Aloha Friday - The Waiting Game

Since we will be in Hawaii this entire year, I thought I'd try a new series called "Aloha Friday" where I give y'all a sneak into this island paradise lifestyle.  I promise to come up with a super cute header/ image for it soon.

And to kick things off, I sadly have nothing super glamorous to show you.  :)  We are still living at a friend's house and out of a series of suitcases.  I can't seem to find my card reader to upload photos.  In all honesty, I haven't taken too many photos anyways.  The weather, while warm, has been rainy and a bit gloomy.  Thankfully, the weather gods are telling me that sun is in store for this weekend.  But that doesn't keep me from being grateful for every single moment that our family is together.

Although there aren't any photos, here are some highlights from this week:

Charlotte playing on Lanikai Beach.  On the first day we arrived to our friend's house in Kailua, we took Charlotte to Lanikai Beach, which is just two blocks from the house.  She loved it.  Justin dug a huge hole for her.  We got her a bucket and shovel at the drug store.  She was one happy little beach baby.  Once the weather clears up, hopefully we can sneak in a few more beach days before moving to the other side of the island.

New Years fireworks over Kailua.  Benjamin woke up at 11:58 pm so I rocked him while watching the fireworks on our friend's balcony.  Justin and Charlotte woke up a few minutes later to catch the tail end of the show.  Really beautiful.

Dole Pineapple.  They are delicious.  Seriously.  Avoid the Maui Gold pineapples.  Dole is where it's at.

Poke.  Another awesome Hawaii delicacy.  Raw tuna mixed with deliciousness.  I have dreams about this stuff.

Asian Food.  And since we're talking about food, I love that there is Asian food EVERYWHERE in Hawaii - like I can get all my Asian food stuff at Target or Walmart.  In Rhode Island, I had to drive to freakin' Boston to get a bottle of Magi.  Here, I can get it the corner market.  Awesome.

As always, mahalo for stopping by!!!

One Little Word - Grow

My word for 2013 is grow.  

Last year, I resolved that 2012 would be the year that I finally find balance.  As crazy of a year that it was, there were moments when my life felt like it was in almost perfect harmony.  All in all, I think I can look back on 2012 with no regrets.

Now for 2013, it's a whole new ball game.  We are in the same state, and once we move into the new house on the 8th, the same house for an entire year!  We live in an island paradise.  We have two kiddos in tow.  Once we are "settled," I think it's time to put down some roots (even if it's only for a year) and do a little growing.

I want to grow in nurturing my relationships with my husband, my children, my family, my friends.  

I want to grow as a memory keeper.  While I love the pretty paper and stickers that is a part of scrapbooking, the foundation of the craft is to preserve those family stories and memories.  

I want to grow as a person - to learn how to take care of myself better (which, in turn, will allow me to take care of my family as well).

And I do believe that growing while surrounded by palm trees, tropical birds, and the most delicious Dole pineapples EVER sounds pretty darn awesome.

So there it is, 2013.  GROW.  I'm gonna do it.  You game?

Note:  One little word is a concept developed my Ali Edwards.  You can learn more about it by visiting her blog here.

Take 12 Project - December 12 and a Look Back on 2012

With it being the last day of 2012, it seems like a good time to finally share my December Take 12 Layout.

Digital Supplies: Splendid Fiins (Classic Album Templates).

December 12 was an amazingly happy day.  That was the day that Justin came home to San Diego for the beginning of his Christmas leave (aka vacation).  We had two insane weeks in San Diego together where we celebrated Christmas and Charlotte's birthday, played at Disneyland, mourned my grandfather's death, laughed and cried with both of our families, and packed up the rest of our belongings into A LOT of suitcases before moving to Hawaii just a few days ago.  

I think I've mentioned this before, but being part of the Ella Publishing Take 12 Team has been so rewarding.  Looking through all my layouts, documenting just one day each month, truly did provide an accurate snapshot of my life - from my daily routines as a work-at-home mom to the difficulties of having a premature baby while Justin was on deployment.  I think 2012 might just be one of the hardest years of my life.  But I am so grateful that I now have 12 layouts that document this journey.  

To Elizabeth Dillow and Ella Publishing, thank you so much for the opportunity to be a part of the Ella Publishing family.  It has been an honor.

And because I love seeing all the layouts in one place, here are the rest of my 2012 Take 12 Layouts.

As always, thanks for stopping by!!  Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year and looking forward to new and exciting things for 2013!!!

Still here...

::knock, knock::

Is anybody there???

Sorry for being MIA these past few weeks.  Between the holidays, Charlotte's birthday, our move to Hawaii, and most unfortunately. the passing of my amazing grandfather, it has been an insane December.  But our little family is finally together now in Hawaii just waiting for just a few more weeks before we can move into our new house.  

There are lots of exciting things coming in 2013!!  But for now, I just wanted to say hi and wish everyone a belated merry holidays and joyous new year!

And here's a shot of the kiddos on Christmas Eve.  :)

Creating Keepsakes Publication!!

I'm so excited to share that one of my layouts is published in the online edition of Creating Keepsakes!!  Make sure to check it out along with a really interesting article on how to incorporate yarn into your projects!

The published layout features photos of Justin and Charlotte strung across a flat wreath form covered in yarn.  The Xyron creatopia made adhering the yarn elements onto my layout a breeze.

Supplies:  Patterned Paper/ Stickers/ Die Cuts (Authentique Paper); Dies (Spellbinders); Punches (Fiskars, EK Success); Paper Clips (Paper Source); Mists/ Inks (Studio Calico; Tim Holtz); Digital Elements (LIV.E Designs); Adhesives (Xyron Creatopia, Xyron Mega Runner, Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker); Yarn (Red Lion).

I love incorporating digital elements (like the Polaroids from LIV.E Designs) into my paper layouts.

And these rolled flowers made using Spellbinders dies really helped to complete the layout.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Xyron and Basically Bare Blog Hop - Christmas Activity Book

Today I get to share with you this adorable Christmas activity book I made for Charlotte using some awesome products featuring Xyron and Basically Bare!

I started with a fantastic album with a gate fold cover and lots of different types of pages inside - cardboard, canvas, even a plastic page (which I sadly melted trying to emboss some snowflakes...yes, an obvious duh moment at 3 am).  :)  This project also reflects my attempt to use up my massive Christmas stash with older papers and embellishments from a number of companies.  So without further ado, here goes.

Here is the book cover.  I used my Xyron 5" Creative Station to cover almost all of the pages in the book.  (I would have used my Creatopia but it's on a barge somewhere in the Pacific Ocean headed to Hawaii.)  But it worked beautifully.

Since the cover was a gatefold and I wanted it to stay closed when not in use, I just added some velcro to the backside of the circle scallop to create a faux clasp.

For the first page, I created this stocking stuffer game for Charlotte.  Inside the library pockets are some cards with numbers.  Whatever number she draws is the number of candy canes she needs to put in the stocking.  To make sure that the game pieces would last, I laminated them using my Xyron 5" Creative Station again.

For this library pocket, I just simply embellished it with a chipboard piece that I ran through my Xyron machine and filled it with some festive Jenni Bowlin Studios digital files that I printed on Kraft cardstock.

On the canvas page, I stamped a number of pine branches from a Lawn Fawn (Ornate Ornaments) set using my Faber Castell PITT artist pen big brush.  I then stamped, colored, cut, and laminated a number of different ornaments and pine cones (from the same Lawn Fawn stamp set).

I then attached some velcro throughout the tree and on the ornaments so that Charlotte could decorate the tree as she pleased by just mixing up the pieces.  (I think that the Xyron magnet tape would work just as well - but again, my tape is on a barge somewhere headed to Hawaii.)  TIP: I noticed that the velcro I bought kept sliding off of the laminated pieces so consider using a hot glue gun or stronger adhesive to attach the velcro to laminated pieces.

In this little cute envelope, I just put in the extra candy canes, ornaments and cards from the various games in the book.

And for the last page, I made a matching game by stamping a number of different holiday images and then covering them with laminated presents that have velcro in the back.

Supplies:  Basically Bare Album, Patterned Paper (My Mind's Eye); Cardstock (Neena Paper); Stickers and Embellishments (My Mind's Eye, Imaginesce, Crate Paper, Echo Park, American Crafts); Stamps (Lawn Fawn, Paper Smooches, Chicken Girl Designs, Technique Tuesday; Inks/ Pens (Derwent, Copics, Tsukineko, Faber Castell, Uni-ball, American Crafts; Digital Elements (Designs by Dani, Jenni Bowlin Studios); American Crafts Knock Out Punches; Adhesives (Xyron Mega Runner, Xyron 5" Creative Station; Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker); Other (Silhouette Cameo, Photoshop CS5, HP Printer, Craft Foam by Creatology).

Make sure that you head over to the Xyron blog for more awesome projects all week featuring Xyron and Basically Bare!  As always, thanks for stopping by!

30 Days of Gratitude - Days 12 - 25; Project Life Weeks 46 and 47

Well, my 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge has instead morphed into incorporating a list of 30 things I am grateful for into my project life layouts (and I'm totally fine with that).

1.  Week 46.  Not too much excitement happening at home, especially with Benjamin being so small.  However, there was lots of crafting going on for both Xyron and preparations for Charlotte's Rapunzel birthday party!

2.  Week 47.  Thanksgiving was clearly the highlight of the week and amazingly enough, I didn't take any photos.  However, I did get some cute photos of Dad with Benjamin after dinner.  With Justin being gone, the holidays seem more bittersweet than anything.  We miss him so much.  I think we're going to have to redo Thanksgiving once we get settled in Hawaii...

As always, thanks for stopping by!