New blog layout

Notice the new layout? What do you think?

Caped Crusader Spotted!

I love to buy Halloween paper and stickers, but I never have enough Halloween pictures to use all the paper I buy. This year I decided that I am taking lots of pictures.

I was going to just take pictures outside our house, but then I thought "Batman doesn't live in the woods, he lives in the city." So I told Canyon we were going to fight crime and I took the kids in their costumes downtown to Art Alley to take these pictures.

They turned out pretty cute. I gave the first one a red tint to give it the Batman look. The cool staircase is in the alley behind The Playground.

Marissa wasn't very happy about being downtown in her costume, but she is a trooper and did it anyway.

Halloween Treats

I made these cute little Halloween candy boquets for the kids teachers. Canyon has 5 teachers and Marissa has 3 core teachers. I used the mini buckets from the dollar spot at Target and some Halloween Reminisce stickers that I have had on hand for a while. I think they turned out super cute.

Halloween Stuff

I made a pumpkin pie...from a real pumpkin!

Actually I made two pies. I had enough batter (is it called batter?) leftover to make a second pie.

We went to get pumpkins last weekend. There was a stand there with pumpkins that didn't have stems. They were calling them pie pumpkins. When I told Canyon those pumpkins were for pies he decided then and there that we were making a pie.

I have never made a pie before, let alone one from scratch. The only mishap we had was Canyon trying to be helpful. The recipe calls for a can and a half of evaporated milk. I poured in a can and a half, then left the other half on the counter. Canyon went ahead and poured it in. I added another egg, hoping to counteract it. It seemed to work just fine. What do you know....maybe there is hope for me yet.

I found a recipe here http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/pumpkinpie.php. I also used one of the recipes to roast our seeds from this site.

The kids had fun carving their pumpkins. We didn't do any of the fancy shmancy patterns this year. I bought a Disney pattern book, but we decided on a traditional jack-o-lantern. Canyon's drawings are finally starting to look like faces, so he drew a face and JT copied it on the pumpkin. Marissa carved her nickname into hers. They turned out pretty cute.

Marissa and I made these cute little Halloween treats for her friends at school. I saw Cathy from The Playground making them at the Scrappin Ladies Retreat and I stole the idea. They are just clear pillow boxes with some Imaginisce rub-ons and Halloween M&M's.

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Perpetual Calendar

I made this perpetual calendar for my mother. It is a kit, but it it turned out really cute.

Cards

Some cards I made a few months ago. I used Bazzil Bling paper for the wedding card, the phot doesn't show it well. I also used stickles for the flower centers on the wedding card. I used raindots for some of the flower centers and the butterflies on the birthday card.

More Calendar Pages

I love the pic of my daughter and my niece from the November calendar page.

I purchased another set of these calendar papers and rub-ons from my LSS. I haven't even started working on it yet. Funny thing is, now that I am a stay at home mom I seem to have less time then i did when I was working.

calendar layouts

These are a couple layouts from a calendar I made for my mother last year. I used a little of the Karen Foster calendar paper and rub-ons on them. I will post more of the calendar later.

The retreat this weekend went well. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and chatted with me. I really enjoyed myself. Thank you. Thank you to Kimberly Crawford for the fortune cookie idea, you are an amazingly talented lady.

I grew something!!

Ok mom, don't pass out! I actually grew something. Not only did I grow something, I grew something edible.

I am notorious for killing every plant that I touch. I have tried growing peas almost every year for the last 5 years. I always forget about them and the poor little things die.

This past spring we planted these grape tomatoes, broccoli, peas, lettuce, and cayenne peppers. The tomoates, peppers and lettuce (kinda) are still alive. Who knows if we will get vegetables from anything else, but we got tomatoes.

I can't believe it, especially after like 4 hail storms.

yea me!!

Retreat Classes

These are the classes that I will be offering at the Rushmore Retreat next weekend. Let me know what you think.

Beauty Frame $25

Halloween Cards $15

Fortune Cookie make and take $3. All profits support Breast Cancer Research

Batman's Day Off

Mom, I didn't go into the ravine.

There is a huge, deep ravine most of the way around our house. Canyon knows he is not allowed to go into it. It scares me. I am sure there are all kinds of creatures down there, and he is so little. Of course, since he isn't allowed down there, he sneaks down there all the time. I can always tell by the cocaburrs (sp?)

Not a baby anymore

I took these pictures the night my little guy turned 4. It is like all of a sudden he is a big boy. My cuddly baby is gone. Tiny clothes, footie pj's, sippy cups, bottles, diapers, crib, everything...gone. It makes me want another one, but only for a minute or two.

Fall Retreats

Thought I would mention some of the fall retreats coming up in my area.

Fourth Annual Black Hills Rushmore Retreat...
Octover 3,4,5 at the Ramkota hosted by Scrappin' Ladies.
Join your friends for a weekend full of cropping, learning and relaxation.
Door prizes, free goodies, product demos, make and takes and classes.
Page Contest. Open for public shopping on Saturday, October 4.
Vendors: Scrappin' Ladies, Altered Art & Scrap Playground,
Creative Memories, Stampin' Up and me, Breezy Design!

Cost is $55.00, call to reserve your spot at 605-224-1544.
Special Guest Stacy Bachali of EK Success, Inkadinkado and K & Company.
Stacy will be hosting some classes and very fun demos.
You're going to have a fun time!!!


Super Seriously Scrappin' Fun Weekend Celebration November 7,8,9
Peace Officer's Clubhouse, cost is $55.00.
Hosted by Michelle Chikos (Close to My Heart).
An awesome weekend of scrapping, card making, highly anticipated Give Aways, vendors and special surprises.
It's going to be a ton of fun. Email Michelle to reserve your spot at http://www.michellechikos.myctmh.com/ or call her at 605-399-8523.

Camp Scrap November 7-9 at Storm Mountain, Rockerville, SD. Cost is $100.00 includes lodging, food, and door prizes galore. A beautiful setting in the hills with walking trails, out door hot tub and amazing food. Time with the girls, time with scrap stuff, and time for yourself! A season to scrap, a season to stamp and a season to shop, this is a season just for you! Contact Amy Lockart at 605-673-1609.

Playground Design Team

I haven't been posting a whole lot of projects here lately because almost everything I have been making is for the design team at The Playground. Check out some of my new stuff on the playground blog. I am especially proud of the dinosaur gift bag and card. I love how they turned out. http://www.alteredplayground.blogspot.com/