Captain America

Who else has a super hero fan? With all of these Marvel Comic movie releases we are constantly pretending to be yet another super hero!

When my son saw the Captain America "shields" in the toy department he REALLY wanted one. It is basically a frisbee painted up to look like Captain America's shield, it does have a handle on the back to be used as a shield but it doubles as a frisbee as well. My pocketbook wasn't really liking the $8-$10 price tag for something that would end up over our fence and chewed on by a neighboring dog when it wasn't being used as a shield.

Sooooo....we decided to make one! Big Brother is gone for 2 weeks, Daddy is working long hours and we needed something different to do anyways. Nothing beats a craft project!

I originally thought we'd just paint paper plates but when I dug into the cupboard for the sturdy ones I remembered my round cardboard cake "plates". They are about 12" in diameter -- perfect for my little Captain America.

We used things from around the house as our template...star cookie cutter, plates and bowls of varying sizes for our circles. Red, White & Blue Delta Ceramacoat paints.

For the handle on the back I had some wide ribbon that we glued down in a loop then I also used packing tape to reinforce it's stability. I knew it would see some tough battles! I just ran the tape across the inside of the loop then ran it the other way over the tape to help keep it on.

This is what we came up with:
I would say this looks GREAT for a 5 year old! I did help with the star's edges and the blue but he did the red and white completely. He did request I make another for his 14 year old brother...I'm sure he will so appreciate having his own when he gets home. LOL.

Family Hike

Where oh where is summer running off to?

It seems like it has just begun and we are now nearly halfway over!

For Father's Day this year my boys bought a Northwest Forest Pass and selected a day hike to do as a family. Of course my youngest had to throw in a bag of M&M's...can't leave out the chocolate! I think my husband really enjoyed his gift this year.

The boys and I selected Ramona Falls for our hike. A little ambitious of us since it is a 7 mile hike. I read that it is rated moderate to strenuous with kids. I was hoping that since my 5 year old NEVER stops moving that he'd be fine. Here is a photo of Mt. Hood as we crossed over the Sandy River.

The elevation gain was quite steep, more noticeable since we are so out of shape! It was a hot day out and we chose to stick to the right on this loop trail where it is up hill, hot and dusty. My thoughts were to get the harder part out first in the cooler part of the day. Making the way back more scenic and shady to enjoy. I am so thankful we did it this way...for many reasons.

You could tell when you are approaching the falls. The temperature drops significantly. There was a lot of late snowfalls this year so it was very cold glacier runoff coming over that hillside! It was like standing in the doorway of a walk-in freezer!

Here is a photo of the falls. It looks so much better in real life! It is amazing to see.

We packed in snacks, found a log to sit on and munch while viewing the falls. We were even joined by a very brave chickbunk (aka chipmunk) that was coming all the way to our feet hoping for a crumb...he wasn't disappointed!

The way down was beautiful, rock walls, mossy forest, rippling brook....almost story book like. It was so quiet and serene...then came our 5 year old! LOL. There is even a "buried forest" if you know to look for it.

This was a perfect family day together.

Product Spotlight Blog Hop: RELAY RACE

Welcome to our RELAY RACE Blog Hop! If you have come from Wendy's blog then you are on the right path!

If you are just starting out you really need to start from Nikka Geers blog for this one to see how it all transpires. This is a hop that needs to go in sequence to get the full affect. It's like playing a game of telephone but rather than "hearing" a message, we are being visually inspired to create a scrapbook page.

We are doing a twist on our product spotlight blog hop this month. Let me try to explain....

• First we start with a sketch/layout design that is selected by person number one.
• Person number one then uses that sketch or layout as inspiration to create her own scrapbook page (using CTMH products). She can use any element(s) from it that she wishes, just NO C.A.S.E.ing it.
• She then emails her completed page to person number 2.
• Person number 2 now creates her scrapbook page using person number 1's creation as inspiration.
• It continues down the line....it will end up kind of like playing a game of telephone only we are using the previous message as inspiration and not trying to pass it along exactly as seen.

On the left you'll see what I received as inspiration from Wendy Kessler:

Since we recently returned from a trip to Disneyland I had already decided I would select photos from that to use.

When I saw the layout had just one photo -- I had the perfect single photo I wanted to showcase alone.

We went to Goofy's Kitchen and of course being a scrapbooker I couldn't say no to the package they present you. You get your photo taken when you get there and at some point during your meal they bring the pictures to you all printed. Our waiter threw in an extra picture of Goofy for my scrapbook so I can keep the other in the "frame" they gave us with our family picture. Goofy's my favorite so when he sweetened the pot for me I really couldn't resist!

Anyways....back to the relay race!

I liked how Wendy used the flower behind her picture to draw your focus in and while flowers aren't my thing in a house of boys, I went with the more basic geometric shape of a circle to use behind my focal photo instead.

I knew my other half of my layout would have photos taken with some of the characters we saw in Goofy's Kitchen so I pulled out the fun stripes from the Tinkerin paper pack to hopefully tie it in. The single photo had a lot of rich browns in it and I really didn't want my Disney pages to be all brown. The yellow background paper is from the Giggles & Grins paper pack.

I did some random stamping using some images from the Recipe Box stamp set to bring in the whole food thing. You'll see that on the Chocolate Cardstock Strip (chocolate ink on chocolate CS).

I copied her embellishment placements but used the Button Brads, 3 to the upper left corner and 1 to the lower right corner.

I'm not completely content with the plain red circle and may change it up but I haven't come up with how...I'd like to find a silhouette head of Goofy to place behind the title to resemble the restaurant logo more completely...we shall see!

I've been so anxious to start scrapbooking our Disney trip and this was the perfect inspiration to get it going.

This is technically the last stop on the hop...I hope you enjoyed seeing how we were each inspired in a different way! But to finalize things...go ahead and hop on back to Nikka's blog to see how she has compiled things all together and to see them all side by side.

DISNEYLAND Vacation

So we FINALLY got our trip to Disneyland.

My youngest has been waiting 5 long years (and I found it to be an equally painful long wait) for his first trip to visit Mickey Mouse AT HIS HOUSE -- I wish I was in his head when we told him we were going. He was so excited but then I wondered, what does he really think this place is? He's seen pictures, he knows the Hot Dog Dance, he's been to the live shows (which we won tickets to), he has seen some youtube video's of the rides...but what does he really know about DisneyLAND? What are the rides really, how big IS the castle, the characters he can touch...

I LOVE Disney!

So I was doing the happy dance and bouncing up and down when my hubby gave me the go ahead to book the trip. I had been actively saving money for 2 years prior. I found a great package deal thru Costco Travel, got all the "extras" we decided were MUST's and came in way under budget! I was ecstatic....

We had an early entry to the park and were in the front of the line waiting for them to lower the rope and let us "run" free. I was able to snap this unobstructed photo zooming in all the way with my little point and shoot. I was pleased it didn't come out blurry! When my 5 year old saw the castle upon coming onto Main Street he was bouncing up and down and pointing....THERE IT IS! THERE IT IS! The Castle, it's right there, can we go can we go? It was great.


There were a lot of attractions closed between the 2 parks but this was the time that worked best around work schedules so we had to just go. I couldn't wait any longer, hubby was ready for the trip and my son was just dying with excitement to see what this place was all about. My oldest had been twice before -- it wasn't until I told him we were going to an all you can eat buffet at Goofy's Kitchen that he got REALLY excited about going. What is it with teenage boys and food? Whatever, at least I had all the family just as excited as I was to go! But hubby made it clear -- this was our last trip to Disneyland. There were other destinations he'd like to save vacation money up to visit so we had to make the most of this one. I was bummed we couldn't ride Splash Mountain. I had been telling my youngest that we'd go to Disneyland when he was tall enough to ride Splash Mountain. He finally had the height, we had the money and the time and it was closed. We went anyways....he walked past the ride a couple times and he peered through the walled off areas wondering about what was inside that he'd never get to see...it was a sad sight but he didn't complain!

We spent just 4 days in the park, traveling also on day 1 and 4. We were able to do it all -- we actually had the best time together! I think it was one of our all time best trips ever!! It was so good that about a week after we had returned, hubby said he missed being there and he'd like to go again...soon. We shall see -- it will be hard to save for an Alaska trip AND Disneyland....

I have to share this YouTube video....having all boys which are HUGE Star Wars, Pirates of the Carribbean and Indiana Jones fans....this was a fun find...I hope you enjoy it too!

I've JUST begun scrapbooking our vacation photos. The first will appear on June 15 as part of the RELAY RACE Blog Hop. Stay tuned....

Mother's Day and a CHALLENGE!

ACK! I created my Mother's Day cards, put together a fun gift and forgot to take pictures! I finally had a chance to sneak into my craft room to create and didn't snap a photo. So bummed I still don't have pic's to share!

They were very simple since I do have to be quick in my creations. It was a baby step though getting back into my creative space.

I used the papers from SOPHIA -- I love that paper packet, I just don't have girls so it will be reserved for gifting. I don't think that if I describe it, it will even do it justice! How about a challenge though? I'll tell you what I used then see what YOU can create using the same items and no visual inspiration?

Here is the challenge:

What can you create using these supplies:

Big Pinks Paper Flowers (or any paper flowers)
Crochet Flower
Prisma Glitter
Chipboard Letters
Ribbon
Brads
Sophia Papers

Seriously???

Has it really been since the first of April since I've had a blog post?? And a pretty much NOTHING post at that!!

I admit, I have not be creating. Tax season takes such a toll on our family dynamic that we are accustomed to. This last season was harder, I was working full-time at the tax office, very part-time cleaning and then it is also Prep Basketball season which takes up the evenings and weekends. I think I was home long enough to clean, eat, sleep...our house is for sale to boot. If you've put your home up for sale and have small kids then you definitely know what I'm going through. The house has to be "company clean" ALWAYS!

We planned a vacation in the middle of the chaos...it was such a reward to end that crazy season with a fun filled vacation. I'll do a separate post for that.

I've been having crafting time withdrawals actually. The house is for sale so if I start a project it has to be something I can also finish in that same session. I can't just cram/hide it in the closet -- people are looking in the closets too! I am a messy crafter...I start with an idea and then it sits out while I expand upon the initial thought. Sometimes just a day, other times several!

I'm hoping to be better about creating and posting....I NEED to be better, I'm lost without my creative outlet I think!

Stay tuned....there WILL be more artwork to come.

April's SOTM Blog Hop

If you have come from Jen's site...you are on the right track.

Unfortunately I have had to opt out of another hop -- it is the prime time of tax season and I have no free time at home until Tax Day -- April 18.

So skip on over me and hop along to Dawn's site to continue on your way.