Zebras...

I have gotten some inquiries about the party that occured here on Sunday...I must say it was a success. I made it through with the help of some great friends. (Rick- thanks for your pinata help and Karen you are just the best hostess...I really wish I was better at that!) I kept the decorating simple and also the cake. We had 8 kids and Tanner's teacher, which was awesome. (He ADORES her and so does Chloe!) It was his first friend party and it was a big hit. All the decor was black and white, so I decided to just accessorize with colorful candy. I covered the paint cans with the zebra wrapping paper that I also used on the invites...turned out pretty cute.

The party favors were Chinese take-out boxes with each child's monogram. I had to dig into my scrapbook stash to find a few of them. The large felt ones are from JoAnns and were half price.

Left to right: Kacey, Quinten, Eve, Tanner, Marcus, Gabe, Sopie and Chloe. They are all saying "Happy Birthday!" The cake was white and then I just piped some black lines across the top for the stripes. I also put a candle in each kids cupcake so that they could blow one out too! That was a big hit...I'll have to remember that for future reference. For Halloween we had to paint black and white stripes on Tanner's pumpkin, so I was not surprised he wanted a zebra party. He has an obsession! He got tons of great gifts...so many that I am going to have to clean out some to make room for the new. What a blessing to see your kids being blessed!

In FREEHAND news...so excited for the site to go live. April's kit is called "BLOOM" and you're gonna love it! I have posted about this before, but I just really adore this one. Even my designers both said that it was really fun to work with! You are in for a BIG treat when you see their galleries this month. SO cute! And speaking of the gallery...it may not be updated with the new projects until the 3rd or 4th as a result of my web guy being in Hawaii. (How dare he, huh? LOL) So I hope that you are all well and having a fabulous beginning to your week...I will see you back here tomorrow for the BIG reveal! Good night!

Really quick...

I cannot believe that I didn't post any pictures from Easter. It was snowing...as I mentioned yesterday, which made it pretty hard to get any good shots. BUT for all of my friends and family out of town...here they are.

Chloe insists on having a one pony tail everytime she is wearing a dress. That is how Cinderella does it and that is how Chloe will have it also!! She also thinks that she needs a night gown instead of her footed pajamas because that's what princesses wear!

Tanner got dinosaurs in his basket, which were a big hit!

I also have a little hint of what you'll be getting in the April kit...I used one of the Prima flowers to embellish Chloe's dress. A couple of small stiches and voila it was ready, I was excited that it was wired so you could fluff it up a little or flatten it down also. I thought it turned out so cute! Obviously they aren't washable so I will have to remove it before washing. I was thinking of how cute these would look on the sash of a flower girls dress, or on the toe of a ballet slipper for a wedding. Okay I'm getting carried away now, I'll just post the picture!

Hope you have a GREAT day!

Hello Again...

I have been away for a bit...to work mostly and also to do a little birthday celebrating with Tanner. My little "baby bear" turned 5 years old yesterday! I am just blown away that he is 5 years old! Where did that time go?? It always makes me so grateful that I found this wonderful hobby/creative outlet. It allows you to look back at so many wonderful memories that slip your mind when you don't have them documented some where. I am planning on writing him a letter each year on his birthday. I do write him notes and put them in the scrapbooks, but I just think that writing him a letter that maybe one day he will take off to college with him (hidden so as not to look un-cool I'm sure) is much more likely than him dragging a thick album. You know how you just want your kids to KNOW how much they are loved and how much they have to offer the world, and how valuable they are in God's sight, it will be that kind of letter. I haven't written it just yet. I have been trying to collect my thoughts as to exactly what I want to say. We aren't having his official friend party until Sunday, but we did celebrate his big day, just the 3 of us. He wanted to go to lunch at his favorite restaurant, Lone Star, which worked out wonderfully because kids eat for free on Tuesdays. SCORE! We went there for a friends birthday last week and the wait staff came out and sang Happy Birthday for her. So before we got there, Tanner wanted to make sure that they were going to sing for him also. He asked me how they would "know" that it was his birthday. It was really funny because after all of that, he hid almost under the table he was so embarassed when they actually all came out. But he loved every minute of it! We then rode the carousel at the mall down the street...Tanner always chooses to sit on the "couch" as he calls it (really it's just a bench )with his arms propped behind his head RELAXING. He is just so funny! We finished off the night with going to see "Horton Hears a Who" at the movie theatre. It was a fun day and Tanner proclaimed it "his best birthday ever!" So I guess that means it was a success huh?

Easter was COLD and it even was snowing lightly. Ughh. Makes me wish that it wasn't so early this year! But a fun time was had by all, we had a great church service, and fun hunting eggs, and I ate so much at lunch that I didn't eat dinner or breakfast that night or the next morning. Don't you just love the holidays and having an excuse to eat everything in sight? Gotta love that.

I have been working on my projects using the April kit, and I am having so much fun with this one! The colors and the quirky patterns just make me smile. I still have a few more things that I really want to make, and I always find that I can make so many projects with just one kit. Also I don't know if I have mentioned that Tia's gallery is up on the site. It is definitely worth checking out...that girl is so creative!! I am also working hard on getting together a newsletter (hopefully this week.) So be on the lookout for that too! Hope that you are having an excellent week, and if it's spring break there, like it is here...enjoy having the kids around, instead of looking forward to school getting back in session. I am amazed at how fast the time we have with them flies!!

Peeks!!

Just think of this as an early Easter present...a sneak peek present.

Have a wonderful, blessed Easter!!

In THiS HOmE (altered)...

I am happy to report that I played last night with the canvas that I was in the process of altering. I am liking the way it turned out! It is totally different than I pictured...seems like most of what I make is turning out that way?! But the fun is in the process. And I must admit that I wasted a LOT of time, adjusting and trying different colors...painting a little here, chalking a little there. Just messing around with it until it was good in my eyes.






I used paint from the March kit, one of the Bazzill boshers and the Love Elsie patterned paper. The antique books page is from the February kit! The Jenni Bowlin journaling block house is for a future kit. I am lovin' the little boy and girl shapes from Maya Road. (Thanks Mandy!! I even altered the bigger lady for a card for my sweet mom...can't show it yet though or it would ruin her surprise!) The tiny alpa is from Making Memories and buttons are by Autumn Leaves. Seems I can't make anything lately without buttons...my new favorite "go to" supply. The zipper is by Junkitz and this the first time I have ever created anything with one, but it was fun. It was even self adhesive, which came as a suprise to me as I was sewing it on...and my thread kept breaking. I had to completely clean off my needle with Goo Gone. Lesson learned!

I like that it is funky, and I LOVE what it says!!

I am trying to get ready for Easter. Tonight the plan is to dye Easter eggs...so I boiled them earlier today. I still need to iron everyones outfits but I did get Chloe's dress altered. I even embellished her dress with a flower from the April kit that is going to be up for sale soon, it turned out really cute, I think. When I start thinking of all the different ways you could use your scrapbook supplies...it blows my mind! I will post pictures of it from Easter...she is napping and I need her to model it for me. I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend. I hope it reminds you of the real reason why we celebrate this holiday. I love that Easter represents HOPE to me, and to the rest of the world!! Be blessed.

Hopscotch...

You have to admit that when you play hopscotch (even as a big grown-up) it's fun! It's kind of like jumping on a trampouline, I always seem to get the giggles. Maybe it just makes me feel like a kid again...who knows? I took some photos of the kids playing and then worked on converting some of them to black and white etc. I have to admit that I take a LOT of pictures, and not very many of them are the best...but these I cannot wait to scrapbook. In fact I have some of them laid out right now to work on that I printed at home. I am working on a mini-book, I'll post some pictures of it, if it gets finished. Seems like I have a lot of projects just laying around and I want a chance to work on them all! Therein lies the problem...what to work on first??

I changed some to black and white, and I changed some into sepia. Couldn't decide which I liked better...even in color they are fun!






Here's hoping you had a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My oh my...

I have NEVER seen a possum in real life...until Friday. I was cleaning at the back of the house and saw something moving outside near the patio. It was a giant possum, well maybe not giant, but it was as big as my 21 pound dog! It was not a pretty sight. None the less I grabbed the camera and tried to get some pictures of it lumbering along. (Mostly to show the kids when they woke up from their naps.) Miraculously they both woke up and got to see him with their own eyes!! They decided they wanted to go outside and feed him, and that is where I had to draw the line. No way, no how! Gotta love living out in the country...or not.

I also had a chance to go to a workshop yesterday that was for retailers in the lovely state of Illinois. There were 3 classes offered from different wholesale companies. Melissa Frances, Clear Scraps, and Rusty Pickle. So I came home with some really cute ideas, and MORE catalogs! I played with my first acrylic album there...I have to admit it was a little stressful because it's just so different than regular albums. But it turned out cute anyway...I would post pictures of it, but I can't find it after getting home and unpacking?! What in the world...I sure do hope it turns up. The only thing that is a bummer about decorating albums without your photos present is that you can't really plan ahead when you don't know what you'll have to work with. I will share the photos of the Rusty Pickle album that is really girly. It is a purse that has an accordian album inside of it. I am giving it to a friend of mine. Really cute!

It says things like: "If I were a shoe style I would be..."

A cute quote that says: "remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astair did, but she did it backwards and in high heels."

It also says "I never leave home without..."

And, "You can never have too many..."

Hope you don't have any possums hanging around your house! Have a great end to your weekend!

The invite...

Well here it is, in all of it's time consuming glory!! (To all of you out-of-town relatives we SO wish you could be here with us to celebrate Tanners big day! He will miss you all lots and lots. Grandma Suz...he paticularly wants you to come. SMILE.) This is the first year that we will have a friend party. Not that he didn't have friends at his other birthdays, they were just completely out-numbered by all of the adults! Since we don't have any immediate family here we are inviting all of the kids in his class, and some from the other teacher's class too! (Yes, there will be girls there. I don't know how I feel about that quite yet? Really Chloe is super excited about the girls coming...so at least she will be entertained.)



I looked EVERYWHERE for zebra patterned paper and finally found some gift wrap that ended up working, even though the texture is a little glossy. I used the black coin envelope from the February kit and a little Making Memories jelly sticker for the "You're Invited." The #5 is just mounted on white cardstock and adhered. I think I might have used up every number 5 in my stash! Most of them differ, either in size or color. Some of them were white. (My favorites were the ones I bought at the local hardward store that are for household purposes (like to label your mailbox. I think they gave it a more masculine look.)The green chipboard dot on the coin envelope is by Heidi Swapp.



Inside I did a little collage of the event (the circle stamp I found at JoAnns in the $1 bin), the place and time (just printed on white cardstock and then inked the edges), and a decorative stamp "time to party" that I found in the $1 bins at Michaels. This is the first time I've used it and it probably already paid for itself just by using it on one batch of cards. I love how it looks "freehand."




Just received shipments for the May kit (yes I am a person that must work ahead, and stay super organized!!) Let me just tell you that I am seriously drooling over the Sassafras Lass product! I think it had to be one of my top two favorites from CHA. It is just like Christmas everytime I get boxes of these products. So stay tuned for all that is to come from Freehand Scraps in the coming weeks.


I wanted to just share one more quick photo that I took on Wednesday. We have had GORGEOUS weather this week. Uh-oh I think maybe we're even a little spoiled, which always makes me complain when it goes back to being the temperature that it's supposed to be for this time of year. I don't know why I like this picture so much...heads are cut off and everything! I got some others of the kids playing hopscotch, their new favorite pastime! I will share more tomorrow! Happy weekend!

And the winner is...

Well when I said I would announce the winner this evening...I thought I would have a chance to do it before midnight!! No such luck tonight. Busy, busy, busy. Getting the April kits mailed out to the designers tomorrow, so much fun. I must say that I am in love with this kit. The Jenni Bowlin new CHA product is seriously just perfect with these papers. I can't wait to start working with it! I also finally finished Tanner's birthday invitations, which was an all afternoon project. They didn't turn out exactly how I had envisioned, but they are still cute I think. Using product from February's kit (the little black coin envelope.) I HOPE that one day he will appreciate that I didn't just go out and buy a pack of generic invites. I chose option "B" and spent a good 3 hours on them. I am really making up his whole celebration because he wants a zebra party this year, and they just don't have much out there that caters to that. There will be a LOT of black and white going on that day! I will post a picture of the invitation tomorrow when I have a minute.



So without further ado...the winner is

justbekls who posted on
March 11, 2008 3:54 PM

Just email me with your address and this chocolate bunny will hop his way on over to your home! Congratulations and good night!

Only one more day!

Just wanted to give you all one more chance to enter to win the chocolate bunny! Leave a comment on the "Bunny RAK" post. I will randomly choose a winner Thursday evening. Good luck!

Also wanted to share a new quote I found on Ali Edwards blog...it is now framed in my scrapbook room.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go out and do that. Because that is what the world needs, is people who have come alive."

Howard Thurman

Have a good night!

Elephant Fun...

I have the good fortune of knowing three lovely ladies who are all pregnant with little boys right now. Which means that I have got to get some baby gifts ready and in the mail! My best friend from high school is having her second little boy (March 25th, so Tanner will share a birthday with this little guy.) My sisters' best friend Renee is having her first, and my good friend (who just also happens to be a Renee too) is having her first and he even has a name already! This Renee in particular deserves to have the perfect pregnancy and delivery, because she is a labor & delivery nurse and has helped so many other women go through it. She was there BOTH times I delivered, and even when I got sent home while I was in labor with Chloe she stayed with me that night because she and I both knew that I was going to deliver that baby and it was only a matter of hours before we were right back at the hospital! It was such a comfort to have someone stay calm and relay the medical jargon in terms that I could understand. She was such a blessing to me! (Also this meant that she stayed up all night until I delivered Chloe at 4:30 in the a.m.) Now THAT my friends is what friendship is all about! Even when I was in labor with Tanner she had worked the night shift the previous night and came to the hospital to be with me with almost NO sleep! Okay, all of that to say...I think these girls (and everyone else who's pregnant out there) deserve a party! So I am making these cute elephants for them, to go along with their baby gifts. I found these unfinished wooden elephants at my local Michaels and thought that they would be really fun to alter. I of course used things from the March kit to dress them up a little. I think they are turning out SO cute! Thought I would share.

Happy Monday!

Bunny RAK!

Well we went into town today and the kids just couldn't get over all of the Easter stuff we saw. It was everywhere! Easter just seems so early to me this year! I like all of the spring colors though, they are so cheerful. So on that theme, my darling mother has made some rabbits for Easter that are chocolate brown. We call them the "chocolate rabbits." I think they would look so cute hopping out of an Easter basket. The best news of all is that she made an extra for a Freehand Scraps giveaway!! So here is how you enter to win one of these Peter Cottontails: post a comment here and I will randomly pick a winner from those posts next
week.



*If you are interested in purchasing one, she has a few she would be willing to sell. They are $20 and a fabulous gift for someone...or just for yourself. (Hey isn't Easter a holiday? The kids get gifts...why not adults?) If you need any information about them I would be happy to answer any questions you have...either ask here or email me @ heidi@freehandscraps.com.

In This Home...

I thought I would share this canvas that my parents gave me for Christmas this year. I LOVE what it says...

IN THIS HOME...

WE DO SECOND CHANCES.

WE DO GRACE.

WE DO REAL.

WE DO MISTAKES.

WE DO I'M SORRYS.

WE DO LOUD REALLY WELL.

WE DO HUGS.

WE DO FAMILY.

WE DO LOVE.

It is not the right colors for anywhere in my house so I am trying to devise a plan to alter it...maybe with the March kit?! I think I might play a little with it this afternoon and see what I can come up with...I'll post photos soon. One of my favorite parts of the saying is where it says "we do loud really well." Would someone please tell me: is mine the only house that is constantly full of commotion? The ONLY time that there is some peace and quiet is when they are asleep! (Speaking of being loud...Chloe is all out screaming in the other room, because she and Tanner are fighting over markers.) Don't you just love the screaming phase? I think it's a girl thing...

In Freehand Scraps news we are anxiously awaiting the projects that Tia Bennett is making with the March kit...more on that very soon! I have products arriving also for the April kit this week and you are going to love them! I think it's some of my favorite papers so far! Brand new product from CHAW, and exclusives that you can only get right here at Freehand Scraps!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

News from the day...

Well first of all, I am really excited about the great response we have been getting about the March kit. It is such a nice feeling to have other people compliment your work. We have shipped kits out all over the world and very close to home and we are having a blast doing it! We just wanted to thank you so much for your support of Freehand Scraps. Really customer service is our number one goal here, so feel free to contact me with ANY questions you may have about our kits...



In other news picture day for Tanner was a success. (At least that's what Mrs. Keller said.) I didn't have time for the photo shoot before school, so I did it afterwards. Keeping in mind his clothes were a little wrinkly and the fact that he was full of chocolate cupcakes (it was Kacey's birthday celebration) when I picked him up, didn't help my photo shoot much. He was wired!! But I did manage to get a couple shots that are keepers. It was so cute to see him in his tie. When I was putting it on him this morning he was so excited to wear it...he ran in telling Chloe to "Look, I 'm wearing my ribbon, do you like my ribbon, see my ribbon Chloe?!" Knowing that Chloe has a deep, Cinderella-type respect, for all ribbons in general...and she really did appreciate it! Every age that my kids are is my favorite it seems...and once they move onto another age...then that is my favorite age. For today...this is my favorite age: Tanner @ almost 5 years old!

Thoughts today...

I am having a sentimental day...one of those days that has me thinking of life in general. Thinking of what is going well and what is working and how to improve in certain areas. Really reflecting and pondering on balance in my life. What a good way to grow as a person! I like to think that if you sit down and take inventory of your life, you tend not to repeat mistakes, you don't take your time for granted, and you can make a concious effort to make things run smoother. For me, I am all about organization! I am finally feeling very organized in my scrapbook space...this is no small feat considering that I have boxes and boxes of product for kits. I am getting into the groove of things and getting a LOT more accomplished in a smaller amount of time. Instead of getting caught up in productivity (and isn't it easy to rate your day on how many things you crossed off of your list) I am taking into consideration the little things that most of us don't have on our to-do list. Like making cookie-cutter shaped sandwiches for lunch. Taking some time to draw with the kids and have some "deep" conversations with them. I love to hear about what's going through their minds at any particular moment. Many times I am too busy to ask those kinds of questions. But any time I DO ask I am always amused! Tonight at dinner sitting across the table from Tanner I said "Tell me a story." If you only knew Tanner you would know that he can tell great stories. His imagination is never-ending! He even uses different voices for the characters. They are always about animals of course, that is his passion in life. But my favorite part about his stories is that they always have happy endings. The baby dolphin always gets away from the angry shark, and the kids always make it safely home from their bear hunt. And couldn't we all use more happy endings in our daily lives?! I think so. Maybe I am getting sentimental because he will be turning 5 this month and that doesn't seem humanly possible. Maybe it's just that I want to know exactly what is on his mind and how he's feeling right now. I am amazed at their perception and intuition at this age! Tomorrow is picture day for him at preschool and I am planning to do a mini photo shoot before he goes...don't we all have a few school photos that are real winners? (The ones we wish that someone would have said RETAKE!) So hopefully I will get a few and share those tomorrow. I got his hair cut today and it is a drastic change, and now I'm off to iron a shirt for him to wear tomorrow!

I found this magneted to the light switch in my scrapbook room tonight and thought I would share it. It's his self-portrait. It may not be beautiful by some standards, but it is priceless to me and I LOVE IT!

Definitely NOT campers...yet

Well I have to start by saying that the sun is out and it is 67 degrees!! What in the world? Yep, you heard me...67 degrees! Right after church and lunch, we headed out to do some yardwork. It is really muddy, but it's better than doing it while it's 30 degrees. For Christmas the kids got this cool John Deer truck that's motorized, it's been so cold and icky outside that we haven't had a chance to really break it in.(They still didn't know how to steer it, so once they ran into a couple of trees they were starting to get the hang of it.) So they followed me with the birdseed to refill the birdfeeders, and then we picked up sticks all over the yard. It sure made the "work" more fun for them, and I didn't hear any complaining. (Thank you Nana and Papa!) I picked them up and loaded them and then they unloaded them when we got to the burn pile. (For some you may not know what this is...but it's just a giant pile of wood that you burn. Back in Colorado, with all of the fire danger we would never have something like this, but here it is common.) So while they unloaded...I of course snapped some photos. I loved the looks on their faces when the branch they picked up was muddy or wet...so disgusted. I told them that it would all wash off once we got back inside so they very carefully picked each one up as to not get too muddy. I said to them "I'm going to have to toughen you two up, or you'll never be campers." Childhood is all about getting dirty and playing in mud. Camping and fishing and playing outside all day long. (Or at least this is how I remember mine.) Chloe was just sure that there were spiders crawling on her My Little Pony in the bed of the truck! At one point and time a fly landed on the steering wheel, and both kids were yelling as loud as they could that there was a bug!!!! Then they calmed down when they saw it was just a silly fly. My OH my, I have my work cut out for me with these two! I am definitely going to have to make sure that we spend more time in the mud with the bugs this year. Life is tough and it's dirty and messy and it's good to be able to take a muddy situation and see the good in it, and maybe even just have some fun with it!

Hope

you

have a

wonderful

Sunday!

Time marches on...

Well the site is updated with the new kit for March...and I must say that I have a soft place in my heart for these March goodies...so much fun! Amanda's gallery is darling and I was so excited to see what she had created. Be checking back for Tia Bennett's gallery in the next few days...she needed a few extra days to work with the kit. (She is so busy, but I was so grateful to have her design this month, as you are too I imagine.) It will definitely be worth the wait, so check back soon!

Here are a few of the layouts from my gallery I thought I would share...

The journaling next to the red flower says "Grace was in all her steps and heaven in her eye." I had the photo printed at ScrapbookPictures.com with the frame on it and it is in duotone color rather than black and white, which gives it that colored tint. I also had it printed on metallic paper and if you haven't ever seen a photo on metallic paper you definitely should try it. They are AWESOME! I just used my craft knife to cut out the white flower and used a pop dot to raise it off the page a little. Simple and DONE!
This is a 12X12 album that I altered the cover of, using the KI softies and the wool felt rabbit. I used my glue gun to adhere these products and it worked like a charm. The only button that I sewed on was the one attached to the elastic band that goes all the way around the album. I can't wait to fill this baby up with all of my latest layouts.
The last one I'll share for today is one of Tanner when I got his hair chopped off last year. He has had longer hair for his whole life, so this was a major change. People didn't even recognize him, and to me he really did look like such a different kid. I cut the letters for the title out of the KI lace cardstock and then used the leftovers for the background. I punched the "3" out of the Heidi Swapp ghost clock and attached it next to the heart to show how old he was at the time. (Another photo from ScrapbookPicutres.com with a special border added to it.)
Hope you have a great weekend!