Mommy's Boy!

After a few hours at tennis, some quality with the doggy boys in the backyard enjoying the sunshine and a lovely afternoon spent hauling kids home from school...
three different release times that were all 45 minutes apart. Thus requiring three entirely seperate trips...
I was ready to sit and enjoy a little computer time, playing with a new kit that Deena Rutter did for PcLayers that released today, my brain feels so much better already!
We start our "Spring Break" today, it really stinks because the kids only have Thursday, Friday and Monday off and then the next Friday. How dumb is that? Why couldn't they have just given us a full week so we could enjoy some time together and maybe have time to actually go somewhere a little further away than St. George.
Anyhooooo...
We will start some prep for enjoying the long weekend and Easter Sunday. I think I see some gourmet cupcakes in the forecast! (My poor rearend will just have to take one for the team and hit the gym next week!) I think we need to get a ham too! The yard is just hammered from the dogs running on it while it is so wet and muddy from all the snow melt, so it is really icky in the yard, that will require some time as well, now if the sun would just cooperate and stay for longer than one day at a time!
I am curious, what do you do for this holiday? Please share, we are not into the egg hunting age as much, so need to find ideas for celebrating in a more mature fashion!
B-

Happy Saint Patrick's day!

Being a Heinz 57, I am sure that there is some kind of everything in our family heritage, so to all my Irish cousins...
Happy Saint Patrick's Day! We don't celebrate for real, but the kids do wear some green to school to avoid the inevitable pinch if you don't!!!
To help celebrate, here is another layout from the April It Kit! I made this over the weekend, that kit is so amazing, I still have tons of goodies to play with and I have made five projects, LOVE that! I think that I have a thing for circles going at the moment, unusual for me, but I am going to roll with it, (yes, I do think I am hilarious), hehehehe!
Hope you had a great day, go get pinched by the ones you love!
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The Wonder Years

Yup, the wonder years...

Like you wonder if everyone is going to survive. Or if the chores will eventually get done without nagging about them for the ga-jillionth time (yes that really is the number of times I have personally had to nag to get the dinner dishes done).
Or we wonder if the toys could get themselves put away for once instead of the person who last played with them having to do it.
Then you begin to wonder if they will miss you when they are grown up as much as you know you will miss them.
Can you tell it has been one of those long inside days? Snowy and cold when it should be getting more like spring everyday! And YES I am begining to wonder if spring will ever happen!
Layout is of Carter with the It Kit goodies! That cardstock is so cool, you can sand it so that you can see the core, coolness!
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New It Kit Gallery for the April kit!

The April It Kit is FILLED with amazing, scrappy goodness! And this team is so talented, that it just makes the kit that much more fun! They are all so clever and amazing photographers as well, serious eye candy!
The kit has Pink Paislee, Prima, Daisy D's and that gorgeous new cardstock from Core-dinations, new exclusive stamps and the buttons are delish!

Aaaaannd...

can you believe that Easter is in a week? It is so early this year, and I am not even remotely ready! It would seem that Mother Nature isn't either! We have no blooms out except our little crocus, and the dogs are trampling them inadvertantly in their rambunctious play! No lilacs, tuplips or my ornamental pears for Easter pics?
UGH!
I guess the bright spot is that the eggs will be really easy to find this year!
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Novak's first snow day!

Cute little dogs from Texas aren't used to the snow!

And sweet "little Novak" has only been here about a week, so when we had some flurries that stuck around for a while, we had to go out and play for a long while so he could enjoy the Utah powder! A little known fact about Utah snow is that it is a great treat for kids, and Novak just had to try it for himself! He was so cute walking around and licking the planters, the ground and the chair seats on the deck! It all tasted so good, he just had to take a lick off of everything in the yard!
By the way, if you are a nerd, you will totally get this...
It is PI day!
3.141592654 (that is how many Carter can remember, Chloe can remember about twenty more of the digits, but she is not home!) Tyler is celebrating with a bunch of his super nerd friends at his super nerd school (AMES-Academy for Math, Engineering and Science) with an open mike night at school, GOOD TIMES!
We are having a quiet night at home, we have been hectic this week (I know, big surprise) so we just wanted to relax! Chloe has been busy with her play she is participating in, the performances have been all week, and we went last night and enjoyed the high quality production! We are very proud of her, she has such a high commitment level to everything she participates in and this was no exception. So tonight Laurel is going with a friend to watch and the girl cousins will be there with the grandparents to enjoy the closing night production of "Bye, Bye, Birdie"
And we will enjoy our quiet night with just one child at home! Sweet Carter is going to get an overload of parental quality time!
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New Method playground!

The new challenge is on, and it is a fun one!
Use beading and string it on your project! A pattern, a flourish or a journaling block, whatever works for you!
I did the beading on this while Dave and I watched tennis (big surprise right?) It was a great match, and the perfect way to feel like I was getting something done while I really wasn't, hehehehe!
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Lazy Sunday

A beautiful, lazy Sunday spent with the family and pups, perfect!
The weather was amazing, the perfect temperature, and sunny with high clouds over the mountain tops, gorgeous!


They were both lapdogs yesterday, and it was really fun to see them playing and getting along so well! Novak has been a little whiny, we think he had just gotten ovestimulated and that Nikolay wasn't letting him rest enough. So when he started to be more interactive and complaining less, we figured that he had decided that his new family was okay.



There is going to be a new Method Playground challenge up tomorrow, and I really am excited about how great the participation was with this last one of hand cutting, going to be tough to pick people to RAK!

The kids are busy and happy, and that makes me busy and discombobulated (not sure if that is a word or how to spell it, but it says a lot! LOL!) But when they are happy, I am happy and that is a good thing!
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I will stop stringing you along!

I am so sorry, I didn't know that I had made it an obnoxiously long time to leave everyone out of the loop!

MY BAD! Hopefully I will be forgiven, when I share pics!

A new family member!

Meet Novak Dogovic! (Yes another tennis player reference, if you don't know him, he is worth googling! Novak Djokovic.)

How cute is this skinny (look at that shadow, LOL!) sweet faced little man?

He is such a good boy and Nikolay LOVES him!

My other news is that I have been asked to join the "It kit Studio" design team!

This team is so talented and the kits are gorgeous, Kelly has such a great eye for putting things together, and she has such clever combinations of products! I am really excited to work with Kelly and this group of clever, creative and fun women!

Also, anyone Project Runway fans? We have been avid watchers from the very beginning and watching the evolution of the designers from each season has been amazing. At the start of the season you see the potential of each person and are glad to see some stay and some go. But this season was mind blowing! I loved every second of it, and when Christian won, I was thrilled, surprised and stunned! He is a FIERCE 21 year old phenom who I hope stays with the industry! He has such a great aesthetic, and a very unique style that will translate into all echelons of the fashion industry and into many other creative industries! Anyway, bummed it is over, but can't wait for the next season!

Thanks for putting up with me and my silliness, I am grateful to have such great friends!

So not going to actually do the tagging thing, so here are just a few random acts about me that really don't matter....

I was a cheerleader in Junior High and High School, Ashland High School, in Ashland, Oregon.

(big surprise right? LOL!)

I have a good all court tennis game, but my backhand volley scares people more than any of my other shots.

When I was a kid I didn't like my food to touch and really preferred to eat it in order, clockwise. i still prefer to have my foods not touch, but I don't have to eat in any order anymore!

And I am fiercely loyal!

Thanks Janna and Mary Kay for the tag, and sorry I am not a better sport to do more with it!

Life with new puppies is a lot of clean-up and maintenance, so I am just happy to have time to blog ;)

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Another Freebie!

Yes, it is true! Another freebie, this one is from PcLayers using the Rue 12 kit! It is a tage that compliments a darling layout that Lori did using the same kit!

Lori's Blog

The links to the other blogs for more tags:

Aly's Blog

Celeste's Blog

Indah's Blog

Kayla's Blog

Natalie's Blog

Rachel's Blog

The link to the PcLayers blog:

pcLayers blog!

pcLayers Blog

Tomorrow I will address the tagging that Mary Kay and Janna both gave me...

and pics of some special news!

Until then happy tagging with the freebies!

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A Lazar StudioWERX FREEBIE!!!!

Yuppers!

A quickpage freebie! Deb linked me from her blog, she has a gorgeous quickpage on her blog, and after you are done downloading from here, go over to Angel's blog, she has got some FAB sharing to do as well!

I was fortunate enough yesterday to go and hang out with the PcLayers girls and have a little laptop digi crop at Nat's house! It was great, I made red velvet with cream cheese icing, and ginger with mango butter cream icing cupcakes. We giggled and ate a LOT of sugar, Natalie had made a darling huge chocolate cupcake cake, and Lori brought italian soda! I woke up with a massive cupcake hangover this morning, too funny! These girls are all so talented, and they are very kind and so FUN! I am very lucky to know them!

Anyway, go do some downloading and link jumping! The freebies are so worth it!

Happy March everyone!

B-

Another little hint

He is really such a funny little guy! We are spoiling him, just a little... We think there is the distinct chance that another puppy may be in our future! This is part of my big news, and on the other news, still can't share yet, but getting closer! This layout is another hint, and with a little legwork and looking at my linkage you might be able to figure it out!
It is going to be a lot of fun for me, and keep me busy!

Both are things that I love!
PcLayers is getting ready to do some fun again and so is Lazar StudioWERX, there are freebies on the horizon very soon!

Tomorrow if the weather and the puppy are cooperative we will be going out to let him try some racing with the big dogs! It is so great to see these big fast dogs run because they love to! They are so athletic, I will be taking pictures if we get there! Nikolay is such an athletic guy, he just loves to run his little bony butt off! And how does a dog that eats 6-7 cups a day of puppy food stay so skinny? He is just growing and pooping so much!

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Today is Dave's birthday!!!

Happy 42nd birthday big guy! Is it me or does that age seem a lot different than what 42 looked like when I was growing up! Or do we look that much older and we are just to clueless to figure it out...

Anyway, I have to enjoy the next six months while he is "older" than me, LOL!

And here is another peek at what my little piece of news is! The excitement is killing me, can't wait to spill it!

Well short post tonight, we are enjoying some family time for the evening!

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Cupcakes...

I have to admit that I had not gotten swept into the cupcake craze that has been storming the nation. Just kinda not my thing, but when Celeste posted about a cute new cupcake shop in Salt Lake called "So Cupcake" I just had to go. My cute brother and his darling wife have the same birthday, so bro and I went out and had some lunch, (she was at work) and then I got them some cupcakes to share with the kids to celebrate at home that evening!

Of course, I got a few to bring home to my peeps too, and we had a cupcake tasting party at home that night, it was so fun!

Also, this layout is a hint of something new for me...

I am not telling yet, but it is something that I am REALLY excited about and the cat will be out of the bag soon!

It is really beautiful here today, tomorrow is Dave's birthday and I don't have a thought as to what to do for him, do you think he would mind some more cupcakes? mmmmmmmm!

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New Method Playground Challenge is up!

Okay, these are definitely not the "best" pictures as far as all that technical stuff goes, but who can resist a five year old in a speedo???? Didn't think so! He is just that hammy and silly now, and it is 13 years later, so glad that some things stay the same! I love finding older memories like this, that need remembered and making a page for them! This is what the hobby is about for me! What are his kids going to say when they see him? (hehehehe!)
Anyway, the latest challenge is to hand cut something and put it in your project. Easy and so fun! Great technique for digi-doers too, so no excuses, LOL!
And Teresa is donating her papers as raks, so how cool is that? I will also be giving a PcLayers gift card!
Please come and play!
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Nikolay had a play date!

Melissa, Sharon and Liz came by and brought at couple of their girls with them! Nikolay has been very timid around other dogs, so this really helped socialize him in a positive and fun way! And of course we all loved it because their dogs are so beautiful and exceptionally behaved! LeeLu is the gorgeous red that is in the center of the pic, Amelia is the white with the black mask smiling at Nikolay and he is there just tying to not panic!

I think he was very glad to have made some new friends and he was exhausted after they left, he crawled up onto the sofa and collapsed into a little puppy nap ball! We figured out today that he is going to be a big boy, he was almost as big as LeeLu and his paws are larger than Amelia...

yikes!

It is so funny that he seems so small to us, and then we put him in a frame of reference and it is such a HUGE reality check!

Anway, we are getting in the car to do a family dinner in Lehi and have to drive in a storm.

More tomorrow with a new Method Playground challenge!

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Sunshine Laurel!

Everyone should have one of these in their lives!

She is such a gem, and we just adore her! She is 16 and of course we have our disagreements, but they are never blown-up explsosions, she just doesn't do drama.

This Scenic Route paper gave me the inspiration to tell it like it is with her! She loved the hand drawn name and all of the stickles glitter everywhere! It took me a while to stitch the rays and hand sew on the buttons, but her smile is (obviously) worth it!

I needed a sunny colored project, it is still a little gloomy with a little storm rolling through so it is nice to look at something with such beautiful colors!

Anyway, going up to get myself going on the afternoon carpool, it is early day here, LOL!

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Instant Classic

I made these layouts before I left for CHA, (one of the fun crop nights up at Kims), but hadn't had a chance to journal on them! I am weird about journaling in front of others, LOL! The paper is the new Scenic Route and the colors are so beautiful, and easy to work with! I was able to get 5 layouts done that night (sans journaling...) that is fast for me, so I chalk it up to the Scenic Route doing all the heavy lifting!

The weather was pretty gloomy today, but I did get to play tennis with my friend Lois and we won, so that cheered me up substantially! I am sometimes a little more competitive than I need to be in certain circumstances, but with tennis, there is no such thing! And I hadn't played very much in the last month (twice) so I was a little of my timing, it was at moments ugly tennis. But we did what we had to do to win, and if it takes winning ugly, I am just not above that!

Anyway, the afternoon is all about getting some kids from point A to point B and then back, so this is a short one!

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New 7 Gypsies digital release tomorrow!

I am so fortunate, I got to play with the latest digital kit that is from 7 Gypsies called Capri!
The colors are so bright, vibrant and happy! Perfect for brightening a day in the heart of winter (that being said after looking out the window at the heaps of snow in our yard!) I love the little crown detail and the ribbon was of course a green that makes me swoon! All pieces from this yummy collection!

(Yeah, can you kinda look past the fact that I wasn't having the best hair day? hehehe!)

This kit goes on sale tomorrow, but in the mean time if you have been looking for wonderful kits and LOVE to save money (who doesn't, LOL!) There is a sale at PcLayers to celebrate the new PcLayers Blog!
Nikolay and I just got back from a beautiful walk around the neighborhood. It is sunny and a wonderful temperature (easily 40 degrees, LOL!) perfect for getting out and listening to the birds and enjoying the beauty of our little area!
I have been trying to get back into the scrapping groove since getting home, but I have to admit that I am enjoying doing a whole lot of nothing. Over the holiday weekend, we all watched a bunch of movies, hung out and let the house get a little out of control, it was great!
But, I am ready to get back into a groove, get back to the gym and out on the tennis court! Is it me or is this month just flying by?
Anyway, I have some stuff in the works that I am excited to share and hopefully there will be a cool freebie on the horizon...
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CHA rundown

So here is the deal with the CHA-W show...
I adore Teresa's new product lines, they were so fun and easy to play with, and I am way looking forward to making many more projects with all of it!!! We were slammed, so I am thinking that I am not the only one who feels like they are super fabulous!
I got to see so many of my favorite scrapbooking buddies, and can I just say that I feel so blessed to know these talented and incredibly nice people!
I just love good people and it makes me so happy when good things happen to good people!
There was not much of an opportunity for me to walk the floor, but I did get to see a few people that way, and was grateful to catch up with a lot of my buds in the booth, lots of hugging and squealing, I am a bit of a goofball that way, LOL!
There are a few company's products that I am way looking forward to playing with, to name a few: Hambly (always!), Pink Paislee, October Afternoon, Maya Road, Scenic Route, Autumn Leaves, Sassafrass Lass, Cosmo Cricket and of course Jenni Bowlin!
We ate In-n-Out burgers 3 times while we were down there, YUMM-O! El Pollo Loco is another fav of mine, and I talked Teresa, Ty, Ginger, Janna and Jamie into going on Saturday night, I enjoyed the food and the company immensely!
The class that Teresa taught on Monday night was packed with wonderful ladies and we had a great time at the Scrapbook Oasis! That is such a great shop, Karen and her staff really know how to have fun there!
I know that there are a ton of things I am forgetting, but the long story made short is that it was a great show, the weather was perfect and I am so grateful to have friends around the world because of this wonderful hobby, LIFE IS GOOD!
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Back home...

Teresa, her husband Ty and I traveled home late Wednesday evening, and got home to a huge snow storm. When Dave picked me up, we took Ty and Teresa home and it took almost 45 minutes instead of the 15- 20 it should normally have taken. Thank goodness Dave is great about that stuff because Teresa didn't want her teenage daughter driving in that storm to pick them up at the airport. Eighteen inches.

We let the kids stay home and have a snow day and a day for me to catch up with them and just spend the day lolling, good times!

So of course there are piles of laundry, my scrap room is a disaster area and all of the stuff brought home from the trip needs to be put away. But can I just say that Dave is amazing and took care of so much while I was gone and is seriously a saint!

This is what I came home to with Nikolay...

Dave told me he was a little trouble maker the whole time (yes Nicole, that is the darling picture holder you made me, he thinks it is a toy!). I found random shoes in odd places, obviously carried there by a bored little pup! He missed me, so of course I got the cold shoulder all day Thursday, LOL! By yesterday he was willing to talk to me again and we had a good couple of plays in the back yard!

Of course he grew a ton! He looked like such a big boy when I got home! Almost all of his baby teeth are out and being replaced by his pretty adult teeth. At about 4:00 every afternoon he starts to get really hungry and will lay and put his paws around the bowl and his head on it.

I missed the kids and Dave so very much this trip, but I have to admit that when I would call I would ask how the puppy was doing first! Bad mommy!

Anyway, I didn't take my camera with me, so if you have pics and would share, please email me!

So much more to share, so hard to remember everything!

Rundown of show tomorrow!

B-

I {heart} You TuTu

I had to do it, Teresa made me!

How cute and over the top is this card? We decided that the tulle needed to be used on a card, just so Bella Girlie! How great is this for a Valentine card for that one special little dancer in your life?
Sorry, had to take it out, it is going to be used in PaperCrafts, (yay!)

My boys are great, they are in different stages of life because of their age difference, but they are still great friends and get along as well as a twelve and eighteen year old can be expected to...

And just got these today! I would love to have had a little more time to dig through my pics and really get jiggy with it, but the new die cuts from the Teresa Collins Bind-it-all collection are seriously the best thing ever! There are some for each paper collection and they are so easy to use they make a mini go together in no time at all! There is going to be a MnT at the Product Performers booth using these, so if you get a minute GO, you will not be disappointed!

The theme of the book is the Family {un}vacation. We had no money this summer, so I told the story about that! It is short, but sweet!

The kids had a great time just hanging out and watching movies, scrubs re-runs and playing games!

I think the best thing that will come of that is we will have much stronger relationships with each other in the long run and that we appreciate what we have and are able to do so much more!

Anyway, this is the last post until probably next Thursday, I have decided to leave the computer at home and do a little unplugging. This will be very hard for me, but it has been a very long month, and I need to rest my head!

All my BEST!!!!

B-

Big Sneak Peak!

Teresa's website is live now!

This layout is made from the Bella Girl line, and it has a lot of great icons and easy to use papers, great for so many projects!

Again the Bella Girl was so fun for this layout of Laurel, she is incredibly NOT girly, but it helps tell a great story of who she is! The 7 Gypsies circle stamp and a circle punch from McGill made this easy and fun! (The ruffled paper so not easy but still really fun!)

This is a covered composition book using the Bella Girl, cutting apart the harlequin and adding some Doodlebug glitter paper and big gems really takes that gathered tulle over the top! But that is what Dreams are all about right?!!!

I used Boardwalk and cut out one of those big hibiscus flowers to add a big punch of color to the layout, Chloe just has such a beautiful glow from the summer sun, the perfect title for this layout!

A few projects from the Damask line! I just love the clean elegance of black and white, and adding the damask pattern makes it truly amazing! I love the scale of the largest damask piece, it really has great movement!

I don't do very many layouts about myself, but this paper made it so easy and let me tell a little about myself without feeling self conscious, I LOVE that!
And a little card out of the journal it line, seriously this line is mind blowing with how versatile it is, it is hard to not use it on everything now! How did I ever live without it?

I have had soooooo much fun playing with all of her new products.

I would love to hear what you think!

B-

A little sneak peek!

I am LOVING Teresa's products! So gorgeous, easy to use and FUN! This is a layout made with the Journal-it line, I cut out the main shape from the background and stitched around the brackets to add a little color and texture. The alphas are from Scenic Route, they have such easy to use stickers, and the fonts are classic!
There is just a little bit of stickles glitter in red on the "you" to give it some extra lovin'!
I am really excited to be helping Teresa prepare for, and to go to CHA! We have just a few days left before it is time to get on the plane, so play, play, play with these wonderful new products is what I have on my agenda!
My kids are a little tired of me asking what do you think of this? And Dave has had the patience of a saint while I ask him if he can pick up some of the duties that I am slacking on!
I have the best family, so very grateful for their support!
Nikolay is the only reason I have been getting outside right now, LOL! He is growing so fast and is really such a good puppy, we are really enjoying him!
Anyway, back to the paper and glue!
B-

A little Monday Sharing

Thanks to everyone that stopped by the blog and picked up the freebie, I really appreciate those of you who left comments, they are really fun to read and give me the warm fuzzies! I love doing these, so look for more in the future!
This week is the last push for a lot of things that I have going on in life. I wanted to share one of the layouts from my last years entry for Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame competition. I am in the final stages of preparing another entry for this year, and it is really nerve-wracking! I have done projects that I am very proud of and have found myself feeling improved in my design skill and photography from where I was last year. I love to push the envelope and always try to improve myself in all that I do. I feel that contests like these really help me do that!I am also finishing last minute preparations for CHA, I just adore my friend Teresa, and can't wait to to see how her product line debut goes, it is very exciting! She is so talented, and I am very proud of her for pursuing her dreams! I hope you don't mind if this post is short because I am going to go do a little of that myself, with my eyes shut!
Thanks peeps!
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Freebie Friday!

To help share the love of the season, the PcLayers team has decided to have another scavenger hunt!

I am sharing the layout I made with the Audrey kit that Natalie just released as a QuickPage, Priceless, just download and drop in your favorite picture and make sure to journal a sweet thought!

Start with Celeste

then go visit Natalie

Then Lori has double the fun!

Go see Erin

Then Deena

And last but certainly not least...

Kayla!

I had to give all the links, just in case...

Moms are just that way!

Enjoy the freebies, and share the love!

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