Spring Break!!

It's finally spring break in the Hanson family.   This year we decided to pack up and head to Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  Not exactly the warmest spot in the country, but we are so excited for this trip.  We are off to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and our new little nephew Ben.  We were also hoping to see some really cool things as well.  Here are some photos of our first day.  It was really cold and WINDY here!!  But the sun came out the whole day, so I am truly grateful it decided not to snow.  Just to let you know, I took over 400 photos on day one alone.  I managed to quickly pick just a few of my favorites.  We saw SO much in just this one day.  Philadelphia is an amazing place.  I love it!!  My photos posted are just some of the historic places we visited.  We also did walk to China town (amazing!!!) and the Reading Market (amazing x 2!!).  Tomorrow we do the "Rocky" steps and off to Valley Forge.   Enjoy!!!  

HAPPY SPRING...

Look what I just got in the mail...

Don't you absolutely LOVE to get packages in the mail?  I know that I do!!  Especially if it's not the secretly ordered scrapbooking stuff that I already feel guilty about, even though it's pre-ordered and not due to arrive for a few more months and....oh never mind.... lol.

So anyway, today I when I opened my mail box....... I got a package!!!  Yay!!

I got my Cottage Garden 4x4 swap pages back from the lovely and very talented ladies over at Life on the {Scrap}beach.  They are all SO awesome!!  A big "Thank You" goes to Belinda Akers for not only creating a beautiful page, but she also hosted the swap as well.  And I need to thank Diana Ricart, Molly Peirce, Kim Dylewicz and Judy McGinnis for creating such amazing pages.  Love them all!!!  Here are some pictures of the completed book.  I'm thinking I will make a back cover for these pages maybe sometime this weekend.  This is a really chunky book with so many beautiful things inside!!  I'm also adding a picture of  tags I made for another swap I joined with Stephanie over at With a Grin.  Just sent those tags out today.  Too fun and super easy!!  My kind of project.  For this swap, I used some new stamps (TPC Studio) I found over at JoAnn's.  Love them.  Now with these projects out of the way, I'm hoping to have time to work on another mini book swap (I know, I think I'm totally getting addicted to swaps....) that I joined over at Life on the {Scrap}beach.  This time I'll be using the Tim Holtz baroque die as my page shape as well as all the beautiful Graphic 45 "Curtain Call"papers.  They are amazing papers.  So beautiful.  

Ok, so take it easy and have a great weekend!!  The weather is finally turning beautiful over here.  My flowers are starting to come up and the kids will be on spring break in another week.  However, spring is this Sunday!!!  Light at the end of the tunnel.

-Enjoy the photos:)

Did anyone watch the Oscars last night?

I am so tired today!!!!  Ugh!!
My daughter Holly and I stayed up and watched the Oscars last night (Yeah "The Kings Speech").  So happy!!
And if you are lucky enough to be a friend of Holly's on facebook, then I'm sure you enjoyed her minute by minute update on who won what and what they wore.....  We had so much fun.    Love you Holly!!
Anywho,  I also just finished a 4x4 page swap using the K&Company Tim Coffee Cottage Garden papers.  Yummy!!  Love the whole paper pack.  Pictures are below.  I am really excited to see how everyone else in the swap used the papers.  Fun swap!!  Thanks Belinda at Life on the {Scrap}Beach.
So, now I'm off to start a spring book using K&Company Flora and Fauna paper (gorgeous)and maybe some of the "Stella and Rose"papers from My minds eye.  Love it!!!
Ok, so stay warm.  It's almost spring!!  Day light savings in 2 weeks!!  Thanks for reading...
-Chris

Tag Swap!!!

Hey,
Sorry that it's been a stretch since my last post, but things have been a tiny bit
crazy as usual.  My oldest daughter Roxy performed in a solo ensemble competition last Saturday.
I am so proud of her to get up in front of judges and play a very tough clarinet piece.  My heart was in my throat the entire time.  She did awesome!!  Love you Roxy.   Went to a Super Bowl party on Sunday.  Super fun!!  I love my neighbors!!
We had tons of kids, friends and awesome food!!  Just wish the Steelers had won......
So anyway, I joined a tag swap the other day.  I just finished the tags and I'm getting ready to send them out.
The theme for this swap was "women's life".  Now I'm just excited to see how everyone else  interpreted the theme and I'm totally looking forward to getting some great tags back.
-Chris

Valentine Book...

Hi,
What a long weekend.  Cold weather and sick family.  Not fun.  Actually, I'm grateful for whenever I'm able to have my family all together.  Even if that means we are all wrapped up in blankets eating soup and watching way too much Sponge Bob.  My son is still home today.
So, I promised pictures on this blog... And here they are!!  (I think I might be getting the hang of blogging...knock on wood.)  Here are a few photos from my valentine paper bag album.  This is actually book number 2.  I made a really cute book a few weeks ago, and sold it to a friend of mine before I remembered to take any pictures.  Rookie mistake!!  Don't know what I was thinking, except for the fact that she actually wanted to buy my book and that I was very flattered.  So, I quickly whipped up this book last week and over the weekend.  Not as cute as book 1, but I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out.  Enjoy.

Stay warm everybody.

Welcome!!

Hi Everyone!!
Welcome to "a little of this...".
I have been waiting for just the right time to start my own blog, so I guess 2011 must be it.
a little about me...
I am a happily married stay-at-home mom with 3 kids (2 girls and a boy) and an alpha cat named "Duke".  He was named after John Wayne and he totally fits the part.  More on that later...I'm sure.
My oldest baby is in high school while my youngest is in 2nd grade.  My hubby and I just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this past October.  Wow!!  Talk about time flying...   Just thinking about 20 years blows my mind away.  Truly the best years of my life.  My family and I live in the midwest.  Cold!!  I'm not a big fan of winter.  But I am a big fan of crafting!!  LOVE IT!!  When I'm not in the car driving kids to marching band, choir, cub scouts, piano lessons and taekwando class, you can find me in my studio (in the basement...) crafting.  I started to scrapbook about 8 years ago.  What began as a project to make a few baby books for my kids has turned into a crazy (don't look at my credit card statements) obsession.  Today, I still work on my own 12x12 albums, but I also love creating mini and altered books as well.  I love everything Tim Holtz!!  Have you seen his new stamps?  My latest art venture has been to create an art journal.  Total freedom with an art journal.  I love to layer and play with all kinds of mediums.  
Stay tuned for photos.  I do promise pictures (once I figure out how...lol)
I have a feeling that I  have a little bit more to learn about setting up a stylish and hopefully interesting blog.
So stay with me.  I will get the hang of this.
Just a side note, my oldest was leaning over my shoulder a moment ago as I was typing. She was patiently trying to give me quick advise on easy changes I can do with this site.  It didn't take her long to roll her eyes and walk away disappointed. Since when did I turn into my mom trying to figure out how to use a VCR for the first time?
Ok, thats all for now.
I would love comments and of course your latest and greatest crafting ideas!!
-Chris