oh so fabulous! giveaway

.This really is OhSoFabulous!
I recently found this shop on etsy.com.. and I have to share it.  Ashlee at OhSoFabulous makes the most adorable mini-albums. They are the perfect instant scrapbook for those of us who don't always have the time (or the talent).

Not only are the album extremely creative - I think her prices are really reasonable - if you compare it to the time and money you would spend purchasing products and compiling the album on your own.

Ashlee does it all for you..   just add pictures!

I purchased this one for some pre-marriage pictures of me and my hubby:

And this is one of my favorites! 

   

As you've probably figured out, I LOVE mini-albums, and love trying to do them myself- but I doubt I could ever make them as fabulous as Ashlee.

And - guess what!! She has graciously agreed to giveaway one of her fabulous albums to one of my lucky readers! 

To win this "birthday mini album"... just leave a comment about what you would use it for... and remember - you must be a follower to win!

Summer photos.

We're back from the beach. And yes I took 400+ photos. I had three goals on this family vacation to Florida: Relax, play... and take LOTS of pictures.

I really wanted to put my camera to use, and hopefully in the end I'd have some really great photos of the people I love.
Here are some of my favorites:

Here are some tips for taking summertime photos.. from kelly willette and "the creative mama"

a.k.a. project envy girl

Ok.. so now I've succumbed to tumblr.

I had been saving so many images that just really didn't turn into a blog post.. so I decided to keep them in one easy location (and get them off my computer:)

You'll find creative ideas, images and future projects on my tumblr blog too - quick and easy inspiration. (and things I don't want to forget :)

You can find me at projectenvygirl.


And if any of you are already on tumblr.. let me know, i'd love to follow! It's a great place for inspiration!

happy things.

Since I am a lover of all things "etsy" I thought I would share my favorite shops:

edesse designs: cute little notebooks and journals - great, inexpensive gifts.



pixel impress: adorable little calling cards.

everyjotandtittle: journaling tags, mini-cards, and mini-books




The Fancy Lamb: everything vintage, I'm partial to the journals.




Lettergirl: absolutely adorable personalized address stamps



62Cards: of course my kentucky girl, Sammye Jo at 62 cards! I'm a huge fan of her paper packs, banners, cupcake toppers, etc.




Red Otter: I wish I would've had a guest book like this when I got married :)


The Paper Pixie.. journaling tags, calendar tags, etc



The Paper Peddler: really cute envelope stickers, mini-cards.



These are just a few of my favorites! If you have an etsy fav you can share.. please leave a comment so I can check it out!

Finally...

Hello! I'm sorry it's been a while... I went on a wonderful Florida vacation with my family. We had a GREAT time! (pictures to come- yes I took 400+)

Anyway - I am SO sorry I forgot to announce my latest giveaway winner before I left :(




The winner of Tania Willis' beautifully handmade embellies is: #13 - that would be Ashly!

Ashly said...
Yea!! Im already a follower so here is my comment :) I would really LOVE the handmade goodies!!!!

Be sure to check out Tania's etsy shop: Beautifully Handmade!

Thanks so much to Tania for this awesome giveaway!! Ashly - please email me your info so we can get you your goodies!!

summer so far.

Well it's been almost 2 weeks since the last day of school and so far, so good.

After scouring the sites of my favorite creative people - here's what I came up with. (I think most of the ideas came from Stacy Julian :)

First, the boys and I came up with our "summer fun chart" - which is really just a 12x12 sheet of paper with some punched circles and letter stickers - but it does the job.



We are working on making a longer list, but here's what we have so far:

Go to Holiday World - done
Go to Kings Island
Go to Mammoth Cave
Visit our friends in Atlanta
Go to the Lake
Celebrate my 4th of July baby!
Go to a Baseball Game
Playdates with Friends - done
Swim!!! - done
Basketball Camp
Soccer Camp
Camp Hiho - done
Go on a Canoe Trip
Campfires & Smores
Go on a Nature Hunt
Work in the Garden - done
Go to the Beach!
Go to the Movies - done

Next: I started thinking about my other main goal of the summer (goal #1: have a blast) which is, READING. The boys are going into 1st and 2nd grade and I do not want them to fall behind. So I came up with "Incredibooks" - they each have to read 2 books to me each week and write about the books in their journals. At the end of the summer, if they've done it correctly, they each get to take a friend to Incredible Dave's. (which is this money-sucking, wear your kids out, bungee-bouncy-climbing play-place that my kids love)
My older son has to read 75 minutea a week for school, so he told me he'd rather do one book each day, instead of just two a week :)





Next: with the absence of a school routine, I wanted to give them some direction and responsibility.. so I am using SJ's "popsicle job" idea. There's a different job on each stick - and they pick 3 a week, to do during that week.

The jobs are:

help with laundry
unload dishwasher
wipe baseboards
help with dinner
run small vaccum
pick up family room
clean counters
help mom _____
help dad _____

This idea went over well at first, but is proving to be a bit of a challenge. However, they are doing their jobs for the most part.

So each boy has a clipboard with a sheet for the week - along with their jobs and books, it includes:

* working in their summer workbooks (which I got at Target)
* cleaning their room (each day)
* having fun with friends
* brother time (acutally getting along :)

Then at the end of the week, they get to write down their "favorite" of the week. And then everything sits on a cute little basket on the table.

happy things.

sRandom "niceness" is such a blessing.. and here are two recent stories that made me smile.

In the last few months, our family has become better friends with another family. Their youngest son is best buds with our oldest, and their youngest daughter and our youngest are good friends too. Anyway.. we watched their kids one night (they have 2 older boys too) so they could go out to dinner, and to return the favor they watched our boys overnight. They are really great people, and we are so glad we've gotten to know them better.

My new friend Jane (who is awesome) - in addition to running a family of 4 -runs her own embroidery business! A few weeks ago when they came over, she brought me this huge comforter, with our school's monogram and our name on it. And.. it just happened to be my favorite color of blue!



What a completely nice and out-of-the-blue thing to do! I love people who do things simply to be nice!! So I thought I would share her website with you - the sassy sister. She has incredibly reasonable prices.. and absolutely adorable stuff!!


(i just ordered a dress, headband and purse for my niece)

Happy thing #2:

I am a faithful scrapbook.com shopper. For the most part, I buy all my supplies either there, or at the local Archivers. However, the other day I was on elizabeth kartchner's blog, and she was offering a deal with bluemoonscrapbooking.com, so I thought I'd try it out.



I loaded up my cart, and added in the code to get the free "Dear Lizzy" kit, not paying attention at all that the deal ended on Wednesday. But anyway, I was happy to give them some business and looking forward to getting my new mini albums and "stuff". Then... I got a voice mail the next morning from the OWNER! Thanking me for placing an order and letting me know that it had shipped - and I could tell from his voice that he truly appreciates my business!

This kind of stuff just makes me happy :)

project envy: paper flowers

My latest case of project envy comes from one of my new favorite websites!!

I have become a religious, daily follower of this blog - ideas for scrapbookers!
Pam, who started the blog, sums it up best:

I started this blog for the purpose of having FREE templates, tutorials, digital items, ideas, challenges, contests, and so much more! This blog features posts for both traditional and digital scrapbookers.

I have already collected so many ideas and templates I don't know where to start. But I thought I'd share a particular project I plan on trying..




These awesome paper flowers are made by Lynn Biermann and she provides a tutorial here to show exactly how she does it! If I ever get past the 10 projects I have backed up right now.. I hope to get around to trying to make these flowers!

and don't forget....

If you haven't entered the giveaway for Tania Willis's awesome embellishments.. you can still do so here. The winner will be selected this week!

beautifully handmade. (+ giveaway:)

one of the benefits of the on-line scrapbooking world is you get to meet really great people.. even form friendships, just over email.

today i want to tell you more about my friend tania willis!



she is a very talented scrapbooker/artist/designer/teacher who always share great tips and insights on her blog, "what'chu talkin 'bout willis?"

in one of my very first "shorter" blog posts.. i shared my "tania card box" which is a special box in my scraproom filled with all the cards i've purchased from her!

tania makes the most adorable cards and fabric embellishments, which you can find in her etsy shop, "beautifully handmade". she also offers several tutorials on her blog.

two of my favorites:
butterfly mobile
paper holly wreath

but she is probably best known for her handmade embellishments.. which are absolutely adorable! she teaches several classes for "get it scrapped", on making embellishments, cards and scrapbooking with fabric.

the special thing about tania is she shares a lot about herself and her two beautiful daughters.. in the midst of all her incredible scrapbook tips! click here to find out why she opened her etsy shop.

and tania has graciously offered to giveaway a set of her newly-made embellishments to one of my readers!





aren't these adorable! i have serious creative envy when it comes to tania's handmade goods.. but i feel lucky to have found her!

to be eligible for the giveaway, you must be a follower, and leave a comment on this post!

i hope you all are having a wonderful week!

my memorial moment.

My youngest with my dad - a former marine and vietnam veteran.





This was our first cub scout event.. learning early about the importance of our nation's heroes. It was a great experience.