Sweet Shoppe Designs – The Sweetest Digital Scrapbooking Site on the Web

This week we’re spotlighting Crystal!  Are you enjoying these spotlights as much as we are?

 

I hate having my picture taken. I always have. I remember looking through photo albums of other people’s since being a bit older and there not being any photos of me. I try to hide behind my sunglasses when I can. I have realized though that I am part of my children’s memories and things and they will like having photos of me too just like I would of my mom, so I try to be in front of the camera more.

 

This was hard to pick! I started off the year kind of rough with a really sick pregnancy so it took me a while to find my groove this year. I tend to have a lot of self doubt on my pages too. You are your own worst critic right?! That’s how it is for me. I tend to mostly scrap my girlie, but I do have other children!! She just likes to have her picture taken and the boys do not. It gets quite frustrating. My gallery is usually full of girly pages for that reason.

1. Just Bee You: This was for one of the Think Outside the Box challenges and I just really liked how it all came together. I had had this kit in my stash for probably over a year and never used it. It was perfect for this photo of Stella (my daughter). I thought the colors worked well together.

2. My Most Favorite: This page really shows my style I think. Clustery and white spacey, but I try really hard to do something on my pages to make it a bit more interesting. Sometimes that’s using fun shapes or cut outs. For this one I tried to make it more interesting by being a bit more creative with where and how I placed my journaling. It was a small thing, but I thought it was fun.

3. You Through the Years: Another one I did for one of the challenges, but I really love how it came out. I just don’t usually scrap like this, with so many photos and space being used. I loved looking back at Stella though. I may have shed some tears while doing this one….but that’s not that unusual for me really. ha!

4. Prone to Wander: I really love KCB and her goodies. She’s been a friend of mine for so long and I just love her products! I feel like they are very very me. Every once in a while she makes a kit that is so so pretty but still perfect for boys! Like this kit which I used to scrap my hubby (which NEVER happens!!). I feel like this kit was him to a T and the page is just very him. It’s him in his natural element and where he’s happiest, which makes me happy to look at.

 

1. The Road Less Traveled by Kristin Cronin Barrow This is one of those super pretty kits, but also perfect for boys of KCB’s. I just looove this one. I love all the word art and the message it conveys. Just so lovely.

2. Cindy’s Layered Templates- Set 148 These are the templates I used to do the page of Stella through the years. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Because I am not good at these kinds of pages, templates like this are a life saver and really inspire me to try new things, which I need after scrapping for so long!

3. Little Miss Sunshine Bundle by Zoe Pearn I picked the bundle because you need the alphas and the kit!!! The alphas in this are my all time fave. I went through this phase where I used them all the time on every page. Plus she has a vellum shadow style that is included that I use ALL THE TIME! It’s perfect! This is one of my all time favorite girly kits. It’s very very Stella!

4. {im}perfect by Traci Reed I love this kit. As I have become more of an advocate for AAM pages, this kit is so perfect. The colors and elements are awesome and the message is one every woman needs!! At least I do! I think it’s really really awesome!

 

One thing about me is that I am obsessed with bags. Bags of all kinds really. My current obsession is Ju-Ju-Be bags. I seriously cannot get enough of them!!! They are technically diaper bags, but I am using one as a purse right now I love them so much! The top two are bags I have and the bottom two are two of my dream wish list bags. I mean…I would do just about anything for them. I will list the bag name for you guys so you can google and swoon and fall in love!  Once you start watching youtube packing videos of these and reading about all the cool features you won’t be able to resist!! I want all the bags!!! ALL THE BAGS!

1. Ju-Ju-Be TokiDoki Farfalle BetterBe
2. Ju-Ju-Be TokiDoki Iconic MiniBe
3. Ju-Ju-Be Legacy The Duchess Be Prepared
4. Ju-Ju-Be Charcoal Roses BFF

 

Everyone loves Pinterst. It’s such a wealth of inspiration and ideas! I thought I would share with you 4 recipes that I found on Pinterest and actually tried! The pictures are from the original pin sources.

1. Restaurant Style Salsa: I have tried TONS of salsa recipes. I love salsa. I could eat it by the gallon. It’s probably one of my most favorite snacks ever. I found this recipe and have liked it the best so far. You can adjust the hotness by keeping seeds in your peppers or adding a bit more sugar…etc. It’s really yummy and super easy to make in the blender or food processor.

2. Crockpot Sesame Chicken: Using the crock pot has been a lifesaver for me this pregnancy. I can just throw things in and be done. When you are throwing up constantly it helps a lot! I made this one night and everyone loved it. My 10 year old asks for it all the time!!! He said it’s his most favorite meal ever.

3. Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas: I think this is one of the first things from Pinterest I tried. They are super yummy. This is one of the hubby’s favorite meals. I confess that I still prefer traditional corn tortilla and red sauce enchiladas, but these are really good and if it’s a fave of the hubby’s I try to keep it in rotation. You can save time by buying a rotisserie chicken and shredding it instead of cooking chicken yourself. Still just as yummy. I have done it both ways. I also never dice my chicken like the recipe says. I much prefer shredded chicken.

4. Cherry Puppy Chow: Have you guys seen all the puppy chow recipes floating around??! There are so many! I made this one night and I LOVED it! I think I liked it better than everyone else, but I prefer fruity flavors to chocolate flavors most of the time…not all the time…but most. This was really easy to do and could easily be done with any flavor of Jell-O and not just the cherry kind.

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