honeymoon scrapbook

thought i would *finally* share something on my blog!! a few weeks back, Liz, Tami, Miranda and i scrapbooked for an entire weekend!! i should add that this took place at my house!! a little cramped on space, but we managed! it was actually quite fun...lots of laughter and chatting and also lots of extreme quiet (for when we actually scrapbooked!).

take a peak at my scrapbook...

not quite finished yet...i have *lots* of photos left to put in.
and i didn't post all of the pages...i only chose my favs!

evening with sammy and david

i'm very behind on posting! i think these photos were from 2 weeks ago! samantha and david came to blue earth for a little visit! bryan and tiffany needed a little time for sanity (these are *very* busy kids!!), so the kids got to spend a week with their grandparents!! tiffany's parents got the kids for the first half and then bruce and bonnie got the kiddos for the second half! so the evening the kids were at the ankeny home, brandon and i hung out there! they are fun to be around...super busy! samantha is always wanting to play a made-up game and just run-run-run! and david is walking now, so he's always going somewhere!!

here are a few photos from when we were all playing outside!

brandon became samantha's buddy!

bonnie said david is going to be just like his father...always going for the edge of the road!!

samantha said this was her first time eating a smore!!
yum!

grandpa bruce and sammy roasted the marshmallow and then made the sticky yummy sandwich!

david loved walking around outside...

david and grandma bonnie

after getting dirty outside it was time for baths! samantha got to use the big tub and little david enjoyed the kitchen sink!!

then off to bed...

framing...

brandon and i have super busy framing away! luckily we have been staying busy with our new business venture! sometimes i find myself thinking that i just work at a frame shoppe...but no, we own the frame shoppe!! it is such a neat feeling to know that we have our own business!!

here are a couple jobs that we were working on. they are done now and the customers have already taken them home!

**this one...oofdah! it was hard! 10 photos. almost all of them were of a different size. the bottom row of 5 photos was the hardest...each was a different height and width...and trying to make them all even was a real challenge! for this mat, i had to draw everything out on the back and then cut it with the mat cutter...without any stops!! a little challenging! but i got it on my first try!! the finished product looked very nice...black leather frame and black mat...but i don't want to post it because they are photos of people...and i don't have the customer's permission to post it online!


oh, yes, this one! this project just about sent brandon and i over the edge!! it looks fairly easy...only three openings for a vintage essay...but then in the bottom right corner, is the penny! a 3 inch in diameter penny! we have a circle cutter, but it's very temperamental and does not work very well. well, brandon wanted to tackle cutting a circle in the black mat, the black foam core and the back, black mat...all to match up perfectly and hold the penny in place!! after many tries with different sizes of circles (and i'm sure a few words spoken to the circle cutter!!) he got it!! the three circles were perfect!!
so together the frame went...


oh, yes, and on the back side of the frame...they wanted to be able to see the penny as well!! the back of the frame doesn't look so very nice, but that is what the customer wanted!! just a piece of plexi on the back side...
and i have to leave again really soon to go back to the shoppe and start working on a few more frames! the truck came on tuesday and delivered 5 more frames...so i have to...excuse me..."get-to" go put more projects together!!

a find

The other day (last week) Liz and i hit Fairmont for a little "shopping". Our shopping spree consisted of the scrapbook store and the Salvation Army. It was pretty fun! Of course we found some good stuff at the scrapbook store over there...and we actually found some really good deals at the Thrift store! i found a couple white glass "holders" (i will have to share a photo later) for my bedroom for my jewelry...and a cute little apron! i'm very into aprons right now! i had plans of sewing a couple...but my sewing machine is down and frankly i don't have the time right now! This half apron is so adorable...peach! and to think it was only $1.50!


It must be handmade...the little rick-rack and stitching looked to be homemade! Perfect...looks like something i could have found on etsy!

bird man

well, it's official...brandon is crazy! i think i always knew this, but it has just become more evident to me this week! he's been hearing all this "bird talk" up at the coffee shoppe and especially from his dad...so he decided it was time to hang up his bird feeder he got for Christmas from my folks. Up that went, and pretty soon he came home with an oriole feeder too!!
Friday night, Brandon dropped me off at a purse party on main street and i caught a ride home from Liz. Well, when i got home...Brandon was gone. i called him to see where he was (mainly because i didn't have any keys with me to let me into the house!!). He was down to his dad's shop building another bird feeder!! He came home with all smiles holding up his new feeder!! It is actually really neat! He had two holes drilled into it to be able to put two little cups and fill them up with jelly for orioles. Soon the search for the perfect size container started! He looked all over the kitchen and the tool area to find something...and came up with nothing. For some reason, he decided to look in the cupboards above the refrigerator...and found two little wine glasses that fit perfectly!! So now our birds are eating with style!

house finch

oriole

oriole, cardinal and house finch

house finch checking out the jelly in Brandon's home-made feeder!

indigo bunting

all the little things...

i thought i would share a couple photos from yesterdays open house...

lemon-raspberry mini cupcakes i made the evening before to serve...
(made from scratch...not a box!!)

yummy carrot cake with cream cheese frosting...made with applesauce!
(found this recipe on the daily green)

Our "staged" ribbon cutting!! Rob, our mayor, thought we should do a ribbon cutting for the new business...so we did!! Barb and Brandon held the ribbon and i pretended to cut it!
Silly bunch!

a cute little gift from Liz. a box of sticky notes! Liz used to help Barb with the frame shoppe, and Liz thought using post-its (and then loosing them) is a criteria for the frame shoppe!!
(and boy do i use sticky-notes!! i always have little notes stuck to my computer!!)
thanks Liz!!

eighth street framing

"eighth street framing" is now in business!! we had our open house today...from9-4...and it was well attended by lots of town's people! i noticed i haven't posted any photos of the frame shoppe since we have moved it into it's new location...so here they are!

This is the work table...where we'll be putting all the finishing touches on the frame jobs.

i would have to have a wide-angle lens to capture all the moulding samples...so i shot my favourites!

the half-wall that was built...don't mind the mess behind the wall!!

the design table and the colour of the wall...very bold! and notice the very nice looking suspended track lighting brandon hung...(great job, hun!)

yellow & white

What is yellow and white and fits on the shoulder perfectly?? My new purse!! When i saw this cute bag at Charlotte Russe...i had to buy it!! Luckily, for Brandon, it was only $5 bucks!! You can't beat that price...

Today i wore a simple white shirt with a black cardigan...but i wanted to use this yellow bag. So i added cute yellow earings i found at a garage sale for a quarter and tied everything together!!

Inside my yellow bag, you'll find a bright turquoise lining...and my adorable pink "posh" girly checkbook and big sunglasses!! Brandon lets me carry the checkbook since i put it in such a "girl" checkbook cover!! Silly boy!

randomness

i have a lot to share...so i will start out slowly! i love it when it rains...it was raining a few days ago. at one point the rain was coming down very hard! here are a few photos of the rain drops that collected on the living room windows...

lots of rain in the front yard...our grass is now turning a beautiful shade of green! summer is almost here...

my hubby...i think i took this after we had been working out in the yard. last Sunday we decided that since nothing else was going on for the remainder of the day (which is rare) we would start in on the yard work! raking the leftover leaves from fall, pruning the bushes in the back, doing a little landscaping around the shed...having a little fire! it was tiring work, but well worth it...the back yard looks *great*.

Last Saturday was NSD...so at the store we did this make-n-take...and Nichole came over from Sioux Falls with Tastefully Simple. (so *yum*) It was a fun day...lots of chatting with friends!

Life is finally slowing down a bit now that this week is coming to a close! At the beginning of the week, i had lots of projects to complete for customers!

And this coming Saturday is the Open House for the Frame Shoppe!! i'm so excited...i will post a few photos of the frame shoppe later today (if i get time!). Everything looks great! And i am already getting jobs!! a few smaller projects and a few larger ones...so i'm totally excited!!

Happy Friday to all....

Busy Busy Busy

i feel like i haven't had any time to post anything new lately! Brandon and i just bought Barb's custom framing, so we have been busy getting ready to have that store, moving everything over and {organizing}!! The big move was yesterday...it went very well actually! Luckily Bruce and Bonnie offered their helping hands and of course Barb helped with lots too!! From start to finish i think it only took about 4-4 1/2 hours. Not too bad. We still have 3 big things to move over, but i have to clear a little space before we have room for those! We finished yesterday right around dinner time, so we ordered a couple large pizzas up at the coffee shoppe...yum!

i would take a photo of the space...but it looks *really* bad right now! Mats everywhere (although much better from yesterday!) and just "things" here and there...soon it will all be put in its proper place!

So that is really all that is new with Brandon and myself...the new {Eighth Street Framing} business!!

**Wish us Luck!!

*The* Wheat Thin

Look at this!! i bought a box of wheat thins the other day and we brought them with on our "day away". And this is what we found in the box...a huge Wheat Thin! Looked like 4 crackers glued together! Just had to take a photo of it!

Brandon looks a little drunk in this photo...he wasn't! It was taken in the morning and he had a cold...so his eyes were a little glossy!

What a beauty!

me...enjoying some Wheat Thins while driving home!

Lake Lilian Gig

The band played up at a winery in Lake Lilian last Saturday. A really neat place...an old middle school converted into a winery with the gym turned into a dinner hall. The band did a really good job with all their songs...the crowd was pretty slim unfortunately. But they had a fun time, so that's what mattered most!


Lake Lilian was about 2 1/2 hours from home for us, so Brandon and i decided we would spend the night in Hutchinson. We were going to meet some friends for the concert and then spend the night and de-daddle around the town the next morning, but they weren't able to meet us. Then we were going to just drive home like most of the other band members. But, Brandon and i decided we needed to take a day just for ourselves. Away from home, away from Blue Earth...just away! So we spent the night in Hutch and slept in (hence the photo below!) and cruised over to the Cities the next morning and went to IKEA. It was a fun day. We were exhausted...Brandon had a bad cold and pretty much used up what little bit of his voice he had left singing...and i had been out 'till 2 in the morning the night before and up very late the night of the gig. We were able to sleep in until close to 10a, so that was a little helpful...poor Brandon didn't sleep too well...as for me, i can sleep through pretty anything!

Even though we were exhausted...we still had a fun day toodling around! And it felt *great* to have a day where it was only Brandon and i!

Just to clarify...this self-portrait was taken before i had any make-up on!!

Liz turns **{30}**

The big night out!! Liz turned 30 on the 4th...so she invited a bunch of girls to go out to Mankato and have dinner and drinks with her. a fun night. Really it started on the 3rd when Liz and i went dress shopping in Fairmont. She wanted a new dress for the night, so we went to Maurices and found an adorable, little, black-n-white dress! There were 5 of us that went to Olive Garden for dinner...and then to the Wine Cafe for drinks...and then to the Bandanna Brewery to meet up with Liz's co-workers from the hospital. a very fun night!

Happy Birthday, Liz!