Showing the Love

Have I mentioned lately that I really do have a great husband?!?! He is sweet and kind, generous to me and others, eve to fault according to his fortune cookie. Very loving and he is crazy about me or some would say just plain, crazy... tee hee. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I decided to whip up a little card for my main squeeze this year. I have to admit I am the gal that actually gets a little hot under the collar and not in a good way, if flowers show up at my door on Valentine's Day. I prefer flowers for no reason at all. I don't want flowers when everyone else is getting flowers... pffttt.  No offense to those of you who will receive and love your flowers on Valentine's Day, I bet they smell lovely. ;-)

So anyhoo, off of that soapbox and on to, the lovely card that I made from the "Hearts of Love" collection from Sonshine Graphic Studios. The lovely pinks and whites are perfect for creating the perfect Valentine creation whether it be for scrapbooking or for cardmaking.

Professional photography courtesy of Lori Boynton of Lori Boynton Photography. Enjoy! And don't forget to show your sweetie some love this Valentine's Day<3.

A Little Morning Sweetness

Good morning and here is hoping and praying that your morning is a little extra sweet. Here is a fun layout that I designed with the "Hearts of Love" digital package from Sonshine Graphic Studios. It is perfect for creating your Valentine pages and I will show you a sweet card that I made for my hubby soon:-)

One of the things that I love, love, LOVE about digital scrapbooking is that I no longer have to drag all of the scrapbooking tools, papers and everything-in-between out just when I wanted to make a page. Plus have the little hands in all the brads, ribbon, adhesive and on the paper cutter. So, I am going to admit that I made this page with my baby girl, Sweet Cheeks, I bet you can pick her out without me telling you she is the baby, with her on my lap.... Did you just shed a tear in your coffee? Ahhhh, hug your babies, or your puppies, or your friends, or your neighbor or your co-worker but for Pete-sake just hug someone.... share the SWEET-HEARTS of LOVE!

 

I have to give a huge shout out to one of my most favorite peeps in the whole wide world and a girlfriend that I could not live without, Lori Boynton of Lori Boynton Photography. She is the wonderful photographer who captured the images featured today as well as the amazing mugshot headshot of me. I promise you she is a magician behind the camera!

 

That's all for today... don't forget those hugs<3!

 

 

 

 

My New Adventure.....

Hi! I am Betsy Bowen and I am a wife to a wonderful, supportive husband and full-time mom to two beautiful girls who were adopted from China. Family fun and everyday life is my primary focus and passion of scrapbooking. I began traditional scrapbooking back in 1998, completing vacation albums that my husband and I took. After becoming parents through adoption, my focus shifted to keeping traditional-annual albums as well as writing our oldest daughter’s lifebook , which is her story of her adoption from China. I love creating memories out of the ordinary and the extraordinary and knowing our daughters will have those memories for many years to come.

Short on time, a busy life and waiting for “The Call” to travel to China for our second daughter, this is what led me to switch to digital scrapbooking.  I have been using solely Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 since 2010. I love the speed and ease of digital but also the creativeness that comes in using different design kits such as Sonshine Graphic Studio. I joined the Design Team of Sonshine Graphic Studio in January 2013.

When not scrapbooking, keeping up the family blog at cupcakeandsweetcheeks.blogspot.com, playing with the kids or taking the girls to dance class, I also enjoy church activities, being with family, spending time with some amazing girlfriends, going to the beach, living a healthier, more active lifestyle and cooking.

So, what does all of this mean? It means that I am wonderfully blessed to be working with Sonshine Graphic Studio and their amazing products and I get to see design some wonderful creations like this one below from their "Panda Love" line. I love the bright colors and versatility of this line along with the cute, cuddly Panda bears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life's a BEACH!

One of our family's favorite things to do is go to the beach.... living in Florida and all, one would think it would get old but it never does. Whether they they are the white, sandy beaches of the gulf coast or the rougher waves of the east coast, we love the beach and the salty water ( not the sand in the swimsuit part) but almost every other part that goes with it.

My girls love the beach and the water. They have grown up around the water and on the days that it is not packed, they pretty much have free-rein. There isn't really anything they can't do. Cupcake is pretty brave and enjoys the boogie board now. Sweet Cheeks likes the boogie board too as long as it it wedged in the sand and doesn't really move. It is really pretty cute and it makes her happy!

So one of the highlights of our summer was the family beach trip up to South Carolina. We headed north and Nana, PawPaw, Uncle and Aunt Lisa headed south. We landed in a beach house and spent the week having a blast!

Here are a few pics:

I Can't Believe....

it has been a whole year since I last posted on the blog. It has been a busy year, but an INCREDIBLE year! We just celebrated one more year with Sweet Cheeks. She is now THREE years old and it seems like she has always been a part of our family. She is no longer a baby, although she will ALWAYS be my baby and I am pretty sure she knows that. On the flipside, I tell Cupcake the same thing and I am pretty sure she knows she will always be my baby, too.

Here are a few highlights from the past year: We have made several trips to West Virginia to visit family and friends, we decided to host an exchange student from China and she will be with us until June 2013, we went on a family beach vacation with Nana, Pawpaw, Uncle and Aunt Lisa, Sweet Cheeks started dance class and loves it, we went to West Virginia for Thanksgiving and had lots of family here for Christmas. Cupcake continues to do well in school.

Life is good.... no. Life is great and we are incredibly blessed!

Here are a few pics. Enjoy!

(Professional Photography Courtesy of Lori Boynton of Lori Boynton Photography)

One Year Ago, Today:-)

We were flying from Beijing to Nanchang, preparing to meet our Sweet Cheeks the following day. However, we learned once arriving in Nanchang, that the babies were on their way NOW! Yahoo!!! The waiting was finally over.

The past year has flown by in so many ways, yet it is so hard to imagine life without Sweet Cheeks in  other ways. She was the one we waited AND waited for AND trusted in God's plan for and she is PERFECT for our family. I am so glad to be on this side of life with Sweet Cheeks and here is a little reflection on what life is like with her...

Sweet Cheeks is sweet and sassy, all rolled into one. She is independent and wants to do everything all by herself. She is enamored with her big sister, Cupcake or more affectionately known to Sweet Cheeks as "SISSY!" Sweet Cheeks loves to be outside swinging, playing in the sand or running from one spot to the next. She loves to run and by that I mean, she runs EVERYWHERE... inside, outside, at the park, on the beach and everywhere in between. If she is not running, then she is bouncing or cuddling. She loves to dance and listen to music. She is learning to count and has recognized that "B" is for her name... so sweet! She loves to help around the house, feed the dog treats and hold your hand. Most importantly, Sweet Cheeks is a joy to our family. She brings laughter, fun and excitement to our house and makes me be a better Mommy every. single. day.

I cannot imagine a day without YOU as my baby girl. Happy Sweet Cheeks Day, sweet girl! I love you so much<3<3<3

Life at the Beach... ahhhhh, Refreshing!

This past week, Cupcake was out of school for Spring Break so we headed to the beach for the week with our friends. It was a great week with lots of fun in the sun, laughter from both the children AND the adults and great memories were made. We had fun browsing a Salt Water Taffy store, eating some yummy seafood, splashing in the great Atlantic Ocean and even had high hopes of seeing the last launch of the space shuttle, Endeavour, which did not happen.

We even went up in a Ferris Wheel on the Boardwalk. That is something I have not done since I was a kid and I have to say, I had moments, initially, that I really wanted to barf. But, I didn't. After the butterflies left my stomach, I was able to enjoy the moment and the wonderful evening views of the blue skies. I have to admit, I am a girl where misery loves company and was relieved to hear that the other adults in our group were also a litle uneasy.

We also had a visit from the Tooth Fairy while we were on vacation.... Cupcake lost her second top front tooth. I love that look and the sound of her lispy words. Too cute!  I also celebrated my 37th Birthday. Not sure how I got to be 37 years old but I am and I love my life. I am married to a wonderful husband who adores me, I have two beautiful daughters that make my heart explode with love for them and I blessed with wonderful family and friends. Life is good! 

Sweet Cheeks did great on her first big adventure away from home. She is such a sweet girl and easy going (most of the time).  She loved digging and playing in the sand, splashing in the surf and crawling all over the beach. She loved the seashells by the seashore, eating snacks on the beach and even managed to catch a power nap under the umbrella.  Followed up with a great game of Putt-Putt with gorgeous oceanviews, where I got *two* holes in one - WOO HOO baby, I was on a roll, a little bit of shopping and quality time with family and friends and it was a great week!  Back home now and back to reality. Six weeks of school left and then summer vacation will be here.