a very shmootzy christmas to you.

so there were these brushes (digi talk for “stamp”) to use for this week’s releases.

I kinda sorta fell in love with them.

and well, when I paired them with this mixed media canvas, and the glittery gold paper, magic happened I tell you.

it was one of the few good things that happened at my house this last week.

(children taking turns getting sick, in the middle of the night at that..  and then the worst.thing.ever..  my husband getting sick…  yeah, this was good.)

you can click on the layout, like usual, for a full list of creds.

(note that this particular pic was taken before the chaos ensued.)

(what myself NOW would have told myself THEN..  like: go buy jello and gingerale!!!  STAT!!)

a little halloween

this year for halloween we had a witch, princess jasmine, and “v” or a poodle skirt girl, depending on the venue/celebration.

it was quite wonderful to have merrill home this year for all the halloween fun, last year just wasn’t halloween without him!

we had a little early halloween fun at the family “trunk or treat”.  lynn and I both won prizes in the costume contest.  she was “v” that night, and I was a flapper girl, fulfilling all of merrill’s halloween dreams.

we carved pumpkins at the last minute.  don’t know how I forgot about those!!

life was a little hectic with the second hotel opening.  we spent a lot of our days and nights there getting it ready to open.  maybe that is how I forgot about the pumpkins.

halloween day I helped in the second grade, totally blew my budget on frosting for cookies, forget that I had to buy the cookies, napkins, and all the junk that is necessary for a child to frost a cookie.  that is what I get for putting that off till the last minute!

that night, we made the rounds.  the kids had fun, but didn’t stay out long.  I wonder if the day will ever come that they feel the need to stay out and go as far and as fast as possible to collect obscene amounts of candy. 

here’s a couple of cute and quick ideas for friends, neighbors, and teachers:

(click on the images for list of credits.)

now here’s to willpower and not eating my kids candy!

(whatever, you know I bought extra that I do not plan to hand out.)

a spooky six pack.

no, not my abs.

(silly.)

this:

pretty fun, right?

similar to the bottles I did for valentines a few years ago (but not really the same..  those were empties.), these have homemade labels that are spooky enough, but more fun than spooky.

I cut paper strips from my patterned paper that measured 8 1/2 x 3 1/2, and distressed them, first with an emery board, and then with some black ink.  I taped those on the bottles and then popped a label from nancie rowe janitz, distressed in the same way, on top of the taped-on strip.  I punched 1 inch circles out of the same papers, distressed again (I kinda like it that way.), and popped those on the bottle caps with a glue dot.  to finish off the bottles, I tied ric-rac or twill around the neck, cause it was cute.  the cardboard container was flattened and used as a template to trace onto more patterened paper that was cut to sixe, distressed (see, like it!), and glued onto the cardboard container. 

for a full list of digital supplies used, click on the pic!

the bonus to this cute, fun, halloween project:  I got to drink ibc rootbeer and crème soda (my second fav drink of all time) for the next few days. :)

scrappy doo.

here’s a few layouts I managed to complete last month.

as per usual, click on the layout for a full list of credits!

can you guess which one is my absolute favorite?

I will give you a clue:  it is the one that took me the most time to complete.

mommy memory.

I am having some issues.  not huge issues, but things that make me feel kind of silly.
example 1:
it’s saturday night, I am putting the finishing touches on a project, and I am thinking about how I NEED to get to bed because if I get to bed too late, I will want a nap on sunday, and if I take a nap on sunday, then my body delays bedtime (or the time I actually fall asleep, rather) naptime x 3.  and if I don’t sleep good that night, then monday is going to be a pain!  you know, what with getting kiddos up for school and all..
wait.
there is no school monday!!
it’s summer!!!!!
example 2:
after I realize that it is now summer, I start to make plans in my head for monday.  there were a few errands thrown in there, and then I realized, monday is memorial day.
that would be today.  but with kids barfing, and a husband working (because he kinda sorta forgot that it is memorial day too, and didn’t plan to take the day off), it doesn’t feel very holiday-ey.  but believe you me, when I remember that today is memorial day, at different intervals throughout the day, I will honor it.
along with that, it is more in store monday.  and with that, there are a few projects to post, and more of the hybrid type to come. 
I am also in the midst of cleaning out my room..  kinda fun.
(click on the page for full list of crap used.)
some elle’s studio:

a new kit from pink paislee:

and here’s some goodies from nancie rowe janitz:

I am hoping to complete the art journaling class that I started in the spring..
I suck at finishing classes!