Sam Pal and a sketch

My middle guy met his favorite pal in preschool a few years back. They connected immediately as did his mom and I (it's always nice when you can be friends with the moms of the pals of your kiddos!). It turned out we had a lot in common and all of our kiddos get along nicely...and so do our hubbys. Friendship made in heaven, huh?

A while back the store asked a few of us to create some layouts with the October Afternoon monster paper (these are either Louie, Charles, Henry or Jack...either way, they are no longer in production, sadly). I just love that line. Love anything OA, actually! I'm digging on their Farm Fresh and Report Card lines right now!

So here is what I came up with:

And here are some details:

I used two different journaling cards to create the block here.

Hand cut two of the cuties from the papers.

Stitched up the felt circles and added some brads.

And here is where I got the inspiration for the layout. I wish I had recorded who did the original to give credit where credit is due...I hate when I do that. So if it's yours, post here and I'll give you a shout out! It's from a Creating Keepsakes last year, I think.

And here is the sketch I created from the layout:

I also created a layout for the March kit with the same sketch:

Link up your layouts from this sketch and we'll give you a shout out too!

the faith of a child...

Still on my stitching share...but this one has special meaning. This little guy...my middle guy...has such a great faith in God. He LOVES church. He LOVES singing Christian songs. He LOVES learning the stories. When he came home last fall with this comment, I about died of happiness. You can read the whole story in the last detail picture below.



Anyway...I'm sharing this one because you don't always have to be perfect when stitching. At least not in my book. Sometimes I get messy. And sometimes I avoid straight lines at all costs! I thought it would be fun to to wacky, curvy lines around this photo block. And I love how it all turned out!



Everything here is from the March Kit again...what a good kit it is. See...more custom kraft circle goodness!


Doesn't that story just melt your heart? Oh gosh, I love that kid!

Making a list...

I'm loving T man's age right now. He is so interested in reading and writing and all things related to starting school in a month!

One of the things he is most looking forward to this fall is our tradition of Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. As a Kindergartner, he gets to go with his class...on the bus! This is a big deal for some reason.

Last week he kept talking about it again and told me..."Mom, I need to make a list so I don't forget to bring a quarter to the pumpkin farm. I want to feed the animals!" There is a petting zoo and you can buy feed to have the goats eat out of your hand. Fun for the kids...stinky, but fun!

So as soon as we walked in the door, he got out markers and paper and proceeded to ask me how to spell each word: October, quarter, feed, animals and then he signed his name and added his brothers' names (he loves them so).

The list is on our refrigerator so we don't forget in October!

With this weather lately, I'm wishing for October, too...

Kristen

Divided...

...protectors, that is. Have you tried them?

I love that they are a quick and easy way to complete a cute layout! These are the 12x12 divided protectors from WeRMemory Makers. I picked up a pack in hopes of doing Project365 when I didn't remember to buy Becky's cute kit. Well, the project fell off my radar...but the protectors are darn cool!

This one pager is of my middle guy at Breakaway...the most incredible summer camp ever! Seriously, everything that Bayside does is BIG and Breakaway is no exception. This is last summer...but wait til you see what 2009's pics look like!

So I just added a few brads, ribbon, fun patterned paper scraps, cute little letters from Making Memories, some rockin' orange Thickers, and a journaling card from Pebbles Inc. Slide it all in...easy peasy.

(Oh, and I get all my stuff from Green Tangerines...try it you'll LOVE it!)

Kristen

p.s. I did work on my sketch from last night...but it's not quite finished...so I'll have to share later! (I know I say that a lot: my sketch book, my process, yada yada yada...but I'm good for it, I swear!)