A lovely sketch by Shawn Lahr of Nuts About Sketches!

Nuts About Sketches week 240 - AWESOME sketch!!

So these are 2 of our cats snuggling up. Cute photo, right? Well, these 2 didn't get along very well for quite a while so I love seeing them loving on each other. The calico (Fluff) now thinks she's Buddy's mother and regularly gives him a good spit shine - gross ;)

I love everything about Shawn's sketch. Round pictures typically throw me, but the one in this sketch is so easy to work with. I printed a 5x7 photo and cropped to 5" dia. The sketch calls for 5.5", but 5" worked well. I used Simple Stories Harvest Lane collection, actually the November kit from Personal Scrapper - check them out!

Putting Those Kids To Work

Ok...I haven't posted in a very long time so we'll just pretend like it hasn't been months, that you hear from me so much you're very tired of me :) I'm a terrible blogger, but I swear I had a great/busy Fall 2011, very blessed Christmas, and I've been scrapping up a storm. That pretty much covers it (and I promise to TRY to post regularly!).

Ok, here's the reason I'm even posting now - I have been searching high and low for a way to keep my kids helping out around the house without yelling or guilting them into the helping. It's hard work trying to make people clean when they really don't want to! I don't like hard work...that's why I want them to help me :) So I searched pinterest and sort of found things I liked, but nothing I really thought would work for us. I don't want to give them money. I NEVER have cash and I don't think my kids keep up with IOUs nor do they take debit cards, plus they waste their money anyway and that drives me nuts. Instead of earning money they're earning "screen time" which is tv, dvd, netflix, ps3, psp, ds, computer, and tablet. The chores I came up with are each written on wooden clothes pins and assigned a time (15 or 30 min) depending on the level of difficulty. The kids choose the chores they want to do each evening after school and can earn up to 2 hours of screen time. It has to be used the same night, can't be banked for 15 hours of time on a Saturday...nope, it has an expiration date.

I began with these supplies:

I spent $17 on everything (supplies for 3 kids). I bought frames with a jute hanging string and turned them upside down. I stained them with some acrylic stain, added some scrapbook paper from my stash, and glued a stained initial in the middle of each frame. On the back I added a command hanging strip to each frame then shortened the jute string a little by tying it in a knot in the back. Here's the finished look:

I'm happy to say we started this tonight and the kids did a great job with it. The chores range from laying out clothes for tomorrow to dusting the living room (my absolute most hated chore).



September at The Scrapping Spot!

This month there's a very gorgeous kit for sale at The Scrapping Spot. It features Three Bugs In A Rug's Ashtyn line. One word for you: SASSY! This was a really great kit to work with. Make sure you check out the challenges on the board this month. There are some great ones! I'm posting my layouts and cards below, but don't miss Aimee's projects as well. Her Round & Round layout will knock your socks off! Make sure to pick up your kit today!

Busy/Crazy Fall has BEGUN!!

It amazes me that I let myself be blindsided by how busy our life always becomes once school starts. We have a son in football:

2 daughters in soccer (only 1 pictured because DADDY forgot to take the camera for #1's first game...hmph):

And this is also when the hunting craze begins in our family. My husband and oldest daughter are bow hunting this year so the family has been scouting the woods often. Loved this picture of hubby and son :)

AND...I love this part! My mom and dad recently got a nifty, new pet. Meet DENVER! He's a 5 month old donkey - half miniature and half regular. We love him :)

I have to share this photo, too. Poor Fluff...she's loved so much that sometimes it must seem like torture to her. Um, I must admit that it was *me* that dressed her in a Build A Bear Workshop tshirt. I just couldn't help myself...it was there and she was there, it fit, she hated it, I laughed. A good time was had by all (mostly by all):



Attention, All! The August kit at TSS is UP EARLY!!! Get one NOW!

Boy, are you in for a TREAT! The Scrapping Spot's August Kit is in the store early. Click the link to get your very own right now! It features Basic Grey's Oxford line and sooo many yummy embellishments. The add ons are pretty terrific, too, so make sure to pick up a couple of extra alphas. You won't be sorry! Here are the layouts and cards I've made with the kit so far. I just keep pulling this out and I'm seriously tempted to buy a second kit. yikes, it's fantastic!