I didn't use to think I was a kit scrapper, but after the last year or so, of scrapping mainly with kits - making a layout without one, is increasingly more difficult.

I recently got some new non-kit goodies in the mail and having been trying to mix those up with some things that have been sitting in my stash for awhile. This layout came together fairly easily, although I originally had a few more colors in the mix, I decided to simplify it.

I still think I scrap more and more efficiently with kits, they will probably continue to be my main source for scrapping, but I like having my stash to use. I doubt I'll ever be a kit-only scrapper.

What kind of scrapper are you? Do you keep a stash around, even if you scrap almost exclusively with kits?

XOXO,
Holly &Co.

Photo taken by Aly Willis Photography

We spent the weekend in Utah, surrounded by my family. Young and old, we walked together, ate together, laughed together, it was blissful.

We spent Saturday participating in Race for the Cure in Salt Lake City, followed by a luncheon at my parent's to celebrate my Grandfather's 80th birthday.

Zoe was entertained by all my cousins, and her second cousins. Even though they go sometimes years without seeing each other, they play wonderfully together. She's been asking repeatedly to go play with them again.

I often forget how lucky and unique it is, to be so close to one's extended family. I take for granted the large extended support network I have, and have had my whole life.

Photo by Aly Willis Photography

I got to spend Mother's Day with my Mom and Grandma Morgan. Such a treat to get to spend the day with these wonderful ladies. Even more lucky, we get to see Ryan's family this coming weekend.

Today, I feel blessed. I feel surrounded by the best people. I have the best families. I am one lucky girl.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

After my awesome burst of scrapbooking over National Scrapbook Day - I needed a change of pace. I went back to my craft closet and pulled out my *almost* finished Christmas quilt and decided to bind it up.

Isn't it wonderful?!? I adore this quilt. I've been working on it slowly since I bought the fabric, right after Christmas (I got it on major sale) This is most difficult quilts I've made - probably because I didn't use a pattern, I just made it up as I went along.

I am in the process of creating the pattern - but it's a lot of math, which isn't my favorite part about quilting. The final size is about 45" x 45", although I should probably measure it again to make sure.

Front

I had so much fun quilting this top. I knew when I added the red squares, that I wanted to quilt stars in them, but as for the rest I was kind of lost. For the borders I ended up with a loop-de-loop pattern and then did stippling (random curved lines) on the inner diamond shapes.

I wanted the center of each square to look like peppermint candies. I'm a little sad that I have to wait 7 months to pull this back out of the craft closet to actually use, but it will certainly liven up the couch during December.

XOXO,
Holly & CO.

These cookies are a spin off from my mom's classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is tried and true. It works in high elevation and near sea level - no need to change a thing.

1.5 sticks of butter
2/3 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. white sugar
1 large egg
2 t. vanilla extract
2 C. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 C. chocolate chips
1/2 C. butterscotch chips

Combine softened butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together, slowly add to the dough while mixing. Chill in the fridge for 30 -60 minutes. Roll into 1-inch balls and bake at 350 for 8-10, just until slightly golden. Enjoy!

 The saying goes, " The way to a man's heart is through his stomach," but I think it's applicable for toddlers too.

I made this yesterday along with several other pages, but I think this one is my favorite. I used some bits for Maggie's class kit HERE and new Hello Forever cut outs, which I love.

With the scrapbooking overload yesterday, I think tonight I will be switching over to quilting, so as not to burn myself out.

Come back tomorrow for a yummy cookie recipe :)

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

You might be like me and have a "Cheesy Face" kid.
Yep, that's Zoe. It's probably because I take her picture so often, but when I say smile, I get....


Now this is definitely not the worst face she could be making, but I prefer her natural smile like this one...

The blog silence was not planned but I've got lots to update.

I photographed a wedding down in Idaho Falls, Ashlee & Peter were great and I had a great time capturing the two of them. These are some of my favorites.


























I've also been catching up on my scrapbooking....


































I used my April Studio Calico Kit (LINK) and last week's Elle's Studio sketch (LINK) for this layout. I had forgotten about these instagram photos we had taken just before the event started.

Come back tomorrow for some photo tips for natural looking smiles :)

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Ever since we came to Rexburg, we've joked about going to Bear World. When you drive by - it kinda looks like a small outside petting zoo. We joke about it being Jurassic Park, only with bears.

Well, currently they are hosting Cub-Palooza, and with a half-off price ticket, we decided to see what it was all about.

The park has 2 parts, the drive through wildlife park and then the play area/shops. The best part is once you pay for admission, you get to go through as many times as you want. We drove through twice this visit and I was SHOCKED at how close they get to you. You drive through with your doors closed and windows up, but they come within a few feet of the car.

I took this picture from the car window, without my zoom lens. Yeah he was about 5 feet from the car.

My package from Pretty Little Studio came yesterday and I knew exactly what I wanted to make.  Before we headed down to Utah for Easter, we had the Stauffer boys over to help decorate some egg cookies. Jamie and I had a good laugh watching the kids (specifically Noah) enjoy the sprinkles. I've been holding onto these Easter cookie pictures for a few weeks, waiting for those adorable bunny pennants and circle tags.

I also ordered some items from their brand new collection, Monsieur. These woodgrain numbers are gorgeous - and I can't wait to use them.

I'm in LOVE with the new stamps from the April Studio Calico kit, as well as the bicycle paper.  (Still available HERE) These pictures are from a picnic Zoe and I had a few weeks ago, during a warm afternoon. She loves my Instax camera, probably because it looks like a toy, but she insisted I take some pictures of her and this is what I got. One smile, one crazy face - which is totally normal Zoe.

Our town is rather small, and we are looking forward to summer evenings spent riding around to the park and to get ice cream.

I've found a bike I'm in love with - a cruiser style, and we pulled out Zoe's tricycle today. She's still learning how to control the handles and steering, but she's getting better. We took a little ride around the block after lunch, and again just a few minutes ago. Hopefully we can get to the park soon, where they have a flat sidewalk, ours is all chunky and bumpy.

Super excited for today's share! At Paper Issues, we are having a blog hop to kick off the new theme, which is SMASH!

I made my first SMASH book last summer, documenting all our fun adventures and memories and I really enjoyed the sarcastic pages and great designs included in the book. But I'm going to admit I was a little afraid of it. Afraid of doodling, misting, using too much product in it....

SMASHbook for Summer 2011

But when I decided to participate in the April Photo-a-Day Challenge, I thought the SMASH mini book would be a perfect size to put the project all together in.

I had some time to play last night, and I remembered Elle's Studio has a new sketch every Thursday.
Here is this week's sketch -

I squeezed out one more layout from my March Studio Calico kit, that brings my total to 8, which I think is pretty good, considering I was out of town 3 times in march as well as sick for a good chunk of it.

I used a sketch from Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 2 class to make this page, with a few alterations. Even though it's simple, I really like it, the gold thickers just make it pop!

We are getting into a new routine with Ryan off school now, it's nice to have another adult to talk to and to have some extra hands to help out. I really missed him.

I forgot to share the pattern I made Zoe's dress for the Easter egg hunt from. Here's a close up of the fabric, surprisingly, it's from Wal-Mart. Here is the link to the tutorial for the dress: LINK
























I also made one for my niece, but her's didn't have sleeves because I had a fight with my mom's sewing machine. But she still looked cute running around saying, "Egg, egg, egg!"























We cheated and had frozen yogurt before dinner and now we're not really hungry, go figure. But I'm hoping to get some more craft time while I'm anxiously awaiting the birth of my dear friend's new baby!

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

We had a last minute change in plans, to spend Easter in Utah. (For those of you keeping track, yes I have been there a lot lately) But this was our only chance to get our entire family together this year. Scheduling conflicts, jobs and school, are making this our only chance.

Thanks to a good friend, we were able to get some family picture taken, for the first time since 2008. (More pictures to follow once Aly finished with them :)

Photos via Aly Willis Photography

We took them in this amazing place my Mom found while she was walking. It's tucked back behind my brother's high school, and then you have to walk down a stone staircase, as you can see in the first photo. (not easy in heels), but it was beautiful, perfect for pictures.

Not only was my whole family in town, a large majority of my Dad's side of the family was in town also. We invited them all over on Saturday for an EGG-stravaganza! Lots of yummy food, egg coloring and egg hunting of course!

Zoe in her Sunday best

We enjoyed spending so much time together over the week. I know I've left out a lot of details, but it can be summed up in a small phrase, Family First. That's what we did last week, we put family first, and everything else fell into place. I only wish that every day, life were that simple.

I know some people don't like Mondays, and some weeks, I'm not a fan of them either, but this one is leaving me in a much better mood than the past couple have days.
Maybe it's because I was able to finish a quilt I've been working on, to give to a sweet friend having a baby hopefully soon!
Maybe it's because I spent yesterday listening the the Prophet and leaders of our church.
Maybe it's because I have freshly painted nails in a pretty spring pink. (Essie Bachelorette Bash)
Maybe it's because Ryan will finish this semester in just a few short days.
Maybe it's because my entire family will be together this weekend for the only time in 2012.
Maybe it's because Zoe was telling me stories about how Jesus protected her from the Big Bad Wolf on the way to school this morning.

I think you get the idea. This list could go on and on. I'm thankful for that.

I've got a page to share this morning.

































This Dear Lizzy strawberry paper was PERFECT for this picture of delicious berries. The rest of the supplies were from the Studio Calico Daydream Believer February kit. (which I think is still available and on major sale!)

Thanks to Tina Azmus, I discovered a fun photo a day challenge, from Fat Mum Slim : HERE is the link

I missed yesterday's but I'm gonna work on that today.
Today's challenge is color:



I have a fun plan with what to do with all my photos from April! I'm super excited about it.

Zoe has a concert for preschool tonight at the old Tabernacle, the theme is patriotic songs, and I'm excited to see her singing again, we had such a good time at her Christmas concert.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.