Growing a Green Thumb

So, I spent the past two days wrist deep in soil, mulch, and paint. But my house now has some great curb appeal thanks to our very experienced neighbor. He transformed our so-so backyard into an oasis that even I want to spend time in! And our front yard is gorgeous as well. I must say that my painting ability on our mailbox had a lot to do with that ;)

I haven't had much time to scrap lately since I've been packing up the house and sprucing it up for the open house. I've been doing things that I should have done years ago. I'm actually loving some of the rooms that seemed so "stale" to me for YEARS. Silly how that works. I love the way the house looks better now than I have in a long long time. Hopefully other people willl love it as well.

Sarah has been having a great time playing with the neighborhood kids. When there's a large group of them, she'll just watch and partake in a few little activities. But when it's a small group, like it was today, she truly comes out of her shell. I was almost in tears watching her run around and play tag with her friend Gabriella. I'm sure we'll have to come back here and visit every so often so they can play together.
I did this layout with Amy Teets new kit at Oscraps. I love all the papers and the colors are soft but still pack that punch that I love.
And this layout I did with Madame Mim's new kit. I love everything she does.....and this layout was picked for the Catwalk at Sistv this week :) Totally made my week!!

Well, I'm headed to bed. My entire body aches. Keep your fingers crossed for us that the owners accept our offer on the house :) I'm praying they do because i realllllllllly love the house!

But your major life decision is probably how high should I comb my hair today.

Round one has begun. Our house is officially on the market (sans photos and an official broker's lunch since it's not REALLY ready to be shown just yet) and we placed a bid on our favorite house. They countered and we're going to the house tomorrow to see it all up close and personal again. Right now it's a battle between buying something that will force us to curtail our spending so that Sarah can be in a great school district or buy in the same town we live in now for less but have to send her to private school eventually. I'm heavily leaning toward the house in the good town and spending less. I can do that, right??? LOL

Here's a digi layout I did last night while watching "Dead Silence". A pretty silly scary movie about dolls. The movie wasn't all that great but the layout turned out pretty cool ;) I've been itching to do a layout with all circles for over a month now so it was nice to finally get it done.

I actually hit the gym today while Sarah was in art class. Only did 2 miles but it was more movement than I've had all week. And now I think I'm coming down with the same cold AGAIN. Sore throat, headache, tired....UGH. I'm praying it's just a one day thing.

In Sarah news, the ice cream truck is now visiting our block nightly. Which means Sarah is in hog heaven. Last night, the truck came by and Sarah stood up by the front door, both hands out in front of her (palms up, fingers spread), face scrunched and said: "Mommy, you have to do this for me. Please, we need to get ice cream. You just have to do this for me." I swear sometimes I don't know whether to laugh at her for fear of making light of this "very serious situation". I mean, what could be more serious at three than missing the ice cream truck! :)

What's your problem, aside from ya face?

Quote from one of my all time favorite movies - Vibes (circa 1988). My brother and I have spent the better part of our lives together quoting lines from this movie. Like one of my favorites "A woman. dead. where?" or "she calls you honeymuffin and I can't call you stretcharoo??" Seriously, if you have the time, rent it. It's hysterical. At least my wacked out mind thinks it is, lol!

So on to things scrap-happy:

Here are my layouts and projects from Label Tulip's April Kit. THE.BEST.KIT.YET. The colors, the embellies, the stamps. Heaven in a box. I got all the addons and I could have made another five or six layouts with what was left. And I still might. It's that good ;)










We're in the process of trying to sell our house and buy a new one. Oh what an ordeal that is! The market is terrible, but we're hoping to get into a really great neighborhood that we wouldn't be able to afford if the market were good. Keep your fingers crossed for us that we can sell ours. I love our little home, but I just despise the block we're on. Suffice to say, we're surrounded by nosy people who smoke around their children and deal illegal substances. And we're in a good neighborhood! Just picked the wrong block I guess. So, needless to say, I'm trying to hightail it out of here.

And in other good news, Trey just got a raise! WOO HOO!! We can all breathe a nice sigh of relief around here. The house of our dreams in actually in reach :)

Other than that, I'm still fat. Can't seem to stay on the diet with all this stress right now. But that's ok. Everyone who matters loves me no matter what. Especially those snickers.....such unconditional love :P

I"ll be back tomorrow to post a new digi layout. I was wondering if most of my readers scrap paper and if my digi layouts don't appeal to you. I hope this post makes up for all the digi posts lately, lol. I kind of got hooked and can't turn back. But I hope the layout design itself is inspiring in some way :)

Have a great night!

better late than never, i say...

I know the reveal is tomorrow night and my sneaks are a little late, but I hope you enjoy them anyway :)
BTW--->these are for the new Label Tulip kit ;)

Sickies

100+ fever.
Aches and pains.
Runny nose.
Serious cough.
Killer throat
Pounding head.
SICK SICK SICK :(

Sarah is sick as well but she seems to find the energy to play and make me laugh all day. This morning, while playing with her magnetic dress up bears, she said to me:

Sarah: "Her pants are down to her knees and her shirt's up to her neck. Is that cool?"
Me: Did you just say "is that cool?"
Sarah: "Ya, you know....is that ok?"
Me: bwaahahahahahah...let's fix her clothes

Where does she get this stuff???? I mean, she's THREE!

Busy Busy Busy

I've been totally MIA lately. Our Dream Street papers for CHA are due asap and I've been stuck in front of my computer trying to eek something out that I'd love to scrap with. Not always the easiest thing since I'm too picky for my own good :P I've got 8 papers done and I'm loving the colors and the feel of the line. I'm headed down the sketchy/graphic/bold road this time around. I thought it would be fun to go back to my graphic roots for my sixth line. I can't believe it's been that many so far. I swear time flies.

Speaking of which, Sarah has a terrible cold and cough. So, needless to say, we've been getting no sleep around here. And as fate would have it, I now have the soar throat and runny nose. Fun times.

Sarah starts her cooking class this week, which I am beyond excited for. She takes the class at this awesome complex where the kids go and learn and the mothers spend time in the gym/spa/cafe. It's all in the same building so you don't even have to leave. Just drop of your child with their teacher, grab your beeper so they can contact you if you're needed, and go do what you like. I'm going to be taking advantage of the gym. Plus, there are tv's set up around the complex so you can watch your child while they learn. It's got to be the best of both worlds. I think I"m more excited about it than she is.

The layout above was created using the New Growth collab kit at Oscraps. I'm usually not a purple fan, but I loved it in this kit.


I'm planning on hitting the Brooklyn Flea next weekend. It's seriously the best flea out there. Such an amazing mix of homemade stuff, vintage finds, clothes (vintage and new) and other unique treasures.



This layout I did using the ASPCA digi kit. The kit is packed with traditional elements/papers mixed with funky doodled designs as well. Plus, it's a collab so there a bunch of designs from some of my favorite artists. This is definitely one kit I'll go back to for the adorable buttons, papers and awesome trims. And here's the BEST part.....proceeds go to the ASPCA! You can't get better than that!

Oh! And the best news of the week........My Chillaxin layout was a User Inspiration in the Garden at 2peas! It's the first time that's happened to me and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect person to lift the layout. I've been a huge fan of Jennifer Johner since she was theLITTLEbug. I even lifted one of her layouts during my first year of scrapping. Want to see it? EEEEEK.....ok, but it's from a lonnnnng time ago ;)
I swear she made paper strips cool ;) I still love to use them!
Here's Jennifer's version of my Chillaxin' Layout (and mine just below it) I just love it..for so many reasons :) :) :)

And the winner is.......

Thank you all for your wonderful comments! It was such a pleasure to see who actually reads this blog, lol! I put all the numbers (1-29) into a hat and randomly pulled one out. So without further ado, the winner is........Patty!!! Congrats chica! Send your address to my email - Eclipse940@aol.com and I'll send your box of goodies on its way to Mexico! :) :) :)

The layout above features the Apply of My Eye, Rockabilly, and Outlook kits by Audrey Neal at SIStv :)