New Orleans Bike Adventure

It's been a crazy few days here. My mom has been in the hospital for the past few days, but she is now on the road to recovery, so I'm very thankful for that. It's always scary when there are health problems and you aren't sure what the outcome will be. I'm very grateful for family, friends and prayer.

Today I thought I'd share a layout with you with photos from a trip my husband and I took with friends to New Orleans last fall. While we were there, we took a bike tour of the lower 9th ward which is where most of the damage from Hurricane Katrina occurred. We were able to meet people who have moved back since the hurricane and it was an educational experience.

Did you know that most of the people in the lower 9th ward haven't returned because services such as schools, doctors, police and fire never came back to the area after the storm?


We stopped at a restaurant (more like a little run down gas station building without the gas pumps) and ordered my first ever Po Boy. It was filled with fried shrimp and an amazing hot sauce on big crusty bread. It was really delicious. I was a little worried that it might make me sick (remember the run down gas stations building I mentioned?), but all was good.

We even loved the hot sauce so much that my husband order a case of it after returning from our trip.

I highly recommend taking a bike tour anytime you are on vacation. This is the 3rd of 4th time we've done it and it's always a great way to explore the city. We used this bike tour company while in New Orleans.

Thanks for stopping by today. Don't forget to join in the Scrapbook Circle blog hop that ends today.

Scrapbook Circle's 5th Anniversary Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Scrapbook Circle 5th Anniversary Blog Hop.

Thanks for joining us. I hope that you have found a lot of inspiration while checking out all of the design team blogs today.

In case you are just hearing about the blog hop, you can start at the Scrapbook Circle Blog. If you are coming from Diana Fisher's blog, welcome! This is the last stop on the blog hop.

We will be celebrating all month long with several giveaways each week from amazing sponsors, so be sure to check out the Scrapbook Circle blog throughout the month.

This month there is not only a regular May Kit, Grandma’s Attic, and there is also a special Anniversary Kit.

Today, I'd like to share one of the layout I created using the Anniversary Kit.


One of my favorite products in the kit is the Jillibean Soup Corrugated shapes.


On this layout I used four different frames as embellishments on the page.


Today I'm giving away a $10 credit towards anything on the Scrapbook Circle shop.

Just leave a comment here telling me what paper trimmer you use & if you like it and you will be entered to win!

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for all of your support over the past 5 years.

If you would like to go back to the beginning of the blog hop, you can go here.

Comments for the giveaway will close on Tuesday, May 3 at midnight. Winner will be posted on the 4th. Thanks for joining me.

Friday Finds #13

It's already Friday and I'm looking forward to the weekend. Tonight we have our elementary school carnival where I will be helping at class booths while handing over cash to my kids in the name of helping the school for bounce houses, dunk tanks and cakes walks. We've set a budget for each of our kids, so hopefully it won't be too crazy.

Today is the day where I like to share things I've seen around the web during the week, so let's get started...

No Sew Table Runner


Since the sewing machine I got for Christmas is still in the box, this project really apealled to me. I've had a hard time find a table runner that I like for our dinning room table. Now I'm going to be on the lookout for cool placemats.

Strawberry Lemon Crepe Cake


Doesn't this look amazing? My husband said that he is going to make it for breakfast on Mother's Day.

Lego Silverware


These would be a hit at our table!

Rainbow Cupcake in a Jar found via Be Normal Act Different

My daughter's birthday is coming in a couple of weeks and I hoping that she will want to make these for her party. They are so bright and festive!

Homemade Chicken Taquitos from Turbo Bubble Gum


This is a quick recipe I came across that I *think* everyone is my family would enjoy. It's going on the menu for next week and hoepfully it's well liked.

A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg


I started reading this book a couple of nights ago and it is totally enjoyable. Molly's writing style really draws me in and she does a great job combining her life stories with her favorite recipes. If you want a sample of what her book is like, you can read this blog post she just posted yesterday. Now I want to make Almond Cake!

The NY Times has an part of the first chapter of the book here. I highly recommend this is you are looking for a book to add to your summer reading list.

How about you? Any fun weekend plans?

Celebrate!

I've had some fun playing with the Scrapbook Circle Anniversary Kit over the past couple of days. We celebrated my father in law's birthday on Tuesday and I used that kit to make a card for him.


One of my favorite things in the kit is the printable. This file is emailed to anyone who orders the kit and then it can be printed and cut and used as many times as needed.

Here's a small photo look at the printable. (The real file is much bigger and perfect for printing.)


The little flags are probably my favorite element on the page. They would be fun on top of cupcakes too!

Hope you are having a wonderful day.

5th Anniversary Kit Peek

Today I finally has some time to create with the upcoming Scrapbook Circle 5th Anniversary Kit. I can't believe that it's already been 5 years of creating kits each month!

The layout isn't quite finished, but I thought I'd give you a little peek.


I used a bunch of Jillibean Soup Frames, Pink Paislee paper and the Scrapbook Circle Anniversary Printable.

The Anniversary Kit is for sale now with a great discount price for all of our subscribers.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Party Favors with Fancy Pants

I'm sharing a tutorial on Spring party favor boxes over on the Fancy Pants blog today. Hope you'll stop by and check it out. :)


Loving the colors and patterns of the It's the Little Things line!

Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend.

Handmade Notebook for Max

Over the past couple of years, I've made many notebooks for our kids to give to friends for birthdays, but I've never made any for our kids. They've asked me several times when I was going to make books for them, but somehow their books just never made it to the top of the list.

For Easter, I decided to make a notebook for each of my kids for their Easter baskets. Today I thought I'd share the notebook I made for Max.


The paper and accents came from the Crate Paper Toy Box line. The boy designs and colors were perfect for this project.

I started from scratch with this book and cut chipboard to 8.5" x 6" and then cut a bunch of regular white printer paper in half to fit inside of the book.


Inside of the front cover, I made a pocket page for him to hold any extra things he may want to keep in the book.


The back and inside covers were just covered with patterned paper and then bound together with the help of my Bind It All.


It's a pretty simple design and I hope that Max has fun creating, writing and drawing in his book.