See new post below Etsy update!

Check Below!

The most recent post ended up beneath the Etsy Update post.  Sorry! It's a long COOL one so check it out!

Update to Etsy

Etsy Update

I found these really awesome paper bags and I am selling some bundles on my Etsy store for only $2.00!! There are 25 in a pack.  They are 6" x 9".  If you would like to order some, head on over there (there is a link on the sidebar to the right).  They are so great for mini albums and mixed media art stuff.  So cool!!  Also, if you want more than 25 you can order as many as you'd like.  Just email me and I can give you a price quote.  I cannot wait to get started using these.  I think a mini will be happening this weekend using these.  I'll show you when I'm done!

SF Travel Journal

San Francisco Travel Journal

Here is the journal I took to San Francisco in September.  We celebrated our 10 year Anniversary by splurging on a big trip.  It was awesome.  We were gone for 5 days and my parents watched our kids (so nice of them!).

So before we left, I inked some of the pages and added images I found in books and on the internet.  The purpose of doing that was to make the pages interesting to begin with.  I find that when the pages are visually interesting to start with, I am more inclined to use the journal.  That is true for not only travel journals, but my daily journal as well.  

I started writing in it before we left.  For instance, I started a packing list in there.  I had a page for our flight information, a page for tour car rental information, a page for our Alcatraz tickets, etc.  Those pages included order dates and confirmation numbers, as well as any specific instructions--like when to arrive for the Alcatraz ferry etc.  Anything about those specific activities that we needed to remember.  That way I had all the information in one location without having to worry about a pile of several papers floating around.  It worked out very well.

Here is a page at the very back about stopping in Santa Barbara to write postcards to our kids.We mailed them from SB so the kids had them when we got home.  I kept the postcards and clipped them in the back.  I normally would put them into the kids journals, but R-Jay had done some cute sketches on each one and I wanted to make sure they were preserved with this album.

I really love lists.  When I go on a trip, I make a list before I start packing so I know that I won't forget anything.  I also like to remember what I take with me after the trip.  So this is a photo I took of all the things I take in my day bag--the bag I take when we are out and about.  Then of course there is the list next to it.  (Confession:  I REALLY love watching "What's in my purse/bag" videos on YouTube and looking at those kinds of photos on Flickr.  So this kind of photo makes me excited.  I'm a dork! )

This is a really simple pages with some of the highlights of Fisherman's Wharf.

A page about the city at dusk. So beautiful!!

This page is about hanging out at Stearn's Wharf in Santa Barbara.  That "Beach" square is an old chipboard coaster from years ago (Lil Davis, I believe).  I used foam dots to mount it up and make it into a pocket.  Then the Making Memories tag could slip behind it.  There is a bulleted list on the front of the tag and then another photo and journaling on the back.

More about Stearn's Wharf.

This page was very fun to make.  I was really excited to bring this travel journal on the trip.  I normally just take random notes on a trip and keep all the tickets and pamphlets and things. Then when I get home, I make a scrapbook page or sometimes I never get around to doing anything.  But this time I wanted to actually keep the journal while I was there.  So I brought a few things with me.  Basically a small letter stamp set, some glue, pens, small ink pads, a letter stencil, watercolor travel set, some small travel themed stickers and rub-ons, small scissors, some watercolor paper I cut down to 4" x6".  It was really fun having all the stuff there so I could work on it while we were out and about or back at the hotel.  I learned a lot from this experiment and I am excited for the next trip to try again.

This is a page about one of my favorite restaurants on California.  This particular one is on the pier at Redondo Beach.  Love it.  We had a table next to a window where we could watch the waves roll onto the shore.  So beautiful!!  You can't see it but under the receipt is a photo of some people fishing off the pier.  After we ate, we watched them for a while.  One guy caught 2 weird flat things.  My dad said they were some kind of shark, but I can't remember the name.  We also saw sea lions swimming all around the pier.  

This is a simple page about the nice anniversary dinner we had.  I did not have any photos for this page but I just embellished it with small scraps of paper (red dot at the bottom) and some stamps.

A simple page about Chinatown.  We did not stay there very long but it was fascinating while we were there.

I am a makeup geek.  I had so much fun going to Sephora.  It's one of my favorite stores.  We don't have any in Utah so I make sure to go whenever we go somewhere that does have them.

This is a really cool page--very simple but cool.  I had a few photos of this beach near Golden Gate Park that I wanted to include.  I didn't want to use multiple pages though so I glued the bottom photo onto the page, then added the next photo with the glue just on the top and attached just above the other photo.  I did that again for the final photo.  I'm able to lift up the top photo to see the next and so on.  It looks awesome!

Here is a simple page.  I printed this picture from the internet, then while on the trip I added this map of Golden Gate Park.  It was too long for the page so I folded it in half and added a tab.  The list on the left page is how I remembered what we did each day.  I just made a quick list as we went along and then added detailed entries later.  (See my little helper Jack?)

The title page.

Some photos of the book all fat and beautiful!! :)

That green tab was off of the file folder I used to store all our travel information before the trip.  You can use anything!

I hope you enjoyed seeing this little experiment.  I really liked doing it and is so fun to look at now.  One of my intentions was to have both me and R-Jay write in while on the trip.  But of course that did not happen (he didn't really care all that much).  He wrote a few sentences here and there once I got the book done after the trip.  I love him anyway! :)

Have a great day!

Quick update

I have not been able to get into the groove of blogging again.   I have a list of ideas to talk about, but I can't seem to force myself to sit down and write anything.  

I just wanted to write a quick update to let you all know what is going on with us.

First of all, we are well (not entirely since we all have some kind of cold).  Christmas was fun. Addison didn't know what to think of it all but the boys had a blast of course.  This is a cute photo taken before church on December 26th.

R-Jay's working on a big project at work.  He's been terribly busy lately.  He is still tutoring at the USU extension center.  I have taken a paper route to have something to do, make a little bit of money and teach the kids about work and paying tithing.  It's been a lot of fun so far.  The kids love it.

I have been trying to get up at 6 am so I have time to workout and read my scriptures (2 things that have been missing from my schedule for a little while).  I have not been perfect at it, but I try.  And I have to say, I love the way exercising makes me feel.  But I HATE getting up early.  Some people have the hardest time with the getting out of bed part but once they are up, they are fine.  Not me.  It is hard getting out of bed, then I am groggy for about 3 hours after. 

I will be posting my new year's resolutions soon.  I also have tons of art journal photos and scrapbooking photos to share.  My creativity has picked up after a long hiatus.  I'm excited about that.   I'm working a lot in my art journal and I have some goals regarding that.  That will be in another post also.  But it's been a lot of fun and I am energized again.

Well, that is all I can think of right now.  Hopefully, you will hear from me again soon!

Sorry for the Absence!

I have been so so busy the last few months.  I'm telling you ahead of time, I will not be posting much in the next few weeks.  Once things settle down after the holidays I will get back into regular blogging.  Sorry about that!

Here are some random fun photos for you to enjoy! :)

Addison on Halloween (So cute!)

Sam and Jack on Halloween

Those are the pumpkins we grew this year.

Me and my boys

Addison on her new mattress (finally sleeping in her own room!  I procrastinate because I love my babies close to me!)

Jared Leto with 30 Seconds to Mars (Concert with Tavia this week).  So cool!

Reenacting the Nativity with my extended family.

Have a wonderful season and I'll be back when I can!

Hey there!

Here are some photos from our recent trip to San Francisco.  It was our 10 year anniversary so we decided to do a big trip.  We were gone for 5 days.  It was so hard to be away from the kids for that long.  But we had a good time.  SF is certainly in our top 5 favorite cities!  I'll post more photos at another time.  Enjoy!

Beautiful cityscape at dusk, as seen from Coit Tower.

Nasty fish in Chinatown.

Golden Gate Bridge on a foggy cold night.

Alcatraz tour--so awesome!!

Here we are--10 years.  A lot has happened in those 10 years (and it shows on our faces!  Look at those wrinkles!).

This is what I've been thinking too

This post (August 19th) at Holy Experience is what I've been thinking about a lot lately.  The chaos of our crazy life with 5 people (and the stuff, schedules, stress, emotions, choices, heartbreaks, etc. that go along with them) has been wearing on me.  I have been terribly unhappy lately--feeling overwhelmed and under--appreciated and like less of a person than I (deep down) know I am.  Haven't we ALL felt that way at some time in our lives?

I came across this post this morning and felt an instant uplift because I have been thinking along the same lines.  Ever since our stake conference last weekend, I've had so many thoughts running through my head.  Mostly about scripture study, prayer, conversion and turning our lives over to God--completely.  It is interesting that it coincides perfectly with our preparations to sell our house and move because we are completely following promptings from the spirit.  He is guiding us down this path.  We don't know what it holds or what the outcome will be, but we feel peace and trust Him.  It's been an amazing experience so far.  And I feel the hope beginning to return to my heart.

Have a great day everyone!

PS--I've added some more inspiring links to the side so check them out!