Middle of Nowhere

A Special Birthday Blog Hop!

2011-12-19T05:00:00.025-06:00

That's right! Today is a very special day! Bella Blvd owner, Stephanie Hunt is having a birthday today!! Here's a little card I made for her with some super fun Bella Blvd. products:

So, Happy Birthday Stephanie! I hope you have a super fantastic day!!!

Even thought it's Stephanie's birthday, we have some gifts for a few of you lucky readers as well! We know how generous and giving Stephanie is, and we know she would never have a fun blog hop, without a few giveaways up for grabs too. So we got permission from Robin, who works alongside Stephanie in the office, to pick TEN lucky winners, who will each receive a Bella Blvd collection. All you need to do to be entered in the random drawings, is to leave Stephanie your birthday wishes in the comment section. You have lots of opportunities to up your chances, since you can leave a comment on each blog you visit, as you go through the blog hop. There are 26 blogs, plus the Bella Blvd blog, for a total of 27 chances to get your name in the pot. We will randomly choose winners, from 10 randomly choosen blogs, and announce them on Friday!

And, if this is your first stop of the morning, be sure to head over to the Bella Blog and start the hop from the beginning. If you're coming here from Suzanne's blog, then your next stop is the super talented Melissa Stinson! Be sure to hop over and leave Steph a little birthday love on the Bella Blog!!

Some Bella Blvd. Love

2011-10-27T09:22:00.000-05:00

I have been having a blast playing with the collections from Bella Blvd!! All this week they have been showing off projects with the 2 brand new collections Spring Flings and Easter Things and Winter Wonder. Here are a couple of peeks at 2 of my layouts done with these lines!

To see the entire layouts, be sure to stop by the Bella Blog today!!!

I also played around with the Too Cute to Spook line...so whimsical and perfect for these pictures of my little Yoda from last year!

We're getting ready for lots of fun Halloween festivities over the next few days...my favorite time of the year!! Hope everyone has an amazing holiday!!!

New Bella Blvd. Starts Shipping Today!!!

2011-10-24T10:19:00.000-05:00

Today is the big day! The Bella office is all a buzz, with our NEW Mid-Release collections starting to ship out to your favorite LSS's and online retailors! You will want to pick these up as soon as you see them, since they are limited edition collections. Once they're gone, they're gone.

Be sure to stop in at the Bella Blog...the design team has been working hard with these new lines and they will be showcased all week long!!

Fall is such a busy time of year for us, but one of our favorite things to do is going to the pumpkin patch! Miles especially had fun this year since he could walk around and pick out his own pumpkin! He actually spent most of his time with a pumpkin stem that he found on the ground. He walked around tapping every pumpkin he came to with it.

I'll also be teaching my next class at Chasing Rainbows in Independence on November 5th. We'll be doing 3 seasonal layouts...just bring yourself and your basic supplies! Here are the layouts we'll be doing:

Super fun stuff! I'll be working hard this week making some goodies with the new Bella lines...look for my layouts on the Bella Blog on Thursday!!

Have a fantastic day!

Bella Blvd's New Mid-Releases!!

2011-10-03T13:42:00.000-05:00

Ohh, I have some awesome fun to share with you today! Bella is showing their new mid-releases today on their blog! I got to see them a few days ago and I have been IN LOVE! I can't wait to get these amazing lines in my hot little hands!

The first line is called Winter Wonder. You can see the entire line HERE, but here are 3 of my favorite patterns:

The second release is called Spring Flings and Easter Things...SO stinkin cute! And the chevron patterns...ohhhh the chevron patterns! I have a bit of an obsession with those right now and these 2 lines delivered! You can see this entire line HERE and here are 3 of my favorite patterns from this line:

And, if you stop by the Bella Blog today, there's also a fantabulous giveaway! You could win $100 in Bella product INCLUDING these amazing new releases! These releases are limited edition and once they are gone, they're gone! They start shipping out in just a few weeks!!

A Fun Weekend!

2011-09-20T09:02:00.000-05:00

I've become a bit of a concert addict in the last year and a half and luckily my sweet hubby indulges me. He won't go with me because we have totally different taste in music, but luckily my good friend and neighbor loves rock/metal music just as much as me! We headed down to Tulsa Friday night for the Carnival of Madness tour...some of my favorite bands were playing! I've come to love the smaller venue concerts rather than the large arenas...it's so much more intimate and there really aren't any bad seats...or bad standing areas in Friday night's case. I swore I would never go to a concert where there was standing room only, but there we were...standing for 5 and a half hours, rocking to some amazing music! It was fun! And my feet didn't hurt too bad the next day :) The lineup included Emphatic (which I had never heard of before, but they were really good!), Adelitas Way (love!!), Black Stone Cherry (love!), Alter Bridge (love, love, LOVE!), and headlining was Theory of a Deadman. It was an amazing night, but I'm still trying to catch up on sleep from that night!

Aaaand a crafty project to share! I did this layout using mostly Studio Calico products.

And in other news, there's an awesome giveaway on the Bella Blog today along with some amazing card inspirations! So stop by and leave a comment for your chance to win some awesome Unity Stamps!!

Some Super Exciting News!!

2011-09-14T08:07:00.000-05:00

Holy heck!! Yes, that's my name on there! In the midst of some really amazing designers! I am thrilled and honored to have been chosen to work for such an amazing company. I have been a fan from the start and am so excited to see what's to come! Congrats to all the new Bella Artista's! I can't wait to work with all of you!! Thank you Stephanie and Laura for this fantastic opportunity!!

And now I get to share one of my DT submissions! This was created using one of Bella's older fall lines called One Fall Day. I just love the vibrant colors and fun patterns!! And the picture of 2 of my guys sure makes it even sweeter!

Thanks for letting me share my excitement! I will be sharing lots of fun new Bella projects soon! Be sure to stop by the Bella Blog for so much more inspiration!!

A 2 Page Layout? Me? Why yes, I Did!

2011-09-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

Any of my scrapping friends know that I don't do 2 page layouts...I just have such a hard time with them for some reason, but some events just have so many pictures that it needs more space. I decided to push back my fears and give it a go yesterday...These photos are from over 6 years ago! That's how long I have been putting this layout off! Zoo pictures...and I have a thousand more since then...I struggled with it, but I really like how it turned out. I used the zoo papers/embellishments from the Bo Bunny Zoology collection along with some new Jillibean Soup kraft tags. This layout will be up at the store if you want a closer look!

I'm so ready for fall...and this week is going to deliver with highs only in the 60's in a few days! I love the cooler temps, I love the gorgeous colors, Halloween, Thanksgiving....it's my all time favorite season! It also makes me want to get out fall photos and get them in my album. For this layout I used a mix of some MME Lost and Found papers, Echo Park Apothecary (the orange polka dot), MME Mischievous brads, Jillibean Soup label stickers, and Studio Calico wood stars.

Some fun things happening this week, so be sure to check back soon!!

Turning Old to New

2011-09-08T09:02:00.001-05:00

I have such grand ideas for redecorating my home (thanks in part to Pinterest), but a very small budget to do anything right now. So I have decided I'll have to do some repurposing. My favorite thing right now? Glossy white spray paint! It can take almost anything with a dated feel and turn it into something fun and fresh! Here are a couple of things I did last week and I love how it turned out!

The owl (a long time obsession of mine) was my grandmothers. It has sentimental value to me, but doesn't go with my vision for my home at all. The chicken...well...for a time I had a rooster/chicken themed kitchen...again, my tastes have changed and I prefer not to have any sort of actual themes anymore. But, with a little facelift, I think it can still fit into my mish mash style.

Before:

After:

It's amazing what a coat of white paint can do! (I also found another one of my grandma's owls to add to my collection) So, before you toss stuff away, think about it! Try it! Although, I warn you, now I am looking for anything else in my home to spray paint...it's a bit addicting! lol

In other news, the heat has finally gone here in Kansas! The temps have been anywhere from the upper 40's and low 50's in the mornings to perfect 70's and 80's in the afternoons! We have spent so much time outside this last week! This is what my boys have been doing:

Tate...he's obsessed with blocks and building everything he can imagine lately...maybe he'll grow up to be an architect? :)

Miles...my sweet, silly Miles. This is his laugh...he wrinkles his nose and he snorts...Love. It.

And of course, I can't let you all off without some bit of scrappy goodness! This is another school layout...1 of 3 that I will be teaching at the scrapbook store this Saturday. If you're local, there are a couple of spots left last I checked! I lifted the idea of listing the books he read from my friend Laura Vegas. If you scroll down a bit on her blog, you can see her layout!

First Day, First Grade...

2011-08-24T13:11:00.000-05:00

School started today...a day of mixed emotions for me. My Tate is now officially a 1st grader! I know he will do amazing and make us proud...we love him so much! But now I don't have as much noise in the afternoons...keeping the boys from fighting, listening to "Mom! He took the toy I wanted to play with!", "Mom! Miles hit me!"...it's going to be a little quieter, although Miles will still keep me on my toes, I have no doubt! First day pictures are a must...I couldn't choose just 1 or 2 favorites, so you will get several...Miles wasn't being very cooperative for a good shot of the both of them, but the pictures are true to the boys they captured...and I like that :)

And, in honor of the first day of school...how about a school layout? I finally got the first day of Kindergarten scrapped last night...a little behind, I know. (Although, I still havn't even done pre-school yet either!) I just love these fun papers from Imaginisce. And the little canvas stickers are fun!

I also went to CKC in Tulsa last weekend...Creating Keepsakes Convention for you non-scrappers...yes, us crazy scrapbookers even have our own conventions! There are lots of classes offered, which I don't generally take...I go for the shopping, which I have to say was a bit disappointing this year. There was one booth that REALLY saved it for me...I was walking around, not finding much to spend my money on when I turned a corner...and there was a big sign sticking up from behind another booth...the words written on it were "Studio Calico." Bestill my heart!...this was new! One of my favorite manufacturers had a booth?? So I made a beeline and new the bulk of my money would be gone. They had some amazing sales and even had the brand new lines there! I picked up a bit of everything...kicking myself now though for not buying some of the new Mister Huey's though...but here was my SC haul:

And here is the rest of what I bought...nothing compared the amounts of stuff purchased in previous years, but I've gotten a bit more picky in recent years and I'm sure my wallet (and hubby) appreciate that! I'm a bit obsessed with label stickers lately, so I found quite a few that I had been looking for!

In a few days I'll post another project (non scrappy) that I've been working on and hopefully more layouts as well! Have a fantastic week!

Summer Days...

2011-08-18T09:39:00.000-05:00

Here in Kansas, we've had a pretty hot and dry summer. Lots of temps at 100+...makes me not want to be outside at all and I sure can't keep the boys out in it either. It makes for some pretty bored kids! The last couple of weeks have been loads better though...we even had some 70-80 degree weather and I took full advantage of it! The boys and I have spent a lot of afternoons outside playing and I've even retired my dryer for the clothes line. The smell of clothes dried on the line makes me happy!

I even had a little "helper"--if you call throwing out the clothes I've folded and put in the basket "helping"...but I guess you have to start somewhere!

I've also been doing more scrapbooking the last few weeks! Hooray for being crafty! And tomorrow I'm headed to CKC Tulsa for some scrapbook shopping...hoping they have some of the new stuff that just came out!

Here's a layout I did for the store using the super adorable October Afternoon Rocket Age line.

And another one for the store using the Splash collection by Echo Park...clean graphic designs...love their stuff!

Been working on some other crafty projects! Will share those and my CKC finds soon! Have a great week!

It's Been a While...

2011-08-08T13:57:00.000-05:00

So, I have been toying with the idea of getting back into blogging, and after a few days of playing with my blog design and updating a few things, I have decided to go for it. I thought about deleting my previous posts or just starting a new blog all together, but I rather enjoyed going back and reading what I'd written 2+ years ago...so I will just pick up where I left off.

Since my last blog post we've added a new member to our family, so you will see lots of layouts and pictures of my boys...they've grown a lot...especially Tate. Going back through my old posts makes me realize just how big he's gotten...no longer my little boy, but now my handsome young man!

Anyhow, expect some crafty-ness and picture posts soon! I have a lot to share! :)

Ode to Cosmo Cricket

2009-06-30T17:27:00.002-05:00

Because I LOOOOVE their stuff! (and the DT call might have a tad to do with it too! ;)) I have been a fan of CC from the very beginning and I've used SO much of their stuff over the years. So, in this post I have compiled just a few (ha!) of my very favorite things. The first 2 are brand spanking new and the rest are just some of my favorite layouts and projects! Thanks for taking a peek! :)

(I do love how so much of Cosmo's lines mesh well with other manufacturer's...it's so versatile!)

(The rest of the album can be seen on the post below!)

Have a fantabulous week!

Heat Wave!

2009-06-25T13:50:00.003-05:00

Wow, here in the central US the temps have been upper 90's, low 100's with the heat index well into the 100's! It's been plain hot and miserable! So we've been trying to spend a little time indoors when it's the worst and in the evenings, Tate likes to go out and play in his pool. I even got in with him last weekend and got sunburnt...still feeling that one!

I have a few fun things to share...the first is a Father's Day mini album that I made for Brian from Tate. I used some new Cosmo Cricket papers and they are SO fun for boys (and dads!). I made the actual album myself with some 4x6 chipboard pieces and a Bind-It-All (I borrowed the stores, but I NEED one for myself!)

And a few layouts just for fun :)

Summer around here always means the rodeo is near. 4th of July weekend is the Elk County Rodeo and Tate is gearing up for some more mutton bustin' this year. He's super excited and says he wants to ride both nights this year, so we'll see! Nana and Rusty are getting him geared up--literally! Take a peek at the fun accessory they sent him a couple weeks ago!

He LOVES those chaps and I think he looks absolutely handsome in them! It will be fun for sure and there will be lots of family to come watch this year! I hope everyone else is having a great summer as well! I'll post back when I can! :)

Do You Have Little Girls?

2009-05-13T10:44:00.002-05:00

Then I have to share my friend Teresa's new hair bow blog with you! It sure makes me want a little girl! She does awesome work! :) Brat Pack Bows Stop by and give her a holler!

As for me, I actually have LOTS of layouts to share, but they are all up at the store and I need to scan them! I actually scrapped during National Scrapbook Weekend. It was fun to hang out with the girls...I don't get to do that as often anymore with this "real" job lol.

I had a great Mother's Day weekend last weekend....My mom and Rusty came and hung out on Saturday and we cooked steaks on the grill. They brought Tate Yahtzee (did I spell that right?) and we've had to play it at least once a day ever since. He's actually really good at it! I got some money from Tate and Brian so I could buy more scrapbook stuff...just what I need! And it's already spent! hehe

We've also gotten a Wii since I last posted and that's been tons of fun! My favorite is the bowling...Tate loves Mario Cart...and well, Brian just plays what Tate wants to play and I think he enjoys it (even if he's not all that into video games!). I was able to get the Wii Fit with the package I scored off of Ebay, but it's still sitting in it's box, waiting for me to get some time to try it out...hopefully this weekend sometime. I want to have some time to see how it all works before I try to get myself in a routine with it.

I hope everyone's had a nice spring so far...it would be better here without the constant rain...I need some sunshine! Have a great week! :)

Some New Edits

2009-04-22T09:53:00.001-05:00

With some help of the great photogs over at 2 Peas, I decided to redo a few of the edits from yesterday...I think I like these much better...they are lighter and I took some of the yellow/blue color casts away that I had not noticed at the time. Fresh eyes always help!

Awww, I just love babies...

2009-04-21T08:11:00.002-05:00

And yesterday I did my first portfolio shoot with this cute little guy! These are my first few edits, but I still have a few more to do. Thank you Mel for letting me do this and thanks T for all the help! Could not have done it without ya! :)

(the little stinker was getting tired by the time we got to the basket so we were having to sooth him with his paci...I went ahead and snapped some shots while we were trying to get him to sleep and this one ended up being one of the best out of that bunch, so I went ahead and edited it anyway....I'll do one without the paci too :))

Please leave a comment and let me know what ya think!

Quick Post...

2009-04-16T11:02:00.002-05:00

because I havn't in so long! As always, things are staying busy around here. It's starting to warm up, so that means less time inside scrapping and playing on the computer and much more time outside chasing after Tate, playing catch, riding 4 wheelers and hopefully taking more pictures! I have so many pictures from the last couple of weeks that I want to share, but I have to find time to do some editing and resizing...But this post cannot be without some form of visual stimulation, so I do have some layouts to share :)

This first one is using one of the new spring lines from Making Memories. THe pics are from Tate 3 years ago...I love them so much!

Next is a quick one about me and a few of my likes at the moment. I used some Fancy Pants Splendid for this one plus some Prima bling.

I've been having fun going back to some older pics and this one goes back to my college days on Spring Break with one of my best friends. Love the colors in the new Scribble Scrabble stuff!

More Fancy Pants Splendid in a layout about my nickname for Tate :)

And you can never go wrong with Basic Grey! This new Marrakech line is just gorgeous! Tate has been learning to write his name and he's gotten very good at it! I had to snap some pics and the paper he's writing on is included on the layout as well. It slips in and out of the side there so you can see it years from now...love that!

And this last little project is a recipe box that I'm teaching at the store this weekend. It's using some new papers from Scribble Scrabble and I just LOVE the bright colors and those limes and lemons. Fabulous for summer!

I've been really obsessed with everything photography lately...especially baby photography. If you love it as much as I do, I added a new link to my blog that you should check out...pure baby sweetness all over! I am in love with their photos! Baby As Art. Also check out Carrie Sandoval's Blog for some awesome twin shots!

Layouts and a Sweet Mini

2009-02-25T18:17:00.002-06:00

Finally some new projects I've done! I'm finally starting to get back into a scrappin groove after not really being interested for a couple of months. It feels good! :)

I'm PURGING!

2009-02-17T15:20:00.003-06:00

And it feels good! I started last night with my stamps...I have TONS of stamps. And I rarely use them. If you are interested in some pretty good buys, hop on over HERE for details, items and prices. Shoot me an email if you see something you want! brookstewart79@gmail.com ...No scrappy projects to show just yet...have some I need to get off my camera, but it's been hectic!

Added a bunch of idea books HERE. Still quite a few left. Let me know if you are interested in anything!

Did I mention it was my birthday last week? Did I mention that I turned.....30?! Yep, I did. And I'm not scared of it. Most days I still feel like I'm 20, so it's all good.

On that note, I will leave you with a picture of my cute little Valentine's Day boy...Yep, he's adorable!

Check back soon for more purging goodness!

Happy Friday (well, almost)

2009-01-22T21:39:00.002-06:00

Thursday night....close enough to Friday, right? I don't have a ton to share today. Just a fun layout that will be part of my layout class next month at Chasing Rainbows next month. Bright colors make me giddy and the Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes line does just that!

I also have a pic of my first completely completed crochet project (I have several started, but this is the first one I can say is "done"). I made it for a friend that is due to have her little boy any day now.

I also made an 8x8 mini album, but I don't have many good pics of it. I'll add those on here sometime next week along with another layout or 2 for my class.

Oh, and I started a diet this week. I've never actually been on one my entire life, but I'm at the point where I would love to drop some pounds. It's a 6 week thing (which can stretch beyond, depending on how much weight you want to lose), so wish me luck. So far I've stuck with it for 4 days, which actually seems like forever! I have had no Dr. Pepper since Sunday. And it's about to drive me insane. I love my Dr. Pepper. But sometimes we have to make sacrifices, right? I'm ready to do this. I know I can do this. I will do this. For my family and more importantly, for myself.

Have a great weekend! :)

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T20:53:00.002-06:00

Hummm, so I'm a few days late and a couple of months past due on posting (thank you to those who have been worried about me!). For some reason around the holidays at the end of the year, my blog seems to get shoved by the wayside because there is just so many other things going on. Not only do we get Thanksgiving and then Christmas, but right smack in the middle of those we get Tate's birthday (I cannot believe my baby is 4!) and then there's New Year's and I'm also trying to get taxes finished up (yuck!).

I did manage to squeeze in a little scrapping between there, but not much. Oh, and I have discovered a new passion: crocheting (thanks Teresa!) and rekindled my love of MMORPG's. I started playing World of Warcraft a few weeks ago. So fun!

So, for Tate's birthday this year we made a trip to Tulsa and took him to Build-A-Bear--it was a little before Christmas and it was a nightmare. It took us 2 hours to get through it. But in the end, Tate loved his football star bear. (I'll have to find a pic sometime). Then we went to Incredible Pizza where we ate lots and played tons of games. I even got Brian on the go-karts with Tate. He had a blast!!

Christmas was SO fun this year. Tate really got into the whole Santa thing, which was awesome.

We also made hime some snickerdoodles and left chocolate milk (Tate insisted he liked it better than white milk). He also didn't think Santa would be able to see to eat, so he left him his flashlight to use. How thoughtful he is :)

Santa was very good to us all this year!
Tate got a Black & Decker work bench with lots of tools, a drum, lots of cars and trucks, movies, books and the biggest gift of all:

Yes, that is a gas powered 4-wheeler. He opened up a big box that had some keys in it. He tossed the keys aside, looking for something big and fun in the box. He had no clue. We finally had to ask him what he thought those keys might go to..then he started to get it. It was parked out in the garage with a big bow (thanks Nana & Rusty!)

Brian got some new boots, clothes, tools, his annual Christmas Heinz 57 Sauce (long running funny gift from his family) and a new Henry Rifle.

And I got a new phone--a Motorola Hint:

It's lots of fun, but there's a lot that I still want to learn about it. I also got money, gift cards, a cool rug and HIGH SPEED INTERNET!! Yes, I am SO happy about that one. I can actually update my blog at home in less than 2 hours! :)

We got to spend a lot of time with family this year. That was so nice!
Here's my dad and Tate:

and my baby brothers...they are getting way too old! Kris, the oldest, turned 16 this year...I remember the night he was born.

and cousins Ellie and Emma...Tate adores them! He even shared his new 4-wheeler and let everyone ride :)

and I have to introduce a new member of our family. Meet Zeke:

But sadly, I also have to say goodbye to another member of our family. My basset hound, Lucky.

He passed away on December 2nd. He was over 12 years old, which is pretty old for a basset. My dad and stepmom got him for me for Christmas my senior year in highschool. I miss him SO much. He wil never be forgotten.

Okay, so...wanna see some creative stuff? I found some layouts that I had not posted yet from the last 2 months. Here ya go!

This last one was a lift off of someone on Two Peas, but I cannot remember who it was.

That pretty much wraps up 2008 for me. I'm ready to start fresh in 2009! I have some scrappy projects to work on for the store and some I want to do for myself. I always love the beginning of the year...Now it's time for me to set some goals. I'll be thinking on those and some resolutions and get that stuff posted soon! I promise, I won't wait so long next time :)

I'm Still Here!

2008-11-11T09:50:00.002-06:00

And keeping busy as ever. October is one of my most favorite months of the year, but it's also the busiest. And afterwards I'm always glad it's over, but I look forward to it again next year! So, since it's been a while, this is going to be a photo heavy post, so just a warning!

Hmm, let's start with what I've been working on for the scrapbook store. I have several layouts ready for my class coming up this weekend and a couple more that just need scanned. Here's 3 of them:

Love these American Crafts papers!

And some absolutely fabulous Fancy Pants:

And some yummy Scenic Route Sonoma:

And this one is for a Christmas layout class coming up as well...There will be 6 layouts total and I'm contributing 2 of them. These Making Memories Fa La La papers are some of my favorites! This layout was also a lift of the amazingly talented
Christine Middlecamp. LOOOOVE her stuff!

And I've also been the busy picture taker too! I adore fall and I adore fall photos, so I've been draggin Tate around here and there to see what I can get :)

And the Halloween costume, handmade by me!

I really have lots more pictures from the end of October, so I may share some more of them soon. Need to get more edited! Have a great week folks!

More Layouts and Photos!

2008-10-20T12:51:00.004-05:00

I'll have a more in depth post later this week with some pics of the fun things we did this last weekend...need to get them edited first though! I do have a few new layouts to share :)

This one is using the Scenic Route Appleton line...it's SO great for boy pics! This is Tate and one of his best friends these days!

This one started as a lift from a layout I saw on 2 Peas the other day, but turned out a little different. I can't remember the pea name to give her credit...I'll try to find that! (And the wood paneling background is actually my poor outdated dining room wall...so no, your eyes are not playing tricks on you! :))

This last one is another one for my "Book of Me" using some papers from Daisy D.

I also took another road trip to Oklahoma City a couple of weekends ago. I left Brian and Tate at home and had some major fun with my girlfriends. We went to a crop on Friday night, had lots of fun, made some pretty things and ate some good food! I also did my second photo shoot ever with Jennifer's boys. Little kids can be hard to photograph when they dont want their picture taken, but we got some good ones...it was much for fun when we started having hay fights! :)

The little one in his adorable pumpkin costume!

I'm still working on my photo editing...it's a little tricky at times, so let me know what you think!

Also, I'm hoping to start getting some stuff up in my Etsy Shop soon! If you like my layouts, I'm going to work on doing some page kits to put up for sale there, so be on the lookout for those and other fun stuff! :)

Have a great week, I'll have more to share in a few days!

Worn Out!

2008-10-07T09:37:00.003-05:00

After a big weekend of Scrap Pink and my mom's wedding 2 weekends ago, I'm STILL tired! I taught a mini album class this last weekend at the scrap store too, so I have lots to share! With all the activities going on, I had to drop out of Nook U...maybe I will graduate next time! It's gonna be a photo heavy post, so I will just cut the chit chat and give you some fun things to look at!

Layouts for the store...this first one will actually be part of my layout class that's coming up in 2 weeks!

This is the mini album I made and taught last weekend using some awesome Cosmo Cricket goodies!

And lastly, here's a few shots from my mom's wedding:

The boquet I made with a little added flower from Tate!

Tate just couldn't stand not being able to dig into the chocolate cake...but I caught him trying to sneak some frosting! :)

Have a great week!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

2008-09-23T08:45:00.004-05:00

So, I'm a little late, but my RAK winner is:

inara said...
oooooooh pick me pick me, I was already drooling over your stuff and then I kept reading! Of course your projects are gorgeous, I should have guessed you had fabulous stash! I love big chunky embellishments, and yours are delightful!

So girl, send me your addy and I'll get some goodies out to ya by the end of the week! Shoot me an email: brookstewart79@gmail.com

So, the big news around here is that my mom is getting married this weekend! Lots to do this week to get prepared...already bought something to wear and now I have to get her boquet made before Saturday...I've never attempted one before, so wish me luck!

And as promised, more layouts from the awesome
Nook U challenges! The girls over there are SO creative and inspiring!

Economics 101: All about the love/hate relationship with money...You also had to use a sketch as inspiration. Here's what I did:

History: Use photos that are at least 20 years old and some vintage piece on the layout as well. I dug out some pics of me that are about 28-29 years old...the ones from K-Mart that turn red over time. But I love that...it's a sign of the times. My vintage piece is the paper from an old book.

Science: It's all about the chemistry you have with someone else--spouse, friend, relative...I chose my friend Teresa...we just get along so well...have lots in common and just have fun when we are around each other. You don't come across those truely good friends very often!

So, with another week of Nook U coming up, I should have more to share soon. If I don't blog again before the end of the week you'll know I'm either up to my elbows in pretty flowers for the wedding or buried underneath a bunch of paper and adhesive frantically trying to get my class assignments done...Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator...that's me!

Getting Organized

2008-09-15T09:34:00.005-05:00

Okay, so I read a post over on The Nook a while back about organizing. It had a link to Christine's Blog and how she organizes. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I spend just as much time (if not more) organizing and reorganizing my scrap supplies than I do actually USING the stuff. So, when I find something new and different I usually like to try it. And that's what I spent my Sunday doing...sorting and organizing using Christine's method. And so far I really like it! Everything is right on my table in front of me, sorted by color.

I am obsessed with felt...mainly that cute Fancy Pants stuff, so I have a TON. But they stayed in the packages and I never thought to pull them out and use them very often. Solution:

I took them all apart and stuck them in drawers...they are the wide drawers that can fit 12x12 paper since some of the felt pieces are big. Also, on the back of the packaging, it shows a picture of what's on each sheet...so I cut those out and taped them to the inside of the drawers so I would know exactly what I had in there!

I did the same thing with my smaller chipboard pieces, epoxy shapes and other dimensional embellishments:

and for my tags, transparencies, die cuts and journaling spots:

and my flowers:

and my buttons:

and here's kind of what the whole setup looks like...although it's facing the wrong direction in the pic because I couldn't scoot back far enough the other way to take the pic:

I used what I happened to have on hand since WalMart's an hour away, so I thought it turned out pretty good!

RAK ALERT!! RAK ALERT!! RAK ALERT!! RAK ALERT!!
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So, did you SEE how many flowers and buttons that are crammed into those drawers? I thought about buying some bigger storage drawers for them, but I have a better idea. Since I have way more than I could probably ever use, I thought I would do a little giveaway! All you have to do is post a comment here and I'll do a random drawing for a little package of flower/button goodness! I'll draw and post a winner sometime next Monday, September 22.

I've also got a couple more layouts to share! This first one was a lift from the most recent Scrapbooks Etc. magazine. I used the Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy papers...LOVE them!!

And this one was for the

Nook U Challenge going on over at MyScrapbook Nook. The challenge was to do a layout based on artist inspiration. Finding a piece of art and taking something from it. I used my favorite architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He is known for his graphic style and clean lines. If you havn't seen any of his stuff, you should check it out! Especially the Fallingwater House...AMAZING!! I would love to go tour it someday!

So, I picked a piece of stained glass that he designed:

and here is the result on my layout:

This weeks Core classes are up at the Nook, so I have lots more to work on this week, so hopefully more to share by the week's end!

On another good note, it has finally stopped raining! Yesterday was just gorgeous! Low 70's all day long! And today looks to be just as beautiful...too bad I'm stuck inside! Have a great week everyone and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win some goodies from me!

Getting Inspired

2008-09-11T08:46:00.003-05:00

And it only took browsing through my email! I opened up my Scenic Route email newsletter this morning to see what kind of eye candy they would have for me this month...One of them linked to Lisa Dickinson so I made my way over there. Boy, was I in for a treat! Not only does she have some amazing layouts, but the reading is fabulous! I love good story tellers...maybe because I'm not always so great with words. I just wanted to share...if you havn't already been over there, you should check her out!

And how can you NOT be inspired when you are working on some fun challenges? I'm participating in an educational venture known as Nook U. It consists of core classes (mandatory challenges if you are in it for the big prize) and elective classes with some extra credit through in. It's a 4 week school, so I hope I can stick with it! Want to see what I've accomplished so far?

Core Class: Math 101 - using your supplies in multiples of 3.
I used:
3 photos
3 patterned papers
6 words for the title
18 letters/punctuation in the title
3 white edges (around the photos, around the artisan edge paper, and under the striped strip)

Elective Class: Physical Education/Health - using some form of movement as your subject or something that actually moves on the layout.

Core Class: English - It had to be a layout about books/reading and you had to have a photo of yourself reading.
What else would I scrap about besides the Twilight series that took over my free nights this year?!

I still have one more core class to complete by Saturday and since we don't have much going on at the clinic today, I brought my scrappy stuff with me! Now if only it would quit raining long enough for me to get it all out of my car...the rain can really just go away now. It's been raining all week and with Ike on the move, it doesn't look like we'll be getting any relief any time soon.

Have a great week folks! :)

Crockpot Brownies!

2008-09-05T11:49:00.003-05:00

And yes, 2 posts from me in 2 days! But I just had to share this cute little video of my friend Amie from The Nook making crockpot brownies. She totally cracks me up and the brownies look amazing too! I think I'll try some this weekend!

And don't forget to comment below and let me know what you think of my first baby photos! I need all the feedback I can get! :)

Some Photos

2008-09-04T21:23:00.002-05:00

So, Tate and I ventured down to Oklahoma City this past weekend to visit the Jennifers and we had a fantastic time! We hung out with the girls, went swimming (got lots of mosquito bites, youch!), did some chatting, some shopping and Tate got to play with Javier. Oh yes, and I also got my first baby photo practice time with Enrique...Yep, he's a cutie for sure! Not bad for first baby shots I thought! All black & white conversions and textures are from LCH Photography. Have I mentioned how much I ADORE her photoshop goodies?! Gorgeous stuff!

And here's one of Javier and one of Tate fromt he weekend as well:

I do have a couple of layouts done, but I need to get some pics of them when I'm at the store this weekend. Hope the rest of your week is fantastic! :)

Monday Monday....

2008-08-25T08:24:00.002-05:00

The weekend just flew by! But it was probably because I was having so much fun! The scrappy girls and I went down to Tulsa for the Creating Keepsakes Convention Friday & Saturday. We had lots of fun, spent lots of money and ate lots of great food! (Olive Garden, The Cheesecake Factory and I was even persuaded to try some Asian food at Peiwei--and it was pretty good!)Anyway, I just have a few things to share this morning...first is a picture of Tate taken with my new camera. I added a texture layer from LCH Photography...they are SO neat!

And the next 2 are a couple of my layouts for my class this Saturday at Chasing Rainbows. And I'm super excited about my class Saturday. Along with my regular favorite people that will be attending my class, my good friend Charlotte from The Nook is also driving down to take my class and do some cropping! I'm so excited to see her again! She's the sweetest! So, here's 2 of the layouts we'll be doing on Saturday:

And one of the best things that's happened in the last week is that I found my good friend Stephen on MySpace. He was seriously one of my best friends ever back in the day and we lost touch when I moved from OKC to Kansas, so we've been chattin it up and catching up on everything that's happened in our lives. He was the sweetest friend ever and one that I had missed the most from my past! The internet does amazing things!

Have a fantastic week everyone! :)

I {heart} Brown!

2008-08-11T20:14:00.002-05:00

Brown -- as in the UPS guy that is! Wanna see what he brought me today? Well, do ya?? I'm still in awe.........

Yes friends...that would be my new Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR! Talk about quite a change from my little Canon S2iS point & shoot...but I've been doing nothing but manual mode on my P&S for a while now, so I'm a little familiar with settings, but this thing has so many buttons and gadgets on it that it's a little overwhelming. I played with it a little while I was at work (needless to say that I didn't get much done today in the way of work!). It's been rainy out today, so I havn't got any good shots to share yet. I also got a great guide on my specific camera and I'm already several chapters in. It's helped a ton and seems to be a great book so far--very easy to understand and process!

I still don't know how I talked the hubs into letting me get this...and it was a lot easier than I even dreamed! Just a few promised favors... *snicker* I really figured he'd buy another cow or 2 with our extra money...but really, we have enough for the moment I think! Camera ----- Cow, Camera ---- Cow...hmm, easy choice!

Finally, A New Post!

2008-08-09T23:13:00.003-05:00

A few of you have asked me when I'm gonna finally update my blog, so...here I am! It's late and it's raining again. It has been all day, but I have to tell you that the cooler temps today have been really refreshing! I sleep good when it's like this, so I'll be ready to cuddle into my down comforter with my new copy of Breaking Dawn after I finish this post. Yep, the 4th and final book of the Twilight Series is out. It kind of makes me sad...this has been one of the best book series I've ever read and it's almost over! I'm about halfway through the book, but I'm trying to take my time so it doesn't end so soon.

I've been keeping myself busy with some crafty projects too! Here are a few layouts I've done...some for myself, some for the scrap store. There are actually 2 more that I've done, but don't have pics yet...they are for my August layout class at
Chasing Rainbows and they're currently being displayed in the store.

I've also been on a mini accordian album kick lately...Here are 4 of them...the other 2 are made, but don't have pics in them yet.

And this last one is a class I'm teaching at the store on August 16th. It's a Chatterbox Mini album and it's adorable! I love the shape of it! I'll have pics of the inside posted in my Scrapbook Nook Gallery either tonight or sometime tomorrow!

That's pretty much it for me! Have a great weekend/week!

The Waiting Game

2008-07-22T13:42:00.003-05:00

Yep, I'm no good at waiting...for anything! I'm an instant gratification kind of gal for sure. So, what am I waiting for you might ask? I tossed my hat into the ring for a DT spot for American Crafts.

Yes, I am an American Crafts junkie!!!

It's one of my very favorite companies of all time, so I figured it couldn't hurt! So, with that, I wanted to pay tribute to some of my very favorite AC layouts from the past and present.

My newest little project is a simple card...I love how it turned out!

This is my best friend Teresa's cutie pie little girl, Callie...hence the title :)

The rest you have seen before, but I still love them!

You know...probably 99% of my layouts have some form of American Crafts products on them....Did I mention that I am totally addicted to their Thickers? I rarely do a layout anymore without using them. I pretty much quit buying anything else for my titles...You just can't go wrong with so much variety--chipboard, vinyl, felt, velvet, glitter...so much dimension and so many different fonts!

Okay, so wish me luck because I know there are some ginormously talented ladies out there competing for these coveted spots. Let the wait begin!

Proud Mama Moment!

2008-07-04T19:41:00.002-05:00

So, the 3rd and 4th of July is always rodeo time around here and probably the most anticipated event by Tate this year so far. Not only is the rodeo known for awesome bronc and bull riding, calf roping and steer wrestling...but it's also known for mutton busting. And this is where Tate comes in. Apparently his good buddy Tyler was telling him all about this fun little event...and Tate immediately said that if Tyler was doing it, so was he! The conversation went a little something like this:

Tate: "Mama, I am riding a buckin sheep at the rodeo."
Mama: "Oh, you are, are you?"
Tate: "Yes mama, I am. And I have to wear my cowboy hat so I don't hurt my head."
Mama: "You think your cowboy hat is going to keep your head safe?"
Tate: "Yes mama, it WILL. And I AM going to ride a buckin sheep at the rodeo."

Well, anyone that knows Tate knows that if he has his mind set on doing something, not much will stop him. And this was all I heard about for the next week until it was finally rodeo time. Now, I have to be honest. Tate sometimes ACTS so brave and sure of himself, but chickens out when it comes right down to it...I was honestly thinking that he might get in the shoot, sit on the sheep and change his mind. (My mommy brain was secretly hoping for this.) But that didn't happen. He was brave. And he was GOOD. And he finally fell off. And he cried. And I almost cried too. But he was the second youngest out of the 15 or so kiddos that lined up for their turn at conquering the sheep...and he came in second on who held on the longest and went the farthest. The little girl that beat him was about 6 or 7 years old. My brave little 3year old beat out a lot of kids...a lot of them much older than him. And he earned the prize he won. Three dollars which he spent today on a little blue scoop tractor at Orscheln's. And yes, I was snapping pictures like a mad woman...until the end when he fell off. I didn't get that one because I was too busy running out to make sure he was okay. So, here are some pics from last night!

The wait and anticipation...It was awful. He wanted to go right that minute, but he had to wait his turn.

Finally Tate's turn...Shawn and Joey were helping them and offering good advice like "Hold on REALLY tight!"

And out of the shoot he goes! (This is where my heart started frantically thumping out of my chest!) Notice Tate's hat flies off and Shawn makes a great catch!

So, I don't have pictures of the graceful dismount, but I can tell you a little about how it happened. He held on for so long and the sheep went so far and was going so fast that when he finally DID let go, he planted the side of his face in the dirt and he rolled several times. Then the tears started. After the tears quit, this is what was left (ain't he cute?!):

And the dirt stayed there for a while...proof of the brave battle he fought with the menacing sheep. Everyone we passed gave him a good pat on the back and told him how great he did. I've never seen him so happy and I've never been more proud to be his mama!

Here's a few more pics from afterward...Tate being silly and cute. The last one shows my little brothers who are growing up SO fast! My dad and family were in town from Tennessee this week and came over to the rodeo for some fun as well!

I hope everyone is having a great 4th! We spent some more time with my dad and family this morining/afternoon and I think we're just going to hang out at home this evening. We should be able to see some decent fireworks from our house!

More Stuff!

2008-06-26T13:14:00.002-05:00

So, the creative bug has really bitten the last week or so and I have a couple more projects to share.

This first one is made from the July kit papers over at My Scrapbook Nook. They are the fabulous new Passport papers from Making Memories. It's an 8x10 wall hanging and I did a class on it for the Nook. You can find all the instructions HERE.

And while I'm not 30 yet, I will be in another 7 months or so and that got me thinking...I don't feel old. At all. And I wanted to make a layout about that. This layout is made using mostly products from one of my all time FAVORITE companies -- American Crafts. The bold patterns and bright colors are right up my alley!! Love me some AC! :)

Have a great rest of the week and weekend!!

Summer Hair

2008-06-24T09:48:00.003-05:00

I love it when it gets hot outside and it's time fora little trim! Although I got a little more than a trim this time around...several inches. But I LOVE it! Thanks to my good friend Susan...Do you have any idea how great it is to have a friend that cuts hair? And I totally trust her judgement and she did a fabulous job! Thanks girl! :)

Here's a before and after pic:

and I even whipped up a layout last night!

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And if you havn't sent in your application for the DT over at !My Scrapbook Nook, you need to do so now!! Only a few days left! You can find all the details HERE. Seriously, the kits are GORGEOUS and the people there are the friendliest people around!
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Not much else interesting to share today. It looks to be a pretty quiet day here at the vet clinic...I think I'll go try to catch up on some more episodes of Lost...Love that show! Have a great week everyone

Where to start....

2008-06-16T21:21:00.002-05:00

Well, last week was awful. Horrible. Sad. Depressing. I miscarried last weekend. It was a very hard week...physically and emotionally. I've never gone through anything like that before and I hope I never have to again. I think one of the hardest parts about it was that it took so long to get to that point, just to have it all taken away from me. I keep telling myself that there was a good reason. I know there HAD to be a good reason, but it doesn't make it any less painful. We are dealing with it though...with the help of our friends and family. With all of the wonderful thoughts, prayers and cards that are being sent our way. It helps. A lot. I've been trying to get back into a normal routine and that's helped a lot too.

So, enough sad talk. It only makes me more depressed.

I made a couple of layouts a couple of weeks ago with the June kit over at the Nook:

I also made a layout for my Found Stamp Challenge for the Nook Scrap Off Contest. There are some super fun challenges going on over there with some CRAZY talented girls!

Anywho, here's the LO I made:

I stamped the background with a cooling rack from my kitchen and I raided Tate's truck box to stamp the title.

Also, the July kit pics are up! Pure yumminess!

And also, if there are any left, you should REALLY check out the Limited Edition Summer Kit! I picked one up...they are just gorgeous! They only started with 24 kits and once they are gone, that's it!

9 Prima Papers
2 Sheets Bazzill Cardstock
2 Boxes of Prima Flowers
1 Inque Boutique Stamp
1 Hereo Arts Gemstone
1 Ethan Black Board Book Cosmo Cricket
2 Yards of Making Memories Ribbon
1 Pkg. Doodle Bug Crushed Velvet Brads
1 Inque Board
1 Prima Felt

Oh, also have to give a little shout out to my Detroit Red Wings...they won the Stanley Cup! I know, it's a little old news, but I havn't blogged in forever!

Have a great week everyone!

Lots Going On!

2008-05-23T08:53:00.003-05:00

First of all, I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and an ultrasound yesterday to make sure baby was doing well and to get an official due date. Everything looks great...saw the little heart beat and my due date is January 10! I'm so stinkin excited!

It's also a busy time at The Nook! Zarah is doing a weekly challenge for Nook gift certificates, so you don't want to miss the chance to get in on those! You can find the Pre-Summer challenges HERE!

We're also having a Nook Scrap Off Contest. The winner will receive an AWESOME Nook GC! You can find out all the information HERE and sign up HERE!

The end of the contest will also kick off the DT search for the new term at My Scrapbook Nook. I know there are some really talented folks out there, so you should give it a shot! The kits are awesome and Leah and Pam are fabulous to work for!

Now, onto the kit stuff!

I did a 2 page layout for a class at the Nook. You can find all the details along with other awesome class ideas HERE. Here's the layout I did:

Also, the June kit pics are up and Oh My Goodness...It is freaking GORGEOUS! Just look!

LOTS of Prima goodness! I cannot wait!

I'm also teaching a class at the end of the month for Chasing Rainbows. It's a super cute recipe book...I love how it turned out!

I'm working at the store tonight, so I'm looking forward to cropping with the girls tonight! Have a great holiday weekend!

It's Been a Long Time Coming...

2008-05-14T09:03:00.002-05:00

I've been waiting 2 and a half years to see this:

It's still early, but I SO can't keep a secret like this. I go to the Dr. a week from today, but I'm guestimating to be due around the second week of January :)

I would post some scrappy projects, but the last week or so I have been doing nothing but reading.

I had heard about these books, but when I saw that they were about vampires, I really didn't think I would enjoy these books so much, but wow, was I wrong! They are completely addicting. I'm almost done with book 2 and book 4 comes out this fall. Can't wait! If you havn't jumped on the bandwagon with these books, you should go get them now...and not just the first one, because you'll be disappointed when you finish it and don't have the next one to get started on. (I had to wait almost 2 weeks after I'd finished the first one before I got the second and third-pure torture!)

Hopefully the creative bug will bite me again soon this week and I'll have more to share next week! :)

Want to Win a Free May Nook Kit?

2008-05-08T14:31:00.001-05:00

All you have to do is head over to my good friend Leah's blog and leave her a comment! Easy peasy! Now, what are you waiting for?! Go!

I've Been a Bad Blogger...

2008-05-06T14:16:00.004-05:00

It seems that with my new job that I have completely neglected my blog for the last month. Yikes!

So, the new job is going great, but the sitter situation is still not so great. I knew it wouldn't happen overnight, but I figured he would have adjusted by now...it's been over 6 weeks and still not much of an improvement. Well, I take that back...he DID eat lunch 2 days last week, so that's a plus. Yep...he won't even eat over there and that makes me feel HORRIBLE. We'll give it a little while longer and see if there's anymore improvement, otherwise I might have to figure something else out.

In other news, I don't know why I can't ever remember how much I loathe painting until AFTER I start another painting project. My mom came over on Sunday and we started painting Tate's room--a nice bright springy green. And of course, my husband GUARANTEED that one gallon of paint would get it done...really, it's not a very big room. Har har, we ran out of paint before we got done and I live an hour from the paint store, plus it's Sunday, so they are closed anyway. Luckily my sweet mom brought me another gallon yesterday and I got the rest of the walls done last night. Now I just have to go back and paint the little "dirt road" border around the middle. I have some cute little car/truck/tractor wall stickers that will go on there. Then I can put up the rest of the new decor. I'll post some pics when I get it completely done.

Well, one thing about not blogging for so long is that I have quite a few projects to share too!

I think I'll start with the May Kit over at My Scrapbook Nook. I got it last week and it's SO gorgeous! It contains new Fiskars papers by Kimberly Poloson. They are so elegant!

And here's a layout I did with it (yes, I can't believe that's Tate and he'll be 4 this year!):

I also did a couple more projects with the April Nook kit as well:

Also, don't forget to check out the new sketch for May over at Gettin Sketchy! Thorunn did another fantastic job this month! Here's my take:

I hope everyone had a great National Scrapbook Day...I actually got a layout done in between working and teaching at the LSS. I used the new Fancy Pants papers and felt...awesome stuff!

I also taught a layout class where we focused on digging out the circle and square punches that have been collecting dust and doing some fun techniques.

I used circle punches on this one to make a cute little scalloped border.

This one has a fun way of layering/distressing circles to add lots of texture. They also make cute flowers when you add a stem!

This one was totally lifted from my friend Wendy over at the Nook. I loved how she lined up her punched squares in a grid formation and did some faux stitching with a pen, so I used the same technique on my class layout.

I've also done a couple of mini albums this month. Here's one featuring a Maya Road chipboard album and papers from the Pink Paislee Office Lingo line:

You can see the complete album with the inside as well HERE.

I also did one using the new Making Memories Animal Crackers Jack line. It's SO stinkin adorable! The album itself I handmade form some scrap chipboard. It has a page for each month of Tate's first year and little tidbits about things that happened those months along with his weight/height each month.

You can see more views and a couple of the inside pages HERE.

Well, I think that gets me caught up. I also added a little music for your listening pleasure...some of my favorite songs of the moment. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Sick Kiddo and a Sweet Husband

2008-04-06T18:03:00.002-05:00

He's only been to the sitter for 2 weeks and he's already bringing the crud home. Some pinkeye mixed in with a nasty cough/cold and swollen lymph nodes. Joy. So, we took a little trip to the doctor's office Saturday morning and got some medicine. Then we headed to Nana's to eat lunch, went to the park to play for a bit and did the grocery shopping. And of course I had to stop by the LSS and check out the new Sassafras Lass and Making Memories Animal Cracker line that just came in!

So, after a full day with a sick, grumpy kid, we head home. I get home and ALL of the laundry is done! Wow, I am SO lucky to have a sweet hubby! Now sure, it was all in a big pile on the living room floor (he refuses to fold clothes lol), but hey...I was NOT going to complain!

I've also done a few more layouts...

Here's one using the April Kit over at My Scrapbook Nook:

Here's one using the new Basic Grey Archaic line. It made it into the gallery over at Basic Grey and it also spent a couple of days over at Two Peas on the Top 10 list by voters and made it all the way to #1!

And here's a layout that's part of my class this Saturday at the LSS. I used the new Sassafras Lass Sunshine Lollipop papers. They are adorable! The big flower is Heidi Swapp. It started out white and I sprayed some Tiger Lily Glimmer Mist onto it for the color and some shimmer. The stitching down the side was done using one of the Bazzill In Stitchz templates. The layout lists my favorite 10 songs of the moment (in no particular order) (1. Gravity - Sara Bareilles; 2. Hero/Heroine - Boys Like Girls; 3. New Soul - Yael Naim; 4. Your Guardian Angel - Red Jump Suit Aparatus; 5. Stop & Stare - One Republic; 6. Birds - Kate Nash; 7. Broken - Seether w/Amy Lee; 8. Dig - Incubus; 9. Fall to Pieces - Avril Lavigne; 10. Paralyzer - Finger Eleven)

Have a fabulous week and thanks for popping by! :)

Back to work...

2008-03-31T21:56:00.002-05:00

...and loving it! Seriously. I love my new job. When I was a little girl, one of my childhood dreams was to become a veterinarian. This is the next best thing and I couldn't be happier. Well, except for the fact that Tate HATES going to the daycare. He doesn't understand why he and mama can't just stay home. I hope it gets better. He cries and throws fits there all day. It has to get better.

I also have a few layouts to share from the past few days...Enjoy and thanks for stopping by! :)

A Creative Evening

2008-03-21T21:58:00.003-05:00

I decided to work on one of my layouts for my April layout class at the LSS next month. I pulled out some papers that I picked out at the store last night. I wasn't sure how they would work, but I am super happy with the end result.

Lately I've been doing a little more mixing of manufacturers in terms of paper choices. Sometimes for my class I need to use some older papers that we have plenty of and pair them with something to make them look fresh and new again.

Here I mixed a Spring 07 release from Scenic Route (the tree) with some new Dream Street (blue polka dots) and new Pink Paislee (graph paper and stripes). I also added in an Oliver owl stamp from Sassafras Lass (just because I can't get enough of them!). The tree was cut out and mounted on foam tape to give it a little extra dimension. I also punched some holes and threaded some orange rick rack through. The title is drawn freehand and cut out.

Thanks for peeking!

Hi.

2008-03-18T09:41:00.004-05:00

So, I've been a little MIA the last month, but not by choice! About 3 and a half weeks ago, we had some big storms through our area and lightning struck and took out our computer and our Dish receiver. Yeah, NO FUN! Luckily we got the dish receiver replaced pretty quick, but we had to wait on insurance money before we could order a new computer. Now I'm the proud owner of a new Dell XPS 420 System with Windows Vista and it even came with PSE6. I absolutely LOVE it...it was time for an upgrade anyway. But being with no cpmputer and no internet for 3 weeks kinda stunk. But, I'm back and since I havn't been able to post for a month, I have quite a bit to share!

I think I'll start with the April kit for My Scrapbook Nook because I am just beyond excited about it! It features papers from the new Pink Paislee Spring Fling and Office Lingo lines, some yummy felt and super cute chipboard among other fun goodies. This one is going to go fast, so if you havn't signed up yet and you want this kit, you better do it now. Seriously...this one is amazing!

I'm still working with the March kit too. It's just beautiful! I did a 2 page layout class at The Nook. Here's the layout I did:

And you can find the instructions for the class HERE. The Classes Forum also has some other great classes this month like making your own embellishments from paper, a super cute card box and some very helpful Photoshop Tutorials, so drop by and check it out!

Here's some of the other stuff that I've been working on:

(this last one was a lift of Lisa McGarvey out of the April issue of Scrapbooks Etc.)

Last week me and Tate met up with my friends Jennifer and Jennifer at the Jenks Aquarium in Oklahoma. It was SO much fun, but it didn't last near long enough. I miss them already! I'm ready for spring so we can go down agains ometime and hit the zoo in OKC. Anyway, we had a great time! It was a little hard to get good pics because everything was behind glass and it was very dark. Dark areas with no flash are difficult, but so is using a flash around glass...Here are a few of the good ones I did manage to get:

And lastly, beginning next Tuesday (the 25th), I am going back to work. It was a really difficult decision, but with grain prices sky high and hog prices not doing anything, it's something that needs to be done. I've been SO lucky to be able to stay at home with Tate for over 3 years. I made the most of them and he's getting old enough that he needs more social interaction with other kiddos...especially since he'll be starting school soon. I have a great sitter and I don't think I could possibly ask for a better job to start back to.

I'll be working full time as a vet assistant at the vet clinic in Moline. It's a really laid back job and if I need to, I can even bring Tate with me (if he's not feeling well or if for some reason, my sitter can't watch him). It's not always very busy, so I was told to bring stuff to do (I can totally scrap at work!)

A few weeks ago, I was really dreading the thought of having to go back to work, but now I'm actually excited and ready for it. It will be good for all of us I think.

Okay, I think that catches me up for now...I hope everyone has been doing well!

Some Making Memories Love....

2008-02-17T21:52:00.003-06:00

Well, their new Love Story line for Valentine's Day anyway! It's one of my very favorite so far! Here's a LO I did with mostly MM supplies (papers, rub-ons, kraft word stickers)...It's photos of Tate making "Love Day" cards (you should really hear him say it...it's the cutest!)

And if you loved their past Noteworthy line, you should see the NEW Noteworthy line...It's GORGEOUS! (and a little birdie told me that it will more than likely show up in a future Nook Kit, so sign up now if you havn't!)

Hope everyone had a great weekend! :)

Happy Love Day!

2008-02-13T23:17:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to pop in real quick and wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day and thank you all for the birthday wishes! And of course, I have to share a cute pic of Tate for "Love Day" as he's calling it.

We made Valentine's for Brian today and I'll share those when I get some pics. Tate had a lot of fun with some paint and markers and a picture. They turned out really cute!

I also finished up a layout a couple of days ago of my yummy birthday cupcakes from Lori...and they were as yummy as they look! Thanks girl!

Happy Love Day! :)

Happy Birthday to ME!

2008-02-10T13:48:00.000-06:00

Well, my birthday isn't actually until tomorrow the 11th, but I had a couple of fun birthday celebrations over the weekend!

We had a small family birthday gathering last night and I got this:

Yeah, I finally got out of the dark ages! Yippee! I'm such a music-a-holic, so I'm THRILLED to have this little baby and I've already got plenty of songs on it to keep me busy for a while!

Also, my scrappy girls had a little birthday crop for me Friday night and we had lots of fun! I even had my own birthday cookie cake!

I got some fun new scrap supplies and the CUTEST pajama's with owls on them! I'll snap a pic when I get them washed :)

I havn't had much time for scrapping the last few days (didn't get much done at the crop as usual!), but I did find some great inspiration in the new Memory Makers magazine! Starting on page 58 there are some great layouts from Memory Makers Master Crystal Jeffrey Rieger and I LOVED the one on page 62. The colors, the design, all of it! So much in fact that I pretty much copied it...every once in a while it's fun to not have to think about how you are going to do your layout! Anywho, here's my version (really the only differences are a different blue patterned paper and different title font than the original):

Hopefully my next one will be more original :) Hope you're all having a great weekend!

March Goodness at the Nook

2008-02-06T23:12:00.000-06:00

Yep, I just got the February kit a week and a half ago and we've already got the preview for March! Wanna see? (yes, you do!)

They have very few extra kits to go around this time, so if you aren't subscribed to this awesome kit club, you want to do it early! You can go
HERE to get started! I'm also told that the add-ons for March are going to be must haves!

I'm still working with the February kit and it's just gorgeous! Here are a couple of layouts I've made with it:

I think there are still a couple of extra kits left if you are interested!

I've also been working with my last official DT projects for
AllyScraps. It's hard to believe that 6 months have already gone by! I love the community over there...They are some terriffic gals! Here's my latest creation using the Sassafras Lass Royal Bliss line:

I finally got some pics of Tate in the snow...We got enough this time around that it stuck for more than a few hours! I'll share more pics later! :)

So Much Going on This Weekend...

2008-02-01T22:59:00.000-06:00

And I'm starting off with a little Tooot! I was chosen again as one of the winners for the product challenge for January over at Scenic Route for my Keeping Tabs layout! And my layout even made the front page of the challenge section, yeehaw! You can see it HERE. I'll be getting a little sampling of their new CHA release Grafton when they get it in stock and I couldn't be more excited! Scenic Route is by far my favorite manufacturer--their stuff is so fun and easy to work with!

Also, this weekend is the virtual crop over at The Nook. There are TONS ( like 30 plus!) challenges to participate in and some fun games going on! The prizes are amazing! You can find all the info HERE. I hope some of you stop by, introduce yourselves and join in the fun!

One of my challenges is to do an interview (of your kids, spouse, grandparents, etc) and use the interview as your journaling for your layout. Here is a sample I made:

I interviewed Tate right before his 3rd birthday about all of his favorite things and this is what I came up with!

I'm also particiapting in a challenge that my friend and fellow Nook girl,
Kate came up with called "Year in the Life ATC Group". We're just going month by month making ATC cards for whatever inspires us....things that happened during the month or just a small piece of art. So far it's been really fun. I've been trying to take a few notes in a notebook and go back and work on my cards when I have some time. Here are 4 that I have done for January so far (they fit on the cool 7 Gypsies ATC Spinner rack--awesome little thing it is!)

Have a fabulous weekend...I'm hoping to have some fun new creations to share sometime next week! I'm off to work on some Nook Crop challenges!

Look at THIS!

2008-01-24T23:46:00.000-06:00

It's the Feb kit over at My Scrapbook Nook and it will be in my hot little hands in the next day or two! I'm so excited for my first kit and I am beyond thrilled at all the fun stuff that's in it! Prima, Prima, lots of Prima! Oh, and did I mention Prima?! Yowza! I can't wait to get started...I already have LOTS of fun ideas for this kit!

If you havn't already signed up for this awesome kit, you should hurry...these kits always sell out! You can sign up HERE...Get going...now! :)

It's Almost Time...

2008-01-24T14:31:00.000-06:00

For the weekend birthday crop at Chasing Rainbows! I'll be spending the rest of my day today packing my scrap stuff, my clothes (Tate and I are staying the night with my mom to save some gas!), printing pics, making cookies and making sure the house is picked up before I leave early in the morning...As long as Brian doesn't decide to throw some big party while I'm gone (haha) the house should be in a decent order when I get home Saturday evening...besides the pile of dishes that I know will be left for me to do in the sink... :)

I think I have everything ready to go for the class I'm teaching on Saturday morning...that should be fun because Sarah (one of the store owners that moved to TX) is coming back for the weekend to help out! I can't wait to see her! You should go check out her blog by the way...she has some fantastic stuff she's been working on plus she always has great stories about life with 4 kiddos...did I mention 3 of them are triplets?! I don't know how she does it, but it sure looks like she has fun doing it! :)

So, we're having a name badge contest this weekend as well. Everyone that comes to the crop is supposed to make their own name badge and I finished mine up this morning. I love how it turned out! So, I will leave you with a pic:

I made it from scratch out of a plain old piece of chipboard. I got the rainbow part from my trusty Coluzzle circle template. I cut the piece of chipboard from it first, then went back and did each individual half cirlce with 5 different pieces of paper. Then I stuck them down and covered them with some coordinating Stickles glitter glue. I added my name with American Crafts Foam Thickers...I did it while the glitter glue was still wbet for some added adhesive. Then I just free-handed the clouds on chipboard. Well, I free-handed ONE cloud, cut it out, flipped it and traced it for the second. I painted them white (a few coats), drew some lines around them, stitched them on and painted some glitter glue over that. Then I made some holes for my 2 eyelets, put the eyelets on and strung a piece of ribbon through so it would just hang down from my neck. Easy peasy!

Have a fun weekend everyone! I know I will!

Lazy Day Saturday

2008-01-19T13:58:00.000-06:00

Yep, I'm feeling pretty lazy today. I havn't done much of anything! Tate has finally been working on potty training for the last couple of weeks and he's been doing so great! I will be happy when we're done with diapers!

So, this next week will prove to be a pretty busy one! Next weekend is the big birthday crop at Chasing Rainbows and I'll be teaching a LO class on Saturday morning. It was kind of a last minute thing so I've been working hard to get some samples done the last 2 days. 4 down and 2 to go! We'll be working with the gorgeous My Mind's Eye Bungalow papers from their Bohemia 2 release. Here's what I've got so far:

We're also having a name badge decorating contest, so I need to get that finished up this week as well!

Then on the weekend of Feb 1st, we're having a Virtual Crop over at My Scrapbook Nook! There will be lots of fun challenges, games and amazing prizes! You can see all the details HERE. Some of the challenges are already posted so you can get an early start! I'll be working on my samples for my challenges this weeka nd next week...it should be lots of fun!

I also finished up another layout for my Febuary class at Chasing Rainbows. GOtta get 3 more done for that one! Space is very limited on that class...only have a couple spots left! Here's #3:

And here's a couple of extra LO's I put together just for the heck of it!

I'm pretty sure I'll be scrapbooking my tail off tonight and the rest of this week...I'm thinking pizza is sounding just fine for this evening! Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Just Dropping In...

2008-01-13T13:06:00.000-06:00

...to share my fun news! They made the Design Team Announcement over at My Scrapbook Nook yesterday and I made it! It still hasn't completely sunk in yet. I am so honored to be part of such an amazing team! Congrats Amanda, Wendy, Erica, Zarah, Anna, Kate, Angie, Selena, Jenny and of course, Leah! I can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring!

Brrr....It's Cold Today!

2008-01-10T14:39:00.000-06:00

And windy! I miss the unseasonably warm temps we were having last weekend! And so does Tate...he had a blast riding his new Gator and 4-Wheeler that he got for Christmas! He got the 4-Wheeler from Santa and the Gator from Uncle Mark, Aunt Meredith, Cousin Ellie and Cousin Emma. He can't ever decide which one he wants to ride first, so he spends 5 minutes on one, then switches and goes back and forth. Here are a few pics:

And this is how he parks them when he wants to stand back and admire them! hehe

I've gotten a few projects done the last few days as well. Here are 2 layouts for my Feb. Class at Chasing Rainbows:

This one was made using the gorgeous Cosmo Cricket Hey Sugar papers and the scalloped tag was made by me!

And yes...this next one has pics of me...I was just over 9 months old. I LOVE these pics!

I also got my DT kit the other day from AllyScraps and played with it last night. These new Junkitz Destinations papers are some of my new favorites! Click on the AllyScraps link to pick some up!

Have a great week/weekend!

Challenge Projects

2008-01-08T00:40:00.000-06:00

So Leah, the owner over at My Scrapbook Nook issued a couple of challenges for the "Phase 2" DT hopefuls...

One was a Valentine's Day card. For some reason cards really intimidate me, but I was pleasantly surprised at how mine turned out! I used a transparency as the base for the card and used my favorite Scenic Route Loveland papers. Here is the result:

Here's what it looks like laying flat with the inside pink part showing through:

The other challenge was a LO using "Today" as a starting point. The layout had to be about ourselves. Again, with the Scenic Route papers...I just can't get enough! Here's my layout:

The new DT will be announced on Saturday and I cannot imagine having to make that decision! With all the amazing, talented women over there, it will NOT be an easy choice. Either way, I have made some great new friends over there! Love you girls! I'm officially addicted to the Nook!

Have a great week!

Great Week In the Scrappy World!

2008-01-04T09:58:00.000-06:00

Let's see...couple of great things so far this week! I made it to "Phase 2" of the Design Team process over at My Scrapbook Nook! Phase 2 ends on Jan 15th when the new DT will be announced. There is some serious competition over there! Those girls are super talented and I am SO honored to even be considered! You should go check it out...they have some GORGEOUS kits!

I also got an email yesterday from Layle over at Scenic Route. I was one of the lucky winners for the December Product Challenge, yippee! And what do I get for that you might be asking?? Well, mid-January they will be sending me some BRAND SPANKIN NEW goodies from their new Lynden line--a Winter CHA release that they havn't even shown on their site yet! I am SO excited to have some new goodies in my hot little hands!

I also sent in a submission for the Paper Trunk Design Team call. They have some really gorgeous papers and stamps! Here was one of my entries:

Anywho, hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! (I'll share some pics soon!) Have a great weekend!

More Layouts to Share...

2007-12-21T22:48:00.000-06:00

As always I've been super busy with design team stuff for AllyScraps and class layouts for the store. Here's a few...you can see more if you click on my gallery link over there <------------

December Projects for AllyScraps (lots of fun KI Memories Lace Cardstock...this stuff is just brilliant! and some of my favorite Scenic Route goodies)

November AllyScraps projects -- American Crafts and Making Memories Noteworthy, gorgeous stuff!

One of my class layouts for the store using Bazzill In Stitchz. The templates are awesome!

Merry Christmas...

2007-12-21T22:41:00.000-06:00

from the Stewart family! These pics were a little photo shoot I did for our Christmas card pics. This was a lot of fun! :) The first one was the one we used for the photo card pic.

Some pics...

2007-12-21T22:33:00.000-06:00

of Tate and some of me and Tate. I LOVE these so much so I wanted to share!

I am in LOVE

2007-11-10T23:46:00.000-06:00

with Magistical Memories Chipboard! I finished my first layout as guest designer for the month and I wanted to share it with you guys!

The S.W.A.K. is part of the new October release and the Chunky Heart is a classic favorite! Yep, I can see that I will be needing some more of this! It's so easy and FUN to use!

Fun Scrappy Stuff!

2007-11-07T15:39:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted so I've also been up to lots of scrappy stuff recently! I've added a ton of stuff to my Ally Scraps Gallery.

Teresa, Susan and I have also started an Etsy shop where we're going to sell all kinds of fun stuff from recipe boxes, to baby clothes, to Christmas ornaments, to paint cans...LOTS of stuff. There's only a few things up right now until we get some pictures taken, so check back often to see what we've got!

This is also my month as a guest designer for Magistical memories Chipboard! I got a nice big package of goodies today and I can't wait to start playing!

I also found out today that I'm one of the finalists for the Daisy D's Design Team! I don't have any huge expectations, but it's an honor to be considered anyway! The official DT announcement will be made on December 10th!

Also the new sketch went up today over at Gettin Sketchy so go check that out. It's another fabulous sketch!

I also wanted to thank 2 of my best friends--Jennifer and Jennifer...They drove all the way up to the scrapbook store where I work (from Oklahoma City) just to take one of my classes! Do I have the best friends ever or what?! I loved seeing you guys and miss you already!

Okay, on to some fun stuff that I've been busy working on!:

Halloween Fun

2007-11-07T15:33:00.002-06:00

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday of the year! I think it's because it's also during my favorite season. This year Tate dressed up as Frankenstein and he was the CUTEST Frankenstein ever! We spent our Halloween evening at the hot dog roast at the park in Moline. Tate had lots of fun playing with the other kids! Here's some fun Halloween pics!

Where did October Go??

2007-11-07T15:21:00.000-06:00

I think October was the busiest month ever! Lots of fun events going on, some travels, lots of crafty things to do...So, today I have a big update! As busy as October is, it's also my favorite month of the year! Between pumpkin patches, brilliant fall colors, cooler weather, Halloween...I just LOVE it!

We went to the pumpkin Patch in Bartlesville again this year. It's just so much fun! Tate had done nothing but talk about it since last year.

Tate and I also traveled to Oklahoma City this month and went to the zoo with the Jennifers. We stayed the night and ate at Red Robin for dinner. Tate's still wondering where the Red Robin went...He was there in full costume and Tate had a blast! They have awesome food, so if you havn't eaten there, you should!

Then there was all the Neewollah hoopla. Tate was tall enough to ride the rides this year. His favorites were the helicopter and the roller coaster. Teresa, Susan and I also had a booth at the craft fair. It was okay, but I don't think we'll be doing it again next year. It was a lot of work! I think I'd rather watch the parade with my family!

Anyway...here's lots of fun photos from the last month or so...Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch

OKC Zoo

Neewollah

Busy Weekend!

2007-09-04T15:58:00.000-05:00

So, this last weekend was my 10 year class reunion...it was a 2-day event. I wasn't sure I wanted to go, but I'm glad I did. I didn't want to regret not going later! I got to see lots of people that I had not seen since graduation and I also found out that one of my best friends from highschool/college just moved back to town! I'm so excited to hang out with her again! It was a fun weekend!

Ohh, I found this really awesome new challenge blog--Challenges are so fun! They get your creative juices going and you get some fabulous layouts done in the process! Anyway, this one is called Category Stories and they just recently posted their first challenge-Crushes! As soon as my new printer gets here I plan on doing this one! (Yep-my printer decided to die on me while I was trying to print some pics! Ugh)

Here's a little of what I've been working on lately...We just got the new Basic Grey lines in at the store and I am in LOVE with them! This is a little project I did with the Recess line. It's a little School Days tin...A great place to keep school photos and the little folders open to add journaling...you could write about teachers, friends, classes and other fun stuff about the year!

And this little guy is such a cutie!! He belongs to some good friends of ours :) I adore these Scenic Route papers and Diamond Glaze is quickly becoming one of my most used supplies...I love that stuff!!

Feelin' the Love

2007-08-31T00:09:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite blogs to visit for some inspiration is the Multi-Photo Scrapbook Layout Gallery. They have awesome ideas for layouts with 3 or more pics on a page. Imagine my surprise when I visted just yesterday and saw THIS! How freakin cool! Just thought I would share! Had a busy last weekend and a busy this weekend planned, so hopefully I'll have some fun stuff to post next week! Have a great weekend everyone!

Warm Fuzzies

2007-08-20T13:23:00.000-05:00

So, I woke up this morning, logged on to check my email and got the best little surprise ever! The girls over at Sweet Shoppe Designs are doing a Paper2Digi challenge...using paper layouts as inspiration for digital layouts...and for their first challenge, picked my gallery! How cool is that?! Out of the thousands of galleries out there, they chose mine...that is just the most fabulous feeling ever! They totally made my day! Heck, really they totally made my week! Here's the forum thread and here's the gallery.

They have done some awesome work over there. Thank you so much girls...I am truely honored!!

I've also been busy working on some Design Team layouts for AllyScraps. Here are a few of my recent layouts:

Funny Boy -- Using the Bam Pop Vol. 2 papers
A Special Bond -- Using the Basic Grey Infuse papers
Snow Cone -- Using the KI Memories Surprise papers

Here are a couple of random layouts too...Remember those bad day pics of Tate that I posted earlier? Yep...they made it to the scrapbook page! lol ...Enjoy!

Another Challenge Layout

2007-08-08T21:36:00.000-05:00

I did this one for the challenge on Elsie's blog. 28 Things To Do Before I Turn 29...everything is very doable, so I'll see how many I get done in the next 6 months until my birthday!

Day at the Zoo

2007-08-05T14:38:00.000-05:00

Yep...me and Tate braved the heat yesterday (it got up near 100 degrees) and took a little trip to the Tulsa Zoo. We met 2 of my best friends from OKC there...I had not seen those girls for over 2 years, so it was SO much fun! --And by the way Jennifer and Jellybean...why did we not take our pics together,hmm?? We'll have to remember to do that on our next little girls night get together! Anyway...it was HOT and most of the animals were hot too (as you can see in a couple of my pics), but it was fun! We'll have to do it again...in September or October when it cools off! :)

A Challenge...

2007-08-03T21:22:00.000-05:00

I'm doing a challenge over at AllyScraps: A Layout using Black & White with a single color...this was super fun to do!

Some Layouts to Share...

2007-08-03T01:05:00.000-05:00

So, my term has officially begun over at AllyScraps and I have my first DT Layout posted HERE. Wow, there's a LOT of talent on our team over there...you should go check out all the fabulous layouts!

Challenge #3 is posted over at Gettin' Sketchy. You can view my take on the challenge on the blog...such a FUN sketch!

I've also been working on some layouts for the store...some for classes and some just for samples. I've been having lots of fun playing with the products there! Enjoy!

Ever Have...

2007-08-03T00:57:00.000-05:00

...days like this?

and this?

Yeah...we've been having lots of those lately. I couldn't get one single pic of Tate that was not blurry...but I LOVE these photos because they really fit the mood. It's been a long, busy few weeks and I think it's catching up to Tate...we've had some pretty grumpy days. I see a scrapbook page with these pics in the near future.......

But then, there are days when you decide to get up before 6am and wake up to this view outside:

Yep...I'm one lucky girl to get to open my eyes to this...it almost makes me want to get up before 6am more often...almost.

More Exciting News x 2!

2007-07-16T22:11:00.000-05:00

Sooo, the last month has just been full of great opportunities for me! And it keeps getting better! I have been invited to join the super talented Design Team over at Ally Scraps! My term starts in August and goes for 6 months. I have already met some teriffic gals over there! They already have awesome products coming in from the new CHA releases, so check them out!

And there's more! The fabulous gals over at Gettin' Sketchy have invited me to be a part of their creative team...basically I'll be using Thorunn's beautiful sketches and designing some layouts for the blog. There's some fun challenges over there with great prizes. If you love sketches, be sure to check it out! Here are a couple I have done so far...

The Sketch:

The Layout:

The Sketch:

The Layout:

A Month in the Life...

2007-07-16T22:05:00.000-05:00

of me! Yep, I'm participating in a super fun challenge over at Little Scrapbox. I'm journaling and taking pictures every day in July and doing LO's for each day. I have really enjoyed it so far and it's given me an opportunity to try out a new size of layout--12x6. I am really loving this size and will probably do some regular layouts like it in the future! Here are a couple of my layouts so far...

If you want to see more of them, check out my LSB gallery HERE.

On the Go...

2007-07-16T21:29:00.000-05:00

That's all it's been since the beginning of the month! I hope everyone had a happy 4th. There were not many places to go see fireworks around here because of the water shortage from the flooding (that just doesn't sound right!). We made our way to Sycamore for a great show. Tate had a blast this year! His favorite fireworks were the party poppers and when it came time for the big fireworks, he got all excited and hollered "Those are BIG party poppers!" Hilarious! Anyway, I have a lot of catching up to do here, so I will leave you with some fun 4th pics!

Scrappin for a Cause

2007-07-01T11:31:00.001-05:00

The wonderful people over at Magistical memories are having a little contest. They are attending the Simply Southern Scrapbooking Convention in Alabama in October and YOU can help the Make A Wish Foundation make a difference in the lives of some wonderful kids! You can find all of the details HERE.
Magistical Memories is doing some great giveaways if you participate including $100 in MM product! Go check it out!

Lots of Rain and Flooding...

2007-07-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

...and more rain on the way. In fact it's raining right now. I wish I could send some of this rain to those of you in the drought areas because I am sick and tired of it!

We got out to do some driving yesterday. We wanted to go look and see how high the lake was where we have some cows (about 8 miles from our house)...luckily, the cows were on the other side of the lake and away from this:

This is what we drove up to...
(That's the fence on the bottom of the pic)

This is the side of the road that the lake is on...it's SUPPOSED to be clear back toward the darker set of trees...

This is the other side of the road...

A couple of pics of DH and DS near the water...gives you more of a reference on how wide/big this overflow is...it was about the length of a football field across and it was a long ways down!

It's things like this that makes me realize how truely AMAZING Mother Nature can be!

Exciting News!

2007-06-29T13:16:00.000-05:00

I have been invited to be a Guest Designer for Magistical Memories Chipboard! My featured month will be November and I am super excited and honored! They have the BEST chipboard out there...seriously! Go check them out! I will post some creations using some of their stuff soon!

So After Some Thinking...

2007-06-27T13:16:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to do MM Masters this year after all. I think I've got plenty on my plate for the time being. I want to be able to devote plenty of time for projects for the store. Plus this year me and my friends Teresa and Susan are going to have a craft booth at Neewollah (so look for us there!) We're going to have some fun goodies for people to purchase...recipe boxes, altered paint cans, cards, maybe some pre-made layouts...just to name a few things! I'm really excited about that, but I want to allow myself plenty of time to work on that stuff as well. So, here are some recent layouts...I've been wanting to share some of these for a while!

Have a great day everyone!

Finally...Some Thomas Pics!

2007-06-27T12:58:00.000-05:00

Here they are! I couldn't narrow it down to one or two, so there are quite a few. Enjoy!

They had lots of fun Thomas toys for the kids to play with!

There was a big model train that went around a track...Tate really liked watching it!

My brave little man went down the huge air slide...twice! He had so much fun!

Hay bale maze...this cam in handy while we were waiting for our turn to ride the train!

Here comes Thomas!!

Choo! Choo!

On the train...

Less than five minutes after we left the parking lot...

Busy Week!

2007-06-13T17:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, so already I'm a bad blogger! It's been such a busy week! Between going to Day Out With Thomas in Baldwin City last Sunday, some heavy duty house cleaning and a no-nap taking cranky 2 year-old this week, I have not gotten a lot done!

I got some great pictures from Sunday though and I will try to get them posted soon! Tate had a lot of fun and so did me and Brian. It was a nice day for spending time with family.

I have done some layouts the last few weeks but I can't post them because I'm going to enter Memory Makers Masters this year. It's probably a long shot, but I'm going to try anyway! The layouts I submit cannot be previously posted anywhere, so when I narrow down my choices I'll get some posted!

Hope everyone has had a great week!

He LOVES it!

2007-06-06T23:14:00.000-05:00

All day today Tate walked around the house saying "I LOVE it...I LOVE my guitar mama!" We've been working on potty training the last couple of weeks and he's done really well and he's been really good lately, so on our most recent trip to WalMart we picked up this guitar. Tate has been eyeing it for months now and his eyes totally lit up when I stuck it in the shopping cart...well, it didn't actually make it past his lap. Normally he'll sleep on the way home from Bartlesville (an hour drive home), but not this time!

It's Official...

2007-06-06T15:23:00.000-05:00

I've jumped on the blogging bandwagon! I hope to share a lot here...stories about my family, my artwork or just some ramblings about my day. More to come once I get all this figured out...