What a HOOT!

Hello hello hello! Okay! So, I'm looking for more challenge blogs! I'm having a hard time creating lately without a focus whether it be a color scheme, sketch, theme, etc...I've had a hard time! So, I went looking and here' s a challenge I found at Scrapbooks & Stuff! This one was a sketch challenge, so click on the link to see the sketch! I got to use more of my owl papers by Adorn It! Yay! Now, I only have scraps left to use! I scrapbooked a day at the park.

Isabel, Gabe and I headed over to the park for a picnic with my brother-in-law and his wife. We had a really fun day hanging out! I'm excited (I think) now that the kids are older...we can go on more fun outings like this.

I never understood the kiddie leash....until my son Gabe came along! Isabel was just MUCH EASIER.....she stayed put! But Mr. Gabe wants to run anywhere and everywhere and especially loves it when I start to run after him! Hopefully he won't need to be tied to mommy for much longer.

Boy do I love owls! I finally got those October Afternoon owl stamps I've been dreaming about...I'll have to figure out what to use them on.....hmmmmm!

He he....look at my Gabe's Flintstone Feet! That's what my hubby Luke and I like to call them! Especially now, he's soooooo skinny and he's got these big fat Flintstone Feet! I'll have to take a photo. Big feet run in the Kao Family....ha ha!

I used this printed cardstock by Adorn It:

And these Cardstock Stickers too!

I would love to hear about any more challenge blogs/inspiration blogs out there! Which is YOUR favorite???????

Wook Mommy.....

So here is one of my "little monsters"! Gabe is in his Terrible Twos. He's recently had this language EXPLOSION where he went from just two word descriptions to nearly full sentences! It's such an exciting time! Lately, I've just been taken by surprise with what comes outta his mouth!

We were sitting, hanging out the other night watching TV. All of a sudden he says..."Mommy! Mommy! Wook!"

I say "What?" He's pointing at the ceiling.

"Mommy wook! Doughnut! Doughnut!" And I look up again and start screaming with laughter!

Here's what we saw:

Wook. Can you see it? Wook at the ceiling. It's a doughnut!

As challenging as it can be, the Terrible Twos aren't so terrible!

Hawaiian Style Fun!

Here's a layout I did last week (I think). I believe it was part of the bonus challenge for the Plum Star Search going on at Vintage Plum. My memory is soooo bad!

I miss Hawaii! I need to visit.....but that takes some CA$H....and with 2 kids....YOU KNOW!

I haven't done many layouts on myself...that's something I need to work on! And I am....but now I don't have very PHOTOS of myself because I'm always the one behind the camera!

I found that butterfly on the CLEARANCE rack at Michaels. I got a package for something like $2.49! There were a bunch of other items I got as well....I'm not going to tell you the grand total though!

Recipe:
black card stock, turquoise card stock (manufacturer unknown)
circle striped patterned paper (Me & My Big Ideas)
Circa 12 pt font stamp by Provo Craft
Versamark ink pad and pen
Stampin' Stuff white detail embossing powder by Stampendous
Clusters (pearl) - crystal stickers by Mark Richards
antique buttons (antique button pack purchased at Michael's)
butterfly die cuts by Prima
handmade tag (won during VP crop)
fluid chalk ink pad in charcoal by ColorBox

The words "Hawaiian Style" were made with my Circa stamp using Versamark ink and then embossed with white detail embossing powder! Then for the word "fun" I just wrote the words with my Versamark Pen and embossed that! This is a real quick way to do titles when you don't have any letters available.....or like me...too lazy to pull out the letter stamps or die cut letters...ha ha!

I can't believe this photo was taken about 11 years ago! Time sure flies!

Just One More Day With You

I entered the Monthly Challenge for May at Vintage Plum. The monthly challenges require the use of the current kit in your project. I loved the May Kit (but I love them all)!

Here's what I did. The photo in this layout is of me, (around age 8) my younger sister Emmy (age 5) and my Grandma Idad.

The proposal (by the lovable DT member Beth P.) for the challenge was to answer the question:

If you had one day to do ANYTHING your heart desires (money being no object), what would you do?

This layout is very very personal. I think this is the most emotion I've ever put into a layout. I think it translated to the page. I hope my beloved grandmother is smiling down.

Here is some background info:

My Grandma Idad (short for Trinidad) passed away about the time I graduated from High School...summer of 1994. We were close. She took care of me and my sisters when we were kids....I wish we knew how lucky we were to be with her...I would have cherished the last days I had with her.

My last most vivid memory of her was our car pulling away from the driveway headed for the airport. She was holding onto the big black iron gate at the front of the house....crying. I was about 13 and devastated. My father was in the Navy and we were moving to Seattle, Washington. Not long after, she was diagnosed with cancer. I miss her.


So, my answer to the proposed question:

If I had one more day to do anything, I'd spend a day with her. I would like it to be on her birthday.....May 16th. I'd want my whole family together and I'd introduce her to my husband and children. She would have loved to meet them.

Remember how I blogged about those fabulous canvas embellies I bought? I used 2 of them in this layout. What makes this even more special is that my friend, Jessi handmade those beautiful embellishments. I knew there was a reason I HAD TO HAVE THEM. They were destined to be on this page to honor her. Thank you again Jess! Omg...I think I'll have to frame this!

BETH! What an awesome challenge! You're phenomenal!

Are you inspired by this challenge? Create something and upload to the general gallery at Vintage Plum! If you've got the May Kit, submit your challenge!

Don't have it? Well, the June Kit will release on June 1st! You can enter the June Monthly Challenge proposed soon after the kit release!

Here are a couple sneak peek links:

1) on Vintage Plum

2) on Jessi's blog

And I hear, tomorrow there will be a sneak peek on Beth's Blog!

CLICK HERE to see the May 2009 Kit: Primary School Summers

Cloning process COMPLETED!

Okay, I'm done with the cloning! I've cloned 2 more Lady Birds! They are actually more fantastic than the original.....I've genetically engineered them so that their feathers don't fall off as easily!!!! (It's okay Lady Bird, we'll fix you too.) They are hanging out in my MoMoStamper Etsy Shop right now!

I've also made a couple wrap around bracelets! Check out the newest inventory!

Shhhhh....Lady bird has some little brothers and sisters too. They're not quite ready, though! Check back!

xoxo,

Mo

A birdie told me to........

SMILE!

Every time I look at this layout I SMILE! The photo was taken of my daughter, Isabel, in 2003. This was one of my favorite outfits! She wore hats very well! She loved them. Even when she was this young, she'd let you put a hat on her and she'd actually LEAVE IT ON!

She still loves to wear hats. She's got TONS of em! This layout was yet another one inspired by a Vintage Plum project :) We were to use chipboard on our layout. The other submissions were phenomenal! CLICK HERE to see the rest of them.

I ripped up some tulle I got in my May Vintage Plum Kit and weaved it in and out of the ripped white clouds.

And here is my super cute birdy bird. Her name is Lady Bird! Isn't she so pretty?

This was too fun! Did you know, I TORE MY SCRAP ROOM APART searching high and low for the yellow Sparkle Fibers I wanted to use on this cute lil birdy bird chipboard I have. The good news is my scrap room is clean again!

I've been itchin' to use this birdie on a LO. As always, VP gives me the motivation I need to GET STUFF DONE!

I painted the birdy body with yellow acrylic paint, then painted on some Versamark (from the refill bottle not the pad) and sprinkled on the Sparkle Fibers in Pineapple (by Clearsnap Holding Inc.). I colored the beak and birdy legs with pigment ink and added a googly eye!

I also used the ribbon gathering technique (which I can't seem to stop doing) for the grass.

Oh yes, let me share a crafty goof up with you! Okay, so above I explained how to make the bird (this was previously posted to the Vintage Plum Gallery). Well.....I messed up! I was SOOOOO EXCITED to sprinkle that stinkin' yellow sparkle fibers over the bird that I MISSED A STEP! Funny thing is this layout has been sitting on a shelf since I made it and I grabbed it to show my mother the other day and our fingers got all messy with sticky ?Versamark and sparkle fiber!!!! Why? Versamark doesn't really dry like glue. I forgot this! I SHOULD HAVE sprinkled some HEAT AND STICK POWDER on the Versamark THEN heated it so that it got sticky and THEN sprinkled the sparkle fibers on it! I used this technique because I wanted the glue to be clear/translucent and not white. No need to heat set after sprinkling...it might alter/warp your sparkle fibers!!!!

I haven't screwed up this big in a LONG LONG TIME! I have yet to fix my mistake!

Here are the ingredients to this nummy num layout:

Pacific Point card stock (CS) by Stampin' Up! (SU)
Pumpkin Pie textured CS by SU
Orange Flower Printed Paper is from a Simply Scrappin' Kit (retired by SU)
Whisper White CS by SU
Birdie chip board (who else....SU)
Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon by SU
Peacock Tulle (Vintage Plum)
Scrapbook paint in Spotlight by Making Memories
Adhesive chipboard pieces by K & Company
That super cute tag (which I won during the VP Crop for Jessi's Challenge was donated by Stephanie, one of the crop sponsors)

That birdy bird just about stole the show from my little Belly Bel's super cute picture!!!......ALMOST!

Oh Lady Bird....you sneaky sneaky bird! Isabel will always be the star!

Want a chipboard bird like Lady Bird?

I used the On Board "So Tweet" Chipboard by Stampin' Up! Item 113893

Here's a photo. You can't see the larger bird but they are in there!:
Look at all the super cute chipboard pieces you get! This is one of my most favorite Stampin' Up products.....EVER!

While I'm at it, here's some way too cute BIRDIE STAMP SETS! AAAAAAAH!

And this stamps set coordinates with the chipboard! Yes! Stamp it on paper, cut it out and then mount on your birdie chipboard for added character!

This was fun! Hope you had fun looking too!
Shhhhhhh......I'm working on creating some Lady Bird Clones to put in my MoMoStamper Etsy Shop!
XoXo,
Mo

Premade Mini Book on Etsy!

Okay, so I've just now posted that mini album I was talking about! I put it in my MoMoStamper Etsy Store this morning! Visit my store for more photos and information.

This is a premade album, so all you have to do is add your photos!

This album was way too fun to create. I love the ribbon and bright colors. Just in time for summer! Just pop a few photos inside and give as a gift!

See more items in my MoMoStamper Etsy Store! I will be listing more items later today! Wanna make one for yourself? The die cut stickers/kit used to make this album is now retired, but you can create it by just purchasing a Simply Scrappin' Kit (which will make way more than 1 mini album). I just used the Big Shot Top Note Die, a Simply Scrappin' Kit, Chipboard tag, and some ribbon! Purchase these items on my Stampin' Up! website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! MaureenKao.Stampinup.net

Happy Stampin'!

JACKPOT! Feel like I won something...cuz I KINDA DID!

I was online late last night and found these super cool canvas embellishments! I HAD TO HAVE THEM! So I bought two different sets!

Here's another view of them:

So, the name of the shop is Krafty Kate's, owned by my friend Jessi. She's already got some new tags up and some other totally cute felt embellishments too...and headbands! Oh! You've GOT TO LOOK!

Sorry to say, I bought the only ones she had in stock....but I'm sure if you ask, you may just receive!!!!!!!

Here's a few more views of the other set I got!!!! JEALOUS?????? Talk to Miss Jessi, she can HOOK YOU UP!!!!!


She's got some new ones up...cute funky looking ones! I'm going to use these bad boys in another vintage book I'm going to start soon. I can't wait!

So check out my girl's Etsy Store! I'm sure she's going to start making more stuff so save to your favorites and peek in from time to time!

You're awesome Jessi!

Mo

Fussy Cuts Challenge!

Hello friends!

For you non-VP-in-the-know folks, let me fill you in! I entered the Plum Star Search on Vintage Plum.com! Every week there will be a challenge! Create an account so you can vote and enter the many contests they have!

Sign ups for Plum Star Search have closed, but you can still follow along if you need project ideas! If you're like me, I take so long to decide on things and having challenges posted with a proposal of a certain idea/element really gets me on task and I create so much faster! If you've been following my blog posts, you'll see that I've made AND SHARED TONS of stuff over the last couple months! You too can have a CREATION EXPLOSION!

And to go to Vintage Plum, just click on the cuteriffic blinkie!

Want your own blinkie? CLICK HERE for a code.

To see a list of products used CLICK HERE to go to my "Fussy Cuts" Challenge Entry!

Thanks for visiting today!

Wish me luck!