From my little corner...

a digi dare

2012-01-26T19:54:00.006-07:00

for the challenge here: The Digi Dares Fifth Anniversary . If you cannot tell - my word for 2012 is HARD :) and I chose to scrap 5 motivations I am thinking on right now. And it certainly was a quick and dirty effort, getting home at 7:00, using CS4 (instead of 2) for the first time (oh how I rely on my (missing) preferences, and uploading by the deadline of 8:00. But, I did it - exercised creative muscle. I hope to get that ball rolling again. I need to.

Supplies: Gina Miller Designs's The Bliss Project and based on a template by Amy Martin Designs (Hoppy Birthday).

Peace out ~Kristin

Melt my bento-lovin' heart

2011-12-13T12:30:00.002-07:00

Mark, the 8 yr.old, just said, "I think we should do bento lunches again. Like 3- no, 4 days a week?"

aww, that's all it took.

I {heart} U. and autumn

2011-10-20T13:40:00.007-06:00

Nothing like blogging makes you realize how fast the days whiz by. You log in and see - It's been almost two weeks since my last post? a month before that?? a year?! haha.

anyways... life certainly is full, but about all I can handle lately to document is snapping a cell phone shot of the latest bento before it bounces out the door... and then not get back here to the blog to post any...

This bento lunch is from Thurs Oct 6... a day both M and I stayed home sick and it was made to cheer us both up. and it worked. Bentos are powerful things!

The details... Packed in a Lunchbots Uno ... sealed sandwich with leaf cheeses, an icing owl, jerky beef, carrots, ants-on-a-log celery, Hershey kisses, red grapes, strawberry, yellow cherry tomatoes.

Whooo!

2011-10-08T07:10:00.006-06:00

A little snack for the road trip to the scout camp-a-ree (or whatever it's called) today that the husband & M are headed to. It's 120 miles of empty country between here and there, so I know food is called for ;)

In the Lunchbots box: owl sandwich (cheese, chocolate chips and candy corn for features), grape tomato pumpkins, pumpkin marshmallows, strawberry, and jerky.

Posted to the Bento of the Week 3 Theme: Pumpkins for a little blog fun. :)

The back story...

2011-09-07T10:58:00.012-06:00

April 27, 2011

I started bento-ing, in the sense of a take-away boxed lunch, sometime after Christmas break for my first grade son. After christmas break is when I started sending a packed lunch- and at some point it morphed to bento. Sending lunch was a result of realizing the answer to the question "what did you have for lunch at school today?" was NOT the same as "what did you literally eat out of what they served at school for lunch today" . So the first half of first grade, (and what about kindergarten??) when I thought "what was for lunch today" was a list of what he ate, who knows how much he was eating. The pivotal conversation day? - he'd only eaten the peaches.

It had been a constant, seven year battle to get Mark to eat enough-literally, his whole life. I don't know where my head was that I was thinking he went to school and just started magically started eating all of what they were serving?? So, I had to bite the bullet and make it a priority to send a lunch *ev*er*y*morn*ing* . Bento was a natural attraction and it made it fun for me to pack and appealing for Mark to get more calories/better nutrition than the easier route of school lunch.

I had known of bento for some time, thanks to the wonderful world wide web :D, but more as a curiosity/interest and an art form (seriously, google bento and surf the images!) It wasn't in my realm of considering it as something I'd do on any kind of regular basis. But coinciding with beginning our packed lunch routine (surfing to find an alternative to sandwich idea, probably) I clicked on this blog: anotherlunch.com and it jelled with what I was doing for Mark, and started us on our bento journey.

I did not take any pics until the lunch of April 27, when I'd posted on Facebook that I'd made onigiri for the first time, pictured above. That lunch consisted of jerky bites in a silicon cup heart, cookie dough protein bar cut in half, strawberries with leaf picks, red grapes with panda picks, steamed carrot flowers and the onigiri with fruit leather features, all packed in a Lock & Lock brand square box. He would have had milk or yogurt packed alongside.

The rest of our bento story will be continued...

Ciao! ~Kristin

Is it September...or February?

2011-09-01T14:51:00.004-06:00

A little of lunch love for M's bento lunch today...

In the box-, uh, pokeball... rice ball onigiri, beef sausage bites, strawberry... carrots, cheese-filled celery, grape tomatoes, red grapes... greek yogurt with sprinkles.

Grace, ~Kristin

Thank you, Sonoma Bento

2011-08-19T01:16:00.006-06:00

Earlier in the summer I won this cool little set from Sonoma Bento's blogiversary... 'twas my first 'real' bento box :) . Above you see its debut.

Mark treats it like an unfolding treasure box- very fun to see. Took me this long to post since the pics were in my camera and not my phone. HA.

Note to self: Refrain from ever again saying 'I never win anything'. Yay!

Ciao! ~Kristin

present - living - be

2011-08-17T20:06:00.004-06:00

Something my friend Terra said "Living = enthusiastic response in the positive" in explanation of using it as a one word affirmation has been running through my head ever since.

Scrapped with Rachel Young Designs:
Water Colored Craftiness
So You Think You Can Chevron Paper
Lovely elements
Lovely alphabet (recolored)
With You Elements (clouds, stitching)

extras - CD Muckosky Random Type, Lookie Here, & Painty Fancy Spot.

tfl :)

Grace,
~Kristin

Thinking

2009-12-03T19:26:00.001-07:00

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" -- Erma Bombeck

Lilypad Blog Hop

2009-11-05T21:14:00.003-07:00

A lovely thing is happening this weekend. The Lilypad, digital scrapbooking store extraordinaire, is opening public forums. With chatting and hanging out. Challenges. Galleries. And did I mention chatting and hanging out? Woot!

And to celebrate, we are having a blog hop. You have arrived at the ninth blog stop, mine :)
I have this awesome quickpage to share with you, created by the fabulous and talented Rezika: Thank you Rez!

*Download here*

To continue on to the next blog, Go here: Valorie's!

If you need to start at the beginning (there are a total of 14 blogs, each with a little gift) or want to read about the prize for collecting and using all 14 gifts, visit this blog (Amy M's).

And don't forget to come visit the forums and join our little pad :)

~Peace, Kristin

TGIFriday...

2009-03-20T14:34:00.004-06:00

Is there even possibly any other kind of Friday than a TGIFriday? :)
This morning as I was leaving for the office and our youngest son (5 years old) was concurrently waking up, I said to him,
"iiiit's Friday!"
And he replied with "What's that mean?"
"Well. It means, there's no school (for the older siblings) tomorrow. There's no going to the office tomorrow..."
And he says:
"I like the sound of that!"
Oh, so do I :)
Bring on the weekend, and the family time and the home time.

It's new release 'Froggy Friday' at the Lilypad:

Click to view larger and see supply credits.

Ciao! ~Kristin

it's a new week

2009-03-09T08:36:00.002-06:00

I'm ready for the optimism that is Spring. image via designgeist.org

Cookbooks

2009-01-03T20:58:00.005-07:00

I have collected cookbooks since I was a teenager and cooking in 4-H. (an aside: I had to laugh as I looked up that link, that when I was a teenager cooking, there was no internet to look up. How weird it is to say that. How weird it is to think about that!) Some five+ years ago, in reorganizing our home and life for child#3, I boxed up all but 3 and stored the box, reasoning that when I cooked, it was faster/easier/handier to look up the recipe I wanted on the previously-mentioned internet, even one I knew I had, and that is what I was doing. Exclusively. I hadn't even purchased a cookbook, probably since Rosie's Bakery All-Butter Fresh Cream Sugar-Packed No-Holds-Barred Baking Book. So, that was valuable space to be gained.
Now, fast-forward to the last year. I have rediscovered cooking for pleasure, not just sustenance. And related to that, I found a whole new world of food blogs. And related to that, I have come full circle: because of the internet, I find myself drawn to the cookbook aisle in the bookstores. Specifically, because of these blogs especially: Smitten Kitchen, and French Laundry At Home, and 101Cookbooks. I would have came home with French Laundry recently, when I came across it unexpectedly at Borders, but it was $55 and it was two days before Christmas. And I didn't want to cook with it, haha, just read it.
But now, it is after Christmas. ....And because of that, I don't have $55 dollars. HA. and Borders is 99 miles away and it snowed. But anyway... I just read this Smitten Kitchen blogpost. And amazing Amazon will deliver to me on January 7th for only 14.98 the hardcover version of said cookbook. Click. Log in. Confirm. And I have just bought my first cookbook in at least 8 years. I am so looking forward to many more :).

Contentment

2008-12-06T19:49:00.003-07:00

Thinking on this today:

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you. ~ Lao Tzu

PrimaHybrid is back!

2008-12-06T00:46:00.004-07:00

public service announcement :)

2008-08-29T16:03:00.001-06:00

National Scrapbooking Day

2008-05-03T22:56:00.007-06:00

It still strikes me funny that we scrappers have our own holiday, tee hee! But, I am not one to turn down celebrations. Of any kind :)

Over in PrimaHybrid land, we are partying, blog style. That means - I have an 8x8 template to share. The template is based on this hybrid page I made by printing out the photo cluster and digital papers, and assembling traditionally. I then embellished with grommets and rubber-stamped- or -handwritten title, date, and swirls.

Supplies: Digital papers and elements from
Kim Christensen, Amy Wolff.
Traditional stamps from Heidi Swapp,
Sharon Soneff , and Fancy Pants.

This template is a layered .psd file that you can grab here. If you prefer/need a version that is separate .png's, use this link.

You could also create a purely digi page with the template, like this:

Credits: Mad About You paper by Vera Lim,
L'alphabet Dry by Trish Jones,
Vintage Comfort date tabs by Weeds and Wildflowers.
All from PrimaHyrbid.com

Don't forget, you can recolor that circle stamped brush image to your liking to match your color scheme.

Catch more PrimaHybrid Flowergirls' blog party posts - check out Di's blog for links!
Happy scrapping, friends :)
~Peace, Kristin

PrimaHybrid Blog Party!

2008-01-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

It's time for the Grand Opening celebration for PrimaHybrid woot!

Check out the fun. There is a sale in the shoppe, fun in the forum, and lots of beautiful art in the gallery. :)

Speaking of fun, you are probably here for my piece of the blog party, no?

Download Here

The download includes a layered .psd file, a layered .tif file and the separate .png files for those programs that don't use layered files. For directions on using a page template like these, Melinda's blog post linked to in the Blog Party Thread has an instructional PDF.

party on!
~Kristin

a fab finish to Friday

2008-01-18T21:27:00.001-07:00

fridging on my bed
Frappuccino
FM Radio- feeling kind of retro, like I am back in highschool
and a new
food magazine.

Content

ciao ~Kristin

It's 2008

2008-01-04T23:03:00.000-07:00

wow, wasn't it like 20 minutes ago that we were worried about y2K??

Random Things for me to remember about 2007:

.The big kids both are in high school now, as of fall 2007. My mom continues to watch Mark during the days I work(I have Tuesdays at home still) which is a blessing to me and him of the most GINORMOUS amount.
. I don't think i read a single book in 2007?? Is this possible? wow. I do my family thing, I work, I scrap. that's it.
. My favorite music from this year. Definately Bon Jovi Lost Highway. It made many many nonstop rounds in the cd changer of car. I mean many, like 2 months worth. and I think similarly addicted my mom. how cool is that?
. I let my hair grow out longer than it has been since Elizabeth was born, so... that's 15 years- the whole year, I had ONE haircut, in July before I went to Chicago.
. I went to Chicago (on my first train trip) and got to spend 4 wonderful days with my friend Terra. We went to CHA show on a press pass from disctalkradio, walking the floor with Heather Ann Melzer, who is a hoot! Terra was just days from delivering Kaylen Hope too (Terra would make a fab pioneer woman). Kaylen was happy as a clam (is that the right expression?) in a sling.
. Met a bunch of people that were previously just avatars- had a great lunch with like about 12 of them, and a really fabulous happy hour with deann McDaniels-disctalkradio, Nancie Rowe Janitz, Tracie Radke, Heather, Terra and myself. Somehow missed meeting alb52 though I did stand next to her roomie CD Muckosky in the foyer. and I stood in Elsie Flannigan's shadow. hahaha! AND later met Melanie, who came by Terra's house.
. Realized if i posted on my blog more, I wouldn't need to make this list.

merry Christmas to all :)

2007-12-30T23:28:00.001-07:00

Reflecting

2007-12-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

:)

I used Catscrap digital designs on this, as I am fortunate to be guesting on their creative team Dec and Jan. Thank you Catrine and Birgit for the honor.

Peace and love,
~Kristin

* Happy Monday! *

2007-09-17T12:26:00.000-06:00

I so enjoy the fresh, new feeling of a Monday morning, with the week stretching out in front of me. At least when there are no urgent deadlines or to-do's hanging over my head. This one is starting with me having a bit of slow, leisurely morning waiting for DH to bring my van back to me from getting the flat tire fixed - ah! the joys of living on a gravel road. I bet he comes back with a Orange Stick latte for me too :). He is good at little treats like that.

This weekend was sooo nice and relaxing, too. I drove over the mountains to watch BigSon play tennis: ah! the joys of Wyoming sports travel. It was 480 miles round trip. But my mom came along, and TheDaughter had a rare Saturday off from volleyball, so along with LittleSon, we had a very pleasant roadtrip. It was sunny and a gorgeous fall day. The tennis courts were in a park, so we picnic-ed and LittleSon got to play to his heart's content on a really neat gigantic play structure that was right there, and we watched BigSon ace almost all his serves! yay! We then (after the obligatory walmart weekend stockup trip) drove home via the southern route that takes us through the charming little burg of Greybull with its A&W drive up. Ah! the joys of carhops and root beer, haha!
Sunday was laundry and cleanout day. Maybe not so fun, but definitely rewarding - I threw out three grocery bags of stuff - mostly paper. How does it accumulate so deep so fast?? but, it sure is nice to do laundry in a sparkling clean space now :)
We finished off the weekend by BBQ-ing at my folks', with my brother's family. Good times and good food. Then, we came home and I scrapped a page for the Team GMD blog challenge for this week. It's a fun one - scrap your home, or part of it, with flowers and cardboard embellishments. I chose to do the entry to our house - it always makes me happy to see my red door and flowers :) (thanks to my mom and TheDaughter for the garden help).
So I have ended up with two versions of the page, and I can't decide which one I like better. I like them both, for different reasons! I ended up posting the darker one?

Click here for page credits

This is the one I went with. But I am still not sure which one to print!

Oh yes, one little thing before I get my morning in gear. A little out of the ordinary thing for me... I was 'interviewed' by deann of DiScTalkRadio for the show Inside the Scrapper's Playhouse! It was actually kind of fun - deann is a hoot! I think I sound kind of spacey though haha. I am such a slow thinker, I guess :)

Okay, time to get this party started! Later gaters!
~Kristin

Digi Dare

2007-09-13T01:14:00.000-06:00

Here is my take on Digi Dare #52.
My version of trying to scrap in Elsiecake's free style ways :) For the second part, I used product new to me from the new mystery designer coming to the-lilypad on Friday. ( there is also stuff on there from Gina Miller, Amy Wolff, Natalie Braxton, Kate Hadfield, and Nancy Comelab).
I can at least say I had fun haha. !
Peace out, Kristin

I'm leaving on a....

2007-07-29T00:53:00.000-06:00

....train!

I went last week to Chicago to see my friend Terra, and meet up with the DiScTalkRadio crew and our press passes (ha!) to scope out the CHA show. More details to come!

Week 4...

2007-06-06T13:08:00.000-06:00

is officially over. The last challenge was

Challenge - A Shift in Perspective

Shift your perspective and look at yourself through the eyes of another person. The other person could be a child, a parent, a friend, etc. What do you see? Scrap it.

In debating what to do for this, my daughter was sitting across the table from me (on the other computer) and I asked her How do you see me? She kinda glazed over, and was at a loss for words. I, in an attempt to make this easier, said Can you give me a few words like a list? ... One word?
She makes thinking noises, but doesn't come up with a word.

I go back to thinking. In a few minutes, my email dings, and she has sent me this poem... sniff sniff...

Dear beloved Mother
Most of the time,
It seems like you're my armor

Shielding me,
Protecting me,
And saving me

But other times, mother,
It seems like you
Are an anchor

Holding me in place
And sometimes not
Giving me my needed space

But isn't that a mother's role?
To be patient and in control?
So why am I not grateful?

The life of a teenage girl
Is so confusing and in awhirl
Sometimes I'm blind
And most certainly not aligned

But then you come to my aid
And I'm not longer afraid
For you become all ears
And wipe away all my tears

Sometimes I think I don't need you
But then find myself in need of your rescue
And you come even though I have said
Harsh words to you
So I reconsider what I think of you

And I see you always mean for the best
Even though I often protest

I finally see how much you mean to me
And how you play the role of mom perfectly.

It had been a bit bumpy of a week, mother-teenage-daughter-wise, so it was even MORE special to read it right then. Having this, solely made entering the contest worthwhile.

Click here to view credits in my gallery and to view page larger

Ciao! ~Kristin

Week 3...

2007-05-20T12:59:00.000-06:00

...pages are up for voting (for Queen of the Crop contest).

Mine is here at SBG if you want to vote. :)

Click page to view larger.

Click here to view in digishoptalk gallery
Journaling reads:
I really do! I love to see the big mess of it, that sorts into piles that disappear one by one and are replaced by neat folded stacks. I love the feeling of plenty it gives me...
I see that we buy more than just the basics. I see that there is a full family that lives here. And that they are taken care of by someone that loves them. A lot.

Now, my Sunday afternoon looks like (laundry, of course!) running Big Son to graduation for band, picking up Daughter from youth group project, getting Small Son to eat his lunch, and need to do major stock up at Walmart in Cody. Birthday cake and ice cream for SisterInLaw tonight. so, ta-ta for now!
~Kristin

random post...

2007-05-18T18:07:00.000-06:00

just to have something new up. ... HOW IN THE WORLD IS IT MAY already?? and the middle of May at that?? School is out in less than week. Summer. Wow. wow.

In scrapbooking ... I am messing around with the Queen of the Crop contest at Scrapbookgraphics. Week 2 layouts are up now, though week 3 goes up sometime tonight I believe. My page is one of my favorites, if not THE favorite, I've made ever:

Click on photo for page credits

Peace out! ~ Kristin

It's been a week...

2007-01-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

.... so it must be time to post my next photo-a-day, right? lol! and two days in ... and I already didn't know what to photograph to represent Today--hahaha!

What winds up happening, I am on Hello with a friend in Chicago telling her I ended up buying the "machine" we had talked about at Thanksgiving time, with my Christmas money. I have a weakness for tools, and lettering/type/fonts, ... AND it can be used for scrapping?? Had my name all over it. ( and in this instance I mean real, get-the-glue-out, scrapping like I do for creating demo pages for this store.) Well, Hello is a neat instant messaging program that lets you share pictures while you are chatting, and so this friend wants to see what I made with my machine. Eureka! I have a photo for

Jan 2 2007See, with my new machine, I put in the Tags Bags Boxes and More cartridge, load a piece of cardstock, push a button.... and this cute purse-shaped gift box popped out!

Fun, fun, fun I tell ya! Though now that I am thinking about it, I am not sure what this box has to do with lettering OR scrapping LOL!

Would you like to receive your very own gift-box sized purse-shaped piece of mail?? It's always fun to send and receive real mail in these electronic email times... so, leave me a comment to say you were here-- and I will send you one! :) (and yes, Lovely - you are already on the list, snicker, snicker!)

2007-01-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the wonderful, um.... peer pressure? LOL of my dear dear sister, granolageekmom... I am attempting to try and take almost-a-photo-a-day, maybe. LOL! Really- it sounds perfect for me, the chick that bought a big orange purse in New York for the express reason of "I want to always carry my camera with me." so, truly- no coersion involved on the part of my sis. But, I have no illusions that I would actually POST every day. THAT just won't happen. So, I am going for the take-a-lot-of-pictures-and-post-almost-every-day route.

Or often.

Or, even, just oftenER :) hahaha!

So, do I start with Jan 1's or pick up with today's while it is still current?? hmm...
sigh. I am very orderly, usually.

Jan 1 2007

A New Year really isn't a new year for us without FIL's caramel popcorn, chex mix and fudge leftovers we get to bring home. (And yes, the fudge was already gone before I could take a pic!)

Peace!
Kristin

our christmas card

2007-01-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

(I used digital elements by Michelle Coleman at scrapartist.com)

Several cards I sent out, which by the way was the first year since the first year we were married (read: before kids) that I sent cards out - yay! anyway.... several cards came back to me as "no such number, unable to deliver" or "no such person at this address". So, if you read this and did not get a card from us.... leave me your (correct) address and I can send it on its way.
Cheers, Kristin

THE calendar kit

2006-12-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

get it at mylittlescraps.com --It's THE calendar kit to have this year I do believe :)

* Two *

2006-10-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

Credits:
Lauren Reid (Seattle Sunset, Baby Smell)- all papers, clock hands
Misty Mareda (Rock and Roll Alpha, Together)-'peas' alpha, brush, quote, staple
Natalie Braxton (Random Ribbons)- black ribbons
Traci Murphy - Drop shadow actions
Michelle Underwood (Antique Finds)- Playing cards
Lisa Whitney- glitter swoop
Valerie Randall- warning label @ scrapgirls.com
Ida Rudningen Flower Doodles @ catscrap.com
Kim Higueria - Silver Heart
Iron Orchid Designs (Heirloom Alpha)- '2' @ scrapartist.com
fonts: Chocolate Box, CK Neat Freak, Courier

Hellooo out there!

2006-09-22T07:55:00.000-06:00

I really cannot believe 'life' is flying by this fast! Here we are, in the second half of September?!? By my next post, it will be Christmas!

On the personal front... Luke, my oldest, is a high schooler now! wow! A freshman! Like everything he does, he's just breezing along, without nary a bump in the road for transition. This is the kid who HATED change of any kind... would cry over having to get new shoes unless they were exactly like his old ones.... when did this change?... Elizabeth is an eighth-grader, being a sports star, and an academic star, and a social butterfly. She rarely does anything half-way...other than cleaning her room. ....Mark is busy being three. He is such a happy kid! and that is a big change too. :) Lots of time with play doh, cutting paper into teeny tiny pieces, cars and trucks of all sizes... and buffalo- he loves buffalo!?

Happy birthday to us! -er, Shawna!

2006-07-23T20:24:00.000-06:00

Shawna Clingerman ( of mylittlescraps, PDW and NDISB fame ,) is turning 26, but it's one of those deals where we get the treats! Yay!
(and Shawna --happy happy birthday, friend!)

My hint for your happy Monday-ing: Click on that link, starting tomorrow and you can download the kit in her ad above for free this week only, before she adds it to her store!

Peace out! --Kristin

mud buddies...

2006-07-13T10:24:00.000-06:00

Ahh... I just love going back through old photos ! These were taken back when dd was 6, when irrigating with dad was a treat and not a summer job - ha! At this small size it's hard to tell, but they are both covered in mud nose to toe. Apparently, there was a water fight involved too at some point before they got home.

Click to enlarge

Credits: Almost everything is from Lauren Reid's "Cottagey Day" at plaindigitalwrapper (and I don't do that- 1 kit- very often!)= scallop, papers,'take time' word art, flowers, ribbon, UPC, file tabs, frame. "bonding" title cut with Arial Black font out of Lauren's paper and atomiccupcake.com grungy ink action applied. Also: Shawna Clingerman Swirly Dots brush. Tammy Moore - America The Beautiful Alpha (PDW). Green jewel bling by Jen Wilson Glitzy Bits. Hand font is 2Peas Scrapbook. Most drop shadows from Traci Murphy's actions .

Almost Friday! Cheers -- Kristin

my older son...

2006-07-07T21:41:00.000-06:00

I do have one! Sometimes I look through my scrapped pages and wonder...! At 14, he has a habit of not being in many of the photos I take. Hmm... now that I think about it, I mainly see him only if there's food involved. ! which reminds me, he is a quarter of an inch under 6 feet tall. (!) I should find a way to work that onto this latest page ...hmm...

Click to enlarge

My "entry" for Team Gina Miller CT-lifting: I was inspired by Cat’s “Sixist” It is such a great design, and clever , I didn’t do it justice!

Credits a mile long: Shawna Clingerman Arrow Fun at ndisb.com and Linez alpha (U) at plaindigitalwrapper. Corina Nielson: About Me words, Skinny Jeans rivets, and Funky Borders @ PDW. Misty Mareda Brown Wrapper Alpha (e) at PDW. Peppermint Creative’s Foil Alpha (k). Kristy Ann Nerness (L) and Holly McCaig (dream button) Create kit. Holly’s number border in Memories at PDW. Joana Carvalho (brown paper) Cozy at digitalfreebies. Kim Christensen Fresh Squeezed (staple, safety pin) at SBB. Katie Pertiet Beadie Discs (seed beads)at Designer Digitals. Lianne Carper Pretty As Flowers (brad) 3scrapateers. Mommyish Designs PunchLabel Alpha -it rocks! Christy Lyle Tagbook Treasures as page template. Atomiccupcake.com: Graph paper, office form, and Simple Tear, Crumple, Foam Stamp and Cracked Paint actions. 2Peas Scrapbook font.
AND drop shadow actions by tracimurphydesigns.com !

Check those actions out if you are a digiscrapper - realistic shadows at the push of a button, and Traci's are always the best!

Grace! Kristin

2006-06-28T07:45:00.000-06:00

Good Morning!
Isn't this one of the most precious babies you have ever seen?? (and, just so you know - she totally looks like her mother!) Thank you to my friend, Lovely, for sharing this perfection with me! I met Lovely through a scrapbook store in Billings where she sometimes works. She took Rene Foss (CK Hall-of-Famer) classes with me with her last $25 I think! She was soooooo giddy for me when my page came out in SSD5 magazine. She "gets" my fascination with scrapping -both paper and digital- and she is just as fascinated! I am truly blessed she is my friend - thanks, Lovely!

Credits: Jasbeanie Designs at jasbeanie.com: Kewl Beans #5 - Summer Surprises (papers, alpha, flower art) and Blooms (petals and bling). Shawna Clingerman, at ndisb.com: Elegant Date Stamps brush. I used Gina Miller's BYOBB from scrapbook-bytes.com as a template for the envelope I made. Jen Wilson price tag. fixedsys font ("priceless" added to tag), Susie's hand font.("welcome...."). atomiccupake.com actions: Paper Tear, Foam Stamp, Glass and Crumple.

Peace -- Kristin

New fun!

2006-06-26T04:05:00.000-06:00

I am thrilled that the talented Shawna Clingerman, of mylittlescraps.com has invited me to be on her design team. I have long been a fan of her "doodles"-- exciting things are in the works and I am glad to be along for the ride!

My latest page, featuring some of Shawna's designs, a shot I took yesterday afternoon, and a phrase Mark can repeat 100 times in under a minute!

Credits: Shawna Clingerman, at Natural Designs in Scrapbooking: The Grass is Always Greener (papers and grass brush ) and Crayon Alphabet, Elegant Date, Going Buggy, Polka Flowers ‘Stapm’ brush sets.
Misty Mareda of thedigishoppe: Address Book Alpha and Brown Wrapper Alpha
Gina Miller, at scrapbookbytes.com: Finishing Touches trim
Lynn Grieveson at scrapbook-elements: Little Captain -topaz brads (some color altered) and staples.
Atomiccupcake.com effects: Chalked Edges, Inked Edges, Foam Stamp and Wild Tear.

Happy Monday!
Cheers -- Kristin

2006-05-01T00:29:00.000-06:00

This is my next page done for Jessica Bolton/eclecticscrap's Photo+Scrap Challenge 3 To fill in the blank "i think ______ is beautiful" with a newly taken photograph" ...the love i feel for my kids, is a beautiful thing! Journaling says "When you fell asleep late this afternoon and I watched you sleep, I thought...”nothing is more beautiful than a sleeping baby.” And when that baby is my own, something about it just causes the love to well up and squeeze the breath almost right out of me... --April 30, 2006"

Credits: Jess Bolton: Almost Trendy (background, Lily's Lakeside Dream (ink overlay), Signature (stem and leaf brush). Michelle Coleman Happy Stripes and Flowers (love is frame). I cut the hearts from Jen Wilson's Altered Hearts. "Beautiful" Font is by Taran Conyers, TK Doodle. and journaling is Susie's Hand of Ali Edwards fame. Just Ad Inspiration.

TFL!!

Trying something different...

2006-04-24T11:36:00.000-06:00

I haven't really settled on one style, for scrapping. But I think -- this isn't it. This page is the result of trying for a linear style. It didn't quite get there, and I'm not sure where it IS. Page done for Jessica Bolton/ecleticscraps
Photo+Scrap Challenge 2. I used pieces of her Signature, Lily's Sophisticated, Lily's Lakeside Dreams, Ordinary and Cool Jeans kits. Fonts used are Cry Kitty, Jaynes Print, DC Make A Wish.
Happy Monday! -- Kristin

My commute

2006-04-06T10:09:00.000-06:00

I recently had to drive to Riverton for a watershed conference. A la my friend Terra, I took pics along the way of my commute...

Cheers! - Kristin

Oy...

2006-02-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

...life is just one big party! (if one were to look at things optimistically) So much going on... Big Son going early twice a week to jazz band practice, Daughter going early a *different* day and staying late the other four days, for basketball practice... Little Son just being two... Me working days in the Lovell office and having three hour meetings at night in the Powell office 4 of the 5 nights, while we go through resumes, and have interviews, for my replacement so that I can increase my hours and get BENEFITS at the Lovell office. This week was just a...blur!

And in between this I want to create some awesome scrapbook "Works of Art" to do our memories justice and the awesome designer's ( Gina Miller and Jasbeanie Designs) work proud. And work on the local scrapstore Cody Craft & Scrapbook's Design Team - yay! ....And never mind the pile of books I have sitting on my nightstand! I may never read again!

A teeny bit of thrill ( well, that is a joke - it was a big thrill) was to be asked unsolicited-like, to work on a SITE's Creative team - Digiscrapdivas - because they say they've been seeing my pages around, and would like me to work for them. I have not lost my head here... this will work because I have a creative team assignment ending - Andie Smith is taking a break from designing to focus on her blossoming photography business. Got those two emails one right after the other, so that will just segue nicely. I am taking that as a sign, for the rest of it! ( Let me keep my delusions, thank you kindly!) and double the fun: Terra is going to be on it too!

So here is my first assignment for the digiscrapdivas: an all about me page (of course) for team's introduction page - I decided to do an abc's of me page, inspired by Kathy Moore's element piece in the kit:

Papers and elements from Priceless Benefit MegaKit to benefit Kids With Cancer Society.

Happy Weekend-ering!
--Kristin

Late Night Sillies

2006-01-29T00:29:00.000-07:00

It's late enough on a Saturday night, that this made sense to do... (and I had to come back and change the spelling of sense from "since". Oy. )

...I stumbled on this on a blog: The challenge is to search only Google Images and see what you find for the following topics...

My Hometown : Powell, Wyoming

My Name : Kristin

My Grandmas' Names : Anna Mary

and Mae

Favorite Food: Chicken potpie

Late Night Sillies, continued...

2006-01-29T00:21:00.000-07:00

My Favorite Drink: Vanilla Frapp

My Favorite Scent: fresh sheets

My Favorite Song: Pachelbel's Canon

aww, man!

2006-01-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

...my sweet little two-year-old man just slid into the chair beside me, and after a moment said, "let's hold hands!" Okay!

then, "heabenly father, ah... thank you for your son... 'n jesus' name, amen."

awww...

You know it's 2006 when...

2006-01-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries. (well, duh!)

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on-line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Go on, send this to your friends ...you know you want to!

(Thank you, son, for the funny-- this might be the first forward I actually forward!)

Monday ramblings...

2006-01-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hi - I am full of random thoughts today... Happy Martin Luther King Day!

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today."
- Martin Luther King ________________________

I need to do 7 loads of laundry. Did I not do ANY last week?!

Since I have the day off and am getting paid for it, definately have to scrap today!

Received my new Franklin Collages planner pages last week, and they are in my planner fresh and clean and empty - how organized that makes me feel in one fell swoop! So, I can plan *nothing* so I stay organized! Haha!

Husband, Dad and Brother are loading up and shipping out lambs today - wahoo! As Eric says, the only good sheep is sheep we don't have! So, it will be a good day for him.

My seventh grade daughter Elizabeth's first basketball game is tomorrow. Always fun to see how these "first-timers" play and improve over the season. (I speak from the experience of volleyball this fall.) Yes, Elizabeth plays and will play any and every sport open to her. And so far, she's done really well at all of them she's tried--> also swimming,soccer, & track. Yayhoo college scholarships! She and eighth grade son Luke are straight A students, too.(and he's a soccer and track star) They have been such easy kids to raise! Two-year-old Mark? Firmly in the two year old status... ask me --next year?!

Toodles for now! Enjoy your clean fresh Monday! --Kristin

Top 5 Movies...not!

2005-12-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

...and I say "not!" because as I was making my list, I discovered I only saw five movies, in total, in 2005! This includes at the theater *and* video.
{I still call anything we rent "video" even though it's been DVD for how long??!}
{and, who am I kidding with the "we rent" statement - I have not even been *in* a video store for... three years?? It's Eric's thing, all the way}
So... this is not a Top Five list, it is The Five list.

This was prompted by my morning visit to Katie, thescrapbooklady's blog and her posting of her top 5 movies. And I thought, that could be cool thing to scrap. When I look back in like 10 years, it would be like a little time capsule.

The Five Movies Kristin Saw in 2005
______________________________________________________
Seen with my two oldest, as An Outing With Mom:

______________________________________________________
We rented this for a date night at home:

______________________________________________________

Another seen with the two Big Kids, because Elizabeth especially wanted to see this:
_____________________________________________________
I saw this one with my mother-in-law, part of a premier screening in Cody, Wyoming! because the book authors live in Cody. This was a big deal for my sister-in-law's book club, winning tickets for all of them to go, and they gave two extra to us. We "dressed up" and had dinner at Maxwell's before The Show.

_____________________________________________________

And this one, Our One and Only Date in 2005!

____________________________________________________

Katie linked to this cool listing of 2005 movies that I used to make my list. Thanks, Katie, for the inspiration!

One other list I made:

Movies I’m surprised I didn’t see:
Mr & Mrs Smith
Shop Girl
Bewitched
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – because Liz talked about it SO much!
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith
Miss Congeniality 2
Perfect Man
Just like Heaven
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

If you make your own list, leave me a link!

--Kristin

Sign of the times...

2005-12-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

ode to the exclamation point...

2005-12-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

okay, has anyone else noticed the abundance of exlamation points in online correspondence whether it's email, chat,forum postings-- especially forum postings. Much more than the average use In Real Life, you think? Every other sentence of mine, or more like EVERY one has one OR MORE of the little lines and dots. On reflection, I believe I may be coming across as a bit of a frenetic chick, when in said Real Life, I hardly ever have a comment to make that would warrant one in a transcript. My case in point, an email I just sent Fiddlette/Christine/Missy C :

Now see what you enabled...I couldn't talk that long about mo's stuff and not go buy something new! I needed closure!
I'm downloading primitive scrapbooker as i type this. (SLOWWWWLY though - its over 300 mb!!)
and it is not what i logged on to get, I keep meaning to finally buy some of her froufrou stuff, like i want the roses from ashley!! and everytime i end up with primitive something or an alpha!
and I have to space my purchases out- these teenagers are expensive!! - haha!
Cheers,
Kristin
P.S. and i think i'm addicted to the exclamation point lately. i need to tone it down. i wished i'd proofed my interview for scrapmommies and taken out half of them. i sounded high on ritalin (sp?) or something. But see, I 've posted this whole paragraph and not one exclamation point. Physically sitting on my left hand.

Still am, sitting on that left hand -- see? not an exclamation in site on this posting. AND IT IS SO HARD.
Here is the referenced article in the Scrapmommies newsletter: I was the member profile for December (and that oh so needs an exlamation or two...) If you have not been to scrapmommies, it is the homiest comfy-cozy friendliest scrapsite I've run across. Read that newsletter. and come on over.
Whew. Not one (new) exclamation point. I can cancel that Overusers Anonymous meeting.

Cheers, Kristin

If you give a mom a muffin...

2005-12-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

...She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She’ll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She’ll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she’ll find dirty socks.
She’ll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She’ll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her
she has to plan for supper.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She’ll look for her cookbook
(”101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger” ).
The cookbook is setting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.

She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse
that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She’ll smell something funny.

She’ll change the two-year-old’s diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She’ll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.

Thinking of coffee will remind her
that she was going to have a cup.

And chances are… If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

-Author Unknown

{and if for some reason, like you live on Mars, you have not read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie RUN and buy this book for a child you love (or even yourself - the art is scrumptious!- this book started us on a journey of collecting Felicia-Bond-illustrated books 14 years ago) (hey- that would be a good blog subject - great kids books - we know a *few* of those! ;) }
--Kristin

More screen time

2005-12-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

My sugar and spice is Elizabeth: "In a household with three males, we girls gotta stick together! You are my sunshine, my craft buddy, my cookie baker...and as you turn 13, you're becoming my make-up borrower, clothes borrower, shoe borrower, lets-talk-about-boys-and-hair girl... I'm just so glad I have you!"
And she got a big kick seeing her face here!
And I have to say I did too - it is such a treat to come across something you create somewhere you totally don't expect it!
And, changing the subject, is it Friday yet?

* just a little fun *

2005-11-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

Some kinda crazy fun happening over at Scrapkitchen. Here is my doorprize... or is it a posting bonus? -hee!

My 15 minutes of fame...

2005-11-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to sweetnsassy Robin's post , I visited the Digi Pick of The Day for the first time. I surfed around a bit... and my layout was the pick for Nov 15! (or half a pick -hee!)

What a kick! This is my first toot. (and everytime I say this, my SOoo-12-year-old daughter breaks into peals of laughter over that phrase!) Toot may be exclusive to online scrappers? It's the only place I've run across it: in scrapping forums, Toot threads for sharing publication or recognitions of some kind; as in 'toot your own horn, or a horn, I believe.

And toot for ~~Andie~~, whose cool papers provided the motivation for that layout.
And of course to Heather/dallin.and.gracie whose layout I lifted.

Cheers,
Kristin

the new me...

2005-11-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

Ta-Daa!

Avatar image by sweetmindy at The Digi Chick, altered by yours truly :)

2005-11-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

This was the view from my front door yesterday. If I had some of Jason’s photography prowess, I would love to capture the really special image that is lurking out there.

Digital elements by Andie Smith (Charleston, Shabby Winter) at the Digi Chick

2005-10-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

My page for the "all about me" album challenge. From my scrapbook gallery
(Follow link for page element credits.)

I just wanted to...

2005-10-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

...comment on a friend's blog! And I ended up here!

Kristin