Yeah, I still do that.

Craft in my spare time, that is. It's just that my spare time has dramatically decreased in the last 5 weeks. As a result, I have only had time to do this extremely simple card. It's from the Hello Kitty Greeting cartridge, cut with the card feature on. I layered the card feature with the silhouette feature on top and cut out the heart and bow. I added stickles to the heart and bow.
Nothing fancy, but I was glad to be back using my Cricut and making cards! I'm hoping to do more scrapbooking soon. I'm hoping the littlest Birdie will cooperate.
Thanks for looking!

Jacob's first month in review (picture heavy)

Well, as you might imagine, we have been very busy in the Bird Nest since the last time I posted. What a month it has been! We have had time to bond together as a family and get to know our newest little guy. We have had good times and bad...I'll let the pictures tell the story.
At 4 days old, Jacob developed a fever and (very abridged edition) had to be admitted to Northridge Hospital for 3 days. After several procedures and lots of waiting, Jacob got over his virus and we were able to take him home again. He was 1 week old when he came home for the second time.

Poor Jacob!
Our first family picture
What a handsome smile! He was a trooper in the hospital, hardly ever crying. The dr. said that even during his spinal tap, he only cried like 5 times and settled down really quickly.
Grandma and Grandpa Bird came for a visit, along with Chris and Bevy. They kept Jonah and Noah at their hotel for 2 nights while Jacob was in the hospital. This is the morning after Jacob was released--we went out to breakfast and said our goodbyes.

The following pics are Jacob's first photo shoot, at a little over 1 week old. They were taken on his due date, October 14th. I plan on taking Jacob's picture next to the stuffed dog at every month to compare his growth. Hopefully I'll remember!


I love that wrinkly skin they grow into!
Jacob's first trip to the pumpkin patch...Lombardi Ranch. We found a pumpkin we thought he would like.
The boys were extremely excited to carve pumpkins!
Jacob was my favorite little pumpkin.
Jacob after a bath. He doesn't like the bath part too much, but he LOVES getting his hair washed under the faucet. He closes his eyes and relaxes his whole body and grunts little grunts of contentment the whole time I'm washing and rinsing his hair. It's my favorite!
Jacob's first trip to Disneyland! He was 3 weeks old. It was fun to see the park all decorated for Halloween!
His first (and only) ride that day: the carousel! I'm pretty sure it was one of the most exhilarating moments of his life. He likes to live life on the wild side.
Jacob wearing his "My 1st Visit" button.
We went to San Diego and stayed with my sister and her family for Halloween. She has 4 girls and they are SUCH good girls! They always make sure Jonah and Noah have a good time, and the boys always look forward to visiting their cousins. Jonah decided to be a 'fighter-fighter' for Halloween and Noah decided to be a pirate. Jacob was all bundled up burrito-style for the night.

Well, that pretty much sums up the highlights and the low-lights of the month and brings us up to date. The rest of the pictures were taken yesterday, at Jacob's 1 month photo shoot:

Jacob and his dog-1 month
Jonah loves his little brother so, so much. I love the way Jacob is looking up at him in this picture.
The brothers
Jonah and Noah look so big compared to Jacob! Can't believe how much they have grown!

Introducing Jacob

Jacob Daniel Bird
9 lbs. 6 oz.
22" long
First cuddles together, moments after birth
the proud papa
The happy mama
The excited biggest brother

The reluctant big brother (he preferred reading "The Little Engine that Could"
to meeting Jacob.)

Hugs and Kisses from Jonah

Thanks to those who left well-wishes after my last post. As you might imagine, life has been much like a whirlwind since I last blogged! Here's a recap of events:
I had my 39 week appointment last Monday, at which time my dr., my husband, and I decided it was best to induce. He said we could come in at midnight that night to begin the process, and he predicted I would be holding the baby by lunchtime the following day. We dropped the boys off with their grandparents so we could get some rest before heading to the hospital. (Though who can sleep when there is so much excitement and anticipation, I don't know.)
Scott and I arrived at the hospital at midnight and got checked in and paperwork signed. The pitocin drip was started at about 1:30 a.m. Given my history of a quick delivery with my 2nd (about 2 hours from start to finish) my dr. instructed the nurses to watch very carefully and go slowly with the pitocin. I don't remember what time the contractions started, but they were not very painful and I could rest in between them, drifting in and out of sleep until about 4:00 a.m. when they were coming regularly. By 5:00 a.m., I was in a true labor pattern, having to concentrate through each contraction. Scott was a great labor coach, doing just what I needed at just the right time. At 7:24 a.m., baby Jacob Daniel Bird was born. He is a blessing and we are rejoicing in God's gift to us!

Thanks for looking/reading!

Baby Update

Well our third little Bird should be here sometime tomorrow. We are going to the hospital tonight at midnight to begin the process of induction. I've never done it this way, but I'm glad to have an end in sight. We were able to drop the boys off at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a sleepover so that Scott and I can get some rest before we head to the hospital. It's nice to know that they're happy and settled, as opposed to waiting for help to arrive and hoping it gets here before the baby starts to crown! =)
So...I'm off to get some rest. I'll aim to get pictures posted before the end of the week, but I'll make no guarantees!

Final week-cartridge giveaway

I've posted this a few times on my blog already, but Provo Craft is giving away 100 free Winter Woodland cartridges in celebration of its release because it is the 100th Cricut cartridge available. To enter for your chance, go to cricut.com, click on community, and go to the Cricut chat message board--there is a post at the top of the page you must comment on. To learn more about the Winter Woodland cartridge, click HERE.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Over at Whimsical Scraps and Bugs, our challenge was to use song lyrics, 3 photos, and Storybook for the title (but I didn't remember that part when I was doing this LO--oops!) And, I thought we were supposed to use our Cuttlebug, but it turns out that was from a previous challenge. I think I might be losing my mind.
Anyway, this layout was done using SCAL. The title is from 2 ttf's. I think the name of the one used for 'Ball Game' is called Allstar. The silhouettes along the bottom of the page are dingbats from the ttf 'Baseball.'
I downloaded the Dodger's logo and transferred it to an .svg file in Inkscape so I could import it into SCAL.
The cuttlebug folder I used is 'Tiny Bubbles.'

Page 1:

Page 2:

Thanks for looking!

Dumbo

This page is a little different in that it's not of a 'live' character but of a ride. But, the .svg file I found of Dumbo on Mardenz' blog was just too cute not to make. The title was cut with SCAL using an altered ttf. I do not know the company of the red and white striped paper, but the other paper is from the DCWV All About Boys stack.
Thanks for looking!

Week 4-Winter Woodland Giveaway

Just a reminder that this is week 4 of Provo Craft's Winter Woodland giveaway! They are celebrating the release of their 100th Cricut cartridge by giving 100 of them away. Sign up for a chance to win at cricut.com/messageboard. The post is at the top. Click HERE to learn more about Winter Woodland.

Woody

Version 1:

Version 2:

These pages were a lot of fun! Thanks to Mardenz for the Woody .svg file. He is very detailed so I cut him out at about 7 3/4". I wouldn't recommend anything smaller. The paper behind him is from DCWV's All About Boys stack. I cut his name from SCAL using a true-type font and colored it to mimic the lettering in the patterned paper.

Thanks for looking!

Princess Ariel

Version 1:

Version 2:

Here are some more layouts for the boys' Disney albums. Jonah was thrilled to meet Ariel and have her sign her autograph for him. Ariel was cut from Dreams Come True, and I used stickles on her...what is it called? Her mermaid parts. =)
In version 1, the seaweed and fish are cut from Life's a Beach. I used stickles on the seaweed. 'The Little Mermaid' is cut from SCAL using Harrington font. It is stickled as well.
In version 2, the flower is cut from Life's a Beach. The frame and the leaf flourish next to the flower are from Graphically Speaking. 'Ariel' was cut from SCAL using Harrington font. The frame, leaf, and her name are stickled.

Thanks for looking!

McQueen

Version 1:

Version 2:

As you know, I've been working on Disneyland albums for my boys for their Christmas presents. I love the Disney Pixar parade at California Adventure--these are some pictures from that parade. McQueen is always a hit with us when he drives by. My mom was generous to lend me her Cars cartridge (not an easy one to work with due to all the teeeeeny tiny details) so I could do some of these pages. The trophy is from Graphically Speaking. I put some stickles on the trophy and on McQueen's name.

Thanks for looking!
p.s. for those wondering, no baby yet...

A Few Housekeeping Items

This post is mainly an explanation for my followers, who, if you are still with me after my lack of recent posts, must really be loyal! =) I appreciate you and thank you for sticking with me!! I have a few projects up my sleeve that haven't been posted, but I'm also taking a bit of a break to have my 3rd child. As I type, I'm timing contractions. It's probably a false alarm, but it does give me reason to hope that the end is nearing.

Our little one will be taking up a lot of my time, understandably, and also a lot of my space! You see, my husband converted our 3rd bedroom into a scrapbook room for me about a week before we found out that our little blessed surprise was on his way! Oh, well. Easy come, easy go. I'm sure I'll like the baby better than my scrapbooking space anyhow. ;) But, until I figure out a workable schedule and a workable space, my crafting will have to take a backseat for awhile.

Don't forget to check back now and again, though. I am aiming to revamp my blog and make it easier to navigate. I will also be adding some new categories and links along the right hand column. I hope you will enjoy the changes in store! If you have any suggestions on ways I might improve my blog, feel free to suggest them in the comments.

Before I go, a couple of important and exciting announcements:
*Whimsical Scraps and Bugs will be celebrating its 1 year Blog-iversary in October! I've added a blinky on the right but make sure to check in throughout the month for the excitement!
*It's the 3rd week of ProvoCraft's cartridge giveaway. In celebration of the release of their 100th cartridge (Winter Woodland), they are giving away a free cartridge to 20 people per week for 5 weeks. To see more information on the Winter Woodland cartridge, click HERE.

future HERO

Here's my most recent layout, completed for the latest Whimsical Scraps and Bugs challenge. We were supposed to use the front of a magazine cover as inspiration for our projects. I focused on having one main picture and a simple clear title.

The picture is of my 3 1/2 year old DS at an American Heroes helicopter air show. He was trying on a firefighter's helmet. If you're familiar with the Station Fire in Southern California that has been burning for about 2 weeks now, it came about 5 miles away from us at its closest point. It was around this time that my son informed me that he wants to join a hand crew when he grows up. So this picture may just be a glimpse of his future...

The journaling is a letter to him regarding his future and, since it is of a more personal nature and would have distracted from the 'magazine cover' theme, I decided to put it on a hidden journaling tag behind the picture.
The next picture shows a bit of the dimension on some of the stars, which I then inked with white to further define the patterns.
materials used:
Plantin Schoolbook: 'HERO' and journaling tag
Sesame Street Font: 'future' and its shadow, and stars
A Child's Year: firefighter silhouette
Cuttlebug: Divine Swirls and Swiss Dots

Thanks for looking!

Cricut's 100th Cartridge Celebration!

The recently released Winter Woodland cartridge marks Cricut's 100th cartridge, and to celebrate, ProvoCraft is giving away 100 free cartridges (20 per week) over the next 5 weeks. To enter for your chance to win, go to the cricut community forum and reply to Admin Becky's post. If you post about it on your blog, you are entered twice!
To find out more about the Winter Woodland cartridge, click HERE.

Design Team Call

The site I design for, Whimsical Scraps and Bugs, is currently looking for new design team members.
The design term lasts for 3 months, at which time you can choose whether or not to continue. Challenges are issued bi-weekly, and you must use your Cricut on your submissions. To apply, e-mail pictures of some examples of your best work to designteamcreations@yahoo.com. I have found the design team to be very encouraging and complimentary! Come join us if you're looking for some fun challenges.

I'm a Little Airplane Now

We live fairly close to a local airport, and it is a favorite spot of our family to play. It has an observation area with a little runway painted on the ground for the kiddos to pretend that they are airplanes taking off and landing. Here's my Jonah, arms outstretched, pretending he can fly and probably singing, "I'm a little airplane now." It's a song he heard on Sesame Street sung by Jonathan Richman.
The child silhouettes are from A Child's Year. The journaling block is from Graphically Speaking. The title is from Zooballoo and Plantin Schoolbook (airplane). The airplane silhouettes on the end of the ribbons are a ttf cut with SCAL.
The airplanes across the top are stamps, but I no longer have the packaging, so I don't know the company. The patterned paper is from DCWV. I finished off the page with colorful ribbons and buttons. I wanted the pages to be bright, playful, and whimsical.
Here's a close up of page 1:
and of page 2:
Journaling is simple, using the 5 'w's.

Who: Jonah & Mommy
What: pretending to be little airplanes
When: February 2009
Where: Van Nuys Airport
Why: because it's fun to use our "imashinations"

(intentionally misspelled to capture his pronunciation of the word)

Thanks for looking!

Monogrammed Card Set

We are having dinner tonight at a friends house, and this monogrammed card set is the gift I made for our hostess. The picture above is of the belly band that goes around the box, with the cards in the background.

I embossed the band with the Cuttlebug folder 'Floral Fantasy' and inked it with Tim Holtz's distressing ink. The ovals, the red top note, and the circle are from the Storybook cartridge. I outlined the shapes with red stickles and embossed the monogram and smaller oval with gold embossing powder. The monogram itself and the damask border are Just Rite stamps. Here is a better picture of the belly band:Some of the cards:
More cards:
There are 6 cards in the set; 3 of each design. This design is using the Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder. The background shape behind the monogram is my own design made using SCAL. It has slits in it so that the ribbon can be threaded behind the monogram. The pictures don't show the detail of the monogram and border well, but I used perfect pearls on them, which makes them shimmer in real life. I used copper on some and gold on others.
The other 3 cards look like this:
I made this box, which houses A2 cards perfectly, using directions from the Splitcoast stampers site. You can find the directions HERE.
I used Martha Stewart's Scallop Dot border punch on the top of the box.
Here's the gift, packaged and ready to go for tonight!
Thanks for looking!