Time to catch up!!

Wow!!  Was my last post really in April?  Where has the time gone?  Things just seem to always be constantly moving when you have 3 amazingly active kids (even during the summer I'm finding out..).  Not that I'm complaining.  I love every moment.  School is finally out and my son has already finished one summer camp.  Holly (my 12 year old) is a proud member of the Columbus Children's choir and just came back from a 3 day trip to Otterbein College where she was a member of the OCDA Children's Honor Choir.  The concert was yesterday and it blew me away!!  150 of the best children's choir singers from around Ohio put on the most amazing concert.  In 3 days of living on campus (plus 2 earlier Saturday rehearsals..) they performed a french folk song, a song in latin, a traditional zulu dowry song, and a few american folk songs.  Fabulous!!  On the crafting front, I have had a lot of fun playing and making some really cool stuff.  My good friend Diana (ddesignspaperpearls.blogspot.com) and I came up with a really fun idea to make each other a junque journal.  I absolutely LOVE what she made for me!!  I was completely blown away.  Totally amazing!!  I'm so excited to play in her book, but I have been waiting to download photos of her book first.  I'm hoping to catch up on all my photos in the next few days.  And I have a lot to show you :).  But for today, I leave you with some pictures of the OCDA Children's Honor Choir.  Love you Holly!!  You did amazing!!  Enjoy...

Tim Holtz dress form swap photos...

Hey,
I just finished another swap from Life on the {Scrap} Beach.  This is the "TH dress form swap" hosted by Kate and it was a lot of fun.  And so easy!!  I'm totally addicted to making dress forms now.  LOL..
Anyway, I used crackle paint on the base of my dress form and then added distress ink and paint to the dress.  The paper is Tim Holtz "vintage shabby".  I used glossy accents and lots of glitter on the butterfly and I thought it would be fun to add a bit of whimsy with a copper birdcage that I made from the new smaller Tim Holtz bird cage die.  I think I mentioned earlier of my love of all things "Tim Holtz".  All in all, I think I'm happy with the final product. Things have been busy here in between all my crafting.  My daughter has been getting ready to go to prom on Saturday (I'm not ready for her to go to prom....) and my son is getting ready to celebrate his first communion.  All my babies are growing up!!  So, I have family flying in (shout-out to #1mother-in-law and fellow crafter....thanks for coming to celebrate with us..) and lots of good things to look forward too.  Ok, so thanks for reading and enjoy the photos and leave me a comment...

Glitz & Glamour Jazz swap pages!!!

Hey,
I just finished a swap from hosted by Elisa over at Life on the{scrap}beach.
We worked on a Lace, Pearls, and Bling page using the Tim Holtz baroque sizzix die as our background page as well as the Graphic 45 "Curtain Call" collection paper pack.  Love it!! Then we just bling and chunk the pages up as we choose.   I had so much fun with this swap.  I  love how these pages came out!!
Sent them out today and I can hardly wait to see what I get back.  Have a look :-).

Spring Break...day 2!!!

We had another amazing day today!!  We got to go to Valley Forge.  How cool was that?  I was really looking forward to this part of the trip.   But before heading to Valley Forge, we decided to swing back through Philadelphia so that we could stop by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and run up the same steps in the front of the museum that Sylvester Stallone had used  during the making of his movie "Rocky".  On the way however, we found ourselves in front of the "Betsy Ross House".  So as usual, I made my husband stop the car and let me jump out for a few quick photos.  Yay!!  Finally though, we did find our way to the art museum.  I had the kids race to the top of the stairs and do little victory jumps (just like Rocky...) while I took more pictures.  And yes, I also ran the steps.  Fun!!  Now we were off to Valley Forge.  The park is incredible.  Huge!!  So much history just everywhere.  I don't think I could explain it enough to do it justice.  The visitors center was amazing.  We drove around the whole park.  The kids were able to walk in and out of reconstructed cabins built just like the ones for the Continental Army.  We walked through the headquarters and Valley Forge home of George Washington.  We saw an incredible chapel.  The grounds were absolutely beautiful.  I think we spent a total of 9 hours in the park.  Full day!!  Now with tired kids and a happy husband, we are off to Hershey Pennsylvania to spend day 3 of our vacation playing with chocolate!!!  

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!!!