Pretty Paper Blog

I took a lot of photos yesterday…too many to share in just one post.  So this post is mostly for those family members that moved out of state.  Hopefully my blog regulars will like them too.  I have yet to scrapbook these photos but they do inspire me.

Here’s a current photo of my home:

Just kidding.  The above photo is not of my home.  This mansion was the home of the Bidwell’s.  Nowadays it’s a Museum.

The Mansion did, however, provide an excellent back drop for this photo of Izabelle:

And this photo of Parker:

I also found some other lovely things to take photos of around the Mansion:

I’ve mentioned before that my kids like the “I SPY” books…With Parker, it’s sort of an obsession lately, he carries the “SCHOOL DAYS” book everywhere:

Izabelle found some beautiful “Sparkly” flowers…you all know how much I love anything that sparkles:

OK, I think 8 photos is a little too many for one post…I have a couple hundred more…maybe I’ll save those for the scrapbook.

Have a wonderful day!

I was feeling a little blue, not sure why…just one of those days.  Maybe I’m a little down because I miss my family…the family that moved off to Idaho…and Utah.  I’m still here in California.  Not that it’s a bad thing to be in California, I just miss them.

I don’t know what made me do it but I grabbed my camera on the way out the door this afternoon.  I can’t really explain the feeling of having a camera in my hand.  It just feels good.  It feels right.

I’ve haver taken a  photography class but I’ve always wanted to.  Maybe if I took a class it would be easier to capture my world through phototgraphs…easier to tell the story of my life from behind a camera lens.

I was waiting to pick up Izabelle from school and started taking photos.  The first one of myself in mirror on my car…

Then I snapped a photo of Izabelle as she was getting in car.  Then I noticed a tree behind her.  A beautiful burnt orange tree.  Gorgeous.

I love Autumn.

Suddenly I was feeling better.  I had a half of an hour before it was time to pick up Parker from school.  I took my time driving there, pulling over on the side of the road whenever it felt right…snapping photos.

I love to close my eyes and feel the breeze, gentle, cool, calming, the sun shining on my face. As my eyes are closed, I listen to the sound of the wind blowing through the trees.  I feel peace. I feel blessed.  I feel grateful for the beauty that surrounds me.

I love Autumn.

I can tell it’s Fall, not because of the cooler weather and vibrant colors…it’s the unwavering desire to CREATE!  I’ve been a mad woman.  I just. can’t. stop.

I thought I’d share some of the little details from the “HO, HO, HO” Garland that I created.

I’ve probably gone a little over-board with the glass glitter…I just can’t help myself…it’s…well, sparkly. I love sparkly.   I’m also having fun with textures…the red velvet scalloped ribbon, the paper & silk flowers, the epoxy glittered stickers, buttons, vintage wired tinsel…you get the picture.  Literally.

First of all, I have to say: THANK YOU to all who participated in this contest!  Your comments were so super-sweet and I appreciate you taking the time to look at my ETSY shop!

I made it simple on myself this time.  There were 28 comments, so I had my hubby pick a number between 1 and 28.  He picked #3.  My husband also said that the poem by Carolyn From Texas deserved to win.  He’s right.  Because this is my blog, I’ve decided to award them both!

Congratulations to #3 Emily Thitphaneth and also to Carolyn from Texas!

Emily won her choice, the Sparkle Star Ornament and Carolyn won her choice, the Red & White Jornal!

Emily & Carolyn, please email me with your home address and I’ll ship off your prizes right away!

Playing along with CANDID CARRIE.

My kids LOVE to read the I SPY books.  We own all of the I SPY books and even have an I SPY Treasure Hunt computer game.

Parker recently checked out a video from our local library.  The video was all about the I SPY books and how they are created.  The video runs for about 20 minutes.  Parker and Izabelle watched the I SPY video over and over and over and over again.  Did I mention that my kids LOVE everything I SPY?

Well, the kids took it to the next level.  Izabelle started an I SPY project and Parker helped a bit.  Izabelle made her very own I SPY scene along with a riddle.  OK, I helped a bit with the riddle, it’s not as easy as it would seem to come up with one…

Can you find everything in Izabelle’s riddle?

In honor of Candid Carrie’s Fx4, I give you Izabelle’s Spooky Spy:

I spy four skulls, a trunk and red wings.

Two spiders, a cage and four flying things.

I spy two pumpkins, a scarecrow, a “U”.

A white cat in danger and EYE OF NEWT.

Have a great weekend and don’t forget about my GIVEAWAY!  For details click HERE.

OK, first things first…the Shameless Plug:

I’ve been working hard to get some new product up on my ETSY store, here is what’s new:

As for the GIVEAWAY…my viewers (as in YOU) are going to choose the prize!

Here’s how it works.  CLICK HERE to visit my ETSY store, look around, find your favorite item.  When you’re done come back here and in the COMMENT section tell me what your favorite item is.  This Sunday (October 19th) I will draw a WINNER from the commenters on THIS POST.  If your name is chosen you will win your *FAVORITE ITEM!

*If your favorite item is sold before Sunday then I will be happy to create another just like it or present you with your 2nd favorite item.

GOOD LUCK!

Do you want to know the secret???

I know you do…

The Secret is in the Sauce Blog (SITS) was started by two amazing women Heather and Tiffany.  Both of these amazing women have blogs of their own…they came up with SITS as a way to bring women (and some brave men) together by reading and commenting on each others blogs.  Who doesn’t love a comment?

There are so many wonderful blogs out there and SITS has found a way of perfecting blog recognition!

After spending time writing (and sometimes resizing and uploading photos to) a blog post, I (among other women I have met through blogging) LOVE a good comment or two.  But it’s not just about the comments, I’ve made some AMAZING friends through SITS.  I have found funny blogs, serious blogs, crafting blogs, cooking blogs…blogs of all shapes and sizes and each blog with something special and unique to share.

SITS has not only changed the way people find and comment on my blog but they have provided a way for me to connect with women all over the country…and sometimes the world!

There are a lot of blogs that I have found through SITS, several that I just have to check on a regular basis (among them are Tiffany and Heather).  I would love to link all of the fabulous blogs that I visit but I am afraid that would take several hours.  I’m not just a blogger, I’m also a mother (I spend enough time staring at the computer as it is)…so I’ll leave you with just a few…hundred.  Just kiddin’.

Candid Carrie

Let Me Think On It

Where Are My Angels

A Little Loveliness

Mama’s Losin’ It

Ravings of a Mad Housewife

Insane Mama

TODAY is SITS big BLOGATHON!  They’re giving away prizes EVERY HOUR!!!

There is a new blog featured every day on SITS, I had my AMAZING day to be featured HERE.  The next blog feature could be yours…find out how by clicking on the picture below.

My dear friend Elisa was recently married to her best friend George.  Elisa is a beautiful woman inside and out!  I adore her!

I used my favorite Graphic 45 paper to make this card for Elisa and George.

I took photos of Citrus Avenue during the Fall of 2006.  Our family lived on Citrus Avenue for quite awhile.  We moved into our new home during the Summer of 2007.  At the time I had no idea it would be our last Autumn on Citrus Avenue.

I LOVE Autumn.  It’s my FAVORITE season.  These photos make me miss Citrus Avenue…not that I don’t love where we live now, it’s just a newer neighborhood and the trees are still young.  The trees on Citrus Avenue had been around awhile, they were magnificent in the Fall.  As my Grandpa Crabtree would say, they were Glorious!

A closer look at the layouts using “October Afternoon” paper (or the little details)…

It’s been quite a month already!

I had the chance to create some layouts at PSB’s Anniversary Crop last weekend, one of which was the following layout for Graphic 45.

My kids planted a bunch of sunflower seeds but we only had ONE sprout.  I blame it on all the smoke from the California Wildfires….but it could have been lack of water (just sayin’).  The kids were, however, very impressed at how many seeds come from one sunflower.

Here are some of the little details that are hard to see in the photo above: