Backyard Camp-out

Today I am thankful for simple activities that bring such joy to the boys.

Jeremiah set up the tents in our backyard a few summers ago and the boys had so much fun playing outside until it got dark.  We then slept in the backyard and had a fun night with the kids.  

For this page I used a denim looking blue card-stock and backed the photos in an orange card-stock to match the tents in the pictures.

I used diamond dew drops to create the stars here in the page.  I cut stars out with a punch and placed the dew drops on them.  I like the look they created.

For this sleeping under the stars sign I used my cricut and the camping critters cartridge.  I used the stars that were cut out from this and placed them on the top part of the page. This little sign came out really cute.  I love using my cricut to help add more character to my pages.

Overall the backyard camp-out was a lot of fun and I am glad we got a few pictures of the fun time we had and was able to make a fun page for our family album.

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

Riding Lions

Today I am thankful for little boys who just wanted to "ride the lion"  When we went to Disneyland a few years ago with the kids the hotel we stayed at had these lions out in the front.  Porter and Tyson love lions and of course wanted to climb on and have their picture taken.  So of course I pulled out the camera and took pictures of them "riding the lion".

The Robin's Nest had the PERFECT card-stock for these photos. I used the Red Lion card-stock. I used my cricut to cut out the letters as well as the brown side borders.  

I added a little swirl of dew drops also from The Robin's Nest as a final detail for this page and it really completed it for me.  

Happy Crafting,

Tara

Purple Fries

Today I am grateful for the fun things Jeremiah and I do, such as our purple potato fries....

Jeremiah and I have tried so many fun things since we got married.  We are always coming up with new things to do.  This was especially fun.  We grew a great garden a few years ago.  We decided to plant potatoes we had seen purple ones and decided to grow them.  Once they grew and we dug them up we thought it would be fun to make homemade fries with them.  Here I am frying them up.  The kids thought they were so fun and they tasted so good.  

This page was a fun one to do but a little difficult because really how do you scrapbook french fries?  :) There was nothing to fancy about the page but I love the memories.  

I embellished with some diamond dew drops from The Robin's Nest, then I used some cute chipboard die cuts from Gina's Designs.  I distressed the edges of the two and covered the heart with the same purple I used running down the side of the page.  I added the yellow ribbon as a final detail and loved how this page turned out.  

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

My Niece Kyra

Today I am grateful for my oldest niece Kyra Leigh.  I wanted to share my pages I made about her.  She is the oldest of my nieces and nephews. She is my sister Tammy's oldest daughter.  I was about 11 when she was born, by the time I turned 16 Kyra was my little side kick.  I took her everywhere with me and I loved her.  I enjoyed spending as much time with her as I could.  I can not believe she just turned 20 this last week.  Wow how time flies.  I am so happy to have such an amazing young lady as my niece.  I love you Ky and I'm proud of the young lady you've become.

These photos are from Kyra's prom she went to her senior year with her boyfriend Tyler.  I was able to see her this day and she was I'm sure the most beautiful girl at the prom.  

I used my cricut to create the frame and letters on this page.  I punched out some black hearts for the page and also placed some multi-colored twine on the corner of the frame.

Here are some pictures of her and with Tyler, what a gorgeous couple.  Also a small black and white photo with her mom, my sister, Tammy.

I used the same green that I backed the frame with from the other page and placed it behind the pictures and also cut out some circles and hearts to embellish this page.  I finished up with a few pieces of twine on two of the hearts.  I loved the bright colors and enjoyed making these pages.

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

Creative Fun

Today I am grateful for the creative things the boys put together to have fun!

Over the summer we were working on a project in the garage.  Weston wanted to run wild and I finally put Porter on the task of keeping an eye on him.  Next thing I knew they were playing with the shopvac and a rope.  Weston was in heaven!! We don't own a wagon but I guess this was the next best thing.  I love the creative mind Porter has to put things like this together.  The fun lasted for nearly an hour.  

Oh to be a kid again!  These two are so cute together.  I used my cricut to cut out my letters and added a touch of white around parts of the letters with a gel pen.

On this page I scattered some red dew drops.....placing these on black card-stock they lost the red and really blended into the black, so I used my hole punch and cut out some red circles and placed them under each dew drop so they kept their vibrant red color.  I also used my white gel pen in various places and I added a few pieces of ribbon on the top right corner of the page, using staples to keep them in place.  

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

My little sister, Rachelle

Today I am so thankful for the best little sister anyone could ask for!  I just love my baby sister Rachelle. She just celebrated a birthday this past week and I wanted to celebrate her on my blog today!!

If anyone has been following, I was doing really good with my blog....got two full weeks in....then Christmas came and with that our mom and dad O'Crowley were here visiting with us and the kiddos.  We jumped right into to more of the kitchen remodel and had some very long days working hard on that, then the kids were all sick for about a week.  I had to take a brief break from the blog to enjoy time with the family and take care of the little ones.  I am excited to get back to my everyday of things I am grateful for.

So back to my sister Rachelle - 

I could not find a picture on hand of Rachelle alone, but as you can see everyone just loves her and so does the camera! Anyone that knows Rachelle knows that she is a pint size spit fire, and I do mean this in a good way. ;) She is maybe 5 feet tall and tough as nails.  She played full contact women's football a couple years ago, she is certainly not one to mess with lol. She is so funny and has such a great personality.  There are a few photos of her with her husband Richard and oldest son Zhane, they just added another adorable baby boy, Brody to their family.  Rachelle and I are 3 1/2 years apart and I always wished we had been closer in age as I always enjoyed having her around.  She was there for the births of 4 out of 5 of my boys. She has always loved my kids as her own and was often a huge help to me with them.  Rachelle and I were able to work together a few years ago and we really enjoyed being together each day.  She lives in Utah with her family and I am in Colorado I miss her dearly and wish I was still able to see her and her boys often.  I am grateful for the phone calls and messages we share even if sometimes they are few and far between, I always know I have a sister there if I ever need anything at all and I hope she feels the same way. Happy birthday this past week Shell, I love you very much!!

For these pages I used The Robin's Nest, Green Glitter Butterflies card-stock. I also used the Distressed Purple card-stock to back my photos on both pages.  I used the pink glitter alphabet stickers for the name, also from The Robin's Nest.

I took some clear glass gems I've had kicking around my craft room and the dragonfly stickers from the Summer stickers sold by The Robin's Nest and used mod podge to keep the glass look over the stickers.  I love the accent these gave to my page.

On the opposite page I used these chipboard dragonflies from Gina's Designs and painted them two different shades of purple and dusted them in glitter.

Around the glass gems and across the bottom on the right page I used some white fiber ribbon as a final touch. Really loved how these came together!

  Thanks for reading today and hearing a little about my sister Rachelle.  

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

Reading together

Today I am grateful for little brothers who enjoy "reading" together...

Weston got this cute book from our friend Lauren and he just loved looking at the pictures over and over again. One day I walked in and he was showing all of the animals to Kade and talking to him about them, it was as if they completely understood one another.  It truly warmed my heart and I just had to capture the moment.  Weston and Kade are only 13 months apart and they really love each other so much, Weston can often be found just loving on his baby brother and it's so sweet!

For these pages I used the Calamity Jane Stripe card-stock, and dew drops (my favorite embellishment!!) from The Robin's Nest. You can visit and order from their website at: http://www.robinsnest-scrap.com/  

These are such fun little shots of the boys!  I added random dew drops, punched hearts and stamp shaped chipboard to dress up the page a bit without taking away from the photos.

I just added a few words for journaling down the left hand side and the boys names across the top right.

Here is just a close up of the cute embellishments for these pages.  

Thanks so much to stopping by today and checking out the blog.

Happy Crafting,

Tara

Salt water fish tank

Today I am grateful for our 215 gallon salt water fish tank.

Jeremiah started doing salt water fish tanks about 5 1/2 years ago.  When we got married he had a 90 gallon tank. He loved the tank and really enjoyed taking care of the fish and coral.  He started to teach me all the different things about the fish, feeding, cleaning and over all care of the tank.  I have to admit I wasn't nearly as excited about it as he was.  After awhile I realized how neat it was to see all the different things in the tank and I really began to love having the tank.  We upgraded soon after we were married to our 215 gal.  This is one of our favorite hobbies to do together, and it honestly isn't the same doing it without him.....found this out while he was deployed.  

Here I have done a double layout of just a few pictures of our tank.  I used paper from The Robin's nest.  I used Glitter Pink Coral for the base.  Then my mom-in-law cut out the starfish from the Glitter Black Starfish paper and I glued them onto the corners of my paper.  I also used a few of the little green starfish on each page.  I framed the picture on the right with Glitter Purple Crackle and Glitter Pink Crackle, both from The Robin's Nest.

Above is a picture showing the great glitter paper. I used my Criut with the Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge to create my teal coral here in the bottom corner.

This is the left page really showing off the beauty of the fish tank and all the cute page details.

Here is a close up of the adorable seahorses I made, again with my Cricut and the Paper Dolls Dress Up.  I thought these were so cute when I added them to the page, there are also a few more of the teal coral I made.  This was such a fun layout to do, and I loved working with all the bright colors!!

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

Craving a burger....

Today I am grateful for receiving a much needed burger from my dad-in-law and Jeremiah, that I have been craving for about a week now.... oh so yummy!!

Okay here is the story, because I know this seems like such a funny thing to be thankful for but you have no idea how bad I just needed this last night.  I was having a rough day, we have been remodeling our kitchen since the day after Jeremiah came home from his deployment. Nov. 5th to be exact.  (We left for a full two weeks to go to Utah to spend time with family for Thanksgiving.)  Jeremiahs mom and dad came into town Christmas day. Today we have all been working around the house.  We scored a double oven, drop in stove top and a microwave today for a crazy good deal.  I was stressed about making the decision to purchase these things as we had not planned to replace them, but the price was sooooo right!!  Anywho Jeremiah and dad were headed to home depot to pick up a few more things for the kitchen and I said, "hey just bring me home a burger, that's all I need."  Anyone who knows Jer and I knows we aren't big on eating out because we love cooking and enjoy our food way more than any restaurant or fast food place.   The guys had been gone for over and hour and I decided to start dinner, about ten minutes into cooking they walked in the door with Burger King just for mom and me...I have to say it totally made my whole day and I was a much happier person.  The boys still ate the shepherds pie I cooked. After dinner we watched a movie together to end the evening and I am sure we will have an early start back to the remodeling.

 Here is just a little sneak peak of the process of our kitchen....

Here's to the simple joys in life :)

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

My best friend Sarah..

Today I am grateful for my best friend Sarah.

Sarah and I met while working together about five years ago.  We quickly became friends and over time more like sisters in many ways.  Even though we live far away from one another we are still there for the other anytime it is needed.  She was there for the birth of my Weston and I was there for her little girl McKenna.  She and her husband Donnie are two of the greatest people I know and were there for me through some of the roughest parts of my life.  I love you both like family!

I created this page with some of my favorite pictures of Sarah and her cute little family.  Sarah and Donnie were married in June of 2009 and I was able to be there for their special day, their daughter McKenna was born in April of 2012.  I love this picture on the bottom left of her holding her daughter for the first time, nothing more beautiful than a mother meeting her baby and having that first connection with new life.

I used card-stock from Stampin' Up! as well as a red, grey and black card-stock.

Here is a close up of the flowers I used to embellish the page.  I made these on my post about my mom last week. I think they are so cool and since I have five boys I don't get much chance to use the girly things.  I placed a black dew drop in the center just to add a little more to the arrangement.

For Sarah's name I used my Cricut and the Sophisticated cartridge.  I think this gave a perfect elegance. 

Thanks Sarah for your friendship, love and support always!

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

Christmas

Today I am thankful for Christmas.

I just wanted to start by wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. I am so thankful to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I use to not really be a big fan of Christmas because I feel it has become far to commercialized and people are not remembering the true reason for this season.  Jeremiah and I have tried to teach the kids why we celebrate Christmas and that it is not about the gifts we get, but rather the gifts, or better yet the service we can give others. They are still young and learning and yes we still hold the fun traditions of some gifts and stockings. Jeremiah shares the story of the birth of Christ first keeping the focus on him, then we have followed a tradition from Jeremiah's family where we open presents on Christmas Eve, and all of the presents are from mom and dad. Christmas morning they get their stockings filled with goodies and such and this is what comes from Santa.  This is our family tradition, what are some of your favorite traditions you do in your home?

Today I thought I would change things up a bit and craft a Christmas card.  I didn't want the standard red and greens so I when with black, red, white and some silver.  I used white embossing powder to really give the pop I wanted on both the red and the black card-stock.  I used stamps from the Holiday Wishes set.  I really love how this turned out.  I added some silver embossing powder with my white on the little snowflakes and tied a sliver ribbon around the card to mesh the red and black better without having a bold line.  I added some black dew drops from The Robin's Nest for the final touch this card needed.

Here is a closer look at the embossed snowflakes, ribbon bow and dew drops.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with family, friends and loved ones, stay safe!

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

Outing to Old Colorado Territory Days..

Today I am grateful for the fun family outing we had last summer with all of the boys to the Territory Days in old town Colorado.

Jeremiah decided it would be fun to have the old fashioned pictures taken while we were there.  The boys loved getting to hold the guns and be dressed up like cowboys.  They all looked so cute too, even little Weston who was just three months old was all decked out like a little stud.  They were all so good and we really got some great shots.  I have had these pictures hanging around my room where I can see them because I have loved them so much and I was so happy to finally put them into a scrapbook.

This one made me laugh so hard when we first saw it, everyone was in perfect character pointing their guns at daddy, and looking at him too.  I used the striped side of the Cowboy paper from The Robin's Nest.  I used some brown mailbox letters for my words.  I stamped and embossed the scallops, stars, and paisleys with the Wanted stamp set and a copper emboss powder from Stampin; Up!.

Just a little close up of the embossed scallop circles.

Again I used the mailbox letters, and this page shows off my embossed paisleys. I placed these on the page with foam pop ups to give the page just a little more dimension.  

We could not have asked for a more perfect picture, everyone is actually looking at the camera, eyes are open and smiles all around!!

  I know we all really enjoyed taking these pictures and they whole day just being together.

I love having pictures of the fun memories we have made together as a family and love to be able to scrapbook them and share it with others.

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

Joseph Smith

Today I am thankful for the first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith.

I am grateful for Joseph Smith for having the faith to do the things he did to restore the fullness of the church to the earth today.  I have a testimony that he saw God the father and his son Jesus Christ at the young age of 14, when he prayed to know which church to join.   I am truly grateful for this because the gospel and being part of the church brings a happiness to my life that nothing else in the world could ever do.

Not sure if you can read the journaling I did here with this picture, but it explains where this came from.  This is an actual photo hanging in mom and dad O'Crowley's spare bedroom. This is Jeremiahs favorite photo of Joseph Smith and in person it is quite a neat one to see.  It felt fitting to use it for this page.  I used The Robin's Nest paper called Service.  The words printed on this paper were perfect to describe Joseph, patience, service and brotherly love.  

I found this picture of Joseph and his wife Emma Smith and thought it was perfect to add to the page.  I added some dew drops to embellish and it added the perfect bit of elegance I wanted.

The bottom left is a picture of a statue of Joseph that I believe is at Temple Square.  It is a beautiful representation of the Prophet and really looked good with the other two photos I had chosen.  

I was grateful to be able to post this today as it is not only my dear handsome husband and his twin Jessiciah's birthdays but it is also Joseph Smiths birthday as well. 

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

Braxton's Art...

Today I am grateful for Braxton's Artwork!!

I just love all the artwork this little Braxton does.  He seems to be drawing pictures daily now.  I wish I had saved more of all of the boys artwork, nothing can replace those first innocent creations.  You know the ones where are are at least 10 times thinner or 10 times fatter than you really are, and they somehow manage to point out all the best features they see in you. *wink-wink*

These pages were so fun to preserve some of his art.  I went "loud" on these because anyone who knows Brax knows he is LOUD.  So this worked perfect.  I really wanted to highlight the art so I left things with a little less detail than I normally would have, but it looks good and keeps the focus on the awesome drawn picture.

Here is the original picture, this seriously makes me smile so big every time I look at it.  I asked Braxton to tell me about this picture and he says this is our whole family....I love how much he loves his family and really loves to draw them out, especially his brothers. I thought for sure I was the red peanut looking one with the belly button, but he just laughed and said, "no silly that's dad, I gave him a belly button. You are the one with the hair."  (The purple fuzzy looking one to the left of the peanut...I mean dad)

For the other page I kept things fairly simple and just added a few pictures of him coloring and painting on one of our school days here at home. I added some smaller sticker circles in various circles and like what it did for this page.  I also added number stickers under the bottom pictures.  I used my cricut to cute out the letters in the same polka dot print to really tie it all together.  I sure love this four year old and I cherish his sweet creations!!

Happy Crafting, 

Tara

More functional and usable space..

Today I am grateful for more functional and usable space.

The left page is the cubby space and closet in our master bedroom when we bought our house last year.  We have since painted the room a beautiful midnight blue with white trim, as you can see in the pictures on the right page.

It only took one look at this wasted space, for Jeremiah to say he was going to open it all up and put some shelves in.  That is just what he did last summer.  We wanted to make the space really feel like a part of the room and so we carried the colors over into the bookcase area and it really looks like it has always been there.  He gave the shelves a beautiful curve instead of just a plain straight across.  We have so many books and various decorations and items from places of travel.  It is so nice to have all this space to store and display so many of the things we love.

For this layout I used just some nice textured blue card-stock. Lined my pictures with a red.  For the before page I used a lot of rub-ons and a few dew drops for some dimension. 

Here is a close up of the bookshelf. We hung some rope lights around the inside where they can not been seen and have them on a timer so they light up the room very well in the evening hours.  

I really struggled at first scrapbooking these pictures.  The colors in the before pictures are just awful and they aren't exactly exciting.  I ended up really liking them when all was done and said but it sure took some creativity for me to be happy and feel like they were actually complete.  I used a journaling tag from The Robin's Nest and made a darling clothes line with items hanging from it, I kept laughing at this cause I just thought it was so dang cute!

As for the closet, we took off the bulky doors.  When they were open they hit the bedroom door so we decided to just take them off.  Shortly before Jeremiah left for his deployment he finished the closet.  I swear we have become pros at figuring out how to get more functionality and usability out of small spaces, and this was no exception!  He built these great square boxes in the top part of the closet that have fabric boxes in them, this allows for storage of the smaller clothing items or things that are worn less often. At the bottom where there was so much space that seemed wasted he built a couple more boxes and shoes racks.  You can see that he left a section on the far left so that my dresses still hang nicely without getting bunched up.  

All in all both of these projects turned out very well, I have plenty of space for just about everything!

Happy Crafting, 

Tara