Goin' Campin'

for the rest of the week, so there won't be any new blog posts for a few days, but there are always old ones to check out! :) I figured I better scrapbook the last camping pictures before we go though.



Last night I watched a girly movie, scrapbooked and ate chocolate ice cream after the boys went to bed. Lots of bling, bright girly colors, and GLITTER! (and i used the flowers I crocheted the other day)



Time to go start baking for our trip! If I dont post any more today, I hope everyone has a great week! Pin It

Twitter

There is a fun feature I have on my blog I want to encourage all you bloggers out there to join in on! Its called Twitter! The fun of twitter is that you can post what you are doing in "real time" and keep up with other blogger friends as well, including chat back and forth! Its free to join, easy to use and it goes right on your blog page just by adding the html code in your layout!

And if you don't blog, you can still join in and it show through twitter.

I'm Sparklinbecks on there... join today, its fun! Pin It

Crochet flowers-dyed

I was doing some small flowers for page accents last night and thought, "how fun would these be any color I want?" So I rummaged through my reinkers for my stamp pads, and dyed them. I left one to show an example. The reinkers were easy: a little water, a few drops of ink, let them sit for about 5 minutes and dried them over night! I think if I had soaked them longer, they would be more vibrant.


These are addiciting to make. I can sit there and make them up while we all hang out together. Each flower design I made up as I went along. It's fun! Pin It

Some pages I did on Saturday!

Saturday night I went and cropped with some friends and had a lot of fun hanging out and scrapbooking! Yes, I scrapbooked three pages that night! Maybe my scrappin' funk is ending a little bit. I like the first two pages, with the tim holtz gears and colors for the first, and the acrylic corner and tree I jazzed up for the second, but the third page is definitely not my favorite. Can't win 'em all!







(side note, two of my ribbons on the first page werent glued down and are missing, and it probably wouldnt have been noticed, but it is bugging me in the picture. :)) Pin It

Autism Awareness at Devine Memories

is next week! There will be events all week long with all proceeds going to Autism Research. It will be a lot of fun, so make sure you stop in!

I altered this to donate to the auction, so if you like it, you know where to get it! ;-)




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Two new pages

I worked all day yesterday and this morning to get my cleaning and laundry done so that I could focus a bit on scrapbooking. I have been in a rut lately and I was trying to get out of it. I got the boys down for their naps and set up a little spot in my bedroom and got to work!

I had to do my about me page for devine memories, so I started off with this page:


Then I did my about me page. I guess I liked some of the stuff I added to that page because I carried some of those elements onto the next:


It turned out to be a fun page to do, with all the pink and rhinestones! I am so glad I got to play a little bit this afternoon! Now its time to go cook dinner! Pin It

I took the handmade pledge!

I have been wanting to do this for awhile but was too much of a chicken. I decided to go for it though. Hopefully we can last through Christmas! (Shoot, I can even "make" gift card covers if nothing else :)) Every gift we will give will be handmade related. There are a couple of things that won't be, but thats given out of tradition or for the kids. I am excited and nervous to figure it all out!

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Pages

The other night when I was working on pages at the all nighter crop (ok, so I didn't really finish anything) I was really struggling. I think I have been in a creativity funk lately. There has been so much on my mind, that when I sit down to create....it just isn't happening. I don't know what my deal is.

I finished two of the pages I attempted to start on Sunday night.... I apologize for the pictures.

Simple pages! I freehanded the little boat, added the rhinstones and sewed a little bit.


This page was fun, but its missing something. Actually, I think they both are. I might keep them in my "pages in progress" pile.


And hopefully I will snap out of the funk and be able to get back into things again! Pin It

Crochet Storage

This morning, Micah went out to work on the kitchen set that we are refinishing, Jaden was busy playing with monster trucks, and Jackson was napping, so I decided to make a bag and case to store the yarn and crochet supplies that didn't really have a home to call their own. It took no time at all to make it....maybe 2 hours tops.

I was inspired awhile back by this site, but I ended up really doing my own thing for both the bag and case...and the best part was, this was all done with fabric scraps. I have a lot of scraps I have been trying to use up the last few months. Just like with paper, its fun to see how many different ways you can use the same print and just how different it looks!

I made sure to leave spaces for more hooks in the future, and the bag can hold a lot more yarn!





I'm pretty pleased with it! Pin It

Breaking Dawn!

Well I just finished the last book in the Twilight series! Despite thinking I wasn't going to read it at all, I found myself in line at midnight on Friday night with another big fan, sneaking out of a scrapbook crop! I cant believe I bought it! (actually I bought two, one for my mom to hit me back later for and one for me...because I just couldn't wait to borrow the book, knowing I would finish it in a weekend). There was a fun party going on at borders that my sister in law had checked out earlier too that would have been fun to be at! I recommend reading the series, keeping light of them and realizing that they are just a fun fiction series...nothing more. Pin It

Bedroom Stuff

This week, I was working a bit on our bedroom. I did the quilt that I posted earlier, made a few throw pillows, finished up the curtains and made a seat for the hope chest. Besides the quilt, all was out of fabric i bought super cheap clearance last month!

Here's a peek at some of it:
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New page!

my first scrapbook page since I got home....It's also my first design team page for this term! I think its a good page that anyone would be able to scraplift!

I used:
american crafts ribbon
my mind's eye papers
bazzill flower brads
flower chipboard ( i covered and sanded the flower with the pink polka dot paper)
rhinestones
sewing machine (I sewed white threaded lines up and down on the pink polka dot paper margin)
thickers Pin It

Wordle

http://wordle.net

Found this at a blog I was reading today. It takes words from your blog and makes a collage! Pin It

Competition Among (Women) Friends

I would like to talk about an issue that happens with every single woman out there. There is no denying that it happens, and its constant. I can go out on a limb here and say it happens to every single woman because whether you feel it or someone feels it against you, its out there (and I can even bet that it usually goes both ways)....

Competition amongst us.

Bigger or nicer homes, better jobs, comparison between children (or if you don't have children, wanting them), greater husbands, nicer looking bodies, nicer cars, cooler clothes and accessories, greater haircuts, more money, more stuff, even petty silly things like nicer bigger more read cooler blogs, better more greater nicer bigger whatever anything.

It doesn't matter WHAT the age, from little girls to little old ladies, there is competition amongst us. "I want that Barbie, she has so many, I only have two" or "Everyone always wants to hang out with her, what about me? I live alone too." Yes, even when you are old and gray it happens. There is no stopping it.

And its a disease...spreading around, preventing us to grow stronger and more secure with ourselves as women.

"She always gets everything she wants." "She always looks like she doesn't even have to try." "It all just comes so easily to her in life" "She has a nicer body, I can never look like that" "Why does her house always look like..." "Gosh, I wish I could...."

It is horrible! Keeping up with the Jones' is an understatement. Its a feeling of inadequacy. You feel inferior because you don't measure up. It starts to make you feel resentful, angry, bitter, and also results in wallowing in your own self pity. "No one likes me" "I have no friends" "I am so alone" "I feel so ugly all of the time" "No matter what I do, I can't be me, everyone else is the same way, I want to be different"

But guess what! YOU ARE DIFFERENT! We are ALL different! And we are all beautiful!

Its easier said than done, but think about it. When you get into the rut of comparing and competing, you lose who you really are. The qualities that we all have, that should compliment one another, strengthen our friendships, uplift our lives are instead ruining us. Its tearing us apart, putting us against one another.

Let's stop the cycle. Is it easy for me to sit here and say this? No. I am horrible with this. I get down on myself all. of. the. time. I couldn't sit here and count how many times I have cried to my mom, my husband, my friends, myself, to my God. I just want it to go away.

No one has it easy, no matter how much it seems like it. There is so much going on in my own life right now that isn't apparent to ANYONE, no matter how much they think they know me. And it goes the same for anyone. We all have different lives. We all hurt.

No one is better than someone else. No one is a better wife, mother or friend unless they are more focused on what is wrong with themselves, then they are hurting their family and selves.. Focus on yourself. Give what you can to your relationships. If someone does it a different way, good for them!

Don't judge. Don't compare. Don't belittle people's lives or feelings. We all get our feelings hurt. And when someone acts ugly out of jealousy, it really hurts. It hurts relationships, minds, lives. And you know that beauty everyone has? When jealousy comes out, the beauty goes away.

My husband always tells me that I am prettiest woman in the world when I smile, but when I am angry...... What he says makes me laugh, but its true. Think about someone you know and admire. Are they kind? Do they have a good heart? Do you think they are pretty? Or is it what's on the outside that you admire? Think about if that person you admire so much because of their "stuff" .... Stuff means nothing.

Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Focus on what is on the inside. That's what matters. Figure out who you are on the inside, and nothing on the outside will be worth fighting about anymore. Love each other. Support and uplift each other. Let's not tear down and separate. Pin It

Fray Quilt

When I was pregnant with Jaden, my friend (Texas Brandy) made him a baby fray quilt. It's adorable, and once the boys are up I will post pictures of it later.

While visiting, I saw a big one in her living room and thought "duh, a big one. i want to make one too!" and she explained to me how to make it. Once I cut all the squares out though, I thought it would be cool to add some crosses to it, so I added a bit more to the directions :)

This was my first project coming home and I am so happy with how it came out! I want to make more! I made it to match our bedroom, which is the room I am still fixing up and playing around with. With cutting, it took me Monday afternoon into the evening, and then off and on yesterday to complete. It also helped that my sewing machine kept breaking, so my mom gave me her old one, which I instantly fell in love with.

What you need:
depending on size of quilt you are making:

• 3 yards per color
• two spools of thread
• good pair of scissors
• measuring tools
• washer/dryer

(if you do a baby quilt, its half the supplies)

1. cut your squares whatever size you want. I did 7 inches so when its sewn it was 6 inch squares. *do this for all of your colors.
2. layer them so that its the pattern you would like. i did black on back and the alternated the other two.
3. lay them out so that its how you want it sewn
4. this is where i added the crosses. cut out your desired shape as many times as you want it on the quit. sew it on to the squares of your choosing (only the top layer) and you can choose to fray the edges of the shapes as well.
   
5. sew each set of 3 together how you would like. I did an x. do this for all of your squares of three.
6. then sew the squares together long ways.... sew the columns together after.
7. once sewn, go through and cut each seam into little "grass" type patterns. remember the grass you cut in kindergarten on paper? same effect. this is the tedious part, so make sure you have a good pair of scissors and a sweet husband to help. make sure you put your soap opera on while he is helping, it makes it more fun (for you, anyway...he let me know how he felt about the afternoon)
8. wash and dry the blanket as much as you feel necessary to give you the desired fray effect. I washed mine 4 times and dried it twice.

Fast and easy project!


(the back side)

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Canning

I think I am going to start canning- if not this summer, definitely next. I have been looking at books all weekend on how to start, and it looks fairly simple once you get the food and jars to prepare it all!

Anyone else can things before?

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I get to get crafty tonight!

So excited! In between laundry and babies, I hope to get a couple of page layouts done, a sewing project started, or anything else that I feel like doing! When I got home, I went into our laundry room (aka the craft room) and stared longingly at my supplies. Ahhh :)

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures from last night :)


Saturday night I had a meeting and I came back to these!



I think I'll keep him :) Pin It

Remember the glove incident?

Ya know....the horror, the bruises, the weirdness...

Well, I came home today to find a box with this waiting for me! Happy Anniversary to us! Woo hoo! Midwest Gloves Co sent us this package to replace the yucky 99 cent gloves that went nuclear meltdown on me.


Inside was: a pop up hat with case, a carry bin, a knee pad (and its so cute!), a brown tote, a polka dot bag holder thing with a mini shovel and trowel, another hat, a bucket organizer, oh yeah and 20 pairs of different types of gardening gloves!! All the gloves are made for different things, and Micah even scored a few pairs! Some of the gloves here are gloves they even want us to test that haven't been released yet. The bags are so much fun! I think that's my favorite part of the package.

This rocked my socks. The company was so awesome about this.

And the best part was, coming home and taking a peek out at the garden! I will post pictures of the garden this week! A lot of things were hit by the heat, but some of the stuff we planted from seeds are growing like crazy! Time to put our new gear to use! We have a lot of yard work to catch up on and this will make it fun! Pin It

Happy 5th Anniversary to Us!!

5 years of marital bliss, awww :)

On July 26th, 2003, we began a new life together, and have since bought our first home, had two beautiful boys, moved to Oregon and back in the span of 10 months, I finished my bachelor's, he has continued moving up and succeeding in his career, we both grew up a lot and have grown together spiritually. If all this can happen in 5 years, its exciting to see what more there is to come!

I love you Micah Daniel! You are truly my soul mate, the best husband a woman could have and the most amazing father to our two children. I can't imagine life being any better than this!

....And to show just how cheesy life was 5 years ago, I will now share an embarrassing part of our life...our old wedding website. Ahhh hahahahahaha. And remember, a lot has changed in photography AND website in 5 years...our wedding photographer didn't have go digital yet! So....enjoy a good laugh. Mr and Mrs

(let me know if the link doesnt work, its being finicky!) Pin It

Books I read in Texas

One of the best things about books is sharing, and I have been pretty lucky on this trip to have a best friend so close by who loves reading too!

Since getting to Texas, I have read these books:

Twilight- Stephanie Myers



New Moon- Stephanie Myers


Eclipse- Stephanie Myers


Something Borrowed- Emily Giffin




Something Blue- Emily Giffin


Love the one you're with- Emily Giffin


Peace like a river- LL Enger


The Wedding (which i realized i had read before)- Nicholas Sparks


love walked in- Marisa de los Santos


The Last Sin Eater- Francine Rivers

(..and of course, I have been reading:)

So that wraps up our Texas trip! See ya all when we get home!

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