Askinosie Chocolate...

My journaling reads:

I believe that at the end of a long hard day all you need is a little Askinosie Chocolate and some puppy love!!!

This may be one of my favorite layouts! I just love that my little Yorkie is on my pink skirt wishing she could have some yummy chocolate too! Shawn Askinosie is a friend I met through my husband and not only is he a great chocolate maker he's a real sweetie also. I'm lucky to be able to live in the same city as his chocolate factory. So thanks Shawn for your great chocolate and for your friendship!

What do you mean NO?

I took a bone away from my Yorkie and this was her reaction. She looked at me like I was crazy! I stamped the title with white ink the used glitter glue to go over each letter. I loved the look it gave this layout. And I love this little Yorkie too!

MY 2 week date...

Still can't smile with an open mouth, but this is my first day with make-up and my 2 week appt. with my surgeon . Feeling and looking more like myself everyday!! My lower lip and chin still have NO feeling, which is driving me crazy!! You should see me eat my "soft" foods! I need a bib!! Well, it's not that bad but having no feeling, means not knowing if there is any food on your lip or chin!! LOL I've lost 9 of the 10 lbs I put on for the surgery, and seem to be losing about a pound a day! That's the best part of Jaw surgery, getting those last few pounds off that usually take forever!! However I don't recommend getting Jaw surgery!!

Again thanks for all your love and prayers!

-Nikki

Know This...

This is a sweet L/O I did about my little Yorkie and the mice we visit at Petsmart! Bella has never had any contact with a mouse, but this little saying on the L/O makes me laugh, b/c I know this is what she'd be thinking!!

Everything on this L/O is from Jenni Bowlin Aug. Kit except the Bazzill Cardstock, DMC floss, ColorBox Ink and Sharpie pen.

Hope you enjoy!!

MY brother's engagement party...

Here he is my brother DJ and his future wife and step-daughter. We all love Tonya and her baby, Alex. Welcome to the family!!

The dinner table...

The men all playing a PS2 game!

Hey get out of that bag...

My yorkie in the cat food sack!

Need I say more?

My new find...

I bought this old wooden create at a flea market and it's perfect for all my clear stamps. I've had a hard time trying to find a good spot for my clear stamps, and an easy way to flip through them. This seems to work great, and it slides right under my craft table!!

Not just another pretty face...

I did this layout so I could tell Savannah's story about going from an abused dog to a Pet Therapy dog. I worked so long a hard with her and learned so much about myself as well. My trainer, Linda Hoffert, was so great with both of us. If it wasn't for her we would not be the great therapy team we are today! Hope you enjoy Savannah's story!

Our get a way....

My sweet hubby took me to Cancun, Mexico for a week of R&R!! I'm going to have major surgery in 2 weeks and we wanted a little down time with just each other!! Also our 4 year anniversary was the following week, so we killed two birds with one stone! We had a great time, we met our first hurricane and her name was "DOLLY"! Here are some of the pictures from our great week away!

Hello Cancun!!

The view from our Cabana!!

The Lobby of our resort and my hubby having some coffee.

A romantic dinner in MEXICO!!

Hurricane "Dolly" hit us while we were in Cancun about a day and a half into our week vacation! It was really scary, and cool to watch such a huge storm hit. It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be, however the beaches were a mess and clean up was a lot of work for the hotel staff!

Very large turtle tracks, we got to see the eggs she laid. The resort we were at dug them up and put the eggs in a safer place. She laid over 100 eggs!!

My husband putting on the sunscreen, which we needed so very much of! He's such a cutie!

Our Cabana! We loved facing the ocean everyday and getting some good R&R in this lovely cabana.

Our Hotel...

Cancun, Mexico

The Royal Hotel

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I was looking through some of my older layouts and found this one I did three years ago. Not a lot has changed in my life, my hair is longer and more funky. I really should do a page about myself every year, it would be fun to compare my thoughts and feelings. I think I'll do that, right now while it's fresh in my head... I'll post it when I have it all finished!!

My Life...

I love this layout of Henry and Dan, my two boys! This is a VERY simple l/o but I really wanted the pictures to stand out and to tell the story!

While I was cooking dinner Henry was telling me a story and I picked up my camera, (always close by) and started snapping pic's of him. Then here comes his dad, and then the story ended with these two "horse" playing and me trying to get the rest of the story! I never got the story but I did get some great pic's of these two!!

A BEAUTIFUL SOUL

I did this page to honor my sweet Savannah. (I rescued her out of someones front yard, tied to a tree with her muzzle rubber band shut.) I asked the people that had her tied to the tree if I could have her, and they said I had to pay for her, so I gave them all the money in my wallet, $31.00!! This is the best $31 dollars I've EVER spent. Savannah needed a lot of work, and some TLC. She has now become a Pet Therapy dog for adults with disabilities and a rehab hospital. We are so luck to have her in our lives, she is a true angel and I wanted to show case her in all her beauty!!

Turtles

I did this layout for a challenge on the CKMB for the HOF Little Yellow Bicycle Challenge, and I won!! I got to pick any book off the CK website, and I chose Lisa B's new 50 moments book. I'm so glad I entered this challenge b/c I got to try stuff by LYB company for the first time. I loved all the papers, stickers and ribbon. Very good quality, the ribbon didn't fray when I cut it and the papers are nice and thick. I'll diffently use their products again.

This page I love b/c Henry and Bella are so intensely watching their Dad relocate a huge turtle we found. Hope you enjoy this L/O!!

-Nikki

Why I SCRAPBOOK...

I've been asked this question several times, and after much thought I have an answer, and I picked this layout to use as one of my examples.

I made this page for a CKC contest about a defining moment in my life. And I've had many defining moments but, lately it's been the death of my Yorkie. Who just died in March. So one main reason why I scrapbook is to express myself through photo's, color and words. When I see color, I feel, and most colors are an expression of emotion for me. So let me explain better, here in this l/o I those a black title due to the death of my dog, and black has many different feeling for me when paired with other colors, but in this l/o with the cream background it's sadness. I then chose a red checked pattern paper that makes me feel love, and sadness, but the checkered part feels more like confusion. So combined together would be grief. I tore the paper, b/c my heart was torn apart! I stitched half way around the paper with a light blue floss to give a feeling of softness, and I used white for the journaling and the name on the file, b/c it represents the loss of a young life (he was only 6 yrs old). So this is just a few things that go through my head when I put a layout together. This continues on below, with a picture of the file door open.

When I made this file folder, I decided to make it brown to keep it neutral and balanced on the layout. I used the the striped paper on the inside of the folder to pull in the red outside paper, which brought the feelings of love and loss, and the light blue stitching that brings in the softer side of my "boy" and it also reminds me of our tender moments together. I wanted the reader to stay in the "moment" of the journaling and not be distracted by the colors inside the file folder. I hope you all enjoyed reading my "WHY" I choose these colors or papers. Scarpbooking for me is more than just pictures on a paper, or even a "craft", it's my expression of my feelings at that moment in the form of the colors I use on my layouts and designs.

i*pod boy...

This is a L/O of my step-son @ my brother's wedding. He was so cute in his tux, just waiting around with his I-Pod. It's a very simple page but it was a fun one!

My little Froggie...

Isn't this guy the cutest. I just love him! Everytime I look at him I can't help but smile. Mr. Froggie holds all my sewing neddles and well just keeps me company in my craft room!

HOF 08 Photo Extraordinarie

"2 Peas in a Pod"

HOF 08 Inventive Tech.

Using a bread tie. "Sweet*tooth"

HOF 08 (1 of 4 Favorites)

"Crabboy"

HOF 08 (1 of 4 Favorites)

"Heartbreaker"

HOF 1 of 4 Favorites

"Believe"

HOF L/O 1 of 4 favorties

Halloween with the pig!

Check out my Slide Show!

NIKKI'S FAVORITE THINGS FOR SUMMER 08!

These "willy's" made by Chooka; my black Converse shoes, (see below); OPI nail polish: "Let's See The Ring" and "Black Satin"; Music: Kate Nash; Books: anything by James Patterson; Food: Nutella and Pears; Drinks: AMP energy drink and Green tea!

Me and my wonderfully sweet husband! We were @ my mom's house playing around with our camera! I love taking self portraits of myself with my husband and family members! I love the close up imagines!

We were all together for my brother DJ's 27th birthday. Scroll down for my of the party pic's!

The VERY handsome men in my family...(from left to right) Dan, my husband, DJ, the b-day boy, holding Alex, our dad, Denny, and my other 2 brothers Barron and Ryan!

My brother, DJ and I!

Happy Birthday!

Here is my brother with his future wife and daughter!

My mom made this 6 layer German Ch. Cake for my brothers bithday! Not only was it huge but it was WONDERFULLY GOOD!!!!!!! Good Job mom!!

Well, after 16 years of practicing law my husband has retired! Saying goodbye to his partners and staff has been hard on all of them. Tears have been shed and the goodbyes were difficult, but the dream of something more is just around the corner for Dan. I'm very proud that he has decided to do this, he has needed a change for some time and had lost his desire for law. I can't wait to see what's next for him. I love him very much and just want him to be happy!

This is my beautiful niece Taylor!! She has the "Kinney" cheeks for sure!! My sister's and I all have the same cheeks, we got them from our dad! I've been called "chipmunk" not because someone thought I was cute but, because of my cheeks. Now I love them and I'm so happy baby Taylor has them also.

This is Alex, my brother's, girlfriends, daughter! We all love her and enjoy her. (Alex is on fire most of the time.) Miss Alex spent last Wednesday with me. We played outside, had snacks, lunch, went on a walk, played on a swing set, went to greet Henry from the school bus, took a bath, and then went to dinner. We spent the entire day together and had so much fun. Alex is all of 4 years old, and going on 16! I'm having a garage sale this weekend and Miss Alex will be there selling orange juice. I look forward to seeing her grow up and hope that my brother will make this little girl his daughter. Her mom Tonya is always a joy to be with and a great mother, I'd love to have her as a sister in law too!

SCRUFFY!

Isn't this little guy the cutest thing ever! We've been dog sitting him since last Wednesday, his mom and dad went on vacation. His name is Scruffy and he has stolen our hearts! It's been nice to have a male dog around again. He weights about 5 lbs, but he thinks he weights about 500 lbs. A true terrier! Scruffy will be leaving us tonight, and we will be so sad. But, I know he will be so excited to see his mom and dad. Thanks for a great time Scruffy and you're always welcome in our home!!

CKC in STL!!

Well...I'm back from CKC in STL! I had a wonderful time, this is my favorite thing that I made. I met up with some MB-ers from CKMB and we shopped and cropped together! I just had a great time. I hope that anyone who is a scrapbooker gets the chance to go and take some classes.

Saying goodbye...

Well, as most of you can see from some of the pictures, we had three dogs, Willie-B, Bella, and Savannah. However, we had to put Willie-B to sleep a couple of weeks ago. (Willie-B had a failing heart, and enlarged liver.) And I just couldn't bring myself to download pictures or write about it. I guess I thought if I didn't write about it then it didn't happen! This is the last picture of the three of us, just a few days before he died. I had him before I married my husband, he was my sweet pea, my heart and soul. I will forever miss him and love him. I still cry and have to work at getting back to a normal life. I hope he is healthy, running, and playing in heaven!