Snow Day!!

It finally snowed today, a whole month without a drop of moisture, and it has been such a bummer! We are big snow fans, so this has affected how we get motivated for the holidays! Well, the kids were so excited about the snow that the decorations came out today!

This is a garland made with the My Minds Eye "Frost" line of papers, Maya Road snowflakes and a slew of silver glitter and ribbon!

I have a dear friend who has a lot of exciting things going on in her life, some have been challenges and others triumphs. It is so interesting to see what each day brings to her, and I am really grateful for her friendship, she keeps things FUN! We have been trying to get to the gym together too, and we worked out yesterday doing a class called "Body Pump" it is an aerobic weight lifting class with really great music. It really kicked our behinds, it was so fun! We will be doing that again for sure! Anyway, a little sore from it I have to admit!

There is a new release at PcLayers tomorrow a beautiful holiday themed kit called "Yuletide" I will share some projects tomorrow! We also have some exciting stuff planned for the next few weeks so be sure to look for what is up with that! And my crazy talented girl Kayla has some great news, so be sure to check out what is up with her!

I am excited that I get to take some pictures of the snow tomorrow morning when it "glistens" anyone who has seen Utah snow the bright blue morning after a snow storm knows what I mean, and if you don't, I hope you have the chance to see and understand someday.

B-

Good Stuff!

The challenge this week at the Method Playground was given by Teresa Collins, and it is to glitter chipboard!
I am having a serious crush on glitter right now, so this was perfect for me!
I used the Tattered Angels glimmer mist in peach on Maya Road chip alpha and then touched it lightly with Art glitter in Aztec Gold. The heart in the middle is Melissa Francis and the number four and letter "u" are Heidi Swapp with the Aztec Gold glitter on them. And I just love that Scenic Route paper, so perfect for my love for kids, kind of reminds me of the leaves on my family tree.
I just used random pictures of each of the kids from this year that showed each of the kids personalities. A real treasure to me!
Anyway, if you have time this week to play I would really be GRATEFUL!!!
B-

HeeeeeeeeLLLLLLLLLLLLLoooooo

Is there an echo in here?


it is kind of quiet...



hehehehe!


It has been a while since I posted, and it is kind of hard getting back in the saddle.

PcLayers released an amazing kit this week by Natalie Malan, and I have been using it waaaaaaay toooooooo much!


It is called Sugar Cookie, and it has so many wonderful papers, accents, and brushes!!!


SERIOUSLY AMAZING!!!!
PcLayers is also doing an incredible contest right now, and the prizes are wowsers! A digital SLR is the grand prize, and everyone has a chance at that one, so check it out.

I had a great time in Vancouver! And I am still trying to catch up from being gone, but the kids and Dave were all fine while I was gone, so that is a huge relief. They had a couple of adventures that kept things interesting, and it helps them appreciate me when I get back, gotta love that.

Anyway, I will be back with the projects from the November Creating Inspirations kit, it was a lovely box of fun filled with goodies from Cloud Nine and Heidi Grace, very cute!

B-

Saturday night and the time is right

Well, it has been a mighty hectic day, and many things that needed done didn't get done but others did.

I found a couple of cheap, cozy, and cute sweaters for my trip to the cooler, wetter weather and Carter found a "Scorpinoc" toy (Transformers) that has made him extremely happy.

I got a few things kitted and the kids did a minor cleaning on the house and then promptly messed it back up!

Here is another project that I did for Vancouver, but this is in Imaginesce paper, and Scenic Route chip alpha.

I am starting to get a little anxious that I will forget something that I will need while I am gone, but the good thing is that they have stores there, so I tell myself whatever it is I forgot, I can buy it if I really need it.

Last night I went up and cropped with Nicole and Kim! We again laughed ourselves into sideaches, and I even got a few things done! I finished a mini-album and a couple of cards with the Creating Inspirations December kit (which is wonderful!) and worked on a cute project with the new Scenic Route Christmas line, "Roxbury". Totally adorable project in my humble opinion!

Anyway, love those girls, it makes me so happy to spend time with them!

Kim shared some of her new stamps with us, and holy cuteness Batman! I will try to make a project with them when I get home so you can see them, but really for a better idea of how amazing they are, go to her blog that is linked above and be amazed!!! She is so talented and just keeps impressing me with her clever ideas! She is so creative, and if you need card inspiration, she is the go to girl!!!!

Anyway, it is going to be a long night for me, so I better get rolling!

B-

It is the little things!

I have to remember to take time to slow down and appreciate the little things.
Rachel bless her heart keeps reminding me to breathe, great advice when I start feeling a little overwhelmed.
This class is a project with the idea of remembering all the little things that make your family's traditions special. I am excited to use this myself for my family this season, because our kids are reaching an age that they won't all be with us in the next few years, so I really want to capture and share what it is that makes our holidays special to us.
A really amazing contest has just started at PcLayers digital scrapbooking! They are giving away some amazing prizes, and I am so jealous that I can't play along!
Also, the kit at Creating Inspirations is out and it is a darling combination of Heidi Grace and Cloud Nine goodies that are sure to delight and inspire!
This is Chloe's list of the little things that make her smile, and a lot of the things that she mentions are things that make me smile too!
Like mother like daughter, LOL!
B-

Sharing

So I will be posting a project a day until I leave for Vancouver on Monday.


I know a lot of you have been curious about why I have fell off the face of the planet for a while now, and it is because I leave on Monday to teach, and I have been masterminding all kinds of fun projects to share while I am there!!!!

So this first one is a wreath that is decorated with the Cosmo Cricket chipboard shapes and twine, very traditional and very cute! The little bit of glitter on them is the clear kind so that it looks frosted.

I love this project, it looks great, and it is just so happy looking!

So I need a favor from you if you read this post today. Simple Scapbooks is having a little vote for a layout to be put into the Reader's Gallery for the March/April issue. If you have a minute would you go over and vote for mine? It is the one called "Friend" and it is letter d).

So we are getting ready to go haunting tonight, I hope everyone has a very fun-filled evening without too much fright!

B-

Personality Plus!!!

So each of these pictures truly deserves a post of its own, but maybe later, for right now, I just had to share the personalities of my kids showing up in the choices of their Halloween costumes. This gives me little glimpses into their minds, and I am really amused by it all!


Laurel even asked if she could wear hers to school today, and I of course said no, and then laughed and pointed out that it no longer was a costume that way, just a funky outfit! She even did the kitchen clean-up this afternoon wearing the wig with her super long blonde ponytail hanging out the back, hilarious!!!









Carter had his school party today. He is, get this a Garden Gnome. Where did he come up with this? He and his buddy were hanging out at recess and having laughs when the buddy suggested jokingly the idea of the gnome, Carter was instantly sold!!! And it so fits him, happy, fun and always looking for ways to be a bit of an imp!!

Chloe is sweet as pie, but she has this funny little devilish side that comes out at the funniest times. And she can give the stink eye like no other! Don't let those freckles fool you, there is a tiny bit of a devil in there waiting for her chance to stick her pitchfork in you!


And Mr. Wu is so Tyler, the kids with the short fuse is trying so hard to find his inner, old, wise man side. He is almost a brown belt in Aikido, and that really is his very own Bokun (sp?) He worked hard to earn that, and he is sometimes that little old man that yells at you to get off his lawn!


Classic Halloween with teens!!
B-

Method Playground Mood Swing!

I am really enjoying this blog group, the girls are so talented, and they are all so very nice, lucky me!!!

This challenge was to use glass beads and to adhere them with a glossy accents type of product. It was a bit of an adventure learning how to wrangle them, but once I got the hang of it, it went really smoothly and quickly! A great friend suggested lining a cookie pan with foil and then whatever uncooperative little beads that don't want to get put away can go in the trash with the foil! Voila, cleaned up mess, super quick!

I just sent the kids out the door to go to a neighborhood halloween party, but not without snapping some very funny pics first...

I will share those tomorrow!

Happy day everyone!

B-

New 7 Gypsies

This is Laurel with her friend Masha, they are seriously fun, goofy, busy girls!!!
The digital scrapbooking products are by 7 Gypsies, they are from the "Reef" line and are amazing!!!
All of these products can be found at PcLayers, they are the exclusive website for 7 Gypsies, Karen Foster and some other really exceptional designers!
I just love how this layout looks just like paper, my daughter couldn't even tell the difference, I think that is so cool, she was very surprised to learn that it was all digital!
Getting things prepped for Vancouver still, lots to do to get those ducks in a row, LOL!
I can't wait, it is going to be so fun!
B-

Tagged!

Kim Hughes tagged me.

Instructions:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself (on your blog, we all want to know them).
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

So here are 7 random facts about me:

(by the way they are in no way actually interesting!)

1. I have no cartilage in my right knee, years of skiing, running and tennis caught up with me.

2. I love exceptional food. Not a very brave eater, and don't like it when my foods touch but I really enjoy high quality beautifully prepared dishes.

3. I enjoy beautifully designed clothes and shoes, if I had a LOT more money I would be an out of control clothes horse.

4. Don't like sand. Love to travel to exotic places and think the beach is wonderful right up until the time I have to plop a towel down and spend my day battling the invasive grains of sand wishing to take over my towel.

5. I drive close to 60 miles a day just to get my kids to and from school. (four kids/four schools)

6. I love amusement parks and their rides. A few kinds I won't ride because of motion sickness, but big bad coasters are the bomb.

7. When I am grumpy I put myself in time out in my room and either read, or nap. The kids laugh, but it lets them know that it is best to leave me be.

I am tagging:

Teresa

Celeste

Natalie

Kayla

Emily

Sara

Christina

These are all wonderful blogs, so have fun checking them out!!!

I will leave you with a sneak peek of my project for the Method Playground

B-

Red Bee Baby!

Donna Salazar has been working hard for months on a fundraiser for The Red Bee. They are doing a huge event to benefit the Susan G. Komen foundation.

The auction items can be found at the Red Bee Gallery. She asked me back in June if I would be willing to donate something, and because I feel so stronly about this cause, I went a little overboard. (Big Surprise, LOL!)

In addition to the three projects that I made for this, I made many other projects this week, some I can share soon, others will have to wait a little while!

Three projects for Creating Inspirations. One for the Method Playground challenge that was guest hosted by Ali E. Another five samples made for the classes I am teaching in Vancouver. A baby album for one of my FAV tennis buddies that is preggers with her first little one (a boy!) And managed to crochet a few rows on Carter's blanket (really need to get that done soon!)

Anyway, a very exhausting but productive effort!

And pictures to come...

later.

B-

He is Eighteen today!!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

Thanks for being such a great kid!

Hope you have a wonderful year and that all of the responsibilities of being an adult don't weigh you down!

LOVE!!!!

Mom

Quiet Sunday

It has been a few days since a post, life has been a little hectic.

I had some inspiration on the brain from the Jack kit that Celeste created for PcLayers. So last night (late, while Dave was watching baseball) I made some quick pages. Today I printed them out and added some very cute, old pics that needed some love. Then used the handy-dandy crop-o-dile to punch the holes for the rings and tied it all up with ribbon! The kids loved it, and it is nice to see those darling old pics put in a place where they can be seen and enjoyed!

This week was spent creating samples for my trip to Vancouver B.C. in three weeks. I have made some fun projects that I am very excited to share with my friends up there, and it will bring in the holiday season with a bang!

There are a few details in our lives that we are attending to at the moment as well, so things are a little more hectic than usual. That is saying a lot too, LOL!

Anyway, I hope that more people go and play along with the Method Playground challenge! It is a fun one, and I have been putting together some fun give-aways for random players!

Anyway, I hope everyone had a restful weekend, and that this next week is enjoyed!

B-

Eek! I've got a Flickr!

So did I mention yesterday how much I LOVE the new kit called Jack that Celeste made?
I did?
Well let me just reiterate...
I LOVE THIS KIT!!!
It is seriously amazing, and so timeless!

Go to Digital Scrapbooking's blog they are doing a cool contest, and forming a Flickr group!
Very cool!
So I started a Flickr account, it is very interesting, and I am looking forward to learning more about it!

B-

Tragic!!!!

It is that time of year! The Halloween decorations are out, the kids are talking about costumes and what they want to be!

I love it!

Such a wonderful excitement to the holiday that no other brings! Truly a great time to be a kid!

The bummer is that the candy mocks me!

I love sweets, and I usually have great will power, but this time of year is a little harder for me! We live in a tiny cul-de-sac that is rarely visited by trick-or-treaters, so we reward all visitors with the big candy bars! It is just so hard for me to not sneak one or two or them (a day, LOL!)

So for all the mommies that have candy bowls mocking them, there is a treat for you that will not remain on your hips!

Celeste has some darling freebie treats that are sure to inspire and let you enjoy the tricks of the season!

And of course for all who know me a little too well and have had to listen to me use the word tragic far too often, in completely inappropriate circumstances, I now have wordart to further my "tragic" existance, so now you have to read it as well!

The kit that this freebie goes with is going to be released tomorrow, and it is amazing! I (and my tragic family) are completely smitten by Tim Burton and this kit has been inspired by him. Celeste has absolutely channeled Tim in this, and it is beautifully haunting!!!

So I will be working on tons of spooky projects with this kit!

And I will be sharing my tragic work, so be prepared!

B-

Sew get on it!

I just posted the third challenge for the Method Playground!!!

I hope all of you will play! I have some fun goodies to give away, and you would never guess by my scrapping style how fun this challenge is for me!

I took two different pictures of this layout, one is on top of a cashemere sweater that is the same color of pink and the colors really pop off of it and look super rich, but it is hard to tell that it is a clear layout. And the other is hung from my closet door display system (Nordstrom ribbon and binderclips that are sewn on, super high tech!), so you can see that it is clear, but the colors aren't as vibrant. It was a tough pick on which one to use for the technique blog, but here, I get to post them both because I can!

Yeah that is supposed to be funny, but at 1:00 am, maybe it is just silly, LOL!

I know that this is a challenge that digi

scrappers can do very easily as well, so I expect my digi-ing peeps to get on this one!!! (and you all know who you are!)

I hope that I see a few familiar faces posting links for me to visit!

B-

Beautiful Fall Saturday

Love this time of year, everything about it works for me!

I love the weather changes, some days are warm and breezy, some are crisp and cool. The unpredictability is so energizing!

I love that the kids are back in school. And even though I miss them terribly, I love the great stories they come home with everyday, all part of their grand life adventures!!

I love the smells of candles, cookies baking, stew on the stove and an apple pie on special occasions. Fall seems to bring clarity with it. Appreciation for what has gone and what will come. It is a time when I want to slow down and work on my latest afghan I am crocheting or sit and watch a halloween movie with the kids. I feel like life is always trying to speed us up, but something about the fall always reminds me that there is a time and a season for all things, and my time and season is with my amazing family right now. So I might just be a scrappy stay at home mom to some, but to my kids I am wonder mom the lady who loves to drive them where they want to go and talk to them about whatever it is they want to talk about! That is good enough for me!

I am really grateful for this scrappy hobby too. Without it, there are many people who I would never have met that mean so very much to me.

Last night was a wonderful time spent with friends having dinner and visiting. If it were not for scrapbooking, I would never have met and had the opportunity to grow in friendship with one of the friends. A true blessing!

The layout above was made at a crop today with Erin and Celeste (Natalie and Kayla we missed you!). We had such a pleasant afternoon just visiting and cropping. When I got home from the crop Dave took me to eat at the Porcupine and we stuffed ourselves with yummy food! (If you have never eaten there and you live in Utah, I highly recommend it!)

Anyway, Tyler's 18th birthday is less than two weeks away! eeeeeek!

I just don't feel old enough. I need to figure out some way to help him celebrate so if you have some ideas, I would love to hear them!

Off to watch Brothers Grimm with Tyler and Laurel, Chloe and Carter are having a grand sleepover at the girl cousins house!

B-

Interesting week...

This is my wonderful hostess from the ScrapPink weekend in Denver, Mary Kay Seckinger. She is the owner of a delightful store called Scrapbook Destinations! It is stocked with wonderful staples and trendy new hits, a great balance of can't get it done withouts and must have those!
She and her staff did a wonderful job of hosting this event, and have many people looking forward to the next one!

So now that I am back to reality...

I have found I am a little over commited at the moment, but this time of year, who isn't? I am slowly and carefully digging myself out, but I keep having things fall in my lap, a lot of it is stuff that I am thrilled to be doing in spite of my hectic pace, so I consider myself very lucky in spite of the pace!

Tomorrow I am getting together with a few girlfriends and we are having a girls night. A little dinner, maybe a movie or just some sitting and visiting. Whatever it is I am looking forward to it!


I got to see some sneak peeks of one of the kits coming out at the end of the month from PcLayers last night!!! All I will say is that it is completely up my spook alley!!! Keep your wallets ready for that one!
And Natalie Malan, a PcLayers designer, has ANOTHER freebie on her blog, I have her linked above, so go visit her! Her work is so cool and her freebies rock!!!
Anyway, it was a pleasant Thursday, got to go on a long walk with a friend, had lunch with Rick and Bri, and got my shopping errands done with some help from Dave for the Costco size bags of kitty litter, kitty food, flour and rice! (our cart was so heavy, LOL!)
Hope to get some projects finished up tonight to take a couple of loads of my mind so I can better enjoy my Friday!
B-

ScrapPink weekend and a treasure hunt!

Got back from Denver late last night, flight had been delayed 30 minutes, and I was so worried about security that I had Mary Kay drop me at the airport two hours early! Of course I got through checking in and security in about 25 minutes, so that left me with a substantial amount of time to wait before the delay, let alone the extra few! It gave me time to sit and read for a while, and decompress from the excitement of the weekend!


We had a wonderful, successful weekend, and I got to meet some really wonderful women!!!


I want to thank them for their support of the event, and for the exciting weekend!





The October kits are up at Creating Inspirations, and I worked on the Rock Star kit that is jam packed with products from the Marah Johnson line and then some that compliment the line wonderfully, very fun!


This is a 6 x 12 that I did, and I just love it!
The design team did an outstanding job with the monthly kit, it had a ton of fun Halloween product in it, and there are some wonderful, inspiring layouts and projects this month!





And...


Would you like to go on a Treasure Hunt?

A good friend of mine, Kim Hughes has been designing new stamp sets for Cornish Heritage Farms. Here's your chance to be among the first to get your hands on them. Please go to The Cornish Heritage Farms BLOG and there you will find directions for a Treasure Hunt. These steps are extremely easy to follow (no guesswork at all). Along the way, you will see images of seven stamp sets and have chances to win them. One lucky winner will be drawn at the end and win ALL seven sets. This game starts a midnight Monday, October 1 and ends at 9am on Thursday, October 4. At that time, all seven sets will be available to purchase at Cornish Heritage Farms. This is the beginning of many sets to come. You can see samples using these stamps on Kim's Blog Paper Hugs and Stamped Kisses and at the CHF Gallery Hope you have fun!

It is exciting, a lot of fun in the fall air!
B-

Rays of Sunshine

This week has gotten progressively better as Dave has improved in health!

His flu bug passed, and he is back on his feet and happy to be there!

The weather is gorgeous here today, fall crisp in the morning when I went on my walk with my friend and comfortable warm this afternoon as the kids are home and happy to be here.

I am supposed to packing to leave bright and early in the morning, but of course I am procrastinating a little.

Thought I would share my layout from the latest kit at PcLayers this week. The kit is called Spruce and it is by Victoria Brown. It has a ton of great products in it, and has a really warm, rich feel! Perfect for fall or more masculine projects.

Anyway, I want to thank everyone for their kind words and positive thoughts, it has really helped me get through this week.

And I hope that everyone enjoys their last few days of September!

B-

Tough Luck...

I just have to laugh at myself (trust me, it isn't that hard!)

I was so relieved to get our car back and thought that maybe our little run of tough luck would be over, but alas I was wrong.

Dave the superhero husband that he is went to the gym on Saturday for a long workout, then he came home and worked in the yard for a few hours and made it look so much better!

Then the poor guy got a little bug and spent the night in the bathroom, heaving his guts out (blech!)

Well, the long and short is that while spending so much quality time in the bathroom, he strained his abdominal muscles and threw out his back badly!

So he is miserable and there is not much I can do but try to make him comfortable and leave him to recuperate. I spent the day telling him to go lay down. Men are miserable patients.

The house smells like Ben-Gay and the ibuprofin bottle is half empty, LOL!

I hope that he feels better soon, and that we can get back to something resembling normalcy in our house!

On a more fun note, the Method Playground has a new technique challenge up and I somehow managed to get my layout made during all of this fun!

The challenge is to take some item from your household and use it as a stamp! I used an empty ribbon spool and Lil Davis glitter paint for my large sparkly circles!

Hope that I get to see some of you playing!

B-

Friday (phew)

I am so glad it is Friday. It was kind of a long week, and I am ready to find a bed and have a long nap!
This layout that was in the Creating Inspirations Newsletter is how I feel today, I kinda just want to hide, recuperate and get some juice back in my coconut!

So glad, got my car back this afternoon, yay! That is a very good thing, I am so happy to not be driving Tyler's car anymore. Again perfect for him, for me not so much!

Went on a nice long walk this morning with a friend, it was a beautiful day and we had such a pleasant chat. really needed that!

I also received my kit to work on for Creating Inspirations for October, and lets just say it SERIOUSLY ROCKS!

Got my layout done for the Method Playground and it is a really fun challenge, I hope that it inspires others to play with their art! Go look on Monday for the layouts we all did and what the technique will be! I have to admit that this technique was really a challenge for me! So if I can do it, so can you!
B-

Mixed Bag

Don't you just love how life loves to give you a mixed bag?

This week has been one of those.

So a good thing I was really excited about was the October Scrapbooks Etc. had this layout I did in it!

The bummer was that I had my name spelled wrong and that I still haven't received my check for it because they had my mailing address wrong!

A good thing was getting to play tennis and have a luncheon get together with all of my favorite tennis girls, and celebrating a dear friends birthday! The bummer was that after tennis my Yukon died and now it is in the shop and I am driving Tyler's "vintage" (read as old pos) Porsche 944, perfect car for a teenage boy, not so much for a carpooling mom!

Another good thing is that I am busy with scrapbooking, it has me wondering whether to sit or stand, the bummer is that I make no money for any of my work! Gotta a love a hobby that is so encompassing that you become an enthusiast (right April?)

Just wanted to clarify that I am not going to Denver until next weekend, and of course I am very excited! Just to add a fun silly me twist to the whole thing, my kids reminded me that they have Friday off from school and they are glad that I will be gone because when it is just them and dad they get away with more. Great.

Anyway, mixed bag or not, life is still good, and I am grateful for all I have and all I get to do, very worth the roller coaster!

B-

Purple is IN...

It is kind of a now color, but at our house it has always been in.

It has always been Laurel's favorite color and has never left us!

So when I was at that crop and was working on some older pictures of her, of course I had to use the purple!!!

I was really excited, I got four layouts done and had a great time doing them!

It was so fun to create just for the sake of having fun and keeping some precious memories that had been waiting for me!

We had some great laughs about the pictures being "called up" like going to the big leagues and getting into the book instead of being in the photo bin!, it was hilarious!

But when you think about it a little, that is what this hobby is all about, getting to those moments that you really don't want to forget!

Anyway, I get to go to Colorado next week for the Scrap Pink crop that Scrapbook Destinations is hosting! I will kind of be the EmCee and entertainment, and I am excited to go and help this fundraiser be really successful! Thanks for the opportunity Mary Kay!

B-

Quick Sunday update

Had a great day yesterday! Spent it cropping at a Fundraiser for Cystic Fybrosis up in Ogden. A wonderful gal named Brenda Hurd organized the whole thing and it was a nice way to spend the day! Got to enjoy the company of two amazing friends and we seriously laughed so hard my stomach ached when the day was done. I am sure that it didn't help that I ate the entire day! Junk food, salads, popcorn, doughnuts, we had a little of everthing!
Also want to mention that the incredibly talented Natalie Malan has a new freebie on her blog and it is a great one!!!
No bad pics or oldy moldy layouts to share today, breathe a sigh of relief!
B-