The One with May American Crafts Layouts

I took a break from scrapping last month, but now I'm back and loving it. Here are the two layouts I made for my monthly American Crafts assignment:

Twenty Five & Twenty Weeks

Tips: I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone while making this layout. I have a lot of projects to work on today, so I like watching long movies that are in a series so I don't have to think about what to put in next. I cut strips of patterned paper, angled the corners, and adhered them around two photos to create a large frame. I added a Thicker title to opposite corners and wrote some journaling around the edges. And of course I added some buttons :)

Journaling says: May 28th 2010 was a good day - I turned twenty five years old. I'm a quarter of a century! I'm getting up there! On May 28th 2010 I also reached 20 weeks - I'm halfway through my pregnancy!

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, buttons, letter stickers (fabric, foam, puffy), pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars


Catalina

Tips: I watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets while scrapping this layout. I printed 14 of my favorite photos from our day in Catalina to 2x3" and cut them out. I adhered them in a cluster and used foam dots under some of the pictures to add dimension. Then I spent awhile cutting out triangles from various patterned papers. I glued the triangles in the shape of banners all across the layout (skipping over important parts of photos), added a title, and wrote journaling around the edge of the photos. I backed the Thicker title with white cardstock because it wasn't showing up so well directly on the photos. Also, I would really like to stitch across the tops of the triangles to complete the banner effect, but my sewing machine doesn't do so good through adhesive...

Journaling says: Our first stop on our first cruise was the city of Avalon on Catalina Island. We rented a golf cart and putted around. Luckily Blake was at least 25 or we wouldn't have been able to go. We also rented tandem bikes and cruised around. We wanted to go kayaking, but the weather turned cold and sour. All-in-all: a super fun day!

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, chipboard letter stickers, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars

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The One with My Quarter-Century Birthday & Halfway There!

I'm a quarter-century old today. 25 years young. Dang I'm getting up there!

As I mentioned yesterday, my parents gave us home video DVDs for Christmas and I treasure them.

It's so fun to look back at myself as a youngster and see how I've grown up. It's fun to watch my parents' parenting skillz. I could learn a lesson or two. So anyways, for anyone who's interested in what young Paige looked and acted like, feast your eyes upon these short videos:

Here I am showing off what's inside the drawers of my bunk bed:

This is me acting like a cornball smiling, primping, and priming in the mirrors of the barbershop while my little brother was getting his hair cut:

To this day my dad still makes me sing this song for him ("I have a little bag. I carry it down the street, I knock on someone's door and I shout, 'trick or treat!'"):

This was supposed to be used as blackmail, but I've already suckered Chris into marrying me, so now it's just self inflicted embarrassment (PS - I got braces when I was 8 years old to fix the mess you see here):

My worst birthday EVER:

:)

I would make one of those "25 things to do when I'm 25" lists, but I'm one of those types of people that get super stressed out if I don't cross everything off my lists and I don't want to be held accountable for that. Instead, I want to just have fun and enjoy everything that is about to come.

So not only is today my birthday, but it also just so happens to be the exact halfway mark through my pregnancy. 20 weeks down, 20 to go! Of all the 365 days of the year, my birthday is the halfway point. How coincidental/fortuitous! Sometimes I think it's gone by super fast, other times super slow, but most of the time I just wish time would go by faster! All-in-all, this pregnancy has been pretty smooth sailing. Sure the nausea/throwing up bit was no fun, and I'm seriously ready for these zits to go away, and headaches aren't my favorite, but really, all of that doesn't even compare to the sheer excitement I feel 24/7. This week I had the big ultrasound scan and found out we're having a boy. I'll keep the evidence private for Fox's sake, but here are a couple other pics of our growing boy:
Here's his cute wittle spine (this picture fascinates me!):

Here's one of his cute wittle feetsies:

And here's his cute wittle face and button nose. This picture is my favorite thing in the entire world:

This is all so new and fun and scary and emotional and exciting at the same time!

I'll end this post with some pics of me at 25 years young and 20 weeks along:

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The One with Allie's 17th Birthday

I have a little sister. Her name is Allison Celestia. Allie for short. She is my little thunder stealer. Born May 27th 1993. The day before my 8th birthday.

For Christmas this past year my parents gave each of their three children something priceless: our family home videos of us as kids on DVDs. The past couple days I've been watching them and recorded a few special moments of Allison (and me, for tomorrow).

This is me holding Allie for the very first time just hours after she was born. It seems like only yesterday!

The next day we celebrated my birthday in the hospital. I remember playing with my newest Littlest Pet Shop on the floor. And Malm was hopped up on pain killers and not much fun to talk to :)

I thought this might have been a video of Allie's first bath, but her umbilical cord thingy is gone so I'm guessing it's not. Either way, it's still super cute. (I absolutely cannot believe I'LL be doing this in 5 months. Freaky!)

This is a video that Allie now believes is the root of all her problems in life. I don't blame her, it was a super cruel and mean thing of us to do to her:

And here is Allie about 5 or 6 years old, gutting a pumpkin and making strange noises:

Here are some recent pics of Allie from their Mediterranean cruise:

My little sister isn't so little anymore. She is now the ripe old age of 17. Pretty soon she'll leave the nest, go to college, get married, and start a family of her own. My how time flies.

Happy birthday Allie - I love you!

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The One with It's A............

Fox!
No we're not having a real fox, that'd be weird...
We're having a boy, and his name will be Fox.
Fox Thomas Evans - to be born on or around October 15th, 2010.
We're stoked.

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The One with Squint Limited

This is a re-post from the awesome decor8 blog. For a very pretty penny (I'm talking like $8000), you can own one of these oh-so-fabulous fabric-covered creations from the UK-based Squint Limited. Each piece is unique and a testament to the nature of couture craftsmanship.

"The fabrics used are woven English damasks and shot silver and gold satins with Swarovski rose crystal and pearl detailing. Trimmings are 18th and 19th century from France with woven silver and gold thread. The accessories range includes mirrors and lighting wrapped with Japanese ceremonial Kimono silks which have been embroidered and appliquéd and finished with turn of the century lavender glass beads."

I wonder if they could wrap a crib???? Must. Start. Saving. Now.

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The One with a Dog Named Joey

We have a dog. I guess technically he is still a puppy. He's 8.5 months old. His name is Joey. And he is a handful. But I've decided he's second-in-line to our most high maintenance pet - that crown belongs to our conure, King Jadis. But back to Joey. This is what he's been up to lately:

Shedding

That ain't snow. That's Joey's fur. He's "blowing" his winter coat. It makes quite the mess.



Shredding
Joey's #1 mission in life: to tear open anything and everything and reduce it to piles of rubbish. Even his beloved bed.


The hole he tore into his bed is so large now that he's able to get inside and roll around like a hamster in one of those plastic balls. Lookie lookie:


Observing
Sometimes when we open up the window that overlooks the very busy street, he likes to stand up on his hind legs and look outside. Like a human.


Sleeping
After a long and fun-filled day at doggie day care, he comes home and crashes for a couple of hours. No amount of treats or coaxing can wake him up from these sweet snooze sessions!



Snuggling
Joey is not much of a snuggler, but when I encroach on "his" space, he'll cuddle right up to me.



Playing
Joey looooooooves going to doggie day care. As soon as he realizes where he his he tugs on his leash so hard I'm afraid he'll break right off!

I wish I had pictures of Joey playing amongst the other dogs, but more often than not when we go pick him up he's been banished to the "rough-and-tumble" doggie room. Our dog has quite the reputation for causing mischief and mayhem. Sigh.

Even though his bark drives me bonkers, we still love him to pieces.


Must end with a picture of the Queen of the Castle - our li'l (and when I say "li'l" I mean "ginormous") Rachel:

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The One with the Redlands Temple

This morning we dropped Joey off at doggie daycare and then drove an hour east to Redlands, CA to do a session at the Redlands temple. I forgot to brush my teeth before leaving the apartment (ewww!) so once we got there we drove around searching for a gas station. I decided that this town should be called "Orange"lands instead of "Red"lands because of the copious amounts of orange trees. I didn't see no red trees.

Oranges were everywhere!

I'm never buying oranges again, I'll just drive over to Orangelands and pick up a lifetime supply from off the ground.


The Redlands temple is beautiful inside and out.





Next on our list - San Diego!

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The One with Breathless Paper Co.

Is it too early to be thinking about baby announcements? My paranoid self is always thinking "What if?"... But we'll try and stay on the positive side and think good thoughts!
I was blog surfing yesterday and found a link to Breathless Paper Co. Their baby announcements (not to mention their wedding announcements and everyday cards) are, well, breathtaking :) See for yourself:








It looks like they don't have any stores in states that I have affiliation with, so we'll see what happens if I decide to go this route.
Four days 'til the big U/S!

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