Another Weekend Bites the Dust!

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!

<3

Anniversary Challenges!

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!

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,

<3

Nuts About Sketches Week 76!

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...

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

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

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!!

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!

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

Ready for the Weekend!

Do you know that old Loverboy song, "Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend?" Well, that's what we've been doing around here! It's been busy, busy, busy! School is in full force for three of the four of us and only 174 more to go! Our three-day weekend coming tomorrow is well-deserved! We're taking the trailer about 100 miles away near the Snake River to do some camping with friends. The weather is supposed to be cooler, so packing was actually pretty simple. Now that we've been out a few times it doesn't seem near the task it once was and that is a huge relief! We actually packed most of our things and even hooked up to the truck in the dark once the kids were down! Yes, we're a little crazy! This will most likely be the last big outing of this nature for the season. It's so hard to think that the cold is on it's way!

I can finally post my exciting news from before! I volunteered to be a part of the Scrapcalls Crew! I will be helping out with posting the calls on the main site! I'm excited! The more practice I get, the more comfortable I'll feel. But it really is cool to be a part of it! If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have ever known how to really begin the search for design teams and getting published! You'll need to go check it out if you've never been there! Also, the owner of the site, Anam, is an amazingly accomplished crafter! She designs for Prima and My Mind's Eye (need I say more?!) She's got some stuff going on and is trying to raise some money with an auction. Check it out and get some amazing stuff! There are only 2 weeks left with over 50 awesome items, and the minimum bid is only $5 – the minimum item worth is $10 – all the way up to an amazing vintage fresh water pearl necklace valued at $300… You can get all the info here.

Lastly, I leave you for the weekend with a link... If you find you're working for the weekend, check it out!