"Cherry Blossom"

"Cherry Blossom" is going to be up for sale first thing in the morning at 8 a.m. CST! Here are a few sneak peeks from my gallery. I loved this kit and hope you do too!
I made a few little birdies this month with some of the darling patterned papers. I loved them!

I'm so happy it's Friday! I actually ate a slice of raspberry pie (and I don't even like pie?) for breakfast this morning. Yes breakfast! I think it negated my workout, but it was so good. I hope your Friday has included some little indulgences...everything in moderation...right? :) See you back here for the big reveal in the morning!

Sneak Peeks!

Hi y'all! Time for a few sneak peeks! I am getting so excited for May's kit "Cherry Blossom!" It's so cute...wait until you see the sneak peeks I have to share! Amanda has some very cute sneaks on her blog and Lexi also has a few peeks of her gallery. The talent that we have on the design team never ceases to blow me away each month! Be sure to head over to their blogs to take a look. Now here are a few peeks of the contents of our upcoming kit. Do you see the fabric paper with polka dots...be still my heart, pink crochet trim and felt flowers??? Love!
This bingo alphabet by Jenni Bowlin was at the top of my order at CHA, and these sweet buttons are the cherry on top!
I'll be back with a few sneak peeks from my gallery tomorrow! Have a great night!

Whoa!

It's been a whirlwind around here! But in a good way! I have had my parents in town for a visit and also kept the camera busy working on the Week in the Life project. I am the only parent (I'm pretty sure) that is crazy enough to set the camera on the steps of the school to get a shot of us walking up the sidewalk...all the while as cars are zooming past. Too funny! It was worth it though, because this is one of my favorite shots of all that I took!
There is lots of chasing around here. I noticed that as I was editing photos.
Treasures she found at our neighborhood garage sales.
Grocery shopping...it's never ending! :)

Why doesn't the laundry lady ever get a "thanks Mom!?" :)

More one-on-one time with my John Deer tractor.

I'm working on my May gallery for Freehand Scraps so these photos are going to have to wait to get put into their album...but I think it's going to turn out fun! I did burn out a little bit towards the end of the week. I took only about 33 photos on Saturday and NONE on Sunday. I did document the happenings around here on Sunday and still feel like I accomplished the task of capturing the details. Did anyone else play along? I really enjoyed it this time around!

Newsletter!

Time for another newsletter! Where has the month gone? Spring is flying right on by! We are trying to soak up every last drop of glorious sunshine after a grey and gloomy winter here. There has been a lot of kite flying, and lawn mowing, and park playing going on around here. Have you had a chance to look at our April kit "Brilliant?" It’s packed with only the latest and greatest brand new products from CHA! Take a closer look HERE!
And if you haven’t had a chance to see the gallery full of creativity and ideas to get you started, well by all means head on over to see just what the girls came up with this month!
And of course it wouldn’t be a mid-month newsletter without a sneak peek of what's in store for May! I'm super excited about this one...I have been playing with it a bit and it's just darling.

And finally here’s a little info on our BIG sale if you haven’t heard about it!

We are excited to be offering a 40% discount on all of our past 2008 and 2009 kits. It's simple, and a GREAT deal! The only way to take advantage of this offer is to email me at heidi@freehandscraps.com and I will email you a PayPal invoice to take care of the cost. The standard shipping rates apply. (The first kit has a $8 flat rate for shipping, but each kit after that is only an additional $1.50 in shipping cost!) Be sure to take advantage of this special limited time offer!

I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support of Freehand Scraps! I am so blessed to have such wonderful customers! Have a wonderful day!

Little Helpers...

Here's the project that I made over the weekend with my "Brilliant" kit. It's a 2-pager...which is getting to be a very uncommon occurrence at my scrap table. It's funny when I started this hobby forever ago...I would never even have thought about making a one page layout! That would have just been "wrong" in my mind. My, my I've come a long way.
The pictures are from the kids helping me in the yard. We were dragging sticks and branches to the "burn" pile. The kids have their awesome John Deer truck though so they mostly drove around. Lucky ducks.
The bottom right picture of Chloe's rain boots with mud on her white tights is one of my favorite shots...I may need to scrap that one again!

I added the chipboard house from a past kit and also a Heidi Swapp ghost heart backed with patterned paper. These fabric thickers I used for the title are from our February kit. They come light pink...but can be transformed with a little paint or ink into anything your heart desires! Mine needed to be a spring-y green so I inked them with an ink pad.

My "Week in the Life" project is going just okay today. I did tear a few things from the junk mail to possibly include that were good colors and fun images. I didn't take a single photo until after lunch...but set the timer and photographed myself folding laundry and I think that is a first. I will just be happy to have it all journaled! I am going to be working on a newsletter to get out tonight...so be checking back for that! Hope you are having a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Day #2

Day #2 of a "Week in the Life" went a little smoother than day #1 thankfully. I think every time I undertake this project I come to the realization that with small kids no matter what schedule you try to adhere to...each day requires flexibility. I uploaded 74 pictures I had taken today...which means I must be doing something right. That is one of the perks of doing this project, you'll have a lot of fun new photos to pull from! The day went mostly as planned...but being the spontaneous mom that I am...I threw in a few surprises. I had read a friends post on Facebook earlier that Dairy Queen was having a sale on Blizzards until Sunday...if you buy one you get a second for 25 cents. That is just too good of a deal to pass up. So after we picked up Tanner from school we headed into town (our closest DQ is about 15 miles away.) Tanner got mint Oreo, and Chloe picked cookie dough. Then we headed to the park that is a block away for some fun. We all agreed on the way home that our favorite part of the afternoon was playing "bear hunt" at the park. Have you heard of the book? It's something my parents taught me when I was a wee one. I bought the kids the board book when they were little and the kids in it are looking for a bear, but in the process go through ooey, gooey mud, swim a cold river, stumble through a forest, go through tall grass, and tiptoe into a bear's cave. Then the bear chases them all the way home. I use hand motions and all! Here's a few of the pictures from the day.













I have a project to share using April's "Brilliant" kit but Blogger is not letting me add any more images. I'll be back with that post later! :)

Day #1

Today is day one of my week in the life project and over the weekend I tried to really get prepared for it by thinking through what things I wanted to document this time around, and also making a "home" for all of it as I go. So I came up with this little cutie. I got this wooden Kaiser Craft album (and a whole bag of goodies) from CHA as a make-n-take...that I never made. Boy isn't that the story of my life! :) I decided that it would be the perfect spot for my "Week in the Life" project. It also came with a package of journal paper to fill the inside. This is what I came up with. I used a reflective #1 (I think it must be a number for your mailbox?) that I got at my local thrift store for 5 cents. I added the word "week" onto a Little Yellow Bicycle journal spot with rub-ons and a Martha Stewart bird for a little pop of color. I am loving the bird especially. I thought about covering the cover with either paint or patterned paper, but found I liked the raw look of the wood best.
Here is the first page inside. I got these silly, and very old dividers at the thrift store for 15 cents. I had to create a few new holes in them...but they will work perfectly I think. In between each page divider I added a few sheets of jounaling paper. I can always add cardstock or other bits and pieces from our day as I go.
Here are a few pictures of the stack of things I gathered to use over the next week. I'm sure I will use more than this. But it's a good place to start.

So far day #1 had a rocky start. My alarm didn't go off, either that or I turned it off instead of hitting snooze. Made it out the door...only to realize that I had left my camera at home. So my first half of the day photos will just have to be iPhone photos. Things could be worse. It was just an accomplishment to get everyone to school on time with a smile on their face! :) Happy Monday everyone!

The birds and the bees...

Could it be much cuter? Ahhhh, paper bliss! This is a sneak peek of what is in store for your May kits! Here's a sweet little bird to give you a little tiny idea of what I have up my sleeve.
Say it with me now...felt is good.
This kit is shaping up to be one of my all-time favorites! I can't wait to start playing with it. Is anyone else playing along with Ali Edwards and her "Week in the Life" project next week? I love doing this project and am trying to find a way to fit it into the business of everything right now. One thing is for sure...I am making a date with my scrapbook room this weekend. There will be magic!

And now for the "bees" part of this post. I live in the country. I have accepted the fact that nature is all around me. I finally was told that the creepy little vine on my mailbox for the last 2 years is poison ivy. I have a mole or some other tunnel-digging-grass-ruining animal that has taken up permanent residence. I have wild turkeys strutting their stuff in the yard. I have deer that roam and play here. There must be a toad breeding ground nearby, because we keep track of how many we see each time we mow the grass and there are usually around 10 or more spotted throughout the yard. I go to sleep at night listening to the cows mooing in the field on the other side of the river. I wake up to the sound of the chickens and roosters that the neighbor has. I have giant sized turtles scratching at my back door (no joke!) I have possums and raccoons and skunks and birds galore...but now I have bees. I have put up with a lot, but I am putting my foot down when it comes to these bees. I think they are actually a wasp or a hornet...you know the really scary giant sized ones. So I am on a mission to get rid of them. I bought a can of wasp spray and sprayed their nests (or hives or whatever they're called) and I actually ran out, that is how many are all over my house! But somehow...they are finding a way INTO my house. That is where I draw the line. I had to get out the ladder yesterday to kill one that was flying around the rafters on the vaulted ceiling and I whacked it and it flew right at my face. As I ran DOWN the ladder I missed a step and fell off of it. I have some serious bruises, but I survived and am thankful that it wasn't worse! Anyone know how to get rid of them for good? I am willing to try pretty much anything right now. All I know is, I WILL WIN! LOL! Any bee/hornet/wasp advice would be much appreciated. You've gotta love living in the country!

Upcoming kits

I was pulling out goodies that I am sending off to our DT tomorrow and was just drooling over all of the fun things we have in store! Oh my goodness...it's shaping up to be so cute! I might have to share a little sneak peek tomorrow (I need some daylight though! :)

So it was one of those days people. You know the kind. Do you ever feel like from the minute your feet hit the floor in the morning you run? I don't mean that I have more to do than anyone else. Lord knows that there are people with a lot more going on than I do! But lately I have just been going like the energizer bunny. I am taking some time to just stop and smell these beautiful flowers. As we drove home the other night at sunset Chloe (who's 5) said "Mom, would you look at that glorious sunset?!" She reminds me everyday to stop and laugh and giggle and open my eyes to all the beautiful blessings that surround me that I am often too "busy" to really see. Would you look at these beauties? I love them...and they smell just as beautiful as they look.

I have one other funny thing that Chloe has been doing lately that just makes me crack up every time. I had told the kids that "amen" means "I agree." Thinking that it is a word without a whole lot of meaning to them that we say a lot around here. Ever since I shared that with her she tells me during the day randomly "I agree Mom...you know amen." It's the cutest thing ever! Such a sweetheart. Here's to a Wednesday with a little less running involved! Have a great night!

Mowing Monday...

Well, it's officially that time of year again, meaning SPRING. And if you know me, then you know that I have a big yard. I mean reaaaaallly big! Almost 7 acres big. So as you can imagine it takes me a very long time to keep it looking good. So last night my "mower man" came out and gave it a little tune up, namely it had a totally flat tire. So this afternoon (on a totally perfect 77 degree day) I went out and mowed until I ran out of gas and was forced to stop. I always wonder where in the world I am going to find the time to add all of the yard work into our busy lives, but somehow I always manage to fit it in. I love spring and summer...but I just really wish it didn't mean so much mowing. The silver lining is that it looks sooo pretty now.

Now onto more important/fun things. I still have one last layout from my gallery to share. My kids have a "thing" for Lone star. I don't know what it is...maybe the peanuts in a bucket? I think the food is just okay. Definitely not my favorite place to eat. But it seems it is the number one requested restaurant on their birthdays. And they always get to pick on their special day. Tanner always orders the same thing...chicken strips with french fries and ketchup. (He really makes a big deal about the ketchup to the waitress, even though it's sitting right next to him ON the table. LOL.) Chloe always orders macaroni and cheese and broccoli, she is so much like me! And I am blessed that they both like vegetables. I am noticing more and more that they are willing to try new things and are being less picky.
I trimmed the American Crafts paper and left a few random rectangles on the right hand border to give it a funky edge. And how cute is that American Crafts thickers alphabet?

I added a few other strips of paper underneath that to give it even more dimension. I typed my journaling with my typewriter, and hand cut a few hearts to add to the bottom corner to balance everything. It seemed the enlarged picture was seeming too heavy, and added a little strip of the Hambly stitches rub-ons! I love Hambly's rub-ons, they are a breeze to use!

But seriously...the best part of this page is this picture. Seriously. Pure JOY! This is why I scrapbook! Exactly why.

So please tell me I am not the only one who is having to mow grass! Anyone else?? Hope your week is off to a fantastic start! :)

Birthday Boy Bash...

I thought I would post a few pictures from T's birthday bash...if you follow my blog then you'll already know a few things from the start. He just HAD to invite every kid in his class (girls too...oy vey) plus a handful of kids from church and his teachers also. I needed to pull something together on a tight budget so I started by making some invites. They were definitely not what I had envisioned, but they still worked!
I used toy robots that Tanner plays with all the time for the table decorations. The big one was a find of my Mom's that she found on clearance at Target. For the table top I used the kids roll of white easel paper from IKEA cut to size and added wall decals (again on clearance from Target - thanks Mom!) It just happened to match the party napkins exactly!
Party favors were just bubbles that I wanted to make look like robots...so I added googly eyes and a curly ribbon to it's neck. These were a hit!
The day before the party my friend Amanda sent me these robot die cuts in the mail. (They were made using her Slice! It's almost enough to make me want one of those bad boys!) She saved the day...literally! Aren't they cute? I just used a glue dot to adhere them to a toothpick and they were done!
I had a lot of willing "helpers" and especially this sweet boy. His friend Jacob brought him the birthday crown. AND did you see that cute robot shirt he's wearing?? My Mom, once again is a genius! She came up with this guy peeking out of his pocket and Tanner loved it! It even washed perfectly. So cute! I looked everywhere for a robot shirt online and nothing was half as cute as this!

I hung some of the robot die cuts from the chandelier...these ones were a little larger than the ones I used on the cupcakes. (Thanks again Amanda!! They were perfect!)

There were robot crafts and lots of musical chairs which was CRAZY! Having 20 or so chairs in the middle of the room! Here's my sweet niece Halle.

Tanner was the DJ for the musical chairs and loved it! He and all of the non-musical-chair players had a little dance party. It was so cute watching them all cut loose! They all are such good friends!

And these next few might be my favorite pictures of the day. This was the last gift that he opened this day. It was from his little sister. She was just lit up like a light bulb waiting to see his reaction. (She had wrapped up a drawing of the two of them.) He lit up like a light bulb when he saw her sweet little drawing. Seriously, their bond just gets me every single time.

See what I mean? These two are my world...one of my greatest responsibilities...definitely my greatest joys.

I should have taken more photos (as always) but I was too busy making sure everything ran smoothly. It was a little stressful but a whole lot of fun! Yea for birthdays!