31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 31

Why do you LOVE SMASHING?

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 30

List of 1sts as an Adult.

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 29

Alphabet Challenge...
List things in your life for each letter.

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 28

What's on my Mind??

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 27

Where would you like to go.

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 26

Where have you lived?

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 25

With Summer behind us and the holidays coming up, it means vacations for alot of us.   This means stories, like leaving your purse on the car or getting crazy directions like go right past the old library, or just getting lost.
Include:
~ a sunburst
~ handwriting
~ a memento form your vacation

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 24

Best Feeling in the world, such as

a hot shower, or being hugged by

grandkids, children, etc.

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 23

Things I collect.

Biggest set, longest kept,

most precious & Smallest.

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 22

Whar family means to me or what my family means to me.

31 Days of Monster SMASH! DAY 21

Bucket List

Where do you want to go?

What would you like to do?

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 20

Is there any more powerful thing than music to give you a mood, change your mood, or take a mood away?
We all have that certain singer, band, or song that NEVER fails to bring on a strong emotional response.
Let's do a SMASH page about the music that moves us, the good, the bad, or the ugly. (Flock of Seagulls literally gives me HIVES.)
INCLUDE:
• music notes
• a bird
• washi tape

Bully Issues!

To the nasty lady at the clothing store, yesterday. I think you're a bully!

There's was no reed to come into the store with such an attitude, just because you didn't get the assistant manager position a couple months ago.  And then once you find out the girl working is the one who got the job you verbally attacked her about her clothes, her sense of style as well as her age. (Nasty lady 55+, Sales Associate 20+).  Then you go on to ask to speak to another manager about hiring.  You continually act like witch, bossing the sales associate around, get me this, get me that, blah blah, blah. 

 And with 4 other people in the store trying on clothes the Associate can keep her cool, act like you are such a sweet lady, and still help everyone with expert grace and timing.  You continually interrupt the sales associate while she was other customers causing even more tension for all in the store, and then take your attacks on other customers.  While trying on clothing you tell me I'm so short. You're lucky I didn't say anything when you mention you were a model in your 20s because, you are no longer pretty inside or out.

Once another Manager gets there you take your attitude with her demanding to know why you were not hired, mention interview attire and maybe you should have been dressed more casual like the Sales Associate.  Once the Manager tells you “Yes, that’s good, FIRST impressions mean everything.”  You should have taken you’re cue from there.  

I hope you aren’t hired, I highly doubt you could work as well as that associate did to keep peace.  I doubt you’d be able to hand so many commands from customers.   I hope those Ladies working saw what I saw, you don’t mix well with the store and don’t belong there.   That to me was a lousy first impression. 

 I LOVE going into that store and I love that when I need help I’m treated like a princess, with the clothes I want to try on displayed beautifully in the dressing room, because the Sales Associate cared enough to do her job well.  And once I find what I want in clothing they are more than willing to help me accessorize.  With ladies like that working there is no other way than to treat them kindly.  I bet know if i saw you working I'd turn around and shop else where. 

I’m sorry I see people young act like this and it irks me but when I see an older person act like this It really annoys the hell outta me. And you wonder why younger people do this?  Seriously?  I tend to treat those around me the same way they treat me.   Age no longer matters to me, unless you’re over 75+ and crazy like Betty White, seriously once you have that much life behind you deserve to do what ever you want, but until then have respect for everyone. 

 By the way, during my shopping experience, I managed to get a beautiful outfit (The sales Associate’s idea!), beautiful shoes and even accessories, all thanks to that sweet Sales Associate.  I would like to mention though with less interruptions from the witch, I think my hour and half time there I could have been done way sooner, if she had just let the Sales Associate take more than 2 minutes with me at a time. 

 

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 19

Ideas I don't want to forget!

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 18

Seasons

What do you love about each season?  Or do you have a favorite Season.

31 Days of Monster SMASH! DAY 17

10 Things I'm Thankful for!

What are you thankful for?

 

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 16

What's your Sign?

Show us your zodic Sign, either Chinese or American.

 

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 15

RANDOM TOP TEN!

Maybe what you did today or some of your favorite things.

 

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 14

I want to see a SMASH page about the Teenage HEART THROB you thought you'd love forever, back when you were a pimply, sweaty, awkward Teenager.

Also include:

~Colors of the Decade

~Lingo of the Decade

~BLING

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 13

SCAREDY CAT!!
What are your fears?

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 12

Zentangle!!

Zentangle/ Doodle a whole page with 1 word or phrase on it.

This was truly a challenge for me!
I've done a few little zentangles/doodles but never a whole page.
To sit still that long to complete it was also a challenge.
(With a Migrane too! And my little Cupcakes
coming up to say "Hi", then using the clipboard
as a drum, yes a major challenge. )

I used quite a few methods to get my images. 
Cheating as it may be called. 
I used two stamps, one for the
flowers and one for spots.
I also used a diecut butterfly
from my stash to trace around.
All my inspriation for patters were from
three Zentangle books I bought earlier this year.
 Zentangle Basics

Suzanne McNeill

 Yoga for Your Brain a Zentangle Workout

Sandy Steen Bartholomew

Totally Tangled

Sandi Steen Bartholomew

 

The process started October 11 about 10pm.

Finally Completed October 13 about 12am.

There were lots of breaks and even a nap :).

 

Here it is before I added color.

Here it is after. 
Normally I would preffer the above photo, but I felt I
needed to try something different and I'm happy I did.

So, have you Zentangled? 

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 11

What Quotes do you live by?

 

I'm not sure I live by the following

quotes but I do appreciate their meanings.

 

 

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 10

What happened the year you were born?

 

 

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 9

October 9: Which Peanuts character are you? Take the quiz to find out!

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/the-peanuts-character-test

I am Marcie, she and I are very similar though sports for me was always just a big no-no I'm so clumsy!

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 8

October 8: Then & now. 5, 10, 15 years.

How would you compare who you

are now with who you were then.

 

I chose to do 9 years ago.

Many thing are complete different from my

"plans" at the time, and I am different as well.  

 

 

Then: December 2003

20 years old

~ Justin and I had just met in July.  By Christmas we were engadged.  We wanted to be together forever.   Awww young love!

~ I was more trusting of others and my out look on life was more positive.

~ I was crafty in a different sort of way back then.  The only scrapbook I had was one I made of graduation.  I did love to crochet though.

~ Justin was ready to go Career in the Army.

~ I was working full time and going to community college.

 

Now: August (Photo Anyway!) 2012

28 years old

~ Justin and I have been together since and love each other very much and now have two beautiful little girls. Life is Good!

~ Over the years I've meet some very vindictive people who have caused me to reacess my trust in others.

~ Now I do lots of crafts and could easily be considered ADHD in crafting.   I still crochet, bead, scrapbook & much more.

~ Justin is now out of the military and our life took a different turn, but it's all good!

~ Now I'm a SAHM and learning more and more each day from two little girls. 

 

 

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 7

SMASH an adventure you have had!

Seen a crazy movie, had a girls day out? 

 

I picked a recent Girls day out.

Being a mommy now doesn't leave alot of time for girl time so my Mom and our close friend Kay decided it was time to take a trip to Tucson. 

See normally a day trip to Tucson means, Michael's, Joann's and a restaurant.

Gets pretty old.

This time we went with out a plan.

 

After telling them there was 1 scrapbook store left in our area we decided it was time to visit it.

It was a cute little shop in a small town outside of Tucson.  

So many pretty things and ideas.

After an hour there it was time to get back on the road for our next stop.

 

Turns out there's a Casino not far from there!

We didn't win big there but we had FUN!

 

Then it was time for lunch, but I was itching to visit a mall I had heard about.  I knew the mall was an outside type one and it was also stores on the pricier end, but it couldn't hurt to look.

Boy were we surprised, it was so pretty and the stores were so fancy we were worried to stop, but I'm so glad we did.

We ate at a restaurant called BLANCO.  OMG it was delicious.

We were all so stuffed we had to really walk off lunch.

WE wandered the stores like Pottery Barn, BOSE, and more.

 

Then we got a sneaky idea.

Magic Mike had just come out in theatres and Mom and I really wanted to see it.

Kay surprised us and agreed we could go.

I'll be honest that was the most exciting part.

The movie was kinda a let down.

 

After the movie we just had to stop at one more Casino!

My momma loves playing the slots.

 

It definitely an adventurous day!

 

 

 

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 6

  Most Recent Favorite Recipe –

What’s the most recent tried and fell in love with?

 

Pinterest is so many ideas for crafts,

and recipes it's making my head spin!

 

But this recipe we've already used 3 times and my husband & I  LOVE it!

 

A Two Bite Breakfast: Bacon & Eggs in Toast Cups

(6 cups)

• 6 slices of bread
• 6 slices of bacon
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
• salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with butter non-stick spray.
2. Using a cookie cutter, cut circles out of bread slices about 3 inches in diameter. (I confess I do not have a cookie cutter so I use the lid to my tub of orzo pasta and just cut around the edges ;D)
3. Take bread circles and press them into the muffin pan, set aside.
4. Heat a large skillet on medium-high. Cook bacon on the skillet until partially cooked but still pliable, about 3 minutes.
5. Shape bacon strips into the toast cups, fill with 1 Tbs of shredded cheese. Place in the oven for 5 minutes, allowing the bacon to toast just a little more. Remove from oven.
6. Crack your egg and separate out most of the egg white. Drop eggs into the cups, sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste. Place back in the oven and cook until white begins to set, about another 8 – 10 minutes. The yolk should be creamy.
7. Remove from oven when done and pop out using a spoon, serve warm.

You can find the original post href
="http://thenoshery.com/2009/03/29/a-two-bite-breakfast/">here.

 

31 Days of Monster SMASH! Day 5

Letter To Your self:

How many of you have thought, "Man. If I knew

THEN what I know NOW, I would RULE THE WORLD."

 I know I have.

Why are we so STUPID when we're young?! Lol!

I want you to do a page including a letter to

 your younger self. 5, 10, 20 years younger,

it doesn't matter. Go back in time and kick

your own ass. You know you want to.

Include:
• A letter to your former self
• A picture of your former self
• Your own handwriting somewhere on the page

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 4

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go....

Today Smash about your Favorite job(s) you've had.

In my case I've had a few jobs but this one stands out the most.

Museum Gift Shop Manager

HAHA you're thinking what a dork!

Yes I know I am, lol!

But seriously this job was alot of fun.

In 2005 Justin and I moved from Sunny,

hot, dry Arizona to Rainy, foggy Virginia.

We got there the end of Feb, it was cold

and raining and the Fog was so thick.

It didn't help that it made the

historic post look even creepier.

In the fall I found out that the Casemate

Museum on post was hiring and applied.

I got hired and starting working in this

amazing and interesting place.

We lived only minutes away outside the the moat.

My co-workers would tease me that I shouldn't drive

to work it was greener and healthier to walk, but it all

changed one day when I did in fact walk

and was eaten up by mosquitoes!

They didn't tease so much after that.

Not only were my co-workers a fun group,

but in those two years I had encounters with

crazy ghosts and even more interesting living people.

I learned so much during my time there not only

about job stuff, but about the history

of the fort and the surrounding areas.

What was your favorite job?

31 Days of Monster Smash! Day 3

Life changes so fast, there's aways a new trend. 

The weather is never the same.

So many differences just a few

days, months, years can make.

So today your challenge is to write

about what you're doing currently!

Here are some items to include in your page.

Currently

• Listening

• Eating

• Drinking

• Wearing

• Weathering

• Feeling

• Wanting

• Needing

• Thinking

• Enjoying

• Reading

• Wondering

Here's mine:

31 Days of Monster Mash! Day 2

What does your purse say about you?

Do you carry everything

but the kitchen sink in your purse?

Do you carry just the basics?

Do you carry your items as well as baby's?

 

Smash all about it today and don't forget

to add a photo of what's in your purse!

I have several purses I rotate through
so I picked my favorite for this project.
This is my biggest purse, Purple leather made by Buxton!
Beautiful!

Inside:

• Wallet made by Fossil (always with driver's license, debit cards & a few dollar bills, never know when you'll need to use a vending machine!)
• Sanitizing Wipes
• Kleenex- I have horrible allergies!
• Mini Zipper pouch with headphones.
• Baby Mum-Mums- perfect for when the Cupcakes go into Melt Down mode.
• Camera- Life can be pretty interesting.
• Purse Hook - Such a life saver.
• Change
• Lip Gloss
• Tide to Go- I'm just plain messy!
• Pens - See my Toy Story One? LOVE it!
• Purse Organizer - With out it my purse would be a mess.

So what does yours look like?

 

 

31 Days of Monster SMASH - Bonus Challenges

To make things even more interesting there

are a few bonus challenges thrown in!

 

1st Bonus Challenge: Smash about your favorite completed project. 

What have you done that you love?

Maybe a Favorite Layout, Crochet Blanket,

or piece of jewelry. Maybe all of it combine.

Show us what you have done and absolutely LOVE!

 

 

 

2nd Bonus Challenge:  Decorate the cover of your SMASH BOOK!

 

 

 

 

31 Days of Monsters Mash! Day 1

I'm hosting a challenge on a private Facebook

group for 31 Days of Monster SMASH! 

 

 

But I thought I'd share it with you here and see if

you might be interesting in joining along in BLOG world!

You've heard of SMASH BOOKS RIGHT?

Well in this 31 Days you'll be smashing about you & your life.

Challenges will go up once a day.

Don't have a smash book? Make one.

Pinterest has lots of ideas on how,

but using a Composition Book works just as well!

DAY 1: OCTOBER 1st!

Today's challenge is to Smash Random things about you!

 

Can't wait to see what you smash!

Birthday Party Fun!

Our little Cupcakes turned 1 on the 22nd

and to celebrate we had a party on the 25th!

Not only was it in celebration for them turning

1 but us surviving our first year, haha!

There was alot of work put into the party but

in the end I was super pleased with the result.

 

The house it's self had a mini makeover,

with new play area gate installed and my

scrap stuff being removed from my area

to make a cupcake bar!

I wasn't able to get photos of the before,

but I got photos of everyone

enjoying making their cupcakes!

 

 

The girls of course had their own cupcakes made!

 

Everyone seemed to have fun and the Cupcake bar was hit!
Everyone was so busy mingling and eatting and the kids
were have a blast in the play area that time flew and all the games
Justin and I made for party went unused.

Justin helped me create the pin the
Cherry on the Cupcake game
using his special skills of sewing :).
I was in charge of cutting and pinning
fabric as well as sewing all of the cherries. 

So Many Cherries! 
Too bad they look like apples, haha!
My sewing skills are not up to par.

 

I made a bowling set using Gerber Puffs Canisters.

Aw the joy of having two little ones

means collecting canisters is easy :0).

I Also had a bowling ball that I grabbed from their toy bins.

 Gerber Cheeto Puff Cans were then used to
make stacking towers bor a bean bag toss!
Yep, I sewed the bean bags too! 

 

Unfortunetly I forgot to take photos of both

the banner and the invites, but if i get them out at

some point soon I'll make sure to do so.

All the items were made using the same paper pack

and a cupcake from the Cricut Cart Wrap it up.

 

We had so much fun, and I can't wait to share with

you the photos from their smash cake session!

Just think big cupcakes and lots of icing, yum!

Out & About...

Our little cupcakes love being out and about, but I must admit the three of us are air conditioned type of girls!!

Last week Nana & I took the girls out to the splash pad for a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) meet & greet. The girls were not pleased that the water was attacking them, haha.

But we had fun with a picnic and a few adorable photos with the girls in their swim suits.

I used pic monkey.com to edit my photos to look like polaroids.  

 

Paper towel wreath remade...

Remember this?


I made this wreath a while back and Loved it!

But the wreath had its home on the
front door and time had made it fade.

So this past week I remade the wreath
though this time choosing brighter colors!

Tutu Fun!!

Having little girls has made life very interesting.

Having two makes it a game of strategy.

WE LOVE, ok Nana & I LOVE to dress the

girls in the prettiest outfits we can find. But we shop on a budget.

I LOVE supporting our local crafters

getting bows and tutus but the cost

adds up fast when you're buying for twins.

A couple months ago we took a class on

how to make your own bows.

We had a blast and now have our minds

set on making what we can for the girls.

On one of the local mom group sites had a post

was made asking if people would like to attend

a Tutu Party, in which we'd mingle and make tutus.

I was ready to sign up and did, however our week

is busy and I won't be able to make it.

But that didn't stop me from wanting

to make Tutus for the girls.

I used a crochet headband as the waist  it

serves as both a stretchy waist and and

easy way to loop your tulle through. 

I used a slip knot for each strand

of 18"x 4" strip of tulle.

For each tutu I used about 1 1/2 yards.

I choose to use simple inexpensive tulle

and add accents of sparkly tulle on top.

For the last details I made a tutu

bow and matching hair bow. 

The girls will be able to use

the tutu for a few more years!

(My handsome hubby side we had the

best looking paper towels rolls ever , lol!)

Olivia & Ava modeling their new Tutus!

Back to School!

The past couple weeks I've actually
had a reason to work on crafty projects.
My friend is going to be a 4th grade teacher
this year and because it's her first year
teaching the job of decorating is quite big.
You want useful items, educational items and
most of all you want it to catch the
attention of the children you are teaching.

My friend enlisted the help of my cricut
and me to help her room come alive.
I admit the cricut did way more work than
me in the crafty part, I just assembled.
Ashley would tell or show me her idea
and my job was to make it happen.
I had so much fun putting my craft tools to work.

The photos below aren't the completed room.
I will have a new post with the finished room!
I am so excited for my friend and all she
has accomplished to get to this point.
Being a teacher is not a job that is easy
and I sincerely admire her.

The classroom is the normal off white
color and needed something to spark interest.
The idea was to add rainbow color
paper to each panel on the doors.
It helped bring more interest to the doors
and make the room more colorful.

Ashley will be posting all current event information
for the school here as a central station for parents
and students in need of information.
We used the Everyday Paper dolls
cartridge to make our train and conductor.

This is the hallway bulletin board that will greet the children.
The plan is to make decorations for each season to decorate the tree.

One corner nearly completed.
A few items have been changed, like the “Attendence”
is now spelled correctly “Attendance”, and the calendar
will be replaced in the morning with a brand new pocket one!
YAY! The yellowed one was driving us both crazy.
The left side of the board you
can’t see is now completely done too!

This was the first project we finished
and it made us both so happy.
In endless days of cutting, laminating and
cleaning, one project done felt amazing!
Ashley will be posting spelling
words on the different letter blocks.

Pinterest was so helpful in the
process of ideas and how to use them.
I have yet to see the classroom since she finished
up a few more the boards this week, and I honestly can’t wait.
Next Monday is her official first day of school with the children.

To congratulate Ashley on her new job I wanted to
make her something special just for her so this
morning I made this little sign for her classroom.

I haven’t been able to be as productive in
the craft room as I used to be and this project
really helped me get some of my motivation back.
Olivia & Ava's birthday is just a few weeks away
so I've started projects for that as well.
I'm so excited but so sad!
My little babies will be one!

I have a few projects to share
and will be posting them soon.

Family Mini Album

In April my mom, a friend and I went to CKC in Mesa.
We took 3 classes total and my favorite was
the mini album using canvas refill pages!
I Loved it so much I'm using the base idea here.

For Mother's Day I told my mom she and my
dad were getting a photo shoot with the girls.
I must admit I'm unwilling to give
her the mini album I made below. Sorry Momma!

For this album I used Prima Canvas Refill
Pages 6"x12", That's How We Roll **May Kit**
from Tally Scrapper as well as
other odds and ends I found in my stash.

Sears is fantastic if that's all you have near
you for taking professional photos, but looking
for local photographers is even better and you catch
those moments that aren't usually found in the stuffy
professional studio sessions. With local
photographers you can usually pick your own location,
and adapt as much to you're liking as possible.
In our case I ask the talented photographers to
work their magic and using their skills to help us
and our settings become their piece of art.
They know what works best and we can always let
them know if it's comfortable enough for us.
If you are concerned about price, compare the
time spent at a studio like Sears, cost of just
a CD with your selected photos and cost of prints,
they will more then likely be exactly the same as
a local photographer if not even better
with the independent photographer.

We booked this photo session with the very talented
Erin Ratchford of Erin. Ratchford.Photography.
If you are local I highly recommend Erin, she's easy
to work with and great at her skill.

These little girls have their Nana & Papa
wrapped around thier little pinkies!


Tim Holts has this amazing little rolls
of film strip now for projects. I used a
small strip and created my own cartoon to
put behind it. I made my hearts go from
right to left though I realize they are no
where near perfect I like how it embellished
the page of our little family.

I love these photos of just my parents.
I'm not sure the last time they had photos taken.
They've been married just over 30 years and
still love each other very much, that's
something to look foward to with my hubby!
Thanks for visiting today.
If you have a blog or links to your current
projects please leave me comment with them and
I'd love to see what you've been up to!