Dream In Color

Sugar On My Tongue, Tongue...Yippee Yippee Yum, Yum...

ok, so this is the promised recipe for my mom's fabulous sweet chex mix. i so apologize for taking so long to post this...i know it's been a couple weeks since i mentioned it and was asked to share. but the good news is that it takes only about 15 minutes start to finish to prepare, so you still have time before christmas! ;)

i'm not usually a recipe sharing girl (although i'm not sure why, considering i LOVE getting them from others...), but this is one thing that is so easy and delicious that i can't resist. (and i have to mention that tisha and i made 2 batches the other night...one with name brand products, and one with generic, and we honestly couldn't tell a difference.)

 

CONNIE'S SWEET CHEX MIX:

4 cups of corn chex

4 cups of rice chex

1 cup of nuts (almonds or peanuts)

3 cups of golden grahms

2 cups of pretzels

2 cups of cheerios

********

1 stick of butter/margerine

4 Tbs Karo Syrup

1 cup of brown sugar

1/3 tsp of baking soda

*******

melt butter in microwave

add karo and brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes in microwave

stir in baking soda

add other dry ingredients

microwave for 3 minutes

(add colorful sprinkles if you want to make them more festive)

cool on wax paper and serve

SEE? super fast and easy. just keep in mind that it tastes a little funny until it's totally dried on the wax paper, so don't judge it until you've tried it cooled off. 

ENJOY! :)

I Can, I Can Transform Ya...

it is, at the ametewee household, officially the weekend! and even though you would think that to a stay-at-home mom it wouldn't make a difference, having nate at home all day definitely makes the days better. we have lots of plans...mostly involving christmas shopping on a super small budget...for today and then there is supposed to be a big storm so we will hopefully be staying in and relaxing and baking and arting and movie watching the rest of the weekend away.

i so love lazy days with my men. :)

before i mention anything else, i'd like to share a couple photos from the photoshoot that amy did of us when we were home for thanksgiving. i love them so much i could just die. i just adore her photos (and her!). you can see more here. :)

my favorite:

and my big big preggo belly. eeks!

 

can't wait to start scrapping them!

speaking of art, i managed to finish a few of last weeks challenges, some of which i totally double dipped and did using my 2peas digital kits for the week. not at all feeling guilty about that either. i've got lots of upcoming art funness that i need to work on before the end of the year, and that just makes me happy. so SO fun to back in the midst of it all...deadlines, challenges, guest spots. i've missed it all the last couple years. so hoping it all keeps coming...

and with that, i bring you my latest challenges:

1. stamp or rubons on the actual photo. this is just a simple fun page using martha stewart little chipboard animals that i found while cleaning out my scraproom last week. i know it's not actually rubons or stamps on the photo, but i figured the letters and chipboard count for that. photo is of LB sleeping under my art desk on tuesday. he found this framed wedding photo of nate and i while i was cleaning last week and carries it everywhere with him...even to bed sometimes. and i just love that...

2. use paper piecing on a LO. did this one using the new jen martakis this year patterned paper. i fall in love with jen's stuff a little more each week. they just work for me. and can i just mention how happy i am that 2peas believed in me enough to let me try something new while working for them? i learn a little more about this digital stuff every week...and i love it. with these papers i brightened them up quite a bit in photoshop...but you can't really tell that in the photo.

(this is so not my favorite page...but i was trying out my old trick of using only craft colored cardstock on layouts...doesn't so much work for me anymore, CLEARLY)

 

3. create a LO using a # as the inspiration  (# has to be on LO). ok, so for my number i used a date...february 2010...using kate teague's new Do Not Open DigiKit. i love the fun little crinkled up post-it note look this has! i actually crinkled it up for real after changing the writing to fit the coming of our baby girl. (i'll attach the actual kit photo after my page so you can see what i mean)

the leaf is made using the jen martakis pp that i linked to above, flower is sassafrass lass, stem is creative cafe, bird is basic grey and the buttons are vintage ones that i got at an antique store.

4. create a LO using either NO photo or only 1 tiny photo. alrighty, this is my last layout of the day...created with jen's this year tag digi-kit. i WAY enlarged it and then added the green writing to again fit the coming of our little girl. tiny photo was taken at the folgers theater on our 1 and only child-less date night since we have been married. (flowers are prima.)

 

*SIDENOTE: our due date has been moved up to february due to complications with the pregnancy. we are making lots of doctor visits and going through testing each week to figure everything out and take the right precautions. just praying that she's born healthy and as close to the first march 18th due date as possible!

ok, so i'm going to close with that. i have a big christmas gift project that i did last night to share, but i think this post is long enough (and i need to get off the computer to get ready to go christmas shopping!) so i'll wait to share that another day.

also, i got quite a few e-mails from you guys saying that you'd rather i held off on the challenges until after christmas so that those of you keeping up with them don't get too behind, so i'll wait to start posting those till the beginning of next year...

It's FRIDAY PEOPLE!!

A Whole New World...

hello hello my friends! it's that time again...more challenges! (well, actually, it's the time for me to be organizing my scrap area, but as usual when i really want something done, i procrastinate as long as possible.)

so i know that things are crazy around the holidays for most people, and i have been getting lots of e-mails about how behind you already are on the challenges, but i am having a fairly relaxed holiday season with very few gifts and hardly any big plans, so i'm going to go ahead and post another 5 and then i thought maybe you could catch up when i take a little while off when my baby girl comes. does that sound ok? also, i'm very open to suggestions on how this would work better or if anyone would like to suggest a challenge or two. :) in fact, all of this week's challenges were amy's ideas.

and with that, here's what she came up with:

1. stamp or rubons on the actual photo

2. create a layout with a letter as the focus for the title (ex:  F is for Family)

3. use paper piecing on a LO

4. create a LO using a # as the inspiration  (# has to be on LO)

5. create a LO using either NO photo or only 1 tiny photo

such fun challenges! my mind is already spinning with ideas of what i'm going to do with these.

but in the meantime, i've been working on this:

it's actually a photo wire from ikea and was meant to go directly into the wall, but since the walls in our apartment are paper thin and it can't accept nails or screws, i covered a piece of wood from a crate at nate's work and he powerdrilled it into that for support. love how it turned out! love how easy it is now to just sift through and pick out an embellishment.

fabric is by heidi grace, and the little clips are clip-it-up.

and before i really get serious about this paper organization thing, here are 3 of the layouts i did for jbs for my guest designer spot this month. you can see more on their blog here. 

 

that's all i got for now...happy tuesday!

xo, C

Little Boxes, On The Hillside, Little Boxes Made Of Ticky Tacky...

firstly, i shall start off this post with a little piece of hanging art that i did on saturday. i was feeling not so creative, but wanted to be so i decided to just do a piece of junk art that no-one had to see. i wasn't trying to match things, i wasn't using the best photo and i had nothing specific in mind for it, but i actually kindof enjoy how it turned out. it's kind of chaotic and colorful and happy and full...just like my life right now. and therefore i shall share:

allrighty...so we have been having a bit of a down week at the ametewee household. londerpants has a cold, so there has been lots of snuggling and cartoon watching and just a little bit of art after he falls asleep, but not too too much because this girl has been pretty exhausted too. it actually snowed for the first time this week...and while that was crazy fun for LB to see, it sent my back into a horrible 3 day cycle of severe pain. luckily, i was able to enjoy watching londie check out his first snow before it hit...so i'm happy for that at least. the second we went out he ripped the hat off his head and held his hands out to feel the snow. so so fun to watch!

i took some photos:

daddy and lb.

this is our view from right inside our sliding glass door to our apt. love this little patio!

 

me and my baby girl. :)

and nathan...we took photos to send back to africa in our christmas package since they never get snow.

and i even did a page about it for 2peas using the new Simply Beautiful Kit by Jen Martakis. so much funness in this kit! i love jen's kits so much...they always have so much for your money.:): 

 

and speaking of 2peas and Jen, i also made this layout from her Joy Christmas kit. love love LOVE the bright not-too-christmasy colors from this kit! i printed the tree and then added the buttons and gems to it and printed the paper pieced pp then cut it up to make presents. so so easy!:

and this is the christmas card that i came up with using the jen allyson ornament stamp kit that came out this week. she actually has some christmas card templates that you can buy here, but i thought it would be fun to add a few touches of my own. i'm still not 100% sure that this is the one i'll send, but i really love how it turned out...so maybe! :) my very favorite part of this photo is the smile on nate's face. i just adore him so much and seeing him look that happy makes my heart full.:

 

i'm so getting into this digital scrapbooking thing...you can do so many things with it! :) i still have so much to learn about photoshop but the girls on the team have been amazingly patient about all my questions. i will never ever become a totally digital scrapper though. i know you shouldn't ever say never, but i just love getting my hands dirty too much. nothing can replace that feeling. 

speaking of which...i have a few of those kind to share too. i was trying to get my mind off the pain by scrapping, but i think that it's kinda evident that something was a little off. i cherish everyone of my layouts, though...and it's the journaling that means the most so i'm just happy that i was able to get anything done.

this is one i did of my good friend tisha and her new man, who we went on a double date with the other weekend. we got tai food and went to see a play in the city. so nice to get out...SO hard for us to leave londerpants for the first time (especially for nate!).

 

and here's a photo of tisha and me in the bathroom at the theater that night:

this is a layout of my 2 favorite men. after i photographed it, i added little things nate does for lb that i love, like singing him african lullabies when he's trying to calm him down. (that big thing is supposed to be a pinwheel. ;D)

 

and with that, i'm going to head off to clean my scrap area. for the first time in our marriage nate asked me today if i thought my art space was going to be so unorganized forever. and trust me, when my uber patient husband says something it's BAD!

happy monday, everyone! :)

xo, C

Oh, There's Nothing To Lose And Nothing To Prove, Cause I'm Dancing With Myself...

so today has the potential of being the. best. day. ever.

why, you ask? because it's nate's day off so he said that we could do anything i wanted for the day. and after he vetoed my matching unicorn tattoos idea, i settled on watching movies on the wall with our projector to the light of our new christmas tree while i scrap and then going to a big christmas light display this evening complete with live music.

so he went for food and i'm turning the computer off as soon as he gets back, but while i'm waiting i thought i'd share 4 quick challenges that i did. i'm hoping to get lots more done today and over the rest of the weekend, but that will have to wait to be shared another time.

1.   create a CONFESSION page.

2. create a layout about what you are thankful for at this time in your life.

3. in honor of the holidays, create a LO telling someone you love something(s) you've been wanting to tell them but haven't taken the time. (this one also fits the use embellishments to create a shape on the LO (ex: heart, arrow, circle, etc) challenge.)

4. scraplift a page you did over a year ago...

the layout i lifted:

and the layout i just did:

photos of lb are blurred again...i know it looks weird, but we are going to continue to do it for awhile.

happy friday everyone! who else is scrapping this weekend?

The Whole Wide World, And A Little Piece Of The Sky...

ok, so i'm scrapping tonight so i'll be posting some layouts here probably tomorrow after the light comes out again, but first:

check out my guest designer spot over at the Jenni Bowlin Studio Inspiration Blog. so so fun to be able to work with their products...and the best part? they asked me to be on their team after i turned in my layouts. SO EXCITED! :)

happy monday!

(and some photos of course!)

my big belly:

and a friend. :) i only got to see amanda for about 10 minutes over the holiday, but it was so so good to just be able to hug her in real life. love my friend.

and with that, i'm off to scrap to the light of our new christmas tree and the sound of olivia on nick jr. :)

Home...

so we are officially back from our trip to ohio...which was completely amazing up until the trip home, which took us about 12 hours to make the normally 8-8.5 hour drive, and during which we witnessed a horrific auto accident right before our eyes involving about 5 cars that were in oncoming traffic. and needless to say, it wasn't with great rejoicing that we arrived at our apartment only to find tons of nasty water all over our kitchen and dining room that had come through the ceiling from the apartment above. BUT, i have the most amazing husband ever EVER invented, who not only after we settled in told me to go to bed so he could take care of londerpants, feed and bath him and put him to bed, but that also put up our christmas tree last night. so so fun because this is my first christmas tree ever. we didn't have one growing up, and because of that it wasn't super important to me so we didn't put one up last year when it was just LB and me. BUT it IS a big deal to nate, so i'm very happy to join in and enjoy the tradition along with him. our little tree is somewhat sparce and has not even one ornament on it (something i hope to change soon) but i love it anyways. and sitting and snuggling with a super sick and droopy 1 year old watching cartoons today just seemed magical since we had a it in the room with us. :)

 

and that, my friends, turned the whole feel of coming home into something wonderful. i just love our little family and our quiet little apartment that is nothing fancy, but so filled with love. over and over during the thanksgiving weekend i just kept thinking about how amazing God has been to me and how thankful i am that i have my 2 men.

another thing i was so thankful for was that i was able to spend some time with my grandparents on my mom's side over the holiday. my grandma and i talk almost every other day or so on the phone, but considering she lives in illinois, we haven't been able to see each other for a long time. and while i cherish every single conversation i have with her, it was just so amazing to see her in person for once. and the fact that she got to meet nate for the first time, and see LB for the first time since last christmas? that just made it more amazing. we ended up doing a photoshoot the day before i left and the entire time i was taking and looking at the photos my heart was just so full because i knew that i would treasure them forever and ever and show them to london long after he is grown.

it was so amazing to see family and reconnect with everyone in person, but one of my favorite things about the trip was that i got to see amy. 6 months is just way way too long to go without seeing your closest friend. and i'll be the first to admit that thousands of texts just aren't the same as spending time each week together. we fit in a photoshoot, chinese and games over a very short period of time but can't wait till we can see each other regularly again. i miss just hanging out with my friend. 

and with that, i leave you with my first project for the 2peas digital design team...which i did the day we left in a CRAZY hurry. so fun to be challenged in this way each week. i'm loving this new gig! :)

*Betsy Tuma Sweater Weather-His Kit* (gave these to my mom and grandma this weekend):

and i have some more challenge stuff to post soon, but i'm way too tired tonight.

so goodnight for now! :)

Days Are The Sunniest, Jokes Are The Funniest, Everywhere I Go...

hello my friends!

just popping in to post some new challenges for this weekend...even though i haven't finished mine from last week (but i'm working on them tonight!):

1. create a CONFESSION page.

2. create a layout about what you are thankful for at this time in your life.

3. use embellishments to create a shape on the LO (ex: heart, arrow, circle, etc)

4. use a traditionally non scrapbook item as an embellishment (ex: staples, masking tape, safety pin, etc)

5. in honor of the holidays, create a LO telling someone you love something(s) you've been wanting to tell them but haven't taken the time.

ok, girls...i think that some of these may be SUPER challenging. BUT i won't be posting challenges next week since it's thanksgiving (AND I'M GOING HOME TO SEE MY OHIO FAMILY!) so you really have 2 weeks with these ones.

let me know if you have any questions and make sure you post your links...i've been loving the ones you've shared so far! and i'm so sorry about the mix up with the e-mails last week. there were a few people that didn't receive them, so we decided that it would just be better to make them available on my blog.

i also wanted to share amy's new scrapbook blog: CREATE. she has been helping me come up with the challenges and will maybe be doing some of the posts so i wanted to make sure everyone is properly introduced. she is also going to start helping with choosing and posting some of the pages you share hopefully after the holidays when things aren't so crazy so please don't think i forgot!

and one last thing...i created a new photo album along the left sidebar that is called challenges...and each layout that i've done has the challenge with it so that if you ever want to go back and catch up you don't have to search my entire blog. they aren't really in the correct order though, sorry!

happy creating everyone!

xo, C

Happy Little Funness...

so i'm super excited to be able to share that there was an announcement over on 2peas for a new digital design team.

and i'm on it. :)

i'm so so pumped to start designing and learning more about the digital side of scrapbooking...although i will still be a hybrid scrapper (and can't see that ever changing) i will be printing and editing more of my page elements and mixing up my scrapbooking some.

here is a list of all the girls on the new team...along with their peanames. so excited to be working with these girls!

Alice Wertz : Alice W

Audrey Neal : aneal

Barb Hogan : Barb Hogan

Christie Jurgens : chrispy_314

Christina Smith : soaring2him

Jennifer Hignite : mom2dylanNdrew

Holly Koenigsfeld : Holly Koenigsfeld

Iara Gomes-Bae : baersgarten

Janelle Miller : janellemllr

Karen Cole : coley k

Kathy Racoosin : kathyrac

Kerry Stewart : Busy.Butterfly

Lucy Abrams : Lucy Abrams

Mary Jo Arthur : mj.johnston

Mary Rogers : SuperiorPea

Cheryl Manz Ametewee : Cheryl Manz Ametewee

Nicole LeBlanc : NicoleLeBlanc

Raven Edwards : flossiemae

Vanessa Matthyssen : Maithe

Wilna Furstenberg : Wilna

and that's all i got for now...but i'll post new challenges tomorrow!

Challenging? She Scoffed. Then Laughed...

ok, so the first set of challenges went out friday afternoon. so super excited to see what everyone comes up with. i'm working on mine as well...got a little nap in this afternoon after my brother and his wife went home and now i'm ready to rock!

here is the e-mail i sent out explaining everything and including the challenges. (i actually did one during the week so that i for sure at least completed one):

i am so so excited to send out the first batch of challenges...hopefully the first of many. i will definitely try to maybe get them out on thursdays from now on, but as i said on my blog my brother and his family are here for the weekend so things are kinda crazy around here.

what we have decided to do (for now, at least, we'll see how it works out!) is to post the challenges on my blog and then have everyone post links to your blogs or online galleries of completed challenges in the comments so we can all check them out (feel free to post throughout the week). i'd love to see what you all come up with and i'm going to try to each week post a layout or 2 that i really liked that you guys did (make sure you tell me if you would rather i not post your layout.) and if it seems like this isn't the best plan, we'll try something else next week. just bear with me and i'll try to keep you in the know about what's going on! :)

Also, we decided to do 5 challenges per week so that it's not too overwhelming. (i'd love feedback on whether you'd like more than that from now on.)

and with that, here are the challenges amy and i came up with for our as of yet unnamed group:
1. scraplift a page that you did over a year ago.
2. use only black, white, and one accent color on layout.

3. create a project/layout altering your embellishments in some way.

(i used the sande krieger home is where the heart is  digital kit from 2peas and changed it up a little in photoshop before printing and altering it some more with my scrapping supplies.)

4. create a LO using only circles (other than the photo itself).

i erased the name off...because it's a secret. ;) this one was a fun one to do, not my favorite though.

 

5. create a LO using song lyrics as title.

my sister in law erica took this photo outside our apartment this past weekend. love it so much. i blurred out lb's face so that i could share here. journaling is about how much i love the idea of starting small and growing together as a couple and family. :) lyrics by all american rejects.

have fun! :)