CT News & Layouts!!

I'm so excited to announce that I am an Enchanted Pixie a.k.a a new member of the Enchanted Studio Scraps Creative Team. I hang out at that site more than any other so this is a dream come true!! My first order of business as an Enchanted Pixie is to introduce the July Mega Kit by the ESS Designers called Love Story.

Isn't it gorgeous? Right now its only $2.99!! What a bargain!!

And now for some new lo's.

Credits
Pretty Paisley Add On by Twin Mom Scraps
Rounders and Shapers Templates by Steel City Scraps
Template 26 by Dunia
Fonts are Good Girl and Complete in Him

Credits
Man in the Moon by Vonnies Digiworld and Dark Pheonix Designs
Word Art from Ride a Dream Add On my Irene Alexeeva
Font is Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me

Credits
Man in the Moon by Vonnies Digiworld and Dark Pheonix Designs
Wire Mesh is from Childish Times by Brittbree
Word Art is from Lara's Digi World
I also used Atomic Cupcake's Cardboard Printed Action on the frame

Credits
Sk8er 4 Life Add On by Danielle Corbitt
Font is Bumpy Road

Credits
Oh Daddy! by Christie Lemmon Designs
Font is Metal Up Your Ear
Scraplift of Free by Jennifer Lynn

Credits
Oh Daddy! by Christie Lemmon Designs
Line Me Up Template Set 1 by Christie Lemmon Designs
Font is Brian Scratch

Credits:
Ordinary Miracles by The Enchanted Studio Scraps Designers
Painty Alpha by Scarlet Heels Media
Font is How Cute Am I by Darcy Baldwin

Credits
Boy Toys by Brittbree
Template by Color by Caryn

LOTD at Inspiration Lane!!

I'm so excited to have been picked for LOTD (Layout of the Day) at Inspiration Lane yesterday! This is the first time I've been picked for LOTD at any of the sites where I post lo's. I'm so honored! This is the lo that was picked. See a couple posts below for credits.

Of course I completely understand why they picked this lo. Look at that face!!

When life gives you kiwis...

We've been getting organic fruits and veggies from a co-op for a couple of months now. We get a basket every 2 weeks. The last basket had a whole bunch of kiwis in it and I was trying to figure out something to do with them all, other than the obvious just eating them. I found this kiwi muffin recipe at JustMuffinRecipes.com. Its not the fanciest website you'll ever run across, but it serves its purpose I guess! So I made the kiwi muffins.

Credits:
Citrus Menagerie by Lisa Minor
Font is AR Christy

They turned out OK. They were kind of cakey and sugary and fell apart really easily. Benjamin and Shawn didn't complain! If I make them again I will probably cut the sugar down to see if more kiwi flavor comes through.

We had a nice quiet Father's Day last Sunday. We spent a quiet day around the house. I made baked ziti for the family. The cashier at Publix gave me flack for not making something fancier for Father's Day. OK, first of all, I asked Shawn and that is what he requested and second, since when is OK for the cashier at the grocery store to give me crap about what I cook! I've noticed that the cashier's at Publix have gotten kind of opinionated and have given me advice on everything from breastfeeding to lobster tails (which is what I was supposed to be making according to the cashier that day). Well, I guess you have to be an outgoing people person to work in the public like that. I know they mean no harm and are trying to be nice. Back on the subject of Father's Day, here are the homemade gifts Shawn received.

First he got a Benjamin original painting. Its very beautiful, isn't it?

Credit
Mud Puddles by Christie Lemmon Designs

Then a frame I made for him. I wished I had embellished it a little more, but I ran out of time.

Credit:
Cinnamon Sugar by Designs by Mel

Gigantic Grab Bag=Many new LO's!

Steel City Scraps, Christie Lemmon Designs, simply.scraps and Julie Marie Designs have a new Collab Grab Bag available now through June 30 at Inspiration Lane for only $5.00.


Here are 6 lo's I created with this grab bag.

Other Credits
Desktop Template by Pixie Perfect Designs

Other Credits
Font is Tuna and Hot Dog on Rye

Other Credits
Font is Kristen ITC

Other Credits
Template by Salin Studio
Font is Klinkomite

The Sickies

We've been a house of sickos for a little while. Nothing major. Just runny noses that never seem to stop running. We've been stuck inside for a while and its kind of driving us crazy! Benjamin had a meltdown of epic proportions earlier today all brought on by string cheese that I couldn't unwrap fast enough. The toddler years are good fun and I get to do it again with Alexander! Woo-hoo!!

So I had a minute of them both sleeping at the same time so I thought I'd show my blog some love! Here are some of my latest lo's!

A couple from our trip to Ocean City last August. We go back up again for 2 weeks this August. I'm looking forward to it!

Credits:
Gulf Getaway by Digi Overdose and Vonnies Digiworld
Date Bits and Date Stamps by Trish Jones

Credits:
Gulf Getaway by Digi Overdose and Vonnies Digiworld
Word Art by Danimoy Designs
Template by Vanessa from Lauren Grier's Holiday Freebie

Credits:
Boy Toys by Brittbree
Template by Color by Caryn

Credits:
Funky Monkey by Scrappyweiss Designs
Template 79 by Scrappin with Liz

Credits:
Crayon Box by Christie Lemmon Designs
Line Me up Template Set 1 by Christie Lemmon Designs

Credits:
Crayon Box by Christie Lemmon Designs
Line Me up Template Set 1 by Christie Lemmon Designs

Credits:
Sweet Tooth by Vonnies Digiworld and Suzy Q Scraps
Template by AmyM Designs
Font is How Cute Am I by Darcy Baldwin

Credits:
Sweet Tooth by Suzy Q Scraps and Vonnies Digiworld

Exercise and LO Sharing

I am trying to be a good girl about exercising. I still have so much pregnancy weight to lose. I still had left over from Benjamin when I got pregnant with Alexander. So, we joined the Y. I have been taking spin classes and they are kicking my posterior!! Hopefully they work! I also signed up for the Woman's Running Magazine Half Marathon because, well, because I'm insane I guess! Its not until November so I have some time to get my training going. Shawn bought me a beautiful Bob double jogging stroller with an adapter for the infant seat so I have no excuse not to take my boys out for a run. Oh, except maybe the fact that we live in a furnace!! But its not going to cool off for many, many, many more months so I just kind of have to suck it up and go running!

Here are some of the latest lo's featuring my adorable boys!

This one is random photos of Benjamin eating. He is such a disaster while eating that it is almost always photo worthy!

Credits
Sweet Tooth by Vonnies Digiworld and Suzy Q Scraps
Template is by AmyM Designs for the Scrappity-Doo-Dah Template Challenge
Font is How Cute Am I by Darcy Baldwin

This is a lo of Benjamin thoroughly enjoying his 2nd birthday cake! This lo is for the Scraplift Challenge at Scrappity-Doo-Dah. It is a scraplift of Puppy Love by Lizzy.

Credits:
Sweet Tooth by Vonnies Digiworld and Suzy Q Scraps

And of course one of my newborn sweetie Alexander!

Credits
Covered in Red Mini Kit by Christie Lemmon Designs
Among Friends Collab by Steel City Scraps, Christie Lemmon Designs and Paula Phillips Designs
Template is by Robyn Pali Designs and is for the Enchanted Studio Scraps June Template Challenge

Happy 2nd Birthday Benjamin!!

June 1st was Benjamin's 2nd birthday!! We celebrated with a birthday party last Saturday. A bunch of his little friends came over to celebrate. It was so cute watching all these 2-year-olds running around. What a difference a year makes!

I love this smile. He's such a cheese ball!


Here he is really enjoying his cake!

frame and embellishments are from Birthday Boy by Julie Bullock

Its been a while since I shared some layouts so I have quite a few to share. I've been getting into a bit of groove and have been able to carve out a little bit of time here and there to do fun things for myself.

This lo is from a trip to Key West that Shawn and I took in 2003. We were a brand new couple then. We had no idea that our future was getting married and having 2 beautiful little boys. Sometimes I miss the carefree fun, but even when things get a little rough here with 2 young children, I wouldn't change a thing. I can't wait until they are old enough so we can take them on trips to places like Key West! OK, I totally just went off on a tangent! This lo is for the Pixie Pouch Challenge at Enchanted Studio Scraps. This is a challenge where the host gives you a mini kit and your challenge is to use everything in the mini.

Credits
Put the Lime in the Coconut Mini Freebie by Danimoy Designs
Template 393 by Andrea Gold
Font is How Cute Am I by Darcy Baldwin

Brittney Ferguson (a.k.a BrittBree), who's CT was one of the 1st I became part of and I'm so happy to still create for, is hosting her first challenge at Pretty Scrappy. She's hosting the Plant by Numbers Challenge. This is a challenge where you are given a recipe of what to include in your lo. Here is my lo for the challenge. This is my mom on her wedding day.

Credits
Delicate Blossom by BrittBree
Sonny by BrittBree
Font is How Cute Am I by Darcy Baldwin

My June desktop of course featuring my cute boys!

Credits
A Breath of Fresh Air by Steel City Scraps
CD Calendar Templates by Aja Abney
Desktop Calendar Template by Pixie Perfect Designs

The photo in this lo was from Benjamin's 2nd birthday party. It was an attempt at a family photo. Benjamin wasn't in the mood to be held so this was as successful as we were going to get. Can you blame a 2-year-old when all his friends were there and there were toys and fun everywhere? This lo is for the Template Challenge at Inspiration Lane.

Credits
Covered in Red Mini by Christie Lemmon Designs
Template 4 by Aussie Caz
Font is Holiday Home

This lo is for another mini kit challenge. This one is at Scappity-Doo-Dah and is being hosted by Tam of Digi Overdose. The photo is of Benjamin on the beach at Daytona Beach last year when his daddy biked the MS 150.

Credits
Gulf Getaway Sampler by Digi Overdose
Font is How Cute Am I by Darcy Baldwin

This is a lo for the Font Challenge at Enchanted Studio Scraps. I love this lo! This is Benjamin in an interesting ensemble of a sea animal onsie and spiderman pajama bottoms. Yes, he was dressed by his Daddy, but in his defense, we have to switch Benjamin to a onsie at naptime because he has gotten into this wonderful habit of pooping only at naptime and then playing with the poop. I'm hoping this is one habit he will soon outgrow because its just nasty. There are a couple times recently that we haven't changed him and he's pooped and he hasn't played with it so I'm thinking this phase is almost over (hopefully!!) Anyway, we need to potty train this kid already!!

Credits
iRock Collaboration w/ Steel City Scraps and Simply Scraps
Font is Home Remedy

This lo is a collage of photos of Shawn and his boys. It is for the Fairy Essence Challenge at Enchanted Studio Scraps. This is a word definition challenge and of course for June the word is father.

Credits
iRock Collaboration w/ Steel Studio Scraps and Simply Scraps
Word Art by Becca

This lo was for the May Scraplift Challenge at Inspiration Lane. My little man on the beach at Ocean City, NJ says, "Save the Planet for me!"

Credits
A Better Day by Christie Lemmon Designs
Font is Pristina

This lo was for a really fun challenge and something totally different for me. The challenge is Artist Challenge at Inspiration Lane. This lo was for the May Artist Challenge where we were supposed to create a lo inspired by Anne Geddes.

Credits
A Better Day by Christie Lemmon Designs
Modern Neutrals by Christie Lemmon Designs
By Chance by Steel City Scraps

This is a lo of Alexander in one of those truly adorable newborn moments. He had basically passed out in the middle of nursing and I didn't have the heart to try and move him. So he blissfully slept on his boppy pillow curled up on me. I know I need to cherish these moments because as I'm finding out with Benjamin, when they are 2, they are too busy to cuddle with mommy! This lo was for the May Scraplift Challenge at Enchanted Studio Scraps.

Credits
A Breath of Fresh Air by Steel City Scraps
Font is How Cute Am I by Darcy Baldwin

And finally, you can never have enough wedding lo's, right? Maybe one of these days I'll actually print out a few of my favorites and make an album out of them. This lo is for the Nesting Challenge at Scrappity-Doo-Dah. This is another fun and different challenge where you get a mini kit and a template and then you get a list of instructions on how to make your lo. Its interesting to see all the different lo's you get when everyone is working on the same kit and the same set of instructions.

Credit:
Template and Natural Neutrals Mini Kit by Artistic Leanings
Flower, Foil Accent and Ribbon are from Bold and Beautiful by Trish H. Designs
Font is How Cute Am I by Darcy Baldwin