Birthday Card and a Hiding Cat

I dug out an oldie but goody paper collection...Bella Blvd's Birthday Girl and made this card to share with you today. With all the bright colors it's perfect for celebrating a spring birthday, don't you think? 

(Buy Now - $4.99)

Ahhh....I never get tired of playing with paper!

Around here the cats are hiding because there's a plumber here to do some upgrades to our toilets. Did you know that parts should be replaced about every ten years because they wear and can cause water waste? Who knew!

So, I wonder where Latte is hiding? :) Funny boy thinks he's well hidden under the dresser!

Thanks for the Memories

Time flies when you're having fun and this year raced by! I'm so thankful for this hobby of ours, documenting life, because it zooms by so quickly!

Two of our nieces were here last night looking at some of our scrapbooks from 20 years ago when we took them to Disney Land and the S.F. Zoo. It was fun reminiscing over those trips and what each of us remembered.

Speaking of scrapbooks...this recently made page features one of my favorite photos of our big boy Latte.

He's so sweet! So fluffy! And has the most beautiful green eyes! I adore this cat!

I used an old Bella Blvd. collection called Spring Flings and Easter Things.

For the sake of time flying by at the speed of light and wanting to preserve life's little ordinary and wonderful moments, I've finally decided to do a Project Life album this year. I hope I'll be able to keep up and look forward to sharing our pages with you.

Happy New Year!

Our Boy

Hello!

We're closing in on another weekend! :) That always makes me happy!

Another thing that makes me very happy are these big green eyes! They melt my heart every time I look into them! 

Scrapping a happy subject calls for the Happy Go Lucky collection from Pebbles.

I love all the color and fun accents from this line!

Buttons, flags and flowers....there's a little bit of everything!

Brads, stickers and glittered candy dots too!

Every once in a while I have to create a pet page! Our pets mean the world to us!

Hope you're having a great week! Thank you so much for your visit!

All You Need is Love and a Cat

Hi!

I'm so excited that it's going to be 75 degrees today! That's about as perfect as you can get! I absolutely love days like these when you can open the windows, let the fresh air in and hear the birds outside! Ah....it's the littlest things that make me the happiest!

Another little thing that makes me very happy is our kitty cat, Latte. He's the fluffiest lump of love and a such a wonderful companion! He (the boss) spends his mornings with me in the office, laying on his beloved cardboard couch, basking in the sun!

Anyway, I've been working on a scrapbook page of Latte. A page that's inspired by one of my all-time favorite scrappers, Kinsey Wilson. She and I are hand stitchers and she is known for her detailed stitchy designs! If you don't know of her or her work, you really have to go take a peek...I promise you you will be awed and inspired!

So I wanted to create my own stitching pattern/creation and came up with this...

If you would like to see any of the photos in more detail, click on any of them to enlarge.

This pattern was cut using the Silhouette. I used negative and positive parts of the die cut as a guide for stitching.

I used some of the die pieces throughout my layout.

Here's another one of the manila tags with reverse die lettering...I made a bunch of them recently.

I thought some vellum butterflies would make a great accent as you can imagine a kitty cat watching them flutter about.

The title is also a Silhouette die cut. It's a new one that I just had to have! ;)

This project was created just for the sake of playing. I think it helps take the pressure off of having to come up with something exceptional as with design team assignments. Playing freely is relaxing and I think the results help to boost creativity.

So, I'll show you a few photos of our kitty kitty. He's just so lazy and funny!

Here he is next to his favorite cardboard 'couch'. He starts out curled up on it, but when he really gets sleepy and wants to get comfortable, he rolls off the side! It's really funny...he just spills over the edge!

After sleeping on one side for a spell, he'll rooooollll the other way! He's had plenty of sun on his back so now it's time to warm his belly! ;)

Here's a close up of that fluffy furry tummy! I'm sure you can imagine the large dust bunnies that waft around our home with this belly and a brother who is equally fuzzy!

This guy's got fuzzy fur feet to match! See that eye peeking at me...I don't think he's too pleased that I'm interrupting his nap and snapping photos! ;)

He's decided to ignore me and roll back over in an attempt to end our photo session! Okay, Latte, resume napping! You are the champion of nappers! ;)

One last photo...a recent scrapbook page I created for Latte's brother, Java. See...he's just as furry and cute! He's darker than his brother.

I hope you enjoyed my 'cute' post! :) And I hope my kitties put a little smile on your face today!

Kathy :)

Sweet Boy

Hello!

I'm writing this post on Sunday morning as we're packing up and getting ready to head out for the beach. We'll be there just a few days, unwinding and relaxing and eating fresh hot donuts before we get back into school mode. Anyway, I thought I'd prepare a couple posts to load when we're gone.

I have a really fun scrapbook page share of our sweet lovable boy Latte.

This photo was taken by Patty Kumfer during our recent family photo shoot. I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to grab our sweetie for a couple photos...we love him and his brother Java so much...they really make our house and home and complete our family!

Latte is such a big fluffy baby with the most gorgeous green eyes!

For this page it looks like I used a whole bunch of patterned papers, but I only used one that was made up of strips. This is an older paper from My Mind's Eye, one from their Quite Contrary collection.

Would you believe this is the first time I've used one of those sparkly spray mists? I think I might be a little resistant to change or trying something that could get a bit messy! ;) Anyway, I used the Silhouette to cut out my title letters and used a little double stick tape under each letter to adhere it to my page before spraying it. Then I removed the letters and stitched around them.

I had just a few little pieces of this of patterned paper left to make some embellishments that I punched out and then stitched around.

I really enjoyed using the Glimmer Mist, even though it curls up the paper quite a bit. But then I realized that made for great texture!

Hope you enjoyed my page share! I also hope to peruse some blogs while I'm sitting pool or beach side so can't wait to see what you've been doing! :) Kathy

The Weather Outside is Frightful & Giveaway

Brrrrr! It's 18 degrees outside right now! You may be hovering in the teens too or colder, but in our neck of the woods, North Carolina, this is about 20 degrees below normal! Brrrr!

My big boy Latte doesn't mind the cold temperatures because he's got a thick fur coat and a sunny spot on the couch where he's taking his morning nap! :)

Over the past couple days I've been sharing our holiday home with you and today I'd like to show you one of my favorite spots in the family room. Apparently, it's Latte's favorite spot right now too! ;) This is the couch I sit on each morning drinking my Starbucks Christmas blend, checking e-mails and gazing at our beautiful tinsel tree.

I love how the sun makes this tinsel tree and ornaments sparkle and casts speckled light on the ceiling!

This snowman and children figurine found at a second hand shop is actually an ornament, but I like to use some of our larger ornaments for decorating. Notice the square milk glass dish below? That's a lovely recent find at a local antique store. Plates like this are harder to find because of their fancy edges that are susceptible to breaking.

This a simple and inexpensive holiday decor idea...a vintage Ball jar filled with jingle bells.

This white doe was a recent purchase at another local antique shop. I believe I only paid about $5 for her. She had a bow around her neck that was too narrow and in bad shape so I replaced it with this silver bow complete with a couple jingle bells.

I made this snowman bottle last year with an empty Prima Flower bottle, rub-ons, and vintage sheet music. If you like him, I have one for sale in my Etsy shop! :)

I love this tiny white wagon. I found it at a flea market for $1! It looks adorable on my table with a couple vintage tags I made placed inside. There's a recipe for Apple Pie Cider on the back. I would love to give one to one of you who leaves a comment on this post. I will draw that name tomorrow morning and announce it on my post!

Here's one of the holiday cards I created this year. I enjoy using my cards, tags and other handmade items to decorate with.

This silver glittered 'JOY' sign was found at Target last year in their Dollar Spot department and I made the little blue snow box from an unfinished birch box you can buy at your local craft store.

As you can see, decorating doesn't have to cost a lot when you use things you make. Remember that thrift shops, flea markets and after holiday sales are a great places to find inexpensive decorating treasures. Another thing to  keep in mind when looking for decorating items is to look for things that will work for all holidays, like ball jars, glass and white pieces, etc.

Now, to announce the winner of yesterday's Helen Keller tag....Sandra Correale of Daily Re-Creation! Congratulations Sandra! I'll be in touch to get your mailing address. Thank you for visiting my blog!

I hope I've helped give you some fun crafting and holiday decorating ideas today. Do you have some you would like to share on your blog? Please leave me a comment and I'll come take a look. :) Kathy

Storybook and a Winner

Hey everyone! Looks like we made it to Friday! Do you have any special plans? Most weekends are pretty much the same around our house...I work a lot of them and my husband and son do their thing together. This weekend, however, Christopher is going to camp! It's the first time Camp Royall is doing some weekend events. So tonight our little guy gets to go swimming, take part in a pizza party and and sit around an evening campfire! Sounds pretty cool huh? Even more cool is that my husband and I get some together time too! And dinner out for the next couple evenings! So we're all pretty excited around here!

Before I take off for a little fun I want to leave you with a new hybrid scrapbook page I created using a super cute kit called 'Storybook' from a new designer at Two Peas in a Bucket, Polka Dot Pixels.

You probably noticed straight away that the photo is not very good, but there's a funny story behind that. Christopher was not exactly chipper on back-to-school morning and didn't want his picture taken. My quick thinking husband said he would take a picture of his backpack instead. And what a stroke of luck that Christopher just so happened to be in the background! ;) We got our photo after all! Not a very good one, but it comes along with a memorable story of how things really are sometimes!

I love the accents in this 'Storybook' kit! Look at that adorable silhouette! And the picture of the vintage children! You should see all the coordinating patterned papers too. A very cool kit indeed!

At first I told myself that I wasn't going to add stitching, that it takes too long and that I have plenty else to do, but it's so hard not to! I love the way stitching looks! Are you one of those who can't call a project done without at least a little stitching? My title is a Silhouette die cut and those adorable little phrase stickers are from October Afternoon's Report Card line.

Congratulations are in order for the lucky winner of my 'Happy Howl-loween' digital stamp set! Woot woot! Stephanie from Handmade Creations by Stephanie won the set! I'll need to get your e-mail address so I can send your stamps to you. Hope you enjoy making some fun Halloween projects Stephanie!

Lastly, I want to leave you with a photo of my beloved little beast Latte. I just couldn't live without my furry little friend and his brother Java. I love to walk into a room and see their adorable little faces! It's the little things that are so precious!

Say goodbye to the ladies Latte! Meow! ;) Kathy