Happy Halloween!

Made using SC Oct. Kit, Field Guide + American Crafts NightFall

Happy Halloween!

I want to wish my father-in-law a Happy Birthday as well. (What a fun birthday to have!)



Zoe is dressed and off to her school Halloween carnival.

Games, prizes, singing her Halloween songs, it will be a fun filled day for sure.



I made this layout showcasing a couple of our pictures from cookie decorating last week. I used almost entirely the American Crafts NightFall line. I just adore this line from them, It's been on my "to buy" list ever since it debuted in July. It's so versatile for Halloween and general Fall pictures!



Maybe it's just me, but it feels like as soon as Halloween is over, the Christmas season is knocking at the door. We've scheduled our family pictures, with the fabulous Aly Willis in hopes of actually getting Christmas cards out this year (if I actually make it, it will be the first year since we've been married) I've started Christmas shopping too, trying to space it out a bit.



But in effort to not let the Thanksgiving holiday pass by without notice, I'm going to be keeping a thankful journal, (Inspired by Melissa Priest) which I'll be sharing a little later this week.



Stop by tomorrow for a new Paper Issues theme, sponsored by Pink Paislee and their new Snow Day collection!



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Sunday Loves is back, sorry I had to take a little break from that, life got busy, but it's back!



First, I want to share my new coat! I've been eyeing this for awhile, and finally broke down and bought it. It's fleece, so it's super soft, but it's tailored, so it's not as bulky as a sweatshirt. The best of both worlds.



Next, yesterday, I finally got some picture of Zoe in the leaves! She also happened to be sporting her new hat. These pictures are for an upcoming project for Paper Issues.



And last, but not least, my new favorite show. The awkwardness is absolutely perfect. I love it. Zooey Deschanel is a wonderful actress (and musician) Plus, I like her name. :)



I'm excited for tonight, we're have some dear friends over for dinner. It's been way too long sine we've gotten both the families together. I'm making pot roast and mashed potatoes...mmm, I can smell it already!



Back tomorrow with a Halloween layout to share!



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

I love Fridays

For so many reasons, but mostly because I feel like I actually get things done on Fridays.

Why Friday and not Monday, I'm not sure.



After being in a creative slump for a few weeks, I'm finally over it! Yeah! Bring on the paper and glue!

Supplies : Studio Calico October Kit, Field Guide

I adore these pictures of Zoe, except for the fact that she looks like she's 6 instead of 3. She is growing up so fast, it's driving me crazy. The title is an inside family joke, intended to make my sisters smile, but it still applies. She is a pretty pretty princess.



I commented to Ryan that she is 50% tom boy + 50% girly girl, and not like a nice medium in-between, but in that she switches from wanting to play in the mud and collect rocks, to putting on a pretty dress and painting her nails, in a matter of minutes.



On another note, Pinterest has done it again, and delivered a hit recipe for me to share.

Red Velvet Woopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting



Yes, they are rich, but oh so good!

You can find the recipe HERE.



You can follow me on Pinterest HERE.



Have a fabulous weekend! Stay safe and warm!



XOXO,

Holly & Co

Quick Share

Yeah! A layout to share. I've had this layout for a few days, but finally got around to uploading it.

These pictures are from our apple picking adventure at my Grandparent's house a few weeks ago.

With those apples, I've made apple pies, apple butter, apple crisp, I'm about all apple-ed out.



Do you have a favorite apple recipe? I would love to hear it!



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Halloween 2011 ~ Snow White

This little girl has been itching for Halloween to come. 

She was so excited when I finally let her put on the whole ensemble.

I snapped these just behind our house before we went to our ward party.

She has actually never seen the movie Snow White, but she was more than happy to be any princess.

She loved the Halloween party and played every game they had. I think her favorite was the cake walk. 

We walked in, she started walking to the music, it stopped and she won a cupcake, all in about 30 seconds. 

She also went "fishing", ate a donut off a string and got her face painted. 

We're gonna go trick-or-treating this weekend for the first time. 

I think she'll enjoy it. Hamming it up + getting candy, yep, I'd say so.

We've been busy getting ready for winter over here. 

Baking, shopping, cooking, getting snow clothes out and clean....

As I'm typing this I'm drinking hot chocolate out of my giant mug that I just bought, after realizing we didn't own a single mug. I heart fall!

Seriously, I promise to have some more scrapping stuff up in the next few days.

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Decorating Cookies - Halloween Style

Last night we broke out the sprinkle and frosting to make these beauties.

And did you notice Zoe's festive shirt? 

Yeah, I love it!

Tomorrow night we'll be attending the first of many Halloween events, tonight I'm putting the finishing touches on Zoe's costume. 

She will make her princess debut tomorrow!

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Freaky Friday

Ok not really freaky, but this little decor piece I made is a little more "spooky" than most of the Halloween stuff I have done.



I got a great deal on the Thespian add-on from Studio Calico, which was full of Halloween goodies. I knew I wanted to use it for some decor, so I picked up this little MDF 6x6 tile at my local craft store and got to work. No real pre-planning, but I like the way it turned out. I also got to use my distress inks (of which mostly just sit in a pile on my window sill)



On the non-craft side of life, I tried this tip from Pinterest, and Oh MY goodness it works well!

Mix baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to create a thin paste. Let sit for 30 minutes, scrub clean.

Seriously, I am impressed. When Ryan saw the results, he said," Where did you learn that, Pinterest?" 

I just bowed my head in embarrassment. I get all my good tips, trick and recipes from there.

Pinterest has changed my life, for the better.

I've got big plans for this weekend, including sorting laundry, buying some hair products, and putting the finishing touches on Zoe's costume.

XOXO,

Holly & CO.

You never know...

Lately, my days have been going in a roller coaster, good, better, great, no so great, could've done without, bad, you know the drill... But after a not so great couple of days, today turned out to be a winner, literally.



I won a kit from my favorite place, that I get to share with my new scrappy friend.

My new assignment at work is turning out to be wonderful!

I completed a scrapbook layout for the first time in a week.

It was cloudy, sweatshirt weather today - my favorite.

I discovered some ice cream in the freezer I had forgotten about.



Seriously, it seems like small things, but it's made my day.



Here's the layout I made. Another plus, I used lots of my mists on this page. I find that now that my mists are on the shelf right in my eye line, I use them more.

For the background, I used some Studio Calico star stickers as masks, added 2 different colors of grey mist, let it dry and then peeled them off. It's one of my favorite way to use stickers.



I also used the technique on the letters from last week's Technique Thursday post.



Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Witch Festival + Cornbelly's

Our Saturday was a fun packed day. We had planned to visit the Witch Festival at Gardener Village Friday night, but we found ou there was a special event there and didn't really want to fight the crowds.

 Bright and Early Saturday morning we ventured over there to see what the big deal was :)

It was totally decked out!

Witches everywhere, pumpkins, garland, lights, it was specktacular!

 We even tried on a few hats of our own.

and wore some bewitching threads.

After we toured Gardener Village, we headed over to Thanksgiving Point, to visit Cornbelly's Fall Festival.

This corn box was Zoe's favorite thing. It's like a sand box, only with corn.

It's a very strange feeling on feet.

We had quite the day running around to all the different attractions.

Zoe had tons of fun and really didn't want to leave.

We left only to continue our wonderful fall fun filled Saturday at Grandma & Grandpa Morgan's to pick apples, but those pictures will be in a different post :)

XOXO,

Holly & CO.

Retrospecitve

First off, I'm so excited, Ryan's sister had her baby this week, and used one of my favorite names, Gwendolyn. I love it! I can't wait to meet her in a few weeks over the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm so happy for them!

Second, I've been super emotional lately, for no good reason that I can come up with, must be the change in seasons or something.

Third, with the recent birth of babies close to us and so many friends announcing pregnancies, I've been reflecting and thinking about when Zoe was born and our special bond. Ryan and I are working on adding to our family (no announcement yet) but with the excitement of adding someone new, the change in the dynamic of our little troup of three, makes me a little sad. Which is where this layout comes in.

Even though I'm looking forward to someday adding more children to our family, for right now, I'm having a good time with Zoe. She is in a really fun stage, where everything is the world is wonderful. She can't get enough of learning and exploring new things.

She is my now. This includes, trips to the cupcake shop, working on projects, painting nails, bubble baths, lots of stories, wearing pretty, pouffy dresses, having dance parties, twirling, lots of crying, baking yummy things, pouty lips, princess hair, playing at the park, swordfighting, and so much more.

Enjoy your Friday!

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Unfinished

In my October Polka Dot Whimsy Kit, we got these great quote bubbles by Shabby Chic Chafts. I knew as soon as I opened them up, what I wanted to use them for. Zoe is constantly making us laugh with her funny phrases and interesting conversations. I needed a place to compile them. I've made layouts before with her funny sayings and I love keeping that tradition up.



As you can see, this layout is unfinished, but I know it won't take long to fill in the rest of the bubbles.

My favorite one up there, is a conversation we had a few months ago.



Me: What does your puppy eat?

Zoe : Spaghetti.

Me: What else does your puppy eat?

Zoe: Salad..

(I love that she included a healthy option.)



I made a fun Halloween project last night, and a few more layouts. We're heading down to Utah in a few days to have some fall-tastic fun with my family, so you'll be seeing those projects in my absence :)



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Full Heart

I found this quote on Pinterest, and it brought tears to my eyes.

 Zoe will always be my first baby, she is the one that made me a Mother.

When we were out taking pictures she asked to wear my locket, and this picture resulted from that.

We will always have that special connection, these first few years just us.



I know this layout is simple, but the words say more than any embellishment ever could.



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

This week I wanted to share a new layout, that while took my several days to complete, I really love.

I made this using my October Polka Dot Whimsy kit, that arrived this week, full of Crate Paper, Studio Calico, MME and Bella Blvd. I really love the green that is mixed in with the traditional fall colors, gives the page a pop!

I hand stitched around the leaves to bring a bit more texture to the page and used my ZIG embossing pen + AC Brown Sugar Zing, to create the movement lines.



Karli & I had a Scraperday (Scrapbooking + Saturday) yesterday, I was able to finish 3 layouts, using the pictures I took of Zoe last week. Look for more of those this week.



Our Sunday has actually been sunny, a nice, bright change from the snow earlier this week. I'm hoping it will stay a way just a bit longer. I've got some things to cross off my fall bucket list!



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

First Snow of the Season

As I sit here typing, outside my window are big giant flakes of white falling from the sky. I'm not gonna lie, this makes today a GREAT day. The snow isn't thick enouogh to stay on the ground and I'm sure it will be gone by tomorrow, but I am enjoying it today.



Cold weather always makes me more productive. So far today, I've done 2 loads of laundry, baked 2 loaves of banana bread, gone grocery shopping, half-way done with dinner, made a bread starter and fixed my broken candlesticks. - Although all the cooking is making my house smell like an interesting mix of bananas and bacon....hmm....



Today, I've got a fun layout to share, along with a new technique.

I adore these Amy Tan American Crafts thickers. I noticed the other day that the background for these was plain kraft cardstock, and therefore could be colored. I pulled out my blending foam pads and some mists and  played around.

I sprayed the mist on the pad so I could control the amount of color I rubbed onto the thicker. As you can see in the picture, the top of the amperstand is darker than the bottom. I applied a double coat to the top half to show you the difference.

Now I'm sure most of you know you could use mists to change the color of scrapbook items, but my favorite part about this is that you can see the criss-cross pattern that resists the mist! I'm going to e-mail American Crafts and request that they make more of this kind of thicker.



Here's a layout where I first used this technique.

Thanks for stopping by.



XOXO,

Holly & CO.

Wordless Wednesday - Fall Portraits

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

I mentioned when I redid my blog that I would be adding some features, one of those being Sunday Loves. Sunday Loves meaning people/places/things that I'm lovin' on this week in particular.

This feature will not always be food, but in this case, all my loves today are food.

Good food.

REALLY good food.



Here are the links to the recipes:

Apple Butter

Pumpkin Scones

Shredded Beef Tacos



Just a quick note, we skipped the glaze on the scones but slathered them in the apple butter, and here are the reactions from our family...

Ryan - This might be the only bread I ever eat again.

Holly - I might eat this for breakfast every day

Zoe - MMM....(said with a mouthful of scone)



I only made a half batch of apple butter, but I will definitely be making lots more. Ryan was concerned that we only had 2.5 jars. He was relieved when I told him I would make more.



I'm definitely hitting the fall bake-something-every-day feeling.

I just wish it would get a *little* bit cooler, just a bit.



Enjoy your Sunday, and if you're in the area, stop by for some scones and apple butter.



XOXO,

Holly & CO.

Welcome to October - Paper Issues

Over at Paper Issues, we have a new them up.

 For the whole month of October we will be showing off Halloween projects.

In the past I haven't been the biggest fan of the holiday, but this year, I'm getting a little more in the spirit.

To get this theme started off right, I'm sharing a Halloween printer's tray that I made. 

"Printer's Tray" is a loose term for this, but I was thrifting and found this cute little tray for $2.00.

I used some Cosmo Cricket Matilda 6x6 pad + chipboard shapes.

 It really didn't take too long to put this together.

 I measured out each paper for the backgrounds and then used foam dots to pop the chipboard shapes.

I'm so excited to hang this little Halloween scene up.

I've also got a paper chain and some decorated candle sticks I'll be sharing in the coming weeks.

Hop on over to Paper Issues to link up your projects! Oh! Just one more thing, here's a code for 20% off your purchase in the Paper Issues shop, just use the code HAPPY20.

XOXO,

Holly & CO.