(not so lazy) Saturday

Trying to adjust to hubby's new schedule is *hard.* I have gotten used to him being home by 4:30 or 5 every night, with weekends off, ever since he switched from 4 years of 3rd shift hell. Well, now another change...after letting someone go, they put hubby in his shift, Tues-Sat 10-6:30. I guess it is way better than 3rd shift, but it isn't that great when it comes to dinner time, my Arbonne business (events and meetings are held at 6 or 7 typically and I don't have a reliable sitter), and our normal Saturday plans, like parties, barbeques, and playdates. Poor Patryk has cried each night, wondering when he can play with The Exalted Daddy.

With my down-and-out mood today, I figured a mix of activities would keep my mind elsewhere. I picked Rileigh up from a sleepover, treated Patryk to a doughnut for breakfast, cleaned the bathroom (much needed), headed to a shower for an hour or so, finished the laundry, made some protein bars, and SMASH*ed. I have recently decided this is a great substitute for scrapping when I run out of pics and don't fell like printing out new ones or digging into the piles of boxes of old photos. Today, I used the Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour brochure and ticket from our recent trip to VT. I thought it should be Smash*ed as there are no pics of this event, and wanted to document that we did it. I love how it turned out (but don't love that my Smooch black spritz ended up all over my hands and even on my leg as it was clogged.)

 Page 1: Fancy Pants Country Boutique Barn Door wood plank paper and die cut folder; Houndstooth & Dear Lizzy Thickers; Sassafrass pink swirl alpha; Scenic Route alpha; black SMASH* pen to outline some of the letters; MME Funday Happy Days stamps; Buttercup Liquid Pearls.

 I turned the file folder into a place to hide the journaling, covering it with the stamps, and outlining it with Liquid Pearls.

 I love mixing alphas!!

 Page 2: Cut a slit in the background paper to slide the brochure into (used my Glue Arts Advanced Tape Glider to affix a piece of paper on the other side to make a sort of pocket); Smash* Swatch washi tape, all patterns cut out and stuck down randomly; EK scrabble tile alpha stickers outlined on top and bottom with Smash* pen; Studio Calico wood heart spritzed with black Smooch; Jillibean label sticker; Smash* date stamp; MME Funday Happy Days number stamp.

 Love all these patterns and the punch of color it gives the layout. Also love these SC wood pieces!

Yeah, I kind of screwed up on the date stamp, but the effect is still kind of cool, right? (Right?! Help me out here!!) It is, after all, the first time I used it :)

So that's it. *STILL* waiting for hubby. Missing him a lot...especially since Patryk is Meltdown Central this afternoon. He really misses his daddy! I guess it's back to the craft table, the best way to turn my frown upside down :)

xoxo
Khristen

Hello, crafty strangers!

It has been forEVER since I last posted. I have good reasons though: I'm trying to squeeze every last drop out of summer before it ends in a few weeks, not to mention stuck with ANOTHER sinus infection. Damn pollen.

We were on vacation, staying in Grand Isle, VT on Lake Champlain last week, and had so much fun! Here are a few highlights, and then I have the first layout I've done in a loooooong time to show off, so stick with me here. Lots of great pics from vacation!

 Grand Isle, farmland gorgeousness.

 Playing Headbanz in the camper after a day of fun and excitement!

 Gorgeous Andraia, growing up too fast!

 Hubby hates having his picture taken.

 Patryk watching his dad load a marshmallow on his stick.

 Rileigh the goofball!

 Fishing at Rousse's Point

 Wandering around Fort Ticonderoga

 Fun at the Echo Aquarium and Science Center

LOVED this mosaic embedded in a Burlington sidewalk!

 Wandering the banks of Lake Champlain at the Grand Isle Campground we stayed at.

 Not only did he catch his very first fish ever, Patryk caught the first fish of the trip out of the whole entire family!

 Enjoying dinner at one of our favorite Italian restaurants!

 Me being goofy at Cabot's :)

Ok...back to reality, and back to the craft table! I made this soon after returning, playing with the August Scraptastic Barn Door kit for the first time :) It was generously sent by an anonymous person, hearing that I was too broke to buy a kit this month. Hubby's birthday took a lot out of our budget, not to mention vacation! It was so sweet, and I cannot wait until I have the opportunity to pay it forward.

Everything except the Glimmer mist, ribbons at the bottom, silver Liquid Pearls, and light blue twine came from the kit. It is also a patterned paper-less layout!

 To make the Glimmer Mist rectangle under the file folder, I used the negative of the folder off the die cut sheet as a stencil of sorts. It was my intention the tab part of the folder would be visible, but of course the pics covered it up. Oh well, still looks cool! I used the brown Liquid Pearls and silver LP from a past kit underneath, and outlined the rectangle in black pen. I also thought the Studio Calico butterfly looked a little boring on the folder, so I added the silver Liquid Pearls here as well. I scored the folder with my Crafter's Companion Ultimate Tool, and adhered it with staples, making it a perfect hidden journaling element. Inked the edges of the ticket, file folder, and sentiment hidden underneath the folder with black ink.

 That fun chevron ribbon is American Crafts Amy Tangerine ribbon. I snagged a clearance pack of 24 of these spools a while back, and thought they matched too well with the kit!

 The two colors of twine, as well as a light blue I had in my stash, were braided and stapled to the top of the layout.

 What's hiding under the file folder...

There you have it! I was *supposed* to be going to an event for one of my Arbonne homies, but alas I have no sitter and hubby's schedule has changed. Booooo. Oh well, there's always the next event! Instead, I will probably head back to the craft area. It's been too long! The kids all go to school on the 29th, even Patryk, who tested into FULL DAY kindergarten a year early (there are benefits to being a former preschool teacher!) Watch Khristen's Craft Room take off before your very eyes, not to mention the Arbonnizing (yes, I just made that word up, what of it?) of our area :) I plan to kick my businesses to the next level and cannot wait to have the opportunities presented to me when all 3 kids are in school. It's like a dream come true!

Hopefully posting more tomorrow. As for tonight, I'm off to get crafty!!

xoxo
Khristen

XOXO Challenge #32: A Challenge of Olympic Proportions

Olympics!! It's all over this house...the kids are begging to watch the coverage, and at night, they hold their own Olympics in the backyard. Their gymnastics routine wasn't exactly up to real Olympic standards, but cute to watch, and their Olympic soccer and yes, even bean bag toss, was almost exciting. I remember being young and thinking how amazing it would be to represent the US at the Olympics (that is, if I had an athletic bone in my body...besides running for fun and volleyball, I really wasn't that good at much else.) It's so great to see my kids get excited, and I think they've all decided to start swimming competitively...after they work on their strokes a bit first, of course! Patryk just had his first year of swim lessons, but already wants to start diving competitively (HA!). I love the dreams the Olympics inspires in all children, whether they compete or not.

At XOXO this month, we want you to be inspired by the Olympics yourself. Is it the rings, whether their shape or color? Is it the games themselves, creating for example a layout with pics from a sporting event? Show us how the Olympics inspire one of your layouts for a chance to become a guest designer! We are pretty fun to hang with on our Facebook page, I must admit ;-)

Ok...so I had received my July Scraptastic kits when I sat down to do this, and the colors of the Summer Picnic kit turned on the creative lightbulb. The colors in the Simple Stories Summer Fresh line screamed Olympics! I mean, seriously...

I then decided to use my rarely used Fiskars Shape Cutter and the circle template to cut the pictures which I arranged in Olympic ring-style. This is a great technique to put a lot of pics on a page that might include shots taken from a distance. Rather than keep all that useless background space, you can cut the important part out, making it easier to focus on the people and objects the layout is about.

 Passport Mister Huey, the free goodie for being a subscriber :)

 Love these Little Yellow Bicycle felt flowers with burlap leaves...they are in the add-on (which is unfortunately sold out!!)

 Sassafrass flowers: had to include them. They just matched so perfectly!

 A fun twine circle, made with the help of glue dots.

Don't forget to head over and submit your own Olympic project. Can't wait to see it! You have until the end of the month to play along.

We're off on our camping adventure Sunday morning, wish me luck and let's hope there's no rain! 5 people stuffed in a camper all week does NOT sound like much fun.

xoxo
Khristen

CCCB August Challenge: Friendship

Good morning! It's been a while since I've been able to sit at the computer for more than a couple of minutes, but here I am! We are madly preparing for our week long camping extravaganza next week, and with 3 rugrats, there is a LOT of prep necessary to assure everyone enjoys themselves. We plan to head to Lake Champlain for a week in a camper, a little Ben & Jerry's factory tour, an aquarium, some fishing, swimming, and hiking, and stopping at a museum of science on our way back to NH. Should be fun, but having this new camper (this is her maiden voyage, and as a tenter I am a little skeptical. What's wrong with sleeping in a tent? THAT'S camping!!)

Before we disappear into the wilderness, I have this beauty of a card to share. This month, the Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog is featuring projects with the theme of "friendship." CC has so many great stamps to celebrate friendship, but I just couldn't help but go with this SWALK - Wine of Friendship stamp set...and if you are my friend you know it is because of my intense love of wine!!!!!

 I used a 6X6 pad of Crate Paper's Random collection (actually it is one my 12 year old picked up for herself, I just begged for one sheet of each pattern!) for this one. Distressed the edges of the mat, inked the edges of the image, and rounded the corners with my CM corner rounder. Spectrum Noir markers to color the image, and a touch of Ranger Glossy Accents on the wine glasses and seat covers to make them shine :) Used a Heidi Swapp Color Magic banner misted with a couple of Mister Huey colors (Boss Lady and Water Cooler...I didn't wait long enough for it to dry after first spritzing with the Water Cooler, making it hard to see the Boss Lady at all!) Blossom Twinery twine to finish it off.

Likey? The hardest part: deciding who to give this to! Play along with us to win a $30 gift certificate to the Crafter's Companion store. Just head over to the challenge post to check the rules, and don't forget to see what the other designers have come up with. Hope to see you play along with us this month!

Have a lovely day,

xoxo
Khristen