Carefree Lazy Days ... and the photos to prove it! Vol. 7

Around here I am not even allowed to use the "s" word ("school", shhh - do not repeat that out loud!). It's about 2 weeks or so away and the kids want no part of it. Me, I'm ready for it again. It's tough to keep kids busy for weeks and weeks on end. I've noticed that my library of summer photos seems to be slimming down as well. I guess I'm not taking as many photos as I did at the beginning of the summer vacation or maybe this was just an extra lazy week.



Just some visitors to our yard this week...

The kids' least favorite summer activity.

Our favorite afternoon game this summer ... fun to play while eating lunch.
Potatoes from my Dad's garden. These fresh picked babies made the best potato salad ever!


And didn't we just give this dirty little dog a bath?
The kids took him for a walk and he came back with little sugar ants all over him. Gross!


More lazy poolside days.

And when there's outside time, there's always more bugs. This one was a gross slimy caterpillar. Even he didn't want to pick it up with his hands.

And Coldstone Creamery. The best ice cream chain ever.

That's it for this lazy week.
-xo

New Products at JessicaSprague.com!

Did you hear the news? Echo Park's Digital Kits will now be sold at jessicasprague.com. So cool! Check out all the new goodies available this More In Store Monday.


Need some cute frames to highlight those photos of your kids going back to school? Check out iKari Designs' You've Been Framed: School Days. So cute!

{iKari designs}
You've Been Framed: School Days

{echo park}
A Walk in the Park Paper Pack #1

{elle's studio}
Shape Tabs
Number Tabs
Alphabet Tabs
Vintage Alphabet Labels
Vintage Number Cards

{queen of quirk}
Fathertime Paper Pack - off white paper

{creativity by crystal}
Novemeber Collection Happy Little Owls
Office Supplies Element Pack - staples

{lynn grieveson}
worn page edges no 4
vintage tape measures

Font: Rudiment

And this page is 100% Echo Park's A Walk in the Park line. Charming!

Adorable Dozen
This mama led all her ducklings across our backyard and into the woods one spring morning. It was so cute. There were exactly 12 little ducklings. :)

{echo park}
A Walk in the Park Paper Pack #1
A Walk in the Park Element Pack
Walk in the Park Borders & Card Pack

Fonts: oh {photo!} shoot - title, century gothic - journaling
-xo

Latest Digital Layouts

{katie pertiet}
Love You Layered Template
Sacked Solids Neutral
Scatterings No. 4
Quote Challenge 101809 - heart charm
Posted Valentines
Word Labels Love
Wax Seals Alpha

{lynn grieveson}
worn page edges no2

font: Pea Jay

Just wanted to share my latest pages. This one, above, is from a photo I found and scanned in. My little girl is just a few months old. She looks vintage-like, as if from years past. :)

Katie Pertiet
Sandman Layered Template

Jesse Edwards
Beachyness Supplement Papers
Lost at Sea Solids

One from a recent trip to the beach.

{studio DD}
layer works template no.1

{katie pertiet}
fine lines border no 4
love you layered template - butterfly
button mix no 1
roughed up notebook paper no.1
le cirque solids
word labels love

{lynn grieveson}
summer bright paper pack

font: 1942 report

This page is about my daughter's love to create & our time spent together one week while my son was in hockey camp.


{katie pertiet}
le cirque solids
stamped n framed template - mask, journal strips, staples
email insp. 3710 - blue paper
memorable spots months
editorial 112209 - mask
email insp. 70410
candid elements - brad

{lynn grieveson}
twill strips

{anna aspnes}
stitched white no 4

Cousins snuggled up together. They tired themselves right out.

{Katie Pertiet}
Little One LT
Loved One LT (butterfly)

{Lynn Grieveson}
Alicia Paperpack
Milly Molly Kit - white background paper

Font: luna
Just a moment from this past winter. Love those dimples!

Have a good weekend! -xo

Carefree Lazy Days ... and the photos to prove it! Vol. 6

Thursday again. Yup, I was right. The closer we get to September, the faster the summer weeks are flying by. The photos pictured here included mama - daughter bonding time, as the boy was in hockey camp for a few days, and lots more beach photos ... but not your typical beach photos.



Well, ok. These are typical beach photos.
Wet and full of sand, as it should be.

But these photos below are not so typical!


We took part in a "Skeining the Bay" session this afternoon. And here we are learning a little bit about just exactly what that entails and why it is important to the coastal preserve.

The trail we took to get to the bay side of the island was beautiful.

And this is a great photo showing what it means to skein the bay.
It's basically a net held by two people at opposite ends.
You walk way out into the bay and then open the net to stretch it out.
As you walk back to the shoreline, you catch all sorts of ocean life in the net.




The kids were allowed to reach in and touch everything.
But watch out for those crabs! One person got pinched.


So many cool things were caught and examined. Even a little eel.
Some of the cooler specimens were brought back to the environmental center so others could see them.



My crew, investigating on their own.
Such a fun experience.
Glad we went. :)

The girl making a travel acitivity book filled with bingo, 50 states license plate game and other car-ride boredom busters for our OBX vacation.
Spending the afternoon learning to sew felt hair accessories.
She is always so interested in what I do, so today I spent some time teaching her how to make her own.

In this house, we love summer because we get to use lots and lots of fresh peaches in our summer fruit smoothies. Can't get enough!

That's it for now.
-xo

A bunch of new pages... and back to school for you!

I have a bunch of new pages to share with you today. When I look through my photos of my son, I see snap shot after snap shot of him with some random bug or critter he has found. I need to do a collage page highlighting all his finds. Another day, I suppose. For now I choose one recent moment, where he scooped up a praying mantis and let it crawl all over him until releasing it back outside.

Creatures of Nature

{Creativity by Crystal}
Me & My Brother Paper Packs 1 & 2 {coming soon!}
Playground Elements Add-On Pack -red heart epoxy
Playground Papers -red dots

{Jessica Sprague}
Template + v.3

{splendid fiins}
@ the office paper pack add-on 2 -graph paper & blue circle paper

{queen of quirk}
Father Time Element Pack - Butterflies

{katie pertiet}
Let Your Light Shine Template - jewelry tags
Tied Fasteners No 3

{lynn grieveson}
Wild Weekend Alpha (title)

fonts: Steelfish (title), Centry Gothic (journaling)

This one is just a moment from last month, after the kids caught the ice cream truck going by our home.

Celebrate Summer {iKari Designs}
Save the Date Vol. 5: Curvy Labels
Glitter Spills

{Creativity by Crystal}
Me & My Brother Paper Pack #1 {coming soon!} background paper
Artisan Label Templates No. 1

{liv.e designs}
Summerific Labels - recolored
Softly, Gently - The Kit Elements - green string and tag
Not Quite White Paper Pack

{Queen of Quirk}
Fathertime Paper Pack
Collab with Paislee Press - You are Here Full Kit - red floral, blue flroal, red border, bow

{katie pertiet}
scatterings no.4

{anna aspnes}
curvy corners stitched borders -recolored

{lynn grieveson}
wprn page edges no. 4

And a hybrid project using Elle's Studio Birthday Bags & Birthday Banners ... decided these would be cute as little treat bags for the lunch box for the 1st day of school when it arrives. I also printed out a little label and wrote a love note for my kids. :)

Lunch Box Treat Bags
{Elle's Studio}
Birthday Bags - Boy Hybrid Project
Birthday Banner - Boy Hybrid Project
In the Moment Journaling {coming soon!}
Banner Letters Brown - Hybrid Project {coming soon!}

{Creativity by Crystal}
For 12x12 Layout:
Playground Element Pack -heart
Playground Element Add-On Pack - happy face epoxy
Doodley-Doo Borders

Fonts: Stamped Act, Hanoded Hand

American Crafts felt hearts, Martha Stewart's Twine

And if you are looking to get your self back to school with some fun classes this fall, check out JessicaSprague.com.
Classes starting soon include:

Now We're Rockin' in Photoshop Intermed. Digital Scrapbooking

all new updated class, register today, starts Aug 30

ABC Inspiration by Carina Gardner - register today, class starts Aug 13 $35.00

Oh Shoot! Beginning Digital SLR Photography

register tonight at 9pm EST!

Crystal Wilkerson will soon be teaching a new Blog Design Basics for Bloggers class! More Details coming soon!

That's it for now. -xo

Carefree Lazy Days ... and the photos to prove it! Vol. 5

It's Thursday again. It is just me or are the weeks going by faster and faster now that we are in the final stretch of summer vacation? Wish I had a pause button. Anyway, since it is Thursday again, here we go with another Carefree Lazy Days of Summer. Cute (Faux)laroid frames by Nisa of Splendid Fiins ... get them here!

My girl has serious food cravings. She loves creamy pasta dishes and sushi. This week she was in heaven enjoying both! Except she had to eat sushi with a fork. :) Her chopsticks (yes, she has her very own) were in the dishwasher that afternoon.

We enjoyed a drive-in movie! So fun. My parents used to take my brothers and I as kids in the summer. Fond memories of sleeping bags in the back of our ugly green station wagon. Good Times! Glad to share the experience with my kids!

We spent time with my mom. Visited a local pet shop and looked at all the pretty fishies.
The kids played outside and in the pool some more. It's been so hot! To change things up a bit they made a pool shower and enjoyed pouring a a big bucket of water on each other's head.
(The things they do for fun. :{ )





After another Free Movie Morning at the theater we decided to skip lunch and go right for dessert. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundaes at Friendly's. Another favorite thing of mine when I was a kid. (Besides, the regular Friendly's food is kind of gross!)

And the kids worked together (always a risk with siblings) to give our little shih ztu a bath. They actually cooperated and did a super job together.

Here's the little pooch.

That's it for now.