Pretty Party with Crate Paper

hello - hello! I'm back but just making this a quick post today. I wanted to share a couple of projects that I made last week for the Crate Paper booth at CHA. Crate has created 2 new collections and I got a chance to play with the paper & chipboard from the Pretty Party line. It's so wonderfully girly and flowery and just perfect for Spring parties! If you pop over to the Crate Blog and leave a comment on my post today we're giving away one Pretty Party collection!

To go along with the party theme, I created a little party favor, invitation and some pretty confetti - Because I'm convinced confetti goes with everything!

I have my color challenge to prepare for this Friday and I seem to be running a tad bit behind with it. I'm slowly making progress getting the house unpacked but my craft room has been last on the list of things to-do. It's a slow process! xo ~T

8 things I love: Saturday

comfortable by taraanderson featuring leather shoes

The movers are already at the other house with the furniture so that gives me a few quick minutes to post. I'm doing it people, I'm wearing sweats in public. Normally sweats are only reserved for the day that I get out of the hospital but today I throw caution to the wind and wear them anyways! This moving stuff is serious business that requires the absolute most comfortable clothes ever. Sweats my friends, sweats.

xo ~ T

me & Cocoa Daisy

Due to the epic move set for this Saturday, this will most likely be my only scrapbook post for the month. So, I figured I'd better make it a good one! Way back in October I was asked to be a guest designer for Cocoa Daisy and even though December was a crazy busy month, I accepted the challenge. I think working with a kit is also a little more organized too because you only have so many things to work with and then that's it!

Here's what I made with their January main kit!

This layout was all about a strong title and stronger journaling and I just didn't feel that it needed a photo to support the over all feel. It wasn't meant to be a super cutesy layout. (Even though, when both my husband & my good friend saw this page they said the same thing! "Where's the photo?) This layout could not be more appropriate for this week!

I loved this floral paper - it's reminds me of pretty vintage wallpaper and yellow mixed with black and white stripes is always a hit in my book!

I had wanted to create some type of little mini list album and then decided on making one for Home lists. Everyone room in the new house has an index card that I can jot down items that are needed for that room. I think I've filled it since taking these photos over 2 weeks ago!

Had to scrapbook one of the kids' Christmas photos!

The Cocoa Daisy kit came with a package of Sassafras paper flowers (I loved those and was so happy to see them in a kit again!) Instead of just tossing the packaging that the flowers came with, I covered the little paper insert with paper and then sewed in lots of randomly cut pieces of graph and ledger paper. It made a good tiny notebook for keeping track of everything lately!

Well, there you have it! All my scrapbook stuff for the month in one place! I'm going back to packing this afternoon, movers are coming on Saturday and that's only 3 days away!! Wish me luck!

8 things I love: Saturday

just in time too!

black and white by taraanderson featuring a knotted bead necklace

Since my sister is here visiting & helping us to move, we've been playing dress up in my closet for the past 2 days. I use to love when she would come down because I'd get a chance to clean out the closet and I'd send her home with all my extra stuff. Double win! So far, I've sorted through jewelry, winter coats, clothes and purses, oh and makeup. It's good to have a little sister to share with! :)

taking a break

I'm taking a little break this afternoon. I have packed 10 boxes today. That's it? Only 10? Surely I've been able to accomplish more than just a measly 10 boxes. Even I was surprised to re-count and realize that no, 10 really is the magic number. Man.... packing is a total pain in the rear and where is all the cool stuff people are always exclaiming that they unearthed while packing? So far, I've found bupkiss - nada - nothing. Unless you believe finding a petrified scorpion, that met it's death in the corner of our garage, the find of the decade.... because I sure don't!

I crawled back into Peter's side of the bed this morning and told him to please wake me in exactly 11 days after we've moved into the new house. I want nothing more to do with the packing part of this move.

Ok, so when I say I've not found anything good, maybe that's an over exaggeration, I have found some fun forgotten stuff in the back of the bookcase and closet. Like my notebooks I wrote in back when Peter and I were first dating. It was cute skimming over their content. Nine years later here we are. :) I found photos I had forgotten about and more notebooks. I actually tossed 11 filled notebooks. I'm pretty proud of myself for that. I still have about 20 more notebooks that I think I may end up keeping. I also think I write too much.

I've been so lucky to have lived in the same house for the past 10 years. Must not forget that!

my top 9 of 2011

Happy New Year!

following with tradition - I'm posting my top 9 favorite projects from 2011. I think all but one of these projects were Crate Paper stuff. I worked alot with Crate last year and this year looks to be very much the same! I also realized how very little actual layouts I made :( I must make this more a priority this year.

I'm still working on a massive custom order.... I'm hoping today is the day that I wrap it all up. My to-do list is out of control and only continues to grow by the day! Time for some coffee and the first sewing fest of 2012!

ps. did you know the Rose Bowl parade isn't today? I always thought it was on New Years - so dissapointed this morning but I know what I'll be doing tomorrow!

2011 in photos

I made this collage on Christmas day! I took one photo from each month that I thought sort of told the story from that month. Here's my list! (I used a collage in Picnik to create this one.)

1. January - vacation to California
2. February - Valentines Day swap
3. March - picnics at the park
4. April - sharing Hot Chocolate on colder mornings
5. May - Easter weekend at the ranch nearby
6. June - Peonie season
7. July - the 4th
8. August - wildflowers
9. September - Grandmas vintage jewelry
10. October - Disneyland vacation
11. November - Fall crafts
12. December - decorating for the Holidays

I'm working on the biggest custom order and as soon as I finish up today I can get back to posting some scrapbook stuff. I'm guest designing with Cocoa Daisy this month and wanted to share all the projects I made for them! See you soon!

the day after

*this is not one of those sappy - guess what I got for Christmas posts.... well sorta and there is a point to this post - promise!*

I have a confession to make tonight. I hate writing and I hate the part of blogging where I have to write. Ironic since a blog is an online journal but it's true. Maybe you can tell, maybe not but I like the idea of not having to write too much. I almost view my blog as an extension of my home, my craft room and sometimes my closet, kitchen or backyard. I like to post photos and I like things to be simple and easy on my blog and in real life. I think simple doesn't require alot of explaining.

There's actually very few things that I feel strongly enough to want to talk in detail about. I'm not a big fan of drama so I tend to steer clear of those topics that I have a strong opinion about. So what does that leave me to talk about on my blog? The mundane details of my crafting adventures, what I did today and how I made something. If you get bored with those topics you're not alone because I do to! Don't get me wrong, I love to make things and I love to take photos! Because being creative is very much a part of my everyday. But photos don't get you into trouble where as writing can.

Back to avoiding drama - I'm not of fan of message boards, never have been.... because of said drama. (I'm raising a 7 yr. old girl, I deal with enough of it at home.) Two weeks ago, for whatever reason, I pulled up twopeasinabucket and clicked on the top 10 popular posts. (I know, I was going fishing for drama at that point! :)) I found a thread title that simply read:

"I feel like the worst parent ever."

It caught my attention, I opened it, read it, and immediately felt the need to respond, not to the thread, but to the poster. It was a young mom who didn't get the job she thought she would have before Christmas and didn't have a way now to provide presents for her 2 young kids. It went on to explain that she was too late to add her kids to any of the charity gift lists and to please give her ideas of where else to try in the area she lived. Some of the replies were less than helpful or positive. Yes the post was made under an anonymous name but for good reason.... it is Two peas after all, a site known for less than caring message boards. As a mom I can only think of a few things worse than the feeling of not being able to provide for your own children - especially during Christmas.

and it is Christmas the season of giving and hope and a time for children to be excited. I'm willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt and reach out to help because it's the right thing to do.

I emailed, or pea-mailed rather, the poster and asked for an address and the age of her son. Nothing else... no back story, no I hope things change for you in time... just an address. As it turned out, her kids are really close in age to Alaina and Chase. I'm a girl, I love to shop, I love sales and I usually have extra toys hiding around the house especially this time of year - so I was able to get everything ready quickly. I wrapped up a couple gifts for her 6 year old daughter and a gift for her little 1 year old son, gathered everything into a couple boxes and got them ready for the post office. Chase and I waited for Alaina to come home from school so we could mail everything off together before the post office closed for the day.

While up at the post office waiting in line, Alaina wanted to know who I was sending the boxes to. She's a nosy one - that child of mine. How much do you explain to a 7yr. old? Alaina understands alot, she likes to think that she's a teenager but I don't always want to tell her the truth. I'd rather her think the world is perfect right now. I ended up telling her the truth and adding a little sugar to it. I explained to her that "a mommy in Texas wasn't able to buy presents for her kids, so we're sending the presents to her. In a way it's almost like being Santa Claus."

I wish I could have taken a photo of Alaina's face right then. Her eyes were huge and her little mouth dropped open, I think it shocked her a little that I had compared her to Santa ("the one person I love the most" - she wrote that to him this year.)

She asked me who the mom was and if I knew her. I told her no, that it was just a mommy on the computer that needed some extra help this year. Still, Alaina wasn't satisfied with my simple explanations so she poked around for more answers, asking me about the daughter, her name, age, where they lived. Maybe she thought I was lying to her? I have no idea but I tried to answer her questions as best I could on the limited info I had received from 1 peamail.

From the post office the kids and I drove down the hill to meet with our realtor to look at one more home for the week - it was already late on a Friday evening. (Oh yeah, we're moving in a couple of weeks - but that's a whole other post!) I think Alaina and I put the post office conversation in the back of our minds as we walked through yet another weird old house.

Fast forward to Christmas afternoon, I went back yesterday to look at that thread that was posted 2 weeks ago on Twopeas. Again some of the replies to this mom were doubting the sincerity of her initial post and was it a post and run thread?

I was thinking about this yesterday as I went about cleaning up the mess of my house after opening presents, that whether or not the post was real, I got so much more out of this than the money I spent on a stranger. Let's face it, our kids don't want to and aren't going to listen to what we say as their parents but they are paying attention to what we do. I believe in showing kids what a good example is - not just telling them. Lead by example, that's my parenting philosophy.

I had the opportunity, that day at the post office, to show my kids that you don't have to know someone in order to help them. I believe you will get back in life what you give out to others and I still have faith that there will continue to be people out there who would be willing to help others without letting the feelings of doubt or disbelief stop them.

I know this because I'm raising 2 of them right now.



- Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith. ~Author Unknown

Merry Christmas to you and your family today!

The kids are still playing with their new toys, Peter is taking a nap and as for me, there's a wrapping paper disaster scattered around the living room to clean up. Hope your holiday was a magical and fun one!

8 things I love: Saturday

everyday by taraanderson featuring beaded jewelry

Today has felt like a Sunday. All day infact! Peter never has Saturday's off, so today both of us kept correcting the other regarding what day of the week it really was. :) So tonight, before it really is Sunday, I'm posting my list!

my 8 things list:

1. white t-shirts
2. faded blue jeans
3. cozy grey sweater
4. stripe scarf
5. white ballet flats
6. red plaid bag
7 & 8. coral and gold jewelry (quite possibly my favorite combination, it's an unexpected color choice but I like that it stands out!)

This morning we took the kids to see Santa..... exciting right? Yeah, not so much. Only one was excited to see him, apparently my youngest had better things to do with his morning. It never fails either. I think every Santa photo is of Alaina smiling and Chase either crying, not in the photo at all, or staring off into space. Good times.



Alright, I have milk, cookies and a frozen pizza to put out for Santa tonight. Yep, that's right I said frozen pizza. Alaina was concerned about Santa having too much dessert and not enough dinner. Pizza, to a 7 year old, seemed like a practical choice because after all, who doesn't like pizza?

Happy Christmas Eve!

photo post

I got sick right before Christmas too ~ wouldn't you know it! While I sit here on the couch I thought I might as well try to get caught up on photos. Time is quickly running out!

Last week or maybe 2 weeks now, I created a series of Holiday Frames for a Crate Paper blog post. I found a group of frames at thrift stores and used Crates Peppermint to make these.

I took these photos at the beginning of the month. I keep meaning to go back and take better ones ~ I'll have to put it on the to-do list. I decorated our living room with Silver and Gold, white poinsettias and glittery reindeer.

I put this tree into my craft room. I wanted one old-world tree so I could use all those vintage bulbs I had collected. It's especially pretty at night! I've stashed all of the presents under this tree so it doesn't look quite as bare underneath.

We added a little tree to one of Chase's cars and placed it in between collections of pink and red glass bulbs and vintage candle sticks on the kitchen table.

I think it's time for some more tea and maybe another nap tonight. I need to get better in a hurry!