pere jeanty

a little over three years of marriage and two children later, i have FINALLY finished my very first honeymoon layout. it's dedicated to my hubs as he's been making not-so-subtle comments about starting to scrap something from our wonderful trip out to napa and san fran back in 2004. sure, i guess it's high time, but it's not like i've been idle, sitting on the couch, eating bon-bons all day...{though, i wish i had...it would explain the winter fat that's appearing on me}.



just a bit of background...this LO is about one of the many wonderful places we ate out at on our honeymoon - pere jeanty in yountville, ca. it's no longer in business - can't imagine why as the food was truly wonderful. but, it's "big sister" restaurant, bistro jeanty, is still around.



i wanted the layout to have a vintage country french feel to it...loved the lace for that reason. i made the heart embellishment with cardboard, patterned paper and a bit of stitching. and, as always, i try to incorporate stamping of some sort {love my stamps}.

and some journaling...





and more stamping...



{one day i'll learn how to create one of those cool picture collages in photoshop so i can just upload one document to blogger...}.

it's been such a long day already here...i love this movie and i think i'm going to pop it in this afternoon. maybe shut my eyes for a few minutes if i can get both of the kiddos to nap at the same time...i hope, i hope, i hope...

the blahs.

it could be the result of sleep deprivation due to having a newborn. it could be the seriously crummy weather we tend to have. it could also be that i haven't really been out of the house very much in the past several weeks. whatever the cause may be, all i know is that i definitely have a major case of the blahs.

on the upside i finished another layout the other day. woo hoo! i'll have to post it here, maybe tomorrow. again, crummy weather, bad natural light - and, i don't like to use the flash unless i have to.

one thing that totally lifted my spirits today was baking cookies with my girl. she was totally obsessed with sticking M&M's {or as she calls them, "ma-nem-in-nems"} in the sugar cookies. {as you can see, she put only a couple in each cookie...ha}.



her interest in baking is starting to intensify. whenever i'm in the kitchen, putting some treat together, she comes in and insists on moving a chair over to the counter to watch and help me mix the batter/dough/concoction. on the upside of this new interest, she's not as petrified of the hand mixer.

anyways...speaking of baking...and food...i've developed a renewed interest in the FoodTV network. seems like the TV is permanently stuck to the channel. saw this recipe for scones that i have to try. always wanted to make scones. even have a scone pan sitting on a shelf in the basement. ask me if i've used it - ever. no. i may need to break it in now though. this looked pretty darn good too as i watched it being put together. may have to try to make both this weekend, but time is a precious commodity these days.

hope your day is a little less "blah" then mine. thanks for dropping by!

new year = new layout

just a really quick post here. if you receive my newsletter, i've included a photo of my most recent layout below. it's very simple - i had so many photos to work with. sometimes i feel like the more photos i want to include, the more challenging the layout - and i'm not the biggest fan of 2-page layouts. all the more reason to challenge myself with doing more, right?

although, i have to admit the button frame was really fun to make.

this layout features a mish-mosh of fun accents, like faux stitching:


faux buttons:


and edge distressing:




so, while it may not be the world's most complicated layout...it was really fun to play! =)

on to the next layout! i've got a big week coming up, so this may be my last post for a little bit. definitely keep checking back for bits and pieces of crafty goodness and other stuff. thanks for stopping by!