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I don't get heart palpitations over just anything, but I love the idea of this new notch tool by Basic Grey. And look.... Flair has Christmas toile! I can't wait to see what else makes me go oooohhhhh tomorrow at the show. I will return and report... LOL
This has been a crazy week and a half, and we had all kinds of stuff going on! I thought I would take a minute tonight to just update a little bit. 
Faith lost her bottom tooth yesterday, and couldn't wait to go to bed so the tooth fairy could come and visit. She woke up this morning to a couple of crisp dollar bills under her pillow, and is happily getting used to the extra hole in her mouth. The really great news is that we can see her top teeth budding through her gums, so she might really get her two front teeth for Christmas this year!
Faith was invited to the coolest birthday party she has ever been to. It was held at a full-sized doll house where the girls are pampered and treated like royalty for two hours. We arrived, and she was given her choice of princess dresses to wear, and then her hair, nails and make-up were done for her. The girls were all having a blast picking out shoes, trying on dresses and costumes, accessorizing with just the right strand of pearls or feather boa, and then modeling their gorgeous selves down a princess runway. After the fashion show, they were served lemonade, hot dog hors-deurves (sp), and pizza on fine china. I had Beth with me, and when she saw those rows of shoes she thought she had died and gone to footwear heaven. I like the picture of Faith looking in the mirror in the first picture. I want to play with some more reflection shots of my kids with my camera.
Beth has decided she is a big girl, and no longer needs a crib. So last night we converted her crib to a toddler bed, and she slept in it quite happily. I think this has affected me more than her birthday did... my last baby is outgrowing the vestiges of her babyhood, and I am not ready to let go!
Matt is actually doing a very good job in Sign Design. However, on Thursday night he and his friend Andrew decided that there was one song they didn't like dancing to because they thought they would look silly. Kacey had to stop the music twice to ask them to get it in gear and do what they were supposed to be doing, and that wasn't fair to the other kids. She warned them that if they didn't cooperate, they would be performing up there all by themselves. They went through the routine again and didn't dance, so she stuck to her guns and made them perform it by themselves until they did it right. Matt, who has a mad crush on Kacey, told her that was embarrassing, but since he felt bad for upsetting her he reluctantly stood there with Andrew and tried to look enthusiastic. Being the good mom I am, I took advantage of this situation and brought my camera onto the floor and took plenty of photos of this spur-of-the-moment showcase. Today we had practice again, and the two of them were out there doing the sign and dance routine perfectly! Amazing what a little humiliation can accomplish... LOL I am positive that someday Matt will truly appreciate me taking a photo of the first time he was chewed out by a girl of his dreams... LOL
Next Saturday is the first Sign Design performance. I am worried that the kids' uniforms won't show up in time though, and without uniforms they cannot perform for this one. They have a huge show at the end of the month, and everything should be all set for that one. They are all so excited. Even Kyle is out there learning the signs, and even though he is still so shy about dancing completelY he is more than willing to stand there at smile at Kacey. I think she has all of my boys googly-eyed... LOL
The yard sale went fairly well, but I still have piles and piles of stuff. Now I have to decide what to do with it all.
I am heading to Memory Trends on Monday to see what is new and say hi to some friends. I LOVE not having to leave town to go to this show!
This has grown long enough now. I am going to get munchkins off to bed and just sit and do nothing for a while! I'll be back!
This has been an incredibly busy week. There have been Sign Design practices, choir meetings, performances, birthday parties, and amid all that I have been working hard to get ready to have the scrapbooking yardsale this week. If you are in Vegas, or know anybody who is, please come by or help pass the word along! I am having a HUGE yard sale (technically a kitchen and living room sale) to clear out TONS of these supplies. Here are some photos of it in the process. I have buckets of papers, stickers, cardstock, zig markers, all my punches, most of my stamps... tons of good supplies for other addicts to enjoy. I have this sale going on Friday and Saturday... wish me luck! (We are hoping to make enough doing this to get all the kids' new beds... woohoo!)
12x12 patterned papers .20
12x12 cardstock .10
8.5x11 patterned papers .10
8.5x11 cardstock .05
punches .50 - $2
xyron machines $5
tons of rubberstamps, most still new in their containers, 50-75% off the price I paid for them
inkpads.;.. .50-$100
strap hinge albums... $5
strap-hinge refills .. $2.00
pages and paperpiecings I have made for classes... $1
specialty papers.... .25
buckets of stickers .05, .20, and .50
fibers...... $1.00 a card
assorted storage containers
Paper Sticker Binder inserts .25
zig markers (brand new) .20
metal embellishments .02 a piece
magazines .50
idea books $1.00-$3.00
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, Dear Katherine!
Happy birthday to you!!!!
Have a wonderful birthday!!! Love ya!!!!
***ETA***
A lot of you have asked where I got my Harley license plate album. It is made by a company called Shoestring Productions. They have lots of different designs... Nascar, Disney, football teams,. and states. So far I have collected the California, Pepsi, Harley, Route 66, Cowgirl Up, and Dallas Cowboys albums. As soon as I fill those babies up I will be displaying them. They are so cool! dKim told me she is working on making albums out of bigger metal signs, and that will be right on the top of my must have list! Here is their contact info if you want one for yourself!
Shoestring Productions
dkewhite@columbia-center.org
503-397-6376
I know that posting all these pages is probably going to bump everything off my front page, but I just don't care! I had a WONDERFUL time scrapping this weekend! I fell in love with these little license plate albums this summer, and I have been enabling everybody I know to get their own. I now have six different designs, but they have been sitting empty because I haven't had time to fill them! In between all the running for activities we had this weekend, I managed to get this little guy put together. I gave it to Kyle before he went to bed tonight, and I just want you all to know that according to him, I am the coolest mom EVER! LOL
I took Kyle and Todd to the Harley store for a field trip last month. We were only there about an hour or so, so I didn't have a ton of journaling. I wanted a sort of story format to this, though, so I found the history of the Harley-Davidson company online and added it throughout the album. The Harley vellum looked so cool that I hated the idea of covering it up, so I cut it into filler pieces, and just added them in a few places throughout. Some of the pages are made out of cardstock, some are chipboard, some are tags, a couple are made of gunmetal paper, and one is a library card.... I wanted a really good junque look to this! I staggered the sizes of the pages as well. Most of the products I used are EK Success, Autumn Leaves, Making Memories, Creative Imaginations, Creative Impressions, 7Gypsies, and my Dymo labeler. TFL!
Today and tomorrow Scrap Village is having a virtual crop. There are lots of challenges, games, and chitchatting opportunities to rack up points and win some gift certificates to the store. Now who doesn't want to earn free money for scrapping supplies just by scrapping and talking about scrapping??? Hope you can join us!
I couldn't wait for the kids to go to bed tonight so I could work on this week's challenge. This piece inspired me in a lot of ways on this layout. I decided to scrap this photo because it worked with the color scheme... my eyes were really green that morning, I was wearing a brown shirt, and the butterfly necklace had pink accents to match my pink lipstick. I have been wanting to do a layout with this photo anyway to talk about how it doesn't matter what happens on the road, coming home is always a good thing. I picked the KI papers to coordinate with the colors in the jacket, and used the olive green color as a background accent. I loved the big brown buttons on the jacket, so I used the Making Memories deco brads and some plain antique brads from JoAnns to add that sort of tailored look to the page. I added some whimsical stitching for a textile feel to the page, and the flower inspiration is probably a little obvious. My topic was even inspired by this piece simply because it reminds me of a work jacket, so that is why I chose a topic relating to work, and used the MM paper to pull in the brown colors and the work theme. My journaling and I had some issues to start with. I very carefully planned it in Publisher, printed it in brown on a test sheet to make sure I had the placement correct, and then I painted the background paper with a little pink paint to make sure the journaling was legible over the lines in the paper. The printing smeared on top of the paint, though, and left half of it illegible. I didn't want to make it look really weird by fixing it by hand, and I didn't have another sheet of the paper, so I printed a second sheet of the journaling in pink ink on a transparency, trimmed it closely, and carefully glued it down over the original journaling block. Now the brown smeared words look like shadows behind the pink, so that ended up being a happy blunder.
I used my Pages by Design system to plan the layout design. The tags across the bottom are inspired by the layout on the cover of the current issue of Creating Keepsakes. I loved the way Janet Hopkins lined the tags up, so I mixed up some different sized tags, painted them, and added them to mine. One of my own personal challenges is to get better use out of my magazine subscriptions. I have decided I want to make sure I complete at least one layout inspired by something I see in every single issue that arrives. My CK arrived today, so the timing was fortuitous... LOL
Thanks Maggie and Robyn ! This is such a great challenge!
Once again my scanner gets a great big F in the color reproduction department. The pink tags and flowers are not purply, but more like baby pink. AS soon as I can buy a new scanner, this one is so fired!
I am going to do a whole photo shoot of Beth tomorrow or the next day for her 2Year Old photos, but I snapped this one last night on the way out to dinner. She saw me putting on my jewelry, and started out wanting a bracelet. I let her wear my memories charm bracelet, and then she wanted a necklace. I found my turquoise choker that fit her okay, and that made her a very happy girl. She loves shoes, purses, jewelry, pink, and fluffy things. She can't decide which of her new shoes she wants to wear first, but they sure do make her smile! Happy birthday, Beth... you make me smile!
I don't normally go so long without updating, but it has been a busy weekend! We scrubbed the house like crazy, and I only have one closet and two sets of shelves to sort through. It is so nice to have everything cleaned and uncluttered. It is so much easier to maintain this way. We also did a lot of the remodel work that needed to be done... replaced tiles, fixed paint, framed a window, etc. I even stitched together some new curtains and a tablecloth for the kitchen, and that added some great color to the room.
My in-laws are in town visiting, and that has kept us busy too. We are going out to dinner tonight, and that makes me happy... no cooking!
I once again have friends and family who have had to evacuate and take large losses due to a hurricane. You have all been in my prayers. I am so saddened by the fact that some of these losses have nothing to do with the weather, but with pure and simple thievery from people taking advantage of the hurricanes.
Today is Beth's 2nd birthday, but she is napping so I will have to take her two-year-old photo tonight or tomorrow morning. She understands presents and cake now, so she has been excited.
I will be back on later. I am hoping to get some scrapping done.. .I need a creative break! I am going to an all day crop next weekend, and I just cannot wait!
Nine years ago I was finishing up my third day of hard labor to bring this cutie into the world. I cannot believe how fast the time flies by. Happy birthday, Chet! We love you!
Maggie and Robyn chose this ad for this week's fashion file challenge. Fun!! Here is my layout. 
I used the KI paper that the baby's hat immediately reminded me of. The background is a light aqua, and I just cut some stripes from a dark aqua and pink. I wanted to get away from the straight lines, though, so I freehand cut some little swoopy pieces from orange. The flowers are from Deluxe Designs, the photo turns and brads are from Creative Impressions, the Cutie and Girl flower centers are old Scrapworks Hugs (using my stash.. yay!) and the stickers are American Crafts and Provo Craft. The journaling is made with my Dymo labeler.
The left side stubbornly refused to scan straight... that photo is straight in real life!
I was just checking boards and emails when I realized my Pukester buddies Amber and Kelly were called as two of the Memory Makers Masters, and a third Pukester friend, Caro is a runner-up! Congratulations ladies!! I am very happy for all three of you.... you all rock! :0)
These are a couple of photos from our AZ trip. I had my camera with me all weekend, and took hardly any photos... I really wasn't feeling like myself... LOL
This is the shot I took of Jack and John after they were done golfing. Yummy, aren't they? LOL
I kind of like the way Jack's chin is reflected in my sunglasses on this one. My arm was on our shades too, but I photoshopped that right on out of there. This is one of my favorite pics of the two of us I have ever taken. Not bad for a do-it-yourself shot!
I have been so excited to share my new room. I have a very hard time with interior decorating, so seeing this room come together has been a thrill for me. Nothing here is original, because I gleaned ideas from several sources, but it is heartfelt! I have honestly never had a pretty room in my entire life, so this has been a special treat to myself. I wanted my room to be pretty and comfortable without losing any functionality or convenience in the process. I think I have accomplished that, and now I can't wait to scrap again!
We had to texture and paint the walls, replace some of the linoleum tiles on the floor, and then it was ready to move into.
This is the desk Jack made for me. It consists of two cabinets as the base that are covered with a board. I sewed a solid red tablecloth for it, and then covered it with a clear vinyl to protect it from my inks and paints. Then we painted the shelf on top of it and added it so I had some extra room for photos, a colored pencil jar, and some little jars filled with brads and staples. I also added the feather pen that we had for our guestbook at our wedding. It has been stored for ten and a half years now. I figured I may as well put it to use... LOL. I need to fix the hem on the curtains, and add a longer curtain underneath the cafe curtains. I ran out of the red fabric. The window sill has the two porcelain clowns Jack has bought for me and my mom's silver baby cup. The little table next to it was a $3 thrift store find, and I am using it to store my sewing machine. My primitive stitchery box is underneath it. I have found it to be much easier to sew on pages if I do not have to pull out the machine every time, so finding an unobtrusive and attractive way to keep the machine in my room was important to me. The green box holds all of my standard scrapping tools... trimmer, scissors, adhesives, etc. The white cabinet in the corner has more of the 12x12 sterilite drawers that hold my rub-ons, stickers, and a few misc supplies. It is also home to my empty albums, my xyron machine, and the photos that I don't have digital copies of yet.
The shelves were originally the cash register stand in the store. I kept them when we closed since my house doesn't have any closet space to speak of. Jack stacked them together for me, and I like the way they look like a hutch. I love toile, and the room needed color, so I used the red toile to make some curtains to cover the boxes stored on the bottom shelves. I wanted my room to be functional with all of my supplies convenient, but I did not want any plastic showing. I have my finalist Chatterbox album as well as some other completed mini albums up there, and then little license plate albums I seem to have developed an addiction to. I plan on filling that Harley one next week! I was really happy with the way my ribbon jars went perfectly across the top... they add a splash of color to that side of the room.
I bought these little drawers at Ikea on Friday, and covered them with some papers that match the room. I sanded the edges, and I plan on rubbing some paint on them to junque them up a little bit more. I used them to store my alphabet stamps. I store them all alphabetically... A's and B's in one drawer, C's and D's in the next etc. I like to mix up my alphabets so much that it is too much work to go through several sets to find the letter, so I enjoy having them store alphabetically.
I bought these three-drawer units at Walmart for about $8 each. They hold 12x12 paper perfectly. My paper is sorted by color... one drawer for all the red 12x12 and 8.5x11 patterns, cardstock, and scraps, one for all the blues, one for the oranges, etc. My themed papers are together in one drawer since there aren't many of those... things that are specifically Halloween or Easter, etc. I keep the Chatterbox papers in their own drawer with their matching embellishments since I have so much of it. It makes entering the contest a lot easier... LOL. The little cabinet on the right has six 8.5x11 three-drawer sets where I have things like sandpaper, trip memorabilia, a drawer of my silver embellishments, my Deluxe Designs products, etc. There is also a thin shelf at the top where I keep my Pages by Design system.
Jack cut these letters for me and I altered them, and I have been holding onto them for months now waiting to hang them up. Now that they are up, I realize I need to stamp over the black "is spoken here" part with the cream paint to make it show up better. I bought the spice rack and buckets at Ikea as well for my paints and paintbrushes. Now I need to get the Making Memories paints so my shelf looks even prettier... LOL. The little jars are also from Ikea and hold needles, safety pins, and more silver mini brads. I have way too many of those little guys. The MM magnetic boards are stamped with MM stamps and cream paint. I plan on hanging up my layouts as I make them so I can appreciate them a little longer before I put them away!
I sewed the matching curtains for the closet because it is too ugly to keep naked. We took the clothing dowel out of it a while ago and installed those wire grid cubes to store my antique books. I don't have anywhere else to keep them right now, so they just need to stay put for the time being. I also have the frames I am working on filling with photos and artwork and my larger completed albums stored in there. The magazine rack was my last Ikea purchase, and it will eventually hold all of the books and magazines I have been published in. I am still sorting out that pile, though, so it will have more in it soon. All the rest of the books and mags are going to the yard sale... woohoo! I bought the Making Memories magnetic chalk boards several months ago at a show, so I hung those up in to places in the room. I stamped "Jenn's Junque" on the top and added my MM magnets. Faith has already had a field day using it to draw me pictures and to work on her math problems. I am on the prowl now for the perfect piece of furniture to go underneath the mag rack and chalkboards. The door leads to the room that is becoming the kids' room, and was my old scraproom. It was painted with chalkboard paint, and Jack splattered it in the paint process. I am going to cover it with chalkboard paint again, and then paint a calendar on my side of it. That way I can just erase it each month and not have more paper clutter in my house. The kids will be able to draw and play tic tac toe on it on their side.
I also sort my embellishments by color. I found the black photo boxes at Michaels when they were on sale for $1 each. I used a grungy font to print the color names on cardstock and slipped it into the bookplates. I also use one box for tags. The only embellishments not sorted by color are my Christmas ones, and they are in the drawer with the Christmas paper. 
This is the computer wall. I have a new laptop, so I keep it and my Epson printer inside the cabinet. I plan on getting a small tv with a DVD player in it to add to the cabinet becauase I like to listen to my shows or the cable radio stations while I scrap. The drawers to the left hold my scanner/copier on top, and I will keep my important papers in the file cabinet drawer on the bottom. The art piece to the left of the cabinet was a birthday present from Kyle that I haven't been able to hang up yet. He was so happy to get to help hang it the other night, and he keeps asking me if I like it... I love it... :0) This door leads to the hallway, and best of all, it has a lock on it!
I have a few more things to do in here, like fill the photo frames and add a rug. (Home Depot has one that is the perfect shade of red for $20... I just have to go get it.) I have a few blank spots on the walls that will house my altered clipboards and canvases within the next couple of days, and I want to find a comfortable bar stool type chair to sit in while I scrap. I also plan on using rub-ons to add a quote above the closet, but it will all come together soon. I achieved my goal, though... I created a room that works for me and I am getting rid of 90 percent of the stuff I had. I will take a picture of the yard sale piles before I actually have it.
I hope you enjoyed my little tour... LOL... you are welcome to scrap with me anytime you would like to! I actually have room in the center to add one of my banquet tables so I can have buddies join me, but that will only be coming out for company.
I got an email from Angie at PK today... she wants to use my Black-Faced Beth and my Midnight Visitor pages, so I will be mailing those out tomorrow. I don't know which issues they will be in, but I don't care... LOL... it just feels good to be submitting and getting published again!
Happy scrapping!
