Beautiful Thailand

I just got back from a 2 week trip to Phuket, Thailand . . . Wow!  Really . . there are no words to describe the country, the people, the culture  . . . it was AMAZING!  My mom, sister and I went over for my brother's wedding.  Here are a handful of photos of some of our adventures:

We only spent one day at the beach - Nai Harn Beach - beautiful!

My sister & I at the Fish Spa - yikes - look at the grip she has on my leg!

We had to take an elephant ride . . . don't have to do it again, but we can say we did it once!

Ellen and I with our cold drinks after the elephant ride:

My brother and Nu during the wedding ceremony - awesome!

My brother with his son and step-daughter - such a beautiful family!

My brother, sister, Mom, Nu and I at the wedding reception - such a great time!!

Bo, Nu and Sam

The sun coming up as we swam in the pool on our first full day in Phuket:

The beach at the gypsy village in Rawai:

Pina Colodas by the pool!

We went up to Big Buddha and were all blessed by the monk - very cool!

Patong - or "Crazy Town" as we called it - wowzer!

Finding our chairs at Nai Harn beach:

Mom, El and I sipping coconut water at a very cool bar on the way to Kata:

It's been raining (really hard) on the Olympic Peninsula the last few days . . . . *sigh* . . . I miss Thailand and my brother.  Can't wait to go back again.

Now I need to get busy and get an album together of my trip . . . I saved everything (currency, receipts, ticket stubs, etc.) and took TONS of pics . . .so I just need to put it all together in an album so I can show everyone what an amazing trip it was!

More later!

Evening boat ride . . .

on Lake Sutherland tonight . . . we took the boys and their cousin for a boat ride . . . it was beautiful . . .



Heading to Seattle tomorrow to take my niece home . . . back this weekend to post photos of our adventures and some more Project Life pages I've completed.

Thanks for stopping by . . . enjoy your day!

Wrapping up some old layouts . . .

I created these layouts several months ago (emphasis on "several") and finally got around to finishing them with journaling, etc. yesterday - woohoo!  Here they are:

Joe's 6th birthday - we always celebrate with just family on the actual day if it falls during the week, which Joe's did last year.  Then we have the big party on the weekend with friends, etc.  This was our quiet little family celebration, complete with Snuggie and all :-)

I love these photos of my brother, sister and I that we took in a Scottish Pub in Victoria, B.C. (a quick hour ferry ride from my home in Port Angeles).  We had a great time that day . . . and these photos make me smile remembering it!  Mom was there too, but she isn't in these photos!

Last one today . . . my sweet Joey . . . I had this sheet of paper and a totally different photo of Joe set up to scrap but it just hadn't been working for me so I never finished it.  And, totally separate . . .  I've had these pictures of Joe sitting on my scrap desk for (dare I say) a year (is it just me or does anyone else do this - ack!!) . . . I put the two together (paper and photos) and it just worked perfectly . . . I added some embellishments and some alpha letters and I am sooooo happy with the finished layout!  Isn't he just the sweetest little bug!

That's it for today . . . still hoping the sun will come out for camp this afternoon.  I'll try to get some good garden shots tomorrow morning (they would be better in the sunshine!) and post.

Thanks for stopping by . . . enjoy your day!

Cub scout day camp week

We're busy with Cub Scout Day Camp this week but I'm going to try to get to some posts since our camp doesn't start until 3:00 each day.  I've got some garden photos to share also . . . I'll try to dig up some before photos so you can see how far we've come . . . whew . . . almost done with that project!

I've been busy . . . cleaning my scraproom, painting my greenhouse, working in the yard and keeping up with my Project Life.  I've even manages to complete 5 layouts that needed journaling or embellishments so now I'm ready to start some new projects - oh yeah, besides stripping and staining my kitchen cupboards that is.  Yikes!

Stay tuned for new posts this week.  Lavendar Festival in Sequim this weekend . . . my mom, sis and niece are coming over.  Never a dull moment here on the Olympic Peninsula!

Enjoy your day!

New garden chair

I purchased this adorable bent wicker chair from one of the highschool students who was making (and selling) them to earn money to participate in a CTE competition . . . I got it for a great price and I knew it would go perfectly in my new garden!! I was thrilled to finally pick it up today!

The garden is almost done . . . just a little paint (and a roof) on my greenhouse and some pea gravel and we'll be DONE!  I'll post before and after photos as soon as the last of the work is complete.  It's been a long process . . . we started our complete backyard renovation last summer.  Glad to be able to enjoy it this summer . . . from my new chair!

Thanks for stopping by . . . enjoy your day!

Teacher Thank Yous

The boys and I ventured out today to get some nice flower baskets for their teachers since tomorrow is the last day of school (woohoo!!).  Aren't they adorable?!

I made the sweet tags the other day (totally scraplifted from MishMash - love her style) and added some fun teacher notepads I found at WalMart a few months ago.

My oldest son made this cute little list on one of the notepads in his teacher's packet:

Such fun putting all of this together for their wonderful teachers!  It's been a bit of a trying year for both boys (struggles in math and with independence - perhaps a little 'boundary testing') and I know they are really looking forward to summer vacation - so am I!!

Thanks for stopping by and . . . enjoy your day!

Felt in the shop

I just added some cute felt embellishments to the shop:

Here is a Project Life day I just completed - our Cubscout BBQ out at Salt Creek today . . . I love using the little banner tabs on layouts and cards too.  If you like them, stop by the shop and grab some.

Thanks for stopping by . . . have a great day!

PaperGarden

Here's a sample of one of the fun items I have in my shop:

These are great for Project Life and on scrapbook layouts.  Here's a recent Project Life page I made using one my Days of the Week Tags:

I'm working on a fun new embellishment for the shop (and my Project Life) tonight . . . I'll post a picture tomorrow so you can get them while I have them in stock!

Thanks for stopping by . . . have a great night!

New venture

I spend so much time working on my Project Life book these days and I see so much product online, that I've decided to make my own embellishments for my PL book as well as my scrapbook pages.  I thought some of you might enjoy them as well, so I've opened up shop!

Check out my fun stuff here!  Why PaperGarden? Because that name incorporates two of my favorite things (besides my family!) . . . papercrafting and gardening.  Eventually, I'm hoping to expand into fun things for the garden . . . but for now it's all about paper (tags, journaling cards, etc.) and some fun felt embellishments I'm working on.  I'd love for you to stop by and check it out . . . maybe even order a set of fun tags for your projects.

Thanks for stopping by . . . . have a great weekend!

PROJECT LIFE - Weeks 1 thru 4

I didn't want to unload all of my pages on you at once, so I'm just posting 4 weeks at a time for now . . . until I've caught you up . . . and then I'll post week by week . . . assuming I stay caught up!

Here are weeks 1 and 2 . . . as I mentioned in an earlier post, the thing that ended up working best for me and that helps me to keep my PL doable every week, is to only do 1 page per week. If I happen to have more happenings (more photos, journaling, etc.) than I will go to 1 1/2 or 2 pages per week . . it just depends on the week. I like the flexibility that allows me . . . giving myself permission to slack now and then is a good thing!

Here is Week 1 only (sorry for the terrible photo - I'm working on this!):

Here is week 2:

Weeks 3 and 4:

I'm really working on more embellishments and fun stuff in my PL . . you'll see that in some of my more recent stuff. I'll post the next 4 weeks tomorrow with some close ups.

Thanks for stopping by. . . Enjoy your day!

A new look

I've been playing around with my blog layout this morning . . . looking for a fresh new look since Spring is in the air! Hope you like the changes . . . tried to incorporate some of my own photos in the blog title, but unsure how exactly to shrink my photos enough so that I can put a row of small photos in the title. If any of you know how to do that and can help me, I'd appreciate it.

Project Life photos will be posted after lunch!

Skateboard lessons and simple ribbon cards

I got my first Studio Calico kit in the mail yesterday (add on kit Montmarte) and had to play with it! I totally scraplifted this layout from the SC Blog (see Valerie Bishop's recent layout) and love it!

My 9 year old was giving my 6 year old skateboarding lessons in these photos . . . I just adore these pictures and love the way the layout turned out (although I need to practice my misting skills a bit more . . . maybe a bit heavy in this layout!?!?). After I uploaded this photo I added a line underneath the date that says "Skateboard lessons with Josh" since I want to remember exactly what these photos were capturing.

A close up of some of the fun embellishments:

And . . . since I was lifting ideas . . . I saw these simple cards on Lawn Fawn and I have so much ribbon (and so little time) . . . I had to try these quick little cuties . . .

Trying to get caught up with my Project Life (about 2 weeks behind), so I'll get those photos posted tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy your day!

A sweet smile and a great camping trip . .

Today I'm posting two different layouts I recently completed . . .

The first one . . . of my youngest son in our backyard on a warm summer day in 2009 (ya, I know . . I'm a little slow in getting to some of my photos sometimes . . LOL).

I love these photos of Joe . . I love that floppy camo hat and those sunglasses and his adorable little preppy shorts. I knew I was going to scrap these photos as soon as I saw them printed and I wanted to keep them all together, so I scrapped them in a bit of a cluster with one of my favorites (think he looks so cute with his hands in his pockets and those sweet bare feet - a kid after my own heart) blown up to 8x10 on the left page. . .

Close up of the left page:

Close up of the right page:

The second layout is some photos from a camping trip we took in the summer of 2009 to Dungeness Campground in Sequim . . .we had so much fun at that campground! We were camped with some good friends of ours . . . our spots were right across from the playground . . it was crab season so we dined on fresh caught crab and Chinese camp food - gotta love that! Our good friends are from Hong Kong and let me tell you . . . if you want some awesome camp food, you need to hang with the Fus! Pork lettuce wraps like you've never tasted before - makes me hungry just thinking about it!

Anyway, we took hikes out to the Dungeness Spit - longest spit in the world (just in case you were wondering *grin*) . . . and rode bikes around the loops through the campground. Of course, my only pictures are of the playground - ha! But it was a great camping weekend . . . one we definately need to repeat!

Close up of the left page:

Close up of the right page:

That's it for today . . . I'm hoping to wrap up my Project Life pages today and post them as soon as I can get good photos (hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday) . . . I'm excited to share my pages and let you know the system that is finally working for me!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

My Project Life . . . coming soon!

I'm ecstatic about Project Life this year . . .
I bought my kit in March of last year
I was so excited to do it, but I got so far behind . . . so quickly.

I don't have (make) time to go out to Walmart and order pictures.
For one thing I usually have the boys with me and they don't have the patience
(nor do I) to sit there for an hour and go through my photos.

I even tried ordering them online, but it just takes to long to upload, etc, etc, etc. . .
so . . . .
my Project Life sat and sat . . .

But now . . . a New Year and a fresh start!
I'm excited all over again and . . . . I have a plan. . . a process, if you will . . .

Part 1 of MPLP (My Project Life Plan) - I got a Canon Selphy for Christmas . . .
now it is so easy to print out my pictures
daily/weekly - however often I want to print them!

Part 2 of MPLP - On January 1st I started a daily journal - I just jot down a few sentences every night before I go to bed about what we did that day, the weather, etc. Simple, not too thoughtful, nothing deep, just notes about the day.

Part 3 of MPLP - I still take tons of photos and the date I take the photos is recorded in my camera . . . so . . .

if you put them all together, I can piece together a week quite easily by looking through my photos and reviewing my journal . . .

I run to my Selphy and . . . VOILA! Project Life is happenin' in my house!

Simply put . . I love it!

I'm finishing up my 3rd week of January . . .
. . .how's that for a good start to the year!

Another thing that helped me . . . (baby steps) . . . is I'm doing 1 page (rather than 2) per week. It's more doable for me right now . . .
I may find that I need 2 pages if I continue to make this process work . .

but for now, the one page per week is working for me!

Gonna run now because I'm going to try to work on some embellishing tonight . .
hopefully by this weekend then I'll be ready to post my first 3 (completed) weeks here . . .
for all the world to see . . .
yikes!

Hope you all approve! *grin*

Have a great night!

Brothers

One of my favorite photos of the boys . . . taken in the summer of 2007 . . . Joe was 2 and Josh was 5. The paper is from a new pack I got at Joanne's (Colorbok - Flea Market). I got the adorable quote tag at Doodlebugs in Sequim . . it says

"He is mine. I am my Brother and my brother is me. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson"

I love this layout - fun. simple. and aren't they so sweet!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Captain Josh

It's fun to do layouts from pictures that are several years old . . . takes me back to when my kids were really little . . . this layout is a perfect example. I've always loved these photos of my oldest son, Josh. I took them when he was 2 years old . . we were camping out at SilverKing Resort . . . which is no longer open to the public for camping (we missed out on our opportunity to buy a camping spot when they went up for sale to the public - dang!).

Jim let Josh drive the boat and Josh looked right at home at the helm! So cute . . love the lip in the middle photo!

Left page:

Right page:

I've got other layouts I've done lately that I'll get uploaded so I can post tomorrow. We're on our 3rd snow day now . . . and it's snowing like crazy outside as I post here, so we may be looking at having an entire week off due to snow! Wow!

Enjoy your day!

Animal Lover

My youngest son, Joe, is a total animal lover . . . he loves all animals and is so amazingly caring. He'll be 7 in March and is the sweetest boy. We have accumulated pets (cat, fish, bunny) in part due to his desire to be around animals. My husband and I think he'll be a veternarian when he grows up! Animals are just drawn to that kid . . it really is something.

Anyway, this is a layout I did a while ago but I've never posted . . it's using an older CTMH special offer kit called Felicity. In these photos he was hanging out with with my mother-in-laws dog while we were taking care of him for her.

Left side:

Right side:

Enjoy your day!

Simple scrap Thank You cards and . . . Winter!

I always enjoy making Thank You cards because we usually have so many to send that it's a great opportunity for me to use up scraps - which, if you are like me, you have an over abundance of! Here are the Thank You cards the boys sent out to family/friends for Christmas gifts. Fun, simple and quick!

And last night we got a bit of snow, which rapidly froze . . . and when we woke up this morning, it was snowing like crazy. Not much has accumulated, but it's our first snow of the winter and the boys are having a blast playing in it! Supposed to stick around for a couple days and maybe even snow a bit more tonight and tomorrow . . . so Happy Winter!

Hope you enjoy your day!

Papa and Joe

I did this page quite a while ago and always loved it, but since my Dad's passing right after Thanksgiving it has become very near and dear to my heart. Photo was taken on my son's 2nd birthday in 2007. Love you, Dad.