monica's beautiful layout about the women in her family tree--it is so inspiring!

And a layout . . .

Each year I interview my kids and find out what their FAVORITE things are from that year. I want to remember what their interests were at each stage in their life (I forget too quickly!) and I think it will be interesting for them to read when they are older.

I used my April Green Tangerines Kit for this layout. It is full of springtime goodies!

The clouds in this kit were custom embellishments created by our fabulous Meredith!

I pulled a few of these questions from Ali's blog. Dad, be sure and note the one about you!

Have a great weekend!

for the ladies from my card class . . .

I had the sweetest gals in my card class at the store tonight . . . they were all so nice. For those ladies that wanted to see the other owl card with a graduation cap that I made last year, here is the link for easy finding! Have a great night!

giveaway!

If you've been following my blog for the last three months, you know that I was hosting a Heritage Challenge at Green Tangerines. Now that it is over, I have a few things leftover (and a couple of new, unopened things) that I'd like to pass on to you!

Leave me a comment telling me if you are documenting your heritage--where you came from--or if you plan to do it in the future, perhaps the distant future! Maybe you are just trying to keep up with the present--and that is okay! I will draw a random winner on Friday night after 5pm (PST) sometime. Good luck!

quack, quack

My husband strongly desires to live on a farm. So much so that he is constantly trying new things out . . . er, animals in our backyard . . . our California (i.e. small) backyard. If you want to read about our farm life, you can check out this past post. Since that post we've raised ducks and frogs and my husbands latest thing is that he's become a bee-keeper (on someone else's property), but we'll save that story for another day.

I wanted to document the adorable ducks that we raised for about six months. I used the April Green Tangerines Kit.

The girls think their dad is the greatest (he really is) and love when he goes through a new phase. I will admit, I am not much of an animal person (allergic to most), but I sure do love the cute pictures I get to scrapbook!

my weekend plans

I am headed off to the CHEA Homeschool Conference this morning with a girlfriend for two days. I am super excited! I have been attending homeschool conferences since my oldest was 3-years-old. The speakers help recharge me and reconfirm God's calling for our family to homeschool.

I have to admit, there are days when I think, "Remind me why I am doing this? Do I need to listen to that whining about reading AGAIN? Oh, how I would love a 6-hour break to my day . . . " These days are few and far between. Most days I feel very blessed to be my children's primary educator. I LOVE seeing them really GET something, it is so fun! And I love being with my kids . . . playing games, making crafts, cooking, running errands, going on field trips . . . we have so much fun together! I feel blessed to be at home with them because I know the time that they are a part of my everyday life is short . . . college will be here in the blink of an eye!

This past year I've had my girls involved in Mosaic Christian Academy. It's a place for homeschooling kids to take a few extra curricular activities and hang out with other kids who are home-schooled. For the first half of the year, I was there in the mornings with all three of my kids and was involved in the preschool co-op while Paige was in 1st grade classes. This second semester, I moved Faith up to the Kindergarten classes and Paige is still in her classes. They attend for 3 hours on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons . . . while I am at home with Seth napping. I will admit, it has been a nice break to my week. I can lesson plan, clean the house, do laundry . . . wait . . . did I just say those things???!!! I have 3 hours to myself (well, more like 2 hours since that's all Seth will nap)--I really do things like nap, read a book and scrapbook! It's a little treat to my week. And the girls love the friendships they have developed here. Some of the classes they are involved in . . . Sign Language, Lego Engineering, Math Games, P.E. and a few others. We love this place!

Anyway, that is just a tid-bit of what is going on in our homeschooling world at the moment. I'm excited for a fun girls weekend away and excited to learn what God is going to teach me through this conference this weekend!

And because I can't post without a picture, here is one last picture of Faith from our week at the ranch.

Enjoy your weekend!

card class next week!

Do you have a card stock pile? Do you often want to send someone a note of encouragement and plan to do so, but never get around to it because you don't have a cute card on hand? I can help you!

If you are local, join me next Thursday, April 14, 6:30pm at Green Tangerines Scrapbook Store for my card class. I'll show you how to make multiple cards using one set of KI Quick Strips! Also, I'll show you how to sew on paper with a sewing machine and how to paper piece an owl all made from various punches. This class is geared for the beginner or the seasoned paper crafter who just wants to make simple and quick cards!

Call the store today to sign up! 916.771.8010. The cost is only $18. And if that isn't incentive enough . . . everything is prepped for you! You just have to put the cards together. Easy peasy! I promise you'll have fun and you'll be ready for the next time you need to send a quick card!

heritage designer's challenge week 12

It's the last week of the heritage challenge that I've been hosting over at Green Tangerines. There have been some fabulous layouts that people have brought into the store. For my final week, I left the topic open ended a bit. I challenged the gals to document a special moment.

Is there a wedding you’d like to highlight? The birth of someone special into your family? Did your grandfather come home from war a hero? Were you the first in your family to graduate from college? Did you start a business that grew into a big success? Just a few questions to get you thinking . . . 

This is my great-grandparents wedding picture and marriage certificate from 1904. Can I just say how much I love PSE? I recently switched to a MAC computer, so I had to buy the latest version of PSE, 9.0. It's healing tool is even better! (I had 7.0 on my PC) Now you don't even have to ALT-click on the spot you want to copy/heal, it just knows what to do! Hard to explain, but you'll just have to trust me, it's awesome! I was able to fix this photo up in a jiffy!


I hope you've enjoyed my tour down memory lane for the past 12 weeks. There are more heritage layouts in my future, but I am going to take a little break. Getting the stories accurate and matching up the pictures is a lot of work--but fun! 


Stay tuned for a little giveaway on the ol' blog . . . heritage in flavor . . . hopefully sometime this week! Have a great day!

our getaway . . . photo heavy

This past week we were near the top of the state of California at  the JH Ranch. My husband's family started this Christian camp over 30 years ago. Tim lived there from age eight on and has seen it grow from five campers their first week to thousands of people coming through the camp every summer. His parents have a house adjacent to the camp that we are free to use when it is empty. It's such a huge blessing when we need a place to get away as a family . . . and get away we did!

It was snowing when we arrived. This was the first time my kids had seen falling snow . . . we've been to Tahoe to sled plenty of times, but we always go up when it is sunny.

Fort building was a huge highlight on this rainy afternoon!

I took this picture for grandpa . . .

We went into the small town of Etna one day to get the kids ice cream . . . this train was screaming for us to stop and explore . . . Seth is so into trains right now!

This is the view from one of our hikes. The pictures don't do God's amazing beauty justice.

This picture is screaming to be scrapbooked . . . I think the topic will be something about the open road of possibilities before Seth . . . hhhmmmm . . . can't wait!

I'm off to finish unpacking. Have a great weekend!