a lil flower tutorial

this one is a real simple one...
i had some punched cornflowers sitting around..
and i had one layout that i needed to complete.
i had been working on it while i was on vacay in lacey (wa) during winter break.
finally...

but here's a lil flower tutorial that helped complete this layout...

all you need is patterned paper, cutter, punched shapes, buttons, adhesive, twine.

cut strips, 1/4" x 2 ":

adhere strips by stacking them in a crisscross manner:

adhere your punched shape on top:

add a button (or anything you want):

i made 3 for my layout:

cut some twine to your liking and fold them in half:

adhere the twine to your layout:

then lastly, adhere your completed flower on top of the twine:

and there you have it...
a simple flower.

yey-yah!

i miss being....

...with my hubby.

he's in alabama for another month for "sos" (leadership school).

i want him to come home now.

i miss:

• him helping me with selene.
• him helping me with sierra.
• him entertaining maiya.
• him being silly with me.
• him holding me in his arms.
• him  letting me have some "me time."
• him being with us on friday nights.
• him coming home for lunch since he works about 5 minutes away.
• him asking me if i'm okay.
• him sleeping beside me.
• him texting me when he's sitting right next to me ( i know how silly huh? but that's us)
• him facebooking me when we're just a few feet away from each other.
• him, in general.

desert walk with the family

christmas eve 2011 in lacey, wa with our family

i miss you babez.

there is no such thing as a "perfect life"

yes...
i said it and i admit!
we say it as a phrase, figure of speech, wuteva!
but in reality, things, life, people ....
are NOT  perfect.
oh...please!
i know i'm not.
if life were "perfect" then we wouldn't have anything else to talk about, to improve, to live for, etc.
it would be plain boring, dontcha think?
i recently read 2 posts...here and here
and i'm grateful that there are women who feel the same way i do.
and i do have to say before you think i'm being negative...
i am definitely grateful for my life, my family and my true friends, my hobby, my stuff.
whether they be "perfect" or not.

so here are a few things that you don't know about me that makes me "not perfect" and i'm proud of it:

• i don't make the bed everyday after i get out of bed in the mornings. i usually do it on fridays and the weekends.
• i don't dust all the time because it's not one of my fave chores to do.
• i don't wear makeup everyday because sometimes i just dont have time or i just am plain lazy.
• i still breakout around my mouth area...blame it on hormones.
• i get moody when things are not done or when i've shown or told how to do it.
• i get really frustrated and sometimes get a bit upset when the pup (Sierra) doesn't do what she's told especially after repeatedly telling her how to do it.
• i really love sierra because she does have some good qualities, but sometimes i wish we got a smaller dog but i'm not even sure that would make a difference.
• i wish i could hire a full-time babysitter and especially a dogsitter when i need "me time."
• i don't get to scrapbook as often as i would like to because of home life, baby life, dog life.
• sometimes i leave dirty dishes in the sink for more than a day, but i at least rinse them off (luckily i have help, my lil boo does them sometimes, well it's one of her chores anyway).
• i do cuss when i get upset or when something really pisses me off.
• i don't allow the dog in any of the bedrooms or bathrooms (unless she needs a bath) because i really don't like when there's doggie hair on the carpets of those rooms.  it makes me work extra hard to clean/vacuum.  PLUS, she's always in the way whenever we're doing our daily morning routines (brushing teeth, etc) and "sniffs" me when i halfway dressed, which grosses me out.
• i don't trust the dog when she's by herself because i'm afraid she's going to chew something up (she's chewed up 2 of our tv remotes, soap, selene's toys and other things in the house.
• sometimes, which is not often, i want to just be lazy and do nothing around the house.
• i no longer miss working full-time in the "real world"
• although there are things i do like doing like vacuuming...if money were no object, i would hire a full-time housecleaner who do everything from laundry, dusting...etc...everything!
• i have the utmost respect for them and actually admire many of them, i have to admit i do get frustrated seeing the same scrapbook designers in the magazines i subscribe to.
• i don't like it when people talk soooooo loud in a public area or restaurant to the point where they want the attention on them.  we dont want to know your personal business, thank you.  not sure why they have to talk so loud????
• i consider myself a friendly person, but i have not made many friends where we are currently living. it's been hard making friends in this neighborhood or at least on this street.  there are some very snobby housewives here who i have tried smiling at or said hi to and gotten no response back.  i have given up on trying so hard to make friends here. but .... i have made one who i'm totally grateful for.  she has been so wonderful to me and my family.  and i'm especially grateful i have my hubby to talk to about 'stuff'.

so there...
there's a few things, i know there's more, but i can't think of all them because i'm "not perfect."
lol.

when i turned 40...

...last 12/26/2011, that is....
i never got a chance to post these of my lil bday party at falls terrace restaurant in olympia, wa.
celebrated it with my family of course.
i plan on scrapping the 1st one on a layout soon.

while i took the photo, there was a loud-mouth gal talking away on the left-side.
luckily, she's not in the pic and she & her friends weren't there the whole time we were there.
whew!

the house white zinfandel....divinely, smooth, yumm-o...

me, my hubby & our cutie daughter, selene....

my sis jo and bro-in-law, rey...

us & my mom & dad...

the nice view of tumwater falls from where we were sitting...
we had a nice corner...

oh yumm-o...
shrimp cocktail...

their bread was warm and so good...

what i had...
a grilled chicken salad w/ walnuts, berries, blue cheese and a raspberry vinaigertte (sp?)...

my nephew's, rj, burger...

took all the doilies under our water glasses...heehee...

shared a bread pudding dessert w/ my mom...

3 girlz

well it's time to share a layout i did last week.
this one was "a just in case i make it to the 2nd round" one.
of course as you already know, i didn't quite make it.
but that's ok.
i'm just real happy i got to scrap this page of me and my 2 girlz.
we actually have 3 girlz, but the oldest lives in idaho.

anyway here it is...

and some close-ups...

i used the cocoa daisy kit, tea & cupcakes.
(add'l supplies: jesse james & co buttons, stickles, martha stewart and ek success punches, sharpie pen)
i so love the amy tan pp (gray/white stripes).
this kit also had some sassafras!
yey-yah!
trimmed out some pattern from a studio calico paper in the kit.
i actually miscalculated a bit...
do you see the strips of the simple stories paper behind the studio calico paper & photo?
well, i did a weaving technique of the strips...
and duh..
it got all covered up.
but i still love how this lo turned out.
i've been been to scrap a pic of the 3 us for awhile now.
and now it's done.
final touches:  doodling, glitter glue.

hope you like what i did!
thanks for coming by!

whew...my nerves are at ease now

well all day yesterday i was pretty anxious.
happily anxious that is.
as you know my layout made it to the 1st round on Practical Scrappers.
although i did not make the second round, i'm glad i made it to the 1st.
oh well.
moving on.

for us 1st rounders they had us prepare a 2nd layout just in case we make it to the 2nd.
i'm gonna just give you a quick sneaky peeky of mine for now.
i'll share it next week.
so...
you have to come back.
lol.

here's a peeky:

today is saturday.
my to-do list for today:

• mop the floors
• do the furminator on Sierra
• walk Sierra
• maybe do some dusting (one of my not-so fave chorez)
• spend time with the girlz
• talk or skype/google cam with my hubby
• plan out the menu for next week
• grocery shopping
• order more pix on snapfish (they've got a deal til 1/25, 99 prints for 99 cents)
• check my finances online
• we'll see what else, since i may get distracted

have a great saturday!

xoxo to all who voted for me!

i want you to VOTE...for me!

okay...!!!!
it's up!
go to Practical Scrappers to vote for my layout!!!!
my layout is the 8th one in Group 8.
click here to vote ------- > VOTE for Jennifer!


not to repeat myself..
but here's the layout, just in case...

thank you so much to all who have already voted and who will be voting.
your support is much appreciated!
wish me luck to make it to the 2nd round.

have a great weekend!

tomorrow...vote!

i found out that i will be in "Group 8" for the layout contest on Practical Scrappers!!!
tomorrow morning!!!!

come back tomorrow and i will give ya the proper link up to vote for me!

pretty please????

1st round up

o mi!
i made it!
made it to the 1st round!
the 1st round at Practical Scrappers.
to make it to the 2nd round, all you scrappy divas need to VOTE!!!!
please VOTE FOR ME!!!!
each day until this friday, they will be showcasing all 1st round finalists by groups...
then you can vote for who should make it to the 2nd round.
so far they are into group 4 and i guess mine will be showing up soon!
so VOTE FOR ME HERE!!!!!
oh pretty please!
i will love you foreva!
mwah!

oh...btw, here's what i submitted...
and you can find the details here as well...

i will let you all know as soon as i can when mine is up for voting.
so stay tuned!
and ya'll come back ya hear!?!?!

{ 9 months }

a quick post...
she's crying her lungs out right now.
she turned 9 months this past monday....
she's a babbler:  da-da-da, ma-ma-ma, bob-bob-bob, nan-nan-nan...
are some of the words she talks out loud.
a lil dance swagga too.
swaying her shoulders side to side along with her cute baby body as she's plotted on her feet holding to furniture.
i think she's got mama'z swagga.
lol.
claps and dances to black eyed peas (and others of course).
claps to:
"say say my playmate, 
come out and play with me.
to be my jolly friend,
climb up my apple tree.
slide down my rainbow,
into my cellar door.
and we'll be jolly friends, 
forever more, more,
shut the door!"
(well that's what i remember when i was middle-schooler back in clark air base, PI)

bwaaaaahhhhh!!!!
she's calling for me!

have a great fun weekend!

bwaaaaaahhhh!!!!
bwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!

the taylor dayne song

before we head back to cali this afternoon...

here's the 3rd layout that i promised to share with you.
i really love this one.
not only b/c it was fun to do...
but b/c it's about me & my hubby...
and about a song that i've always loved but never used for anyone until he came along in my life...
"i'll always love you" sung by taylor dayne.
do you remember her?

i wrote the title and part of the lyrics as the title of my layout.
and the lyrics = my journaling (around half of the layout).

here it is...

love the balzer designs template behind my title.
just used a sharpie and traced away.
the letter stickers, of course, i doodled away on.
those teal letter stickers by glitz designs are to smoove @5S (excuse my talk)!
love, love amy tangerine's stuff on my layout too!

i've also got to share this video since i used the song...
dedicated to my hubby...
and to all who love this song as much as i do...



i'll always love you babez, for the rest of my days.

xoxo,
j

these peepz are my lovez

yey-yah!
got some scrapping done!
i did 3 in one day!
wow!
that's a record for me!
but you know what?
i'm gonna share 2 of them for now.
the other one later.

i used the cocoa daisy november 2011 kit "bed & breakfast for all 3.

1st one up is of my lil baby boo, maiya, tha "poser"

i just love the amy tangerine line from american crafts.
i'm so happy they got some of her style into their style.
finally!
she is one of my fave scrapperz!

cut out the 'frames' from one of her papers & adhered all over the place.
overlapped the black letter stickers and doodled on them to give 'em my style.
and for the final touch, i doodled borders on the cardstock.
i tend to doodle things out since i don't own a sewing machine.
(if i did, then i'd be sewing like crazy on my layouts!)

the photos are of my daughter, maiya, at the park spending time with her cousins during the summer 2011.
she's so beautiful and growing so fast!

and the 2nd layout...
my hubby and my stepdaughter, when we were all at universal studios for her birthday...

tore pieces out of the green pp to expose more of the background pp.
cut out patterns from a cosmo cricket pp.
used a doily that i swooped up from the falls terrace restaurant in olympia we had eaten at for my 40th birthday.
i don't usually really dig doilies very much, but this was an exception and i think it went well matting the photo.
and the final touch for this one:  doodling of course!
doodled on & around the letter stickers and all around the layout.
can you tell i love to doodle?
heehee.

i'll have to mail these out to cali as i don't want to squeeze these into my suitcase.
afterall, i packed for 3!
tomorrow, mailing it out!

one and a half days til we fly back home!
i don't want to..
but then again i want to.
i'll miss my family
but i do miss my hubby and our doggie, sierra.

home is where the heart is.
i'm glad i have 2.