Close To My Heart Autumn Album Retreat -- My Happy Place Layout

And in my own personal opinion...I saved the BEST for LAST.

This layout is my all-time FAVORITE.

I LOVE CIRCLES.

I LOVE MY HUSBAND.

I LOVE HAWAII.

I LOVE SKYDIVING.

I LOVE CLOSE TO MY HEART.

The pictures for this layout are ALL from the Close To My Heart Hawaiian Cruise 2012 Incentive Trip that I earned for selling, recruiting and mentoring.

Sean and I started our awesome adventure off by skydiving on Oahu before we boarded the ship.

IT...WAS...AWESOME.

We had it videotaped and LOVED every single second of it.

So when I saw the theme for this layout I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I hope you have enjoyed my Autumn Album Retreat Layouts as much as I do.




If you have 7 minutes and want to check out my husband and I skydiving it was AWESOME.

It was originally set to music, but the songs that were on there are copyrighted, and I don't want to get in to any trouble for posting so my husband removed those.

If you ever go to Oahu you NEED to check out Pacific Skydiving.

They were the BEST.

Tips & Techniques for This Layout: 

* Add a variety of paper behind overlays to create a detailed pattern

* Stamp on Cricut shapes for visual variety

* Use the filmstrip border to allow for additional photos on layout

* Use the negative space from the heart shape somewhere else on the layout

* Cut the bracket shape in half and place behind photo to add focus to photo

* Use "Hide Contour" feature in Cricut Craft Room (CCR) to create a modified overlay

* Add a touch of sparkle to the page with Shimmer Trim, which can be cut into strips, dovetailed, or used as is

* Layer the circles on top of each other using 3-D Foam Tape

Close To My Heart Products Used in This Layout:

 Artbooking Cricut Collection (Z1906) -- $99.00

Sarita Paper Pack (X7171B) -- $9.95

Framework Alphabet Stamp Set (E1027) -- $29.95

Geometric Backgrounds Stamp Set (D1559) - $17.95

3-D Foam Tape (Z1151) -- $5.95

Blending Pen (3174) -- $3.95

My Crush Best Day Ever Assortment (Z1887) $4.95

Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment (Z1701) -- $4.95

Bronze Shimmer Trim (Z1849) -- $4.95

Lagoon Houndstooth Washi Tape (Z1850) -- $4.95

Sparkles Clear Assortment (Z1752) -- $2.95

Base & Bling Word Accents (Z1882) - $5.95

(Sparkle & Shine Paper Pack -- Now Retired)

My Acrylix Take Note Stamp Set (D1574) from the Cricut Artbooking Collection

Cardstock Used -- Colonial White, Juniper, Whisper, Lagoon, Ruby, Sky, Smoothie and White Daisy

Inks Used -- Outdoor Denim, Smoothie, Ruby, Sky and Whisper

Previous Autumn Album Retreat 2013 Layouts:

Cover -- Capture the Details

1st Layout -- Hello World

2nd Layout -- The Sweet Life

3rd Layout -- Real Life Story

4th Layout -- Just Chillin'
5th Layout -- Today Is A Good Day

6th Layout -- Looking for Adventure

7th Layout -- Hello

8th Layout -- 10 Things I Love

9th Layout -- On This Day

To Purchase Any of These Great CTMH Products
Click on the Shopping Cart!

Happy Birthday to My Boys!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN and NATHAN!!

8 years ago today Nathan James was born.

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone.  It's been so fun to watch him grow into the little man he is.  I love watching him play flag football, wrestle, build Lego creations, play Skylanders and so many more things.  With each day he is getting smarter, stronger and taller...LOL!!  I miss my little baby boy, but I have loved watching him grow in to the little man he is today!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I LOVE YOU NATHAN JAMES!!

36 years ago today Sean James was born.

I made this great discovery just now that we have now been together half of his life!!  LOL!!

I can't imagine spending it with anyone else!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
I LOVE YOU SEAN JAMES!!

Merry Christmas!!

I wanted to take this time to wish you ALL a 

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your families!!

As Good As It Gets!!

We tried after getting our holiday pictures to get a nice non-Christmas family picture. Morgan did not want anything to do with that. In almost every picture she was crying or rubbing her eyes after crying. This was the best we could get. I love it because this is the true picture of how those two little munchkins interact!!

Kirwan Holiday Pictures!!

We had our Holiday Card pictures taken at Portrait Innovations again this year. The first one is the picture we chose to use. Morgan's smile is so contagious, and Nathan is sure manning up!! They are too cute!!

Mammoth Circle Super Heros - 12.9.09

After the Mammoth Circle men finished blowing out their driveways they all came over to have some pizza and let the kids run around after playing out in the new powder. Nathan and Noah both wanted to be Super Heros...problem was we only had one Super Hero Mask. So our neighbor, Rob, got creative using paper towels, packaging tape, scissors and markers. Here's what the end result was!! They look more like professional WWF wrestlers to me!! LOL!!

Happy Birthday Nathan & Sean!!

Today was my little man's 4th birthday
and my big man's 32nd birthday!!

We had a great day!!

Happy Birthday Boys!!

I love you both very much!!

Super Morgan!! 12.6.09

This Super Why Mask and Cape belong to Nathan, but if you know Morgan...she wants to do everything and I mean EVERYTHING that her big brother does. Which included bringing daddy the mask. Sean brought her upstairs to show me my Little Super Morgan!!

Hot Tubbin' It at the Wilderness - 11.16.09

Every year we go with a group of friends and stay the weekend at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells. Here are some of us enjoying the bathtub water. We always have a great time up there. So much so that this was the ONLY picture taken by us...bad Mommy & Daddy!! LOL!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Warm wishes for a bright season full of good cheer,
spent with all the people you hold most dear.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
Keeley, Sean, Nathan and Morgan Kirwan

It's Football Time!!

I'm not sure the exact date of these pictures, but it was in October. Auntie Shana took these for us. Unfortunately you can see I am a little outnumbered!! LOL!! The deal is whoever gets them up gets to get them dressed. Apparently Sean got them up that Sunday morning...hehehe.


Auntie Shana and Uncle Ben were over enjoying some kiddo/football time with us. They are so much fun to play with. Nathan loves when they come to visit!!

Daddy & Morgan - 10.28.09

Tonight we had a make-up swim class for Morgan. She has done a 360 in the pool. When we started a few weeks back she screamed the entire half an hour. Now, she is a happy, smiley baby in there. She loves the water now!! Well after swimming, we came home and ate some supper. When Morgan was done her and daddy had a little snuggle session. Here are some pictures!!

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!

You can see where she gets her big, blue-grey eyes from (Nathan too!!)

Got Popcorn? 10.24.09

On Saturday I ran a few errands while Sean stayed home with the kiddos. The night before he and Nathan had gone to see Where the Wild Things Are in the theater, and they brought some leftover popcorn home. When I got back, they were all sitting together watching a movie and eating popcorn. Morgan loves the stuff!! She can't get enough!! Isn't she so cute!!??!!

I love her hand up in the air just about to dive in for some more.

Big old mouthful!!

Chomping away!!

Looking all sweet and innocent!!

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe...

Who's eating all the popcorn?? Not me!! hehehe

Got the whole arm in the bag!!

YuM YuM!!