the JOY of scrapping

I just LoooooVE all the pretty holiday papers and products out right now. I found some of the Making Memories holiday chipboard shapes at the LSS recently and couldn't help myself from picking up the 'JOY'. I used a sheet of the Basic Grey Dasher collection and decorated it with MM Christmas blossoms and glitter rub-ons. As I was trimming the paper from the letters, I glanced down at a box under my scrap table and a pair of tiny red bells caught my eye. Then dd saw a bottle of Ranger Diamond Stickles on the table and begged me to add some glitter to the piece. LOL Just like that, I had the final decoration for my altered art. I really like how it turned out too. Getting the juices flowing felt so good, now I hope to keep it going.

home for Christmas

Only 10 days until my family arrives to spend the holiday with us. The first 'real' Christmas at our house. We've always spent it with my family or in a hotel during a move. I have boxes of ornaments and decorations that I've been collecting for years. We finally strung the lights on the house and took our Christmas card photos last weekend. I had the brilliant idea to dress the girls in cheery colors with Santa hats and pose them at the beach. It's a great idea... making it work was a little trickier. LOL First off, I shopped around to find red, green or even white tees - alas all the stores are out of tees and instead, stocking cold weather clothing?? Am I missing something? I mean, 80 degrees outside and I am not keen on dressing in long sleeves. *sigh* so I reluctantly purchased red & green tops for the girls. Sure they are cute but they could only stand so long on the beach before working up a sweat. hahaha We tried 4 different poses, took about 25 photos and it's the second to last shot that I like the best. It was difficult keeping both girls' attention with all the beach-goers playing in the water and sunbathing. The hubby had hoped to get a glimpse of Diamond Head in the background but the tree line wouldn't allow. too bad. All in all, I like the shots that I got. The girls look cute and now I just need to get my cards ordered. here's a few shots of the girls, rewarded after being so patient during the photo shoot. At least we weren't the only ones there with the great idea ;) though we were the only ones in long sleeves. LOL

a new freebie

check this out! You can download this FREE font here at A Charming Place. I'd love to see how you use it, if you do send me a link. :)

Yummy!

I'm teaching a class at ACOT using the 7gypsies Yummy File Folder Class Kit. CLICK HERE to download a word document with the yummy quotes I used in my own book.

no tricks, just a treat!

Would you like a little Halloween treat? then use the links below to download a file full of spooky inspired quotes, titles and phrases for your Halloween pages. Use them as is, color to match your pages or use them as inspiration to create your own page titles and quotes, they are yours for the taking. Feel free to use and share, no need to reference me unless you really really wanna.

PSD (layered) file -or- PNG (transparent background)

I love waffles!

Can I just share with you for a moment, my love for waffles. They are so yummy! Pancakes are okay but they don't hold a fork to fluffy golden waffles. Mmmmmm. Hubby likes them made from scratch, no pancake mix in this kitchen, and I adore my Belgian waffle maker. here's a tasty photo that I took this yesterday morning. Yes, I am photographing a plate full of waffles... I admit I need help. lol

... and here are my girls painting their pumpkins. The selection over here isn't all that to scream about. Thankfully they didn't mind the smaller pumpkins though Becca had been looking forward to carving hers. I am thinking we'll do a costume practice run after school today - get the girls in their costumes and mess with hair. I always underestimate the amount of time it takes to get them ready and fed in time for treating.

Only in Hawaii!

Today the base had a Pumpkin Plunge for the kids at the pool - think bobbing for apples only in the pool and for floatie Halloween toys. LOL it was funny and one of those "only in Hawaii" things! Samantha was a bit shy about jumping in and grabbing what she wanted... the cute blow-up black cat. Thankfully Becca managed to catch 2 floating skeleton balls, one to share with her little sis. I have to admit I expected a bit more for my $3 per/kid but the girls are happy and that is what counts right?

What I'm listening to....

Evanescence's' new CD The Open Door. There is just something about Amy Lee's vocals. I remember the first time I heard her sing was the soundtrack to Daredevil and I instantly fell in love with her sound right there in the movie theatre!

and now? well it's time for me to go make dinner. later~

and the forecast is... sunny!

I know it's been a while since my last blog attempt. It's been requested of me to post more island photos. Particularly since the weather is getting cooler and wetter in areas. Well guess what, it's been pretty damp here too recently. Only, the sun still shines and it's still 70+ degrees, I don't know if I'll ever get used to this crazy island weather. Check out this photo that I took a few weeks ago on my camera phone in the parking lot of the grocery store. no kidding.
fonts used: GoodDog Cool, Parchment MF

meet Mali! The newest addition to our family. We had decided a few months ago that we're finally settled in one place long enough to get a kitty. We went down to the animal shelter, spent some time in the Cat House visiting all the kittens and this lovely 6 mos/old girl stole all our hearts! She's a total love, takes advantage of my lap every time I'm at the pc and her fave hiding spot.... behind my scrappy table of course! LOL

... and in closing, yet another photo from paradise. This is a recent layout I did with a fall theme. I love autumn... the chill in the air, the rich colors, spicy scents and holiday baking, family getting together, you name it. Being a California girl, I realize my vision of fall may differ from, say, the east coast. lol, but right now I'm missing these things because there's no changing of the leaves in my neighborhood. I don't know of any pumpkin patches or apple orchards on island. Sure I can light a Cinnamon Spice candle and bake yummy pies until I can take no more. LOL but it's just not the same. ah, listen to me whine. Just enjoy the layout will ya~

I tried to tell you

I'm completely boring. So if you're even reading this - WOW - I am feeling the love! seriously! thanks for coming back. If it was totally by some freak accident that you found me here, LMAO just keep moving folk, nothing to see here.

So if there is ANYTHING to talk about right now, I guess it would be GA - that would be Grey's Anatomy for those who are not classified as obsessed with the show. How cool is it that they are moving to Thursday night - the night of all nights for the best shows on tv this season! (or so I've heard that's how Thurs is commonly referred to) I can't get enough of the shows music, specifically Snow Patrol and their Chasing Cars sleeper hit that played in the season finale after Denny died. I recently heard that VHI is calling Snow Patrol a hot new unknown. Very cool! I also recently found YouTube and an entire selection of cool vids for GA. Check it out.

a real test

of my blogging skills... let's see if I can get a download to work.

This is a freebie template that I created, 12x12 PSD format. I hope you like it, if you grab it leave me some love (a comment) - *download expired*

here's an example of what you can do with this template. I'd love to see how you use it!

credits: Relax & Rejuvenate collab kit at ACOT; paper tear from Dani Mogstad's CabanaBoy kit; Gina Miller's Xfactor stitches; Fonts: Thyssen J, typewriter, Wellsley

GAH!

Somebody draw me a map will ya?! I've spent at least 6 hours trying to figure this blog template editing thing out and look - I was finally able to change text color. hahahahaha I'm pitiful. I am not even gonna think about adding a banner anytime soon. So ya'll just have to deal with my fugly blog. LMAO

and now... watch me pull a rabbit... no seriously, I'm just gonna play with adding an image to a post.

-- this is my sunshiney front yard. I wanted a photo with a little sunlight in it, not just another cloudless blue sky - sheesh, it's boring here in paradise. *wink*

joining the masses

here it is, I created a blog. I was feeling the pressure and just had to have one for myself. No worries about remembering to come by and visit often - as my title implies, my life is pretty dull. LOL