My Blog-a-versary!

Three years...

and the beginning the fourth!

My blog's anniversary was on Sunday and it was a little hard to celebrate while I was traveling, so I decided to wait until I got home and settled.

So now I am home and settled, and it is time to party!

I have loved the experience of "journaling" that blogging has provided me with. I was horrible at keeping a journal until I started blogging, and now I have a habit that I am proud of and it is in a format that my kids, family and friends can interact with. That makes me so happy!

So the party starts tonight! I will be giving away some Cornish Heritage Stamp sets! Leave a comment about my blog, what do you like, what could I improve, what is your favorite story, project or picture. Just a leave a comment, and I will randomly select a few lucky winners!!!

Don't forget to leave a comment on the World Card Making Day post as well to be considered for that give-a-way! I am so excited about it, I plan to spend the day playing in my craft room and online at Cornish Heritage Farms for the chat, challenges and give aways that we have planned!

One last share, I made a digi layout last week, the first in quite a while! It was so nice to sit with my family and watch a movie while I got a memory recorded!

I used the Flutter kit that Celeste Rockwood-Jones created for PcLayers, a few Rhonna Farrer brushes and then some bits and pieces from Little Dreamer Designs.

So, there it is for today!

Leave a comment, thanks for being so sweet, and don't forget WCMD!!!

B-

Back from Colorado!

Friday was a fun day with arriving into Denver and having Houston chauffeur me around town and snuggling with her darling pup Edgar! A little shopping and the store (Hi Rach!!!) and then to the crop to get settled and visiting with the girls that flew in from Massachusetts (Hi Debi, Suzy and Paula!) We had dinner at a close Mexican restaurant and then back to the hotel to crop a little longer. Saturday I cropped for a few hours and then taught two mini-class groups before we went and lunch at Pei Wei. A few hours at the store for make and takes and then back to the hotel to crop until late in the evening. The MA girls had to leave very early Sunday morning, so we gave our goodbyes, it was too soon!

Sunday morning brought a day of relaxing and cropping and lots of saying goodbyes to the girls as they trickled out to get back to their families (and to watch the Bronco game) A few of us went to Costa Vida for lunch and then back to the hotel to crop to the very end, we just couldn't get enough! When everyone had made their way home, Mary Kay and I loaded the boxes and my luggage into her car, went out for a quiet and very enjoyable dinner together and had a wonderful chat. We got to the airport in plenty of time, but I had left my laptop bag in MK's car. I got hold of her as soon as I could scroll through my phonebook, but by that time she had already passed the return to airport ramp and was kind enough to take the extra 15 minutes to get turn around and get my belongings to me. At this point it was much tighter time wise, but I was lucky to have no wait for security, a very short wait for the train and arrived at the gate as they were calling the pre-board. I would call that perfect timing, and once again I realize what a lucky girl I am!

I was met at the airport by my darling husband, we got home and the dogs loved on me and then I collapsed into bed exhausted and so happy.

Wonderful friends, wonderful weekend, wonderful life!

B-

Packing, planning and playing!

I love alliteration, so pardon my goofy title today, but it was just too easy and so perfect for how my day has been!

I have been packing for my little weekend jaunt to Colorado, and let me tell you, it has been so hard to decide what to to take! I call these goodies the travel team, and only the latest, greatest and most versatile products get to make crop trips. When the trip involves an airline, the team gets substantially smaller! This really makes me have to plan what I think I will want to play with! Makes the whole process quite interesting to say the least, and with all the visiting to be done, really how much stuff do I need to bring anyway...

Also wanted to share a card to remind you about World Card Making Day on October 4th! I don't fancy myself an exceptional card maker, but I really do enjoy creating them! You can create such personalized and clever messages when you make them yourself! I was inspired to make this one when a friend and I were having some differences of opinion, and wanted to let her know that inspite of it all, I really am her friend forever. The Paper Crafts blog has a really wonderful list of inspiring designers right now, and if you are interested in winning a copy of Cards, Gifts, & More: Paper Crafting 3 Ways go to this post and just leave a comment. I won't be choosing someone for that until I get back from Colorado, so you have plenty of time! And if you are really serious about wanting a copy, I recommend visiting as many blogs on that list as you have time for, to really improve your chances of winning! Cornish Heritage Farms is sponsoring, so at our forums that day we will have challenges, give-aways and loads of inspiration to help you enjoy the day!

Happy ScrapPink eve, and I will be back Monday!

B-

New Method Playground

This challenge is to use chipboard...

the cool thing about this is that we tried to use it in a way that was different than the way it was designed. My project wasn't as large a stretch as I would have liked, but time was my biggest challenge this go around. I used a scalloped edge to make my sun. The other girls really did a great job with their layouts, take a minute to look, be inspired and play if you can!

Don't forget to make a comment on the previous post if you are interested in possibly winning a Paper Crafts special issue!

We have had kind of a busy day with my kids not feeling so well. Tyler had to have some dental work today and it involved a tooth extraction that really hurt. Chloe had a bloody nose that lasted for over an hour and Carter has been exhibiting signs of the flu...

I feel so bad for them, it is never fun to not feel well! And as a mom, we want our kids to always have fun and be healthy. So hard to watch when they aren't feeling right or having a hard time.

Take care!

B-

Woot Monday!

Woot #1...

Here are the randomly selected peeps that will get some goodies!!!!
Parker and Emma's mom and Houston!!!
Please email me your mailing information!

Woot #2...

Get ready to celebrate World Card Making Day!

Join in the fun with card makers the world over on Saturday, Oct. 4, as we kick off the holiday card-making season. Now in its third year, World Card Making Day is a day to connect with fellow card makers around the globe and to celebrate the creativity and joy of this craft! Hobbyists, beginning card makers, manufacturers of card-making products, retailers, and educators, are all making plans to share the excitement of World Card Making Day with workshops, online galleries, parties, contests, sales, and other special events.

World Card Making Day

So, another give away is in order, you are going to love this one!

In order to to jump start the celebration of World Card Making Day, there is a blog tour from some of the designers that contributed projects to the Inspiration Avenue .

So here is the fun part for you! They have provided me with a copy of Cards, Gifts, & More: Paper Crafting 3 Ways to give away! So leave a comment and in a few days I will randomly select someone to send this great publication out to!

Woot #3...

my last and silliest WOOT for today, Heroes has been one of my favorite shows since its inception two years ago and the two hour special season opening episode is on tonight! So...

I am out!

B-

Scraproom reality check...

Yeah, it is pretty bad.

I need to clean in a serious way, and the interesting thing to note here is that you can't see the floor. I didn't take pics of that on purpose because then you would know how really bad it is!

I love to craft, and trust me, I know where everything is in this mess (that fact actually is a little frightening to me) It all gets put away when I am done with it, really! I hang, drawer, stack and place it all back into where it belongs. The problem is that it is completely saturated. I love every little bit of it too, want desperately to find time and energy to use it, but obviously that is just not possible. I have been working on giving it away, but that doesn't help when I go to the store and buy some more! Robert's had their new Basic Grey, Sassafrass Lass and BoBunny at 40% off last week, you would think that I could walk away, but I couldn't! Had to have some of it!

So there it is waiting for me to get it out and make that mess a little bigger...

Anyone have a back hoe?

The good thing about it is that at any given moment I have anything and everything I might possibly want to make a project, gotta love that!

So a little project love to share!

A mini card made from the Kim Hughes paper pack. Scallop punch from McGill and some Prima flowers.

Seriously, who loves ya baby!

So with the thought that I have piles of some really good stuff, leave a comment if you would like a box from my saturated scrap room. I will randomly pick someone to share with!

Best!

B-

Getting ready for Scrap Pink!

In just one week, I am off to spend the weekend with Mary Kay and all of the Colorado Chicas at Scrapbook Destination!!!

The reason is the fundraiser called ScrapPink that Better Homes and Gardens "Scrapbooks Etc." coordinates with scrapbook stores all over the states. It is for breast cancer research, a subject that many of us feel strongly about! I get to go and have fun, but I am also doing some make-n-takes on Saturday at the store from 2-4, and teaching a mini-class for all the participants of the crop. So excited, that I had to share a little sneak preview of the project for the class! We are going to be getting very inky and playing with some fun stamps and techniques, I can't wait!

A few other cool things on the horizon to whisper about...

My blog-a-versary is next week too!

So I will be doing some give-aways, please check back for that.

And World Card Making day is just two weeks away as well, and I have a little sharing to do with that as well!!!

Loads of excitement around here!

So, who is going to be attending a ScrapPink event? Leave me a note letting me know what and where you will be supporting this fundraiser, and I will be picking someone randomly to send out some goodies to.

Have a FAB Friday!

B-

Sketch Challenge

There is a sketch challenge every other Wednesday at Cornish Heritage Farms, and I try to play when I can. This sketch really intrigued me, and I played with the shapes in a fun and texture filled way. The houndstooth backgrounder in Denim Distress ink on Prism cardstock is the base for the layout, then I used Claudine Hellmuth's paint, 7 Gypsies paper, American Crafts letters and some Jenni Bowlin stars. The end design is more freestyle than I usually do, and is thin on embellishing, but I like the simple feel of it.
The other girs playing:
-Lesley
-Julia
-Jen
-Kristine
Hope you have some time to play, here is the forum link if you can join us!
Off to do Wednesday!
B-

Some overlooked life details

It is the little things in life that I love, and appreciate, and yet here a few weeks have gone by and I haven't said Happy Birthday to Nikolay, such a bad doggy mommy! His first birthday was Sept 2nd! He celebrated by sneaking some cat food. Yes, he and Novak have figured out how to open the metal container that we kept the food in. Notice the past tense, now the kitty chow is being stored in the garage. Mr. Search and Mr. Destroy at your service. If I weren't a little embarassed about what they get away with, I would show you a picture of the leather sofa that they enjoy. It is a resting place, a perch and a snack all in one, does it get any better? Today is Kim's release day at Cornish Heritage Farms, so a little birthday card for him...

Other little details, Tyler is getting ready to go on a mission for the LDS church. It is kind of funny having him around during the day while the other kids are at school, but he is super helpful and I am trying to enjoy every minute with him that I can, I am really going to be sad when he is off on his own! Carter is really enjoying jr. high, he has grown so much this last summer, and it is a milestone that I am not happy to see that my baby is now a big guy! Chloe is at AMES and flourishing! She loves the smaller class sizes and the kids there are very easy to be around and so respectful of their learning environment. Perfect for her! Laurel is a senior at Skyline and really enjoying her classes! Graphics, painting, Algebra 2, Japanese 3 and the typical english and government classes with some PE. Good teachers with interesting classes keeps her out of trouble!

Very grateful that everyone is happy and healthy here, a wonderful combination to be sure!
B-

Never too old!

It is getting closer to fall here, and one of my favorite things about fall is Halloween!
I love decorating, and the candy...
YUMMERS!

We love getting out the costumes and talking about what everyone is going to be for the festivities. There have been some very fun and wacky costume ideas conceived in our brain storming! Last year Carter was a Garden Gnome, Chloe was a devil, Tyler was an old kung-fu master and Laurel was an anime character. Good times!
I loved making this layout, I used Kim's silouhette blooms and the pin dot Scrapblock to make my own background paper. A little purple paint and bling, and it was done!
Looking forward to decorating and preparing for this year's holiday! And can't wait to get some more pics of the kids goofing off!
Enjoy your Monday!
B-

Play in your paint!

The newest Method Playground challenge is to play in your paing while it is wet.
This is a fun way to get some texture going by either removing or adding paint with stamps, a stylus or random household items.
I used the large dot backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms when my paint was wet to remove paint from some areas and add a few dots in others. The background paper is from Zach's life and the felt is from Fancy Pants. I rarely do layouts about my husband, so I thought it would be a great change to give him some face time. Pretty cute even after all those years of tough living I have put him through, LOL!
B-

Challenge chicks!!!

Good Monday Morning!!!
Waking up to a beautiful day here in Utah, sunny skies, birds singing and a challenge fresh off the farm! The challenge is to get out your "Adirondack" inks and play with them! Here is a link to the challenge thread if you want to play along, you can share a link there!

Prism cardstock base. Then I stamped with the Adirondack inks in the colors of "aqua" and "red pepper" on piece of patterned paper from the Thomas Kinkade Christmas pack. The sentiment is from the "Primitive Beginings" by Rummage Bin and the heart is from the "Sweet Thang" set by Kim Hughes. Maya Road chipboard house and heart and Cornish Heritage Farms flocking. A little hand stitching while the football game was on and it was done!
For other stunning inspiration go visit these chicks!!!


Julia
Joanne
Kristine
Lisa Silver
Julie
Dawn
Jen
Kim
Alli
Michele
Val

I hope you have a chance to play along with us!
Tomorrow I am posting the latest Method Playground challenge, a very fun and messy one you will want to try that one of our new team members, Pam gave to us!

Hope your Monday is wonderful!
B-

Getting back in the groove...

I haven't had the time or mojo to get any stamping or scrapping done this week, so today I am spending it in the craft room trying to excavate my mojo from underneath of all of the "stuff"!the picture isn't as crisp as I would like, but we will pretend it is ;o)
I made this layout a few weeks ago with Kim's new papers. I just love the colors in this group, they are so fresh and easy to work with! And there is some serious cute factor too! The pink layer is actually from the Scrapblock layer pack and is stamped on with the Scrapblock "Daisy Chain". The flower is so cute, I wish that I had hundreds of them, it is from Maya Road and I use them so sparingly because I have never been able to find them in my local shops! That one came from a Jenni Bowlin kit.
The US Open has been wonderful this week, unfortunately two of today's matches were rained out, so for the next two days I am going to get even less done, I tend to get really caught up in the action, so the distraction continues!!!
The kids had a great week at school, and actually doing their homework without being nagged, how long do you think that might last?
And the dogs are keeping us honest. they started "working" on the leather sofa the other day, and whenever we don't have an eye on them, they start picking at it...
ugh.
They are just so stinking cute, they get away with too much! Just like the kids, LOL!
Hope you all have a wonderful mojo filled weekend!
B-

Just a quick post...

Quite a while ago, the FAB Tia Bennet had posted a fun idea using empty packaging to make party favors. I loved the idea, but with older kids, never had the chance to utilize the idea.
So a few weeks ago I face the empty packaging yet again, and thought to myself, I can make this work differently somehow, just be smarter than the package...

Voila, a little butterfly shaker card!
So a sweet sentiment from the Mona Lisa Moments "Friends" set and a large dot backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms, some cute Sassafrass Lass paper, glittered Doodlebug cardstock and my trusty Martha Stewart butterfly punch, and I had a little card that I think would be fun to tie to a gift that is different, you know, a plant or something that might be more disconcerting to attach a regular paper card to. A great way to re-use those packages you have hanging around that you have wondered what to do with!

Still watching lots of tennis, and the men's matches have been amazing! Tonight Roger played Andreev who happened to be playing out of his head, really pushed Roger to dig deep if he wanted to win it! And then Andy was on fire tonight, he just unraveled Gonzo! Woot! Good times!

Other than that, felt off today, a little fever, sore throat and bad tummy. I am sure that I will feel substantially better tomorrow ;o)

B-