Sunday, December 21, 2008

Calyn at 6 months

Calyn is now 6 months old. I just can't believe how quickly she is growing. She has such a good personality. She is very laid back and easy going, she must take after her Daddy. She only gets fussy when she is tired or hungry. And when she is hungry, you better act quickly or she really lets you hear it!

What's she doing now? Here are her stats and accomplishments at 6 months:

Weight: 17.4 lbs

Length: 27 " long

Has two teeth (1st on Dec 6th)

Is now officially crawling (Dec 14th)

Is now eating stage 1 foods. Bananas were the first to be introduced, she LOVES them. Tomorrow I will be trying out Sweet Potatos

Is babbling, saying "dadada"

Can grab things with her hands and pass the object back & forth

Is now wearing mostly 6-12 months clothing. She can still wear some of her 3-6 but they are getting tight

Loves the dog. She always laughs when he comes into the room. She crawls over to him and pulls his muzzle and ears. We tell her to be gentle. Thank goodness we have such good doggie. He loves her to!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Santa





Here is a picture with the kids sitting on Santa's lap. This guy is a great Santa, real beard and all. We even got a smile from Calyn. I was just happy that she wasn't afraid of him, I guess she is too little to know the difference. Next year should be fun!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Thanksgiving

Here are a couple of photos from Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving here at our house. A small group this year, only 10 of us. The first photo is Hayden hamming it up. He had a blast, Sarah, his cousin came and brought her new boyfriend, Ryan. Ryan know a lot about the Lego Star Wars game for the Wii and Hayden is totally into it.

The other photo is of Deb & Calyn. That little girl smiles all the time. At the time of the photo, she still had on her pretty pink dress. It only lasted for about half the day!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Darth Vader, the Lego






This photo was taken at the Lego store in Downtown Disney. This is a full scale Darth Vader. He is huge. He is completely made out of Legos. Hayden thought he was just too cool standing there next to Darth Vader.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Disneyland, Take 2







More photos to share from Disnleyland. This is one of Calyn asleep in the Baby Bjorn. I guess we just wiped her out! This photo is priceless...















Papa & Hayden on the Dumbo ride. Let's spin!










Calyn & Mr. Toad at Mr. Toad's adventure ride. They have the same grin!























Mom and the kids with the Pumpkin Scarecrow.








This is one of the thousands of Halloween decorations at the park. They really go all out for Halloween and the Fall. Next year we want to go when the park is decorated for Christmas.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Disneyland

Here are some more pictures from our trip to Disneyland. This one was taken in front of the castle leading into Fantasyland.
























This is Calyn at dinner one night, she is such a smiler!

















This is Hayden with his cool balloon hat. If you look closely, you will see a motorcycle on top. He wanted a dirt bike and rider. The balloon guys at Disneyland are the best!













Hayden & Daddy hanging out by the Jungle Cruise.









Mommy, Hayden & Calyn.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Star Wars at Disneyland

Hayden is a huge Star Wars fan. So when we went to Disneyland this year and saw the Star Wars Padawan training program, he was hooked!

Last year when we went, we went to the show the last day we were there. They pick about 30 kids out of the crowd and put them in robes and give them a light saber. They teach them how to fight and then Darth Vader & Darth Maul come out and the kids get to fight one of them. It's all very exciting for the kids.
















Anyway, last year he did not get picked and there were huge tears and wonder about why he was not chosen. This year, we went the first day and he did not get picked again. More huge tears and pouting, I told him that he really needed to show enthusiasm and jump & down, making sure the Jedi Master saw him and that he really wanted it.

The next day we were determined to make sure that he got picked by the Jedi Master. We had seen two boys with signs who got picked the day before, so we figured we would do the same.
We went back to the hotel that night and made up a sign that said "Jedi Master, please pick me. Third time is charmed. And then my husband drew a light saber on the bottom.

Well, that did the trick. The Jedi Master was picking kids, went once around and pasted by Hayden. I thought, Oh no, another day of tears. Then, he came back around and said " this little patient boy with the sign". My kid, patient? Hmmm. Anyway, I was so happy for him, that I cried. Knowing his disappointment the other two times, I would have been just as crushed as he if he were not picked again. I was whooping and jumping around. I think I was more excited than he was.

Anyway, they did some training for about 10 minutes and then the bad guys came out. Hayden was on the stage and got to "fight" Darth Vader. He took this to complete heart, like he was really fighting the real Darth Vader. We have a video that I will try to post as well. He was so jazzed when he got done, he wanted to do it again. But we told him only once per trip, that he needed to give the other kids a chance to be picked for Padawan training. This is a moment that I will remember forever....

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Gift Certificate Holder

This is a gift certificate holder that I did for one of my client's. Her son contacted me and wanted to purchase her a gift certificate for her birthday.

Last year I had done one of these as a money holder, so I just got it out and changed the dimensionals so that it would hold the gift certificate instead.












Here is the sample showing the gift certificate. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Recipe:

Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts
Ink: Old Olive, Ruby Red
C/S: Baja Breeze, Ruby Red, Old Olive, WW
Accessories: DSP Ski Slope, Circle & Scallop Punches, Sticky Strip, Slot Punch

Friday, November 14, 2008

Gift Jar

Isn't this a cute little jar for candies? One of my very sweet club members, Ronda Jaramillo, made this for me. She bought the jars at Ikea, it was a pack of 4 $2.99, that is a great price.

I will try to find some, it would be fun to make these at club in December.

By the way, for some reason, there are no more M&M's in this jar! Hmmm...

Disneyland & The Nightmare before Christmas

Ahhhh! Every year for Halloween, Disneyland changes the Haunted Mansion into "The Nightmare before Christmas". It is really cool and not scary at all, so the little kids can enjoy it. While standing in line, I asked one of the employees how long it takes them to turn it into this, I figured that they did it at night once the park closed and would be ready the next day. He told me that they close it down for 2 weeks! Wow. It is something else to see.

This is us pretending to be scared!


These are just some shots in the attraction.


















Here is "Jack" from the movie. We got some really good pictures of him, because this is were our car stopped, but he kept repeating himself and we got tired of listening. Hayden kept telling him to be quiet!

This is Dick & Lisa, my in-laws. They were in front of us on the ride. About half way through the ride, it stopped, I think that someone on the ride was either leaning out of the car or trying to get out, because they kept saying to stay in your car.

Lots more Disney posts to come, I figured I would batch them, since I have so many pictures that I want to share. Enjoy the "ride"! :)-

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Frosty Day Sample






This is one of the cards that we made at my monthly club meeting last Friday. I used the Frosty Day Designer Series paper. I also used the Scallop Edge punch to create the square focal. It is really easy and you can view the tutorial on SplitCoastStampers. You use a 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 piece of cardstock and line it up evenly on the punch and then punch each side. I love the diversity that it gives the punch.

Recipe:

Stamps: Season of Joy, Punch Pals
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip
C/S: Tangerine Tango, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Frosty Days Designer Series paper
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Build-a-Brad, Striped Tangerine Tango Ribbon, Scallop Punch, Dimensionals

Halloween Party

Every year our friends, Steve & Suzanne, have a Halloween party. This year was no exception. They encourage everyone to dress up, usually the adults grumble about this, but this year we embraced it! I have already mentioned in a previous post that our family did a Star Wars theme. I was Princess Leia, Calyn was baby Leia, Hayden a Clone Trooper and Greg was the Emperor Palpatine. It was quite fun and everyone had fun dressing up.

This photo is of me, Calyn & Jeanann. Calyn was hot in her costume, so she was changed. I had lost the wig but was still wearing my gown.





This is a picture of Calyn with her costume on. Doesn't the wig look more like ram horns? We were calling her little ram all night.






The picture below is of everyone. Starting from the left we have Baby Leia, Clone Trooper, Princess Leia, Princess, Darth Maul, Sarah Palin, Hanna Montana, Police Officer, Witch, scary "scream" guy, scary ugly guy, Ariel the Mermaid, Snow White and Dead Groom.
















This is a picture of all the kids. They had a blast.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Snowflakes

Christmas is in the air. Can you believe that it is not even Thanksgiving, yet all the stores are already selling Christmas items? I went to the salon this morning and they have their tree up!!

Anyway, I guess I am just the same. I have been making Christmas cards for the last two months. These cards were made with the Little Snow Flurries from Stampin' Up's Accents & Elements line. These little felt snowflakes make the cutest cards and I can not wait to create some scrapbook pages with them as well. In this set, you will receive 23 designs in 3 colors, that is 69 pieces in total! Wow, that is a lot. Love the colors: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze. I was not completely "sold" on these colors when they were introduced but boy, have I grown to love them!

Recipe below. Hint: When putting the adhesive on the felt flurries, apply it slowly. If you go too fast, it tends to just stick to your roller and not the felt. Button is just stuck on with adhesive as well. Super easy and really cute! Enjoy!

Stamps: Season of Joy
Ink: Versamark
C/S: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, DSP Ski Slope
Accessories: Ribbon Originals Alpine, Little Felt Flurries, Buttons, Dimensionals

Monday, November 10, 2008

Sorry for the lack of posts...

Hello,

I just wanted to apologize for the lack of blogging last week. Early last week, I came down with the stomach flu and it knocked me down for the count. Everyone in my family had some sort of little bug. Now we are all feeling better and I promise to get some blogging done in the next day or so.

Hope everyone is well. Please go out and get your flu shots. It is supposed to be a bad flu season this year!

Cheers,
Elyse

Friday, November 7, 2008

Star Wars Halloween

We all got into the Halloween spirit this year. A friend of ours hosts a Halloween party every year and insists that EVERYONE dress up. We have grumbled about it in years past but this year we were ready!

Hayden is totally into Star Wars and wanted to go as a Clone Trooper. If you are not familiar with the Star Wars saga, a Clone Trooper is the same as a Storm Trooper. Both work for the evil Lord Darth Vader and are on dark side. So I thought, let's make it a family theme.

I was Princess Leia, Calyn was Baby Leia and Greg was the Emperor Palpatine. We had a great time. More pictures of that evening will follow.

Other costumes that night were: Ariel, the mermaid, Hanna Montana, Darth Maul, Snow White, Sarah Palin, a Cop, a dead groom, witch and two scary creatures.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Suede Paper Tulipe

This card was made using the Suede Paper that I had purchased for a Big Shot materials swap. The paper is very rich and feels, well, like suede. It cuts very easily and has a nice look, although it is hard to see on the card. I stamped "cherish" using Basic Brown, it came out a little lighter than I would have liked, but it works. I showed the card at Patty Bennett's Stamp-a-Rama and she wondered if you could use the iron to transfer a stamped image. I will try that and let you know. In the meantime, enjoy this one!

Yum Yum Feet!

This is a picture of Calyn enjoying her yummy toes. She has recently discovered that she has feet and loves to bring them close for inspection and chewing. I sure wish I was that flexible!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Tulipe Big Shot Die

These two cards are made with the Tulipe die from the Big Shot. I used the negative side, instead of all the little pieces that come out in this one. It is a pretty die, so I made the cards square, The Baja Breeze base is 5 x 51/4. You don't have to do much to make them look good. Just pick out some designer paper and maybe some Rhinestones or pearls from the Pretties kit and you are done. Quick yet elegant.


















Recipe:

Paper: Whisper White, DSP Holiday Treasures or Ski Slope
Accessories: Big Shot, Tulpie die, Rhinestones or Pearls from Pretties

Pumpkin Patch

I took the kids to Joan's Pumpkin Patch last week with my Mom's group. We do this Pumpkin Patch every year. It is a great place to go with the kids and let them run wild for an hour or two. They have tons of pumpkins, great for taking photos. They also have this great tree for climbing, and pictures too!

Calyn has just started sitting up, she is pretty wobbly but if you prop her up against something, she can sit up for a few minutes before toppling to one side or the other. This photo among the pumpkins is one of my favorites.







This is a picture of her in her stroller. She is looking all very serious in this shot. Not sure what she was thinking. She was just hanging out watching all the kids run around.










This is a picture of Hayden in the tree. This is a huge branch that extends parallel to the ground at about three feet above the ground. Like I said, this is a great tree to play on and while the kids are playing and climbing, you can snap some great pictures without them even knowing. I took 150 pictures on this trip and we were there for about 1 1/2 hours.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Pink Suede Paper Snowflake















I participated in a Big Shot materials swap. My chosen material was suede paper. The snowflake on this card is this material. It is very soft to the touch and feels like velvet. Very pretty to work with. I was able to cut two pieces at once with my Big Shot and think that I could have gone one more. I can't wait to see all the other cool materials once I get the swap stuff in. Hoping for some good ideas. Enjoy!

Recipe:

Stamps: Curvy Verses
C/S: Chocolate Chip, WW, DSP Holiday Treasures
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red
Accessories: Big Shot, Snowflake & Top Note Dies, Circle & Curly Label punches, Taffeta Chocolate Chip ribbon, Dimensionals

Sleepy Girl

What a sleepy girl. Is she trying to catch flies? Love the mouth, it is your typical baby mouth, all full and cute! This was taken on Saturday night at our friends annual Halloween party. Calyn usually goes to bed around 8:00 and this picture was snapped around 9:00. She had a great time, she was baby Princess Lela from Star Wars. I was adult Princess Lela, Hayden was a Clone Trooper and Greg was the Emperor Palentine. Pictures of that evening will be posted soon!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Stamp A Rama & Faux Dry Embossing









This is another card I made using my new favorite technique, Faux Dry Embossing. I made this card for a shoe box swap I was doing with some of the demonstrators in my group. We had to design a card that could be demonstrate in 10 minutes at a workshop/class.

I decided to use a set that I have not had out in a long time, Baroque Motifs. I love the delicate look to this stamp and felt that the lines & swirls would look great with this technique.

I have given instructions for this techinque in a previous post but will list it here again :

Technique: Faux Dry Embossing

1. Take your stamp and stamp on cardstock using White Craft pad.
2. Use Heat tool to set the ink or wait 10 minutes for it to completely dry.
3. Use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up your image (having already stamped the image on the ma-jig), you will be using the same color on the image sheet as the cardstock you will be stamping on.
4. Once you have the stamp-a-ma-jig lined up, you will want to off set it just a bit. This will give you the embossed look.
5. Remove your image sheet and stamp over the craft with your main color (same as cardstock. i.e., Pacific Point ink on Pacific Point c/s).

There you have it. Faux Dry Embossing.

Recipe for this card:

Stamp: Baroque Motifs
C/S: Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, WW
Ink: White Craft, Pacific Point
Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Kiwi Kiss ribbon, Designer label & oval punch, Big Shot & Top note die, dimensionals.

Surrounded by Pumpkins

Every year we go to Joan's Pumpkin Patch in Livermore. This year we joined my Mom's club there. It is about a 30 minute drive but well worth it. They have tons of Pumpkins, a petting zoo with goats that you can feed, all kinds of areas for the kids to run and play, a corn maze, hay rides and the best tree for climbing and pictures.

I will be posting more pictures from this day, but this was one of my favorites. The kids are surrounded by pumpkins. I just love how vibranit the color of the pumpkins and how many there are, it looks like they go on forvever!
Calyn is just starting to sit up on her own, but here she gets a little help from big brother Hayden. It was hard to get him to sit still for this picture and this is the only one where he is looking at the camera, just too much fun stuff going on around for picture time!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Snowflake Card

This is a card that I cased from one of my uplines, Patty Bennett. See her blog at Patty's Stamping spot.

I changed up the colors and snowflake center and greeting. I used the snowflake die & Top Note die. I also used several punches. Thought it turned out pretty nice, I just love all the dies and the new Big Shot, it adds a completely new element to card making. I have just ordered the scribble swirls and big Tulipe die. Can't wait to play with those. Enjoy.




Recipe:

Stamps: Curvy Label
C/S: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, WW
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Bit Shot, Snowflake & Top Note die. Scallop punch, circle punches, Designer label punch, Snowflake punch, rhinestone from Pretties kit, Kiwi Kiss ribbon, Dimensionals

A Wish for Peace

This is a card that I did for my Stamper's Club that met this last Friday. This card uses heat & stick & glitter for the focal. I stamped the main image in Craft Ink Old Olive and then sprinkled Heat & Stick powder over it. I then heated the image with the Heat Gun to set the image. I then immediately sprinkled with Iridescent Ice Glitter and hit it with the Heat gun again to set that.

I added a bit of color to the focal, by taking my blender pen to Ruby Red Classic Ink and coloring in the church.

Hope you like it.

Recipe:

Stamp: A wish for Peace
C/S: Ruby Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, DSP Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Craft Old Olive, Basic Brown, Ruby Red
Accessories: Heat & Stick Powder, Iridescent Ice Glitter, Blender pen, Ribbon Originals Alpine, dimensionals

Calyn is 4 months old

Calyn is 4 months old. I can't believe that she is growing so fast. It is such a joy to have a baby in the house again. Yes, I am sleep deprived and yes, she cries and throws tantrums sometimes, but I would not have it any other way. I can not even imagine life without her, now that she is here.

These pictures were taken when she was having a little tummy time. I had actually just put her down for a moment. She immediately rolled over and then pulled her head up and was looking around. She sat so still for the pictures. Little hand over the other and smiling away. I got right down on the floor to get these, better to get at their level when taking photos of the kids.




















What is she doing now? Here are her stats and accomplishments at 4 months:

Weight: 15lbs, 3oz

Height: 24"

Rolling over (started on 09/08)
Squeals
Chattters up a storm
Can hold head up when on tummy
Likes tummy time
Smiles at everyone
Has just found she has feet and loves to eat them!
Loves to be held
Loves the Baby Bjorn
Thinks her big brother is funny
Wearing 3-6 month clothing
Hair is growing in, seems to have a slight reddish tint.
Going to bed between 8-9, waking around 1AM & 4AM
Thinks that 6AM is a good time to wake up.....NOT!
Noticing the dog
Starting to eat Rice cereal (10/13)