Friday, May 31, 2013

In Focus Friday with My Mind's Lens: May 2013

Kaeley is here today to share pictures from her recent trip to San Francisco.  I am so jealous!  Of all the places I long to visit, I feel the strongest pull to see California....specifically San Francisco and the wine country.  One day I will make it there!  In case some of you are new visitors and are not familiar with Kaeley's blog My Mind's Lens, she showcases her love of photography. She has recently opened her Etsy Shop Seashore Photography...stop by and show her some love.  She is offering some of her favorite prints and I believe that she will sell any prints that she has posted on her blog, just drop her a note!


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The month of May has flown by it seems.  We were out of town for less than a week, but it seems that little vacation spurred time along.  If you follow My Mind's Lens, you already know that we went to visit friends in San Francisco earlier this month (and if you don't, why not?!).

I know I always say this, but I am really going to try to limit this month's photos to my very favorite from San Fran.  It took me SIX posts to share all the pictures that I wanted to on my blog.  This will be a challenge . . .











These pictures have made me want to visit California even more***sigh***.  I love the skyline shot as well as the last photo....swoon.

On another note....I am now the proud mama of a 7TH grader....yikes!!!!  Everything went really well and I was really pleased with the decorations.  I hope to work on a post about them this weekend for next week.

And finally, I think I have mentioned before my desire for a DSLR camera.  This week, I was blessed beyond measure....


More on that next week.  I just have to figure out how to get the dang thing off manual - baby steps!!!!  Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Where Have I Been? The Very Random Pictureless Recap

I am sure that by now a lot of you are quite convinced that I have permanently abandoned my blog....and for those of you that are still stopping by, consider yourself hugged from the bottom of my heart.  I miss blogging that is for sure.  So here is what has been up....no excuses, just the facts

1. The lease on my new place started on March 1 (the lease on my apartment did not end until April 28).  For the better part of two months I had things in two places.  I truly thought this was a great thing - I could take my time moving...no rush.  In hindsight, I think it is better to just have a long weekend to move.  Although, had that been the case it would have been difficult to paint practically the entire place like I (along with a lot of help from some absolutely wonderful friends) actually accomplished.  Zach and I are settling in and getting things hung on the walls but still tackling the organization of our storage area....AKA the garage.

2.  This is busy season at my office.  From February through June is our busy season.  Two ladies in my office quit in early March....June is right around the corner and I am still there all by my lonesome.  It has made for a rough season.  Many nights when I get home, I cannot stand the thought of opening my computer after a 10 to 11 hour day.  Even to blog.  I have been making a valiant effort to keep up with my regular reads and continue to comment, especially where those comments frequently lead to a short email conversation!  You ladies know who you are...and I hope that you know that you frequently bring a smile to what would otherwise be a trying day!  For those of you that have wondered if I am still lurking....yep, I am right there with ya on most days....please know that I am the friendly lurker, not that one that you are considering filing a restraining order on.  Somehow I have managed to not lose but a small handful of followers through this unplanned blog hiatus...am I lucky or what???  I have never been one to be obsessed by numbers, but I noticed this morning that I had miraculously gained one....and it was none other than the one, the only, Lindsey from The Real Nancy Clue.  Lindsey is not for the faint of heart, but she is the real deal.  She is a huge fan of the "F" word and doesn't take crap from anyone.  I was also pretty blown away when Holly from Where We Can Live Like Jack & Sally showed up as a follower.  Holly is so funny and another blogger that above all keeps it real and doesn't sugar coat.  Those have been my recent brushes with blog celebrities...and during a blog hiatus no less!  Thank you to each and every one of my followers for sticking by me during this crazy time.  Do you have bloggers that would leave you star struck?  Or what about those ones that you may not be exactly star struck over, but you might just want to grab in a big bear hug because they already feel like IRL friends....(HELLO, Katie, Heather, Becky!!!!)  I want to hear about them.

3.  Finally, I am doing all the decorations for Zach's 6th grade graduation party.  I am not going over the top by any means...after all it is 10 boys. The moms will care, but the boys not so much.  It is taking a lot of time, but a lot of love is going into them.  I hope it will turn out the way I am envisioning it.  It will be consuming my long holiday weekend, but come next Tuesday night it will all be over but the crying....literally.  Zach has been at the same small private school since kindergarten and the thought of him being done there and moving on to public junior high scares me to death, not to mention the flood of emotions.  There will definitely be a post recapping that night....so be looking for it.

If the combination of the blog hiatus and this crazy all over the place post has not been enough to send you running for the hills then you deserve a medal....or maybe you really do like me (AKA a very young Sally Fields at the Academy Awards).  I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and hopefully you will hear from me again sooner rather than later!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Third Thursday Scrapbook Stories: May 2013

Once again, my fantastic contributors are keeping me afloat.  They are truly lifesavers - or I guess I should say "blogsavers".  I am finally getting my craft on this weekend....no scrapping but crafty none the less so there is hope.  Now on to Katie.  She and I were emailing back and forth and talked about how quickly not just this month, but the entire year is flying by...it is just crazy!

Today, for Third Thursday Scrapbook Stories, Katie is sharing a wonderful layout she did without the benefit of pictures.  She did a great job!  Also, if you like what you see - check out Katie's blog where she showcases her scrapbooking , Project Life and all her other craft projects.  It is also not too late to wish her a Happy Birthday....doesn't everyone celebrate for the entire week?!?!?

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Hi everyone!

Recently, AJ and I went to a golf tournament. It was really fun, except for one thing - they didn't allow any pictures on the course!

Ummmmm? What?! How am I supposed to do a layout?!

So after I picked myself up off of the floor and stopped freaking out, I realized I could do a layout without pictures.

Yep. Not one picture taken by me on this layout.

So how did I do it?

I made sure to collect as much stuff as I could at the tournament.

Which honestly wasn't too much stuff. Just a pairing sheet and our tickets. Fortunately, the pairing sheet was so big, that it took up a ton of space and really filled up the page!


But, I'm happy with how it turned out. And I'm glad that I made the layout, because this is something that I'd like to remember, especially because we have  no pictures to remember it by!

Have you ever created a picture-less layout? How did you do it?

Monday, May 6, 2013

First Mondays With Megan: May 2013


For all you craft junkies out there....are you mad for washi tape?  I will admit, I am behind on most trends...crafty or otherwise.  I finally broke down and tried a bit with my last scrapbook and now realize what all the fuss is about.  What a quick and easy way to add a punch to pretty much any project that you are working on.  Megan from The House Of Martinez is here to share a tutorial she found for some fun washi bookmarks....and so easy to customize any way that you would like!

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DIY: Washi Tape Bookmarks

I've posted before about my love for washi tape, and here is yet another fun idea I found over at How About Orange. The tape below is from the ever stylish Jonathan Adler, plus some solid orange tape found at Michaels craft store.

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MATERIALS:
- washi tape, assorted styles and colors depending on your preference
- white card stock
- scissors

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Place three strips of tape side by side on a sheet of cardstock and trim it into a rectangle. You can leave the bookmark as is once the tape is applied to the front, or add a quote to the middle. Here, she added a little Groucho Marx humor and attached the quote with solid tape. To make your own, download the Groucho quote right here. Print the page, cut out the little rectangles, and attach them to the taped-up card stock. It's that simple. So grab your favorite book, a tall glass of lemonade and stretch out in that backyard hammock!

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