Paige's Pages

It's a New Year~again!

2012-01-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

Here we are again...where did the year go. I find myself watching them go by faster and faster.

Well this is a big year for our family

#1 I turn 40 in August...really I know you can't believe it because i look so young...haha

#2 Emily Turns 18 ...how do i have an 18 year old??

#3 Emily goes to College...yes COLLEGE -BYU-Idaho to be exact. I could'nt be more proud!

#4 Sean and I Celebrate our 20th anniversary.

So bring it on 2012

I must give credit to Katie Sabin who took this great Family photo for us

Organized Holiday Season

2011-09-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

It is approaching fast...it sneaks up on us every year and before you know it the holiday season is in full swing and I am usually the one trying to play catch up. But I am vowing ( ok just really trying) not to have that happen this year. I already have been asking my children about halloween costumes and I will (as soon as I am done blogging) put going to pick pumpkins on the calendar ( the fancy google calendar my husband is trying so hard to get us all to use together so updates go to everyone).

That being said I am proud to say I just finished my Holiday Planner. I saw one on another blog which was nice and got me thinking...so i headed to the local office supply store and raided my paper stash and came up with this one....

I titled it "Have yourself a merry little christmas" but really it contains calendars and to do lists for November 1st through December 24th

Here is what you will need:

1 Binder- I used an Avery mini durable view binder. It holds the 5 1/2"x 8 1/2" pages.

1 Package of lined 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" paper

1 Package of the same size sheet protectors ( I only used 5 out of the 15 pack so you could split them with a friend or two)

3 sheets 12x12 patterned paper - heavyweight works the best

6 sheets solid 12x12 colored cardstock

3 sheets 81/2" x11" white cardstock

Label maker- or you can print your own labels for the tabs

Fiskars lg. flower punch for the tabs

Adhesive- i used a wet glue because I thought it would hold up better with all the use this book will get

Brown in to ink the edges of the pages if you like that look

I made 7 sections for my planner and added a tab and a cute saying to each section page

#1 Tab- Calendar Page title- Merry days & silent nights

This section includes full month calendar for Nov & Dec

#2 Tab- To Do Page Title- Jingle all the Day

includes a sheet of lined paper labeled for each of the days Nov 1st through Dec 24th to use as to do lists each day. (note I use a paperclip to keep track of which day I am on in the book)

#3 Tab- Gifts Page Title- No Peeking

self expanitory- all those gift lists using the line paper

#4 Tab-Card Lists Page Title- Joy to the World

also self explanitory

#5 Tab- Food/baking Page Title- Home for the Holiday's

I will use one of the sheet protectors to hold all those recipes i need or want to try for the holiday's and paper for shopping lists

#6 Tab- Parties Page Title- Celebrate the Magic

more lined paper

#7 Tab- Misc Page Title- Be Jolly By Golly

I have added a couple more of the sheet protectors in the back one for coupons, one for receipts and one for returns.

These are all the things that will hopefully help keep me organized and able to ENJOY the holiday's this year.

It's a BIG day around here!!

2011-08-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

Emily had her first day of her SENIOR YEAR! I have mixed emotions I am both exicted for her and Sad for me. It is amazing how we get to where we are and the adventures life takes us on. I am so grateful for the wonderful amzaing talented girl she has become.
This year she will be performing with dance ensemble, writing for the school newspaper, and will maybe throw in some photography classes as well....doesn't that all sound fun? Of course there will be a little english (her favorite) Economics, history, oh and the nast thing called math :{ As well as some ACT studying, college applying and driving herself to and from school (my FAVORITE part) a few football games and some hanging out with good friends.
So here we go a new adventure!!

A Girly Gift

2011-07-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

Sarah had to go to a party recently and I wanted to come up with something different for her friend so I came up with the following wood hanging to hold jewelry

It is an 8"x12" wood sign painted black

then I added the vinyl words put some sparkle in your day

next I added some cue glass looking knobs I found at Home Depot.

we then picked out some cute neclaces at Forever 21 and packaged them up

Voila...a cute jewelry hanger every girl would love!

Matching Dresses!

2011-05-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

Matching Dresses...That's all I have to say! No just kidding :) So my two girls participated in the talent show at curch a couple of weeks ago. They both LOVE to dance! So I let them do their thing and choreograph a dance pick music etc. Then came the day of the acutal Talent show ( Yes I did say the DAY OF) Here is how it went

Mom: So what are you going to wear for costumes
Girls: Umm we don't know yet...we will figure something out
Mom: are you kidding?
Girls: No why?
Mom: because you can't just throw something on ( ok I may be a little oc about how they look at an event as such)
Mom: again..ok let's go to TJ max and see if we can find something CHEAP ( I am a bargain hunter after all)

We arrived at the store picked out several choices for each that would go well together and to my extreme DELIGHT they chose these adorable MATCHING dresses.

Now for most this would not mean anything but you have to understand I am the kind of mom who forced her girls to wear matching dresses for holidays until emily was probably 11 or 12 and then I CRIED when the firs holiday came that I relented and let them have their own dresses.

So I was so embarrassingly giddy at the store when they chose these adorable matching dresses they both loved and could wear again...although they will probably never be worn at the same time again..that would be horrifying to a teenager.

But alas I will relish in one more moment of my two little ( ok not so little anymore) girls and their matching dresses.

P.S. They did awesome and the talent show too!

Enjoy a Card

2011-03-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

I am super motivated lately to create some new cards and tags. I am thinking small mini cards and tags to attach to gifts. I think I will refill my tag jar so I am not always trying to whip one up the last 2 minutes before I need to be somewhere. So in the meantime I have attached a card a made for a card swap Christmas party last Christmas. I layered various patterns of paper that was scalloped at the bottom with scissors. I used ribbon with sparkly edges to create the flower and used pins to hold it together and create the center of the flower. I added the sparkly leaves from a christmas floral pick from the craft store. I love use items that were not originally made for paper projects.
Check back soon I hope to have lots of cards and tags to show you soon!

I Love Cupcakes

2011-03-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

On sunday the girls and I made delcious cupcakes....Ok really I made cupcakes and frosting and got it all ready and they slid in for the decorating part..just like them :) In the process I found the best chocolate fudge frosting recipe and thought I would share here is the link to it Chocolate Frosting Recipe scroll through the recipes to find the chocolate fudge one. ENJOY!

Speaking of Cupcakes ...Check this Out
Last Fall for and event for our church Young Women we decided to serve cupcakes for the event. I soon roped my nice hubby into building this great cupcake tower for me. The best part is I can use it over and over and it comes apart and stack inside itself for storing. Unfortunately in the picture I mixed up the top and bottom center rods so the top one is taller. We are also going to have shorter ones so you can have adjustable sizes. I love it! It can be covered in paper, fabric, ribbon and more to customize it for each event.

2011-03-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

Our annual Valentine's dinner born out of the fact that for this time in our lives having a couples romantic valentine's day does not usually work with three kids. So about 4 or 5 years ago we started a new tradition where Sean and I make a very fancy dinner for the kids we deck out the table and give them small gifts to let them know we love them. I LOVE this tradition !! I hope that one day they will look back and no matter where they are on Valentine's day they will always know that mom and dad love them!

This years menu:
Filet Mingnon with crusted blue cheese (yummy- we have Filet every year)
Yummy gooey Potatoes with cream and Gruyere cheese
Parisian salad (yes this was the kind you get in a bag at Costco)
Big fat fluffy rolls ( they are the ones I put in the middle of the table on the cupcake stand)

Mom's Gift to the kids:
This year I bought each of them their own copy of the book "I'll Love You Forever" I loved reading this book to the kids and so I wanted each of them to have their own with a message I wrote inside to each kid.

Dad's gift to the kids:
Ok he usually gets the award for being the most creative since he does not have much time and waits till the last minute- honestly I did not think he would pull it off this year since work was crazy and he was sooo busy but he came through with these "license plate" gifts and the kids LOVED them see if you can guess what each of us got?

And of course you can't end the evening with out a fabulous dessert!

Why do little boys have to grow up?

2011-02-08T10:15:00.000-08:00

My oldest daughter Emily is currently taking a photography class at school. She often has projects that need certain perspectives so one saturday as we ( me and the children I was forcing ) were cleaning the backyard I noticed all of Adam's tractors lined up behind the sandbox rusty with weeds growing up through them. I thought how sad it was, he used to spend hours playing with those tractors in the sandbox and now they needed to be gotten rid of. But before we moved them I made the comment that they looked like they were in a tractor graveyard so Em grabbed the camera and shot these great pictures of the Adam's tractor graveyard and I mourned just a little bit for the little boy who played with them.

Super Superbowl Decorating

2011-02-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again so I thought I would re-post my superbowl spread from last year. This was seriously the easiest decorating with the biggest punch!
click here to see the original post.

Here's what's on the menu for SuperBowl around here
Chips and homemade Guacamole-Of course!
Slow cooked fall apart Baby Back Ribs- My Favorite!
Spinich Dip and Crusty on the outside, Soft on the inside bread-YUM!
Chocolate Chip cookie Bars- for a sweet treat :)

Hope you have a great day and that your team wins :)

So it's been a while...

2011-02-01T19:47:00.000-08:00

Thought I would join the blogging world once again (new years resolution thing). So i thought I would share these Ribbon Smoothies I made for our card swap Christmas get together over the holidays. I saw a smaller version of these at a scrapbook show and kept the idea tucked away in my brain waiting for the perfect time.
It took 2 trips to in & out to get the drink holders and the rest of the supplies I purchased at our local Smart and Final store that sells restaurant supplies. I ordered the ribbon from this amazing (cheap) site I found called Always Underpay. These could have been made way cuter if I had not been in the middle of my big craft show for December but they are still worthy of a post.

Glad to be back
Hope to see here again soon...I have more to share already :)

What's Happening

2010-04-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

So here we are already April...where does time go? Here is an update on some things we have been doing and some projects I have completed.
I made this cute Rag Purse fro my friend Kadee's Birthday. I LOVE the way it turned out. I have big plans to make more of these for friends for birthday's. You can check out how to make it here.

My assignment for card swap for March was Adult Birthday. We are doing something new this year in my card swap group where we each have an assignment so we go home with a stack of different themed card each month. You can check out all our card swap cards at The Rowdy Rooster
I saw these on a blog somewhere and decided it would be a quick fun journal to make. It sits on my desk and I like to keep track of all the projects I would love to do....if only there was more time in the day.

These were some fun Valentine cards I made with just 3 sheets of paper. I was playing around with the technique of wetting down paper with a squirt bottle and folding and twisting it... I saw a lot of this at the craft and hobby show.

For our February Card swap we had a baby shower for our fellow card swapper Amber who was having a boy. We each brought her a set of thank you cards she could use to send thank you's after her shower. These were mine...you can see more at The Rowdy Rooster.
I love this Baby gift Jar. It is my favorite gift to give right now. I usually fill it with cute ribbon burb cloths , an outfit, and or toys. Everyone loves a gift that includes cute storage right? :)
In March my kids preformed "Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat" with Arts off Broadway. They had a blast! The Uncle Jon was the Director and their cousins and Aunt were also in the production. It was a lot of work but they had a grea time. Emily played one of Joseph's brothers, Sarah was an adoring girl and one of the wives, and Adam was evil corn.

Nothing says spring like a little boy ( ok not so little but still little to me) hunting for easter eggs in his baseball uniform. Easter and Baseball it is certainly spring!

Ok so the girls think they are too big to hunt for easter eggs but I did convince (and it took a lot of convincing and eye rolling) them to pose for these cute pictures.

We have just returned from the land of cold and snow in Park City Utah. We spent spring break sledding, skiing, shopping , seeing new things, reading books, hanging out and just plain Family fun. I will post mor fun pics once I get them organized. Here is part of the clan heading to the sledding tow to take them back up the hill for another thrilling ride.

Where does time go?

2010-03-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

So I said (in my previous post ) I has all these wonderful things to share and now it has almost been a month and where are they sitting right here I tell ya...those cute Valentine cards I made and need to photograph, and those fabulous Valentine tiles I made for the kitchen sitting right in the pile with the other Valentine stuff ( I have yet to put away). Oh Yeah and that Great Valentine banner I was working on....sitting right here to, only it only made it to half done :( So what to do with all these projects??? Start new ones right? That is what we crafters do. I really want to work on my kids bedrooms this weekend. Sounds fun right not sure how hubby will feel about half done projects and new ones starting. :) I will let you now how it works out.

Busy Busy Busy

2010-02-08T08:28:00.000-08:00

I have been real busy crafting lately so here is a quick update of some of the fun things I have been working on.

P.S. Coming soon
Valentine Cards
Valentine Banner
Valentine Tiles
Yep...Valentine's is in the air

My sister in law had a birthday recent ly and I found the cutest cupcake holder at target. I "sweetened" the gift by adding some handmade cupcake h olders a tag and lots of cute ribbon. Happy Birthday Emily !

For the girls in Yong Womens at church this year I found this cute block Idea at Pebbles in my Pocket. I Added a cute card to the top with a Picture of all the YW together from last year.
The Theme for this year is Joshua 1:9 "Be Strong and of Good Courage".

Super Bowl Sunday! Well we had a little Super Bowl party yesterday, the kids and I had a great time creating this fun set up on our island. I purchased some astroturf at home depot and we hot glued white ribbons on for the yardage markers. Sarah also printed out each teams logo for each end but they are not in the picture. This was the easiest thing and was a big hit!

See ya soon with some more Stuff...Have a great Monday!

I NEED CAKE!

2010-01-26T06:10:00.000-08:00

Ok so yesterday a good friends husband got us both into the CHA show( for those of you who do not know what that is, this is the Craft and Hobby Associations winter show where many craft companys-ie: scrapbooking , card making etc. release and show off their new products).

SO there was a ton of cute stuff there and we got a few free samples and made some great make and take projects but ..........

THIS WAS THE STAR OF THE SHOW AND I NEED ONE!The Cricut CAKE Machine

This machine will make you an amazing cake/cupcake designer
It will cut gum paste and frosting sheets using any of the cricut cartridges! Amazing.
It was completely redesigned to be a food safe machine and heres the coolest thing for those of us who LOVE red they wnet to Kitchenaid and asked for their most popular color and try to match the kitchen aid red as close as possible.
I don't think they will actually be available for a couple months but when they are they will retail for around $399. I guess I would really have to make a LOT of cakes and cupcakes to convince myself to get one, but I can still dream of all the wonderful things I COULD do with it.

Cricut did a great job with the marketing of it at the show they gave away cute Bakers hats and you could make a cute cupcake right there and then make a cute cupcake holder and package it all up so cute right there to take home.

Fun Finds

2010-01-20T11:39:00.001-08:00

My daughter Sarah and I were at out local Michaels the other day and came across a great new section the have. It contains a ton of packaged paper shapes (they are called paper but are really kind of thick like chip board). They had all kinds and my mind was going wild with ideas. We decided to purchase the Boomarks(only .99 for 12) for a fun starter project as well as the package of alphabet letters ( the best deal $1.99 for 130 letters).
On the way home we decided that these would be a fun Valentine gift for her to make for her class ( no candy allowed at her school :( ). We will make a book mark for each student in the class with there initial on it....so fun right! Here are a couple quick starter samples I made. We will post the class ones closer to Valentines.

Have a Great day!

Cards Again!

2010-01-14T11:48:00.001-08:00

So my new craft room is just about done...hooray! I will post pictures after I finish "card swaping it up"( that is what my friend Button would call it when you need to make something look really cute).
Anyway I was just so excited to make a card in my new space so I found a card challenge over at Cards Blog and decided to make this cute Valentine card. I think this put me in the mood for Valentines Day. Sean and I came up with a new tradition a few years back when Valentines Day was in the middle of the week and it was just to hard for us to go out having 3 kids and all so now we make a Fancy dinner ( like Fillet Mignon) for the kids we decorate the table really nice and we each get a little gift for the kids. Last year we wrote why we loved each other on balloons and let them go outside to tell the world how much we are loved. SO now that I am in the Valentine mood my brain is turning for what to do this year??? Any ideas out there??

Holiday Creations

2010-01-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

So here is a rundown of some great Holiday stuff I made this year...maybe next year I will get them done and on the blog BEFORE the holiday's are over :)

These were gifts for my Cardswap girls, I also gave one to Sarah's teacher for his family.
Cookies for santa plates (see at A wishful Thought) Take out box with fresh cookie dough inside
Plate- Tai Pan $2.97 Take out- Container- Michaels $1.00 Initial striped tag- $1.00 Homemade Cookie dough

Ribbon- Costco $6.98 for 50 yds.

Gifts do not have to be expensive to show someone you care it's all in the packaging!

This Christmas for Cardswap we each made two ornaments to swap..we made 10 of each style and swapped them so we each got a whole set of new ornaments for our trees. We used the extras for another tree we decorated and gave to a family in need. Here are my two I designed this year. I did a wood block and a Metal star. Click the Cardswap link above if you would like to see all the ornaments we created.
I made of few of these Christmas gifts for friends I visit at church. I absolutely love how they turned out..too bad i gave them away I still need to make one for myself. They will be on my website next holiday season.

Road Trip Thanksgiving 2008

2010-01-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

Whew I am soo behind...Here is the first of a few posts to catch you up. The week prior to Thanksgiving...or rather 5 day prior to Thanksgiving we took the kids on an amazing road trip. About a week prior to this road trip my husband let each of the kids make a list of places in California they would like to see or visit. They could search the internet, ask family and friends etc. They complied a long list and some suggestions even overlapped.He finally narrowed it down to 2 choices for each kid between our home in San Diego and San Francisco. Here is how it unfolded

Stop #1 Sarah Choice Pismo Beach
Rolling down the sand dunes at Pismo Beach, yes she did mean that literally. We had to find some really fun dunes and wait for all the motorcyclist to pass ( us being the family without those 4 wheeling toys) and jump off an roll down the hill....This made Sarah very Happy! We also got to drive on the Beach which the kids thought was cool, but Emily was even happier when we let HER drive on the Beach...
Here are som more pics from Pismo
We made sure we booked hotels where they had free breakfast...here is where we ate breakfast the first morning outside our hotel room...Gorgeous View!

Stop #2 Emily's Choice Winchester Mystery House

Okay so we only got one picture outside the Winchester House. No pictures were allowed inside. All I have to say is that was the weirdest house I have ever seen. Tha winchester lady was a little bit of crazy. We had the most annoying tour guide who had memorized the whole script for the tour and did not or could not deviate from it..litteraly, she coughed twice in a row and kept having to rewind herself. It was one of those events that made us all laugh and will make it memorable.

Stop #3 Sarah's Choice Golden Gate BridgeWe did it all...we drove across it one way, got out took pictures walked half way back across it (until some little children got scared..we won't name names) and then went back and drove back across it the other way. WOW that is alot of the Golden Gate Bridge. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. When I was younger we did not go on vacations, I always imagined families vacationing during the summer to the Golden gate bridge so this was a great day for me to take my own kids there.

Stop #4 Adam's Pick Alcatraz

Alcatraz was fascinating if you are ever in S.F you should most certainly take the tour. It is a self guided audio tour which Adam LOVED he is a sponge for information like that. He loved every minute of it!

After Alcatraz we spent the evening at the Famous Fisherman's Warf

Stop #5 Emily's Pick Jelly Belly factory

Once again no pictures allowed so here is a picture of the kids outside the factory posing with the Jelly Car.

This was so cool to see all the Jelly Belly's being made every time you turned a corner you could smell the kind of Jelly Bean they were making....and the colors of all the bins of Beans was amazing. If you hare ever near by this is a great stop.

Stop #6 Adam's Pick

Well adam wanted to pan for gold but unfortunately the pass we need to go through for that was closed due to snow so we took another route which led us up through south Lake Tahoe and then back down through Mammoth. We spent the night in Mammoth and the hiked a little and I emphasize little way in to an old Gold Mine.

So ther you have it our Road Trip November 2008 It was a whirlwind trip all of that in 5 days. We saw lots of amazing things, laughed alot, even fought a little (what would a trip with kids be without a little arguing :) but we made some Great Memories! Thanks for a great trip I love you Guys.

Here are some of my other favorite pics from the trip
That is looking down at an earthquake fault in mammoth.

A Halloween Treat

2009-11-03T10:12:00.000-08:00

I made some cute treats for some friend s for Halloween. I found this cute idea for using the halloween colored mm's in the jar and just had to make them. I added a Happy Halloween and spide vinyl stickers to the jar to bring it all together. this was a fun sunday afternoon activity for my daughter and I . My mom wants to do a chistmas version so I am already thinking about how to make those even cuter.

Here is the recipe I used...

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped pecans (Optional)
Stir all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

(This is what you put on a tag for the people to add to their cookies)
Add
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter (melted slightly in the microwave)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use the back of a large spoon to work it all together. You may even need to use your hands to get everything incorporated.

Then roll the cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, place on a parchment covered baking sheet (I just used a greased baking sheet) and bake for about 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. I got about 26-28 cookies out of these.

It's almost countdown time

2009-10-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

For Card Swap this month we created altered items. I got this great idea from a friend and had tons of fun creating these countdown block sets. I made one reversible base and 2 sets of blocks for each person. One set is a Christmas countdown and the other is a Countdown to Card Swap. The Christmas set alone would make a great gift for friends, familly, teachers etc. for the holidays. I will be selling the kit on my website . The kit includes the blocks and the vinyl lettering and numbers. all you need is paper and modge podge. Check out all the fun designs I came up with....

Harvest Festival Week...So Sad

2009-10-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

So last year we decided that due to the economy and our children we would not do the Big harvest Festival shows for my business this year. Now Sean was thrilled because he usually gets to stand in the booth and make signs for 3 days straight! ( and yes I do love him for doing that) I thought I would be so excited no big rush to gets so many signs done time to enjoy halloween and Christmas with the kids(don't get me wrong I do plan on doing those) but as Harvest Festival comes this weekend I find myself sad. Sad that I won't be setting up on Thursday sad I won't get meet all the great shoppers, sad I don't get to know the people at the booths around me who become like family for the weekend, sad I don't get to spend all that time with my husband because even though we are working very hard we are doing it together. I will miss picking up the kids from school on Thur and bringing them to the fair grounds to have dinner and finish setting up, I will really miss the big fluffy bed at the hotel we always stay at in Pamona!

Okay had to get that off my chest, thanks for listening.

P.S. We are still taking orders on the website and at open houses so don't fear we are still in business :)

Here is my favorite new design I think would have sold like crazy at Harvest Festival this year.

I am in Love...with Fabric

2009-10-12T19:20:00.001-07:00

I am in Love with this fabric.....i need to get it !!! Hmmm what do do with it, maybe a fall apron :)
click here to see where you can get them.

August Birthdays

2009-08-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

Sean Turns 40
Emily Turns 15
Love You Both!!!

It's Summer

2009-07-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

Not much posting going on but I have quite the tan from being outside all summer. A quick update weight loss is still going great at around 13lbs GONE! Sarah left yesterday for a 3 week trip 2 week with her grandma in wisconsin and Tennessee then we will meet up with her in TN. Emily leave today for EFY so that leaves Adam an only child for a whole week. We are excited and have big plans for Legoland and Chuckie Cheese. I am collecting some great craft ideas for myself and church and will get back to creating once the kids are back in school.

Check this out!

2009-06-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hey my card Swap friends and I want to invite you over to our new blog. These are some amazing creative women sure to inspire many of your projects So head on over to THE ROWDY ROOSTERS and be sure to become a follower you won't want to miss out on a single project.

Frugal Summer Fun

2009-06-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

So I am trying to keep my kids busy this sumer without going broke so I thought I would share some fun ideas we are doing.

Monday was Mall day- I had some returns so we headed out we split a buy one get one free pretzel at Auntie Annes pretzels plus a drink and dip $6. I got this fabulous discount card from the High school with great discounts, these are great to look for at the beginning of the school year when the kids are fundraising. We did some window shopping and Adam played on the free playground, the girls tried on clothes for fun and we got see all the cute puppies at the pet store. We ate $1= $4 sundaes from Mcdonalds and ended the day with a cute train ride for Adam and Sarah for $6. All in all we spent $16 and had an afternoon of fun.

Tuesday Fair Day- Yesterday we headed to The San Diego County Fair
Parking- Horsepark free ( line was Looong but moved fast)
Tickets- $2 Free for kids on tuesday, and sean and I got $1 return tickets from when we went so Emiy and I used those.
Lunch- Packed at home and ate while we watched a dance group
Rides- $25 I let each kid have 4 rides and bought the discount sheet + a few extra
Games- $2 They each got to play the fish game and try to win a gold fish- No Luck
Treats-$12 It was taste of the Fair tuesday and that means lots of food vendors offer smaller portions for only $2...We ended up with funnel cakes and get this $1 Shaved ice It was the best!
Gifts- we found a fun place the kids could get 3 neclaces for $5, the girls each picked cute one and even Adam wanted one...of course the shark tooth one which he immediately poked his sister with and she started crying...Boys!
Total-$46 for Mom and 3 kids

Great fun memories at the fair!

Tueday Update -a lesson learned

2009-06-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

So this week I was up for the first time..only .2 though. I was not motivated last week and kind of took a break from exercise. No step class or treadmill although I did get a new bike and went on a ride which I have not done in some 10+ years so it was NOT a far ride. Anyway I am hoping to get alot more exercise in this week and get re-motivated to take the next 10 off.

Lesson Learned- If I exercise more I don't have to be so perfect with my points and I can loose...I am definately back at the gym this week!

Tuesday Update

2009-06-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

All I have to say is what? I really thought I did not do so hot ok I went to CPK and to a grad party and served a big yummy dinner on sunday..so my hopes were not very high for weigh in this week. But maybe with all the exercise my body is changing..hooray! 1.6 lb lost this week for a total of
10.2lbs gone...boy does that feel good!

A New Hair Color

2009-06-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

So I debated never mind you it was 10 o'clock at Target last night what color to do my hair. Now I am a hair color in the box kind of girl ( although this might change that) mostly because I usually have good luck. I had decided to go back to a darker brown..my natural color to more closely match my roots. But that is not where the problem began so I digress. I am a hair color in the box kind of girl mostly because I am to cheap to pay for it at the salon. So as I pondered what color to purchase late last night a giant sign in the isle came to my attention. Purchase one of these and get a $5 target gift card ( and you could get up to 2 cards..with the purchase of 2-which I have to do with all my hair) so I mosied on over and checked it out..now it was good on that new clairol color that only takes 10 minutes so of course I decided to check it out, there were not as many color options but I thought what the heck this is the latest stuff so I grabbed two of the Dark Brown and made my way to the check out where I explained to the young-male cashier that I needed to pay for the color first so I could get my gift cards and use them on the other items in my cart..what a deal.

So now here I am with a REALLY dark brown hair color( okay almost black). I absolutely hated it at first but now an hour later it is growing on me..it is different and what the heck it is summer and will be in a pony tail most of the time anyway.

Color Explosion

2009-06-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

When we bought our home almost 9 years ago this first thing I planted were Hydrangeas. I love them and could not wait to have a yard to put them in. Year after year they never fail me....the bloom and bloom and are absolutely beautiful! I love to come around the corner to my house and see those wonderful blooms.

THANKS MOTHER NATURE!

Tueday Update

2009-06-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hard week but .6 lost! Plan to work had this week to hit the 10lb gone mark!

Tuesday Update

2009-06-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

Okay I promise I have more "creative" things to post here soon! Just short on time lately.
I had a great week 1.6lbs lost for a running total of 8lbs and feeling good!

Here is to the start of another great week:)

P.S. that is right after my "free meal" this is my little cheat that keeps me happy. If I have lost weight when I weigh in I allow myself a "free" meal that I don''t have to count the points, usually something I have been craving. It is NOT WW protocol but it works for me and keeps me HAPPY!

Strawberries= it's almost summer!!!

2009-05-27T18:25:00.001-07:00

Last week we headed out with my sister in laws and 8 kids in tow to pick strawberries.
Here are the highlights

You get to EAT ALL the strawberries you want while you are picking

You get to make yummy freezer jam that will last even when the strawberries are gone..okay not in my house but it might last that long in someones house.

We had tons of fun....Thanks cousins!

Tuesday Update..a little late

2009-05-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

Not great....not bad. That pretty much sums it up I lost 0.4lbs this week. Wish it was more but considering I weighed in directly following a holiday weekend I will take it..it was after all a loss:)

3 Fav's from scapbook Expo

2009-05-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post these for a while, here are the top the finds i got at the Scrapbook show in Del Mar.

1) I have been looking FOREVER for some good storage for ribbon...this is it! All these timy holes hold all your ribbon in place and visible. I think I need to get a few more of these to be able to wrangle in all my ribbons!

2) I decided I wanted to learn one new techniques at the show and I found these fabulous Glimmer Mist spray inks by Tattered Angels and I love them! I did there make and take demo and created the card you see in the picture. I can't wait to use these for card swap!

3) I got the cutest bag!!! I have since turned it into my "church" bag to tote all of those important things for YW as well as church mag , crayons, cars, paper etc for the kids...you might think at ages 7,10,14 you would not need to take things to church to keep them busy, appartently this is not true with my children. Good thing for me because now I have an excuse to use this really cute adorable bag once a week!! Here is where you can get it K&Company

Tuesday Update

2009-05-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday weigh in day hooray! 2.6 lbs lost. For a total of 6 lbs.
Thanks for listening/or reading it helps me stay on track:)

I thought I was clever

2009-05-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law being out of town on Mother's day gave me an additional week to come up with a gift..Now I do have a thing for coming up with creative original gifts- if I do say so myself. So I set out on this task last week and thought myself so clever! A basket filled with new summer kitchen towels, a pretty new table cloth and some fabulous cooking magazines. I decided to top it all off by making her a cute half apron.Perfect! I thought. I then arrived at the in-laws for a fabulous Mother's day dinner yesterday and to my surprise found my Mother in law in the middle of making an APRON for her mom for Mother's day...she then proceeded to tell me how she made a half apron for her friend last week....Great minds think alike!

BTW meet Melinda my daughter(Sarah's) new decorative dress form I found at Ross. She has affectionately named her Model Melinda and she hangs her outfit for the next day on her. Adorable!

Tuesday

2009-05-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Tuesday is my weigh in day. I was SOOO good this week on WW I can't believe it but it feels really good!! I am starting to feel in control again. The best part I lost 3.4lbs!

Favorite low point treat (for my WW friends) Skinny Cow Carmel ice cream cone 2pts..sooo good!

It was a good week all in all and it ended with a great Mother's Day. Thanks Kids and Hubby!

Quote of the week: Adam 7 yrs old
"Mom can you just put the healthy stuff in my lunch today"
I must be rubbing off on him :)

Check back soon I am going to post my favorite things I got at the scapbook show a couple of weekends ago.

A New Change

2009-05-08T10:21:00.000-07:00

When I began this blog I thought it would be a way to show some creative projects I have been working on and little creative outlet for me. Soon I became a blog stalker of many crafty mom blogs who also threw in a little of their real life the one that goes on while we are thinking of new things to create. SO lately I have been thinking maybe I should throw in some real life and spice things up around here.

Life has been changing around here....I am on a mission to get in shape for summer. Originally I was going to sign up for the weight loss challenge over on A Feathered Nest but the deadline came and went and I just forgot ( forgot is code word for chickened out). Next I was going to join The Biggest Loser competition at my local YMCA but the mandatory meeting came and I had to be somewhere else at the time ( had-also code word for chickened out).

Finally Tuesday I got out of bed and dragged myself to my step class, I felt so good for making myself go I drove right over to a Weight Watchers meeting and signed up!! I have been doing great so far...so there you have it now you all know ( which is kinda embarassing) but noneless the more people who are watching me the more motivated I am. So I guess I am using you all for motivation..THANKS!!

Jar Re-filled

2009-04-27T15:58:00.001-07:00

I ran out of tags for my celebrate jar so i thought i would share a few new ones with you. The one pictured by itself is my favorite alothough it is hard to see how great the green rub on design looks. I can't tell you how much I love having these on hand.

stay tuned i have some great ideas i will be working on this week.

Quick gift idea

2009-03-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

I had to put together a quick gift for some card swap girls and so i picked up some cute great ribbon at costco ( they have those great big rolls), I cut some cute paper and modge podged it to the front tied a quick ribbon and attached a cute metal monograms to the front.
Happy Birthday Card swap fiends.

December Card Swap card

2008-12-28T15:31:00.000-08:00

Each December my card swap group exchanges tags we each make 3 holiday tags for each of the girls in the group. It is a lot of work but sooo much fun. We have a christmas party and exchange tags and gifts. It is our favorite night of the year! Here are my 3 tags and the gift I made for each which is a Jar labeled Alphabet soup that is filled with a ton of vinyl words that can be used on cards or other projects.

FREE Stuff, NEW blog

2008-10-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out my new blog featuring some great ideas using vinyl lettering and clipart as well as some ways to get FREE stuff. There is a great FREEbie opportunity posted today.
www.vinylwishes.blogspot.com

I took the challenge

2008-10-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

My friend Kadee posted a challenge on her blog Kadee Morrison Creations. The Challenge was to create a card that was pink and green and used ribbon and buttons in the layout. This is my take on the challenge.

Fall Fabulous

2008-10-08T15:22:00.001-07:00

I was inspired at a craft fair to make this cute pumpkin from round fence posts. We made them with our church craft group this month. I love how it turned out. I love decorating for fall!! Too bad it is 100 degrees today:(

October Card swap

2008-10-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here is my card for my October Card swap. I used my new cricut to cut the adorable catepillar.

A fun Mother Daughter Project

2008-10-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago my sister in law and her girls came over and we made these cute coasters using white tiles, scrapbook paper, modge podge, and a clear sealer. We had so much fun. Mine are the black and white ones tied up with ribbon ( they make a cute gift) and the colored ones my daughter sarah made. The girls had so much fun picking their papers and modge podging them.

Yes on Prop 8 stickers

2008-10-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Many of you know we are big supporters of Yes on Prop 8. For those of you who do not know what prop 8 is, it is a constitutional amendment that will state that only marriage between a man and a woman is recognized in California. While we support all people having rights we believe that marriage is ordained of God and should remain as he created it , between a man and woman. With that said I have created a "bumper sticker" for anyone who wishes to support prop 8 also( these stickers can be removed once the election is over). You can simply email me with your address and I will mail one right out to you. We are asking a $1 donation for the stickers with all donations being sent to the Protect marriage campaign. You can get more information on the proposition at www.protectmarriage.com.

A quick Project

2008-09-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

I was at my friends house the other day and she had the cutest broom in her kitchen. I happen to see a similar one at TJ max. I had a red broom at home and not wanting to spend the $ I decided to make it myself. Using some vinyl dots and some cute ribbion I created a cute enough broom to leave out in the open.

I hate laundry!!

2008-09-17T10:09:00.001-07:00

Okay I hate the process of doing laundry, you wash dry and fold the same clothes week after week..and that makes me nuts. But what are you going to do. A few months back we got a fancy new washer and dryer set so we updated the laundry room with fresh paint cabinets etc. I FINALLY put some cute lettering up on the walls and thought I would share the pics.

I'm Back!!!

2008-09-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Okay so it has been a long time since i have created anything new for the blog so here is a few of the latest that i have either just made or Finally finished. First I have to say thanks to my Hubby who bought me a Cricut for my birthday...Yeah. So I created my first card using the storybook cartridge which I LOVE! I also got around to finishing some frames I started at our church craft group a few months back. They are for my girls room which we just redid ( I will post pics of it later we are still adding a few details). WOW look how cute you can make a $1 frame!!

It's a Red Thing

2008-08-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

I have always loved loved loved Red! Ever since I was little have loved anything and everything red. If I walk in to a store I will always gravitate toward anything with a strong a red color. If you walk into my house you will see that indeed I love to decorate in Red. So that being said I have switched back to my Red blog layout. I will soon be finished with my new bedroom of course It's Red, white and tan. I will post pictures as soon as it is complete.

Summer blog layout

2008-07-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

So what do ya think?? I was thinking the old layout was just not bright and cheery enough for summer. Hope you are having a cheery summer too!

When did this happen???

2008-06-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

Okay I am now officially the mom of a High Schooler!!! I know when did that happen? Adam has finished Kindergarten :( I know so sad I love him at this age, I get an I love you mom about a hundred times a day. If you could bottle that you could make a million. Sarah will be going into 4TH grade, already! Here is a picture of the 3 of them after Emily's 8th grade graduation. WOW they grow up TOO fast.

This was a big deal for Emily (who by the way is now taller than me) she saved her money to get acrylic nails, a spa pedicure and had me drop her off at the mall to get her makeup done. Does anyone know how to stop this growing up thing I am not ready for it!

My No Pattern Apron

2008-06-10T09:27:00.001-07:00

So a few months ago I signed up on
"A Feathered Nest" blog for an apron swap. The aprons were to be in the mail by June 9th. So being me I of course started sewing it on June 9th. I was not sure what to do but I had an apron a friend lent me. So using the measurements and folding the fabric just right I was able to create this CUTE apron with no pattern at all. I am so excited to send it off but sad to see it go, i just love it!

Gifts, Gifts, and more

2008-06-10T09:21:00.001-07:00

I am finally back with a few new projects...hopefully with more to come soon!
Well we have had so many birthday party's lately here is another birthday sign I created for one of Sarah's friends who is big into cheerleading the overlay says go, fight, cheer. I love the new clipart flowers!

Who likes free stuff!!

2008-05-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

How about 400 free prints and a free 8X8 photo book. Just use the link to get yours..this is cool! http://www.artscow.com/default.aspx?Ref=353283.
Don't forget to pass it on we all could use some free stuff rught now.

Birthday Bags

2008-04-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

This year in Young Women's at church I volunteered to to make each girl a "birthday bag". These are great little totes they can use as a purse or a scripture tote. The funnest part about these is that they are sooo easy, each is made with a placemat. Here are some of the latest ones I made. My favorite is the pink retro floral. I picked up this placemat at pier one. I have to confess I have a little stash of cute placemats in my craft closet, I always check the table linens at stores to see if they have cute ones.. my favorite places to find them are big lots, TJ max, and pier one. Once you have the place mat I get to find one of my other favorite things RIBBON to go with it. Add a matching tag and Voila! a "Birthday Bag"

A fun summer birthday gift

2008-04-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite gifts to give kids whose birthdays are around summertime. I added their name in vinyl lettering on the outside of a beach bucket add a few beach, pool, water or bubble toys inside add a cute quick tag and your the hit of the party (well at least the moms think your clever).

P.S. You can always email me via my website www.awishfulthought .com to get lettering. I can make the names up quick. You can even apply them quickly...like on the way to the party, not that I do that HA HA.

April Card Swap

2008-04-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

This month's card swap....Pop-up cards. So after a long search on the internet a trip to the scrapbook store and 2 trips to michaels here is my pop up card. I would have like to have added more emblishments but everytime i added something I did'nt like it, could be that I started it two days before card swap. So that is what I am hoping to do next month start earlier!!!

Supplies

We R memories white out collection paper-I love this paper!!
Yellow card stock
turquoise cardstock-bazzil
Star paper clip-from staples
solid color satin ribbons-michaels
various buttons
Birthday sticker-Deja View birthday sticker tablet
Transparency (on front) staples
Rhinestone-michaels dollar section
Turquoise and red stitching

Bad News/Good News

2008-04-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

So the stamp and scrapbook show was a bust but I found a great new scrapbook store in the process here is there link www.scrapbookyourlife.com. If you are in San Diego you should check it out ( it is down by the sports arena). I found all this great new paper there I am so excited to see what I can create!

A quick gift

2008-04-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

Look what the birthday fairy brought someone yesterday. A twist on the gift jar with cookies instead. You might notice the tag though it did come out of my tag jar, thank goodness I have those around for last minute gifts. The lettering on the jar says "Katie's Treats" and is white vinyl, I used the Kaleigh font it is one of my favorites right now. I also added one of my new clipart flowers.

Stamp & Scrapbook Show...Hooray!

2008-04-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

I am off to the Rubber stamp and scrapbook show this weekend for some inspiration and a little shopping. Here is the link if anyone wants some info. http://www.eventbrite.com/event/100702203

Color Challenge

2008-04-01T13:38:00.001-07:00

Well I just completed our first color challenge from our card swap group here is the room that was the inspiration...the room is from the Pottery Barn website. As you can see I got to use my new chipboard letters that I found at Big Lots for a buck.

Supplies:
Pattern paper Die cuts with a view--This is from their new spring glitter stack..it is sooo cute and the stack is on sale at joanns right now for $9.99
Bazzil red and blue cardstock
cloud 9 designs chipboard letters
Red flower-michaels
various ribbon scraps
3 dot stickers that say happy, smile, friend-unkown

One Card Swap

2008-03-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

So the 4th Thursday of every month is one of my favorite nights. I get to go to card swap with a bunch of amazingly talented and funny women. Every time we have the best laughs and push our creativeness to the limits...which I love. So we swap 10 cards one month at someones home and the next is our easy month of 1 card and out to dinner. I always feel a lot of pressure on 1 card months to create something special, after all it's only 1 card and you have a month-not that I don't always wait until the last minute. Anyway here is my creation for March. I bought these packs of great Martha Stewart Boxes at Michaels on clearance (my favorite word) for on $1 for a pack of 6. I purchased the paper I used in Tennessee when visiting my Sister in law. I loved the color combination. Thanks card swap girls for a fun night as always.

A Great Deal!

2008-03-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

Okay I lied..one more post. I just found a great find and wanted to share. I was at Big Lots getting last minute trip stuff and found these sets of chipboard letters for only $1 each. They have 56 letters in each...wow! They had them in green and orange ( not that it matters we all know how to change that)I am so excited to use these when I get home.

The details: I found them at Big Lots in Escondido, the one on West Valley Parkway ( It is in the Home Depot shopping center by my house).

A Girly Gift

2008-03-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

So here is my last post before we are off to Tennesee for spring break...YEAH! Maybe I will find something cute to post while I am there.

One of the benefits of having the Vinyl lettering business is we always have a gift to give. Emily my 13yr old was very annoyed when we first started giving signs as gifts to her friends for their birthdays. She would bring home an invitation to a party and say "we have to get a gift", my response is always well pick a sign tell me what colors and I will make one. She would then roll her eyes at me.... SO now a year and a half later what do you think her friends are most excited about getting when it's their birthday...that's right a sign they can't wait to get their sign. We make each one to fit the girl and the colors she loves. Here is our latest for Emily's friend Kamarae..We put some extra bling (rhinestones) on the "I's" in Wish,dream, Giggle and then went all bling on the cute card. She LOVED IT!

2008-03-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

My quick card creation inspired by Button's SMILE card to her Orthodontist. After seeing it I was itching to get to my craft table to create. Thanks for the inspiration!!!

Supplies: Funky Flowers paper by color bok, Green and Black Bazzill cardstock, Smile die cut oval by Tree House memories, Lg silver brad (painted black- the things we do for the right colors), 2 small green brads-unknown, Green satin ribbon, dare to rub-on-unkown, Inked black edges-stapin up black stamp pad.

My new favorite gift- The celebration Jar

2008-03-09T22:56:00.001-07:00

I wanted a new creative gift for my sister in law for her birthday, I love giving handmade gifts! Here is what I came up with, a glass jar filled with a cute gift tags ready to attach to any gift, each tag has a coordinating yard of cute ribbon you can use to tie onto the gift or to attach the tag ( I also added some solid colored satin ribbon pieces in the jar for more color). Some of the tags are themed and some are blank. This is a remake of her gift and I added the celebrate white vinyl lettering in the scriptina font.

Ebay scrapbook pages

2008-03-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I needed to make some extra money to pay for Adam's preschool. I had been selling a few scrapbook pages I had made on ebay so I decided this is how I would make some extra cash for preschool. I sold all but a couple of theses sets of pages for $10-$30 a set. The cool part was that I made most of them with scraps or old paper I had left over from my own scrapbooking supplies. After a while it fizzled out but I saved all the pictures of the pages ( some were harder to part with than others). I learned alot from this adventure, anything with animals sells, also if you put a cute or heartwarming poem on a page you will make more money. Anyway I thought I would share them with you they are a couple years old so they are not created with the latest and greatest but I thought you might get some great layout ideas. Enjoy!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-03-09T11:03:00.001-07:00

A Cute Baby Gift

2008-02-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

As many of you know we have a vinyl lettering business "A wishful Thought" ( check it out at the link under my fabulous finds) . Last week I went to a baby shower for my sister in law. They don't know what they are having yet so I customized our baby box and burp rags to match her nursery. I also made a cute card to match. I love the wrapping part of presents, you can make the uggliest things look beautiful when they are wrapped with cute stuff. Anyway I love to make these burp rags for new moms, I use only the Gerber birdseye from target they are the best and are not to thick. I believe if you have to wear a burp rag wear a cute one!

Our family blog craze

2008-02-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

So here it is my blog. Sean my dh decided to set one up for me . I thought it might be fun to share some of my creative things with whoever wanted to see or hear about them. My kids thought this was such a great idea that they each started there own blog ( well that is one way to get them to journal). So it has been a great family project to get them all up and running with cute backgrounds for all. Enjoy!