Scrapbooking Sweet Memories --- Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

Happy Friday!

Lately, I've been in the mood to do some scrapbooking.  I have SO many supplies but SO little time! Ha!  The last time I worked on scrapbooks, I was inspired by this sweet picture of Selah.  One day last year, she dressed up pretty, had Lynzie do her hair, and asked me to do a photo shoot!

When I was going through the pictures, I was reminded of this one we took of her when she was just a few days old.  This was her first day at church and she was wearing Lynzie's red baby dress.

Jamie bought me this pretty Victorian scrapbooking paper with pinks and reds and beautiful roses.  In fact, he's bought me a bunch of this over the last few years but I've not used it as much as I would have liked to.  So, one day I put together this layout featuring her in the red dress...

...and the baby dress!  Why oh why do they have to grow up so quickly?

I made a couple other sets but have yet to fill them with pictures and embellishments.

This one is my favorite but I think I'll change out that weird white bow at the bottom left of the page on the right.  The lace was sent to me by a good friend from Finland whom I met on Bookcrossing.com.

What kinds of pretty projects have you been working on lately?  Do you have a favorite of my three layouts? 




<a href="http://www.bloggingwhilewaiting.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc418/lostinavalon1/Homemakinglinkup.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a> I'd love to have you join me for my Homemaking Link-Up Weekend.  Please link up your favorite posts and share the button on your blog so your friends can join too!

Blessings!

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Linking up with:
Homemaking Link-Up Weekend
Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound
Made With Love @ Sew Chatty 
What's In the Gunny Sack

Golden Tone Effect Challenge

My friend Rachel from Bubbly Nature Creations has been flexing her photo-recreating muscles today and has come up with a fun challenge!  She found an AWESOME site called, PicMonkey, where users can do all kinds of funky adjustments to photos for FREE!  She's even offered a tutorial to add a subtle (or not so subtle in my case) golden-tone to your photos using the site.  

Jamie took the photo on the top the day before yesterday when I was wanting a new profile pic for my various online communities.  This was one that could have been ok, but I wasn't totally thrilled with it.  But, now that I've messed around with it on PicMonkey, I think it's sorta groovy.  In fact, one time I went to visit my grandma and she had a picture of her mother, my great-grandma, on a table in her living room.  When she left the room, I quickly snapped a picture of it so I'd always know what she looked like.  It was taken the in early 70s but was really faded out so it had the same coloring as the one I just adjusted there on the bottom.  So...yeah, that was random ---but it's kinda cool in my mind.  

Anyway, I said all that to say this:  Go visit Rachel and check out her "Golden Tone" Effect Challenge and let me know how much you LOVE the PicMonkey site!

Adorable Hartstrings Easter Outfits #CBias

One of our family's Easter traditions is to get dressed up as adorably as possible!  I love to make my kids' Easter outfits; but, some years, that's just not feasible.  This year is one of those years, so I was so thrilled when I was given the opportunity to shop www.Hartstrings.com for a couple of cute items for Avalon and Liam!

Usually I go with one color and match everyone, but this year I thought I'd try mixing it up a little.  I normally put Avalon in pinks and purples so I decided to go a completely different direction by picking out a dress for her in blues and greens.  I knew that Liam, with his irresistible strawberry blonde hair, would be sweet in bright yellow!

When I got to the Hartstrings website, I was greeted with a pop-up window that invited me to enter my email for a 10% off coupon!  Being a savvy couponer, I jumped on that!  I looked around the site for a little bit and pinned a few things onto a Hartstrings Pinterest board that I created for future reference.  I had originally picked out a really adorable anchor-button dress for Avalon but then realized it was a newborn size!  Bummer!

One thing that I really liked about the selection on the site was that, in addition to there being lots of different colors to choose from, there were also many different styles to choose from.  This is something different from the cookie-cutter children's fashions I'm used to seeing in some other collections.

Other things I loved about the site included the mouse-over zoom to see products more clearly and the fact that, at checkout, I could see actual photos of what I'd chosen. This helped me remember what I was buying and made it easy for me to compare and make sure the colors would go well together. 

By this time, the 10% off code had been sent to my email so I was able to use that...and...I didn't realize that both the items I'd chosen were on sale!  So, with the sale price and promo code, I saved $25.35!  

At checkout, I do remember wishing that they accepted PayPal, as I do a lot of shopping with my PayPal balance.  But then, I remembered that I had a PayPal Debit Card so I was able to use that!  Yay!  I was excited to see that I was receiving Free Shipping, but I would later come to wish that there were other shipping options available.  

After receiving my shipping confirmation email three business days later, I ended up needing to call the company because the tracking link didn't work in the email.  I found out that they have quite a round-about way of getting their orders out to customers and I would have liked the option to pay to have my order shipped more quickly.  My tracking number was first scanned on the afternoon of the third business day after ordering.  I received it eight days later.  Even so, I'm glad I ordered these early enough to be able to match them with things the older kids have for our adorable Easter!

Our order arrived safe and sound and without a wrinkle!  I was impressed to open up the box and find these nicely packaged in plastic, pressed and folded!  I felt that this was a really professional presentation.  Avalon was so excited to put on her new dress that she was jumping up and down on my bed and clapping her hands!

I chose this tropical print for Avalon---it's just the right length and I love the ruffly capped sleeves.

I like the way this dress hangs and doesn't ride up when she walks.  Later, when I went to change her back out of it, I was surprised to find that it had pockets too!  The way they're cut into the dress, they're completely invisible!

I was totally sold on the crochet trim!

Liam's shirt fit him well and I could tell that he really felt grown up in it!  Both of these pieces were just the right size.  Avalon turned 3 a few weeks ago and I bought her a 3T.  Liam will be 2 in about 6 weeks and his shirt is a 24 month.

The fabrics are soft and comfortable...Liam just might take a little nap after this photo shoot!

When Avalon was born, we had several instances where daffodils ended up being her theme.  These bright colors and good quality items make me want to order more things for our little ones and do a great big family springtime photo shoot!

Happy Easter from Liam & Avalon!

To see more from Hartstrings, visit them here:

Hartstrings.com
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Facebook 

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  #CBias  All opinion are honest and are my own.

#MyHartstrings

Free As A Bird--Part Two!!: Blue Monday

Thanks for stopping by for Blue Monday! Please visit Smiling Sally for more great blue-themed posts!


Some of you may remember a post I did in August about the Blue Jay that kept eluding me! I was trying to take pictures of him for my Blue Monday post and he would NOT be still! You can find that post here.


Well, imagine my surprise one day as my son Cainan and I came up to the front steps after a shopping trip. It was a rainy, cold day and we found, all huddled up on the porch and only INCHES away from our cat's food dish...


The Bird!!! Can you believe that! It sat there for a really long time. So long, in fact, that I was worried it was hurt and couldn't fly off. I contemplated taking it's picture. What if the cat gets it? I would feel so bad knowing that the poor bird was in pain all that time and all I was concerned with was getting a great Blue Monday shot!

My husband said to go ahead and take the picture because if he ended up being fine then I'd really regret it. Turns out, he was just resting awhile! So...here he is! I suppose he's just trying to make up for leading me on for so long this summer!

Hope everyone has a great Blue Monday!

What's Your Answer Wednesday: My Home

Welcome to "What's Your Answer Wednesday". Would you like to receive weekly emails so you know the topic a few days early? Let me know in the comments below or through private message---be sure to leave your email address!



No matter what stage in life we are in or what activities and responsibilities make up our days, all of us have some place that serves as our living space---it is to that I am referring when I use the term, "home". This week the meme question will be: "What is (or are) some thing(s) that you love about your current home?"

(Please click the pictures to enlarge!) The thing I love most about my home is that there is a place for everything! This is the first time in a REALLY long time that I've had a place for everything and everything in it's place! My house is organized and free of clutter so I am able to spend time decorating, rearranging, and being creative in blessing others in and through my home! This has been a huge step for me as I spent way too many years with a cluttery, disorganized mess!

The number one thing that has contributed to my clean home is my dishwasher. With a family of 9, it is almost impossible to keep up on dish washing without a dishwasher!! I know because I've done it for the majority of 12 years of marriage! When we moved into this house in January and I began using the dishwasher, I was amazed at how much time it left me to do all the other chores!

Another thing I love in my house are fresh flowers. Since about April, I've tried to always have some fresh flowers around. I am very frugal with them: picking out the dead ones, replacing the water, making new (and progressively smaller) arrangements until they're all dead! I like to see how long I can get them to last!

Thirdly, I love my collections. I collect all kinds of things! Old books, crocheted pot holders, tea stuff, Amish things, vintage cutting boards...all kinds of things! I love to decorate with my collections!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Free As A Bird: Blue Monday

Happy Blue Monday!

If you've got some time, visit Smiling Sally for more Blue Monday participants!

Last Day!!!: I'm hosting a giveaway in honor of my new linking party! Read through for details!


No kidding: I have spent this entire week trying to get a shot at this crazy blue bird that has been squawking outside my window for...ever. (Please click on the pictures to enlarge them).
I've been hearing him all day long, every day...but thought it was just a noisy ol' crow or something. Then my kids came in early last week and said they saw this blue bird in the tree outside my bedroom and could I hear it?

BLUE!!! I immediately thought of all my Blue Monday friends and knew I should try and get some pics. I grabbed my husbands good camera, opened up the door and got the shot above. Then the chase began! He immediately dove into a tree:Can you see his outline there? After that, I decided to shoot him (uh...photograph him---though, after the week I've had with him, I'm ready to shoot him now!!!) from my bedroom window--less noisy that way.
I've spent this whole week listening for his awful squawk and running to try and get a good shot.

I've wanted you all to get to see his pretty blue feathers. He's got black, spiky hair and slick black and blue feathers. When he's standing up and far away, he looks black but when he gets up close, he's obviously blue:
The kids are saying he's a blue jay but I don't think so.
This is definitely one bird who thinks it's better to be heard and not seen! Alright, Mr. Bird, it's Blue Monday and I've done the best I could. Go back to your life of freedom and freely taking off with my Rhododendron buds. I'll leave you alone now!
GIVEAWAY: I'm hosting a giveaway in honor of my new Wednesday linking party. Click HERE for up to 5 chances to win!

Reminiscing: Wordless Wednesday

Seriously...did you really think I'd be able to publish a WORDLESS post? Well, I came close anyway... Linking up with Wordless Wednesday at wordlesswednesday.com, as well as at the Miller Racing Family blog. Happy Wordless Wednesday!
ALSO!! I'm hosting a giveaway in honor of my new Wednesday linking party. Click HERE for up to 5 chances to win!

Wordless Wednesday: Cainan's First Year of Baseball

Here's our 5 year old Cainan at a recent baseball practice. He's a fierce one!

Click here to see other Wordless Wednesday participants.

Wordless Wednesday

My husband caught this most awesome shot as he was coming in from work last night. The baby snail was less than a half inch long!

I'm not sure what blessed me most: the fact that we got to see such a sweet little shot or the fact that my husband is the kind of guy that takes the time to admire Creation and all it's miracles!

Click here to see other Wordless Wednesday participants.

Wordless Wednesday

This is a picture my husband took recently as we drove through a nearby neighborhood in Northern Washington.