Birthday Cards

This month is not only my birthday month -- Creative Embellishments turns 5! They are hosting a birthday crop next weekend so look out for that. To get you in the mood for this crop, I am sharing two birthday cards that I created using Small Sentiment Words, Birds, Cupcakes 2, and Family Banners. I liked how the chipboard looked against the blue and white papers so I left them unaltered.

Labor Day

We had a nice and relaxing long Labor Day weekend. Nathan is doing great in swim class, and we found out that Cora, his new best friend at school, is also in his swim class!

We also celebrated my birthday and tried Flying Star's giant eclair,

and we were invited to an arcade for some fun and games.

Nathan has started enjoying Garfield cartoons. He doesn't get most of the jokes, but completely cracks up when there is a funny picture like Garfield getting his head stuck in a bottle.

Milestones Layout

I created this clean and simple layout of Nathan's progress towards walking using these adorable baby animal papers and Creative Embellishments' Milestones Word Set. I used light blue chalk ink on top of gesso to make the chipboard blend into the baby blue and white color scheme of this layout.

Such a Boy!

As Nathan likes to say, he is "a little big." This cutie is now wearing "big kid" jammies -- just look at that big smile and his little legs!

He is also such a boy. Here he is playing with a rolly polly -- the only kind of bug he doesn't immediately want to squash!

And puddles -- this kid loves puddles!

When You're Happy & You Know It Layout

I love these happy baby pictures! I decided to use a simple color scheme and framed the pictures with the Infinite Rectangle Frame. For my title, I used a mix of the Basic Alphabet and the Birthday Word Set. I inked all of the chipboard with light blue chalk ink, and added glossy accents to the frame and the word "Happy."

Our Little Preschooler

This little guy is a preschooler! He moved up to the preschool class with new teachers and friends, and loves playing with the new toys. I can't believe how time is flying. 

To get ready for the school year, Nathan's school was closed for two days so he got special dad and mom days last week. Jesse took Nathan to the zoo where they had a lot of fun seeing animals and running through the splash pad.

I took Nathan to our hands-on science museum Explora. Spending time with him is such a treat!

Army Crawling & Silly Together Layouts

I love Creative Embellishments' new 8x8 Chicken Wire Panel, and I centered the panel on the page, inking it with layers of yellow and orange ink.  I also used the Milestones Word Set for part of my title, which I painted turquoise to go with the vibrant colors in this layout.

And this next layout is the last one I made with Fancy Pants' True Friend line. I was inspired by CSI's Case 259. I used the colors from the inspiration picture and triangles.

This Is Us

Last weekend we went on a hike, something we haven't done in a while since it has been so hot. For the first time, Nathan wanted to try walking himself, and he actually hiked for quite a while before getting into his carrier! He is growing up way too fast.

This week Nathan went with me to Trader Joe's for a quick stop to get some milk and fruit. We used their kiddie cart for the first time and Nathan LOVED pushing the cart around and picking out produce!

He also loves soccer, and this Belgium soccer shirt he got from the Hamburgers!

Another love of Nathan's is his dad. Nathan is in a dad stage right now and can't get enough of Jesse!

Let's Get Together

We have been hanging out with a lot of friends lately.  First, the Hamburgers, who were back in the US and stopped by.  We really enjoyed meeting Clementine, and the kids had a blast! 

We also got to catch up with the McDonalds after they returned from sabbatical.  We enjoyed chatting and showing them around our neighborhood.

This summer has been flying by, and Nathan had his end of the year party with the teachers he has had for a couple years.  Now he will officially be a preschooler!

CE August Challenge

I created this Milestones layout for Creative Embellishments' August challenge.  I was inspired by the beautiful warm colors in the challenge photo, and I used some metallic ink for the chipboard Birdhouses for the twist.  I also used the very appropriate Milestones title and Month/Weeks Tabs.