Another Pinterest idea (Framed handprints)

I found this idea on Pinterest (http://go.tipjunkie.com/fd/259/tresfrenchhens.blogspot.com/2010/11/framed-hand-prints.html) and fell in love with it!  It has taken me a while to get around to it but I wanted to be sure to do it while Ryann's hands are still tiny!  Kinda funny but James and I have hands that are almost the same size (his is the brown, mine is the blue one) so I had to change it up a bit to make it look right.  Personally, I like that it's "crooked".  This is done on an 8x10 piece of cardstock.  I like how it turned out and have it framed and hanging in our living room.

Mother's Day & Graduation

I got the idea for this butterfly out of Disney's Family Fun magazine. I have misplaced the instructions and can't find them online, so I apologize for that. It is small enough that it fits on an 8x8 sheet of scrapbook paper. Ryann colored her artwork on colorwonder paper (LOVE that stuff!). These were a hit with the Grandmas and I made one for myself, too! =) This is mine and it's hanging in my kitchen so that I can see it every day! My cousin, Hannah, graduated from high school this year. I found this card idea on Pinterest (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1314870?cat=500&ppuser=104028) and thought that it was so cute! I didn't use it as a gift card holder, just cut that extra flap of paper off and did my own thing. I was told that this was a hit at her party!

Poppy's Father's Day gift

When asking Ryann to say 'Grandpa', she says 'Poppy'. Who knows if this will stick but for now, this is what she calls him. I think it's adorable!! It's so hard to come up with gifts for Poppy. This year, we got creative - I wanted to do something with Ryann's "artwork". James and I collectively came up with the idea of making a computer - for those of you who don't know, James's dad, Alex, is all about computers - works on them, builds them, eats & breathes them. This gift seems so perfect! We used Ryann's artwork as the screen on the monitor and then James drew the computer around it. We finished it up by putting "I love my Poppy" as the keys on the keyboard. I'm so excited with how it turned out!! I'm even more excited that we have a gift for him! =)

Father's Day, 2012 (Star Wars theme)

Thanks to Pinterest, (if you haven't joined yet, you HAVE to!) I was able to find an awesome idea for a Father's Day gift for James, from Ryann. The idea came from here: http://sandytoesandpopsicles.blogspot.com/2011/06/fathers-day-star-wars-kit.html. SO CUTE! She has great ideas and even had templates to print out to make this all super easy and so fantastic! I didn't use all of her ideas and only printed the templates of things that I wanted to use for this gift. I used a brown grocery bag to put everything in, instead of making the cute messenger bag. The items I chose were: Pringles, sour patch kids, Rolos, Gatorade, a can of soda and a package of Pepperidge Farms cookies. It just so happened that when I set out to get these items ALL of them were on sale and I had Qpons for a couple of them, making this gift fairly inexpensive! I came up with the card idea on my own, basically, with a little input from a few of my friends. I found a website where you can translate anything into "Yoda Speak" (http://www.yodaspeak.co.uk/index.php) and translated a sweet phrase for the inside of the card but then printed the original version of that and added it to the back of the card. The phrase I used is: "Walk with me, Daddy" by Helen Bush Walk alongside me, Daddy, And hold my little hand. I have so many things to learn that I don't yet understand. Teach me things to keep me safe from dangers every day. Show me how to do my best at home, at school, at play. Every child needs a gentle hand to guide them as they grow, So walk alongside me, Daddy, we have a long way to go. I'm so excited for this gift and can't wait for Father's Day to get here!!

The "gift bag"

Peppridge Farm cookies, Gatorade, Soda & Pringles

Sour Patch kids & Rolos

Outside of card

Inside of card, complete with finger paint handprint "signature"

Ryann's Birthday "Scrapbook"

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly offers exclusive photobook layouts so you can make your book just the way you want.

Valentine project for the grandparents

I decided to do another Valentine photo shoot with Ryann again this year for Valentine's Day but for a project for her grandparents. We took photos of her with hearts that I cut out, on a white background. Let me just tell you that it was MUCH easier taking pics of a 1 month old than of a 13 month old! =) She has her own ideas and didn't want to leave any of the props alone. We managed to get enough pics that I was content and then I made photo books via Shutterfly for James's parents and my mom. Here are a few of the pics from the photo shoot:

Valentine's Day, 2012

After almost a year of posting anything on my blog, I have a project to share! I have been spending most of my time working on Ryann's scrapbooks (3 books so far and I'm not even up to month 8 of her life). We might have to add a wing onto the house for all of her books! =) I'm currently working on a book for her first birthday on Shutterfly. It's a kind of digital scrap booking. It takes a lot of time but maybe a bit less time than picking pics and paper, etc. We'll see if I finish it or not. Might run out of patience!

So, I feel that I outdid myself with Valentine's Day for James last year - the pics of Ryann, half naked and teeny tiny - how do you even compete with that??? I came up with an idea, however and with the help of my fantastic MIL, I think that I have something pretty good for this year, too. James is huge into everything fantasy: dragons, knights, etc. My MIL drew a picture of a winged dragon and then incorporated Ryann's hands, fingers and feet prints to complete the picture. The dragon is holding a book, as James is an unpublished author. However, the title on the book is "The Belly Button Book" by Sandra Boynton. This is Ryann's favorite book - the one that she pulls out to read all the time. I can't take much credit on this project, aside from having the idea, but I LOVE it, all the same! =)

Her hand print is the "wings", her finger tips were used to create the spikes down his spine and her foot/toes were used to create his foot


Ryann "signed" the back of her gift - I didn't realize it until we had drawn her hand that her fingers were in the form of "I love you" in sign language! So cute!

James's Valentine's Day gift

This year, I decided that there wasn't anything I could do for James for Valentine's Day that he would appreciate more than something having to do with our newest Valentine, Ryann. Marge (aka Granny) and I did a photo shoot, using a king size bed, black table cloth, red bow/headband, red lace skirt and a GORGEOUS baby girl. We had such a great time taking these photos! Ryann cooperated so well! So, the gift for James was a frame that I made that says "I hold the key to my daddy's heart" and a photo of our beautiful baby. I was so excited about how well this turned out that I gave it to him way before V-day. I just couldn't wait!! He was so surprised and even teared up when he opened it. What a great daddy!! So, below I have a pic of the frame/picture and then the scrapbook pages that I made of all of the photos (you know they were ALL too cute not to scrap!). I love this layout and because I had so many photos, I used the flip-flaps from Close to My Heart (https://nikkid.myctmh.com/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=4522). LOVE THEM! I have actually scrapped everything from Ryann's first month of life (which filled ONE WHOLE BOOK). I'm hoping to keep up with it, as best as I can. I have to stop taking photos of her, which is really a challenge....


Outside of card

Inside of card

Finished frame with photo

Two-page layout

Left side
Flip-Flaps, top left

Right side
(I wish these didn't have the flash glaring off of them)

Been busy.....

And THIS is what I've been working on:



Ryann Olivia Fischer was born, via C-Section, on December 20, 2010. She weighed 10 lbs, 3 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. I have been spending my days, for the past 6 weeks, taking care of this peanut and loving every second of it! I HAVE been working on her scrapbook, but it is a slow-go. I hope to get caught up and STAY caught up. Would be a heck of a lot easier if I didn't take pictures of her, every day! =) Hard not to do that when your "subject" is so darn cute!

I am working on a Valentine's gift for James, from Ryann - I will be posting pics of that, once I get it finished.

New Baby card

One of my very best friends just had her 2nd little girl on September 24th. I'm so excited to be an "auntie" again!! I have been busy, actually, scrap booking but never got around to making a card for this baby until last night. The bottle is another Sizzix die. The colors didn't come out well - the nipple is a yellow glitter card stock and then I stamped with a "celery green" on the bottom part of the card. Pretty simple to make!

Baby Shower invitation

For those (few) of you that don't know, James and I are expecting our first baby in December of this year. We are THRILLED! I had planned on making the shower invitations for the shower in Ohio but got pressed for time and my awesome mother in law took on the task of making them for me. They turned out even better than I'd hoped! I had the idea, Marge came up with the umbrella and, well...there we go! The onesie is a Sizzix die and the monkey was made using a Cuttlebug die. Marge claims that she had a good time making these. Not sure about that but I DO love how they turned out!!

Mother's Day, 2010

Even though I was barely pregnant this year, I couldn't wait to celebrate Mother's Day!! It was a great day spent with my in laws, which I always enjoy. James and Alex "cooked dinner" (they went to KFC) and James baked a cake. (Thanks, Marge, for the pictures!!)

These pages were made using the Level 2 Cherry-O paper pack from Close to My Heart. I also used my Cricut with the Ashlyn's Alphabet font to cut out the title and date. Sorry that the color is so dark...

Long time, no scrap....

It's been a long, long time since any of my craft supplies have gotten any use! Life gets hectic, unfortunately!

Even though I can't believe that 18 years have gone by - my "little" cousin, Keegan graduated from High School this year! I decided that I would make him a graduation card for the occasion. It helped that I had FINALLY gotten my (working) Cricut in the mail and had something new to play with! The card was easy to do, but I thought it turned out nicely. The 'you did it' and 'Congrats' were cut out with my Cricut Create. It's SO EASY to use!! I cut out some caps from the paper and used pop dots to raise them off the card, though you can't see it in the photo. Also, the blue colored cap is a mistake - I put a cap there initially but didn't like it and when I took it off, it tore the paper so I had to fix it. I love that it's so easy to fix 'boo-boos'!

Happy Graduation, Keeg! Boy do I feel old....

A few scrapbook pages

Some friends and I were talking about scrap book pages on Face Book last night and they wanted to see pics. I uploaded a few to show and thought I should go ahead and put them on my blog. Never know, I might upload pics of all of them, some day....

Finally, back to a little scrapping!

It's been a while since I've even looked at my scrapbooking table but I finally got back down there the other night and made a card! This card is for my friend, Zoetta, who is expecting baby Honora in April! I can't wait to meet her! Not much to this card but it was fun to do. That night after doing this card was my monthly scrapbook club meeting so I was able to make 2 scrapbook pages - I'm hoping I can keep this momentum! I love scrapbooking but just haven't been inspired recently. It felt good to get back in it!

My wonderful husband

Surprised me with a dozen red roses and a handmade card for Valentine's Day! He doesn't normally do this sort of thing so it was a total shock! He is so awesome! He isn't the romantic type but he does surprise me every now and again. Just thought I'd share...

Trust Him to Make a Way

This was sent to me in an email today (Thanks, Ruthy!!) and it is so fitting to my life and what I am going through right now, I had to pass it along - maybe it'll speak to someone else the way it spoke to me.

Trust Him to Make a Way


TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God"
(Psalm 20:7, NIV)

TODAY'S WORD

Sometimes, it's easy to get discouraged when things don't go your way. Maybe you aren't getting out of debt as fast as you wanted. Or you're experiencing some challenges in your health or relationships. We have to be careful not to put God in a box by thinking that just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. Remember, we serve a supernatural God. When we believe, all things become possible!

The first step is to quit trying to figure everything out. There may not be a way in the natural, but that's okay. God can do what men can't do. Think about the children of Israel. When they left Egypt, there were two million of them. Then, Pharaoh came chasing after them, and when they came to a dead end at the Red Sea, it looked like it was over. They couldn't see a way out. But that didn't mean there wasn't a way. God simply parted the Red Sea and they went through on dry ground.

Remember, if it looks like there is no way in the natural, trust God to make a way. He'll part the waters if He has to! He'll do whatever it takes to lead and guide you in the path of victory that He has prepared for you!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father God, I trust that with You all things are possible. Today, I take my eyes off my circumstances, and I choose to put my trust and hope in You. I bless You and thank You for Your faithfulness. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

**I am hoping to get some cards and scrap booking done soon, but have not been in the mood to do anything lately. I plan on getting my scrap area organized and then getting lots accomplished!**

Our Loss

After months and months of ups and downs, our journey to what we thought was the answer to our prayers has ended. We are not able to adopt the little angel that we have gotten so emotionally attached to, since July 25th. We do know that he was born on January 9th and that he is perfectly healthy! James and I are devastated and are trying to find the silver lining in this, though it is NOT an easy road. We are blessed to have so many people around us that love us. I know that we will get through this but for now, it feels as though our world has crumbled around us. We appreciate the continued concern and prayers and we ask now that you pray for our "Ryan" as he is in the foster care system - we ask that you pray for people to take care of him and love him as much as we do and we also ask that you pray for continued strength for us, as a couple, to be able to get through this terrible time.

I found a poem online that I thought was appropriate:

They Say There is a Reason
They say there is a reason,
They say that time will heal,
But neither time nor reason,
Will change the way I feel,
For no-one knows the heartache,
That lies behind our smiles,
No-one knows how many times,
We have broken down and cried,
We want to tell you something,
So there won't be any doubt,
You're so wonderful to think of,
But so hard to be without.

Quilt

James's aunt Toots is big int quilting and asked my mother in law if I'd be interested in a quilt for Ryan. Marge said she wasn't sure but when she asked me, my answer was "OF COURSE!" I don't care how many blankets I have, there is nothing like a handmade blanket! I'm actually using one that Marge made for James years and years ago and LOVE it. Anyway, she got the quilt finished and mailed it to us; I just have to show you all! She had enough scraps left over that she even quilted a pillow sham to match!! I was so excited to get it! Literally brought tears to my eyes! She used green with multi colored dots as the background, different colors of brown and then she picked fabric that respresented "us"; baseball - I love baseball and she has a grandson that plays minor league ball that they travel around watching, dogs - this one doesn't need any explaination, sand/sand castles - they live in Florida and safari animals - those are my favorites and our living room is decorated with elephants, zebras, elephants. I love how much thought, effort and LOVE was put into this quilt!

It's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas...

James and I have now finished 'decking the halls' and putting all of our Christmas stuff out in the house. I'm so excited about it! I was out of town last year so we didn't put a tree up and the closer it got to Christmas, the more depressed I got not having a tree up. We went all out this year; 2 trees in the living room! I don't have pictures of all of the decorations but I took pics of the main things and thought I'd share. (The picture of the nativity is one of James's - he managed to get one of the blue LED lights pointed right on the baby Jesus and it made such a cool effect!) Also, James kind of likes nutcrackers...

Keegan's 18th Birthday!

Ok, so as if it wasn't hard enough for me to accept that Hannah turned 16 in October, now her brother goes and turns 18 (on December 9th)! What in the heck are these kids thinking? A better question is: Where does the time go?? I seriously remember the day that he was born! - we'd waited so long for him; those were the longest 9 months of our lives, I think! He is stubborn and bull-headed but I LOVE the person that he has become! His momma has done an excellent job! Happy Birthday, Keeg!!

I found the idea for this card in a magazine from the UK (http://www.originpublishing.co.uk/magazine.asp?id=24)called Beautiful Cards. I LOVE this magazine. I'd like to take credit for this one, but, well, I can't. Marge stepped in to make the pocket for me and before I knew it, she had the whole card finished! =) Isn't it adorable?! In case you can't tell, it is a gift card holder too! Love it! Keegan is into Japanese culture, so James and I spent time looking on the internet for the perfect "Engrish" message to put inside the card and this is what we came up with: "It is in the giving of a birthday to a year you become one year older. Happy Birthday of you!" He will love it =)

Oh Christmas wreath, Oh Christmas wreath...

I have been in the Christmas spirit since the beginning of October and can NOT wait to put the tree up! I stopped at Michael's tonight and got stuff to make a new wreath for the front door. I already have a Christmas wreath but wanted something a bit more traditional. I'm pleased with how it turned out and of course, it's still hanging on the front door!! As soon as I can convince my hubby to drag the boxes up from the basement, we will be all decked out for the holidays!!!

Archiver's Contest

I got an email from Archiver's saying that they were having a "Share Your Story" contest: Write an essay, 500 words or less, about how scrapbooking and/or memory preservation has affected or helped develop a special bond with a friend or family member in your life. Include a photo of you together with the person or people in your story. The prize is: A scrapbooking weekend for four at the Archiver’s store location of his or her choice including reserved seating in Archiver’s workroom Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, including 4 free seats at Archiver’s Friday and Saturday night ScrapMania, and one $100 Archiver’s Gift card. Total value of prize package is $220.00. All prizes are awarded "AS IS" and WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, expressed or implied, except as provided by the manufacturer. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value.

I thought "what the heck" and decided to write an essay and submit it. Below is my submission and the picture I sent with it.

My favorite person to scrapbook with is my wonderful Mother-in-Law, Marge. She and I have always been close but we spend lots of time scrap booking and shopping for scrap booking items together. My mother was not involved in my wedding at all. Marge was with me every step of the way helping me get it all planned. We started scrapping together after my wedding in 2004. She and I sat side by side and made my beautiful 80 page wedding scrapbook together. I didn’t have a good mom growing up and she didn’t have any daughters, so this relationship is perfect for both of us and scrap booking is a great way for us to spend time together, chat and have fun! My husband and I are in the process of adopting and, once again, she and I are beating the pavement looking for the perfect papers and embellishments for the baby book and working side by side to make this book perfect for our little boy! She was always a bit apprehensive to get involved in scrapping but now she sees how much fun it can be, ESPECIALLY when we do it together, so she has embraced it completely now! I find that most of the time, she is the yin to my yang and vice versa, as we work on pages together. When one of gets stuck, the other can look at the page and help to figure out what it needs to be completed. Very rarely do we go shopping for scrapping supplies without the other. We have just as much fun shopping as we do making the pages! We are both now also into making cards. We send pictures back and forth to each other of the cards that we make and sometimes even send them to each other. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have the “mother” I always wanted and to have this great hobby to share with her!

Wedding gift

This is what I came up with for James's cousin's wedding gift. I had NO ideas but got this one from SplitCoastStampers. It's a basic page with their wedding invitation in a floating frame. I thought it turned out ok. The verse I found to add to the page is:

One day two hearts become one in unity
With patience, love and hard work,
Forever they will be.
~Dana Roberts Clark

Short, sweet and straight to the point =)

Simple thank-you card

Yesterday, my best friend, Teri, came over to help me get the nursery organized and de-cluttered. She is so awesome! With this particular project, I don't know how I would have done it without her - I was so overwhelmed! We got it all put away and in order in about an hour. The room looks great!! I feel more relaxed about it now. She also brought us a "travel package" filled with goodies for our long trip to Texas. She is the awesomest!! Love you, Teri!

*I put the glitter on the hearts by using a glue pad (like a stamp pad only you have to put glue on the pad before you use it) - I used a rubber stamp on the glue pad and then sprinkled the image with glitter. Just like embossing only SO MUCH EASIER!! This could possibly be one of my new favorite products. The same company that makes Staz-On makes this stuff; got it at Michael's.*

Wedding card

James's cousin, Amy, is getting married on November 13th (Friday the 13th!). I LOVE fall weddings! I was actually on the ball with this one and got the card made in advance! =) That doesn't always happen. Not sure what got into me tonight but I was in the mood to do it, had an idea and decided I had to run with it. Enjoy!

Shh.....

I am doing the best I can to wait for December 18th (or so; hopefully SOONER) to get here. This was one of those things that I bought on clearance at Michael's forever ago because it was a good deal but had no idea what I was gonna do with it. On Saturday, I had the blue paint out to paint some other things I had intentionally bought for the baby's room and thought, "what the heck". So, this became a door hanger for the nursery. Gotta love stickers and Mod Podge! =)

Hannah's Birthday!

Although it's still hard for me to believe, my "baby" (aka cousin, Hannah) is turning 16 on October 25th! YIKES! She is now as old as I was when she was born! This is the card that I made for her. I'd like to say that for whatever reason, I could not get a good picture of this one. The colors don't look right and the Tinkerbell was so much cuter in person! It all looks blue but it was purple. Oh well, guess you get the idea anyway. I made the Tinkerbell with a Cuttlebug die/embossing template. SO easy to do!! She got her box from us today so I can now post this....