A Natural High

Yep, I feel good!  I am coming off a great week full of awesome scrappy goodies.  It makes me want to scrap, create and explore!  The best part of the week was spending time with scrappy friends and meeting so many people.  To put a face with the names of people you have talked with for years is quite fun!  I got the chance to spend some time in the Pink Paislee booth and meet members of the team.  What fun it was!

As much fun as I had, I am glad to be home.  I missed my kiddos and Steve.  Something happens when you go away...I feel like I keep noticing Steve across the room and thinking about how handsome he is or how much I love him.  Those butterflies again.  Sometimes you lose that when you are caught up in day to day activities and stresses.

I came home to tons of progress with the house.  The base cabinets are in as well as my farmhouse sink.  I keep caressing it. LOL!  The granite has been templated and will be in next Tuesday.  I am ready...

I have something fun for you tomorrow!

Yep, a blog hop from My Scrapbook Nook with the chance to win a ton of great prizes!  They are having a Design Team Call right now.  I can't believe another term flew by just like that.  I encourage you to try out...it is a fantastic team to be a part of!

Here is a card I made with the July kit featuring Lily Bee!  You should check out the August kit too!  It is amazing!  I plan to dig in today!

Hope you find a few things to make you smile today!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for the blog hop!

CHA Love

So the show has been fun!  I have really loved many of the collections and wanted to share a few favorites with you.

Pink Paislee is fab!  I am in love with the Parisian Anthology and all of it!  I had the chance to play with the resist papers and they are fun.  Get your mists and inks ready!  I love how detailed and delicate the Artisan Elements are...they are so dimensional this time around too!  You must see them!

October Afternoon and Cosmo are super cute!

Bella was sooo cute and the DT work was great!

I adore Crate!

 I had so many little embellishments I loved!  These Wood Veneer shapes from Studio Calico are awesome!

Vintage Brooches from Sass.

These canvas flowers from Punky Sprouts.

Prima was pretty!

I really loved Webster's Pages too, but can't seem to find pictures.  I will try tomorrow!

I met so many friends!  Jing-Jing, Jenyfur, Charity, Suz, Jenn, the Pink Paislee girls, Aphra, Pamela Young, Emily, Paula...it was fun to see people I interact with and follow!

And there is MELISSA too!

And of course, I have adored spending time with the Scrapstreet girls.  We have had a blast!

I am one lucky girl!

and yes, we are in the marble bathroom, taking our group photo.  Quite the tradition!

Material Girl

Well, not really!  I do like to keep a nice house and look fashionable, but most of my clothes come from Target. LOL!  I am a material girl right now as I am at CHA taking in all the goodies.  I have scheduled this post in advance.  Hopefully, I am walking the floor and seeing all the beauties.  Pictures soon to follow.  Let me know what you want to see and I will try to get pictures!

While I am not really a material girl, my daughter...well...she loves all things clothes, jewels, and shoes.  It is one of the first things she notices about people.  She is just a girlie, girl (yet can run, jump and play in the dirt with the rest of them).

She loves her Auntie Sara because Sara is also a material girl.  Not is a bad way, but she loves her jewels, shoes, and dresses.  Ella loves when she visits and loves even more when Sara takes her to the mall!  Hence this layout!

I used Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl here!  The alphabets are American Crafts!  I just love CC's chipboard!

Can't wait to see the new collections in person including Pink Paislee, Webster's, Crate and Sass!  What are you anticipating the most?

I know, its hard to pick just one...LOL!

There was a Surge

...a power surge that is.  One that knocked me offline for 3 days.  We had a huge storm here and right after, several of our electronical systems were zonky.  It ended up frying our amp and network card.  So I sat, unable to access the computer.  Which again meant more time for other things and a quieter way of being.

Not bad...for a couple of days!  I am getting ready to leave for CHA.  I can't wait to see my girls again and just relax for a few days.  I adore seeing all the goodies up close and being a part of the excitement.  Can't wait to see the Pink Paislee booth! If you haven't seen the new releases yet (yeah right), head to the blog. I can't pick a favorite...EVERYTHING IS FABULOUS! I will post pictures here as usual so be on the lookout! If you are going to CHA, let me know so I can look for you!

I need the break for other reasons too.  I have faced some disappointments lately which had me feeling a bit sad.  You know when you just can't get past a feeling.  So I asked for some guidance and it came. 

I need to give some background though.  I was a high school cheerleading coach for 5 years.  Started with the program with a team that had skill but no training.  My first year I lost at least 5 girls because my expectations and theirs did not match.  The next year was better and it grew from there.  I took a team to the UCA National Championships my fourth year.  Then my final year, I had an outstanding squad.  We had all been together since my seniors were freshman.  We wanted to win right from the beginning with a week at camp.  Success as we beat the Rhode Island State Champs.  We set goals, we were all on board.  The main goal was to place at the CT State Championship.  We were well on our way.  The day of the competition came and they looked great.  A little bobble in the middle, but no big deal.  Then it was our last stunt...very difficult.  And they fumbled a bit.  My girls were fighters so they saved it...they announced third, second and first and we were not called.

When I got the score sheet, it was like being slapped in the face.  We missed third place by 0.5.  That one bobble doesn't happen and we are in third.  We missed second by 1.5.  That end mistake...

I couldn't believe how close we were.  I couldn't understand why it just couldn't have happened for us that day.  To want something so badly...I got on the bus and shared the results.  Usually I can contain myself and be a role model.  But that day, I cried and felt all the sting.  I knew it was my last chance.  It was not anyone's fault and I certainly did not want anyone to carry it.  It just was what it was.  I still look back on that day with disappointment.

But the other day, my family went out to lunch.  Standing in front of me in the restaurant was one of my old girls. When she recognized me, I got the biggest, warmest hug and I gave one back.  There was an instant connection as we had spent 5-6 days a week together for 8 months a year.  Times three. And we are bonded by the same amazing experience.

That feeling and warmth brought me back to what was really important about my coaching days.  In the end, I don't really remember the winning or losing.  If I hold on to the big picture, it is about the relationships that were forged and the common vision we all followed.  It was about that smile of recognition. It was a special time.

That was my guidance.  To remember what is important.  Disappointment is a part of the journey, but it doesn't have to signify an experience or represent who I am.  It is about growing, learning and feeling.  Sometimes things just don't go the way you want them to and you have to believe there is a reason.  Even if you don't understand.

As a mom, I think about how my children will feel when they face disappointments like these.  I want to protect them but know there are opportunities in that conflict.  I hope I can translate that to Nathan and Ella as they grow.

Speaking of Ella, she is not really a baby anymore.  Looks and acts more mature.  My girl!

Supplies:  Paper, button, journaling card:  Webster's Pages; Alphabet:  American Crafts

I hope when she asks for guidance, she receives it just like I did!

Fun with a Perk

I have to admit that moving and all the renovations have impacted upon my pure love for this hobby.  I am scrapping in such a little space with my supplies a bit disorganized.  It has been hard to get to my stash.  I don't have a shortage of good photos or ideas, just energy.

With that, I am glad to have a kit come once a month (one that I love) as well as to have Pink Paislee and Scrapstreet assignments.  It has at least kept me scrapping.

I made a layout recently just for fun!  I love the feel of these photos and wanted the page to reflect the playfulness! 

Being in a bit of a rut, it was a nice surprise and burst to receive an email from Amy over at GingerScraps.  She is running a scraplifting challenge this month.  See, GingerScraps is a digital site.  Amy is showing how paper layouts can serve as inspiration for digital.  She did an awesome lift of my Goofy layout found here.  And the gals playing along with the challenge have produced some amazing digital pages!  Check it out! 

Thank you Amy for making my day brighter!

Speaking of fun with a perk, go checkout the reveals over at Pink Paislee!  

Here are some highlights! Look at these ruffles!

And the Sweetness Line...yum!

I am in love and I know you will be too!

Getting Ready

Seems like life is always about getting ready...LOL!

We have gotten the kitchen ready to lay down the hardwood floors.  Cabinets are gone, wall is down and the new wiring is in.  I can live with the loss of the room.  We have a make shift kitchen in our living room.  The dust is killing me though. 

We are getting ready for our hometown carnival tommorrow.  The kids are very excited for the rides and for the fireworks tomorrow.  I am so bringing my camera!

I am getting ready to go to CHA...a little over a week away.  I can't wait to see old friends and meet new ones.  It was awesome to meet so many of my online friends in person last year.  Plus, I am so excited to see all the new product.  Seeing it all in person with the buzz of the show always makes me want to scrap.

Speaking of scrapping, here are a couple of cards I made with the July kit from the Nook.

The Maya Road chipboard clothes are so darn cute!  Had to use them on these cards.

Time to get ready for bed!  Happy Friday!

My Sunshine

My kids...
the light in my life

I really love spending all this time with them.  Summer and the renovation equals filling the time. But it is not a chore. Library, movies, sprinkler parks, meals out.  It has been fun. 

It overrides everything and brings me right back to what is important.

So I am thrilled to be their mom.

This one...his eyes.  They are his father's eyes!

All supplies are from the July My Scrapbook Nook kit.  Love those Jenni Bowlin cards and the Lily Bee!

Heres to another sunny day!

Sunday Sketch!

I can't believe another week flew by!  We have been enjoying quality family time and lots of craziness around here.  The AC is fixed without having to invest in a whole new unit and we feel calm, cool and collected again!

It was my turn to post over at the Pink Paislee blog today (I still get giddy when I get to type that!) and I shared a sketch.  I have to say that sketches sometimes hang me up.  I get visualizations of pages and imagine how I want to use product far in advance or as I am pushing paper, so looking at a sketch can throw me off.  But I found many I like over at Sketchy Thursdays.   The circles drew me into the one I picked which is here on the Pink Paislee blog!

Here is my layout:

I made the basic layout and layered the die-cuts like I always did, but then was stuck.  So I thought of the lollipops.  Orginally they were flat and a bit boring, but then I had the thought to make them dimensional.  I just layered two same-sized circles, but I folded the top in half and popped it up.  The layout still looked flat so I decided to make my lollys shiny, like real candy.  A little diamond glaze did the trick!  It looks pretty cool in person!

Being on a team like PP, I always try to think extra creatively.  I knew I wanted journaling, but didn't want to use strips.  Thats when I remembered the rub-ons.  A bit of trimming and I had interesting and bold journaling lines!

Another layout to add to my ever growing pile.  I really need to order some albums.  I have a stack of pages sitting in my bookcase...anyone else do that too!?

Hope your weekend was great and you enjoy the last few minutes!

Forward Progress

Want to see my house?  The place I have talked about for so long? Here it is!  I love the black, gray and white!

The walkway to the backyard.  I can't take credit for this awesome gardens...it was all my Mother in-law.

The patio where we have spent so much time.  Really, we eat every meal out here.  The kids ride their bikes and Nathan has created chalk masterpieces time and time again!

Our shed...isn't she cute!  It is like another little house in the backyard.

We have some taming of the landscaping to do, but overall...we adore the outside. 

Maybe because we are trying to steer clear of the inside...LOL.  Week one of renovations are done and the new upstairs bathroom is built.  Plumbing is roughed in and wiring has occurred.  The drywall went up and the first coat of tape is on.  We ended up going 8 X 10 and it is so nice!  We still have 370 square feet of living space up there.  I actually appreciate the division the bathroom has caused because otherwise it would be like decorating a banquet hall!  LOL! 

Here are a few pictures from a couple of days ago when just the frame of the bathroom was being started.  I will share updated ones soon.

Our office wall is completely torn down.  Yep, the room I am typing in right now.  Half is a make shift space where the computer is and the other half is covered with plastic and piping.

And the kitchen gets torn down on Tuesday.  Oh boy!

But it is all forward progress.  It is a mess right now.  Our AC is still broken and we may be looking at a new unit.  Thus, we may not be able to furnish this place for a while.  But it is forward progress.

I will just keep on repeating that!

Numbers

Ever think about the numbers that are important in your life?

Like right now it is 100 degrees and we have 0 air conditioners. The kids are cranky times 5 and well, I am not in great shape either. I ordered enough flooring for 410 square feet yesterday. We need to be at the library for 10:15 for story hour. Only 20 days until CHA.

I got a cute Jenni Bowlin journaling card in the July Nook kit and it totally inspired me to create this layout:



Here is the journaling. I just made a running list of all the numbers that are key to my life. Think year of graduation, number of times I have moved...



I don't have a wide-format printer, so I simply used an 8.5 X 11 piece of kraft for my journaling. I laid out the photo and card on the kraft. Then I placed a piece of paper over the top and drew out two journaling boxes...one long one near the top of the photo and one that started at the top of the journaling card. I measured out how far from the top and left margin as well as how big the text boxes were and simply set it up in a word document. Print on a piece of scrap paper to make sure it works and that is it!

I am so loving this Lily Bee line...the brightness is just awesome! You should check out the kit before it is gone!

Happy third day of the week!