Project Life 2013 - Weeks 3 and 4

Here is the layout for Week 3 (still using products from Splendid Fiins).

Digital Supplies: Splendid Fiins (January Card Kit, Script Day Stamps).

And here is Week 4 using the same supplies.

 

 

  Thanks for stopping by!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge - February 2013

Although it has been a long time since I participated in a Counterfeit Kit Challenge, I have been a dedicated follower of the blog.  It is a fantastic way to use up my stash and create a scrapbooking "kit" to help speed up my memory keeping process.

The inspiration kit for February is the Chasing Pavements Kit from Scraptastic.

Here is a picture of what I put together for my kit.

And instead of writing out my rationale for everything, I tried something new this month and put together a little video in case anyone is interested.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!

Aloha Friday - Squalls and Sand

Things are finally starting to feel normal around here.  The kids kind of have a morning and evening routine.  Charlotte is a regular at the playground across the street.  We are meeting the neighbors, signing up for library cards and creating our Hawaii bucket list.  Things are good and here's a snap shot at our lives these past two weeks.

1.  Finding a Routine.  I can't even tell you how awesome it is to feel somewhat "normal" again.  This is our home.  Our furniture.  Our space.  Charlotte constantly says, "tis is our house."  It makes me smile every time I hear it.

Bath time is a sacred ritual in our home.  Charlotte loves her new bathroom.  She actually has a bathtub with a TON of toys.  Justin is usually in charge here.

Charlotte also started ballet two weeks ago.  Before enrolling into the class, Charlotte and I sat in on a session.  Only a few minutes into the class, Charlotte was nearly in tears.  She wanted to wear the little pink skirt so badly.  Needless to say, she now loves ballet (and the clothes that come with it).

Play dates have become a part of our routine.  Here is a photo of Charlotte and her new friend decorating Valentine's Day cookies.  Let's be honest though, there wasn't much decorating going on.  Charlotte dipped her spoon into the frosting, into the sprinkles, and then directly into her mouth.  Can somebody say sweet tooth?

2.  A Growing Benjamin.  Benjamin turned 5 months old last week.  Where has the time go?  He is just the sweetest baby ever.  He loves to talk and coo and smile and drool.  Oh boy does this kid drool.  Niagara Falls!  Here are some photos of my growing baby boy.

3.  Squalls.  To Charlotte's delight, squalls are as quintessentially Hawaiian as those Dole pineapples I talked about the last time.  Out of nowhere, the rain will just come pouring down.  As Justin and I dash around the house to shut all the windows, Charlotte squeals with delight to run in the rain.

4.  Turtle Beach.  We continue to explore as much as we can on the weekends (so long as Justin isn't working).  I wanted to see turtles so badly and Turtle Beach up on the North Shore has a reputation for being a great spot to see them on land.  So on Superbowl Sunday (because we knew no one else would be out and about), we ventured up north.  But there were no turtles.  Oh well.  There was still a beach, right?  Charlotte always loves an excuse to play with her bucket and shovel.

Benjamin even got a little playtime on the beach (under the comfort of this awesome sun shade/ tent thing I bought from Costco before we moved).

5.  Hale'iwa and Shave Ice at Matsumoto's.  After the beach, we wandered into the cute town of Hale'iwa for lunch.

We had some awesome Hawaiian style pulled pork at Kono's.  Here I am with Benjamin inside the restaurant 

We then walked down the road to Matsumoto's for some of their famous shave ice.

Shut up.  It was AMAZING.  Right up there with poke.  OMG.  I seriously can't wait for our next trip there.  SO WORTH IT!  Justin ordered the Green Tea Special (shave ice, green tea ice cream, beans and condensed milk) and I got the Rainbow Combination (with ice cream and condensed milk).  I'm salivating just thinking about it...

And as you can see, Charlotte also enjoyed the shave ice.  :)

On our way out of Hale'iwa, what did we notice while driving past Turtle Beach?  Um...turtles!!!

Shortly after a jam packed morning, both kids passed out in the back seat.  So Justin and I took the scenic route home along the coast and saw some gorgeous sights.  This is one of my favorites.

6.  Hickam Beach.  And finally, we spent one afternoon last weekend just lounging on Hickam Beach.  It's not the best beach on the island, but it's close to home and on base.  This was the first time we put Benjamin's feet in the sand and water.  He actually didn't look like he cared.  Charlotte, however, had a FANTASTIC time.

Oh my...that was a ridiculously long post.  But if you made it this far down, mahalo for stopping by!!! I will have to do a separate post about Valentine's Day.  :)

Splendid Fiins - One Little Word and February Layouts

I created these two layouts as a Creative Team member for Splendid Fiins.

1.  One Little Word {a digital scrapbook layout}.  This layout features the January Paper Pack from Splendid Fiins and features my one little word for 2013.

Supplies: Splendid Fiins (January Kit - Patterned Paper Pack, January Kit - Journaling and Filler Cards, Sew Crafty - Messy Stitches Vol. 1, (faux)laroids, Border Bits - Brilliant, Life in a Nutshell - Alphabet, Teen (Add-Ons)); iKari Designs (Candy Cover Ups Vol. 1); Simple Scrapper Premium Membership (Sketch).

2.  Love Looks Like This {a digital scrapbook layout}.  This layout features the February Card Kit from Splendid Fiins.   For this love themed layout, I used one of my favorite photos of me and Justin a few weeks before deployment.

Supplies:  Supplies: Splendid Fiins (February Card Kit, (faux)laroids).

If you haven't yet, please make sure to visit the Splendid Fiins Facebook Page and "like" them.  As always, thank you for stopping by!

Xyron and Kaisercraft Blog Hop

I was BEYOND thrilled to learn that the first Xyron blog hop of 2013 would be with Kaisercraft.  I love all things Aussie and Kaisercraft is no exception!  I was honored to work with Kaisercraft's new Flora Delight Collection and have three projects to share with you.

1.  Bird Song Wall Art.  The first project I made was something completely out of my norm but I wanted to push my boundaries while using the Kaisercraft 3d Wall Art - Bird.  I wanted to create something that was both meaningful and inspired by the bird image, which is why I chose to showcase this Chinese proverb - "A bird does not sing because it has an answer.  It sings because it has a song."

Here is a shot of the wall piece right out of the package, unadorned and unassembled.

Because I planned to cover each wooden piece with patterned paper, I simply painted the edges of each piece with some gesso.  You can use any white paint.

I then traced each wooden piece on the backside of my patterned paper, trimmed it with my scissors, and ran each piece of paper through a Xyron machine (I used both the Xyron 5" Creative Station and Xyron Creatopia) to easily adhere onto the wood.

I then proceeded to further embellish one panel and the bird cutout.  I started by sparingly painting over the patterned paper with the gesso.  I then stamped some musical notes randomly throughout the panel.  

I then sprayed various mists throughout the panel before adhering letter stickers and thickers onto the panel to write out the quote.

I adhered all of the pieces of the wall art together just using some wood glue. 

 

And here are some close ups of the Bird Song Wall Art.

Supplies:  Unfinished Wood Piece (Kaisercraft - 3D Wall Art Bird); Patterned Papers (Kaisercraft); Letter Stickers (October Afternoon, American Crafts); Stamps (Lawn Fawn); Inks and Paint (Ranger, Memento); Adhesives (Xyron Creatopia, Xyron 5" Creative Station, Mod Podge).

2.  Daisy Paper Wreath.  I also created a paper wreath by cutting out paper flowers from the gorgeous Kaisercraft Flora Delight papers. 

Supplies:  Patterned Papers and Die Cuts (Kaisercraft); Brads (Echo Park); Dies (Spellbinders and Silhouette Studio Store); Xyron Creatopia Shapez; Adhesives (Xyron 5" Creative Station, Xyron Mega Runner, DIY Foam Tape).

3.  Quilted Star Card.  And to show how beautifully all the papers come together, here is a quilted star card I made using a fantastic die from W Plus 9.

Supplies:  Card Stock (Neena Paper); Patterned Paper and Rub-Ons (Kaisercraft); Dies (W Plus Nine); Xyron Creatopia Shapez; Adhesive (Xyron 2.5" Sticker Maker).

Be sure to stop by the Xyron Blog and Kaisercraft Blog this whole week for more inspiration!