Vacation Hangover and LCTS sketch #141

What is it about travelling with kids that makes you feel like you need a vacation after your vacation?  Oh, yeah, it must be the nonstop adventures, early wake ups, late bedtimes, constant counting of heads, pushing of strollers, carrying of kid gear and let's not forget the endless questions.  If things are a little quiet around here, it's because we are in vacation recovery mode at the Rench household. 

My husband, kiddos and I just returned from a fun family trip to the Smokey Mountains -- our first 'official' vacation as a family of five.  The trip was wonderful and full of lots of great memories, but I am wiped from the packing, preparations, nonstop fun and car travel.  Hopefully, I'll soon get around to posting a little recap and some photos from our trip.  But since that may be awhile, I'll share one of my favorite shots from the trip.



My three sweeties posing 1/2 mile from the tallest point in the Smokey Mountains.


While we were off vacationing, the latest sketch was revealed over at LCTS, sketch #141 by Cindy Stevens.  Here's a peek at the sketch:

And a 'looksie' at my interpretation:



Supplies used: Patterned Paper - Basic Grey Little Black Dress 'best dressed' (background) and kissing booth 6x6 pad (flowers); Cardstock - Coredinations whitewash collection; Brads - Basic Grey kissing booth mixed brads; buttons, bakers twine, sticker labels, butterfly charm - My Mind's eye (various collections); Pearls - Mark Richards; Clear stamps - Ditto Hampton and Teresa Collins; Other: tulle, embroidery floss, computer font (veteran typewriter), Cricut (Kate's ABC cartridge), foam adhesive


The photos don't quite capture all the dimension and texture going on on this page, however, this shot shows a glimpse of the tulle accents I added throughout the page.  I couldn't resist 'froofing' it all up a bit with tulle, to mimic baby girls sweet little tutu!

A peek at the journaling (of course!):

As you can tell, I had a bit of fun (and wasted lots of time) cutting out a variety of florals, on my cricut, from the sweet Basic Grey kissing booth 6x6 paper prints.  I played with layering and placing the flowers for quite some time, to get it all 'just so'. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you'll stop by the LCTS blog and play along with the sketch!  Oh, and a huge thanks for all of the sweet comments on my last post!  I am still floating on a cloud from my latest news and can't wait to start sharing some crafty Pebbles creations here!

The secret's out!

If you've seen or talked to me lately, you may be wondering why I sound so ridiculously giddy and might just have a goofy ole' smile plastered on my face.  Well, the reason for that is ... I've been keeping a few little secrets! No, no the secret is not that I'm preggers again (although, if I could guarantee that the next little one would be sweet like this, that would be a fun little secret to have!).

My secrets are of the crafty kind and I am now finally able to share! Yay!  Here's a little hint to the first (take a close look - hint, hint: fourth name down!):

Domestic

Christa Paustenbaugh from Manassas, VA
Donna Jannuzzi from San Diego, CA
Emily Spahn from Oak Lawn, IL
Jaclyn Rench from Maineville, OH
Kathy Martin from Raleigh, NC
Kim Kesti from Phoneix, AZ
Lynn Ghahary (DT Coordinator) from Randolph, NJ
Mandie Pierce from Vacaville, CA
Patricia Kumfer from Orlando, FL
Renee Zwirek from Aurora, IL
Shawna Webster from Ewa Beach, HI
Tiffany Hood from Syracuse, UT
Vivian Masket from Denver, CO
Wendy Sue Anderson from Heber City, UT

 International
Amelie Mordret from France
Eva Pizarro from Italy
Kim Jeffress from Australia
Laura Craigie from Canada
Laurel Seabrook from Canada
Nicole Nowosad from Canada

Pretty cool, huh?!?  I am still in disbelief to see my name included on that list of talent.  Seriously, what an amazing honor. I can't wait to get started on my assignments and get to know all of those wonderfully talented ladies!

BTW, speaking of Pebbles have you seen the new lines they will be debuting next week at CHA?  Wowza!  They are so beautiful and inspiring.  Here's a peek at the 'Seen and Noted' and 'Walnut Grove' lines:

You can check out Pebbles blog here, for a look at each line in it's entirety.

In other crafty news, you may have noticed a new little badge that is linked on my sidebar, on the right.  If you click on it, it will take you to an awesome sketch site, 'Let's Capture These Sketches', that I'm now designing pages for, as well!  I participated in my first reveal over there last week, and haven't yet shared my page on the blog, so here it is (based on sketch #139):

I have been holding onto Doodlebug's "Boys Only" line for just the right picture of my little guys, and this was definitely it!

Some close ups of the title and details:

It was such a fun sketch to work with.  If you interested in playing along, join me on the LCTS blog and link up your project to share!  I'd love to see what you create!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.  I will surely be spending mine with a little extra hop in my step! (*wink)  I'll be back soon with some more crafty shares!