Celebrate!!! 11 years

Hi there! Hope you get a chance to stop on by the AUTHENTIQUE PAPER BLOG and check out the layout that I made with the CELEBRATE Collection. I can't believe I have an 11 year old. ;)
Have a super day!

Little Man with a big plan: Amethyst #1

I had a bunch of these adorable pictures of Jonah building his lego/duplo trains. It's one of his favorite pastimes.

I used Scrapbook Steals Amethyst #1 sketch by Kristy Lee as my starting point. Such a great sketch for a bunch of little pics.

Faux legos are easy and fun to make.

This paper is perfect for my boy pages. To the Moon!
Have a super duper day!

Garnet #8 I Was Born This Way

I guess I had forgotton to post this layout. I used Authentique's new Genuine collection and a sketch by Becci Manies to complete this layout.

I love my thirdborn like nothing else. He warms my heart to no end but that boy is also gonna be the end of me (I found two of his lunch sandwiches hidden under his brother's dresser-moldier than all get out, he knows he has to finish his whole lunch before he can after school snack. STINKER) Frustrated, sure, but he just has this way about him...a charm...a certain je ne sais quoi.  Whatever it is he gets away with a lot!!!

This particular incident happened a few weeks ago and just pulled at my heart strings. I had to scrap it because it spells out exactly who my baby is.


The pictures were actually taken when he was lamenting an upcoming haircut ;) I'm really not that mean of a mom. BUT because of the two moldy sandwiches-all he's getting for lunch this week is a sandwich and a few carrot sticks.

I hope you're day is filled with beauty and love.

Jungle Safari Baby Shower Decorations

I was so pleased to be able to be a part of my sweet friend, Heidi's, baby shower. I actually used to be her leader at church when she was just a wee little girl (16) ;) Am I really getting that old!!!??

She's going to have a little boy to love and cherish and she picked out this fabric called Safari Tots. Her mom made her the cutest bassinet with it, and I decided to make her a book page banner that she could hang over baby Ryan's crib.

I paper pieced this monkey based on something I saw on Martha ages ago.

and used it as the cover to an album I put together for her.

Here's the banner with baby Ryan's name and the circle garland at the party. They had these zebra print kraft cards at Hobby Lobby so I purchased a pack and stuck animal prints on the fronts. We used them as decoration and now she can use them as thank you cards.

I also put together a table centerpiece with jungle animals. I got these stickers at Dollar Tree in the wall sticker area.

I put the animal stickers on white card stock and then trimmed them out.I then made cylinders with coordinating papers and stuck one animal to a cylinder. There were a bunch of leaf stickers left over on the sheet so I thought maybe I could hobble together a palm tree.

I wrapped strips of torn brown paper around each other and attached the leaves at the top with glue dots. You could totally make this into a jungle diaper cake but someone else was already bringing a diaper cake ;). I hope you have a great day and bring some joy to someone in your life.

Beautiful Bow Tutorial: Authentique Loyal

Please stop on by the Authentique Paper blog today. I have a tutorial for these sweet little bows.

Absence and Loss

I will be taking a little time off from the blogging life. We just lost my step-dad to Leukemia and a series of other things that made it so hard for him to fight back. My mama is in the hospital too and I'm worried for her. I know my crafty life will be there ready for me when I need it but right now I need to focus on my family. I'm so far away and I feel useless. Prayers and comforting thoughts are much appreciated.
love,
Misty

BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER...or second best ;)

On Thursday night I attended a Chocolate Chip Cookie Bake-off with the wonderful ladies in my ward.

I decided to make a recipe that my friend, Amber, had made a few years ago that I fell in love with. I think it came from MS. It's buttery and chewy with a bit of crispness when you bite into it. It's a bit of heaven in your mouth ;)

Here are some of the judges. Everyone had such a good time. Chatting and chewing.

Even down to the tinniest judge. I had some stiff competition and actually voted for the warmest gooiest chocolatiest cookie that Amber made. MMMMMM (I need that recipe). This recipe came in second...beaten out by Nicole's "Our Best Bites High Altitude Cookie". ENJOY!

So here's the recipe I use: not as it's written because I had to change it up a bit

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1 cup dried cherries ( I use cherry flavored cranberries or just cranberries)
• 4 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I use 5.5 ounces of chocolate chunks or chips)
• 1/2 cup toffee pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour and baking soda.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice during mixing. Add the egg; mix on high speed to combine. Add the vanilla; mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, and mix on low speed until well combined. Add the oats, cherries, chocolate, and toffee pieces; mix to combine after each addition.
4. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of dough onto a lined baking sheet. Repeat, spacing 2 inches apart. I use an ice cream scoop that is not totally full for some nice, BIG cookies.
5. Bake cookies until golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes.

Garnet #10: Snack

I used Kristy Lee's Garnet #10 sketch as my starting point and got busy. I love making my kids fun snacks...probably because THEY love it so much and I had these pictures that weren't the best but they captured the story I wanted to tell so off I went.

The first thing I did was to sew diagonally across my page...just willy nilly in a similar color thread as my background.

Then I added the pictures and popped some of them up. The yellow lattice paper is from DCWV Lemon Flower.

I am loving this new flower punch from EK Success. I filled the center with some MME Lime Twist.

The circular stamp is from Michael's. It was a super buy. I adore it and can think of so many uses...painted centers, buttons, random papers. LOVE.

I cut off a piece of a doily and sewed along the strip as I pleated it. I then added a piece of washi tape over the center for contrast. At first I had a mustard colored tape but it was over powering on that side.
I hope you all have a great weekend and if you have time stop by Scrapbook Steals blog and check out the new gem sketch series starting on Wednesday. They have great prizes (drawn randomly)!!!
For this set of 10 layouts the prize is a CINCH!!!!! WHOA!!! 

Thrifty Thursday: Boutique Dress

Lace covered shoes with bow: $1.00

Gray "The People Have Spoken" boutique dress: $2.00

I found this dress at Bethel the other day and I was instantly in love with the knit and the wrap waist. When I went to try it on the next day I noticed a hole at the waist seam. I broke out some gray thread and sewed it right up. Good as new and you'd never know, REALLY! Knit is forgiving like that. I want to wear this dress with my mustard shoes :). The mustard stone and silver necklace was given to me by my wonderful Mother in Law. I just love her.
I hope you have a wonderfully thrifty day!!!

Garnet # 9: Carnival Fun

This layout was based off of a wonderful sketch by Kristy Lee over at Scrapbook Steals! I flipped it and changed the pic sizes to make it fit what I had on hand.

My kiddos love the "drops of snowcone juice" all over the layout...they said it was Jonah's fault because he had orange. :) Thanks to E for the Studio Calico Mr. Hueys.

EP's A Walk in the Park was the perfect match for this themed layout.

Date stamped and ready for the book.

Sparkly AC Thickers made the best title.
Have a wonderful day and get scrappy.

Monster Series #3

Another cute monster card for one of my monsters. I had fun making the washi tape flower.

Here, I tried blending the colors a bit more. I hope my little girly likes it. Have a wonderful day.

Winter ATCs: Crafty Enablers Swap

This is my take our most recent swap with a winter them. I love seeing all the different interpretations from the girls.

I used a light blue cardstock and laid floral punchouts over the top. I then spritzed it with Glimmer Mist. Next I ran my SU whimsy wheel over one side in Night of Navy ink. I punched out the snowflakes, stamped the tree in basic brown, added sticky strip and micah flakes across the middle and then I was on to the circle snowflake. :)

i stamped teh snowflake in Buckaroo Blue ink, punched them out and inked the edge. Added a pearl and adhered it to the ATC. Finito and I love the way it came out.
Have a super day!

MSS February Color Challenge

I took one look at the MSS Paint the Town colors for February and I was hooked!!! I seriously love this color combination! I am going to be using it again and again.

I used MSS Vintage Notebook stamp on my scalloped side piece to give it some more interest.
Have a wonderful day and put some color in your life!