some more favorites

Some more of my favorite photos from her double birthday bash!

I made some tissue paper banners with my sewing machine. Which are still hanging outside. Not because they are fabulously fun but because I'm fabulously lazy.

This next picture was such a funny moment that happened in the blink of an eye and we died laughing. You can see it was windy so Uncle KC and Collin were blocking the wind from the candles. As soon as we finished "...happy birthday to you!" She blew out the candles so fast... no wish... nothing. Just some serious determination. (I guess you had to be there. ;)

The next picture she's thinking... "What's so funny? Can I eat my cake now?"

Sure the only way she'd take a photo for me was if I gave her a lollipop and she could jump on the trampoline. Worked for me, I will take anything I can get.

The popcorn table close up.

Birthday invitations she hand delivered. She was too excited to hold still and show me them so daddy volunteered.

And if we're not all partied out with 2 parties last week for Avery, there's another little munchkin's birthday coming up this week-numero dos. aye yi yi

memorial day

Celebrating Memorial day today and all that encompasses... grateful for servicemen who fight for our country & the sacrifices of not only them but especially their families.

Thinking of my dad too & missing him! Hope you have a great day while cherishing your loved ones.

xo

inspiring posts by Stephanie Howell & Pioneer Woman

happy weekend

Today is the most gorgeous day! Not to mention the first day I woke up with only a slight feeling of morning sickness. I couldn't ask for more perfect timing.

Surprisingly, I haven't shared with you my recent pregnancy obsession--food and smells. Be grateful for that. ;) But I will tell you these bowls of fruity goodness are heavenly.

I'm enjoying the recent special issue, Paper Palooza, from Creating Keepsakes magazine. The page above I designed for the patterned paper section and it was fun to create a couple more in there as well.

A discount coupon code to get 20% off the issue in our store between May 17-31 is TIPS-BLOG.

A few items of business:

*Welcome my newest sponsor-- 300 dpi (dcwv)

**If you are interested in being a June sponsor with an ad on my blog... let me know via email at elizabeth.kartchner(at)gmail.com

***I'm so excited to launch 2010 Shades of Summer next week so think if that's something you wanna do while I think about stricter rules to keep the shades moving so everyone gets a chance. Here's the last pics I received from Pennsylvania, Ireland & Ohio.

****Lastly, Blue Moon has a great selection of my Dear Lizzy line in stock if you're feeling crafty.

This week flew by... happy weekend!

celebrate

Today we celebrated this little dolly's birthday.

Birthday's are such a joyous day yet I was kinda emotional about it. This usually occurred when we'd be sitting & chatting about our "favorite parts about Disneyland" and I'd try to change the subject and talk about how thrilled we were when she was born.

Thinking about that makes me teary. About how she changed our world--sending us on a whirlwind of parenting adventures and most importantly opening our eyes to a whole new love.

The birthday scene... where games were played, Collin made balloon hats for the kids & cupcakes consumed. Good times.

Happy Birthday to our little weester!

carrot juice vs mom

Remember that one time, when I wanted to be a more health conscious mother and bought 3 bottles of organic carrot juice from Costco?

Then no one would drink the orange concoction. Great. Now what?

Well, being the competitive person I am, I knew I couldn't lose a battle to carrot juice. Or hear Collin say "told you so" forever. Or be the only one chugging this stuff down.

So, I figured out the perfect solution-colorful, silly straws.

Oh, & if I'm desperate, some apple juice stirred in to trick even Collin into drinking it. mwah ha ha.

thanks for the nice comments on my page yesterday. the colors make me happy too!

*A quick photography tip for back lighting.

First, I had my aperture set to 2.8 and Quincey was a completely black silhouette. Next, I upped it to 5.0. Then, with a quick adjustment to the meter she completely lit up. It was magic. :)

hi sunshine

At the moment it is snowing outside like Christmas Eve. There is a blanket of white and absolutely no end in sight. Crazy. Just when I think I can permanently trade the ugg boots for sandals...

So, I am looking at these beach photos and dreaming of the sunshine.

This layout is made with photos from our recent trip to California. Quincey loved the beach! Especially playing in the sand & was happily covered in it from head to toe.

Stuff I used:

Jenni Bowlin: Yellow Stripe Banners, Beach Bingo Card

Crate Paper: Clouds, Stripe

Dear Lizzy: cute Glitter Brads, Paper Flowers

American Crafts letter stickers, yellow dot

Girls' Paperie: Turquoise Button

Favorite pen

Happy Monday! Hope you had a fabulous weekend.

Soak up some sunshine for me!

PS

The Scrap Room "... get pages done!" Is featuring Dear Lizzy in their May kits so check it out!

The Girls' Loft has a fabulous kit this month too!

PPS for cute tankini swimsuits check out Lime Ricki!

big plans

I have big plans for this lovely weekend-- I want to make something pretty. For fun. With lots of textures and layers. I started this fabric & felt album last weekend so I hope to finish that up.

I also hope to work on my hula hoop skills. My little brother got me a hula hoop for my birthday. Since I haven't hula hooped since the 5th grade I definitely need to perfect it...

Plan this little girl's circus/dumbo themed birthday party...

Go on a date with this silly boy... (I'm glad you enjoyed his video! Some of you said you were laughing to tears-welcome to my life.)

I also plan to scrap with some Dear Lizzy... Here's a really fun offer just for you!

At BlueMoonScrapbooking we carry the best scrapbooking companies for you to capture your memories and let your creative side take over.

Have we got a DEAL for you - shop with BlueMoon and spend $65.00 or more - You'll get not only FREE shipping in the US but also this totally FUN Dear Lizzy Kit $25.00 retail, will ship with your goodies.

Just type Dear Lizzy in the comments section when you check out. Offer ends Wednesday night May 26th.

What are your big plans?

club ck fun

I made a colorful mini album about these cute ladies over at the Club CK blog... There's always something cool going on at the Club Creating Keepsake's site so check it out.

We had such a blast together! I love when scrappers get together because everyone lugs around their bulky slr camera and it looks like this...

photos by Kelly Goree

Speaking of Club CK... my friend, Suzy, posted a video about her favorite layout. If you don't know Suzy she is quite funny and her outlook on life is refreshing.

Well, Collin saw me watching Suzy's video & giggling cause she was so serious in it. That's when he decided to make a video parody.

parody definition

1. (n) a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way

Suzy and I were laughing like crazy...

Suzy's video

Collin's creepy parody

yes, he was trying to be weird in this video

yes, he made that layout.

no, he's not creepy in real life;)

diy: pretty petals tee

Besides taking the coolest photos, this sweet girl enjoys reminding us about the baby in my tummy. She'll say to Collin, "There's a baby in mommy's tummy! My tummy has cheetos and apples in it."

Here's another quick tutorial for an embellished tee using fabric die cut flowers.

-First, die cut flowers from fabric.

I used my Big Shot and this die to cut the flowers and prefer knit fabric so the edges don't fray.

-Pin the flowers where you want them on the shirt. (You can see I only pinned the two on the right the flowers on the left are anxiously waiting to be pinned.)

-Next, after you've mapped out where you want them you can start sewing them down.

-Remove a pin from a flower then fold the flowers into fourths, this blossoms the flower a bit.

-Use a needle and thread to sew the flowers to the shirt. Mix the large flowers and the small flowers. Keep adding them until you are happy with it.

There you have it, sew pretty petals along the neckline for another simple way to dress up a tee.

Die cutting machine: Big Shot; Flower Die

mini paparazzi

865 is the number of photos Avery has taken on my phone the last few days. It all started our first morning back from Disneyland, the girls were playing and laughing & Avery looked up at me asking where my camera was? "Go get your camera mom."

She was so confused because I had my camera on me the whole trip, and wondered why I was missing this great picture-worthy moment. I pulled out my phone and took a picture. Since then she's been going nutso taking tons of photos. Usually I don't even let my kids breathe on my phone so I am now on the search for her own camera.

She really did a good job capturing our days. My favorite that I almost peed my pants laughing at... okay, I didn't pee my pants... but I thought it was so funny that she took a picture of Collin blessing the food. ha! She's a sneaky, little paparazzi.

Yesterday she took this one of me photographing a mini album I made for Club CK. Here's a behind the scenes shot of my high tech photo studio... on the front porch.

I'll let you know once the whole album goes live. Here's a peek for now.

Mini album: Punky Sprouts

Chipboard pieces: material girl

Cutest butterfly punch in the world: Martha Stewart

Ruffle ribbon: Dear Lizzy

Disneyland Magic

Thanks for all the well wishes for my pregnancy! Can you believe it? Another one of these cuties running around? We are thrilled!

Disneyland very well could have been more of a survivor parenting challenge for Collin and me, testing many of our skills-physical strength & patience. ;)

Maybe it was the ages of our kids but man I was exhausted when we were done with the 3 day adventure. Happy but exhausted.

It was a blast and magical at times, especially since we always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Avery was lucky enough to hold hands and walk around the park with Pluto, Mary Poppins and Woody. Seeing the girls' faces light up was my favorite part.

The tea cups are so charming! I love the colors and music. If I rode it I would get sick so I enjoyed it from afar and was happy just taking pictures of the scene.

One of the highlights of the trip was that my little brother, KC, proposed to his girlfriend. They were riding the Peter Pan ride when he asked Allison to marry him and gave her a very beautiful vintage ring. We all teared up... it was a sweet moment. They make such a great couple and I'm so thrilled that she'll be my sister-in-law.

Q-bear was quite smitten by Minnie. We ran into her at least a couple times a day. Each time she was so excited and Minnie was so sweet with her. These were the moments that made my day! Yes, I teared up at times especially when the girls met Cinderella (let's just blame it on the fact that I'm pregnant).

The best part was just being together as a family for a few days....oh, and the churros (mmmm....)

Photoshop actions: Totally Rad

What are we thinking...?

Photo taken 6 days after Quincey was born

Some people might ask what the heck are you thinking? Well, I'll tell ya...

-We're thinking that since we are already in baby mode and haven't slept through the night in 4 years...

-We're thinking that since we've become extremely skilled parents & can hold both kids while balancing breakfast in one hand and filling up a sippy in the other hand

-Lots more hugs and kisses

-Collin mastered changing a diaper in 3 seconds flat

-We think it would be an adventure to be outnumbered--kids to parents

-More and more love in our home

-We're thinking that the moments of chaos like an entire box of Kix poured onto the floor are outweighed by tender parenting moments (notice I did not say outnumbered...)

-Since I'd forgotten all about morning sickness and wanted a 24/7 reminder

-We miss that baby smell, tiny baby toes & sweet baby moments

-That there's a little one up there ready to come down to us

- We feel so so so grateful to be able to have children

3 months along ♥ due in November ♥ expecting baby #3

Reflections

After two consecutive weeks in California I think I should just move there now.

Before I share pictures of our Disneyland adventure I thought I'd post a few pictures from Reflections.

One of my fabulous classes.

Five of the awesome students with their finished albums.

One darling girl-- Megan. It was fun to meet her at the event. Her mom informed me that she adores Collin a lot... probably more than me. :P

Lunch by the pool with friends!

Happiest place on earth

my older sister, Camille, younger sister Ashley, me, mom & dad.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I loved all your comments. Yes, Collin is a keeper and the sweetest!!!
We escaped to Disneyland for my birthday. I'm actually walking into Disneyland after we took a quick nap at our hotel as I type this... how cool is that?
Be back soon... xoxo

Happy Birthday to My Lizzy Bear

A Short Biography of Elizabeth Charlotte Brown Kartchner,

as told by Collin Danger Kartchner

1995: I met Liz sophomore year of high school. I was standing in the commons with friends, in my Ocean Pacific shirt, listening to the new Toad the Wet Sprocket CD on my Discman, wearing my puka shell necklace no doubt....putting out the vibe. Suddenly, the door swung open, and in walked this drop dead gorgeous freshman. She had massive bangs, a HUGE smile that looked like Chicklets, and knobby knees that sent chills from my head all the way down to my Doc Marten sandals.

I asked her out to Homecoming 1996, our/her first date ever. I saved up my hard earned parents credit card, went to the mall, and picked me up this fine get-up. Leather braided belt, thick black corduroy pants, some sweet new suspendies, and of course....Carmex.
We hit the dance floor, busted some catwalking during the "I'm Too Sexy" song, and then the first slow dance...."Lady in Red". Ohhhhhh I sang that song in your ear like Marvin Gaye and you laughed. And then that one girl (Something Covey) stopped us in the middle of the slow dance and said, "You guys make a really cute couple".

Jackpot.

Then it was time to take you home. It was late, and I was driving my dad's new car and felt like Don Johnson, minus the huarache sandals. I was so enthralled in your beauty that I came to a complete stop at the green light by the MTC. Liz looked up and said, "Hey cowboy, it's green."

That's when I said, "By golly I will marry this girl one day."

And I did.

My Wild Stallion.

Happy Birthday to the most loving, beautiful, caring, supportive, fun, laugh-at-all-my-stupid-jokes person in the entire world.

My Lizzy Bear.