Ms. Maddie's Photo Session

Hi there and Happy Halloween!

As you all might have heard, I've added Photographer to my "resume" and although I adore and enjoy working with my clients in helping them capture some special moments for their family, I am still very much inspired by my own love ones. That's why I've started a new tradition this year that around my children's birthday, I take them out for their very own photo session. I recently got to take Maddie out for her 7th birthdy session and I posted some of my favorites at my photography blog.

Here's one of 'em....

To see more of Maddie's birthday photo session, please click here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace

they are ready layout *Ella Publishing*

Happy Monday everyone.

 

I know that school has started a while back (for us here in Colorado, it's been almost three months) but if you are looking for some ideas for your Back To School layouts, maybe this one can help/inspire you...

 

They Are Ready!

 

I made this layout for an Ella Publishing blog post. You can find it here. Our theme was to make handmade embellishments and I decided to show off how we bring back the popular "paper-piecing" technique in our pages using die cut machines.

 

In this page, I used my Cricut to cut out the different layered pieces of the apple and then adhered them together to create my layered embellishment. I created three layered apples and used it as a visual triangle in my page. Creating your own handmade embellishments makes your page more personalized and it also helps with the scrapbook budget. With this technique, you don't have to go out to the store everytime you want to add some embellishment to your page.

 

What about you, what's your favorite technique to create handmade embellishment?

 

Till next time,

Grace

"Spooktacular" Halloween Ideas

Can you believe we are days away from Halloween? I can't! Looking for some easy and fun ways to feel the spirit of the "spooky" holiday? Check these links out...

 

Wreath or Wall Decor

Love the creativity that went on this project and how it started with trays from Target. So cute!

Candy Corn Yarn Decor

No time to make that project? How about this one...it's just styrofoam cones covered with three different colored yarns to mimic a candy corn. How cool is this?

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

What about our sweet tooth? This cake looks divine!

 

Cut Apple Slices Covered with Chocolate

I think cutting an apple in slices will make it easier for the little ones to enjoy their candy/chocolate covered apples.

 

Jack-o-lantern oranges

Going healthy this year? These oranges look like a fun treat to give out.

 

Spider Web Lollipop

What about this one? So cute and it doesn't look like it will take forever to make.

Owl Costume

Do you have your kids' costumes all planned out? If not, you might want to check this super cute owl costume out. I think this can be a great unisex costume for a little one.

 

All links are from my Halloween Pinterest board. To see or follow me on Pinterest, you can access the link on my side bar (right side of the blog)

 

Thanks for stopping by this week and I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

 

Till next time,

Grace

 

 

 

Family bike ride (Garden of the Gods)

Now that Maddie has graduated from her bike training wheels, we have been planning some bike rides that the whole family can do and about two Saturdays ago we went to our first one at Garden of the Gods. Here's how our trip went....

 

 

I let Mitch pick the location and he had found a multi use trail close to the front of the park. Here's Maddie goofing around while we take down the bikes from the truck. That face is not a mistake, she was really making that silly look infront of the camera. What a ham!

I handed the camera to Mitch so I have an evidence that I was part of this activity too. As you can see with our outfits, it was a bit nippy that day.

 

That bike ride didn't last for very long because as we continued through the trail, we found that it's more for mountain bikes and not for bike riders like me and the kids. We abandoned that trail and headed back to the truck. Mitch went through the trail by himself while the kids and I ate some of our packed lunch. He came back after a while and said that that trail wasn't for us. After he ate his lunch, we headed out of the park to the visitor's center so we can get a map and study the trails better.

 

While at the visitor's center, we took the opportunity to take a photo with the marvelous Garden of the Gods in the background.

After our trip to the center, we headed down a paved trail alonside the park. This trail proved to be a better fit for us, although there were still spots that were uphill.  The kids loved it when they were going downhill though. Note to self: make sure I make the kids wear a helmet, just to be on the safe side. I have some high risk adventurers in my family.

And that's how our first ride (after Maddie's graduation to training wheels) went. What do you like to do with your family outdoors?

Till next time,
Grace

 

Bubbles Layout *My Little Shoebox and Want2Scrap*

Hello friends. Today's a special scrapbook post featuring a My Little Shoebox project with Want2Scrap blings and corrugated flourishes. Read on to see how I put these products together and find out how you can win a prize....

 

We’ve teamed up with Want 2 Scrap to bring you some inspiration all this week  with the collaboration of My Little Shoebox collections and products from Want 2 Scrap.

Bubbles layout

For this page, I used the chipboard shape from Want2Scrap as a template that I traced behind my blue checkerd paper. I then cut out the shape and then adhered the paper on the center of my pink dot paper. I added some machine stitching to the shape paper to add more texture to it. All my paper, die cut shapes and stickers are from the Vintage Shop line of My Little Shoebox.

 

 

I wrapped some MLS ribbon over a big dot of glue and created a flower. To create my center, I used a die cut flower from the Vintage Shop line, punched out a 1/2" circle and then adhered small Want2Scrap pearls in the center. I added this layered accent in the center of my ribbonn rose using some foam adhesive. 

 

 

I used a journaling block from the Vintage shop line for my handwritten journaling. I distressed and inked the edges ot make it stand out against the background better.

 

For my title, I decided to emphasize the activity that my daughter was doing in the photos so I punched out some 1" circles from pattern paper, inked the edges and then adhered my letter stickers to spell out my title. I then added them to the layout using foam adhesive to mimic floating bubbles.

 

I received some bling frames. I cut some out and make a photo corner for the top left photo of my layout.

 

I used the rest to create a line of rhinestones on the top edge of my scallop border.

I decided to spray mist my corrugated flourish shape (from Want2Scrap) with some glittered mist to add some shine to them.

We hope you enjoy the designers projects that are featured today. We’re also offering a chance for you to win some My Little Shoebox goodies for yourself.

The Prize:

My Little Shoebox is giving away a complete two collection kits today.

 

To win:

Leave a unique comment on each blog featured today. The winners will be chosen randomly from all comments on the My Little Shoebox blog AND the designer blogs. Make sure you also stop by the Want 2 Scrap Facebook Page and tell them My Little Shoexbox sent you.

 

Here is a list of today’s My Little Shoebox designers that are featured:

 

My Little Shoebox Blog sneaks

Linda

                           Grace------you are here

Shemaine

 

Till next time,
Grace

Taking A Fall Ride

Fall starts early around here. We began seeing the leaves change in our neighborhood as early as September and we had wanted to drive up the mountains to see more of the beautiful "fall" landscape so finally at the end of Sept. we found some time after church and these are some of the photos of our little drive up the mountain....

 

We were exploring through unpaved roads and found a sign for a park so we stopped and decided to walk around.

 

At the parking lot, we found an old fashion water pump. The kids were curious about it and I thought this photo was funny of Maddie trying her hardest to pump. It was so rusty and heavy that she was dangling on the handle instead of pulling it down.

 

Finally Mitch and Marcus got it to start pumping. Teamwork makes a big difference.

 

And the fun part...water actually came out. I love the look on the kids' faces. They've never seen such a contraption before.

 

We were walking around and I was taking some photos of the scenery and the family when a man passed by with his kids and offered to take a picture of us. Love it! I'm trying to conciously get in the photos as well.

Since we weren't sure how long our little excursion would take, I made some sandwiches and packed up a picnic dinner for the family. We ate at the parking spot by the trailhead of the park. It was getting cold and we were glad that we didn't stay for very much longer after this.

So that was this year's "fall" ride up the mountains. How did you welcome fall in your area?

 

Till next time,

Grace 

 

 

My Little Shoebox Cherry Delight

Hello friends. Oh it was a nice blog vacation but I'm glad to be back. Lately blogging has been my only type of journaling and I've missed being able to document my family's stories. But I'm also relieved that I took that time off. It gave me the time that I needed to fulfill other responsibilities.

 

But now that I'm back, how about some scrappy share? ...

 

Above is a collage of my September projects for My Little Shoebox. My assignment was a minibook and 2 cards using the new Cherry Delight line. I love the Japanese inspired paper designs and I'm definitely digging the new stickers and die cut shapes (did you notie the cute leaf die cut in my mini?) So much fun! To see more of these projects, you can check my blog post at the MLS blog here.

Speaking of My Little Shoebox projects, above is a sneek peek of what you can expect on Wednesday's blog. We have teamed up with Want2Scrap this month and here's a little peek of what I made for this team up. Hope you come back on Wednesday for that. :)

 

Till next time,

Grace

a blog vacation

 

Hello my blog friends. Today I'm going to be posting something that I've never done before....and that is an announcement that I'm going on a blog vacation. It's not the type that I'm going some place where there's beaches and sands or that I'm off to relax in a remote but beautiful location for a few days (although that is sounding sooooo good right now). No it's the kind of vacation where I'm going to shave off some of the personal expectations I put on myself and declare that I'm taking a bit of a break from blogging. My to-do list is extremely long and to keep my sanity,blogging will have to be put in the back burner until further notice. Wow that sounds so formal and I'm not that type of gal!

 

Anyways before I go and tackle my many projects and responsibilities, let me leave you with a few links that I think will be a good substitute for you while I'm gone. These are "must check out links" in my book and I hope you take sometime to check them out. :)

 

{as always, click on the title to visit the links}

 

Shabby Apple website

This is a clothing/fashion site and I {heart} this place not only for their awesome pieces that are modest and super chic but I love how they photograph their lines. The stories that they create when they shoot the models with the clothes, is definitely inspiring for me.

 

My Autumn Idea Pinterest Board

If you want to get into the fall spirit and are looking for creative ways to embrace the season, hop on over to my pinterest board first. I have tons of recipes, crafting projects and decorating ideas. I've already made a mental note to try some of them as soon as my hectic schedule dies down.

 

Halloween Photography Ideas

Last year, I posted a little tips post on my photography blog. I shared some of my personal favorite ideas on how to get better Halloween themed photos. You can check that out here.

 

CREATE video

and finally a little video to help each of us be reminded that we can all CREATE beautiful things if we believe in ourselves and seek the guidance of the Spirit. I love this video.

 

So there you have it. Hope you all have a great week and if I can make a request...say a little prayer for me that I can survive this week and all that I have to accomplish in it. Thank you!

 

Till next time,

Grace

Take Twelve, October Edition

Hi friends and happy Monday. Last Friday I took up the Take Twelve challenge again from Ella Publishing. And I have to admit, it was not the best time to be stopping to take pictures as I had a million things to do BUT I DID IT! This just shows you that we need to push through those days when we are busy and stop to document our lives, whatever that looks like during that particular day.

 

I hope this will encourage you to play with us and pick a day (it doesn't even have to be the 12th day of the month) look for 12 images that capture your life right at that moment and document it. I'm sure you'll thank yourself later.

 

So here's how my Oct. 12th looked like...

 

1. I'm trying to add more fruits and veggie servings in my daily "diet" and I found this green smoothie recipe on Pinterest that I've been drinking for the past couple of mornings. It consists of spinach, banana, apple, strawberry and orange. It doesn't take the place of breakfast, in my opinion, but it feels good that I'm taking in all those good veggies and fruits in my system.

2. We are going to the library today and this is the sampling of all the videos, games and music we need to return. As a family that does not have cable nor netflix, we pretty much owe the library the bulk of our entertainment/media experiences.

3. It's fall and that means wardrobe today would comprise of a long sleeve shirt and a sweater.

4. Laundry day. I'm not excited about it but it needs to be done!

5. We went on a little trip to Denver in the afternoon and did a bit of shopping. Maddie wanted to use up her birthday money and Denver has all the stores we like.

6. Maddie got some really cool things with her birthday money and scored some great deals. That's my girl!

7. I too got some neat things including some cute accessories from Forever 21.{heart} that store!

8. The clean laundry that needs to be folded. Mitch help me tackle this chore. {heart} him as well. :)

9. My brain is getting frazzled with all the things I had to do so I took sometime and jotted my "to-do" list.

10. After that I quickly did my final homework for this week. Gotta get that in before the deadline.

11. The laundry is looking less of a monster mess and more of an organized pile when it's all folded neatly.

12. And finaly the time that I eventually got to bed. Whew what a day!

 

To learn more about the Take Twelve challenge and about Ella Publishing, please click here.

 

Hope you all have a great day

 

Till next time,

Grace

Maddie's cake + cupcakes

So as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I used whatever cake making skills I had into creating my daugther's birthday cake and cupcakes. I have to say that the marshmallow fondant recipe and skill I do have is all because I had a great friend, Becky, that taught me. I will be forever grateful for her for sharing her talents with me. :)

 

So here's the cake. I used whatever boxed cake mix I had on hand and that was a chocolate and butter pecan cake mix. Maddie wanted two choices so her friends/classmates would have an option. She initially wanted chocolate and vanilla but since I didn't have vanilla on hand, I went with what I DID have in my cupboard.

 

I used my 40% coupon at Michaels to get me a fondat flower cutter which I used to decorate my cake.

I made the fondant the day before and spent Thursday morning coloring some of them for the different accents and used the rest of the white to cover the cake.

I also made some cupcakes to take to the school and topped that with fondant as well.

I added some frosting on the cupcakes first so that the bottom (round purple shape) fondant will stick to the cakes. Then I used water to adhere the rest of the stacked layers.

It was definitely a labor of love and now I need to make a mental note to do the same for my son on his birthday next year. Do you think he would be happy with the flower design since I already know how to pull that off? I guess it's time to start scouring Pinterest for boy ideas for his cake.

Have a great weekend.

Till next time,
Grace

in a blink of an eye...she was seven

Last week my baby turned seven. How could that be? It truly was a bittersweet moment.

 

Here's the story of how this birthday girl celebrated her big day..

 

We started the day off by getting her dressed up and ready for school. We scored this dress at our Goodwill for super cheap. She's growing taller and taller and when we found this dress it as a big big but I loved the length so I used my sewing  machine to alter it a bit to fit her form. It had a short sleeve and the weather was getting a bit cooler around here so we added a small sweater with it. On a side note, Maddie wanted to wear this dress to school but I said she can't cause what if she would have PE that day. So the responsible girl that she is, made sure that she asked her teacher what the schedule for the day was before today so she's sure that she would be able to pull of the outfit without having to worry about PE.

She got to pick her gift at Walmart and got a birthday card (+birthday money) from Grandma and that's what we had waiting for on at the dining table when she woke up. I made her a hello kitty hair bow which she wore with her new outfit.

I literally slaved in the kitchen all morning to create these cupcakes and her cake. I took the cupcakes to school in the afternoon. More photos of this particular "cake making" adventure on the blog tomorrow.

 

When she got home from school she couldn't wait to open her gift. We got her on video opening her gift....

After opening her gift and finishing homework (for both kids) we headed to ITZ. It's like a chuck e cheese but with a buffet option. I had been keeping a few coupons and it worked well into our budget.

Look at the happy birthday girl with her glow in the dark birthday badge.

The fun thing about going on a week night was that the place was pretty much empty. The kids had the bumper cars all to themselves.

They each had an alloted amount that they can use on the games and it was working well. Mitch and I split so each kids can do their favorite games without having to wait for the other. I went with Maddie and Mitch accompanied Marcus.

Marcus found this one machine that had the claw and angry bird stuff toys. He had set his heart on getting one of the toys and so he swiped his card multiple times to try to win one. Mitch didn't stop him so Marcus built up an anxiety and stress over the game. Poor Marcus didn't recognize that the machine will just eat up his money and won't let him win the game or get the prize.

That's when our "happy" field trip went downhill. Marcus, after using up all of his game money, refused to let it go. My poor child couldn't accept the defeat and would not let the matter go. He cried and cried and cried and CRIED SOME MORE! One of his difficulties is seeing the big picture and allowing himself to turn his thoughts somewhere else and let the matter go. He didn't even want to claim whatever prize he can get at the redemption area. Nothing was consoling him, not even the thought of having pizza for dinner!

So we let "it" run its course and finally he calmed down and was able to enjoy his dinner. All the time taken out to calm him down took a chunk off of our eating time as we had to be home by 6:30 so I can go to my class. Of course we didn't come home on time but thankfully my friends (who I was carpooling with) waited and I was still able to be on time for my class.

After class the kids were anxiously waiting for me so we can pull out Maddie's cake, have her make her wish and blow out her candles and then have some cake. As you can see she was super excited at being seven!

So the candles were blown, the wish made and the kids were able to have a piece just in time before it was bedtime.

All in all, it was a good birthday for our little girl.

Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace