Reading the paper...

My big girl has always loved to read. Or, more accurately, she loves to PRETEND to read and she loves to be read to :D Her facial expressions, while reading, have always been so amazingly cute (and I'm not saying that just because I'm her mom - it's a fact LOL!). The night I took those photos, she was 19 months old and she had just spent half an hour trying to get her PJs on correctly. Obviously, from the photos, she hadn't succeeded yet, but then she got a little side tracked by the newspaper, which I had been reading on the floor. She started reading it too - and it wouldn't have ended up as a scrapbook page, hadn't it been for HOW she read the paper! Wouldn't it have been easier to just pick it up and hold it? LOL. Then her face just got so cute - it looks as if she is seriously considering what was happening to the world!!

I used Kiki Halbert's new kit. It's called Twinkle Toes and it's just gorgeous!! Nothing new, really, since all of Kiki's designs are gorgeous. But this kit is so girly and pretty. Just perfect for the day to day things my girls do :D Oh, and do you see the wordart? Just in time for Valentines day are Kiki's beautiful Lovely Swirls. I just love them - and we don't even celebrate Valentines day. I think they are just perfect for all layouts of the ones you love.

As usual, clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Kiki's SBE store - and clicking the Lovely Swirls brings you to Kiki's PDW store. She does have some amazing stuff in her stores. Check them out :D
Oh, and the layoutbook is by Blushbutter.

The Waterfall

We went to visit friends at the beginning of August last year. On our way back we stopped really quickly by this waterfall that's right by the road. I just wanted to take pictures and Lovisa Lin wanted to go with. Matthildur was sleeping in the car so my husband stayed there with her. Lovisa and I just went really quickly to a place where I could get somewhat decent photos and where it wasn't swarming with tourists! It's a popular tourist stop here in Iceland and all the buses stop here, as well as privately travelling tourist since it's a really beautiful waterfall and easy to spot since it's right at the roadside.

Anyway, I managed to get a couple of photos of the falls and then a couple of photos of Lovisa Lin with the falls in the background. It was one of those stops where you can say "I was there" because you have photos, but you haven't really BEEN there :D

I used a lot of stuff from Janosch Designs, but most of it is from her gorgeous Jana's Dreams Collection.

As usual, clicking the layout book brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Janosch's store at Hot-Spot-Scraps. The layout book is by Blushbutter.

Hello!!!

We went on a camping trip with some friends of ours in August. We met up at this place in the north-west of Iceland and my younger daughter was seeing some of them for the first time. She took an instant liking to this one guy in our group and tried her hardest to get him to notice her - but he didn't! At one time he was on the ground talking to us and Matthildur tried everything to get his attention. She talked to him, she knocked on his forehead with her fist, she slobbered into his ear - but nothing! He just kept on talking, we watched in amusement and Matthildur was just amazed that there was someone she liked - that just did NOT notice her!! Amazing - but funny to watch :D

I used a new kit by Simonetta Rossi Designs. It's called Bohemian Bliss and it's gorgeous. Bright, grungy and beautiful!

As usual, clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Sue's shop at Sophia Sarducci's.

Another walk...

One of the perks of living in the country side is that we are always close to nature. When we take walks we only have to walk out of our house and we are there :D So, we take quite a few walks - and I have tons of photos of my daughters those walks.

These photos are from this past summer. My older one keeps finding treasures under each and every stone so walks can take a long time! It's ok, though, we discover new and exciting things every time, through her. My little one spent last summer watching her big sister and wanting to do everything she did. She turner 1 at the end of June, so all she had was the wish - her ability was a bit limited :DI used quite a bit of things from Natalie Bird, available at Color Line Design. She has some beautiful designs. The papers are from a paper pack with "extras" called Unlock the Secrets. I just thought it was perfect for this photo of Lovisa Lin exploring nature!

As usual, clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Natalie's store at Color Line Design. The layout book is a template by Blushbutter which you drop the flattened jpg layouts into. I just love the way it looks and since I always scrap a 2 page layout, this format helps me figure out if the 2 pages actually look halfway decent together :D You can find Blushbutter's layout book template here.

Embrace the World

My big girl is not a very outdoorsy type. If she got her way she would stay inside her whole life, warm and cozy, preferably in front of the TV. No such luck :D We try to go outside as much as we can, it's sometimes difficult since we have strong winds here two out of every three days, but we try anyway. When we do get her out the door, she usually enjoys it. At least until she decides she has walked enough and starts whining for one of us to hold her. I never give up, I usually make her walk the whole way, but my husband has a "slight" soft spot for his girls and usually gives in at some point :D Oh, well, if you can't have your dad wrapped around your little finger - you're definately not playing your cards right (LOL).

These photos are from Christmas 2006. We went for a walk on the 26, after having been inside and eating too much heavy food on the 25. The weather reminded us of spring so we didn't need too heavy clothes, and Lovisa Lin was in her element. She was in her own little world, enjoying everything around her.

I used Birgit Kerr's new kit called His Heart plus a few other things of Birgit's. She has the most amazing designs and I can't believe how lucky I am to have gotten on her CT!

As usual, clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Birgit's shop at Scrapbook Graphics. And the layout book is by Blushbutter.

The Faces...

My older daughter has entered her early teens. VERY early teens since she only recently celebrated her 5 birthday. However, attitude-wise, she could just as well be 15! Granted, I can easily be a huge pain in the backside when I'm working my camera in everybody's faces - but she hasn't yet discovered that giving me the "attitude face" only makes me want to take MORE photos! She has such an adorable attitude face :D

I took these photos within a timespan of couple of minutes. She was getting really fed up with the camera (LOL).I used Monica Verkland's (Flow) kit called Powder. She is just an amazing designer and you can get her stuff at Digital Candy.As usual, clicking my layouts brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits (you might have to scroll down a bit, I've been uploading a LOT to DST lately!). Clicking the kit brings you to Monica's store at DC. The layout book is by Blushbutter.

Reiman Gardens

There is a wonderful butterfly garden in Ames where we stayed for the holidays. On December 31 we went there for the second time during our stay - and this time I didn't forget my camera :D It's fun to be inside a steeming hot greenhouse with tropical plants and all those gorgeous multi-colored butterflies of all sizes - and then look outside and see all the snow and people in arctic clothing walking by outside!

My girls loved being there. My little one was just in awe for the longest time, just looking at all the butterflies swirling by. My big girl had one wish, and that was for a butterfly to land on her and sit there for awhile. She stood still in awkward position, trying to get her hand close to the flowers where the butterflies were feeding themself - but they never did land on her. I did manage to get a photo of her where it appeared as if there was a butterfly on her hand - and here it is :D

I used Mistica Design's gorgeous Last Summer Days with a couple of butterflies from her newest kit, My Secret Garden. It's available at her store at Digital Scrap Girl.

As usual, clicking my layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credit. Clicking the kit brings you to Monja's store. And the layout book is by Blushbutter.

I feel pretty...!

No one is more into Matthildur Inga than Matthildur Inga herself. And that's saying a lot because I'm pretty sure she is the cutest little thing on earth along with her big sister :D But give her a mirror and she is all smiles and adoring faces! But I guess all babies are like that, aren't they?

And here she is, admiring herself immensely! I just had to use these lyrics from West Side Story - they just fit the layout to a tee!

I used Lauraskathi's Suzie kit and her Suzie glitter. This kit is filled to the brim with all kinds of goodies.

As usual: Clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits, clicking the kit brings you to Kathi's store at Funky Playground. And the layout book is by Blushbutter.

Make-up session!

Matthildur Inga loved my SIL while we were at their house over Christmas. She would just follow her around wanting to do everything she did, within her 18 month old abilities :D I think her favorite activity was the morning routine. Matthildur is an early riser and she would impatiently wait for my SIL to wake up, then they would brush their teeth together and then bring out the make-up box. They would sit together at the table and Jenny would apply make-up while Matthildur fiddled with the brushes. It was always fun to watch :D

I used NinaScraps' new kit, Clarisse. It's available at her stores at OScraps and NDISB. And she even has gorgeous QPs with this kit as well!

As usual, clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for layouts and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Nina's OScraps store. The layout book is by Blushbutter.

Geysir

Some photos from our trip to the Geysir area at the end of November. The weather was perfect for photos so I have a LOT to scrap!! I got RAKd by Heather Manning at the end of December and I got this gorgeous kit called Icy Sparkles. Since then I actually got to be a guest on her CT for the next three months!! Yeah - I love Heather's designs!Here's Heather's awsome kit. It just oozes frost and ice - and it's full of wonderful bling and sparkles!

As usual: Clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credita and clicking the kit brings you to Heather's store. The layout book is by Blushbutter.

The Ocean

I have a whole set of gorgeous photos of my older daughter that I took really early last spring at our beach. We don't have too many sunbathing beaches here in Iceland since the North Atlantic hardly gets warm enough :-) But we do have som great beaches for explorations and walking. And, we are lucky enough to have one of those beaches in a 5 minute walking distance from our house. We try to go there as often as possible with a bucket, a shovel and a bag to bring back our amazing finds :D

I used Laura Burger's new Techno Office kit and some stuff from her January Goodie Pouch. Laura is having a sale so the kit is only $2,99 - AND, there is a contest going on at her blog! Purchase the Techno kit, do a layout with it and post a link to the layout at Laura's blog in the comment section and you will be added to the hat for a chance of a $20 GC to her Treasures to Scrap Store. The contest will be completed at the end of January and layouts need to be submitted by the 25th of January. Go ahead, her stuff is gorgeous - so try your luck!

Clicking the layout book brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to it in Laura's store at TTS. It's also available in her other stores (links to the left). The layout book is by Blushbutter.

My little beauties :-)

These photos were taken in July 2006 when my little one was 7 days old. It was morning and we were just all relaxing in bed before starting the day. Anyway, my big girl started talking to her little sister, just about 3,5 year old important stuff so I decided to snap some photos. And while they were snuggling together, Lovisa Lin got the first smile ever from Matthildur Inga. Well, mom says it must be gastric spasms - but I KNOW this is a smile! Doesn't it look like a smile :D

The journaling on the first layout goes something like this:
"It's July 3, 2006 and Matthildur Inga is 7 days old. The sisters were in our bed together, chatting, and Lovisa Lin got the first smile! Then - and always!!"
And the journaling on the second layout goes like this:
"Do you see those people always looking at us and cuddling us Matthildur Inga? I'll tell you, they are not all bad. They can actually be pretty good if you play your cards right. I've managed to keep them wrapped around my little finger for a few years and I think it might get easier now that there are two of us. But don't tell them any of this!"
Rebecca Lynn has a new kit and that's what I used. It's so beautiful - soft and sweet and perfect for little girly layouts! It's called Cutie Pie and is available in Rebecca's store at OScraps.

Clicking the image brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to the kit in Rebecca's store at OScraps.

The Cool Chick!

I have two girls, one is 5 and the other is 1,5. There is always some competition, and since my little one just delights in teasing her older sister, there is also some bickering at times. But I love it - and they love each other to pieces and play really well together, at least sometimes :D Most of the bickering comes from the fact that my little one just loves to play with her sister's stuff - and here she just found Lovisa's favorite purple sunglasses. She thought she was just the coolest little thing - well, until Lovisa saw her wearing them...!I used a gorgeous collection of stuff from Sunflowers Designs. It's called Glorious Living and comes in separate packs with papers, flowers, ribbons and frames. It's so beautiful - and available at Anja's shop at Hot-Spot-Scraps.

As usual, clicking my layout book brings you to my DST gallery and clicking the papers brings you to Anja's shop. The layout book is by Blushbutter.

Guangxi Museum...

I'm trying to finish my China album. We took the trip in March 2004 - almost 4 years ago - and I want to get it in an album ASAP. These photos are from our last day in Nanning, which is the capital city of Guangxi Province. The plan was to go to the Provincial Museum, but when we got there, the museum was closed so we couldn't get in. We didn't care, though, because the garden was just gorgeous! We spent a lot of time just walking around and admiring the buildings and the surroundings before we sat down and enjoyed an outdoor dance performance by a Miao minority dance group. It was so much fun and at the end, everybody got to take part in the dancing - some with more grace than others :D

I used a gorgeous paper pack by Carla Phillips at Designing Moments. It's a perfect basic paper pack that you can go to again and again. And it's wonderful for blending - which I love to do!
Clicking the layout book (by Blushbutter) brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Carla's store at DM.

Too Cold...

I thought I'd post a couple of layouts of the dogs in my brother's household last weekend. It was cold and they really did not want to go outside - even though they had too!I used a paper pack by Kiki Halbert called Varsity Blues and her Frosted Steel Alphas. Her papers just continue to amaze me - they are absolutely gorgeous!

As usual, clicking the layout book (by Blushbutter) brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kits brings you to Kiki's new store at PDW.

Happy New Year!

Since this is going to be my last post of the year, I thought I would scrap photos of my daughters from New Years 2006. I used papers from Simonetta Rossi Designs new Auld Lang Syne paper pack, available at her Sophia Sarducci store.

As always, clicking my layouts brings you to my DST gallery for details & credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Sue's store.

Garden Fun...

We had such good weather this past spring and early summer that we spent a lot of time in the garden. Lovisa Lin loved it - of course, and the little one did too. It's just that she wasn't even 1 yet and not sure enough on her feet to walk and run on the grass! But she SO wanted to run and follow her big sister everywhere she went. Instead, she just sat in the grass and watched, and it was so obvious on her face how much she looked forward to being able to run too :-)

I used an amazing kit by Mistica Designs called Home Is Where The Heart Is. It's just gorgeous.
As usual, clicking my layouts will bring you to my DST gallery for details and credits and clicking the kit brings you to Monja's store at Digital Scrap Girl.

Fingerpaint...???

I know it's Christmas (LOL) but I just have to scrap!! Well, I didn't do these today, but had to post because I kinda like them! The photos are from a weekend in September when we had some friends for a visit. Lovisa Lin and her friend were into crafts all weekend and finally got to use the fingerpaints - and then Matthildur insisted (loudly!) that she got to paint too :-) We didn't have enough craft aprons for all of them, so Matthildur got an apron but the big girls got to take their shirts off with a promise of a bath when they were done. Of course, since they knew they were going in the tub right after, the temptation to paint more than the paper was just too great. And they had so much fun!

I used papers from Simonetta Rosetti Designs new Basic PaperPack with a whole lot of other awsome stuff from Sue's store.

As usual, clicking the layouts brings you to my DST gallery for details and complete credits. Clicking the paper pack brings you to Sue's gorgeous store at Sophia Sarducci's

Fall...

I've had enough of snowy layouts and Christmasy layouts so I decided to do a fall layout :-) I haven't scrapped nearly all of my fall photos so I thought I'd take a little break from Christmas. After all - tonight I'll have tons more Christmas photos to scrap, so it's probably my last fall layout possibility for a while LOL!

Anyway, these photos are from September 2006. We were walking home from my older daughter's friend's birthday party, the weather was awsome and the colors of the leaves were just perfect. It didn't hurt that my daughter was in such a good mood that she ran giggling back and forth and had such a good time!

I used a beautiful fall kit that Rebecca Lynn released this fall. It's called Harvest and has the most gorgeous colors.

As usual, clicking the layouts brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to it in Rebecca's OScraps shop.

Merry Christmas everybody!!

More China...

On our way to the Yilin Caves, which are just north of Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Province in China, our guide asked the driver to stop so that the group could enjoy the amazing scenery. And the scenery was just gorgeous - beautiful mountains and cliffs everywhere. He could have stopped at a slightly better place, though. Not that we minded at all, but there was road construction going on and trucks filled with sand and gravel flew past us on a nearby gravel road, leaving us pretty dusty :-) We did get to see some variations to vehicles and travelling equipment, everything from an ox cart to beat up old trucks. The people with the ox cart were really amused by us, since everyone was standing next to the bus - in the dust cloud - taking pictures of them :-)

I used a really cool kit from The Digi Twins called Sweet Grungyness. It's available at the Designing Moments store - and it's really beautiful. Oh, and the Digi Twins are also having a sale - 25% off everything in their store :-)
As usual, clicking the layouts brings you to my DST gallery - or it will when I'll get into DST again! In the meantime it brings you to my OScraps gallery for details and credit - you just have to scroll down one row of layouts :-) And clicking the kit brings you to it in the Twins' store.