2 posts in one day?

I don't think I have EVER posted twice in one day! But just wanted to share with my Project 365 visitors....I was able to finally accomplish getting a slideshow loaded onto my blog...who knew that it could be so hard??? Actually, once I figured it out using Picasa Web albums...it was easy peasy! My Project 365 slideshow is located in the right hand column of my blog AND I have loaded January, February and March photos...to be updated monthly...none of that DAILY stuff for me...why stress myself out about it, right???

Ok, that's it! Take care!

May kit SNEAK PEAK and a book...

It's up! The May kit sneak peak at Scrapbook Circle! I have really been so excited since finding out that I was chosen for the new design team...and my first month designing will be with the May kit...

These colors are just gorgeous! and I see some fun journaling spots!!!

& how cute do those felt owls look???

& more fun journaling cards & .... the kits are in the MAIL! So I'm trying to wait patiently... ;o)

I have had a real itch lately to find a good book & just read...I have always enjoyed reading, but it has become very hard to find the time! & usually what happens when I do find a good book, I can't put it down & then find myself staying up until all hours of the night...not good for someone who works a full-time job! I tried to make it to the local library last weekend, but just missed them by about 10 minutes...grrrr...So it was a goal to get there this weekend! We have a fairly new library and it really is wonderful for such a small town...I went straight to the "new books" cart and found 3 books...who am I kidding??? I'll have to re-check them at least 3 times! But you aren't going to believe what I literally stumbled upon...I was drawn to the fun cover...are you ready for this? The title is Sisters, Ink and it's a story about sisters, scrapbooking and romance! I don't have any sisters, but just had to check it out! & so far, so good!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Take care!

A "CHALLENGE" of a card in honor of Earth Day...

at http://www.funfrilled.blogspot.com/ the challenge this week is to create a card using scraps & bits/pieces of things...to honor Earth Day! I don't keep ALL of my scraps, but the majority of them for sure! So I THOUGHT this would be an easy card to create...WRONG!!! It seems that what I originally envisioned didn't quite come to be! First, I couldn't get my Fiskars punch to punch thru thick kraft cardstock, pp layers & adhesive...I seriously thought I was going to break my faithful punch...that would not have been good! So I had to cut off the whole side & try again...then I was going to do some fun machine zig zag stitching to finish off some of the edges. Well, it seems that after sewing the chenille patch on the back of my son's letter jacket this past weekend, I have somehow tweeked the presser foot on my machine...& now it won't lower all the way...grrr...so I resorted to doing some hand stitching...I love that too!



I also did some inking along the edges with some new VersaMagic ink (thanks to a Fun Frilled contest that I won goodies for!!!) I stamped the sentiment with the same ink & popped the image up with pop dot type adhesive for dimension and added the fun PINK flower & brad! I love this cute flower...but it just was never going to find a home on the many BOY layouts that I do!






Thanks for looking...go check out http://www.funfrilled.blogspot.com/! They have a fantastic contest going during the month of April with nearly $300 worth of goodies up for grabs!

Take care & have a great night!!!

A quick share...

My youngest finally had a track meet today...after the first 3 got postponed or cancelled due to weather...& he did great! Brought home 4 medals with 2 personal bests...so he is thrilled!!!


My DH did a super job getting photos at the track meet...thanks Kevin!!!


The first photo is of Joel at the triple jump...I'm going out on a limb here to say that this takes some coordination for sure!!! So proud of you kiddo! 3rd place & personal best!!!




And here he is taking off from the starting block on a relay...blazing speed I tell ya!

And for something scappy...here's a layout inspired by sketch #16 @ http://www.52sketches52weeks.com/. Love their sketches! This layout is a fun one for Joel's school album featuring photos from a tailgate party. The pp's are all from the Creating Keepsakes KOTM "Project 365", the stickers & flower/button are from Making Memories and the journaling spot was downloaded as a freebie Printable Patch from Marks Paper Co. (Thanks Jen!!!) The title sticker was given out the night of the tailgate party...glad I kept it!!!

Past my bedtime! Thanks for stopping by!!!

(multi-tasking)

Yeah for the weekend...but that ALWAYS means that there is never going to be enough time to get everything done! It has been rainy here for a few days...today the sun is trying to come out, but still a lot of clouds, so we still may see more rain.


Today is about multi-tasking: we are having a fundraiser meal after mass tomorrow, so at some point I need to bake a cake and get a salad ready, plus brown about 24 pounds of hamburger to make sloppy joes...ok, Kevin will be in charge of browning the hamburger! In the mean time, I am itching to do something scrappy, so I am working on my Project 365 album....I love this project! It couldn't be easier (since I was one of the lucky ones that actually got a kit) and it is going to be so great to have a complete album of daily family happenings at the end of 2009!

and speaking of Project 365: Because posting my daily photo to my blog is NOT working...I think I am going to try to add a slide show to my blog that features my daily photos for Project 365....they are already neatly organized on my computer, so it shouldn't be too hard...one more thing to add to the growing list of things to do!!!

Another photo related project that I am always running behind on is uploading my photos to online storage; my favorite is Shutterfly. So a few days ago when Joel was sick I uploaded my Jan. 2009 photos (nearly 500 photos!!!) and today I am uploading Feb. 2009 photos. I feel so much better once my photos are uploaded to online storage so then I have at least one backup. I also like to make CD backups...but we don't EVEN want to discuss how far behind I am on that process!!!

So I am off to get something scrappy done...like a school layout for Joel's album...his 8th grade graduation is just around the corner & I am not even into his 7th grade year yet...I think I might be in trouble...wish me some speedy scrappin'!!!

Take care & have a great weekend!

It's a rainy day...

So I have one at home sick...hopefully he is on the mend! And it's a rainy day...everything should be greening up quickly now! Joel said today "I wanted it to rain" which surprised me because he was supposed to have a track meet today (of course, it got postponed) So I asked him why he wanted it to rain...he said "because I like how it sounds". I couldn't agree more!


Just a quick post tonight to share a card that I made today for the weekly challenge at Fun Frilled. The challenge this week is to create a card for a bridal shower. Here's what I came up with:




I used some older pp from We R Memory Keepers, brand new cardstock from Paper Temptress (thanks to Fun-Frilled), Die cut tag from K & Company, unknown silk flower, silver brad, sentiment stamp by Stamping Bella (thanks Danielle!) and my trusty Fiskars Threading Water border punch (I apparently can't make a card without it!) Super easy and simple...just the way I like 'em!!!


That's all for now...take care!

So I have some exciting news...& some Project 365

I made the Design Team at Scrapbook Circle! I couldn't believe it when the email from Lisa showed up...my heart was about to beat out of my chest! I joined Scrapbook Circle as a member last summer and immediately fell in love with the place...it's my scrappy home away from home! This is my first Design Team and I couldn't be happier! I am beyond excited about this opportunity and really look forward to working with the other team members! Speaking of other team members, I was tickled to see that Danielle Wycough was also selected for the new team...I have been "stalking" her for some time now...ha, ha, ha!!! Go check out their blogs...they are all so talented!!!

Danielle Wycough

Melanie Blackburn

Claude Campeau

Ok, so for those of you that check in on my blog occasionally to see how my Project 365 is progressing...well, the good news is that I am still taking photos everyday...or ALMOST everyday! I did great in the beginning with writing in my journal everyday...however, LIFE sort of got in the way...but I am back on track now & jotting down my thoughts daily again! So I thought I would share a few of my favorite photos from March:

March 1: Jeremy & his favorite pasttime...texting! Notice the slight hair on his upper lip? The basketball team was growing out their mustaches...nice kiddo...

March 4: Me waiting patiently at the carwash!

March 24: KitKat hanging out in one of her favorite hiding places...sitting atop my completed scrapbooks! Yes, she's a little stinker!

March 29: Adrian & Kay celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at mass. You two are wonderful example for your family & friends!!!

And finally, here is an example of a completed layout from February...sorry for the POOR photo! But this is one of my favorite Project 365 layouts because I had extra journaling to do because of important STUFF happening, so I used the trifold journaling cards.

Here's what the trifold journaling cards look like when they are pulled out of the pocket...

Ok...thanks for looking! Stay tuned for more!!! Did I say how excited I am about getting chosen to be on the Scrapbook Circle Design Team???

Take care!!!

Whatever Challenge @ Scrapbook Circle

During the month of April, http://www.scrapbookcircle.com/ is having a "Whatever Challenge"...the idea is to grab some random scrapbooking supplies and then create a layout using those items. I always love a challenge, especially if it means that I get ONE more layout done! So here is my before photo...the supplies I grabbed:

And using a fabulous PageMaps sketch currently featured for a contest at http://pagemaps.com/blog.php?do=blog&id=49 here is the layout that I came up with:

What a fun challenge! Come check it out! A RAK is up for grabs at www.scrapbookcircle.com.

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter!

Gotta love those sketches...

I have become a HUGE fan of scrapbook sketches...I almost always use one as the inspiration to my layouts! One of the many blogs that I stalk is the sketch blog: http://thescrappiest.blogspot.com/ Liz is currently looking for a design team member and all you have to do is create a layout based on Sketch #7:


So here's my take on her sketch! I don't normally create pages about me, so this is kinda unusual...but I recently came across this photo of me, soaking up the Minnesota sun after a wonderful massage at the spa...this photo brought back such wonderful memories of that trip!

Supplies used: PP's by Webester's Pages, American Crafts, & Creative Memories; Fancy Pants die cut butterfly, Basic Grey brads, Thickers alpha, Label Buddy word strips, Fiskars Threading Water border punch, machine zig zag stitching, Creative Memories journaling pen, courduroy flower w/gem unknown.

Thanks for stopping by!

Time for a card share...

For someone who hasn't made very many cards, I sure do get excited when http://www.funfrilled.blogspot.com/ posts their weekly card challenge! The ladies over there are so talented and inspiring! This week the challenge is fairly simple...create an Easter themed card! You really must go check out Fun Frilled...they have a fab giveaway up for grabs during April!

& it just so happens that the card challenge @ http://www.scrapjazz.com/ is to create a spring themed card with at least one flower...

& I used the April card sketch @ http://www.coordinatescollections.com/ ...so I decided I could create one card that worked for 3 challenges...love it when that happens!

So here's my take on the challenges wrapped up into one:


I used pp from We R Memory Keepers, ribbon by Martha Stewart, a brad by K & Co Wild Saffron, and stamps by Stampin' Up & Studio G along with ink from Stampin' Up and a bit of machine stitching. I also rounded the corners of my card for a softer look. Almost forgot my trusty Fiskars Threading Water border punch...I just love that punch!!!

Here's a close up of the flower I created using small circles folded into thirds. I "lifted" this idea from the most recent Creating Keepsakes magazine!


Thanks for looking! Wonder who is going to be receiving this cute little Easter card in the mail??? Have a great night!

A hunting we will go...& some other stuff!!!

Today was opening day of youth spring turkey hunting...& Joel and Kevin have been scouting some turkeys in the area. My uncle, Sid, drove about 2 hours to help out...he's is an avid hunter & loves to teach young kids any chance he gets! So they headed out early this evening in search of THE big tom...& wouldn't you know??? I got the phone call from Joel that he got one! On the first day! He was super excited and turns out this is the biggest one he's gotten so far! Weighing in at just over 20 pounds with a beard over 9 inches long and spurs measuring a whopping 1 3/4 inches! He's over the moon!

Now, on the the other stuff!

Just a few quick shares, then it if definitely past my bedtime!!! So first up is a layout featuring a photo of Joel...I tried to snap this when he wasn't looking, but at the last minute he looked over his shoulder! This was taken last summer and I knew it would be perfect for a layout that I wanted to do for both of the boys....the layout features my favorite song "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts...it just puts to words what I want for my boys! I couldn't get all of the song lyrics on the layout...but you get the idea! The fun owls & tree at the bottom came from Lisa's blog candy that I won a few weeks ago...Thanks Lisa!!! You can see her blog at: http://awscrap.blogspot.com/ She's on the DT at http://www.52weeks52sketches.com/.

Also got to work on a card for the weekly challenge at http://www.funfrilled.blogspot.com/. They have an awesome giveaway for April that you really must go check out! The challenge this week was to create a card for April Fool's Day...I came up with this card & used some handmade flower embellishments that I created a while back using felt, buttons, cardboard lining that came in a cookie can & some Stickles. I also added a touch of hand stitching for the stems and machine stitching around the edge. I find that I am using my Label Buddy a lot lately and stamped the word "fool". My DH asked me tonight who the card was for....I looked at him and said, "Well, probably you" LOL!!! This is not the greatest photo...the background paper is a light lime green but the photo just doesn't do it justice! So cute IRL!

Gotta go for now! Take care!