Verbally Challenged

Holiday shopping and other peoples art – it’s the perfect combination for me right now! One thing that I adore about holiday shopping is really personalizing my gifts – finding that one thing a person may not think about getting for themselves (perhaps they never even knew that it existed). I’ve even treated myself to a few things lately – just because I’ve been good on the scrapbooking front. Love that!!! While I can’t share everywhere that I’ve been shopping (because of who reads this), I can share some places that maybe you’ll have some success with if you’re looking for unique items!!!

Let’s talk handbags! I love this shop – Prickly Pear. The bags are adorable with fantastic colors and designs – I seriously love EVERYTHING in the shop. How often can you say that?

And there is another handbag shop on Etsy that I recently made a purchase from. You can see some of her things here – they are very well made and the shipping was super fast!

Let’s see – kids (or babies). This is another personal purchase I’ve recently made because I just can’t resist hats. Liam had a HUGE hat collection as a baby and while I’ve pulled it out again for this one, you can always use more!!! This etsy store, The Portland Beanie Company, has tons of crocheted items to choose from in a variety of colors that fits a boy and/or girl! And make sure you check out the little shoes – adorable!!! I can honestly say that between this shop and my mother-in-law (who is a FANTASTIC knitter) – this baby will have the best-dressed head!!!

Jewelry! I’m a SUCKER for jewelry!!! And while I wouldn’t mind the Tiffany box occasionally, I certainly don’t need it all of the time! And hopefully a few people on my Christmas list feels the same way!!! I’m loving the necklaces at a shop called Art School Dropout. Gorgeous things there and the stuff moves fast!

Also check out Creative Sparks Studio for some other unique and beautiful jewelry creations! The shop owner Bethany is a doll to work with! I met her back in April when she made some photo tile necklaces for me (Mother’s Day gifts). They were a HUGE hit (and I love mine as well)! Plus Bethany is a scrapbooker – love that!!!

I also like the pendants created by Block Party Press. While they’re made from clay, they remind me of old vintage tiles on a smaller scale – super charming and you can’t beat the price!

And while this isn’t a shop – it makes me happy. Kathy Wolfe is the gal who did my maternity shoot a few weeks ago. She is beyond incredible with the camera and if you saw the moments she captured (paired with a horribly uncooperative little boy) you’d understand. She has inspired me to work with my camera, again. I swear it comes in spurts where I want to learn more, I NEED to learn more. I’m there again. And yesterday I had a little photo session with Liam who was awesome – made me proud. I captured a shot of my little guy that I love. It makes me happy.

So that’s all for today! If you have any shops that make you happy and I “need” to check out – share them with me will you? I’m always looking for new places! Have a fab night!

I’ve been enjoying real life – family life. Doing what I want to do. Scrapbooking has been on the back burner. Not because I don’t love it but because I haven’t been inspired or had the itch to get creating. Instead, I’ve been organizing my studio (almost there). Getting the nursery together, clothes unpacked, washed and new items purchased. Christmas shopping (and wrapping). Lists made and things crossed off – LOVE that feeling! Volunteering at Liam’s school . Doctor’s appointments. And time with Liam – the most precious to me. Soon he’ll be sharing his mommy and I’m sure that’ll be difficult for both of us. Tonight we watched Charlie Brown’s Christmas on the couch, under the covers, eating wheat thins and drinking milk (well no milk for me) – it was priceless. One of those memories I’ll treasure forever – just us. That’s what I’ve been up to.

I think that sometimes the scrapbooking deadlines get in the way of my real life. They start to take priority and I shuffle my family time around to give me more creative time. While I still need that “me” time to clear my head, I find that the family time gives me more satisfaction than any scrapbook page ever will. Just something that I need to keep in mind.

More from me tomorrow! Have a great night!

tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber…aka Lucy and Audrey. They’re going to be the death of me. Whether it’s the barking, pioneering escapes from the laundry room with muddy feet or being constantly underfoot (because you know I starve them) – I just can’t take it. Heck, let’s throw in the bad breath for good measure. While I’m sure they can charm the pants off of someone, I’ve had it! The sweet disposition and twitching eyebrows just aren’t gonna cut it much longer!

If they don’t look out – they’ll be hitting the streets!

At least they’ll have each other.

At least they’ll have each other.

Figured I’d be keep this blog business going now that I’m somewhat consistent again. Somewhat! It’s bound to head down again as life throws me another curve ball – we all get them – and we always bounce back!

I have a lot to finish up before Liam gets up from his nap so I’ll keep it short. And because you’d probably rather not hear about my love for Clementines right now (even though I’m pretty much obsessed with them and probably have the stomach ulcers to show for it) – I’ll share with you my other love. My boy and a book. It’s another Hall of Fame layout.

This one was published (I think) and it’s one of my favorites. It was for the assignment where we had to use patterned paper, ribbon and rub-ons. I tried to think outside of the box with it – adhering the ribbons to the chipboard letter “u” and adding all of the heart rub-ons to the base of my beaded heart flower stalk (gosh does that make ANY sense!).

I’m including the journaling since it is small and helps you understand the title a bit.

Hope you’re having a fab Saturday!

Journaling:
“Every shovel loves a pail. Every monkey loves a tail. Every wave loves a whale. And I love you. Every flower loves a bee. Every lock loves a key. Every bird loves a tree. And I love you.”

This is an excerpt from a children’s book called “I love you” by Jean Marzollo. It’s a different style of book, read with pictures and words. And the story inside couldn’t get any better.

I purchased this book two years ago because I loved the title. Still learning about what books are best for children (after all, we were new to this kind of stuff) I purchased many books based on pretty illustrations, color and message – this one included. I never thought that a story told with a few words, pictures and simple repetition could be so fun and rewarding for you. This book was special. We probably read it you 50 times a week!

Over the past week, you and daddy rediscovered this book. And soon enough, you picked up the pattern. You could see the little pictures indicating the words in the story and you began reading! Granted it’s only half reading because you’re looking at photos – but it’s a start and introduces the idea behind reading such as following the lines, moving left to right as well as beginning and end.

At three years old you can read this entire book, and you are one proud little boy. Everyone that walks through the door gets to hear the story and it always puts a smile on their face as you declare, “I love you.” What a fantastic book!

So tonight we did something that was fun and totally up my alley – light up night! Actually it was light up night in a little area where Nate works – NOT the one in the city that I fear may stress me out with the crowds and crazy people! Nate works in the cutest little neighborhood with small businesses and boutiques – very quaint and Funny Farm if you know the movie. Well tonight they lit up the streets, lit little bonfires and all of the businesses open up, handing out different treats, hot chocolate and apple cider. There were balloons and glow sticks for the kids, the streets were blocked off for safety – it just felt really good. It’s filling me up for the holiday!!!

And I think that there was some sort of pre-Christmas miracle going on tonight because Liam WANTED to go and meet Santa! Usually he’ll wave from a good thirty feet away but that’s about all – no interest in the man in the big red suit. But today – he went right up to him and was ready for a photo. Now normally I don’t take my camera out at night because my night photos stink, I never carry a tripod and I hate the flash – but I had the whole guilty mom thing going on when I went to leave without it (since the camera IS like my second child). But it’s a good thing because I got a picture (or ten) of Liam with Santa (and the Polaroid that they give you). Like I said – it’s a pre-Christmas miracle.

So not the worlds best photo but for my boy it’s great! And Santa was on a white background instead of that mess they have going on at the mall (sorry mall display people).

Who would have thought that we’d see Santa before Thanksgiving, next year it’ll be Halloween.

Having a very happy day today. LOVE those days! I got to do a little shopping this morning while Liam was at school. I know that the holidays freak some people out – the crowds, traffic, store rushes – but I find enjoyment in it all. The Christmas music makes me smile – add in the lights and decorations and I’m all set! So this morning I stopped in Bath and Body Works to get some of the new holiday hand soaps. Darned skin allergies prevent me from using all of the other yummy stuff in that store – but hand soap I can do (plus it looks nice in the bathroom)! Walking into that store felt SO GOOD! Granted it’s just a Bath and Body works but their displays were gorgeous, it smelled fantastic, the music was playing and I instantly wanted to come home and start decorating! And it’s not even Thanksgiving!!! So now here I sit, trying to decide if I should light my fall pumpkin candles or bust out the pine, peppermint and holly berry ones. Tough decisions I tell ya!

One thing that I do have all ready to go for the holiday is my advent calendar. I made this one last year for BasicGrey – creating 25 cards, a canvas and bulldog clips. It was such a fun project to do!

This year I was going to update some of the photos from that calendar and realized that I still loved those photos because they captured the previous year. So, I made a new calendar – this time with the Piggy Tales Gingerbread Man collection. These papers match my family room really well!!! So instead of a canvas I used a frame removed the backing and glass and began building. It has the same idea as last years, flipping one disc over each day revealing a new family photo. Again, it was really fun to do and I think that Liam will really enjoy it! Heck, I’m using BOTH calendars!

Enjoy!

Did you ever have one off those weeks that you look back on and wonder how you did it? A week so jam-packed with stuff that you just kept going? That was my week. And I think that I should get a little extra credit considering the trauma that I went through at my photo shoot on Tuesday. I may be scarred for life with that one.

Things seemed to have settled down a bit today. It’s a good day – Nate’s birthday. Ask him how old he is and he’ll tell you 25. He told Liam to tell anyone who asks him that he’s 25. Didn’t anyone ever tell him that you shouldn’t teach your children to lie? The reality is that he’s a thirty something. I’ll leave that one up to him to disclose but he’s a thirty something and while he has a while, I think that he’s looking forward to 40 so that he can have a mid-life crisis. He wants the car. Maybe I can convince his to get a mini and we’ll both win. Think it’s sporty enough?

Because of my hectic week I have nothing creative to share – shame on me right? Wait, Liam and I made a birthday card but I don’t have it photographed and considering my four year old assistant designed it – it’s not quite MY style. But it is still cute. Instead I’ll share one of my Hall of Fame pages. This one is about a Christmas gift that I got for Nate three years ago. Lucky dude. The journaling is below.

And then because I’ve had folks ask, here is a photo of me that Nate took this morning. It’s a bit grainy but I had to bump the film speed up because it was super dreary outside and I didn’t want the flash on! Check out the torpedo belly!!!

Hopefully, I’ll have some of the professional shots to share sometime soon!

Happy Saturday!

Journaling:
When it comes to gift giving around the holidays, I try to be unique. I spend months trying to come up with the perfect gift, the one nobody would ever think of, let alone expect. On this particular Christmas, I hit a home run by giving a gift that I’ll never be able to top. It’s a classic gift and will be treasured forever – a 1959 Vespa Allstate.

This gift was a complete surprise to even myself, especially considering the fact that I hate motorcycles! In my world, they’re unsafe and really unnecessary considering the practical four door alternative. My husband didn’t share my views. Nate loved Vespas (new and vintage- he was constantly reading about them on the internet and at the bookstore).

So, the seed was planted. But where does a girl find a vintage Vespa? I began my research. I stalked newspaper ads and even communicated with a store in Chicago (we live in PA). In the end, I found one within a couple of hours over in Canton, Ohio. The white haired gentleman selling this scooter was darling. At one time, scooters were a hobby for him and now he was getting older and wanted to spend more time with his family. His grandson’s loss was my gain (you should’ve seen their faces when I drove off with ‘their’ scooter… I felt terrible).

I wrapped the keys along with a photo on Christmas morning, and I’ll never forget the look of happiness and utter confusion on Nate’s face when he finally figured out what was going on. Where was my camera!!! And to top it all off, my dad went the extra mile for me and displayed the bike beautifully for him, all propped up with spotlights. It was amazing and truly the most fun gift I could have ever given!

Seriously, that just about sums up my afternoon. And fortunately I was NOT the shooter – or I would have left. I had a really nice gal come over and take some maternity photos of me with baby belly and…ahem…Liam with the belly as well. I’m happy to report that I did my part – smiled, posed, wardrobe change – the whole number. Liam on the other hand…not so well. Now normally my little dude has great manners – although this gal seriously doubts that right now I’m sure. And he normally listens and doesn’t act like a complete maniac – normally. Today – all bets were off and he was beyond awful. And really I hate saying that about my little dude because I’m lucky – really lucky 90% of the time. Sure we have our moments but he’s respectful and uses his manners with a little prompting if not without.

Today – he was WAY off. And what do you do? I wanted him in the photos loving his mama – he wanted his pumpkins (all four of them) in the photos. I wanted him to kiss my belly – he wanted to jab his finger repeatedly into my belly button. I wanted him to give my belly a big hug – he wanted to hug and hang from my belly. I wanted him to put down the bongos – he wanted to throw them at the photographer. It was ugly. And what do you do? Give in and say fine, no photos with my little boy and new baby on the way? Move forward with the normal disciplinary tactics, usually resulting in a major crying fit – hence the red face, eyes and tears in the photos? Or calmly try to bribe the maniac child with something else while biting your tongue, trying not to draw blood and hope maybe the photographer can grab ONE lucky shot? I opted for three – HOPING for just ONE shot. It’s not like I can give up and try again next month. We’ll see what happens.

And while we’re on the subject, why not post this from my HOF entry.

Sure it was the one posted online but I’m adding the journaling because it fits my day. It’s real. Not all of my layouts are about the perfect boy because folks, he’s not perfect (is any child?)!

So here goes the journaling and I hope tomorrow is a better day!

Journaling:
This is only a test…beeeeeeeeeeeeep. That’s what goes through my mind every time the crying starts. It’s not so much the, “I-hurt-myself-and-need-a-hug” crying that gets to me – but the “you’re-a-mean-mommy-and-I’m-going-to-let-you-know-it” wails that send my blood pressure skyrocketing.

It’s the crying that starts with a simple “no” and escalates from there. The whining is kicked up a notch, the foot stomping begins and before too long, the eyes are welling up with tears and the screaming begins. I’m left standing there, helpless, unable to reason with the screaming three year old that the volume really does need to go down a little.

These episodes are tests for parents. They test our patience, our ability to stand firm with disciplinary tactics, our coping mechanisms and sometimes our sanity. It’s really tough sometimes.

So I’ve found that whenever ones of these crying outbursts begin, my mind reverts to the national broadcasting system and “this is only a test” – beeeeeeeeeeep. Because sometimes, the monotonous beep is a welcome break from the stomping, screaming and whining of Liam The Loud!

Not much time to post right now since Nate and I are in the middle of a movie (LOVE my laptop buddy)! But I wanted to post a couple of quick photos of Liam is his bat costume. I didn’t really get any good shots this year…black is HARD to photograph…especially at night! But I’m hoping he’ll want to play in it and I can get a few of him outside during the day. I love me some natural light…especially with a black silky cape. We’ll see what happens.

Hope you’re having a fab weekend!!!