boom renovation diaries: our new home...

Since we closed on our new home nearly two weeks ago much has transpired. Mainly painting, french door installation and tearing out carpet in preparation to install new. We were very blessed to have the help of two of my uncles and my parents last weekend and, my parents again this weekend.

Since my giant belly is preventing me from lending much of a hand, I'm trying to busy myself with making some decorating decisions that can be easily executed once we move in and that are budget friendly. Right at the top of our stairs is the main hall bath which will be the kid's bathroom. The floor tile is a cobalt blue with a Moroccan-esque feel. I wasn't so sure about it at first but, it's grown on me and I now really love the bold color and the unique shapes. Playing off of that detail and wanting to keep the room child friendly, I'm looking at a blue and orange color scheme with sea life details.

Sources:
Art: created by me in PSE using free clip art images from the web
Shower curtain: Bed, Bath and Beyond
Towels: Target
Whale accessories: Target
Toy organizer: Bed, Bath & Beyond

Blog Hop: Holiday Wishes with Citrus Twist Kits...

Today the Citrus Twist Kits Design Gals are having a Blog Hop to share some of our holiday wishes and to make one of YOUR wishes come true...the chance to win a full, fabulous Christmas Daily kit! 

My Christmas wish this year was one that, at times, seemed nearly impossible. Yet, good things truly do come to those who believe and this past Wednesday, my family and I had our big wish come true as we closed on our dream home! My husband snapped the photo of our new home, under a blanket of freshly fallen snow, and our shiny new keys. The selfie shot of the two of us was taken the day before during our pre-closing walk through...just a little bit happy! I am using a Sn@p album to document our December memories this year, along with the CTK Christmas Daily PL kit. 

Please follow along with the Blog Hop below and, when you're done commenting on EVERY blog, hop back to the main Citrus Twist Blog and leave a comment there for a chance to win a Christmas Daily Kit! Now that is an one awesome prize sure to make any scrapper's holiday extra merry!! 

Kasia
Sam
Jen  <-------you are="" font="" here="">
Jennifer
Angie
Amelie
Sandy
Citrus Twist Kits

Project Life Week 41...

Happy Friday to all! I am currently in the midst of a mad dash to the Christmas finish line (with hardly any shopping completed!) and also a move to a new home (!!!. ...more on that tomorrow!).

Creating with my CTK Pocket Life Kit always gives me the few moments I need to take stock of what's really important and have a bit of down time. And December's kit? SO fun! My pages came together in record time. While the kit can certainly be used for holiday pages, I went back to document one of my favorite fall weeks and the colors were absolutely perfect!

(Left) features a new favorite family photo taken during our trip to the Walkway Over the Hudson, a belly shot that is a near replica of one taken four years ago, and two favorite shots of the kids in our home that week...

(Right) Scootering (is that a word?) at the park, the farmer's market, fall baking, cuddles and my very first flip card (the heart)...

You can see more details on these pages, the flip card and some coordinating sketches on the Citrus Twist Kits Blog today.

Please check back here tomorrow for a very, merry Blog Hop with the chance to win a prize you won't want to miss!

project life: week 37...

Today, I am sharing a layout from September of this year. Week 37 started out with incredibly proud moments and milestones and ended incredibly difficult, uncertain and frightening. Project Life is just that, about life and all of it's highs and lows. There is no better example of that than our family's experience this week.

(Left) Our oldest, George, started preschool this week! He was so incredibly excited and we were equally proud. Mr. Boom and I attended orientation with him on Tuesday morning and then dropped him off on his first solo day Wednesday where (proving he is like me in some ways) he said as we left the car, "Mommy, you can stay here. I can do it all by myself." At home, Jack spent a lot of time playing at our front windows watching contractors remake our building entries and then pave the driveway. Lots of trucks and noise = a toddler dream!

(Right) More school photos, a bit of routine and my klutzy misstep resulting in a badly sprained foot. Then, the devastation. The photo of George and his Pappou is so special and heart wrenching. After having a very successful surgery on Friday afternoon, my father in law suffered a massive stroke in the middle of the night. We are blessed to still have him with us but, he is enduring a long, arduous rehabilitation now.

project life: week 39 and citrus twist november kits...

Happy Friday everyone! I am sharing Week 39 in my yearly album today. It was a week packed with activities, stories, aqua and pink. I had so much fun playing with the November PL and PL Embellishment kits!

My left page focused on things happening at home: a note about my boys being morning people, my new ironing routine for my oldest son's school uniforms, play time, collecting baby girl clothing and a note about stray socks.

The right side was about what happened outside: visits to a local nature center (aren't the floral and butterfly patterns perfect for these outdoor photos?), my 20 week anatomy scan, family breakfast at a favorite diner and a sweet quote from my oldest about his baby sister-to-be.

I absolutely loved this frame pattern in the Polka Dot Party collection and wanted to maximize its impact by using it for my weekly date card. I simply used my craft knife to cut out the inside of several of the frames and added other snips of patterns from the 6x6 pad and a glassine pocket of sequins to the back. Then, layered the kit washi tape on a few other openings, stamped my dates on a label and tucked that partially inside another frame. The finish was the 39 using the fun, glittery Thickers from the PL Embellishment kit.

The 1/2/3 exclusive wood veneers were a super fun inclusion and I wanted to make them stand out. This week, as I was writing out the conversation between my husband and son I knew the three would be a perfect accent to highlight G's age (journaling card is a printable freebie from my stash). I colored the number with a pink Sharpie pen and then added the coordinating hot pink butterfly paper to the top of the card.

And a few other close ups on favorite cards...

november citrus twist layout: silly kid...

Good morning! I'm sharing a layout today, using the November Citrus Twist PL and PL Embellishment kits. I snapped this photo of Jack at a nature center last month, as we played peek-a-boo around a tree. Each time he would catch sight of my camera he would yell, "Cheese!" What a character. So, using the camera print was a perfect fit. I had held on to the aqua doily from one of the summer CTK kits and it was just right for the colors in this collection and playing off my son's cobalt shirt. I punched one of the chalkboard sayings from the paper pad to add to the center of the doily.

The "make me smile stamp" is one of my favorites in this month's PL set so, I used that as a border, accented with another chalkboard pattern snippet and a glittery asterisk from the Thickers in the PL Embellishment kit.

And, lastly, a fun title using the Thickers, enamel dots and phrase stickers in the PL Embellishment kit layered over the negative space in my photo and coordinating paper patterns.

The full kits have been revealed for the month so, I'll be back soon to share my PL layouts!

december daily 2012

Last year was the first that I decided to take on the December Daily project, though I had admired Ali Edward's albums for years. When I chose to take on the project, I knew I wanted to a) use up as much of my stash as possible and b) keep it simple. I read and read blog posts online, looked at photos of foundation pages by other artists and finally pulled together my own "kit" to get started.

Here's what I used:

• Avery mini binder (5.5" x 8.5") and a mix of pages - full size were Avery, 4x6" Staples brand photo pages (I trimmed off the excess plastic) and quad pages by Martha Stewart
• 4x6" cards were a set of overlays by Ali Edwards that I purchased from Designer Digitals. She makes a set each year (here is the LINK for this year's set). I printed them directly onto Becky Higgins 4x6" grid cards using my inkjet printer
• 12x12" Christmas paper pad by Basic Grey that I had on hand for a few years
• assorted washi tapes
• numbers and tags by Elle's Studio
• other assorted holiday papers and embellishments I had in my stash 

My process for the foundation was very simple. I cut the patterned papers to 5.5"x8.5" and slipped the papers in the full size pages, back to back, printed the daily overlays onto 4x6 PL grid cards, added a strip of washi and had those ready to go for journaling (they are pre-dated). All of my supplies were in one container and I used a very small selection so that I could spend only 5-10 minutes each night writing about the photo/activity/day and add a little embellishing. I print my photos at home so, that step was simple. I had the grid pages on hand in case I had a few days where I wanted to mix things up and be flexible, and was happy I did so. Here is the link to my FULL ALBUM and below are a few pages shares:

 

I'm so looking forward to taking on this project again, this year with the Citrus Twist Kits Christmas Daily PL kit. Unfortunately, this kit flew out of stock super fast but, the Christmas Daily Large Kit is still available in limited quantities (at the time of this blog posting). Here is the PL kit:

I'm still deciding whether to use a Sn@p album or to incorporate the project in my regular PL book but, will share more as I go through the process again!

project life: preschool edition...

Happy Tuesday! I am linking up with The Mom Creative today and sharing my recently started School version of Project Life.

When we registered George for preschool in January (yes, it needs to be done that far in advance here!) I knew I wanted to start a school album for him right away. My approach? KEEP IT SIMPLE. I waited and waited for the Project Life School Theme pack to make it's appearance and pounced as soon as I saw it hit my favorite online shop, Paper Issues. The supplies I am using for this album are minimal:

• Project Life School Theme pack
• In a Creative Bubble School Days journaling cards and circle accents
• Project Life grid cards
• Assorted alphabet stickers
• Photos
• Sharpie pen
• Corner rounder, date stamp, adhesive, paper trimmer

Just before school started, George and I were at a craft store and he chose his own album - the yellow and white striped Project Life binder. Perfect. As soon as I printed the photos from his orientation day and first day of school I was ready to go. At the end of this post, I'll write a  bit more about my approach to this project. Here is his album so far - up to date:

Orientation day, an interview about his first day, the school "rules" (the pencil card was a freebie I found on the internet awhile back and just added text in Picasa), describing his first art project...

Letter size page protector insert including first artwork and the welcome letter from his teacher...

An autumn song he learned and has been singing at home and a visit from the local fire department. I made the fire engine card using a piece of clip art and a poem I found online...

 First field trip to a local nature center for an apple cidering lesson and nature walk...

Here is my process and some thoughts on this project:

• Print the photos as soon as they are  taken, slip them in the pages. You'll notice that I haven't even rounded the 4x6 photos. Easy. I'm rounding the 3x4's becasue the PL cards are already done and I like that middle line to be uniform. 
• Write out his memories or an account of an event simply and quickly. 
• This album will span many years, separated using dividers. Since there will only be photos of big events, they won't take up so much space. 
• Artwork: I plan to keep a few key pieces, such as his first and there are  two apple related pieces that go along with the field trip. Otherwise, they will be displayed at home then photographed and added in as a 3x4' photo.

week 35: october citrus twist kits...

Week 35. Hot pink, aqua, gray and FUN! For October I worked with the CTK Pocket Life kit, the {brand new!} Pocket Life Embellishment Add-on and the Stamp Add-on...

Monday of this week, the boys and I headed out of town for a few days away at my parents house; a mini getaway while Mr. Boom was doing some night work. I hit 17 weeks, we had a super fun spray park play date and George gave us another of his epic one-liners...

I took the boys to my old elementary school park and to my favorite ice cream place {Stewart's}, Pumpkin Spice Lattes returned to Starbucks menu and I had one in hand almost immediately and, when we returned from our getaway, we started packing up half of our belongings to get our condo ready to sell...

Here are some card close ups:

what we've been up to {in photos}...

As much family time as we can grab...

Mastering new skills...

Growing fast - too fast for the camera...

Growing outward...

Finding our forever home...

I have, and will have, much more to share soon. Another recent PL spread is ready to post and more pages being worked on in a massive catch up effort. But, today, I'm focusing on what's happening in these photos. A lot of life happening and many prayers that our forever home is in reach {we are in contract} and will be ours very soon.

project life: week 34 with october citrus twist kits!

Happy Friday! I'm up on the Citrus Twist Kits blog today sharing my Week 34 layout (with more details) and decided to post here as well. October's kits are soft, pretty and just a bit bold with pops of hot pink! The exclusive flair, stamps, 3x4 cards and wood veneer are swoon worthy. I worked with the Pocket Life kit, the Pocket Life Embellishment Add-on and the Stamp Add-on. The stamp add on this month is food related and completely amazing!

{Week 34: August 19-25}

We ate popsicles to combat the late summer heat, played with new toys, helped YiaYia garden and tried a yummy new recipe...

One BIG thing this week? We listed our condo for sale! It's been a very long time coming (ahem, 2+ years) but we finally took the leap to sell the home where we started our family and move on to accommodate to growth! We baked, went to the park, spent a day with G's godmother and I had a scrappy play date with a friend of mine. The little illustration of Max from Where the Wild Things Are? The boys love the book right now and had torn apart our copy's dust jacket. I managed to salvage this one piece and it was perfect for a 3x4 card...

photo shares...

Some recent favorites of our two sweet boys, mischief and all!

George decided to color more than his coloring book while I took Jack in for a change.

Jack exploring flowers at a local nature center.

 

Collecting bark, acorns and rocks - and making silly faces!