Scraptivated by Life...

A Little Bit of Punky with a Side of Soup

2012-01-28T21:52:00.000-08:00

Jilllibean, that is :). Do you know that Jillibean Soup makes my heart swoon?? Well, it totally and completely does! So much, in fact, that it got me over a serious case of scrapper's block. Man, I haven't had the block this bad in, well, I'm not sure how long... The last page I made was the Authentique layout back in November. I started a layout (with said favorite JBS) over winter break, but I just wasn't feeling it. So, it sat.... and sat.... and sat... Finally the deadline for my latest Punky Sprouts project came up, and I sat on it... and sat on it... and, well, you get the picture. I've come to realize that I scrap pics first and foremost. If I don't have pics, it totally doesn't matter what amazing new product I have. Those pics have got to come first. And I just didn't have the pics to inspire an entire album. So, I finally decided to make a cute little banner. Once I had a plan (and was able to not worry about the pictures to put with an album) everything else came super easily:). Thanks God, 'cause I was worried I may NEVER scrap again. Like, was making plans for how to get rid of my stuff and convert the scrap studio back into a guest room!
So, here is my adorable little banner...

This one is made from a Teenie Beanie album. I used the canvas page to make some extra embellies so I could keep with a symmetrical look.

and a couple of close-ups of some of the flowers....

Lil' Paper Blossom folded and misted on top of a machine stitched Lil' Stem

Lil' Stem hand stitched into a flower

and the cork banner...

Punky Cork

The main picture didn't turn out very spectacularly (is that a real word?). It was dark by the time I had everything all wrapped up and ready to get any pics. Even in Photoshop, I still couldn't get the color to come out very well.

I also finally finished up the layout I started almost a month ago. I still need to grab a pic of it and post it up here soon. I realized that I did that one because of a Scrapbook Trends call for beach layouts. Funny that it didn't even end up being one I submitted (fingers crossed, 'cause I sent it about 6 others!)

Thanks for stopping by my little ole' blog. It's been 3 years now. I always have good intentions of being around here more, but life sometimes gets in the way of documenting life, I suppose:).

<3 c

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-12-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

It truly is, you know! I feel so blessed as I sit and write this little post. Christmas was very good to us. Loads of gifts. Tons of family time. Even a little FaceTime (newly discovered cool tool for us!)

Techie gadgets certainly did play a big role around here. Hubby got a new Kindle Fire to read and play on. Miss A got herself a lovely new DSi (even in pink,). As for me, this post is being brought to you via my gorgeous new iPad :). Yep, a happy, techie group here. I will need to figure out the whole piece of transferring and/ or uploading pictures, (and I do need to get a fancy bluetooth keyboard) but its pretty cool to just got on and go. Hoping this will help me make my way to this poor little blog every once in awhile...

I hope each of your holiday seasons was a blessed one!

It's That Time of Year :)

2011-12-16T21:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is definitely C-R-A-Z-Y busy, but, strangely, it's the time of year that allows our little family to settle in together and truly enjoy some "us" time. Even though I'm working a second job at my LSS, I can consider myself officially on vacation for 2 entire weeks! Happy dancing here:) We are nowhere near ready for the holiday season, but I really do just feel at ease. I didn't even bring home a drop of school work with me (not to say I won't regret that come the New Year and school's return) but for now, I can sit back and enjoy my gorgeous family.

I have a little project up on the Punky Sprouts blog today. I made some of these as gifts for some of my teaching colleagues. I couldn't believe how easy they were to put together.

There's a bit of a tutorial as well. Hope you'll go over there and take a peek!

Tomorrow morning is J's friend party. I need to remember to bring my camera and get some good pics. It took quite awhile to decide, but finally, he chose to go to the movies and then pizza. Arthur Christmas and Pizza Hut with a dozen 7 and 8 year olds should be a blast, don't you think? :)

Thanks for stopping by,
<3 C

Punky and Pink Paislee

2011-12-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

School's been pretty crazy this year. So many changes and so many things to keep up on. So my poor little blog here has taken a back seat. Sometimes you just need to let something go. I can't beat myself up about it. I know in the grand scheme of things it's the least of my concerns. I just hate seeing so many new DT calls out there and seeing one of the top items listed as having an "active" blog. I know, I need to get out into cyberspace more, but you know, I work outside the home. There's only so much I can do... Anyhow, thanks for letting me get that of my chest.

OK, how about a scrappy project? I know there is snow in many parts of my half of the globe, but I do have a great Halloween project Lynn just posted of mine on the Punky Sprouts blog. I got SO much stuff with this fabulous product swap with Pink Paislee! Seriously, it was so easy to put the album together once I had a chance to sit down with it. I was even able to pick out some cute pics of my little cuties from a couple of Halloweens ago :).

Punky Sprouts Teenie Beanie Sprout album

featuring Pink Paislee Phantom

I don't really ever think of myself as much of a shabby or vintage scrapper, but this collection was so much fun. I'm totally going to do some layouts with it. Sorry for the glare in some of the photos. I only had glossy paper left at home and just couldn't find an angle that didn't catch some glare.
I just realized that this is my first blog post on my new computer. Hopefully this will help with finding time to post. With our desktop (piece of junk), it would literally take me more than an hour to upload a post that had any pictures in it. That doesn't even count the time it took if I had to upload and then edit the pics first! Yikes! No wonder I haven't been around here much! Well, with that and winter break coming in a week (YIPEE!) I will have a bit of extra time on my hands :) Happy dance here! Now all I need is to know there are some followers out there that haven't forgotten about me!

Thanks for hanging around!
C

Punky Sprouts and Paper Trunk

2011-09-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you cross two talented, Pacific Northwest creative geniuses? A gorgeous product swap, of course!

I was so excited to find out that the Punky girls were going to get to use Carrie's beautiful Paper Trunk creations! Besides the fact that Carrie is an UBER-talented designer, she is one of the funniest and sweetest people I've ever met!

We were sent a few lines to play with, but I decided to use the Rockabilly line. Since my style tends to be pretty clean-lined, I wanted the challenge of using some bold prints and colors for this.

Materials: Paper Trunk- Rockabilly paper, flair, and chipboard, and Carson alphas; Punky Sprouts- Punky Playground (stars), Lil' Stems, and Lil' Blooms; Maya Road- wood bingo motif; other- button

I love to give my pages loads of dimension, and that was so easy and fun to do with the Paper Trunk and Punky Sprouts combination! Once I had decided where my pieces would be placed, I began tacking everything down. I avoided using adhesive down the center of the strips on the right so I could easily stitch the gathered Punky Stem down. I used burgundy thread on this to give it just a bit more pop in color too. After I used 3-D adhesive to give some dimension to other elements, I added some Glossy Accents to both my Carson alphas and the chipboard guitar (covered in more Rockabilly paper). This also gave the layout a fun mix of textures with the canvas, flair, and Punky Playground stars (simply punched from a sheet of Playground).

This layout was also from a sketch for Sketchy Thursdays. I love their sketches!

If you didn't come here by way of the Paper Trunk or Punky Sprouts blogs, be sure to get over there and collect your words from the last few days! There's a give-away :D Also, since I want to spread the Paper Trunk love, I have a few Rockabilly goodies to give away here! Just make sure you are a follower of my blog and leave me a comment! I'll pick a winner next weekend!

Bella Blvd. Fun

2011-09-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

Well, no official love for me from Bella Blvd. No worries though. I loved all the creations I made for them and will plan to give it a go next time. It's been crazy busy with school and whatnot, so I'll just share my layouts I created for the call :)

Like I said, next time, right?! Just gives me more opportunity to use gorgeous product I guess :)

Be sure to stop by later this week...

Way exciting stuff and goodies to be won!

Til next time,

~ C <3

No, Really... I'm Still Here!

2011-08-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

Dang... I didn't realize that I hadn't blogged in nearly two weeks! I guess in looking back at the time, it makes complete sense. Between finishing the patio (seriously, we did finish! Pics coming soon!), Paul's family being here and celebrating the big 4-0 with them all, topped off with the official back to work official mark of summer's end, yeah, I guess I had other things going on. :) I promise to get some pics of all of it up soon. Just stick it on the list of things that still need to be finished!

I actually did check off some stuff from my list today. Last month I remembered to submit some work to Scrapbook News and Review (and was fortunate enough to have them pick up both layouts I sent in!). But I had also been meaning to get back into submitting to the paper mags as well. So, today I finally sent in submissions for about a half dozen layouts to Scrapbook Trends. Now I remember why I don't do that more often. It takes a LOT of time. No, really. If someone out there in ScrappyLand had a better strategy on how on earth I can not spend the better part of my afternoon doing all of that, I seriously need to hear it! Anyhow, we'll see how it goes. I think it's usually a couple of months until you hear. Ugh. I hate waiting. Patience is definitely something God gives me many opportunities to practice with.

In between all that's been going on outside of my craft room, I have been able to work on a few things. The projects are going into a few new DT calls though. Bella Blvd. is the big one I'm working on. All items must be "never-before-seen," hence the lack of reveal here! Once I hear, I'll share them with you all. Besides that, there are a couple of others I'm gonna give a shot to. Wish me luck (and patience!) I'm working on that whole "glass is half full" idea. I'm tired of the cup getting empty, so I guess it's my job to start filling it up if I want anyone else to fill it :)

Thanks for stopping by- til next time,
~ <3

Monday?? Hmmm... Yeah, Monday

2011-08-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure it's Monday :) That's one of the funny things about having the summers off. You often aren't quite sure of what day it is. I haven't completely decided if that's a good or bad thing! It must be Moday though, since yesterday was church and our first meeting for our mini book club on the book Grace Based Parenting. It was a great day yesterday, filled with friends and conversation. We didn't get too far into the book, but it was so nice to talk about our own upbringings and how those affect how we are/did raise our own children. I'm truly looking forward to where this all heads. I know it won't give me all the answers to millions upon millions of questions I have, but having something to force me to slow down and think about what and why I do what I do will totally help.

The patio work continues... I don't know if it looks like much work has been done, but it certainly feels like we've been working non-stop on it.

This is where we began- cutting about 20 square feet of sod, relocating some, and bringing some to the dump.

Then the retaining wall started going up. LOTS of leveling going on here. Blechh... so time consuming! And talk about feeling like you're getting nothing done!

Then all the walls were up and packing gravel started going in. (This is where we are currently- we didn't get enough gravel ordered, so working has stopped for now since the local landscape material place is closed today.)

Since the patio plan included a firepit, the kids had been asking for days when they'd get to make some s'mores. So who would we be to deny them of that treat when the pit itself was finished?? We simply put the camp chairs on the dirt and roasted away :)

Wish us luck that we can finish it all up by the big party Thursday! I'm off to do some more party shopping. Patio or not, I should probably feed and water these people who must love my dear hubby!

Thanks for stopping by and leaving me some love- it makes my day to read your sweet comments!
<3 C

Some Randomness for Wednesday

2011-08-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Not a ton going on around here... P has already headed back to work for the school year. And me... Well, I'm just in complete denial that we are now less than 1 little bitty month away from the first day of school. Wow. It always goes SO fast. Camping trips have been put on hold the last several weeks, and it appears as if it may stay that way until Labor Day. We've started a rather large yard project that's sucking up a good amount of time and a HUGE part of our cash flow. (Do you even know how much $$ it costs to take sod to the dump?? More than we thought!) In hopefully under a week, we'll be the proud owners of a beautiful brick patio, complete with firepit. We're having a big "40" birthday extravaganza next week for the old guy, er... my beautiful husband, and we hope to have it all done by then. We'll see how it all goes. Some of our family may have to be ~~sucked~~ ~~coerced~~ bribed into helping a bit to make it happen.

There's a ton of cleaning to be done today. I think we're going to have someone out soon to clean the carpets, so I figure I need to get a few rounds of vacuuming in before the appointment :) Once P gets home, it'll be back to the patio work. The temps are a little cooler today and tomorrow, (low 80s) so that will bring huge relief and make the work loads easier. Once the first round of vacuuming is done, I'm hoping to get a lil' scrappy again. I'm still waiting on my latest Punky Sprouts box to come, but in the meantime, I figure I'll play around a little with some Jillibean Soup and Bella Blvd.

Speaking of Jilllibean... Here are a couple of layouts I did recently.

This one is extra special, as it was one for my PageMaps assignment for July. I love Becky's maps, and it is such an honor to design for her. Once again, I was especially honored as one of her top picks for the newsletter! The background is Punky Playground (currogated cardboard) that I exposed and then painted. The rest of the papers are Jillibean Soup Watermelon Gazpacho from my PersonalScrapper kit for June.

I love this one too! Something about those papers just makes me swoon and think of everything summer. I'm going to have to buy some more of this paper soon, cuz I'm not sure how much more of my PS kit is left :(. This was based on a Sketchy Thursdays sketch. Since we'd been on vacation, I missed the deadline to qualify for the week, but I'm planning on spending some more time over there soon!

Well, the vacuum is not magically turning itself on (anyone got one of those cool Roombas?) so I suppose I should go take care of that. I just need to remind myself that I can play, er-um. work, in my craft room when I'm done :)

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to say hello! (I'll go surfing some of your blogs tomorrow, I promise!)

<3 C

Some Fun with Best Creation

2011-07-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

So I have to admit that I'd never really noticed the glittery company that is Best Creation until Punky Sprouts got to do a product swap with them last month. So imagine my surprise when I saw a design team call come up on ScrapCalls a few weeks back! The bad news was that it was right in the middle of all of our camping adventures. And the extra bad news was that I didn't have any other lines than the Back 2 School line I'd used for my Punky album. So... I decided I would double-duty my usual visits to LSSs while on vacation as a search for the latest and greatest in Best Creation goodness. Fortunately, I had some luck at an LSS I'd been to before in Warrenton, OR called Scrapbook Connection. Once I had some papers picked (so sad that they didn't carry any embellies), I could start planning out in my head some picture possibilties to scrap. Here's what I ended up creating...

From the gorgeous line, Travel Forever

Yeah, I totally staged those photos... Wouldn't you?? :) I think this might be my favorite line of theirs so far. But then again, I'm pretty partial to aqua and brown :) I even snuck in a little Punky with the canvas flower made from a Punky Stem!

photos by Jeff Tibeau

This one was one I acutally realized I had paper for. I can even find it listed on their site as a paper line, but it's theirs! This one is from Mr. & Mrs. I feel terrible, because I'd actually purchased this a couple years ago to scrap photos of my brother's wedding. Well... technically, these are from the wedding, just not of the bride and groom... *blush* Guess now I'll have to go back and do some more! It's also using another amazing sketch from my favorite sketch artist, Ms. Becky Fleck! Love her stuff <3

Thanks for stopping by!

<3 Carly

*note- I've been working on this silly stinkin' post for quite some time... Either Blogger is having issues, or something's up with my laptop. It's time to LET IT GO and just push "publish"!

Home Again...

2011-07-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

And it feels so nice! We realized once we made our way home, that we've never been away from home (vacation or otherwise) for this amount of time before as a family. We had an amazing time in the beautiful state of Oregon, so much that we said we could easily imagine ourselves living there. I don't think the rest of our family would be very encouraging, but it's still a gorgeous place...

My scrappy endeavors are going to need to wait for a few days, so I thought I'd post a few of my favorite pics from our trip instead...

I've still got a ton of editing to do, but I wanted to share a few anyhow. One of those pretty blondes doesn't belong to me, but the expression on her face when I took the pic of her and the sea star was just too cute! (She belongs to the family we always camp with!)

It was an awesome trip, but it really does feel great to be home. Now it's back to the normal grind... Sometimes normal is good :)

Thanks for stopping by!
C

Oh My! Summer is Here!

2011-07-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

And boy did it come on fast! It's been wild and crazy- it always is these first few weeks! Between getting school wrapped up (two kids and two adults worth this year), Miss A's birthday party, and the 4th of July festivities, it's a bit chaotic... I always want to blog more than I do, but when I finally get home and the computer is near, it just doesn't seem to happen.

Fortunately, I have been able to get a bit scrappy lately (for this slow-poke, anyhow!) During the month of June, the Punky Sprouts girls got to do a product exchange with the girls over at Best Creation. Like so often happens, I start out having nearly no idea of what to do. That smart chic Shelly sent me the Back 2 School line from BC, but unfortunately, since I work, I literally have first day photos only for J, and the same for A. That didn't quite scream mini album. So finally the idea hit me. While I was looking at the cute little chipboard embellies, stressing, because I don't HAVE pics for all these cute things, I realized it... Just have J journal his OWN stuff! What a concept! a book without pictures?? I am a genius! (ok, maybe I just finally let some of those other blogs soak into my rather thick skull...) I'm still working on getting him to finish up the journaling, but here's what I have for now.

For anyone not familiar with Punky Sprouts albums, the are multi-media. The pages included in this Trunk Punky album are chipboard, currogated cardboard, canvas and acrylic. There is just so much you can do with them! I am learning so much about misting and painting, and loving every bit of it!

Now, I do have every intention of blogging more often this summer, but I need to find a good iPhone app that works with Blogger and lets me upload my pics too. If you happen to know of something, leave the info here for me please!

I hope you're all enjoying your summer (or winter for my southern hemi friends!)
Much love~ <3

Scraptivations Challenge 6!

2011-06-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

I feel so happy when I get to play along at Scraptivations! I always have high hopes to join in all the challenges, but since I have a spectacular DT to help out, I guess the pressure to create is off a bit... This LO is all the more exciting since I made it on a little getaway I went on this weekend. Some friends and I went up to a cabin on a lake just outside of town and had our own little scrapfest :) I got a few other things done (and I also have some pics to share from the last several weeks) but I just have a minute to share this one for now! Be sure to head over to Scraptivations to see the challenge, the other girls' projects, AND to check out the fabulous June sposor! *happy dance*

Here's my LO...

This gorgeous Echo Park paper from the For the Record line is from the PersonalScrapper.com April kit and the pics are from our first camping venture of the season.

Alas, I can almost taste summer... 9 school days. 8.5 since the last day is a half day. Scratch that... 8 and a third- we only go for just more than 2 hours... not that I'm counting or anything... :) Hopefully blogging will be less of a chore then. It's not that I think of it as a chore. It's just not been priority for a bit. Well, we'll see if a touch more free time will fix it :)

Happy summer to all of you!
~Til next time <3

Welcome TaDa and Punky Friends!

2011-05-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Welcome to my stop on the Dynamic Duo Blog Hop! So glad you've stopped by to get a bit more info on my layout using Punky Sprouts elements teamed up with TaDa.

(And if you happened to stop by just because, I hope you'll check out the rest of the hop!)

For my project, I was able to use the TaDa Creative Studios line Big Top and add some Punky fun to it.

At first, I was a bit nervous about using this line in the traditional sense. It has such great, fun circus pictures on it, but all of my circus pics were a completely different color set. So I started looking closer at the B sides. The patterns and colors are just gorgeous and ended up matching so well with some of my summer/water pics from a couple of summers ago!

I thought I'd give you a few pointers on how I added my Punky embellishments to this LO. I used the Punky Petals as the banner. Here, I simply misted them with some Tattered Angels Mist in Key Lime Pie. If you haven't misted much, this is so simple on canvas. It can take a bit of time to dry, but you can also blot some of it and make some cool designs (see my album in the post below this one.) Then I lightly adhered them, mostly at the points, and ran it through my sewing machine.

I also played around with a little Punky Playground. See the stars? Those are punched out of the Playground! Now, it doesn't work with all punches, but the trick is to squish down the section you are working with. If it goes in and your hands can make it happen, you've got some cool cardboard embellies! I also misted these in Key Lime Pie, Patina, and my new favorite, Tiger Lily! Don't forget that you can distress the Playground too. I think you can see that on some of the other projects!

Now if it's a blog hop, it wouldn't be right not to have some goodies, dontcha think? And what's a blog hop without some chances to win free goodies? So here are the rules:

Rules for a chance to win FREE products

Each day go to the following 2 blogs:

TaDa

Punky Sprouts

Post comments to show your participation. New inspiration will be posted daily. At the end of the 12 day hop, please go to each manufacture’s blog and post a comment telling them your favorite album style and favorite paper collection used in the samples shown during the hop. Your name will then be entered in a drawing to win both! 3 winners will be picked!

Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

My First Punky Sprouts Album :)

2011-05-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggy friends! Yes, I'm really sucking it up with the blog lately... (funny, didn't I say I would give it MORE attention??)Well, if nothing else, at least I've been a bit scrappy :) There's loads going on as spring has finally sprung around here-even if a lot of that happened to be the April showers, so I'll get straight to the scrappiness...

My latest scrappy endeavor is my very first Punky Sprouts album! For the month of April, the Punky gals got to team up with My Little Shoebox- is that a fabulous treat, or what?! I am still debating whether or not I can part with this album, so I haven't put pictures in it yet. I thought it might be a great album for one of the new moms I know, but right now, I'm just being a bit greedy!

Here it is featuring Home Sweet Home...

Got to get messy with some paint and lots of mist!

I used my VersaInk pad to stamp the mls acrylic stamp birdies on here, sprayed with mist, then gently blotted the canvas.

More misting with some Tim Holtz masks...

Painted the edges of the acrylic, then stamped the branch and bird with StazOn...

Another Tim Holtz Mask

I loved that I could still stay "clean and simple" even with messy things and mixed media like the acrylic and canvas :)

My very fave page of the whole book!

I so completely stressed this project, but now that it's done, I can't wait to get started on the next one! We are teaming with another great company, but that's not until June! I promise to blog before then, okay? :)

Thanks for sticking with me!
~Til next time <3

Final Sketchabilities Reveal...

2011-04-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

It's quite sad for me to not be a part of the Sketchabilities team anymore... I would have LOVED to stay on for another term, but I just wasn't able to meet all the expectations while running Scraptivations at the same time. So, as they say, all good things must come to an end :( I'm also hoping though, that the saying, "when one door closes, another one opens" is also true... :)

Here's Karan's beautiful sketch (one of my favorites, and possible the fastest LO I've created in forever!

and here's my take...

Most materials are all from the March kit from personalscrapper.com featuring My Mind's Eye

I loved creating this one! I found an awesome flower tutorial on the Your Scrapbook Stash blog a couple of weeks ago, and finally got to put that to good use! (See the flowers on the ends!) I think they are some of my very favorite flowers to date!

As for the homefront, things will hopefully be a tad bit more relaxing this week... WE'RE ON SPRING BREAK! Yep, I'm 125% excited about it! No getting up at the crack of dawn... No hustle and bustle of making sure we get to the seemingly 25 different places we need to be, on time no less! Just hanging out, doing what we wanna do! Well... I guess there are those 17 different home improvement projects that just keep getting put off... *sigh* At least they'll be done at home, right? :)

In other scrappy news, I am not a new member of the latest Jillibean Soup Design Team... Those that I know who made it are truly UBER talented, as well as knowing a few that didn't make the team who are also just fabulous... There's always a next time, and with this company, I completely intend to make sure I get myself ready for it. It's always weird though, you know? Trying to figure out what the "right" things to say on a DT app are... For me, it's hard to put myself out there and just be me. So with that, this little blog here is one of the things I intend to work on. I need to practice being me. Sounds silly to some of you, I'm sure, but I'm hoping some of you know exactly what I mean...

I'm also working hard on my very first Punky Sprouts album! So excited to get it all put together and posted! Lynn is getting all the DT bios posted up too :) Head over there and see what the other girls have been up to. I love how each of our styles are so unique, yet they all have their own way of showcasing Shelly's fun albums! Pretty cool (typed in my best Miley Cyrus impersonation lol )

Thanks for hanging out with me!
~Til next time <3

Scraptivations Challenge 1

2011-03-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

I finally have the very first design team challenge posted over at Scraptivations! All the little details in getting everything set up is just craziness! I knew it would take quite a bit of work, but seeing it all is kind of insane!

The first challenge is a sketch from Lisa.

and here is my take...

I've been holding onto that picture for awhile now. Lynn and I got to take a "Fabulous Flowers" class sponsored by CK, but little did we know that CK royalty would be teaching it! Megan Hoeppner and Lori Anderson were the teachers, and Kelly Purkey stopped by at the end. We made sure to get a quick pic with the three of them! So exciting! *I'm such a scrap dork*

Be sure to head over to Scraptivations to get the rest of the details to qualify for the prize and see what the rest of the DT did with the sketch!

~Til next time <3

Finally, A Little Creative Time...

2011-03-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

It seems like it's been ages, though I know it hasn't really been quite that long :) I was able to go on a getaway this weekend to a wonderful scrapping retreat sponsored by our one little LSS. The retreat was wonderful- had awesome food prepared for me (no dishes to wash either!), wonderful company (got to know the gals from said LSS a bit better), and got several scrappy projects done. A girl can't ask for too much more!

Seems like I've got a few irons in the fire about now. The Scraptivations DT is up and working on the first DT challenge, so I got that taken care of. I got at least 2 of the 52 Week challenges done from PersonalScrapper (I need to check my list for a 3rd and possible 4th). But most importantly, I went wild with all my Jillibean Soup stuff to give myself some more to choose from to submit to the JBS design team call... Oh, wow... That's all I can say if Jill were to pick me. I just LOVE Jillibean... *sigh* I will officially take all well-wishes, prayers, and finger crossings at this time! Deadline is Tuesday, but I'm putting the finishing touches on a project to send it tomorrow.

Here's my latest...

From the March PersonalScrapper kit

My MInd's Eye Stella Rose

Jillibean Soup Monster Stew

October Afternoon Weathervane and Campfire

The inside of this card says "is picture perfect!"

Jillibean Soup Pasta Fagioli

Jillibean Soup Chicken Noodle Soup

These didn't come out of the retreat, but I realized I hadn't posted them...

Bella Blvd. Lovey Dovey

And this is one of the layouts published in SNR

Jillibean Soup Atomic Soup and Alphabet Soup

If you take a look through my gallery in the sidebar, I'd love to get some feedback about which JBS stuff you like the best! Off to finish some flowers!

~Til next time <3

Tme Flies Fast...

2011-03-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

and I guess I'm having fun! Today was a pretty fantabulous day at work, I have to say! Just some stuff that has been going on has sort of been dealt with. It's crazy, but this has totally felt like a ton of bricks has been lifted off of me... *major sigh* Now I just hope and pray the rest of the pieces fall together well, and that we don't end up with a bigger problem than we started with.

I've been working on tons of scrappy fun lately, but I've only been able to take pics of a few things. So I'm just gonna share my Sketchabilities layout with you tonight. We've had a dreary last several days (including a major dumping on of snow - blech!) and it's just been so dark to take pics.

Karan's sketch #42

and my take

Funny, because this seems quite a bit busier than I normally do, and I struggled with it (the perfectionist in me just can't let go sometimes!). But I think it's fun! We were able to spend an entire day at the San Diego Zoo this past summer and had such an amazing time. It's really hard to believe that there were things we weren't able to see :( Hopefully we can make it back in a few years. We all loved it, and the entire trip was well worth it!

Needing to head out and to bed!

~Til next time <3

SKetchabilities #41

2011-02-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks everyone for the love you've left here and on FB for my exciting announcement! I think I'm a bit in denial right now (yeah, still!) Such an amazing opportunity! I can't wait to get started on my first Punky Album! Since I'm off work today, I keep meaning to get in my craft room, and when I think of stuff I want to work with, all I keep thinking is, "That would be so cool in a mini-album!" So I guess some layouts and cards will have to do for now... :) Erica is having another crop at PersonalScrapper-extended for slow scrappers like me even- so I need to get some stuff done for that too. I think I will plunk tomorrow away near completely for ME. What a concept, huh?

It was sunny out today, and I tried to get a few shots of the kids. They will work, but I was really hoping we'd make it outside, but it just never happened. Maybe when Miss A wakes up from her nap I can grab a few shots. Totally needing some great pics to get my mojo jump started I think. Speaking of pics, I'm on the lookout for a great photog/Photoshop class to take-either or both really. If the sun and moon align just right, I can get some really great shots, but I'm ~~wanting~~ needing to learn to do some stuff on my own. Leave me a little line here if you've got some ideas for me, k?

I haven't had a chance to post my take on Karan's latest sketch, so here it is...

I loved this one (always do!) I wasn't able to get a bigger pic, so I opted for smaller one to fill it in.

This gorgeous Bo Bunny paper is courtesy of my Personal Scrapper Secret Sister Erica! We actually ended up having each other- too funny! She completely spoiled me seeing as how she's got access to all my favorite scrappy things! I did, however, have to hide a few of my peanut M&Ms since that was the first thing my little darlings noticed! Can't wait to play with some more! I was MORE than happy to find her some goodies as sort of a thank you for all she does for us each month. She really is an amazing business owner and person! Love ya Erica!
Need to go get the little one up from her nap so she doesn't stay up all night. We're headed out with some friends to go bowling with a bunch of our kiddos, so we're pretty stoked for that :)

~Til next time <3

Can't Even Believe It!

2011-02-17T22:39:00.000-08:00

I received the most wonderful email tonight from one Shelly Mitchell of Punky Sprouts asking me to join her design team! I am beyond excited! My first real, official manufacturer design team! My little heart can barely stand it! :)

just needed to share that little bit!

A Little Tootin'

2011-02-05T18:50:00.000-08:00

So excited! I got an email from Scrapbook News and Review requesting not one, not two, not three, but FOUR of my layouts! In fact, I think they took all of the ones I submitted! This is my very first pub with them, and I am so incredibly stoked! Just kind of a good feeling inside... I was a little bummed after the whole Cosmo Cricket deal, so this just made a little happy spot in my heart! I need to go pull the layouts down and send in my official reply, but I'm still SO doing the happy dance around here! So, when the next issue comes out on Valentine's Day, I can say this...

Thanks for letting me share! <3

A Little Call Out!

2011-02-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

Hey all! It's busy, busy, busy around here as usual, but I just wanted to send a little shout out to let you know that I've posted a DT call over at Scraptivations! I know I have an incredibly talented group of followers out there, so if you're interested, head over and take a look! I'd love to have some of you help me out!

<3

Sketchabilities #40

2011-01-31T21:06:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post tonight to share the latest Sketchabilities sketch... So much going on and ready for bed already!

Here's Karan's gorgeous sketch...

And my take...

Almost all of this was from my December Personal Scrapper kit. This kit had both Echo Park (used above) and Fancy Pants. I just loved this one and was waiting for the perfect snow pics to use. Erica and Lindsey both used this kit with gorgeous b&w pics, so I just had to replicate that here!

Need to head out. Hubby is asleep on the couch already, and I'll be next if I don't get myself upstairs!

~Til next time <3

More Amazing Friends!

2011-01-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

Although I am completely frustrated because I can't actually SEE the poll on the Cosmo Cricket Blog (some setting must be messed up on my computer), I have been so blessed by so many people who have voted for me! It's so heartwarming to have people go out and seek out votes for me... Since I know I may have some new visitors coming from the CC Blog, I thought I'd re post some of my very favorite projects using Cosmo Cricket.

I had forgotten about a couple of these. Good thing I didn't have Cosmo on the brain the last time I did some scrappy shopping (other than getting my new Circa line!) because I forgot that I already had some of the papers. I think I feel some crafty projects with Material Girl in the works!

If you've voted for me already, thank you SO very much from the bottom of my heart. If you're contemplating voting for me, I'd be forever grateful to you! Remember, just visit the Cosmo Cricket Blog and vote in the poll on the right sidebar.

As always, thanks for stopping by!
~Til next time

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!!!

2011-01-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my awesome friends and family, I'm a finalist on the Cosmo Cricket Design Team spot!! Please go vote for me!! It would mean the world to me to have this spot! All you need to do is go to the blog and vote in the poll on the sidebar!

Cosmo Cricket Blog

Love to you all!
C

Post 100!

2011-01-16T22:30:00.000-08:00

Wow! For a girl who doesn't feel like she gets to blog a whole lot, 100 posts in 2 years isn't really too shabby, is it?? I'm kinda excited, I must admit! Well this post has a couple things special in it. First off, it's Sketchabilities time! Not only has Karan provided a beatiful sketch, but since the blog has hit 500 followers, she's got a spectacular prize for you to win! You've GOT to head over there (besides the fact that the DT has some more stunning work for you to see!)

Karan's sketch...

and my take...

pp, journal spot, alphas, sticker - Jillibean Soup; chipboard - Maya Road; paint - Making Memories, Adirondak

And these are the yummy goodies you can win...

Speaking of followers, I never did post the winner of my own little bitty blog candy giveaway. Amy is one of my newest followers, and her name was drawn! Amy, email me at scraptivations at gmail dot com and I'll get your blog candy in the mail to you!

I'm also hoping you'll hop over to Scraptivations and check out the "Practice Run" challenge! I've just posted a sketch that I hope will inspire you and bring a few new friends over to play along!

~Til next time <3

I Have Some Pretty Awesome Scrappy Friends!

2011-01-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

You really are, do you know that? In less than a week, the support I've gotten from so many of you has been so heart-warming! Scraptivations has almost 20 followers (with only 1 post!). Plus I've had so many offers of help in so many different ways. We even also already have some sponsers lined up, with others in the works! I am really feeling truly blessed in my little scrappy world! Thanks so much for your continued support. I'll be posting a design team call soon (whoa, talk about a scary thing!) and I may even upload a "practice" challenge to see how it all goes!

I've been able to participate with my PersonalScrapper friends for Erica's New Year's crop and have already completed a whopping 2, yep, you read correctly, T-W-O challenges LOL! (Do you even know how slow I scrap??!) I can share one, but the other is for the Sketchabilities reveal in a couple of days, so you'll need to check back then.

This one is for another of Lisa Hidy's sketches (January PersonalScrapper exclusive)

pp, sticker- October Afternoon; chipboard - Maya Road; mini alphas-stash; journal card-Shabby Chic Crafts; punch-Martha Stewart; paint-Making Memories, Adirondak

These papers are from my order I just got from Your Scrapbook Stash. Erica W. has really amazing customer service as well as some awesome deals. Since it's so hard for me to get new or newer product outside of my PersonalScrapper kits, this has been my go-to shopping spot. Make sure you head over and check out the birthday celebrations!

I'm home today with Miss A and a low-grade temp. Not sure what's up with her. Last night she didn't want to eat, but just head straight to bed. We were able to get some dinner in her and hold her off til about 7pm, which is almost an hour earlier than normal. She's feeling better this morning, but I figure it's best to keep her home and quiet for the day. Luckily it's not a school day for her- she's totally loving school these days! :)

~til next time <3

Holy Cow! A Big Step for Me!

2011-01-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

I've been digging and soul-searching for several years now as to how to get myself a little bit more involved in the scrappy world. Knowing that the economy is still hurting puts ANY type of business venture on hold indefinitely (my dream would be to have a scrappy retreat for all of you to come join me as we scrap our little hearts away!) So that means baby steps for now... So how about a new challenge blog??! I hope you got a bit excited about it, because it's actually gonna happen! I've got a few things in the works right now that I have to get details settled with, but the blog is actually up and semi-ready to go! You can visit us at Scraptivations right now! Hoping to have you all join us over there soon, and hope to have some challenges go live around the first of February!

Can't wait!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

May your 2011 be filled with many blessings! I thank all of you for letting me share my creations and little bit of my world with you!

Here's my final creation from 2010... Technically I did the journaling this morning, but everything else was done last night...

sketch by Lisa Hidy for PersonalScrapper.com; all materials from December PersonalScrapper.com kit (Fancy Pants, 7 Gypsies) with addition of Stickles, journaling pen, and Thickers

With much love and gratitude to you all!

Not My Favorite Couple of Days...

2010-12-30T20:55:00.000-08:00

Although I'm kind of glad that the hustle and bustle of the holidays is over, the last couple of days pushed me almost beyond my limits. The hubby and I were headed up to pick up the kids after they'd spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa when I was rear-ended. It was a very slow moving accident and no one was hurt (at least not either of us). Two witnesses in the oncoming traffic said the lady who hit me appeared to have her head down as she was moving, possibly on a cell phone when she obviously couldn't see that I wasn't moving anymore. Her very little car ran under my bumper...Between insurance companies, auto repair shops (my car wasn't driveable- they said she pushed my exhaust system into the driveline) and rental agencies, I'm pooped and don't want to have to wait around for anymore calls ever- at least not til they tell me my own car is ready for me to pick up! Needless to say, not something I ever want to do again...

On a much brighter note, it's reveal day at Sketchabilites. This is the last reveal for 2010, which sounds awfully weird! I really liked the sketch, but I wasn't sure I was too happy with what I created til it was completely finished. I really like it. I got a giant pack of chipboard numbers from Tuesday Mornings and for the life of me can't remember what brand they are, so if you happen to know, let me know please!

Here's Karan's sketch...

And my take (and my handsome birthday boy!)

All materials Jillibean Soup with exception of chipboard numerals and Tattered Angels mist

I'm working on a couple other projects right now, but I've been really tired at the end of the day this week. Mentally exhausted, I suppose. I think I'll see if I can stay up to watch a movie with Paul since the kiddos are down.

So glad you stopped by!

~Til next time <3

Amidst the Craziness...

2010-12-27T14:53:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit scrappy... Sometimes though, it's really nice to just sit and veg for a bit. Luckily we were able to do that yesterday. I don't even thing we cooked- how terrible is that?? :) Even living in the "middle of nowhere" (as our friends and family lovingly refer to it) you can get some Zip's burgers for lunch and pizza for dinner!
Tonight the kiddos are headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for a sleepover with a couple of their cousins. Everyone is totally excited about it, particularly us since it means date night :) The two of us are dying to see Harry Potter, but I think we will be out-voted by the others joining us... Next time, I suppose.

The crafty time I've had has been trying to play around with a few challenges. This one is a double-duty with a sketch from Cardabillities and a challenge for a Christmas themed thank you card at The Studio. It was fun to get my alpha stamps out. They're in reach now after a bit of rearranging in my craft room.

all items are Fancy Pants from the December Personal Scrapper kit

I've got another LO done, but it's for the Sketchabilities reveal in a couple of days. It's so nice to have that taken care of early so I can continue working on other things too.

Be sure to check out my Blogaversary post below to win some goodies!

~Til next time <3

Happy Blogaversary!

2010-12-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

It's been 2 whole whopping years since I've started this little blog of mine (plus 2 days technically, but who's counting?!) I've been putting together this little pile of goodies that I thought I could share to honor the occasion. Here's what you have to do to win:

1- Be a follower
2- Leave a comment letting me know you stopped by

Now if you REALLY want to win, you can let someone else know about the goodies. If they follow the steps above, make sure to tell them to say that you sent them over. Then I'll give you an extra draw!

Since it's the holiday season and shipping is awfully busy, I'm gonna hold this over until the first of the year. So that means you need to stop by on or before January 1, 2012. I'll get creative and hold a little drawing on the 2nd and get the goodies shipped out shortly after that. Here's what you'll get...

I will happily ship to the US. My international friends will need to pay the additional shipping charges.

Thanks for following me and letting me share my little world with you! I so appreciate all the love and comments you've left for me!

~Til next time <3

Favorite Holiday Times!

2010-12-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

I remember Santa coming around the neighborhood on his sleigh just before Christmas when I was little. It was completely one of my very favorite parts of the holiday season. As I got older, Santa stopped coming around. I'm not sure if it was budget cuts with the fire department or what, but I sure did miss it. I'll never forget one of the first Christmases we were married when I suddenly heard that magical sound of Santa and his reindeer coming down our street. I jumped up and opened the curtains to see if what I thought was there was real. Sure enough, there he was! I must have looked so silly- a grown woman jumping up and down, waving like a crazy person :)

The county we live in now is a very rural fire district, but we are so very fortunate to have Santa visit us every year! He actually travels with the entire fire unit. They blow the sirens to let the neighborhood know he's on his way! We heard him coming and waited nearly two hours for him to finally make it to our house. We all got our candy canes, and Santa made us promise to be in bed early Christmas Eve. Before we said our goodbyes, we had someone in the big guy's entourage take a quick pick of us...

Can't wait to start in on the baking later this week as well. So much to do and so little time. I just need to remind myself what is important about this time of year...

See you tomorrow for a little Blogaversary treat for my followers!

~Til next time <3

Holidaze...

2010-12-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

It's crazy around these parts! Last Sunday was J's birthday, so we are currently STILL celebrating and will continue to through the weekend! With that, getting ready for normal holiday festivities around the house and all that goes on at school during these couple of weeks, I'm desperately in need of a vacation! It will be very awesome to spend time with the family and just relax (and of course try to squeeze in as much crafty time as possible!) so I'm also praying for a healthy break!

It's also reveal day at Sketchabilities! This was another awesome sketch, and the timing was perfect to be able to use my new kit from PersonalScrapper! When I saw all those yummy buttons, I just knew what I wanted to do for that tree!

Here's Karan's sketch...

And my take...

patterned paper-Fancy Pants Traditions; cardstock - American Crafts; flowers, buttons and brads - 7 Gypsies/American Crafts; alphas - American Crafts, Paper Trunk

I had quite a bit of fun with this one! It's really making me extra excited to spend some uninterrupted time scrapping! Wish me luck making it through 2 more days of work (yeah, I know, totally shouldn't be complaining!)

~Til next time

A LIttle Bit of Scrappy Time

2010-12-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

I'm here! I'm guessing no one sent out the National Guard to search for me, although I very easily could have been buried under a ton of snow! We've had blizzards and other snow-filled craziness around these parts, and it's only the beginning of December- WOW! Apparently, we had the "snowiest" November on record here. I can't remember November anytime recently where we even had any snow, so it's been a bit of getting used to, to say the least. At least I've got some new pics to scrap and share with the kids enjoying the snow :)

It's also time for another Sketchabilities sketch. I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated by this one. I'm not quite sure if it was all the white space or what, but I love what I ended up with. I know I say I love a lot of different companies, but October Afternoon is truly and completely right at the top. I tend to have a hard time getting my hands on it, so maybe that's what draws me to it even more...

Here's Karan's sketch

And here's my take

My little sweetie girl just before her first day of school. I had the chance to take Miss A and her bff to the park due to a little scheduling mishap at their preschool, and this was one of the pics I was able to get. Although I didn't end up including the banner in this one, I was excited to include a few special elements in the flowers.

Karan also has a call out for a sketch artist. Look HERE for the details.

One more scrappy item I'm quite excited about before I head out-- I've been looking at all sorts of altered items and always feel like I can never do them justice. I don't know. My crafty brain just isn't there yet or something, so I feel kinda insecure about my altered endeavors. So... This was just a huge HURRAH for me to complete as well as feel good about. It's a magnetic advent calendar made from a mini-muffin tin. These go for big bucks on Etsy shops, so maybe I can put some together for next year?! Let me know what you think...

Winter break is just around the corner! Only a day and two weeks (no, I don't quite have the hours down just yet!) So excited to spend some time just hanging out with the fam! We'll head out to cut down our tree this weekend and J's birthday is in less than two weeks! I'll have plenty of pics to keep me busy!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to say hello!
~Til next time <3

PS Holiday Prep Crop

2010-11-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

Erica from Personal Scrapper and Carrie, the designer/creator of Paper Trunk are holding a Holiday Prep Crop in their neck of the woods, but they've extended it to the on-line community on Personalscrapper.com . It's inspired me to get crafty, especially since I haven't been very active in some time with Erica's crops. It was a good chance for me to get some things in my craft room squared away and get the scrappy juices flowin'... I'm extra proud because I actually scrapped something for MY album! YUP! for M-E!!

Most items are from a Personal Scrapper add-on kit. patterned paper, alphas, stickers- Making Memories; paint-Tim Holz; currogated arrow-Jilllibean Soup; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

This was a really big deal for me, so I'm glad I finally did a LO for it. Some other time, I'll do one that gets a bit more into the story and process (so my family can relive this crazy time in our lives, I guess!) Whatever you gotta do to get crafty I suppose!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me know what you think. I'm going to be in a place to be doing some blog hopping again soon, so if you leave a comment, I can stop by and say hello!

~Til next time
<3

Sketchabilities #35

2010-11-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Yep! I'm already back! I was going to preload this post, but I just couldn't stay up any later last night... So now, in between finishing up my grading, here's Karan's latest Sketchabilities sketch! It's another one of my favorites!

I got to play some more with my yummy Jillibean Soup! Totally one of my very favorite manufacturers right now!

Luckily, the rest of my order from Your Scrapbook Stash came in, so I had some new toys to play with too! I also have to give some props to my friend Kim who took those cute pics of J while at her son's birthday party a while ago! Make sure to check out what the rest of the DT created, and take a shot at the prize!

If I'm not back by Thanksgiving, come dig me out from under these report cards!
<3

In Complete Denial...

2010-11-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's me... I am, yet again, up to my eyeballs in school work. It's my favorite time of the year--REPORT CARDS. Blechh... That's all I have to say about that! So why the denial, you ask? Well, this weekend was the wonderful CK Convention in Seattle. Yeah, I know... the whole report card thingy and all, but I was super-duper stoked because I'd made arrangements to meet up with my Personal Scrapper friends! I figured a day or so wouldn't hurt anyone, so I jumped in my car and took off for Sea-Town :) A few of the girls took some pics, so I'll try to post some up when I get a chance. I also got to visit with both of my brothers and my sis-in-law as well as my dear friend from high school. Such a good trip!

Speaking of Personal Scrapper, I made this little creation as a birthday gift (but I'm having a hard time talking myself into actually giving it away!) This is using the November kit with brand-spankin' new My Mind's Eye - Fine and Dandy. The colors in this line are just awesome! I also got to play along with a new challenge blog called Paper Issues. The current issue is using scallops. I loved being able to use my punches for this one too.

Here's my creation...

I love any challenge that helps me dig into my stash! Tons of fun!

I'll be back shortly with the latest sketch from Karan at Sketchabilities. It's another gorgeous one!
~Til next time
<3

Sketchabilities #34

2010-10-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you how much I LOVE this sketch! I know I've got an amazing sketch on my hands when all the ideas just come to me without any stressing. It's been a long time since I could sit down and truly scrap- not worry about a specific element, challenge, or paperline I needed to include... It felt really good! I need to thank Karan for allowing me to scrap this way:)

So here you go...

And here's my creation...

Talk about a lot of different product! I've been totally itching to use my Crate School Spirit papers I picked up on a trip to Seattle when I stopped by Hip-2-b-Square. I love that store! I make a point to try and stop whenever I head over to the other side. The shop is just too cute, and Kimberly always has the most gorgeous product! Since we really don't have a LSS around here (not one that carries much that's current anyhow), it's great to have her not terribly far away (well, 250 miles isn't super close, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!)

As far as the Sketchabilities challenge goes...

In order to qualify for a scrapkit worth $35.00 from Scrapshotz, you will need to complete a layout using Sketch #33 or Sketch #34 and link using Mr Linky ...you have until Nov 10 to complete this challenge!
Hope you're inspired to!

Thanks for stopping by!
<3

Cards!

2010-10-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

While I wait around for some Glossy Accents to dry (long story--had to do it TWICE!), I figure I should share the cards I've been doing so far for the ABCs of cards over at SCRaPDANGo. Don't tell the girls that I'm still stressing over what to do for them for the letter Z (yeah, who thought that one up??) Otherwise, I've really had a blast making them and creating some fun challenges.

B is for Butterfly, Birthday and Bling

Using a Get Sketchy sketch

H is for House and Hello (or hi, or howdy or any other H greeting!)

L is for Love, Lace and Letters

A Twisted Cards sketch with the twist of LOVE

N is for all things New (new paper, new tools, new house in my case)

T is for Ticket, Twine and Tiny alphas

I'm mostly loving all the different product I got to use! Totally got to use new things as well as a ton that has been collecting its fair share of dust from my stash :)

There's another Sketchabilities reveal coming up in just a few days! I'm loving this sketch even more than the last, so I hope my layout shows it off well! Got to head back to the Glossy Accents now as well as figure something out for that silly Z card!

~Til next time
<3

Double Reveal!

2010-10-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to share my first reveal for Sketchabilities!! Karan's sketches are so absolutely gorgeous! I just love working with them! They are so incredibly inspiring! Hoping you feel the same way too! Make sure you head over there and check out the rest of the uber-talented DT's work too...

And here's my take on it...

First Grade

You might recognize the yummy Jillibean Soup in there! That's what I got to create with for the Scrapdango Spice kit this month. Here are a couple of other projects.

Missing U

Using a card sketch from Cardabilities

SCORE!

using a sketch from The Scrappiest

I've had such fun creating with this kit and can't wait to make some more! It's been another busy couple of weeks, so I'm hopeful I can get some more crafty stuff done tomorrow night during "pizza and movie night." Hey, I think I just had a layout idea!

Stop back soon!

Blog Slacker...

2010-10-02T00:11:00.000-07:00

It's been way crazy and a little weird around here the last couple of weeks. I won't get into it right now, but when I'm feeling a little better, I'll share some of the rough patches. There has been a ton of good in our lives though, so I'm working hard on remembering that right now! I'm blessed with an amazing family who bring me incredible joy every day...

I did forget to post this little tidbit up though, so make sure you head over to SCRaPDANGo and see all the fun cards we're making. I'm up today for "B." Hope you're inspired!

And here's a little pic of my gorgeous girl on her very first day of preschool... :)

And not to leave him out, my little guy finishing his very first cross country meet!

Like I said, I really am blessed!

Be back later!

Sketch Challenge

2010-09-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

It's time for another sketch challenge over at SCRaPDANGo! I've been messing around with circles quite a bit lately, so I incorporated them once again into this month's sketch. Here it is...

For my version, I rotated the sketch once counter-clockwise. I've been so excited to scrap these pics of J and his first lost tooth. He was sooo excited! The journaling talks about how he had been waiting and was sure he was the last of his kindergarten class to lose one. Here's the LO...

I just love the other LOs from the rest of the DT too. I hope you're inspired! Leave a comment with a link if you happen to use this sketch. I'd love to see what you do with it!

I've recently downloaded the Sketchabilities sketches for both October and November. They are just gorgeous! I can't wait to put all sorts of fun elements on them and show off all the detail Karan includes! Can't reveal anything else until October 15th though, so make sure you stop by then!

That's all for now... Too many other things to get done right now!
~Til next time <3

Life's Moving Fast... Again...

2010-09-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's how we roll around here. Get a bit of a break, then head in full-force. We're a busy crew around here these days. The hubby and I are working full time (and then some). J is in school full days, has started going to the after school care program, begun cross country at school, AND is playing soccer. Miss A's dance class started up last week, but fortunately, she doesn't start preschool for another couple of weeks. Starting up the year is just really tough around here... {sigh}...

I do have some exciting scrappy news to share though! I have been chosen to be on the design team for sketchabilites! Karan has just gorgeous, inspiring sketches, and I absolutely can't wait to get started on them for real! She has reveals twice a month and also has sponsors, so make sure you head over there! They are also celebrating a birthday with a fun blog hop with a YUMMY prize! ( I do need to ask if I'm eligible to win, because it is VERY yummy indeed!)

In other scrappy news, it's also reveal day at SCRaPDANGo. I had fun playing with Sassafrass Lass in the Sugar kit this month. Check it out...

Cute Shoes (using the current sketchy thursdays sketch)

You Go Girl (sketch 78 from The Scrappiest)

And a couple of cards...

A Pagemaps sketch

Sassy Lil' Sketches sketch

I also got a wonderful new toy in the mail a few days ago... I ordered a brand spankin' new pink ATG gun! I AM IN HEAVEN! It is so unbelievably light and easy to use! I've been wanting on for quite some time, but I found an amazing price over at Your Scrapbook Stash! The adhesive is on back order, but I got a personal email from Erica apologizing and letting me know a bit more about when I might receive it! Gotta love amazing customer service! Made me smile!

Well, I think I've done enough work avoiding for the night. Better get my book out and start reading!

~Til next time <3

ps. I haven't forgotten about my giveaway! My pile keeps getting bigger! You'll need to be a follower to be in the running though!

Scrapping In Between Back to School Madness...

2010-08-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's that time of year again... I've headed back to school. Kids aren't back until Thursday, but I've been busy preparing the room and all my materials for my lovelies to join me in a year of serious learning! :) As always, there's something new I need to get a handle on, and this time it's in the literacy area. A few of us at school are taking a new strategy on, so there's been a bit of pressure with that. Wish us all luck as we work to figure it out!

Luckily, I've had a bit of time to get a little crafty. Lynn designed the sketch for the SCRaPDANGo newsletter and I created this LO for it...

And here's Lynn's original sketch...

I was just dying to try out some rolled paper accents, but WOW! I need to see if there is a simpler way to do it. I'm also wanting to make a card or two with this sketch. Just inspiring for me there, I guess. :)

I have another project or two at my table, so I hope to get back to those before too long. All depends on how much I can get ready at school though... *sigh*

One last thing before I go... I am putting together a great pile of scrappy goodies for a wonderful back to school giveaway! I have to get a pic of it all (and make sure I can afford the shipping!) then post it up officially! Be sure to check back VERY soon!

~Til next time <3

August Dango Reveal

2010-08-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

Can't quite believe that August is half over... Several friends at church were asking me how long til school started. I just covered my ears and did my little, "Lalalalala... I'm not listening to you!!" dance. So, no, I'm totally not ready to go back. But the sad truth is that I'll have to go back, and probably this week at least for a day... *sigh*...

At least I was finally able to get some scrapping done. I'm also proud of myself because I think, if I counted right, I can double up 3 of my projects for other contests and calls! Wahoo! It's not often that it works out that well!

This month I got to work with the Sugar kit with Echo Park. They are a pretty new company and so far I am very impressed with their papers. Lots of great colors and designs. They are definitely a new fav manufacturer! :) I was also able to get some of my Disney pics in as well! So here we go...

Chasing Characters (using the current Sketchy Thursdays sketch)

Blessed (a PageMaps sketch)

Picture box (using this for all my pics I'm currently going through for projects!)

Thinking of You butterflies card (using the current Sassy Lil' Sketches card sketch)

Plenty more I'd like to take care of before the month's over, but we'll see how I do. Apparently, I have a full-time job that is about to resume! :)

Hope to see you again shortly!

~Til next time <3

Gotta Try and Win!

2010-08-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know... I really should be blogging my own stuff. We had a whirlwind vacation that I'm still recouping from, but HELLOOOO!! Wouldn't you want to try to win these fabulous goodies?? Well, you can't, 'cause they're MINE! Ok, fine... go over to Scrap the Boys and try, just try to win! (see if I'm your friend anymore!)

I'll head back later to give some updates. I'm busy blog surfing and TOTALLY need to get some scrapping done!

A Couple of Sketches and a Couple of Layouts...

2010-07-20T00:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm gonna treat those of you who stop by to an early release!. One of these is already posted, but Lynn will be putting the other up on the forum tomorrow (or is that today?) for the sketch challenge. I designed both of these sketches and am happy to say that I'm feeling better and better about it as I complete them.

This sketch will be on the idea sheet with the SCRaPDANGo kits.

Here's my LO... Just need to get better at taking pics of my two-pagers!

This sketch is for the July sketch challenge. Might be my favorite sketch to date!

And my version of the layout...

I snapped that pic just tonight outside. Normally A isn't into posing or anything like that, so how tickled was I when she was so willing?! Gotta love those beautiful smiles! :)

~Til next time <3

July SCRaPDANGo Reveal

2010-07-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

This month's kit at SCRaPDANGo was just perfect for the pics from our ocean adventure! I need to do a bit of Photoshopping to a few to get a couple more layouts finished, but I'm totally excited about what I have so far!

Here's this month's beautiful July Sugar Kit ~ Featuring Fancy Pants Rusted Sun

Tons of fun with this kit... :)

I used the Sketchy Thursdays 7.8 sketch for this one (dangit that I couldn't get in on the prize this week!)

I've had this KaiserCraft clock around since last summer. I was so proud of myself for figuring the whole clock workings out. Only problem is that I ended up with a bad clock! Off to Michael's later this week to replace the mechanism, I guess!

Hooray! My proud Goondocks pics! I'm still on the hunt for that stinkin' movie though...

And here are a couple of cards. The first is another rendition of the most recent card sketch from Sassy Lil' Sketches. For the second, I actually designed the paper piecing from a pic on the patterned paper itself.

I still need to get a 2-pager done as well as the layout for the July sketch challenge for the 20th. That'll keep me busy for a bit along with a couple of other scrappy ventures I've got in the fire right now.

~Til next time <3

Sassy Reveal... Sassy Sadness...

2010-07-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here it is... My final card as a Sassy designer. :( After much thought, I figured I needed to spend a bit more time with the family this summer, so I did not re-up my time at Sassy Lil' Sketches. Cherie always gives the best inspiration for me for cards, so it was a tough decision to make. I'm hoping to play along over the summer with the cards and LO sketches. Thanks so much Cherie and Katie for the awesome opportunity to design for you! You ladies rock!

Everything but the ribbon is from another gorgeous Personal Scrapper kit. I almost never use ribbon slides, but I thought this was a perfect spot for it. Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure you keep Sassy Lil' Sketches bookmarked- better yet, become a follower if you aren't already!

~Til next time <3

Fun-Filled Ocean Adventure

2010-07-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

We are finally home... *sigh* It was an amazing trip, that's for sure. We truly do have a fabulous time whenever we are out camping, and this was nothing different from that. So, combine the love of camping along with our love of the Oregon Coast, what more could you ask for? It's a heckuva long trip each way by car, so when you add the trailer to it (and the 3 gas stops along the way) I think it was somewhere around 10 hours each way. YIKES!

I am super stoked to get scrappy with the pics I took. Even sent them off, and have already picked them up from Costco - so proud of myself! I'll share a few of those with you and hopefully get to some scrapping soon!

These first couple are from pre-fireworks festivites. My town isn't really a small town, so we have a pretty big event for the 4th, but we've never really gone all-out for it. This was another story! WOW! What an experience!

Here's the best sunset shot I could get. Paul was sooo disappointed that we didn't get to watch the sun sink all the way to the ocean, but I think this one wasn't too terrible of an exchange! History buffs would know that the next pic is with the grand duo of Lewis and Clark. (Even they dress up for the 4th!)

I didn't get as many beach shots as I'd have liked. It was super bright, and I still need some work on my photog skills for this. The kids had a blast in the water and the sand, and they still gave me plenty of scrapping inspiration!

Way excited to get my BIL to take this shot of the fam--in front of the sign leading up the drive to the actual house from the Goonies! I know I have a copy of that movie somewhere, but can I find it?? Of course not!! I just can't even envision how they made the it look like a whole city block, because it so TOTALLY isn't! There wasn't even enough room to get a wider shot (and cause I only brought my zoom with me).

Most of the summer on the Oregon Coast, it's probably in the mid 60s. If you're lucky, you might get a spell that's a bit warmer. Well, for us, it was A LOT warmer! I never did see what the official high was, but I believe it was near 100 by afternoon... I'm sweating thinking about it! Everywhere we went that day, all the local folks were telling everyone else that it just NEVER gets that hot. Craziest thing though, by evening, it literally dropped 20+ degrees in just a couple of hours. We ended up cooling off in a little lake on the grounds of where we camped. Again, the kids had a blast!

Well, totally hoping (and needing) to get seriously crafty tomorrow. I'll be back later to post up what I get! I'm also still thinking about that little giveaway idea from a bit ago. Be on the lookout for that!

~Til next time <3

Ready to Head Out... almost :)

2010-07-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

It's a bit of craziness around here once again. We've finally wrapped up all of the birthday festivities just in time to shut down and pack up to head to the coast! This will be our first major trip in the trailer. Prior to this, the longest we'd been out for was an extended weekend (maybe 4 days, I think). We'll be gone or traveling for 7 days! It just makes me so happy!

The Oregon coast is absolutely one of my very favorite places to visit. We went several times to camp when I was growing up and have been there as a family, but never to camp with the kids. This will be a really exciting adventure for us-doubly so being as we'll also be there for the 4th! It's quite the drive from us, but we should be able to make it in about 9 hours since we're pulling the trailer too! (Not to mention all the potty breaks we'll need!)

On the scrappy front, I finally finished one page using some more Crate - Paper Doll papers. I had misplaced my sticker and border sheets I got with it, so now I'm planning one more project for A's room with what I have left. I'm almost positive this is from a PageMaps sketch (I'll need to go check!). My bobbin ran out right in the middle of this, so that totally freaked me out! I'm learning to breathe a little better when that happens though, and not get quite so stressed about it... :)

Well, I've probably procrastinated enough now... Time to gather some more laundry and see how the shopping list is shaping up! See you in a week or so with some beautiful ocean pics (and I'll even through in a Tillamook Cheese Factory one too!)

~Til next time <3

Moving Fast...

2010-06-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

Jinkies... where did the week go?? (Did ya know we watch a lot of Scooby Doo in our house?!) Actually, I know just where the week went...zooming by, generally out of control.

Let's see, the last post was Monday, right? Well, Tuesday started off a fabulous day. Kids and I got up relatively early, and went to the almighty Starbucks for some hot chocolate and treats before heading to the movie theater to catch "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." (J's school sells cheap tix for the summer series second run shows!) We enjoyed the show, then decided to hit Target for a few party decorations for Miss A's celebration Saturday. We even decided the Target cafeteria would be a fine spot to stop and have some lunch. Sounds pretty good, right? Well, it was, till we got home. Actually, it was more like 4 or so when A woke from her nap. She said her head hurt and her tummy hurt, so I took her temp just to see--102! Got her meds, she spent the next two days sleeping off and on while we kept the temp to a minimum. I was pretty sure it was just her teeth until about 3:30 am on Thursday. I hear a sobbing call for "Mommy" and run to see what's wrong. "I up-chucked in my bed!" She was more upset about the bed than the vomit itself, I think! It continued for another couple of hours. She was pretty much back to her usual self by Friday morning, so I headed out to finish the birthday party shopping. I came home with pizza for the family and asked Paul where J was... "He's upstairs. Said he was tired and needed a nap." My boy does NOT nap anymore. So, of course, I run up, take the temp, and yep, 102... *sigh*

Luckily the party went off pretty well. I didn't get all the pics I'd hoped to get, but seeing as how her actual bday isn't for another couple of days, I can get the posed shots then. Needless to say, it hasn't been too scrappy around here lately. Maybe when I'm done here I'll wander into my craft room and see if I'm inpired.

Here are a couple pics from the last week...

Miss A asleep on the couch, not wanting to miss anything while being sick.

Party pics! We rented a jumping castle and got more than our money's worth! If you've got space and good weather, this totally beats going to the other places to use theirs!

Way fun! I think we will definitely do it this way again!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fun, Scrappy Giveaway!

2010-06-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

I've been doing quite a bit of blog surfing with my "free time" lately! I just found this on scrappy friend Sam's blog...

So here it is...my next giveaway is a yummy collection of goodies from the Imaginisce Splash Dance line. The light is no good for taking a pic of it at the moment, but I will do that in the next day or two. This is just a pic I got off the Imaginisce website, but as you can see, it is the cutest beach range ever! Here's what's in the prize package...

12 Double Sided Papers

Sticker Stackers

Puffy Stickers

Fantastic Friends Rubons

Glass Stickers

Title Waves Rubons

Doin the Wave Border Rubons

Coral & Crew Sticker Stackers

Ocean Treasures Chipboard

Now make sure you head back to Sam's blog and check it out for your chance to win! Hmmm.... kind of inspiring me to do my own little giveaway... I'll have to see what I can do about that! Off to go see what else I can find! I need to look into the whole Bind-It-All vs. Cinch debate. Thought I was sold on one and just got some new information- hate it when that happens!

~Til next time <3

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

I'm listening to the rain fall as I type this entry. Father's Day is pretty quiet here in our household. For us though, it's kind of a treat. My dear hubby is sitting on the couch reading the Sunday paper, and I'm finishing up a few projects to post. The kids are playing nicely upstairs (yeah, I know I really shouldn't have put that down-I may just jinx it!) keeping themselves busy. We may head out in a bit to go watch Toy Story 3. No pressures though. It's awfully nice to just do what we like.

This will most likely be one of our last few free Sunday mornings. The church we attend has been meeting Sunday evenings since before we started there over four years ago. So things have changed, and we've decided to move back to morning meetings. This is just something about our church that I love so much. We are just so relaxed and flexible and have the ability to just talk about things like this and make things happen to fit our community's needs... Just makes me smile thinking about it (even if it does mean dragging myself out of bed a bit earlier!)

I do have a couple of things to show you. The first is a card I made using gorgeous Crate Paper - Paper Doll from a PersonalScrapper add-on kit a couple of months ago (Erica should know to just send anything with CP in it without needing to ask by now! )

This was a card I made for A's dance teacher. She began as the teacher's assistant, but ended up needing to take the class over as the main teacher was having some complications in her pregnancy. A just loved her and was so excited to go to dance. It made our first dance experience a great one! I'll post some dance pics and maybe even a LO up later this week.

I also have the sketch for this month at SCRaPDANGo. I had fun creating the sketch and am feeling more and more confident in creating them. I need to get some info on downloading some other elements to include, so if you have any ideas for me, please let me know! Right now, I have PhotoShop Elements 5. I don't really know if it's necessary to upgrade to anything else, so I'll love to hear what you think on that too!

And here's my take on it... It's kind of hard to see in the photo, but I was able to create lots of layers and dimension in this one. The larger stars are punched from cardboard (my favorite thing to do right now!) and I added Glossy Accents to the stars on top of them. I totally swiped Kerryn's idea of the raised border cuz I LOVED it so much!

I thought I was running out of ideas for pics with this kit and didn't want to overuse B&W or sepia. So another funny thing happened. I was reading Stacy Julian's blog the other day (she's SO my hero!) and she was talking about color in LOs. She said not to worry about matching everything just so. That we choose colors based on emotion and to go ahead and let our emotion from pictures match everything up for us (OK, so at least that's what I got out of it!) Well Stacy--I did that, and low and behold, this pics I came up with match just perfectly!

I'll leave you with a pic of me and MY daddy... This was at my brother's wedding last summer (it was 100+ in a place that normally rains 75% of the year! Love you Dad!

Hope your day is spectacular!

~Til next time <3

My Little Reader...

2010-06-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

So I had this crazy "Wow" kind of moment the other day... I have some friends who were telling us about how their now 7th grader was reading Harry Potter books in 2nd grade. I kinda thought in the back of my mind, "Seriously? How do you even HAVE a kid who can do that?" The teacher in me was just not sold on how that was even possible. Well... I think I'm gonna have that child in a couple of years. As I type this, I am listening to my boy read from his Star Wars books to his sister... Wow... I have a real reader on my hands! I know he doesn't yet realize what this opens up to him, but to me, it is truly amazing... I have a reader... :)

Just wanted to get that down since I know that before I can blink, it will be old hat, always been that way. For now though, it's pretty spectacular! Thanks for letting me share that... :)

Back Again with a Dango Reveal!

2010-06-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

Yep! I'm here again already! I'll just make a quick one and share my latest and greatest from the Scrapdango kit for the month! This month Heather sent me the Spice kit, loaded up with Glitz goodies. Check it out...

I was a little nervous, as I'd never heard of this manufacturer before, but boy, was I suprised! This was a really great kit to work with. I've been using a ton of kraft cardstock as well as black and white and sepia photos, so this really worked beautifully with that! The ephemera is double sided, so you can use them as journal spots too.

Here's what I did...

This is a picture of J and his (now former) teacher. I hid his little draft of a letter he wrote her in the envelope.

This one is actually a short mini album we made for J's teacher. I decorated the outside and added some pics on the inside, while he wrote his actual letter to her. :)

Here's another fun little thing I made J. (A is NOT gonna be happy when she figures out the inequality in all this!) He already had the little peanut butter jar from the sitter's house where he keeps his allowance he earns from her. He brought it home for the summer, so I decided to decorate it a bit for him. In his words, "I like it a lot. Actually, I really love it!" (Ahhh, thanks bud!)

I wasn't quite sure of what I thought of this last one, but, once again, I really like how it turned out! I'm always trying to give my LOs more dimension, so this was fun for me to do so much messing around with the paper. I also started to go a little crazy with the GlimmerMist and the CS started to bend, but it's ok now that it's in the page protector.

Ok, so maybe that wasn't such a quick post afterall... Oh well, I had a blast! I'll be back around the 20th for the sketch reveal. This month's Dango sketch was designed by yours truly! I'm having a fab time creating those too lately! I need to download some more elements to use on them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Is Anybody Here??

2010-06-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

I am! I don't know if anyone else is around here anymore though! :) I knew it had been awhile since I'd posted, but man, that really WAS a long time! Well, summer break is here. All school stuff is pretty much shut down for me for the next several weeks, so I will promise any followers who are still stopping by that I will be blogging much more frequently. Dare I go out on a huge limb and say I'll try for a minimum of once a week?? Yes! That will be my summer blogging goal!

Needless to say, I'm more than incredibly happy to be off work for the next couple of months. I couldn't really say if anything in particular made this year tougher than others. I just seemed to get worn out quicker than usual. A vacation is completely what I need to get recharged and back into some spectacular scrapping (ok, that might be a more lofty goal than the blogging one!) Actually, I'm really excited to get scrappy now. I've done a few things recently that I'll be sharing today and tomorrow, but I hate when scrapping becomes more of a job than something that I love... So, here's to feeling renewed and recharged!

I do have a wonderful sketch I got to create with recently! There's super exciting news over at Sassy Lil' Sketches too!

Yes, Sassy Lil' Sketches will have monthly

sponsors starting now! We have had several

generous companies agree to sponsor a month

at Sassy Lil' Sketches.

We will be posting the winner of our first random

drawing on July 6th*.

Reminisce is our first sponsor. How cool is that?

What do you need to do to be in the drawing?

Do one of June's Sassy Lil Sketches and have it

uploaded via Mr. Linky by July 5th.

The more sketches you do in June,

the more times your name goes in the drawing!

Now who wouldn't love some yummy Reminisce goodies?? I hope you'll head over there and check it out! My work is for the card team, but don't forget that there are 3 fabulous layout sketches for the rest of the month! Cherie and Katie also have a list of upcoming sponsers listed on the blog.

Here's the sketch I worked with this month...

And here's the card I made...

The Cosmo Cricket papers in this card are from an awesome Personal Scrapper add-on kit. When I got the email from Erica offering the add-on (yes, that's the customer service she gives!) there was no way I was going to risk not having it! Those papers are so much fun! Be on the look out for more projects with these posted soon!

I hope you'll be able to check back over the next few days too. I've got some serious scrapping to catch up on!

A Guest Toot!!

2010-05-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hurray! I said I'd be back with a little scrappy news! I'm one of the guest designers for the month of May over at Scrap Your Crap!! This month's challenge has to do with using up all those alpha stickers, so man, was that right up my alley or what?? Please head over there and check it out! There are some amazing projects the girls have done, and you will be truly inspired! I've got even more amazing ideas already!

Here are a few other projects I've been working on recently...

May you have a wonderful May Day! It's raining here, but hopefully the sun will peek out sometime today and we can get out and enjoy it!

~Til next time <3

Happy National Scrapbooking Weekend!

2010-04-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

There's so much going on, I know, but here's the schedule that just began over at SCRaPDANGo...

I'm up first, but you'll have to head over there to see what I created! The only hint I'll give is that my inpiration came from a layout in the May/June issue of CK! I can't wait to see what the others have done! I know it's gonna be AWESOME!! I hope you're inspired too!

Check back tomorrow when I'll share a scrappy little toot! Kind of excited about this one! I've been waiting for quite awhile to share!

Enjoy your scrappy holiday!

~ <3

National Scrapbook Day!!

2010-04-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

I realize I've been a complete blog slacker this month... Luckily I DO have many great projects to show for it! I'll unfortunately have to come back later to post them as I need to save some room for the big announcement!! SCRaPDANGo is having a wonderful celebration over on the forum!!

My project is scheduled to be up on Friday, so I hope you can stop by and visit! It's gonna be fabulous!!

Happy for Spring!

2010-04-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

My heart gets so much happier as the days get longer and everything around me starts to green up. I love looking forward to spending time outside with my family and taking pictures of how happy they are. It simply makes for happy times around here!

We were fortunate enough to be able to spend Easter at home this year. No traveling, and no place to be for the entire day! My BIL and mom came over to celebrate with us. It was really just simple fun! We enjoyed our brunch and then sent the guys outside to hide the eggs. We had teased the kids that we'd stayed up until "at least 5 in the morning" stuffing all the eggs for the hunt. It was really cute that they believed us, because "that's a whole buncha eggs!" Here are some happy shots of them with their prized eggs both during and after the hunt!

It was kind of hard to get the right light on them on the pics inside. I still need to mess around with that. I also got some really cute action shots of them running all around the yard that I need to do some Photoshopping to still. We put change in about a third of the eggs, but depending on how much cash we might have, we put a few dollar bills in some as well. It was so funny to watch J run around looking for the eggs he actually remembered finding dollars in last year. We were sure he was simply bypassing a bunch of the eggs to look for the "good" ones!

In other happy news, I found my very gorgeous Personal Scrapper kit on my porch earlier this week! That's something else that makes my heart happy! The month is beautiful Basic Grey papers...

I love how Erica's stuck in the 6x6 papers the last few times as well! That totally helps me not worry about wasting an entire sheet -which I do WAY too often! Silly, I know! I can't wait to get into the stash and get going! I'm lovin' those Scenic Route chippy flowers. I've got a crop party coming up for my birthday with all my scrappy, crafty friends in the area! Can't wait to pack this up for it!

Speaking of Personal Scrapper, I was tagged by my scrappy friend Lisa for this blog chain. You probably know her- she designs for The Scrappiest! Love her stuff (although I question her taste in baseball teams, I do love her taste in names!)

I am suppose to list 10 things that make me happy:

1) Being with my family

2) Watching the sun set

3) Hanging out at the ballpark (particularly the one nick-named The Safe!)

4) Getting a pedicure

5) Date night!

6) Starbuck's hot chocolate (original!)

7) Seeing the light bulb go on in my kids when I'm teaching

8) Seeing I've made a difference in the lives of the kids I teach

9) Spending time just visiting with friends

10) Getting crafty

Now I am to list 5 pieces of trivia about me:

1) I was in every choir my high school had during the time I was there (except the men's quartet-obvious reason, of course!)

2) I have a secret desire to be a dancer for Janet Jackson (if she's not too old, neither am I!)

3) I seem to be drawn to boy bands - Beatles to Backstreet.

4) I met my dear, darling husband while working at Dairy Queen.

5) I severely swore against scrapbooking when I first saw it (don't really know why... silly girl!)

Thanks Lisa! That was fun!

Now I need to tag FIVE bloggers to continue to chain:

1) Audrey

2) Lisa M

3) Jewels

4) Chloe

5) Tina

~Til next time <3

New Beginnings Crop Coming!

2010-04-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

March Dango Reveal

2010-03-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

March is nearing an end and spring has definitely sprung in the great Northwest. Today is such a classic spring day here-- In the past 2 and 1/2 hours, the weather has changed from sun peeking through the clouds to rain showers and blustering wind. I know we need the rain. I can't wait for the grass to green up. The tulips and crocuses have popped up and are starting to bloom. Woodpeckers have been mistaking our house for their own as they do every spring. My favorite piece of spring though, our family finally has an entire week to enjoy one another's company! Very needed around this house! :)

With grading, reporting and conferences, I didn't get a chance to show the reveal for SCRaPDANGo here. The kits are already out, and you should head over to the SCRaPDANGo Store and see if there are any more left for sale. I had so much fun with this month's Spice kit! I <3 Jillibean Soup so very much! Her papers are so versitle! I was also sooooo excited to finally get my hands on some currogated alphas! Oh man! What fun!

Here's the amazing kit itself...

Without further ado, here are my March Dango creations!

I've been wanting to do something with this pic for some time now! Just love how it turned out. I also just added some Tim Holz Glossy Accents to the red Jenni Bowlin letters. Makes them pop a bit more than what you see here.

Signs of spring around our place! If you look closely, you'll see the woodpecker making a real home for himself!

This is my version of Lynn's sketch. I don't usually do much that is asymmetrical and initially struggled with this one. I decided to stay out of my box and go with the original sketch. This is now my FAVORITE LO of the entire kit!

Here are some fun cards. I stretched myself again and did a little paper piecing. I even dusted off the Cricut for that little birdy. (He's actually the shadow affect of the ducky character on the Doodlecharms cartridge!)

I free-handed this tree trunk. Again, not something I normally would have done! So proud of myself!

I had so much fun making cards with this kit! I'm going to have to make quite a few more!

Check back later this week to see the April Kit sneak peeks! They're gonna be awesome again!

~Til next time <3

A Couple of Projects for Mid-Week!

2010-03-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

I am barely surviving the week... conferences are next week, which means I'm knee-deep (ok, eyeballs is more accurate) in grading and report cards! It will be well worth it though as spring break will FINALLY be here after that! Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it!

Thought I'd post a couple of things for you all to peek at while I'm ~~avoiding my work~~ taking a well-deserved break. The first is a LO I did for SCRaPDANGo's LO tag from last month. I was the first one up, so I had to wait soooo patiently for the game to finish! Man, that's really hard for me!

I love this LO so much! This was a pic I got of my darlings on Valentine's Day weekend. J was "piggybacking" Miss A all around, having a blast, of course! Most everything on this page is from my February Personal Scrapper kit. I did get to use my new Fancy Pants pins though! I'm having so much fun with those little guys! I also had some fun playing around in PSE for the photo itself. I wasn't really happy with the color of the pics to use with any of the paper I'd been wanting to get out, so I started playing with the hues. This way, the pic wasn't black and white, yet not really sepia either! I thought it was kind of a cool combination... :)

The next LO is one that I realized I had to take down quite awhile ago. This is my LO that was published in Scrapbook Trends this past January! I'm hoping to find a real frame to put the LO into somedeay, but for now it is up in a cheap one in my scraproom!

Again, some of my very favorite papers! That pic is also one of my all-time faves! Can't believe how big my little guy is getting! He reminds me all the time that he's "almost a first grader!" Nah, he'll always be my little baby!

Well, enough for tonight. My break must be over by now! Thanks for stopping by!
~til next time <3

SCRaPDANGo Reveal!

2010-03-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's kind of exciting around SCRaPDANGo right now! We have a new owner! She's not a new face at all! DT co-leader Heather has officially taken over the reins! We're super excited for her and glad that former owner and founder Carrie will still be around :)

Here are some of my creations with this month's kit!

Those pics of my little girly are so old now! It felt great to get some more of her stuff scrapped for her first year album. Maybe I'll be done with that one by the time she's four??!! I actually only have a few more left on the list that I need to take care of... we'll see!

I took another plunge with a DT call... not expecting anything from this one, but I just need to keep putting my hat into the ring... I'll find out who made it soon, so at least no major prolonged wait! It will just keep me learning more and more and practicing more and more! Someday... :)

~Til next time <3

Sassies Card Sketch for March!

2010-03-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

I've had so many awesome visitors for the Sassy Lil' Sketches Blog Hop! If that's what you're here for, be sure to check the post below this one to keep hopping! Thanks so very much for all the love you've left me! It makes me feel kinda warm and fuzzy inside to have you say such nice things about my work! I'm so excited to be a part of this team!

With that said, here is Cherie's awesome sketch for us to create with...

Isn't that just perfect for a card? She makes it so easy for me to make cards!

And here's my take on it!

I made this card for a friend of my for her birthday! She's actually a leapyear birthday, but I always celebrate it with her in March! These are some cute Basic Gray papers and stickers I got when I was at CKC in the Latest and Greatest 2010 class. It was the first time in that one for me and I really enjoyed it! Great product is ALWAYS a bonus though! I also found that cute little stand at Target so I can better prop my stuff up with! Can't wait til the sun is shining full-time to get outside and take the pics!

Thanks again for stopping by!

~ til next time <3

Welcome to the Sassy Lil' Sketches Blog Hop!

2010-03-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

Sassy Lil' Sketches would like to welcome you to our "Going Green" Blog Hop. We hope you will join us in doing the "Going Green" Challenge! Each of the Sassies has created a "Going Green" project to inspire you along the hop route. They are fabulous and we are excited to showcase their crafty talent!!!

We will be offering a random grand prize for one participant.

Here are the details of "Going Green" Challenge:
Create a project (card, layout, or altered) using the "Going Green" sketch below AND one of the following "Going Green" criteria:

1. "Go Green:" Do a project that is predominantly green in color.
2. "Reduce:" Reduce your stash by creating a project where all the product used are at least one year old (no new stuff).
3. "Reuse:" Do a project with left overs from a previous project.
4. "Recycle:" Do a project with an item that was used for something else first.

My layout uses papers from my monthly kit from SCRaPDANGo. This is the Sugar kit featuring Scribble Scrabble patterned papers and Buzz and Bloom embellishments. In trying to keep "green," I've also inked my white letters with chalk ink and used a piece of cardboard from an album I recently purchased.

Carly's blog - <<<<<----- YOU ARE HERE! Cathy's blog - <<<<<----- GO HERE NEXT!

Have fun and happy scrapping!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T08:59:00.001-08:00

Wow! I almost missed the fact that it is Sunday already! After my whirl-wind trip to the Rose City for CKC and a super-speedy work week, Sunday just snuck right up on me! This wouldn't be too much of a big deal except that it IS Valentine's Day AND, in my scrappy world, it IS my very first reveal at Scrappy Lil' Sketches! If you remember, I've been a little bit nervous about this as I am actually on their card team. I wanted to start off strong, so I got some gorgeous new paper at the convention. I'm not normally drawn to Basic Grey stuff like other paper lines, but this stuff is just beautiful! Maybe the bright colors are helping me make it through our dreary, wet, snowless winter or something. But whatever the case, this is what I needed!

Here is Cherie's great sketch- just perfect for me!

Here is my take on it! My sentiment stamp is from Technique Tuesday/Ali Edwards with Basic Grey papers.

Gotta love it! Well, I'm headed out in a bit for a "run" with a friend. She's more of a runner than I am (as I'm NOT really a runner!) If I'm not back in a week or so, well, I've died on a trail somewhere!

~Til next time <3

CKC, Here I Come!

2010-02-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

I can hardly contain myself, I'm so excited! I am leaving tomorrow morning to head to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Portland! I know I don't need to explain to all my scrappy friends how exciting this is, but WOWWY-WOW-WOW!! Seriously! This is totally my favorite time of year. Even though I've normally gone to the convention in Bellevue, I've been sucked in with friends to try Portland out this year. I think it's going to be a blast. I don't know if I'll have any scrappy sightings like I've had the last two times, but it's bound to be awesome! I'm staying with two friends from here, meeting up with 3 more friends from the SCRaPDANGo DT, plus hoping to see Erica from Personal Scrapper! I'll be taking scrappy classes and spending my hard-earned $$ on amazing scrap goodies! I'm bringing nearly nothing with me so I will have more space to bring stuff home with me! This is such a big deal for me that I'm actually flying- I HATE to fly!! It's well worth it though! Can't wait to share what I bring back!

~til next time <3

February Pagemaps!!

2010-02-02T20:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I can finally reveal a little bit of scrappiness! Last month, the DT for SCRaPDaNGo was asked to do the pagemaps for February! This was such an amazing opportunity! If you are a major scrapper, you should definitely know Becky Fleck and her amazing work. She is the creator of Pagemaps-gorgeous sketches for gorgeous layouts! I've learned that she actually has maps for cards and all sorts of other scrappiness. What I think I love most about her sketches, is the detail that she puts into them. I love not having to think about where a patterned paper would go, or where an embellishment would look right. Becky includes it all! You REALLY need to head over to Pagemaps, follow the blog and subscribe to the newsletter!

Here's the sketch Becky chose for me to work with...

I loved it the second I saw it!

And here's my take on it...

All of this is really exciting, but I think my very favorite part is that I got the top spot on the newsletter! I never would have seen that coming in a million years! I was so worried about doing a good job for her! What an honor...

The other Dango gals had BEAUTIFUL work there as well! So inspiring! Be sure to head over there and see it all! If you've never been there, the newsletter gives a little bit of info with each of the layouts. Go to the blog and click on February Pagemaps to see the sketches with the LOs.

Better quit now while my head still fits out the door!
<3

Sassy Layouts

2010-01-28T20:52:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post my layouts for the DT call at Sassy Lil' Sketches... I was working on a computer that didn't have the pics last night, and I was just a little too tired to do anything about it! So, here they are!

My flowers got a little caddywompus on the first one, but they were both so much fun to do! Remember, these are Cheri's great sketches, so head over to Sassy Lil' Sketches to get some more! I can't wait to show you all my debut card on the 14th! Wish me luck! The sketch is just adorable!

I 'm on sort of a scrapping hiatus right now as I'm waiting for the arrival of my SCRaPDaNGo kit. Unfortunately, a well-known company was having some mailing issues which has delayed the kits for all of us. Poor Carrie is fit to be tied! As much as I dream about having a business like this, I don't know if I could handle that side of it very well... {sigh}

That's the bad news, but the good news is that I have less than a week before I fly out to the CK convention! I love going each year, and this year will be a new venue for me in Portland, as I usually go to the one in Seattle. Can't wait to get busy with classes and, of course, getting loads of new scrappy goodies! I'll be helping Carrie at the SCRaPDaNGo booth, and I'm so excited for that too!

Tomorrow is payday, which is truly wonderful (especially since we only get paid once a month!) and there are only 4 days until my next reveal of scrappy excitement! Lots to look forward to and be thankful for!

~For now <3

Scrappy News!

2010-01-27T21:12:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to give a quick little update... I've been asked to design for a great new sketch blog-- Sassy Lil' Sketches! They have had such a great following that they are going to do weekly sketches, including one week for cards. Now, I don't usually consider myself much of a card maker, but I do like to try, and I really, really do have lots of fun when I do. So, of course, they would like me to be on the card team!! I'm excited for the challenge though. As I told the hubby, this will at least make sure I make ONE card every month! Cheri and Kate have some "while you're waiting" sketches up for now. Otherwise they go "live" with the new design teams on the 7th of February. Hope you'll stop by!

No scrappy pics to share just yet. I have another exciting scrappy moment to share, but I can't tell you all about it until the 1st of the month. Let's just say it has to do with sketches too! I can't wait!!!

I've been doing lots of thinking about my Design Team statuses (is that a word?) and I'm looking to refocus myself. I haven't decided completely what all that means, but I know that the pressure of requirements has actually put sort of a damper on the whole creative process for me. When that started happening, I knew it was time to relook at what I was taking on... I'll let you know more over the next month. I've got some scrappy decisions to make...

For now~ <3

Scrappy Fun!

2010-01-21T21:13:00.000-08:00

Wow... It's been a short work week for me, but I'm just tuckered out! Funny how that can happen...

Last weekend was the big SCRaPDaNGo crop (actually, there's still time to join in and win an awesome scrappy prize!). I had fun with the two projects that I did. The first challenge was one so everyone could join in. Since we were having a Dance theme, my first challenge was "Let's Do Some Line Dancin'". You needed to simply make sure your layout had lines on it! I was so excited to see so many great layouts! Here's my sample...
The next challenge I did was very much a challenge, myself included! Again, going with the dance concept, the next challenge was, "Are You Going to the Prom?" Yep, make a layout with your prom pictures! You could actually use any dance pics and they didn't necessarily have to be from your dance. I was a good dt person and actually scrapped my very own senior prom! Here it is...
That's my beautiful hubby there beside me (ok, so he wasn't really my hubby just yet!) I'm glad I did this though. I made it an 8x8 and put it in my All About Me album. That's a whopping 3 pages completed in that puppy now!

Another project I did was for the PageMaps page call. I never heard back from Becky... That's ok, I just love the layout I finished for it anyhow! Maybe next time, right?

I've got a few other scrappy things in the works, but I can't post them just yet! Hope you'll come back and visit soon to see!

~Til next time <3

Scrapbook Trends!

2010-01-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

It happened! My very first publication in a scrappy-magazine came out this month! Now the crazy thing is that, OF COURSE, the actual print copy is literally NOWHERE to be found around my parts! However, I did manage to get a peek at the on-line version! I can't post the page here until next month, but I figure they'd be more than ok with me giving a little shout out to have folks go get there own copy! So if you click on this pic, it will take you straight to ST where you can download your very own copy! I'm on page 91 (memorized that right away:) ), and it will only cost you $5--not too bad, eh?

In other scrappy news, I'm working on a whole bunch of top-secret scrappiness. Some of it will be shared soon (next month, to be exact) and other stuff might just be for nothing. Only time and patience will tell...

Next weekend is a great crop over at SCRaPDaNGo. Everything is "dance" themed- Tango with SCRaPDaNGo. The projects themselves won't necessarily be dance stuff, but the ideas behind them will be! I'm working on my projects now, and I think it will be a ton of fun! (I'm actually really looking forward to my game!) It will be awesome!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Til next time~ <3

Happy New Year to All!

2010-01-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

Here it is, 2010... I can't decide if we're supposed to say, "20-10" or "2000 and 10." I'm sure we'll be used to whatever it is in no time. Many blessings to all my cyber friends out there. May your new year be blessed and filled with joy!

I'm in great denial that I must head back to the real world in the morning... That alarm clock will go off MUCH too early, so I'm already telling myself that Desperate Housewives will need to be DVR'd tonight in order to provide a much needed early bedtime! I'm sure I'll survive (note the self-talk here...). I do thrive on routine even if I curse it all the while! Consistency is good. It's what I try to provide for my family, and even my students. I should make sure to provide it for myself as well--even if it means setting the alarm clock!

Heading back mostly makes me sad that I won't have as much time with my family as I've had over the last 2 weeks. I miss them terribly, especially over the first few days. It's hard to not be around them... Along with that, it also gets harder to get scrappy. I know these couple that I post will be the most recent for me for awhile... {sigh}.

With that, here they are-my most recent creations. These two are the last I put together for my SCRaPDANGo December kit. I have one other that was made for the DT challenge for January week 1 at SCRaPDANGo, but using an old Personal Scrapper kit (it's one of my favorite kits-October Afternoon, and I'll probably cry when all the patterned paper is gone!) I realized that I don't have that pic on this computer. I'm having some PSE issues on this machine (anyone know why I have a program error whenever I try to save?). I'll get that one loaded up later this week!

The gift box was a lot of fun to make. I finally cracked out my EKSuccess box maker that's been hiding in my closet for a couple of years and managed to figure out two new techniques. I did an accordian folded flower along with the ribbon curls. Lots of fun!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Til next time <3

Scrappy Goodness on Sale Now!

2010-01-01T22:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, on sale!!

After Christmas and Ringing in the New Year Sale at Scrapdango!

Scrapdango has an awesome sale going on! In celebration of the New Year, Scrapdango is offering a whopping 30% off your entire order on anything carried in the Scrapdango Store. Credit card orders only (no paypal) for the sale and the sale price will be adjusted before your order is processed. Minimum order is $25.00 after the sale price adjustment. Quantities in stock not guaranteed. This sale will run through January 7th! Hop on over and take advantage of the sale!

Happy, Healthy House!

2009-12-28T00:14:00.000-08:00

Well, we're all better! Actually, I never did catch anything- still can't even believe that one! If the gang gets it, I get it. Definitely believe in the power of prayer! We've had a busy week with the holidays. Loads of fun and time spent with family always make it memorable. We even had a couple more birthdays to add to the mix!

Last week I was in charge of the All About Me challenge over at SCRaPDANGo. I wasn't sure what to do and had a couple of ideas, but they were squashed as I looked through the archives of past AAM challenges. So, the search was on. I decided to do a challenge about your name. It could be how you got your name, or maybe what your thoughts are on your own name. You could also do something with a name change from marriage. I decided to go with the "how I got my name" version and use a baby pic. I've never used a baby pic before and I figured it was about time! The title is "What's in a Name..." Here's my LO...

Sorry for not getting in closer on this one. Something is up with my Photoshop and it won't let me save any changes I make on pics. Very strange...

My AAM album is an 8x8, so that is what I went with for this LO as well. I used some Cosmo Cricket papers. I thought they did a good job of keeping the vintage feel of the 70's baby! I tucked my journaling away since it is kind of long. I wasn't sure about this one until I got it done, and now I just love it! (Hmm, have I said that before?!) I think what really helped were the little butterflies on the left. That is the first time I got to use my cute little Martha Stewart punch! Can't wait to use it more!

Welp, that's about it for now! Thanks for stopping by!

~Til next time... <3

Where Has the Time Gone??

2009-12-20T21:30:00.000-08:00

So obviously, I've been a complete blog slacker! I missed my own blogoversary a few days ago! Yikes!!! It was (unfortunately) for "good" reason though. Our household has been struck with the flu... Not sure if it is H1N1 or not as the docs don't really test much lately, and since it is seasonal flu season around these parts, it's hard to tell with just the symptoms. I'm the only one it hasn't hit, but I've had more than my fair share! I've been living in a surgical mask the last several days-I wonder if my family remembers what I look like?? Oh my... :)

I have been very busy with SCRaPDANGo goodies lately! I'm so excited to share what I've done so far for reveal day with my beautiful Sugar Kit! Check it out!

Pink Paislee's Amber Road

The kit actually is not complete as shown, but that is crazy considering how much is already there! It really is just beautiful paper. The colors are just gorgeous! I am not much of a theme scrapper lately, I've noticed. These papers had me digging into my winter and Christmas pics in no time! I've done three projects so far, and I'll have another 2 or 3 up in the next day or so.

Stitched Tree card

Santa Jammies

O-Christmas Tree

This was so much fun! Make sure you stop by the Dango forum or blog to see what the rest of the DT did. Remember, I've just shown you one kit here. There's also the Spice Kit that is just as gorgeous!

Well, I'd better head off... Fending off the flu has been hard work! And I still have more scrapping to do!

Til next time~ <3

Scrapdango's Twelve Days of Christmas!

2009-11-28T22:53:00.001-08:00

Are you ready for a 12 day extravaganza of amazing inspiration, tutorials and games? We've got it coming your way! The fun will all start on December first and continue all the way through the twelfth! Everyday you will find a new project with all the instructions you need to make it yourself! And every other day there will be a new game to try your luck at! Earn draws for winning games and completing projects! One winner will receive a wonderful Scrapdango treat! Hope to see you there!

Scrapdango November Kit Reveal!

2009-11-26T23:04:00.000-08:00

I'm a little behind getting this up on my own blog. It's been VERY crazy around here over the last week or so...

November means report cards and parent-teacher conferences in my "real" world. I think I mentioned before that our school district is making some changes (that I completely support), but it has been a little difficult to get everything up and running. Now that we've finished the first set officially, I think I'm that much more prepared for the next round! At least that one won't include the conferences too!

Smack in the middle of all of that, I was lucky enough to get a bit of food poisoning. Blech! Not much is worse than that! Just over a week later, I'm still the only one in the house who's been ill, so now I'm positive it was what I ate. Can't tell you where- that might be a bit slanderous of me!

I also got AMAZING news on the professional level! My loyal followers remember that I was working toward my national certification all last year. Well... I found out Friday that I passed!!!! I could hardly believe my eyes when I checked my status! I actually cried just as hard as I did when I found out I was pregnant with J! What a HUGE relief!

Well, all of that would explain the late Dango reveal here at Scraptivated! I told Carrie that she could decide whether to send my the Sugar or Spice kit. They were both absolutely gorgeous. She knows how to pick some great stuff! I got my package and it was the Sugar kit, complete with Cosmo Cricket's Nutmeg line and gorgeous Prima embellies! Talk about being in Heaven!

Without further ado...

Thanks for stopping by!

Til Next Time ~ <3

Scrapdango Day 3!

2009-11-15T00:08:00.000-08:00

Hello again! Glad you're here for the third and final day of the Scrapdango Design Team Blog Hop! I'm hoping you've been here over the last couple of days, but if not, make sure you head here to find out what's going on, and get yourself a chance to win some delicious scrap goodies!

So far, you've made a card and a layout, each with six specific ingredients. Well, today you'll be making an altered item of your choice. Yes, you get to choose what you'd like to make, however, the deal is you must once again include all six items given to you on your hunt through the Dango DT blogs! You should have already seen three blogs before mine. If not, you need to head back to the Scrapdango Blog to get started!

My item for your recipe is..... distressing. You can do this in a number of ways, but I chose to sand the edges of my papers. Through this, or sometimes using inks, you create a "well worn" look on your paper crafts. Sanding is one of my very favorite things to do. In fact, if you look closely at many of my layouts, I've even sanded the edges of my pictures! I love the look it gives!

Be sure you continue onto the remaining stops and get the rest of your ingredients! Can't wait to see what you create! Remember to post a link in a comment left on the Scrapdango blog, or head to the Scrapdango forum to earn your draw for the fabulous prize! Everything must be completed by Midnight on Monday night! Good luck and get crafting!

Carly's Blog ..... You are here!

Lisa's Blog <<<------ Go here next!

Kerryn's Blog

~Til next time... <3

Scrapdango Blog Hop Day 2!

2009-11-14T01:17:00.000-08:00

Hello! So glad you came back! If you are here for the first time, make sure you head to the Scrapdango Blog to see what the heck is going on and get yourself caught up!

We're hopping again! Today, you'll need to collect 6 parts of a recipe to create a layout. You are welcome to include more than 6, but the layout must include the 6 ingredients you discover on our little scavenger hunt through the Dango DT blogs! Don't forget that your layout will be due no later than midnight EST on Monday, November 16! Do that, and you'll get a draw for an awesome Scrapdango kit! They are gorgeous (go check it out if you don't already know!) Upload into the comments section of the Scrapdango Blog or the the forum in the Progressive Blog Hop section. Can't wait to see what you do!

Well, it wasn't a very tough choice for me to decide what my favorite layout item is! Gotta be Thickers by American Crafts! They are just about the best paper-crafter discovery EVER!! I love the dimension they give to your projects. They're just so simple and they come in every color and style you could ever dream of! So here's my layout...

I had a completely different layout ready to go, but after yesterday seeing Heather pulling out the October Afternoon (which I just love as well!) I knew that I needed to head a different direction! My ds is an extremely dilligent worker (as told to us by his teacher as well!). I had to get some pics of him working so hard on his drawing! So cute!

Well, it's about time you started searching the remaining blogs to see their favorites too! Be sure to leave a comment to get a draw for that great kit!

Carly's Blog ..... You are here!

Lisa's Blog <<<<------- Go here next!

Kerryn's Blog

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you tomorrow!
~Til next time... <3

Welcome to the Scrapdango Blog Hop!

2009-11-12T22:09:00.001-08:00

So glad you've joined us for the Scrapdango Progressive Blog Hop! If you didn't get all the details (or just happened upon me here) you can head over to the Scrapdango Blog to find out all the details. This is a Progressive Blog Hop, so you'll need to be sure to visit each of the new design team member's blogs each day this weekend. You will learn one piece of a recipe challenge that you will have to include on a card, layout or altered item.

Today is the DANGOS card recipe challenge. Hopefully you've already been to Heather, Lynn, and Nikki's blogs! My letter for you for the recipe is G. You need to include all 6 items on your card, then provide a link to your card in the Scrapdango Blog comments section and/or on the Scrapdango forum. Every challenge you complete gets you 1 draw for the prize of one of Scrapdango's fabulous kits! You need to complete all of the challenges by Monday, November 16th at Midnight EST.

So here is the first part of the card recipe challenge:G is for...Glitter of course! Here is my card with all 6 items.

Any ideas of what's left? Don't just guess! You need to op on over to Lisa's blog to see what to include on your card next. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see the items you will need to include on a layout.

Carly's Blog - You Are Here

Lisa's Blog<<<------Go Here Next

Kerryn's Blog

I hope while you're here you have a chance to peek through my archives and get to know me a little better! So Glad you stopped by! See you tomorrow with a layout with the DT's favorite items!

~Til then <3

Gettin' Scrappy!

2009-11-09T21:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday! I hope you're all feeling the blog love here, because this is true dedication, I tell you! This week marks the beginning of one of the three busiest weeks of the whole school year for me! It's grading time! Yech! It's always tough getting everything done, but this year our school district is changing systems and procedures and, well... let's just say there have been a few bumps in the road! I know we will all make it through, but it is miserable in the meantime! Prayers are greatly appreciated!

To make it through, I have been able to get a little scrappy over the last week or two (yes, I'm a little behind getting some of my latest works up here!). I'm glad it's been good therapy and not a burden adding to my insane stress levels. Being on three DTs and working the ScrapCalls blog keep me busy, but I absolutely love it! I wish that I could find a way to do more, though DH keeps reminding me that it wouldn't be very good for our marriage! LOL! So anyhow, here are a few of my latest pieces...

The colors didn't come out all that great... I think with the end of daylight savings time, I just haven't been home before dark much, and I'm having to get creative with the photography! The first and last are Nuts About Sketches from Shawn. The middle one is my first DT challenge at Scrapdango! I actually designed the sketch for this one as a part of the challenge!

I've got a few more things in the works... You'll have to head to the Scrapdango blog this weekend and be a part of the hop to check them out! The DT had some great ideas and has been fun putting them together! Hope to find you around!

~Til next time... <3

Scrapdango Blog Hop Is Coming!!

2009-11-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars to join us Friday, November 13th through November 15th for a Progressive Blog Hop to meet the brand new Scrapdango design team. You will start out at the Scrapdango Blog and then move onto each DT member's blog for a series of progressive challenges where each DT member will reveal one part of the challenge recipe. There will be a new challenge posted each day, Friday-Sunday. By completing the challenges and some other tasks, you will earn draws toward a prize of one of Scrapdango's kits chock full of scrappy goodness. We will provide more details soon. Be ready to start hopping on Friday the 13th.

Monday, Monday!!

2009-11-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

Here we are again... Another week starting right on up! We survived the Halloween weekend! The kids had a blast and were absolutely adorable. (Seriously, check out those pics!) They got to have double grandmas and a grandpa to visit and help get the party started, so all was good! We opted for the Papa Murphy's Pumpkin Pizzas instead of the chili we've done the last couple of years, but it was good to have to worry about one less item on the list!

I just love to see them so happy and excited about stuff like this! It makes my little world so complete with them!

The DT call for Scraps of Us is complete! Welcome these gorgeous ladies to the team:

Marie-Helena

Tamara

Chloe

Michelle

They all have AMAZING talent and I'm so glad they are joining our great little team! Head on over to SOU to see the new November challenges!

In other scrappy news, I am so happy to say that I have been asked (and of course have accepted) to be on the design team for Scrapdango! Carrie has an awesome company with gorgeous kits! You will have to head over and look into getting one sent your way! I'm so excited to join the team! We've got a great mix of newbies and oldies and I think we will work so well together! Can't wait to get my first kit in the mail!

Lastly and certainly not least, it is Monday which means it's reveal day at Nuts About Sketches! I was finally able to complete a two-pager! (Haven't done that in a while!) Make sure you head over to see the sketch and other great takes on it! I'll have to post it later, but I'd rather have you get over there to take a peek!

~Til next time,

Scrappy Goodies!!

2009-10-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

My lovely scrappy friends from Personal Scrapper hold Secret Sister Swaps a couple times a year... I was so lucky to be able to participate this time around! I purchased some really fun Bo Bunny stuff for my secret sister Addie. I hope she has as much fun using it as I did picking it out! While I was sick last week, I came home after a tough day at work to a package on my doorstep... Yep! My secret sister ended up being Jess- she got me the awesome goodies below! My absolute and complete favorite part though is the Crate Paper kit! I just love that company! Something about the colors and patterns I guess just get me! LOVE THEM! Obviously I can't wait to get crafty with it!

I am also sitting on some great layouts for Nuts About Sketches that I can't reveal just yet as they are for November. Love how Shawn is so on top of things and has stuff out to us so quick! I think she sketches in her sleep! I've got a scrappy secret that I can't tell just yet, but check back soon!! I can't wait for this one!!

Don't forget to head over to Scraps Of Us for the cybercrop this weekend! Great games, great contests and loads of inspiration! Vicki will also be announcing the new DT! They are gonna be awesome!

~Til next time! <3

A New Week...

2009-10-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

It's Monday again... Though I don't have a lick of scrappy projects to share, I figured I should keep with the weekly blogging (just in case anyone is checking in!)

I'm at home today with both kids as of lunch time... So sad! The sitter called to let me know that J had a temp of 102 so that meant he needed to be picked up! The rock-paper-scissor game picked me since Paul was chasing some of his high needs kids around with their own teacher out. We made it home and got the Tylenol going. After a little bit of a nap, he's now watching DVR'd episodes of Clone Wars! At least he's easy to please! Miss A is still napping, so here I am! We'll stay home tomorrow again for sure, then it's Daddy's turn if need be...

This weekend we finally made it to the pumpkin patch and apple orchards! I just love this time of year! I didn't go too crazy with the pics, but I think I got some good ones! I have the November sketches from Shawn at Nuts About Sketches, so I can hopefully start on some of those with these pics!

Til next time~
<3

More Scrappy Anniversary Goodness!

2009-10-12T21:58:00.001-07:00

Well, we are almost half way through the month... Since all of October is the anniversary celebration for Scraps of Us, Vicki has put up another one of my sketches and takes on the site! You'll need to head over there and take up the challenge to have the chance to win a great prize! Remember, there are challenges daily, and each one has a prize! Don't forget to look into the DT call as well! Vicki is a great person to "work" for! The first round challenges need to be finished soon, so get over there!

I just love how this layout turned out! Papers are WeRMemory Keepers again from a wonderful Personal Scrapper kit! I got to get out of my little box on accident with those title letters! The @ was not planned! I'm usually so careful about checking out which alphas I have, but, whoops, I missed this one! I'm also having loads of fun with the fussy cutting too! (who knew?!)

~Til next time <3

Another Weekend Bites the Dust!

2009-10-11T17:20:00.001-07:00

Wow... time really flies... No, I mean REALLY!! This was a three-day-er for us, so I really can't believe that it is Sunday already. Today was sort of a sit around kind of day. Not a ton of anything in particular was really completed. Maybe some laundry, a scrap page, oh, and Paul discovered that our early freezing temps beat us to winterizing our trailer. Not such a great discovery- he went out to grab a pair of shoes and saw that there was an icicle hanging from the kitchen faucet! He made a call to a friend and was able to figure out how to take care of it! Phew! That's a HUGE relief! Luckily, all the lines appear to still be intact!

I somehow missed sketch #40 for 52 Weeks, but I went in and grabbed #39 anyhow while I was working on stuff for Scraps of Us and Nuts About Sketches. The papers in this are from my new Personal Scrapper kit. I am just in love with the Dream Street papers! I can't wait to find some more pics to use with them! We are hoping to get to the pumpkin patch next weekend, so that will provide me with some awesome autumn pics to use!

Just a quick post for today! Til next time!

Anniversary Challenges!

2009-10-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

There are two great things happening over at Scraps Of Us right now... First, it is our very first anniversary! Things are underway and challenges have already started! As part, Vicki has asked the DT to do some sketches for the daily challenges with a sample LO to go with. Well, my first sketch appeared the other day. I am so very new to sketches, but it was so exciting and a little liberating to sit down and make my very own sketches! For a very techie kind of girl, I don't know the ways of "digi-sketching" yet (please leave me your suggestions!) so for now, it is pencil and paper! No snickers about the crudeness of my sketch, but I hope you like it too! Head on over to see the new reveals each day!

This LO uses WeRMemory Keepers papers from the Tiffany's line. I just love the sparkle on some of these papers! Pics are from Miss A's grand debut into the world! She was the speedy delivery of the two kiddos!

The next great thing is the DT search also over at Scraps Of Us! I know I have some awesomely talented followers out there, so you should all head over there and think about taking a stab at it! We'd love to have you! Vicki's looking for people who do layouts and cards, so give it a try! Hope to see you over there!

Til next time~
<3

New NAS Sketch and SOU Anniversary Party!

2009-10-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

Party?? Did someone say party?! Yes! We are celebrating the one year anniversary over at Scraps Of Us! I can hardly believe how fast time flies! It's been an awesome year. The site had a recent revamp and is going strong. We've got some new members there and Vicki is also hosting a DT call! If you're looking for an opportunity to be a part of a great team, you really should sign up! Head over there and see what she's got in store! At the end of the month, there'll be an awesome cybercrop. (I've taken a peek already at the festivities, and trust me, you don't want to miss this!) If you're looking for some great inspiration, it's a great place to stop! I've been busy with some sketches and LOs for the month-you'll need to go there to see what I've done! :)

Also, since it's Moday, that also means Shawn has a new reveal over at Nuts About Sketches! I just love the LO I did for this one! I've never used the KI Memories diecut paper before, but I was looking for something a little different, and voila! These are also colors I don't normally use at all, let alone together, but who could resist scrapping my pics of my little guy! (Those are actually tubes you crawl through he's playing with, but neither of my kiddos have ever done much crawling in them-they prefer the "garbage can" approach!)

You'll need to head back to NAS later for Shawn's great two-pagers! She's one of the only ones around who has them on a regular basis. Works great for all the pics we always take, eh?! Also, more great NAS news... Shawn's started a forum so everyone can upload their great takes on her sketches! You'll need to head there as well!

Well, I'm so excited to be here, posting on a Monday and all, but I really must head out! I got my new Personal Scrapper kit in the mail today... Can you say, "Dream Street?" These papers are TO DIE FOR!!! I tell you, if I had the money, I'd order two or three of Erica's kits every month! LOVE THEM!!! Also, I picked up a Scrapbooks, Etc. at the store and my CK is here as well! What a happy, scrappy day around here!

~Til next time,

Nuts About Sketches Week 76!

2009-10-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a little slackish... It's hard to get an update in early in the week! I've been spending my Wednesday on-line time doing my ScrapbookCalls duties (and I must add, I think I've finally gotten the hang of it!). So here I am finally on a Thursday, once again awaiting my beloved Grey's Anatomy-I'm still heartbroken over George! The work week is almost over, but I'm now behind in both school and scrappy ways! Oh, the insanity! Does it ever end??

Well, I'm hoping you headed over to Nuts About Sketches already to see the Monday reveal. The DT has some great takes on Shawn's sketch for this week! I just love that there are all types of scrappers on this DT! It just shows what a great variety of styles there are- and they are all amazing!

So here's my take... I liked this one a bunch! The "moose park" as we call it, is just a really fun little community park near my dad and step-mom's house. The kids love to get in the wagon and take a walk there! It was time I scrapped some of the mounds of pics I've taken there! One of the favorite things (as seen in the LO) is to ride on the tire zip cord! Kids and grown-ups alike could probably spend hours going down it!

Til next time~ <3

And Then the Weekend was Gone...

2009-09-27T20:37:00.001-07:00

So crazy that time flies so very fast! I sit here patiently awaiting the season premiere of Desperate Housewives, trying to get in a little update since I've been a blog slacker over the last couple of weeks...

Friday evening was spent sleeping off a tummy ache from the delicious lunch my friends put on at work. Sad that my tummy did not find it so yummy after a few hours :( The family was still able to enjoy "pizza and movie night" without me beside them. So sweet- they came and kissed me goodnight on the couch and let Daddy do the snuggling! After a few hours, I was luckily feeling much better!

Saturday morning, however, was spent in a mad panic getting things ready for my crop at a LSS (ok, so I'm not sure an hour's drive is really considered local, but we don't have much around here lately). Pics needed to be ordered to Costco, and I had to pack my bags all up to be ready to crop to my little scrappy heart's content for 12 hours! It was fun enough, though I don't think we'll go back for a crop to that particular store again. Customer service should be everything, and their's was pretty lacking! :( I did get a few things done, and some that are in progress. It's hard when you go somewhere else-even though you WANT to pack everything you own, that's not really all that smart! So, some projects will need to be finished up over the next week!

There's another reveal at Nuts About Sketches tomorrow and I finished my LO for it, so be sure to head over there! I'll post back here later in the week to show it off, but get there and see what the rest of the DT has done with the sketch. Here's what I can show you so far-

These are from some gorgeous Julie Bonner sketches at 52 Sketches...52 Weeks. Be sure to stop by there as well and see her latest sketch!

Til Next Time~ <3

Scrappy Fun with Sketches

2009-09-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well, my love of sketches continues! It's been hard to keep up with all the awesome sketch sites I've found over the last couple of months. I'm working on my next sketch for Shawn over at Nuts About Sketches, and Vicki has a sketch for me at Scraps of Us (just waiting on the arrival of my kit from Australia for that!). But what I spent some recent time on was working with some gorgeous Julie Bonner sketches from 52 Sketches...52 Weeks. She's another incredibly talented sketch artist and I really love what I came up with for the sketches I picked out.

Sketch 36

Sketch 35

Sketch 32

Funny, I stressed sketch 32 for quite awhile... Don't really know why! Now that it's done, I really, really like it! Crazy to think my baby girl is already 3 (going on 13!) I know I also spent some time stressing about picture colors and whether they matched papers or not. That was what brought me to do sketch 36 with the same photos but one in sepia. I'd see it done before and liked it, but I'd never done it for my own work.

Sketch 35 is definitely my favorite though! That is also from my September kit from Personal Scrapper! Man, I love getting those things! This month's kit is mostly October Afternoon (and I LOVE that company!)

Better head out for now! Thanks for stopping by!
Til next time~ <3

Nuts About Sketches #73

2009-09-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

Yikes! With all the craziness of school and whatnot, I almost completely forgot that my debut LO for Nuts About Sketches is up on the site! Shawn does a great job of coming up with such a variety of sketches. She has single photos and all sorts of multi photo ones as well and usually does a two pager bonus sketch! Make sure you check it out every Monday (and Wednesday for bonuses and news!) Here's the sketch and my take:

I did some stiching across each of the flowers which was a lot of fun. I also machine stiched the journaling lines inside the brackets but it's a little hard to see in the pic. I love this LO, but am so upset... I didn't pay close attention when I was getting the pics from the computer that I put the wrong date on it!! Grrr! Now I have to figure out a way to fix it all! Any ideas?? It's a major thing, not just a little typo! Of course! Argggg!

Better head off for the night. We had a big evening of dance class (Miss A's very first-tap shoes and the whole bit!) and soccer for the J-man. He's getting better each practice! They're asleep and I should be too!

Til next time~ <3

Whew!!

2009-09-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

I finally had a successful post on the Scrapbook Calls Blog! Yippee!! Last time didn't go so hot, so I was so nervous about how this one would turn out! I figured out what I missed last time, so tonight it went soooo much more smoothly! Yea!! So glad! That was a huge thing hanging on me!

It is crazy-hard to believe that tomorrow is already Thursday! Wow! It's kind of nice having short work weeks (thanks to Labor Day) but then it tends to seem as though there's more to get done in fewer days! We had a great extended weekend camping with some friends (I'll have to upload pics later as they're on the other machine- go figure!) The kids had a blast, our friends are the proud new owners of bicycles and fun was had by all! J saw a snake in a tree and got to hold a frog we found swimming in the river. My little reptilian boy was very much in Heaven! Miss A got to hold Buddy the dog and take him for walks (thanks Brenda!) so she got her puppy fix! We can also even say we survived our first rainy family experience! Such fun!

I need to get scrapping on some stuff, but I just haven't been able to get stuff going. This time of year is really rough for that. With getting schedules set and adding new things like homework to the mix (blast, those teachers! :) hehe!) things are tricky still. I know it's just a matter of time til it gets all worked out! It always does!

Til next time,
<3

Operation Nice Blog Hop!

2009-09-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

So over the last few weeks with all my blog surfing, I've come across so many wonderfully talented folks. You know, the crafty ones who you dream to have a pinky sized amount of their talent and drool at all of their creations. Well, I've also come across some amazingly kind, sincere and caring folks as well! I've been so renewed in the goodness of people lately... Maybe I was having a spell of negativity for awhile or something, but seeing how kind and generous people can be has really opened my heart again.

First, there was Stacy (remember Scrappin' Everday Life?) I just got her goodies in the mail and I can hardly even believe that she would give them away for free! There must be at least $50 worth of treasures there! And for crying out loud, the postage alone was almost $10- just because she's nice! Wow, that's amazing! I've also been following Trisha's blog. She has a weekly inspirational challenge that is all about what we can do for others! Has she ever inspired me! Then I came across a call for this blog hop which led me to the blog for Operation Nice! You HAVE TO CHECK THIS OUT! If you aren't amazed at the goodness of people and maybe even break down and cry a bit, I don't know quite what to tell you! I know I was so touched... People can be so good to us in just the littlest of ways, and so often, we don't even realize it.

My most significant event, however, has been in my son's transition to kindergarten. Here's the story... We live nearly 20 miles away and in another school district from where each of us work as well as where our sitter is (hey, there's another angel in our lives!) Knowing that our daughter would remain with our sitter while J was in school, we decided to "choice" him into the district we teach in, having him go to a school near the sitter. Since well before the school year ended last year, we have been showered with kindness and open arms. Our little guy loves school, loves his teacher, and feels so loved in return. From the office staff, the principal, counselor, and other support staff to all the folks right there in and out of his room, he is loved! Because of this, I decided I needed to show some "niceness" to them whenever I can. I can't be at the school to help out, but I can find other ways to show how much I appreciate them. Today, I baked chocolate chip cookies and made a card to tell how much they mean to our family, and I'll send them to school in the morning.

I want to leave you with some great words I just came across from some people with importance in my life...

"We all make a difference in everything we say or do. Think about your words and actions because they will linger in the minds of the people who hear and observe them." T. Campbell

"My motto is, 'Life is now in session; the question is, are you present?'" Rev. H. Watkins

I hope to hear some great ideas from all of you and learn from the other gals here in the hop to see how you show someone you're nice! Thanks for being here! Make sure to leave a comment to be signed up for the awesome goodies! (See all those people being nice?!) Have fun in the rest of the hop! Here's your next stop!

Til next time ~ <3