Fstop Memories

Love like the rain does

Hello everyone! Frank is just about done running around the mud and the muck with the ROTC "kids". He's doing well but ready to come home. The kiddos and I have been busy cleaning and packing up the rental. When Frank gets home we will be moving into the new house. So, my absence will be a little longer. I miss you all and may your days be filled with Faith, Hope and Love!

Here is a song that captured my attention this morning...enjoy!

Until There Is No Tomorrow by Justin McRoberts

Happy Creating!

J@

Beautiful

Morning all! I know I have been absent from the blog world lately. I really haven't had much creative flow these days. I've been thinking a lot about changing a few things around here...perhaps making my blog a little more personal. Until then I have found this amazing artist! This song brought me some peace at the end of another crazy on the go with the kiddos kind of day. Hope you find some time to take a listen. The song is Beautiful by Shawn McDonald. You can find more of Shawn here and here.

May you all find some beauty in today!

God Bless and Happy Creating!

J@

MudFest '09

Yesterday, my neighbor and I decided to take our kids on a bike ride to keep them from all the mud created by the housing construction behind our homes. Well, that idea was shot when our five year old boys decided to off road it and ride through mud puddles. Then my sweet precious Abbey found a nice gooey patch of mud. She decided to become chocolate girl by smearing it over her entire body. What's a mom to do? We let them enjoy their MudFest and then hosed them off.

Here are a few highlights of the afternoon...

Chocolate girl picking dried mud...

I'm thankful for the ever so washable Crocs!

Have a playful day! Happy Creating!

J@

Strawberries & Watermelon

I'm not much of a summer person. The heat makes me cranky. So, besides hiking in a shaded forrest or taking a dip in the lake (or pool) one of my favorite things about summer is all the yummy fruits! Yesterday, the kids and I went strawberry picking with some friends. Sweet Abbey has been waiting for this for over two weeks now. She was up at 5:30 am asking if it was time to go strawberry picking...sigh! After a full day of playing at the water park we ended the day at a local strawberry patch. I think we could have stayed all evening!

I've been hearing the kids ask "Can I have more strawberries, please?"  They can't get enough! I'm looking forward to making some jam and perhaps we'll have to go back next week.

Today, I also want to share with you a layout I did for the Scrap and Stamp challenge. I have dropped the ball on the 52 sketches. So, I thought I'd work on a weekly sketch challenge to get the juices flowing again. You can check out the Scrap and Stamp challenge here.

I absolutely adore these pictures of my kids and Grandma. They were taken a few years back. During a quick visit to Wisconsin. We enjoyed some fresh, juicy watermelon at the park. My then 93 year old Grandma plopped down under a tree right next to the kiddos. Love that!

I'm grateful that my kids have had the chance to spend time with her. I have a wonderful memories of visiting my Grandma as a kid (and adult). She will turn 97 this year. The amazing thing is she still lives on her own! It would be nice to see her again.

Products used: Stamps: Unity (tree) and Stampin Up (journal lines) Ink: Papertrey Dark chocolate Ribbon: Stampin' Up and wal-mart Paper: Basic Grey

Hope you all have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating!

J@

Thoughts and Prayers

This is a quick post. We are busy, busy at the new house painting and removing carpet....but I wanted to share a project I made last week. This went out to a friend that has been dealing with a great deal of physical pain lately. I just wanted to let her know that she was in my thoughts and prayers.

Supplies used: Stamps;Verve and Stampin' Up. Paper;K&company and Papertrey.Ribbon; Papertrey and Flourishes. Ink; Papertrey

Hope you all are having a wonderful week! Happy Creating!

J@

Home Sweet Home

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope you all are enjoying a beautiful day. I just wanted to share some exciting news! My husband and I are now home owners! Yesterday we closed on our first home. I put together a little collage to give you all a little peek inside (and out).

* If you click on the image you should get a closer look.

We have some painting and other projects to do before we move in but we are excited to make this our home. We feel very blessed!

Happy Creating!

J@

A little quiet

Frank took the kiddos to the park this morning. So, I'm enjoying a little quiet time. I thought I would share some photos and a quick layout.

When I have my camera out lately Abbey is quick to pose with a grin of cheese....

Abraham on the other hand would rather not have his picture taken unless it's to showcase one of his many projects...but I snuck one in at the farm the other day. Frank took the picture of him with the balloon...I love it!

  

And here is the quick layout. I used limited supplies...cardstock, photos and left over felt from the LarryBoy doll.

Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful day the LORD has provided for us!

God Bless and Happy Creating!

J@

For the Birds

I've been playing around with the birdhouse template Nichole Heady created. I enjoy the fact that these are simple to put together with room for elaborating.

This first one was made as a thank you for the gal hosting this round of Papertrey swap on Splitcoast. You can read more about that here.

I also, sent another one with a matching card to my friend Chris. I know she enjoys the primitive country look and that was my inspirations for this card. Here is Pennsylvania you find stars on many of the houses. The stars are a symbol of hospitality. This is also the card I decided to make for the Papertrey round 3 swap.

My third project is one I created for out real-estate agent as a simple thank you for helping us find our first home. You can find the template for the card box here. And there is one for the small bird house here.

Inside goodies....

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Creating!

J@

Larryboy and a sketch swap

Hello Everyone! Just a quick post to share a few crafty creations I've made between field trips to the farm, Chocolate world (photos on those later) and the general madness that happens around here.

This first project was inspired by my son. He is obsessed with Larry Boy (from Veggie Tales). He has created many paper Larry boys...I'll have to wrangle one up to show you. The thing with paper is it rips no matter how many times you tape it! There have been a few times it brought the poor boy to tears. Well, it just happens I had the right colors of felt to make a more durable Larry boy. So, here are two sets of felt Larry and Bob's for two Veggie crazed kiddos!

The kids also wanted to be in the picture with Bob and Larry....

My second project is a card I created for a swap I'm in on Splitcoast Stampers. For the swap we were to use on of the Splitcoast challenge sketches. I picked SC19 which you can view HERE.

Happy Creating!

J@

Let's Talk About It Over Coffee & Cardstock!

Papertrey recently released Handwritten Notes.I love all the sentiments in the set but the one I used on this coffee pocket card is my favorite. I thought it went perfectly with the Hanna stamp. These pocket cards were made for a swap I joined on Splitcoast. You can find the coffee and tea craft swap here.

I also, made these cute diaper fold pockets using Papertrey's tea set. You can find a tutorial for these here. And for the pocket card here.

I know I've been MIA lately. Our family has been busy looking for our first home. If all goes well with today's inspection we will begin packing up and moving again. Perhaps once we are settled in the new home I will find more time to blog. Until then I will check in now and again. I hope you all find time to create, laugh and love!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

J@