A Sneak...I Promise ;)

I mean, seriously...

...how cute is this countdown graphic?
Makes waiting until Friday a little more bearable, doesn't it?

As you well know by now, there's never a dull moment in my house, and this past week has proven it. :) Last week was the last week of school for the boys and we made a last-minute trip to Nashville over the weekend. It was fun! Quick, but fun...check out our pics herehttp://www.hatch-partyoffive.blogspot.com if you'd like. Nashville is one of my favorite places....I'm a big country music fan (I like all kinds of music, really) and Harrison and I LoVe Johnny Cash and June Carter, so this was a "mother ship" moment for us. We will go back again soon when we have more time.

And speaking of time....there hasn't been as much of it as I'd like to get my projects finished. Have a couple more to finish up today, so have no fear...there'll be something new posted each day this week.

But you're not here to read about that, are you? ;)

Here's a little sneak.

I know I'm biased and all, but boy is he cute. ;)

And another one from the same project.

More tomorrow!

A Teacher Gift and the Rebellious Sneak

We're at day one of summer break at our house, and so far, it's fanstastic....relatively peaceful except for the occasional begging to go to the pool (it's looking like rain, but I think we're going to give it a try anyway here in a while). :)

Yesterday was the last day of school, and I just can't say enough how incredibly thankful we are for the boys' school. We LoVe it there, love their teachers....it's been amazing.

There seemed to be something extra special about Hud's class this year.....just a really sweet group of kids, one incredible teacher, and a wonderful assistant. I try to take turns with which class I spend my time with, splitting the time when I can. This year it was my turn to help with Hud's class...next year it will be time for Harrison's again.

I talked to some of the other moms and we decided it was a good idea to a little something extra to celebrate this year and give the teacher a special memory.

I made this frame and stamped all of the kids, and then went up to the school one day to let each of them sign under their person. It was funny listening to the talk and laugh about what they looked like. :)

The class presented the frame to Mrs. D yesterday....I think she liked it. :)

We couldn't have asked for a better teacher for Hud this year. She completely "gets" him, and has a special understanding of each of her students. Hud keeps telling me how much he's going to miss her and that he really wants her to move up to 2nd grade next year too. ;)

Me too, buddy. So ready for summer break, but sad to see this year come to an end.

Moving on....

I've had my May Front Porch Kit sitting on the kitchen table for a few days now, and I'm collecting photos and surfaces to use with it, brainstorming...getting really excited.

I'll be really busy tomorrow. :)

I wish I could give you a real sneak, because I have to say....I have loved each kit so far for different reasons. But this month's is definitely my favorite.

Love it BiG tImE. :)

But because I'm a rule follower (mostly) ;)....I can't really show you anything yet.
But here's a little peak in the box.

There...does that help? ;)

Trust me...it's awesome. Like I said, my favorite so far. You're going to love it.

REAL sneaks to come in a few days. :)

Dining Room Re-Do (and a tutorial!)

Last weekend the hubs and I finally painted the dining room...it's sat here at the entrance of our home for a year looking pretty drab and sad. ;) Don't know what took me so long, but I am LoViNg the results!

Here's the before photo:

And....here is the after photo! Much more fun, right? :)

The color is called Red Pepper by Behr at Home Depot. At first it had more of an orange tint to it than I wanted, but thankfully as it dried it was exactly what I had in mind. Whew. Reds can be a little scary.

The view out to our front porch.

I made this canvas to hang in the dining room, recycling several things in our house. I'm a thrifty girl. ;) Honestly....it saved me a trip out. :)

This really is a simple project, with the hardest part making the papers fit together. It's kind of like a puzzle, but it's not too horrible. Especially if you have plenty of extra paper to spare. You will need several different pieces of 12x12 scrapbook paper that coordinate. I love to mix paper lines, but most of these are from 7 Gypsies. Love that company, and wanted a antique/vintage feel to this canvas, and their papers are perfect for that look.

You will also need a canvas (paint the outside edge first), mod podge, a sponge brush, and whatever monogram letters, crosses, or anything else you would like to add to your canvas. This canvas is large (about 30"x50"), but you can use any size you would like. My large H was purchased at Joann's, and the J and B at Hobby Lobby, painted black and sprayed with polyurethane. The crosses were some extra ones laying around my house, needing a home.

After all of that is done, it's time to cut your papers. There is no exact science to this, just start cutting different size squares and rectangles. Of course, with the papers I chose, some of them needed to be cut to show the words, the numbers, etc...otherwise I just used random cuts. After all of your paper is cut start laying the papers out on the canvas, making sure the overlaps aren't all going the same way. After all of your paper is layed out, you can start mod podge-ing (is that a word?) the papers down. I inked the edges as I went, until all of the papers were down. I opted not to mod podge on top of the papers...you can do that if you choose.

After those were dry, I added the letters and crosses on top, using E-6000. Most amazing glue EVER.

And....you're done!

The Clothesline

So....my friend Mindy and I were talking about scrapbooking the other day. She had some questions about what I do and stuff, and said something like this: "I'm sure you have all of your kids' scrapbooks all caught up, and they probably look all perfect, right?"

And I started to laugh. Because that really couldn't be further from the truth. Not proud of the fact that my children are currently frozen in time at the ages of 5, 2, and 6 months in their scrapbooks. Not proud at all. Especially considering that scrapbooking is my job.

Confession is good for the soul. ;)

So, this little idea started brewing in my head, and today I went with it. You see, I do scrapbook my kiddos. Often. But the thought of going back into their books and getting caught up is a little daunting, to say the least. It won't always feel that way, I know. Just right now when I'm up to my eyeballs in goldfish crackers, legos, homework, and just the day to day life with 3 little boys...well, I think I'd just be setting myself up to lose. And I'm pretty competitive, so that's not going to work for me.

But this will. :)

I decided to add a clothesline (made out of jute) to go across the wall of our staircase. And I bought some regular clothespins at the grocery store and covered them with different scraps of some of my favorite papers, and added buttons, ribbon, hemp, etc. I made 12 (the pic above is of just a few of them)

"Create Every Day"
And I pinned some of my favorite layouts across the clothesline.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good picture of your staircase wall when the stairs are kind of narrow, and all of the usually beautiful natural light is gone due to some brewing thunderstorms outside? Well, it's really hard. ;) But you get the idea.

I have enough room to add another line below this one, and then I'm going to stop there and just switch the layouts out from time to time.

A fun, easy way to display your work, minus the guilt.

You're welcome. ;)

Front Porch Kit Friday!!

Happy Friday!

I am so excited about this kit. I love the colors, I love the flowers...I love how all the embellishments make me want to go out and work in my yard. Seriously...I'm planting flowers this weekend. :)

"Farm Boys"

These photos were taken by the fabulous Kelly Stocksen a few years ago, and they remain among my favorites of the boys. Love that we have such beautiful photos of the boys in one of their favorite places. They LOVE going to my parents' farm and getting to just be boys...dirt and all. :) This was my first time to scrap with chicken wire....and it was fantastic. I've seriously been trying to find new places for me to add this stuff in my house. :) And the fabric flowers are just happiness. As you can see, I have no fear when it comes to flowers on layouts that feature my kiddos. Who happen to be ALL boys. :) The way I see it, I'm the one scrapping the pics, and if I plan to hang the layout (like I do with this one) somewhere in my house, I want it to go with my decor. So there you go. :) Trust me, there are plenty of scrappy things with their faces on them that are as all boy as they are. It's all good.

As you can probably tell, these pots have been on my front porch for awhile. And I thought the red one needed some love so I added some paper, flowers, a button and some hemp and, well there you go. :) Oh, and don't forget about that darling little bird, peeking out of the top of the pot. One of his friends will be in your kit. :)

"Mama's Boys"

More photos by Kelly, but mostly inside the farm house. Simple layout, with the photos being the focus...but I'm pretty sure these papers and embellishments were made for these pics. I'm just sayin'.... ;)

Last fall the hubs bought me a dozen mason jars that were on clearance at Target. He definitely knows the way to my heart. ;) I've used these jars for all kinds of things...most recently to hold my collection of buttons, but thought that one needed to be a scrappy vase for some purple daisies.

This lovely metal bucket comes IN YOUR KIT! How fun is that? Covered it in some paper, used some of the fab trim and fabric, and put my purple daisies to use once again. :)

Okay. That's it for today. But I have way more product left, and several photos to scrap as well, so I'm not done yet. ;) But here are the details. Go to http://www.frontporchkits.com/ to order your kit. Really...go now. :) They sold out SUPER fast last month, and there were plenty of sad scrappers wishing they hadn't waited.

And please join us tonight at 8:00 CST for Friday Night LIVE at the Little Blue House!

Here's the link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/front-porch-kits

Since I'm in Georgia I obviously won't be there for the live show, but I will be chatting with the girls online. Should be fun! Hope to see you there!

Now...go order your kit. You're going to love it.....

One Last Peek....

...before the big Front Porch Kit reveal day ToMorRoW!!!

Exciting stuff. :)

Yes...more from the purple daisies...I'm wearing those poor flowers out. ;) But they're so pretty.

And another layout of my kiddos....they are pretty yummy. ;)

Ok...tomorrow is the day! Have you already ordered yours?

Check back in for the full reveal in the morning!

Have you ordered your kit yet? You might want to..... :) See you tomorrow!

Need Another Sneak?

I thought you might. :)

These papers and embellishments are so much fun! I decided to go back and scrap some of my favorite photos my photographer friend Kelly Stocksen took a few years ago. They were taken at my parents' farm...really fun looking back on thes photos, remembering how little the boys were....this kit is perfect! And it will be for your photos too. ;)

More tomorrow!!

But before I go, want to make sure you know that this month's Front Porch Kit, "Fresh From the Garden," is already available for pre-order, and is already going quickly. If you like what you see here, I wouldn't wait. Last month sold out super fast, and I feel quite certain this month will as well. Visit www.frontporchkits.com to orders yours!!!