SCRAPBOOK SUNDAY: Tools & More!

Welcome back to Scrapbook Sunday!
Sorry I haven't posted the past 2 weeks; too much going on this summer!!!

As promised a few posts back, I have showed off a few of the tools I play around with when I scrapbook! Yaaaay:)

First, here are a couple new pages I added to my 8 year old son's album...

His school does photos in the Fall and Spring... I feel SUPER guilty if I don't order both times!
We get pics taken of the boys for Christmas, sometimes at Halloween and for their birthdays too!
My walls are not long enough for all the 8x10 photos I have, SOOOOO...
I have decided to start adding some of them to their scrapbooks!

This was his 1st grade Spring photo that I added in his 7 year album!
See the lil tag I made in the right corner of this layout?
I'll show that tag maker to you below!

I like how this layout came out!
It was one of the first "nicer" days of Spring this year and he got out to shoot some hoops; his fave sport!!

I created my journal box to look like a basket ball too!
The yellow border strip along the top was made with my Decorative Trimmer shown under this picture...

Onto the TOOLS!!

Here is my Decorative Trimmer (note: most of my tools are from Creative Memories, in which I am a consultant for=DISCOUNT!!)

You can use this trimmer to create 2 styles of decorative "borders" or paper strips: wavy and swirl. You can also choose the width of the strips with the measurements on the trimmer.

Here is my tag punch!
I was SO thrilled when CM came out with one of these; they are SO fun!

There is a seperate slot for you to add your tag in, to punch the little hole through it as well.

This is a Petal Punch that makes a very cute Flower shape in your paper.
I don't use this one much because I scrap for 2 lil boys! Not much girliness going on there!! lol:)

I do love this Fancy Square Punch that I earned FREE as a GOOD CUSTOMER before I started selling CM products! (That means I spent TOO much money on this stuff then!!)
It punches out 2 sizes of squares with a decorative fancy edge.

Love this Leaf maker that punches out an Oak and a Maple Leaf!
I use this one often on my Fall pages:)

Thanks for visiting me today!
If you have posted for SS; please leave me a comment on this post and I'll link you up!!

Noelle ♥

Fall Finds/Pretties/Baking Cookies/Swaps/Goodies... WOW!!

Hi girls! I feel like I am SO out of the loop the past week! My lil Gage came down with a fever and thank God it was only a viral infection! Now my oldest is feverish today with the chills! Strep throat is going around here in our city:( Bad timing, with back to school right around the corner! 12 more days till my Gavin goes back... YES, I am COUNTING down the days till I get a bit of a break from the mouth and attitude that the handsome lil' 8 year old son of mine has this summer- sheesh!! Anyone else feelin' my pain?

I got out today for a bit and hit up Michael's... ahhhhh, love! They had several aisles of 70% off decor so I snagged me this adorable tea cup planter; I think I may fill it with faux florals for each season! It was like $4.00!! CUTE!!

This cute beach sign for my bathroom was just under $3.00!
Wish I would have had one of these for my Beachy Giveaway too!

Some Martha Stewart chipboard letters for HALF price- yahoo!

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I went to a new BIG Dolllar Tree this week and got these pretty fall flowers for my yellow kitchen crock...

Cute lil scarecrow!
I hate calling them that, cause they're not scary!

Also snagged this lil Welcome sign for the front door for a buck:)

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One night this week, I was at my wits end with these lil turkeys!
So I pulled out some colored cookie dough in tubs that Brian has purchases from a fundraiser a couple months back.

They/I had so much fun cutting out different cookie shapes and decorating them with other colored dough, then some frosting and sprinkles!

Gage loved the RAW cookie dough a bit too much...
and help decorate by putting blobs of other colored dough onto our cutouts!

Lil Gagie sprinkling away on his cookie!

The BIG bro Gavin eating his creation!
Yes, despite those big brown eyes, HE IS A TURD!!

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Awhile back I won a giveaway with my friend Holly, from Priscilla @ Casa Bella Chic...

She send me an envelope FULL of goodies to paper craft, or scrapbook with...
here is the bounty...

An old pattern from McCalls...

Love this darling card of the mother (Mary) holding her baby (Jesus)...

this precious lil chubby-wubby in the bath came on a piece of fabric- love him!!

fun things like flash cards, tags, characters from the Lil Engine that Could...

an old music sheet...

old coloring book pages... LOOOOVE these!

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Ok... FINALLY pics of what my sweet bud Tina from Mommy Scraps a Lot, sent me for the Sweets of Summer Swap!!

See the little jar in the middle with the adorable little girl inside? Tina made that for me, she also sent me this cute cupcake photo holder...

she made this sweet lil glittered sign for me too!! ♥

She loaded me up with a small journal with my N initial on it, scrapbook stickers, love the argyle ribbon tape too, stamps, stickers...

more ribbon, a cardboard album, some vintage valentine cards with CUTE envelopes...

Ooops, this pic is upside-down! lol:)
Some pretty paper flowers, a cupcake mini album, and more scrappin' goods!

Paper flowers, which are my #1 FAVE thing to use now... some pretty ribbon wrapped on clothes pins, love those lil bingo cards and doo-dads!
What a fun swap! Thanks Tina for being my partner and hookin' me up!! ♥

Thanks for visiting me today!!
Hope you enjoyed all the eye candy!
I WILL be doing a Scrapbook Sunday post for tomorrow..
after being M.I.A. for 2 weeks now, yikes!!

Have a GREAT and RELAXING weekend!
We are heading to the lake cottage tomorrow!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Wish I was a Bathing Beauty...

Gingerbread Bathing Beauties!!

Aren't these the cutest?? I love GINGERBREAD and how perfect for the SUMMER!

Makes 15

• 3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1/3 cup (2 ounces) candy-coated chocolates
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips, melted
• 2 pints chocolate ice cream

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside. Put shortening and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 1 minute.
2. Mix in egg. Reduce speed to medium. Mix in vinegar and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture until soft dough forms. Let stand at room temperature until slightly firm, 10 minutes.
3. Divide dough into thirds. Roll 1 piece between 2 sheets of parchment paper to just over 1/8 inch thick.Transfer parchment and dough to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, stacking them on the same baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours (or chill in freezer 1 hour).
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Transfer 1 sheet of dough on parchment to a lightly floured work surface. Peel off 1 layer of parchment, and then pat it back into place. Flip dough; peel away second sheet of parchment, and discard. Cut out shapes using a 4-inch gingerbread-man cookie cutter, transferring to parchment-lined baking sheets as you work. Roll out scraps; repeat.
5. Bake cookies until edges are just browned, about 7 minutes. While cookies are warm, poke eyes and noses on half of them using the blunt end of a skewer. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Repeat with remaining dough and scraps.
6. Decorate the cookies that have faces with candies, using a small amount of melted chocolate to adhere them. Let ice cream stand at room temperature until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Spread 1/2-inch-thick layer of ice cream onto the underside of an undecorated cookie. Place a decorated cookie on top. Smooth edges using a knife or small spatula.Transfer to a baking sheet in freezer. Repeat with remaining cookies and ice cream. Freeze until set, about 1 hour, before serving.

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Just a quick post for today... I am SO tired!
My youngest started running a fever Tuesday night and was up EVERY HOUR! I think I slept maybe 3 hours that night... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwnnn!!
He seemed better yesterday all day then the same thing started at night. I called the dr. today to get him in and they were FULL! The soonest he can be seen is 7:50 pm tonite, at the after hours clinic! Have you ever had to take a child to after hours? I HATE it! They take SOOOOO long to get your child in and he is gonna be SO grumpy because that is close to bedtime!

I probably won't post for a couple days because I am SO BEAT!
I will try to visit you all though:)

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Mostly Wordless Wednesday #10: BRAVE!

As I mentioned, I "grew a pair" (LOL) the other day and went on a BIG water slide!
Here it is! Doesn't look too bad in the pic, but I was SO scared!
Brian, my hubby to be is a DAREDEVIL and loves to do all this crazy stuff...
me= CHICKEN, big time! I get panicked having to climb all the steps on these things, then to look down.... I-YI-YI!!! Scary!

Here I am rearing the bottom; plugging my nose and holding my swim top so the boobies wouldn't pop out! You are thrown with force into that water! My bottoms even popped half way off in the water... oops!! I think this pic was on my 2nd time down!

Here is Brian, he is BRAVE and went down on his BACK which makes you go faster... YIKES!

And here he is FEET UP in the water!! LOL
This pic cracks me up!

We had a great time!
The kids love the place too!
I'll be posting more pics tomorrow, so come back and see!

Happy MWW!!

Noelle ♥

Sneak Peek Revealed!

Hey girls!
Remember this sneak peek I showed last week?
I now can reveal what it was!

A few months back, I took part in a PAY IT FORWARD...
I posted on my blog that the first 3 people to leave a comment on that post,
would receive something handmade from me SOMETIME within the year!

The first gal to receive my Pay It Forward is my dear friend HOLLY from Girls at Heart!

I made her a little wooden sign with her blog name on it!

It also was my first time using Modge Podge and a sanding block too! FUN!
I had so much fun making this for Holly!
She is a girly girl and I hoped that she would love her little sign...
and she did!

I used pink fuzzy chipboard letters and my new FAVE those cute PRIMA flowers and some brads! I was always envious when I saw those 2 things used in people's scrapbook pages...
but I don't have to be anymore cause I have some of my own!

I have been SO insanely busy the past few days!
I started my new part time job at a home daycare last Friday, then I worked for Brian Saturday night at the pizza place he manages (and will eventually own) then Sunday I had errands to run with the boys and had to pick Brian up from work. Yesterday we took the boys and spent the afternoon at a water park that was SO much fun! And... I braved a big water slide!
I did it... 3 times... it was SO much fun!
I am a BIG chicken and am afraid of those things and well, anything HIGH in the air that I am not enclosed in. I feel like I have NO control over my falling if it were to happen, and BOY does it send me in panic mode! The first time I went up the slide I held onto my 8 year old son's hand! LOL I was scared!!! His cuteness comforted me though!!
I will post a pic of that experience for tomorrow's Mostly Wordless Wednesday post!

I think I am going to flat out SKIP my past due Scrapbook Sunday post from this past weekend!
I am stressin' a bit about getting it done along with a TON of housework I have due!

Thanks for being such good friends!
Hugs,
Noelle ♥

sooooo busy!

Hi girls!

Today was a very busy day and I didn't have time to get my Scrapbook Sunday post up:( I will be posting it tomorrow evening though!

We are taking the boys to a fun water park called Splash Down Dunes tomorrow:) Can't wait! I may be BRAVE for once and go on one of the GROWN UP water slides! Who knows... I probably will chicken out, lol!!

I lost another 3 lbs in the past week or so... that makes 16 lbs total since May!! Yahoooooo!!!

Chat with you all later!

Hugs,
Noelle

What do ya think?

Hey girls! My bachelorette party is coming up in mid-September and I am trying to find a CUTE stylish outfit to wear when we go out that night!!

I was thinking some chandelier earrings kinda like the ones above...

This SUPER cute top from Old Navy...
(I really like green on me when I am TAN!)

Some classy wide leg black pants: I feel SO much thinner in black pants!!
(Pants from Old Navy too)

Ooooooooooooooooh lala... and check this SEXY black heels out!!!
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE them!!
I feel SO much better in a sweet pair of heels too!!

So what do ya think?
Cute and sexy but classy and sassy??

Hugs,
Noelle ♥