Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween at the O'Crowley's

Halloween at the OCrowley's

Come into my house my little pretties!

I wanted to share with you our home at halloween. I have always done some extra decorating for the seasons. This October we went to visit Dana's brother Andy for an evening, his wife Stephanie had decorated the entire house so cute, and she inspired me so much! I had decorated this back door and placed a hat on the coffee table and that was it. When I left their house I had a changed attitude and decided to do a little more. So just for fun I am sharing with you some of the vinettes.
Steph had black ravens everywhere, all over her house, just sitting around. I love birds, and that so inspired me to get some, but by the 15th of October there were few to be found. She found 10 at a local craft store which we split, and I came home with 5 birds. Will look for more next year. So excited about this. I love the black and white pumpkins, and I will wear the orange apron with my witches hat on halloween.
Love the Raven for sure!


We found eye balls that glow with a battery inside. I placed the eye ball in a nest of my streaming flowers I had just pulled from the front flower boxes, and a few leaves. These sit on a cake stand, and I also place the glass cake cover over the top of the eye nest.
At my front door you are greeted with my fall wreath, and a glitter bat hanging from it. Fast and easy!

As I wash dishes the window ledge above the sink has my white pumpkins stacked in a clear candle holder. I tied a cheetah bow around the container. Couldn't resist the ribbon at Lowes this year. We grew these mini pumpkins, I have been waiting for fall to place them all over the house!

I created a spell bar, and 3 year old Kadence when she comes in the house stands at the corner of the cupboard and stares. It scares her, she comes close to me and hides behind me. I just laugh, the gums and teeth look real, I added some candy eye balls and a candy ear a few days ago, they were a gift from my visiting teachers. She is really scared now. I hope this hasn't ruined her. The sign has granced our counter top for years, I love the things to beware at halloween.
At last the kitchen bar, with black plates, white pumpkins, spiders, and placemats made from Robin's Nest purple crackle and black glitter dot cardstocks. I cut spiderwebs from the Glitter black spiderweb and placed them on the white plates. Kadence just sits at the bar chairs and plays with the spiders. So cute, she loves anything mini, Just not eyeballs!
Have a Happy Halloween!!
Ciao,
Robin

Monday, October 29, 2012

Saltzburg

Saltzburg

 

Today I finished this layout so I could share it with you. It has been a blast to create this page. We left Ethiopia just 2 days short of a year ago, doing Humanitarian work for our church. We spent 23 months there serving the people of Ethiopia. Sooo, when it was time to head home, we decided we needed a little vacation before we came home to the United States. Our stop was Stuttgart, Germany where Dana's sister and her husband are living. We toured Germany, and a few other countries close to it. Here is one of my pages showing our visit to Saltzburg. My aunt and uncle live just an hour from here. We took a train to Chiemsee to visit them, and one of our days with them, they took us to Saltzburg, Austria. This was our second visit to Saltzburg, but not boring by any means. We love this beautiful country and the great culture they have there.
This Church is the one that Mozart played the organ in for years during his lifetime.
I created this page which I just love and feel like you really could be back in Saltzburg again just by looking through the pages I created of Austria.
I used Glitter Calamity Jane Roses, Baroque, Robin's Egg Cardstock, and brown cardstock, Paris Sticker (old and new), Time Rub on, Brown mini dew drops, mullberry cream flosers.

It is easy to put the dew drops down with Helmar glue. I just draw the line with the glue tip on the bottle, the glue flowing out in the swirl shape as I draw, and then slide the dew drops on the glue. Easy and fast.


Such a fun layout with fun papers, enjoy!

Ciao,

Robin

Thursday, October 25, 2012

First Snow 2012

This is for real!!!  Snow in October.  It started snowing yesterday, and as we woke up this morning there was MORE!  It just makes me feel at home again.  I love the snow.  I love the fall.  I love America and home.

So just a little snow is ok, it will melt, and I watch it falling from my windows inside my warm and cozy home.  I made potato cauliflower soup for lunch today.  It is just a soup day for sure.  And as the snow fell yesterday and today, I played Christmas music.  It sounds silly, but years ago, I walked into my friends home to Christmas music playing in October.  "What's this, isn't it a bit early?"  The answer was, we always play Christmas music on the first snow day of the fall.  I remembered this yesterday, and it all felt so good.

 Watching the snow fall, making soup, and listening to Christmas music.  I love it. 

So in honor of the first snow fall, here are pictures of our snow filled yard.  The sun is peaking out now at 5:00 this afternoon, and we are enjoying it too, the snow melting off the roofs, and the leaves.  So much fun all in one day. 

Ciao,

Robin

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Halloween Card

Halloween Card
Hello all,

This is such a simple post for me, a cute halloween card, great for my grandkids far away!

It is made with the Black glitter trees, black cardstock, orange cardstock. black and orange checked ribbon 1/4", and a bat brad.

Just cut the Black glitter trees to 4x5 or the size of your standard card, rip the edge so the white shows, then glue on to your black cardstock, tuck in the orange square, that is corner rounded, and the bat brad is attached at the corner. Tie your ribbon, and add your saying, I wrote this by hand.

Finished! So easy, so cute!

Enjoy!

Ciao,

Robin

Monday, October 22, 2012

Back from Arizona

We have just finished our 4th trip to Arizona for our mission call. 

It was a great trip, we accomplished all that we were assigned to do.  Traveled to Mesa the first day and met with 2 stake presidents each day after that.  We are formulating the new projects for next year and getting finaces squared away. 

Each stake is at a different level on the Self-Reliance program, but the results of the projects are awesome.  We are working on Self-Reliance Garden projects on the Navajo, Hopi, Apache, and Pima reservations. 

The ultimate outcome so far is the unity that is being formed inside the branches and wards.  Barriers between families and clans are starting to be broken.  They are working together helping each other prepare, plant, and harvest gardens.  The gardens are an oais in the desert really.  And the activity in the branches and wards are rising.  The excitement of having a garden is contagious between the people and families, they are sharing their produce and touching each others hearts. 




These pictures are from our July trip.
 
We love this work, we love the strengh it is giving them, and the leaders of the branchs.  This is such a beautiful work!

Ciao,

Robin

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Halloween Binder

Halloween Leather Binder


Hello again Fans,

Robin's Nest has the greatest leather binders, not fake leather, real leather. Each binder is foil stamped with a gold swirl design. The binders come in black and navy blue.

I decided that as I was working on this incredible Halloween project, which will be on next weeks blog post, I wanted a binder to match the cute book and page layouts I was working on.

I used the Black leather binder, then I used gray May Arts ribbon tied at a bow down towards the bottom of the binder. I then cut the word Halloween with my Cricut, which I designed with my Gypsy. I then just added a Large Glitter Bat cut from the Glitter Black Chipboard. And Whala, here is my Halloween binder.

I love to have a bit of elegance with anything I do, just my style preference. So this is an elegant looking Halloween binder.



Hope you enjoy!







Here is a peek of the halloween pages inside the binder. This is the binder for the halloween book I posted on the 17th. I hope you loved it, I am so very excited to share it with you!


Ciao,

Robin

Friday, October 19, 2012

Garden put to rest

Ohhh it is time to say good-bye to our garden.  We have pulled all the plants and harvested our vegetables, stored them in the big shed.  Our hubbard squash were just huge, and taste so fabulous!  We have loved our garden this year, and will miss the garden.  I love working with the dirt, seeing the plants grow, and harvesting the fruits of the garden.  I will miss it.

The greenhouse will keep us busy, We have tomatos and okra, pineapples, celery, herbs, and fruit trees.  I love walking into the warm moist air, smelling the wet dirt, and seeing the plants grow so fast.  This was Dana's dream to have the greenhouse, certainly not mine, as potted plants has never been one of my best qualities to grow.  But the warmth of the greenhouse, and the automatic watering system takes the place of my incapablilites, and gives us a great amount of joy in our growing plants year round. 

So adeu to my garden, and come February we will start planting for next years season in the greenhouse.

Ciao,
Robin

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Halloween Book

Haunted House Book
Hello Robin's Nest Followers,

This week my creation is the Ultimate Halloween Haunted House Scrapbook! I created these pages to interact and to be Elegantly Scary! This has been such a fun book to create, and my photos from this year will be printed fast and added to the pages.

My cover page for the book is interactive. The fence to the right is separate and lays on top of the bottom of the haunted halloween page, thus you can turn it as a mini page. I didn't put a frame on this cover page for a photo, but at the bottom where the glitter pumpkins are, under the fence photos can be added. I so love how this cover page turned out. This will be the first page you see as you open my Halloween Binder that I created, and will be posted on October 20th's blog post.









As you see my page it is a combination of several of our cardstock papers to create this really haunted look. I used Haunted House CS, 2 sheets, Glitter Black Trees CS, Halloween Sticker sheet, black diamond drops are added to the roof line and the picket fence, white gauze for the ghosts, orange and black dew drops (spooky). The bottom page under the fence I used the Orange Bones CS, and Glitter Pumpkins CS (I cut each pumpkin out separately, but you could just trim a strip off the CS and add it to the bottom of the page). I cut haunted out with my cricut.
The Haunted house is cut out, and so is the raven and tree limb cut out separately. This page is actually 10x12, as I wanted my book to have graduated pages inside. I'm thinking I might add more black diamond drops to the bottom of each layer of roof line, they look so cute there.
As you open the book to the first page we are in the cemetery! It looks scary here with our Glitter Purple Crackle CS tombstones. I used yellow burlap for the moon, a purple glitter chipboard bat, Pumpkin Heads CS (the back side) for the dirt around the tombstones a strip from the back of Orange bones CS at the top right corner, with a sticker from Halloween Sticker sheet on top. A black journaling tag is distressed with brown ink at the bottom. Each tombstone is distressed on the edge with a pair of open scissors, this makes the white edge of the paper curl up a little, then I also distressed them with brown ink. The background is Glitter Ghosts CS. Black diamond drops edge the bottom of the tombstones and the journaling tag. Don't you feel like you are in a cemetery!!! Photos are to be put on the tombstones!


Our next page is opened to the Glitter Spooky Eyes Linen CS. This page is created with many different facets. On the left side of the page layout is a strip from the Glitter Black Bats CS, The frames for our photos are the Pumpkin Heads CS, all distressed with a pair of scissors for the torn edge look, these too are distressed with brown ink. The big frame on the right side of the layout is layered with black CS, and Orange Circle vellum punched on the edges with a Martha Bat border punch also on top of the Pumpkin Heads CS. Black CS strips are added above and under the large frame with a glitter chipboard pumpkin at the top, 2 stickers from the Halloween sticker sheet, and a orange journaling tag at the bottom distressed with brown ink. I cut a pair of eyes from the Spooky Eyes CS for the journaling tag. Attached to the top of the large frame is a clip from the spider clippies, and bones cut from the Orange Bones CS.

Our next page in the book is all about BATS! I used our Glitter Black Bats CS for the banner, bats are die cut from a Spellbinders Bat die and an old book, and letters die cut from a Quickut font. The background is Glitter Purple Crackle CS, black CS squares border the bottom of the page with a black journaling tag at the top of them on the right. 2 round stickers are added to the sides of the journaling tag. I also put a tag on the edge of the page from the Halloween sticker sheet. Any BAT can enter this page. We so love it!

Our next page in the book is spooky for sure. The background is the back side of the Pumpkin Heads CS. It just has a scary look all in itself, I love it. Photo frames are from the Glitter Orange Crackle CS that just adds to the scary look. Pumpkin Heads CS on the edge of the large photo frame with orange bones cut out to edge the frame and the corner of the same page. These bones are cut from the Orange Bones CS. I used the oval and round stickers from the Halloween sticker sheet, spider corner and green lion on right are clips from the spider clippie package, and the fleur cut from Autumn Fleur Linen CS. I also edged the right side of the layout with a strip from the Glitter Black trees, and another strip of bones cut out. The frames are distressed with scissors as is the edge of the entire layout. I cut the top with a round punch and put a hanging spider from the Halloween rub on sheet there. More bats cut from a spellbinders die out of old books, orange die cut bats from Martha border punch, and my title Haunted House cut with my cricut in black CS. Orange dew drops add depth to the page layout too. Love the Elegant Scary Look!

Our next page layout is about spiders for sure! Background is Glitter Orange Crackle CS, the right side stripe is the back side of the Glitter Camo Ghost CS. Spiderwebs are cut from our Glitter Black Spiderweb CS, Title from Halloween words, Halloween Rub on on the corner of the white frame, black CS for frames on the left side, and glitter spider ribbon with 2 plastic spiders complete the page. I love the spider look!!!!!

Last but certainly not least is our Camo Ghost page. I love to bring elegance into any page, and the Autumn Fleur Linen CS does this to this page layout. I used it for my frames, and then also cut out the fleurs separately for the embellishments. Halloween is from the Glitter Halloween words sheet, Tag from the Halloween sticker sheet, black burlap, orange dot mesh, and the Glitter Pumpkins CS also used for the frame on the left side. Orange dew drops edge the photo frames and the mesh. Background is Camo Ghosts CS, and Camo Ghost die cut stamp with black CS behind it. Love Halloween with a fun twist to it!

Remember I told you all the pages are 10x12, but this last page with the Camo Ghost die cut Stamp is 12x12, so when you open the book, the front page with the Haunted Halloween is 2 inches shorter than this page, and it peeks out from the back of the book. Soooo Cute!


I just love love this layered look, This book turned out so cute, Haunted Halloween cemetery and all. Hope you enjoyed these ideas. These pages are for sale on easyscrapbooklayouts.com

Halloween Ciao!

Robin

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Safe Return

Saturday our oldest son Joshua returned home from Afghanistan safe after a 10 month tour.  This is his 3rd tour to the middle east and the war over there.  His first tour after his year was up, he was sent to Kuwait a stop on his way home, only to be put back on a plane back to Iraq and serve for 5 more months.  When Robyn called and said he was home, I was on a business trip, I literally just stopped and cried!  He and Jeremiah had crossed over time in service overseas,  both serving there at the same time and I had had a son in the war for close to 2 1/2 years solid!  I know as a mother my stomach would just churn, and for a while I was stomach sick all the time.  But I was able to turn this fear over to my Heavenly Father and know that He would watch over my sons.  I since am better as these sons serve their country.  Heavenly Father shoulders this burden for me.  I am also able to be very close to their wives, and share their missing them and their worries while they are gone.  They are great women and I am happy to have them be so supportive of their husbands.

I can only say THANK YOU to a gracious Heavenly Father, for keeping him safe, and bringing him home alive.  This is our personal family's 5th tour.  All of our sons serve in the Army.  Joshua was the first to join, followed by his two younger brothers, who both have served a year tour in Afghanistan.

Robyn gave us this picture of Josh for Christmas years ago, it sits on our office shelf, and will forever.  I am so blessed to have sons who love their country so much, and are so willing to serve the American People.

There are times in our lives when we reflect on our greatest blessings.  Our sons are some of these blessings.  They certainly make this mother proud to be their mother.  They are good men with very good hearts.  Each of them are wonderful fathers, I watch them with their children with awe. 

I know that not all soldiers come home safe, or even come home.  I am humbled that my sons have come home safe, to be with their wife and children.  To be able to raise those children.  As I think about these thoughts my heart is full, and I am so humbled for such great blessings as these.

Robin

Monday, October 8, 2012

Halloween Tag Mini Book

Halloween Tag Mini Book


Hello Friends,
 
I absolutely love this mini book. It is full of 8 pages to put your instagram photos and any other photos you have taken for Halloween. This book is made in the shape of a Tag, and our journaling tags and your photos creep out past the edge of the tag shape. This is one of my most fav books I have created. Remember all the products used in this book come from The Robin's Nest.   
The cover of the book is made with Halloween Swirl Cardstock. On top of this I have used our glitter pumpkin chipboard shapes, candleabra chipboard shape in black, Halloween glitter words(Halloween, this is framed in orange cardstock), black and green diamond drops, Boo glitter words cardstock. I used the Boo glitter words cardstock, and traced shapes around each of the words, then cut them out, and I have used all the words on the cardstock sheet in the book on separate pages. Each of the pages has a boo on it. This brings a fun theme to the book too!


Here is page 2 of the book. I used the Purple glitter bat cardstock as the tag shape. If you look close you can see the little glitter bat shapes in the background. This scan didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, cause it is so cute with the die cut purple bats in chipboard on top of the tag. Bats litterally flying off your page. I used pop ups to make the bats look like they are flying, and creased them in the center for the wings to pop up a little. I also used a black journaling tag and purple diamond drops, and another boo cut from the boo cardstock. Journaling tags come in a package of 10 tags to a package, one of each of the different shapes in the package.

The Glitter black trees is one of Robin's Nest single most popular cardstock sheets ever! This is the background of this tag page. I then used a Boo, a black journaling tag, black diamond drops, purple glitter chipboard bat, yellow glitter chipboard stars and black cardstock for my photo backgrounds. I love to place the photos and the journaling tag off the edge of the Tag. So unrulely!

This tag background is Glitter spooky Eyes linen cardstock for the tag. I also used orange dew and diamond drops. 2 black journaling tags, black glitter bat, and another boo from the boo cardstock sheet. Black cardstock is used for the frame of my photos. The spooky eyes on the journaling tag were cut from the background sheet.


This page is created with using the Glitter Halloween Stripe for the tag. I used black cardstock for my photo frame, and a little orange cardstock tucked behind the corners of the photo frame, black journaling tag, Boo word from the cardstock sheet, Halloween rubon on top of the journaling tag, glitter green mask, and an orange diamond drop.

This page is using the Halloween glitter Swirl again, glitter halloween word sheet (pumpkin patch), orange cardstock, and 2 packages of the glitter chipboard pumpkins (the green diamond drops are included in the package), and a few orange dew drops.

I made this tag longer than the other tags, the journaling tag is cut off a bit from the scan, showing it is a longer sheet. I used the Orange bones cardstock for the background. Orange glitter crackle for my photo frame, black diamond drops, black strip of cardstock, boo cut from the boo glitter cardstock, black journaling sheet, halloween rubon on top of the journaling tag, black burlap, black dew and diamond drops, and pumpkin chipboard die cut. You can easily add more than one photo to this page.

The last page of the Tag book another Robin's Nest classics, Glitter spiderweb! Again, I cut the 2 boo's from the glitter boo words cardstock, black journaling tag, halloween rubon on top of the tag, and the spiders on the boo are from the rub on too, chipboard pumpkin, and black dew drops.

The Tag book is tied together with orange and black ribbon at the top. It is such a fun book, boo's peeking out from the edges, bats, pumpkins, photos and all the fun things that we love about halloween. It really is an easy book to put together. It comes as a book kit on our website, you can purchase it for $25, which includes everything you need in the kit to create this book. Just add photos!


Remember we are having a sale on the Halloween products on our website! Look on my last weeks Wednesday post for the coupon code. You will find all sorts of fun papers and embellishments there. Click on Transylvania on our website to find the Halloween products. Click on Book kits and class kits to find this Halloween Tag book kit.  You can view our website at Robinsnest-scrap.com  I also have another new website that I just put online.  easyscrapbooklayouts.com

Until next week!
Ciao,


Robin

Friday, October 5, 2012

Grandma OCrowley

Good Bye to Grandma Verda,

Dana's mom has left us to find peace on the other side of the veil.  We are so happy for her, she has suffered for quite some time, and it is a relief for her to be out of pain and to find happiness again.  Her funeral is today.  A day to honor her and her life.

She came into my life 38 years ago when I met and married my wonderful companion Dana.  We spent many week-ends traveling from Rexburg, Idaho to Picabo, Idaho where Dana's hometown was to meet, and later plan our marriage.

This woman is the most incredible cook ever.  She could take nothing and make it spectacular.  I learned from Holly, Dana's sister yesterday, that she just started trying different combinations until it just tasted right.  She didn't have anyone teach her how to cook, it was all by trial and error.  It truely was a gift, a special gift given to her by Heavenly Father.  She cooked for a farm cookhouse, up to 40 hands a day, most of her life.

I will be forever grateful to her for bringing into this life and raising the man I love.  There isn't a single person on this earth that brings more joy to my life than her son Dana.  He has a way about him that makes me so in love with him.  She taught him wonderful principles and he brought those principles into our marriage.  I am so happy to be an O'Crowley. 

This is to say Thank you and Godspeed.  You have lived a good life, served others well, and taught us such wonderful things. 

Our love to you,

Robin

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

EEK

Ohhhh, it is time for Halloween! I am so very excited to share some Halloween layouts with you. They are so very cute!!! I love the papers and the look created from these papers. I so love this cardstock, Glitter Black Trees. It just has a cute spooky look. So to add pictures to this and the fun look of midnight with trees. So love this.
EEK, SPOOKY, CUTE
Ghosts and goblins and monsters, oh my!!!!
Skipping on to the next door, hoping for a big score.
What will I get next, shall we see?
Knock, Knock,
Trick or Treat!
The papers I used in this layout are. Glitter Black Trees, Glitter Spooky Eyes, Glitter Black Bats, Glitter Chipboard Bats, Spooky Dew Drops, Halloween Canvas, and labels are die cut from Glitter Yellow Chipboard (Spellbinders), and Swirls cut from Glitter Black Chipboard. (Spellbinders)
I also used orange cardstock, and glitter journaling tag, Glitter Black letters. Spooky, EEK,
Cute!
HOWLING HALLOWEEN
Taking a step makes the floor below creek! Should I move closer
towards the door? No one is in the house, or so I am told.
Yet... I feel a bone chilling coldness swirling around me.

This is such a fun scary layout too. I called it HOWLING! It is the Haunted hause cardstock that makes this layout so cute. I cut the fence and crow on the tree limb from the Haunted House paper

The products in this layout are: Glitter Purple Crackle Cardstock, Haunted House Cardstock, Glitter Purple Bats Cardstock, Jounaling tag, Glitter Chipboard Purple Bats, Glitter Chipboard Pumpkins, Halloween Rub on, Black Diamond Drops, Orange ribbon.

Just add your photos to this page, you can purchase both pages from our website or easyscrapbooklayouts.com.

Halloween is Rachel's favorite holiday, and she has the cutest decorated house. Spiderwebs everywhere! So every halloween layout I do, I think of her. I can't wait for Halloween this year, we will have lots of trick or treaters, and I am preparing for them to come.



Happy Howling!

Ciao,

Robin