SEM Birthday Celebration Blog Hop

Welcome! As a member of the SEM Design Team, I am so excited to have you join me for "Scrapping Everyday Miracles" Birthday Celebration Blog Hop. We'll have fun stuff on the SEM Blog...and on our Facebook Page we'll be offering games each day of the event that will have some fabulous prizes.

First up, I would like to share my favorite layout that I created for SEM this year. This page was created for a Sketch Challenge.

It's my favorite because it shows my sweet little girl growing up...happily! I love that she's such a good-natured, fun loving girl. But most of all, I love that she LOVES Jesus (just about a month ago, at the young age of 6, she made a choice to accept Jesus as her savior, and I couldn't be happier!) and my prayer is that she will continue to let Christ shine through her to everyone she meets!

This second layout I created focuses on the "Celebration" theme. It was my daughter Ellie's sixth birthday celebration. I kept it simple because I wanted the photos to be the focus. I love using Alpha Stickers with foam tape on the back to give them some dimension. 

The fun little "puffy" birthday themed stickers were ones I've had in my stash for over a year now, so I was thankful to finally have the perfect page to use them on!

I'm also including a couple of favorite birthday cards I have made to hopefully inspire you.

Here's a more masculine one!

And...one with a more feminine touch...

I appreciate you stopping by, and as a little thank you I'd like to GIVE AWAY this Papertrey Ink acrylic stamp set to one lucky winner. Either leave me a comment or become a new follower (or do both for 2 chances to win!) by Sunday night, June 3rd at 11:59pm PST. I will announce the winner on Monday, June 4th. 

Also, our Hop Grand Prize (see the SEM Blog for details on how to win) has been provided by two awesome sponsors...Paper Loves Glue and Memorable Seasons. Our grand prize winner will win both a gift certificate for $15 to Paper Loves Glue and a $20 gift certificate to Memorable Seasons. 

I hope you've enjoyed the Hop so far! Next up is Jeannine.

If you missed anyone, here's the order:

* The hop will remain open until Sunday night, June 3rd at midnight PST.*

SEM blog http://scrappingeverydaymiracles.blogspot.com/
Nic http://scrapmethis.blogspot.com
Sherri  http://faithandscraphappiness.blogspot.com/
Einat  http://scrapinit.blogspot.com/
Cara  http://bitsbaublesandbliss.blogspot.com/ (YOU ARE HERE)
Jeannine http://creative-chaos07.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth http://ejoym.blogspot.com/
Lisa  http://creativejuicefreshsqueezed.blogspot.com/
Dolores  http://scrapperinnewyork.blogspot.com/
Amanda Johnson http://asjmade.blogspot.com/

Make sure you also stop by our Facebook page for games, challenges and even more prizes. And don't forget, Monday, June 4th will be a new challenge and another chance at a prize!

Fishing with Friends

Today we took advantage of Pete's day off and the gorgeous weather and took a little road trip with some of our friends...12 of us total (including 4 kiddos) went out to breakfast and then went fishing. Although we came home with no fish, it was such a blessed day spent with friends. 

Ellie and Pete

1      +       1   =    0 fish (Bummer!!!) 

My Mother's Day Present

So this year I got a little different kind of Mother's Day gift from Pete and Ellie. Our patio has been an eye-sore for the last year and a half (since we moved in...and especially since we got our backyard chickens---oh yeah, they poop everywhere!). So Pete (with a "little" help from Ellie) screened in our patio with chicken wire & created a nice relaxation spot (along with a pretty hanging pot of cute little white flowers!). He also hung the cute shabby yellow porch swing I bought last year (a steal for $34), and though the patio still needs some little touches (such as some flowers in the pots & some touch-up paint on the patio furniture), it is so much better than before. He even brought out our homemade fountain (we made it about 5 years ago from two big ceramic pots--love the sound of the trickling water!!) and during the nice evenings we've had lately, you can find us out enjoying the "new" patio...and our chickens (from a nice distance:).

Here are some photos....

Ellie's new favorite spot! Just needs some cute pillows!

The view from the swing...with the chickens right where they should be (that is...not on the patio:))

Our backyard egg-layers...Lulu (brown eggs) and Rosella (green eggs).

These are actually on my front porch, but I love them...they make me happy! I'd love to get something similar to put in the pots on the patio.

Been Slacking...

Ok, not really...I've been super busy, but still not much of an excuse for not posting anything for weeks. So, Mother's Day was a few weeks ago...but as I'm just catching up with you, I'll share a layout I did for the SEM blog (in the spirit of Mother's Day). 

We were supposed to make a layout about our moms or a mother-figure in our life. 

I feel so blessed to have a close relationship with my mom despite a few hundred miles separating us, but more than that I feel beyond blessed that she and Ellie have such a great relationship...they simply adore each other! *Note: one of my mom's quirks is that she hates (and usually refuses) to have her photo taken, so I know that she's not going to be thrilled about this being posted...but MOM, you're beautiful inside and out...I love you!

Supplies Used: Kraft Cardstock (American Crafts), Green Music Paper and Orange Paper (Authentique), Red Polka Dot Paper (Cosmo Cricket), Dictionary Print Paper (Theresa Collins), Flower Stickers (K & Co.), Green Small Alphas (American Crafts-Thickers), Other Alphas (Echo Park), Foam Tape, Corner Rounder