MAGGIE HOLMES Photography and Scrapbooking Blog

Lisa Bearnson Kit of the Month

Yikes - June is almost over and I have been meaning to post about this kit but never did!!

I was asked to create some pages with the June Kit of the Month that Lisa Bearnson sells on her website. Let me tell you that this is an awesome kit!! It is full of fabulous products - enough for 20 double page layouts!! And you also receive a double-hinged clipboard to display your layouts on! It is such a neat idea!!

The kit comes with all of the products, plus instructions and images to complete all 20 double page layouts. So, if you want to get a lot done quickly, this is the kit for you!! Or, if you are like me and want to change things up a little, you can use the products and do whatever you want - mix things up, add other products, etc. There are a ton of amazing chipboard elements, big silk flowers, chipboard frames and much more!

Anyway, there are still some kits left so if you haven't seen this kit, you should hurry and get one!! The layouts I did with the kit are up on the site in the image gallery - and some fun ones from the other designers as well!! Check it out - I know you will love it!!

Finally Blogging.......

i know i have been horrible at blogging... it's been quite a while! yikes! it's definitely summer - that time of year when we are just busy and out of our normal routines, etc. etc.! crazy times, but fun!

here's what we have been up to:

* i am scheduled to have my baby on the 11th! yeah - two weeks exactly from today! i will have another c-section (had to have one with nathan) so that is why i get the luxury of having an exact scheduled date! it is definitely a longer recovery but i have to say that it is nice to know when i am having her - especially since i am a planner!

* finished up the nursery so we are all ready to go - just need her to get here now!! (i promise to take photos soon! i know i keep saying that... but i really will!!)

* went to utah for my sister's wedding. we were scheduled to stay a week but, of course, we ended up extending and stayed for 10 days. (do we ever not extend our vacations? i guess it's just one of those things that i should expect from now on!) we had a great time! it was hot up there but not as hot as arizona so it was actually a nice break for me from this extreme heat! my swelling went down a little while we were there - i actually had ankles for a couple of the days - how exciting! :)

my sister looked gorgeous and her wedding was wonderful! they had it in my parents' backyard and everything turned out perfectly - it was such a nice day and all the flowers were beautiful! my boys looked so cute in their little tuxes! my brother has two little boys also and so the 5 of them were the stars of the wedding! they just looked adorable in their tuxes and they were out on the dance floor the whole time dancing away! it was great!

the whole trip was jam packed with activities - trying to see everyone and do everything! it gets crazy sometimes trying to fit it all in!!

- we went boating a couple of times with brian's parents and some of his family. the boys absolutely love going out on the lake - they could be out there all day long! they never get tired of it!
- we went to the zoo one day with my sister and her new husband.
- my friends from my old neighborhood threw me a baby shower while i was there! it was so sweet of them and i got so many fun things for the baby! it was great to see all of them and catch up!
- one night brian and i went to the roof restaurant with some good friends of ours. it is our favorite place to eat in utah - great food and it was also great to see and talk with our friends. lot of laughs and reminiscing about old times!
- did lots of hanging out with family - trying to see everyone and spend time with all of them.

* the boys are in swim lessons this week so we have been at the pool every day. it really is the only activity that you can do here right now since it is so hot! they are doing well and loving it!

* i am crazy busy with scrapbooking projects - trying to get everything done before i have this baby! it is a lot of fun though and i am making good progress - should get everything done in plenty of time! i have to say that mm has done it again - they are coming out with some amazing new products! i can't wait for you all to see!!

well, that's about it. how was that for an update - in a nutshell?? i have to run so we are not late for swim lessons but i am determined to be better at updating so don't give up on me just yet! :)

here are a few photos from the wedding - haven't even had time to go through all of them yet but i loved these of the boys in their tuxes.

Scrapbook Bakery Kits

I just found out that Scrapbook Bakery has a few more of these kits left! It is such a great kit so hurry on over there and pick one up if you haven't already!!

I posted some sneak peeks from the projects I did with the kits before they went on sale. But I also wanted to share the actual projects now that I can! It was seriously such a fun kit to play with - bright, bold colors - perfect for so many different types of layouts!

P.S. Did you notice that I did some 8.5x11 layouts with this kit? My first time ever doing that size! I have always been a 12x12 girl and more recently I have been doing quite a few 9x9 layouts. But the 8.5x11 was fun and different! I really liked it - think I will keep throwing some of those in here and there!

Scrapbooking Challenge

I did the scrapbooking challenge this week for the Making Memories blog.

It is the perfect challenge for this time of year - it has to do with flowers!!

So, be sure to check it out and send me an email with your layout if you do the challenge so that I can see!!

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I have been meaning to post this week and the time has just gotten away from me!

-- busy working on scrapbooking projects that, unfortunately, I cannot share right now but wish I could!!!

-- busy trying to put the final touches on the nursery so I can take pictures and share!!

-- busy trying to keep the boys entertained and happy while they are out of school! it has been going really well so far - we implemented some daily chores and a bit of a schedule to keep us all organized and on track!

HAVE A GREAT DAY! Thanks for stopping by!!!!!

Happy June!

I have been dying to post and say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you that left comments over on the Making Memories site at my online baby shower! (We have been out of town this last week so I haven't had the chance to post until now.)

Thank you so much for all of your kind thoughts, advice and comments! I really appreciate all of you that took the time to post and I am grateful for all of the great advice!! I have read every single comment and there are so many things that I want to write down to remember! I am thinking about doing a mini book or something so that I have a keepsake with all of the great advice! All of the name suggestions were wonderful too - so many cute girl names out there! Thanks again everyone!!

I randomly chose 5 winners from the shower to win some fun girlie prizes and they have been announced on the Making Memories blog so be sure to check to see if you won! If you are one of the winners you can email me with your address and we will get the prize out to you!! Congrats!

We have been so busy the last two weeks. First, my mom came in to town to stay with us for a few days. It was great to have her here. Brian and I painted the nursery (pink - of course) while she kept the kids busy and out of the mess. Then we did some shopping and put the room together. Well, it is not quite done, but it is getting there. I still have a little more to do and then I will take pictures and share! It is turning out so cute - just the way I imagined!! It is so much fun! I love to just go in there and soak it all in - all of the pink and feminine things! I still can't believe it!!

Then, this last week we took a last-minute trip up to Utah to be with our parents and families for Memorial Day Weekend. We actually dropped my mom off at the airport to fly home to Utah and then we started driving up there straight from the airport! It was kind of a bummer because the boys missed their last few days of school but we had a great time so it was worth it!! There are so many cousins up there and my boys just go crazy playing and having fun with everyone!! We were planning to drive home Tuesday and then everyone convinced us to stay so we didn't drive home until today (Friday)! I am glad we stayed though - it gave us more time with everyone and the boys were just ecstatic when we extended!

We went to both of the Jazz games while we were there and that was definitely the highlight of the whole trip for Tyler and Matthew! Tyler, especially, was absolutely in heaven! Matthew had fun but he is just not as into it yet as Tyler is! We were in a suite and we literally could not get Tyler to even move out of his seat to go get food or anything! There was a ton of good food but he just wouldn't take his eyes off the court to go eat! We would bring him drinks and chips, but other than that, he was only interested in the game! He loved every second of it!!

The weather was really nice! A little chilly at times for us Arizona people, but it was a good break from the heat!! We did some shopping - for the baby, of course! I got her the prettiest blessing dress - so fun!! We also just hung out a lot and let all of the kids play! My sister had a wedding shower while I was there so I was able to go to that. It was really nice and she got a lot of fun stuff! I am excited for her!

It's nice to be home though! Now I have a busy week ahead of me - laundry, cleaning, dr.'s appointments, scrapbooking projects, etc. etc. I need to figure out a schedule now that the kids are out of school so that they don't get bored and go crazy!! I want to make sure that we are doing some fun things while they are out - probably a lot of swimming since it is so hot that there isn't much else to do (without melting that is)!! :)

Thanks again for all of the comments at my online baby shower! It really means a lot!! We are definitely on the countdown now - only about 6 weeks left until this little princess arrives! Yeah!!!