Made the Design Team at SavvyNSassy!

I've been having an overflow of things I've wanted to blog about lately and almost forgot to post about this, can't believe that! I MADE THE DESIGN TEAM AT SAVVY N SASSY!! I'm super excited. The last time I was on a design team was in 2005? I'm ready to start scrapping more and sharing. Back in the grove for it, ya know?
SavvyNSassy is a great online store featuring monthly ribbon kits (see over there on that side bar all them yummy ribbons.---> ), but also has tons of scrappy stuff. Their forum, blog, and gallery is full of inspiration and challenges.

SALES GOING ON RIGHT NOW!

• All mini books are on sale until the end of tonight, the 30th
• Summer Gives Back Special Promotion can earn you scrappy spending bucks back for your purchases through August 31st.

Adventures in Yard Saling

I was {finally, wow} sick of sitting in the house. I woke up super early on Saturday and decided to go yard saling. I mapped out all the spots from the paper ads, made a plan, and set off.

This was probably my best snag of the day. I don't think you can tell from the picture, but this is about 75% the size of my front door. It's truly massive. This picture still had the original price tag on the back that said $145. I got it for $5. I have future plans of doing my kitchen in green, so this will be perfect.

I got this for Dylan for a quarter. It was still in the original packaging. The man gave it to me so quick so he could hide his stuff his wife was trying to sale in his truck before she walked back outside.

I had been looking at these type Dutch decorative clogs on the internet for a while. And while I could find them pretty cheap online, the shipping was killer. I have plans for these to go in my soon to be newly renovated bathroom that will be in a teal, red, and cream color palette.

I absolutely ADORE pretty much anything milk glass. I'm not super keen on the grape pattern. I prefer the hobnail bumpy type the best. But for $4, this huge size of a fruit bowl at an estate sale was to be mine!

I don't exactly know what I will do with this. It was only a quarter. Do you ever go to yard sales and don't anything you want, but almost feel guilty for not getting SOMETHING? This is one of those buys.

Yay! A jack-in-the-box. Hopefully it won't scar my kids to be scared of clowns like it did my brother, but they are already having fun with it. It works and everything for only a quarter.

I got some other stuff, but not nearly as photo worthy. Stuff like summer play shorts for Dylan-- he's growing like a weed lately. A really old glass of a 40's patriotic pin-up girl holding a flag, but on the inside of the cup you can see her naked booty. Ha ha! It was really refreshing just to drive around with no kids and no agenda or time restraints. Great day. :)

Secret Spy Shopping

I don't even know what to call what I did, but it's just funny. Okay? Sooo... on a whim, I decided I was going to secretly send people gifts that would make them laugh. I wouldn't tell them it was from me or that they were gonna be getting a package. Just total random surprise!

Number 1
Recipient: My Mother!
Gift: Celebrate San Antonio: A Cookbook

My momma is originally from San Antonio, Texas. She also loves to cook. She has a thing for older cookbooks as well. She called me when she got it squealing. She's already made a list of things to buy to try out new recipes. Inside the book are pictures of San Antonio landmarks that made her tear up a bit.

Number 2
Recipient: My Brother!
Gift: Alf Comic Book, 1st Issue

This one is super hilarious to anyone that knows my brother. As a small child, whenever Alf came on t.v., he would hide behind the couch and cry. He was terrified of Alf for some reason. He is an avid comic book collector, so this was right up his alley and keeping with my theme, pretty frickin' random, right? When he got it, he probably said, "WTF" (I'll just abbreviate that for you readers...) with his mouth hung open for 10 minutes. He had no idea there was an Alf comic book either. Just to make it even better, his girlfriend was there when he opened the package and didn't know about the whole Alf-thing. I love embarrassing my little brother. :) He told me that he hates it, but loves it at the same time. He has plans on getting it framed.

Number 3
Recipient: Miss Cat
Gift: Vintage Ceramic Avon Perfume Decanter Owl

Cat has a love for all kitschy things and collects owls. She always sees things on Etsy/Ebay she loves, but seems to talk herself out of ordering it. After searching for the perfect little owl doodad, I found this little guy. She called me when she got it. She was completely confused. Her husband was like, "Did you order something? You have a package." She saw my first name in the invoice order form and figured it out after a little bit. So cute! I hope it brightened her day.

Number 4
Recipient: Katie Kate
Gift: 1920 Ice Coupon BookSo Katie knew I was doing this, but didn't know she was going to be one of the recipients. In fact, we were chatting about it online when I ordered hers. Now the story behind this one is that Katie is THE coupon queen. Like she can get $200 worth of groceries for about $30. She does have about 20 cans of oatmeal in her kitchen at the moment and at one time 120 glade plug-in refills, but hey, it works--she got 'em free, so I won't pick on the girl. Another thing, whenever I go to her house, she never has ice. Well, here's a coupon book for 500 lbs. of ice that will be delivered to her front door. Um, if maybe she lived in South Dakota about 90 years ago. She messaged me online saying she had a suspicious package. :) Love it!

Number 5
Recipient: My Step Dad
Gift: 45th anniversary Miracle Whip commemorative pocket knife

Now he hasn't got his yet. I'm even betting he's thinking he's not in on this whole thing I'm doing since my mom and brother got theirs 2 weeks ago. The man has an infatuation with Miracle Whip. It cannot be mayonnaise. In fact, his mom once put store brand mayo in a Miracle Whip jar to save a few cents, didn't think he would notice. Danny definitely did! We've caught him making fried Miracle Whip sandwiches once. The whole Miracle Whip/mayo thing is an on-going joke we all in the family have with him. My brother wrapped up and gave him a super size jug of it for Christmas one year. Daddy was genuinely happy about it. The whole jug only lasted 2 months tops. True love, got it? I promise to you update you with his reaction.

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

SmartLilCookie Etsy Shop!

Katie is my extremely talented girlfriend here in town. She is great at combining the new with the old and that special, unique, quirky touch in her paper crafts artistry she sells in her etsy shop, SmartLilCookie.

Home is where the Heart is altered canvas

This is 5x5 inches in size. Can't you envision this right above your lightswitch that you turn on when you walk in the front door? Above the place you keep your keys at? Mixed in with family photos on the wall? I can :)

Vintage French Text Butterfly Punchies

Gah! Aren't these just so flippin' cool? Perfect for those scrapbook layouts or even done in rows and framed.

Basic Grey Urban Prarie Butterfly Punchies

Katie is probably the most eco-friendly person I know. She can always find a way to REinvent things. Her upcycled scraps can become your new creation! And if you really think about it, to do this yourself and buy all of this Basic Grey paper would cost you a ton.

Yup, Katie definitely is a SmartLilCookie. Okay, I'll quit with the cheese LOL. But seriously, great ideas here. She's fixin' to be in over her head in buttons, so I imagine a lot of new creations updated soon. And ending this post, I should be an Etsy shop reviewer or something, huh? :)

Headband GiveAway

I love etsy. I really do. I'm obsessed with it lately. I also like that I can type ETSY with just one hand. :) This is the cutest headband shop--Piper Riley. I wear a lot of ponytails and have long side bangs that must be kept up out of my face or I'll go crazy. The prices in her shop aren't too bad in my opinion. It's nice to see headbands done on this type of headband too. The ones that don't go all the way around don't stay on me. I'm on a yellow kick, so I gotta say this one above is my favorite. I can totally see it going with this dainty gray top below from the new plus size line at Forever 21 that is called Faith 21.Stepmom Extraordinaire is giving away this pink flower feather headband on her blog. Check it out! The feathers are the perfect touch on it.

Father's Day Recap

Visited the grave of my Papa for the first time since he died. Dylan went with. Papa was my most positive male influence growing up. He's in a mausoleum which is kinda weird, makes me feel more disconnected than an actual grave, but ya know, the visit wasn't as sad and depressing as I had built it up in my mind. I think knowing he would have been over 90 years old if still alive now makes it easier for me. Happy Father's Day Papa!


We aren't super big on presents around here. Plus, it feels silly for me to use the money Cliff earns at his job to buy him a gift that he may or may not like. So, I decided to break out my inner-homemaker {she's in there somewhere...} and bake Clifford some peanut butter cookies. Now, we don't have a mixer, so ummm, yeah, I used the blender. Got picked on about that. I was up to my elbows in specks of peanut butter trying to help the blender do it's job. The cookies I made on my baking stones turned out awful. Like thin, flat bread almost? I got about 10 normal cookies out of all of it and decided I would make a surprise giant cookie for Cliff's father day! It looked completely done once, but wasn't, so I had to remush it all back in the pan and re-bake it some more. Well, Cliff peeked in the oven about halfway through! GRRRR! He loved it anyways and even posed with a smile for once. And hey, it actually DOES taste good.

Number One Daddy-O

June 12 of 12--lazy & late posting edition

So yeah, I did actually do this on the 12th. Just been kinda ehhh about blogging lately. So here's our day :)
It's so flippin' cool to me that Dylan likes PeeWee. We ended up watching it 4 times that day. He did THE dance and was humming Tequila all day.

I bought these hair pins. If I am going to be in a ponytail all the time, might as well dress it up, right? I've been on a vintage kick lately too. 2 in 1 :)

This made me more happy than it probably should have, but I won the Pebbles Inc. Little Buddy scrapbooking line. I never win things so it was a big surprise. I have plans on scrapping Sam pages with these papers if they are as cute as I think they are from the blog sneak peek. But yeah, so I squealed when I read I had won and got picked on by Cliff.

We thought the white dog was our new neighbor, but later to find out, our neighbor was just pet sitting or something like that? Gift for the grandkids of theirs? Dylan and I was pretty excited about meeting him. (Dylan and I? or Dylan and me? I, yes? ugh.) I think he's a cocker spaniel and lab mix.

True gamer, eh? I think Cliff was slightly pissed I took this photo. This was the first time he did it that I know of, but I caught him.

Not as dangerous as this looks, promise. This is what Dylan and Wilson are constantly doing. It's all friendly and drives me nuts. I think Wilson needs a new buddy since Chance running off, because he is full of energy.

And then the chasing. Wilson gets in this crazy mood and we call him the maniac.

Dylan playing Call of Duty. I wonder what the other people online think. They don't know he's 4. Yes, I know it's graphic, but he's a boy so I may as well give up anyways.

A rare sweet moment between the two beaus. Dylan will always cuddle with me, but hardly with Cliff. Cliff is just for doing man-things, like wrestling and carrying tools-whatever ya know?

Okay, so yeah, I'm a little addicted to playing 1 vs. 100 on the Xbox Live. I got 80% accuracy!

The two buds watching the newest James Bond. Sam isn't a cuddler at all, but seem enamored with what was exploding and such in the movie. Great, LOL, another one that's gonna be all-boy. Love both of their squishy smiles.

So here's my self-pic, me just out of the shower before bed. Sam likes to stand up against my bent legs facing me on the bed bouncing up and down. He likes to be on his belly and tries to scoot and crawl, but is no where near doing it. Sam wants to be big and grown so badly already.

FOBTY: June is Zoo Month :)

Blog Challenge for Sweet Shoppe :O)

I don't think I have been to the zoo since I was in 5th grade? I know it was the Atlanta Zoo and I think I was on a 4-H trip. Anyways, my favorite animal to see at the zoo are the giraffes.

Even more so, baby giraffes! They are so tall and awkward at times. I really don't get how they survive in the wild. They are pretty big and muscular, probably good eating for the lions. I would love to take Dylan to the zoo, but ATL in the summer is something awful. From what I remember, the entire zoo is concrete, outdoors, and little shade.

Featured Layout!

This made me so very happy to log on and see! I made the weekly featured gallery standout at FaithSisters, a digiscrapping forum, with my "Time to make a wish" layout. :) I just got back into digiscrapping not too long ago, so this definitely makes me feel good.

This is what I feel like lately...

etsy shop erinaellis

Does that even make sense? Like a big, floppy, lethargic, sucky, sad octopus trying to be happy flying a kite?