Organized Chaos

Winner Winner!

2010-12-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

Chicken Dinner! Thanks to all of you who helped spread the word of the Webster's Pages Design Team Call! Here is my random winner who will receive a little Webstery goodness from me :)

Congratulations KATHY who posted:
I posted the call on my blog, not many people read my blog so I hope that changes in 2011 since you need to post to have people read it. I need to get better at that. It is my New Year's resolution.

Here is my link http://ascrappykathyday.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays to all of my friends and family both near and far.
2011 will be a year of change for us and I am excited to see what opportunities await!
xoxo
Dena

Winter Wonderland WINNER!

2010-12-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

Sooooo did you all have fun on our weekend long Blog Hop! I was so inspired by all of the girls' cards :) All of the fun ideas for our stamps and awesome embellishments left me aching to create. I would like to thank each and every ONE of you who left a comment and who took the time to enjoy the blog hop. I wish I could give you all a set of stamps...But we can only have one winner and that would be the lucky

Lynne Forsythe:
I AM SOOOO LOVIN' those BERRY thingamabobs!!! your card is pretty AWESOME TOO!!

December 12, 2010 4:51 AM

Congratulations Lynne! You just won a set of Webster's Pages stamps. You can email me at dmarie@websterspages(dot)com with your shipping information and your choice of websters pages stamps. You can find the stamps at http://www.websterspages.com/.

BUT WAIT, I had over 90 people stop by the blog and MISS my other give away!!! I am leaving this giveaway OPEN for a little while longer. You can win a gift baggie full of Webster's goodness just by sharing our Design Team Announcement on your blog. Read all of the info in my blog post HERE!

Thanks again and Happy Holidays to all of my friends and family near and far!

Winter Wonderland Blog Hop! Contest Now Closed

2010-12-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

Helllloooo! And WELCOME to Webster's Pages Design Team Winter Wonderland Blog Hop! PHEWW Say that 3 times fast!
If you are coming from the fabulously talented Steph Devlin's blog then I hope you have enjoyed your travels. Our Design Team is extremely diverse and by now you have traveled all across the United States to Singapore to The Netherlands to Australia and more! And your last pitstop is here at my lil blog in Oregon!

So enough blabbing....and how about seeing a Christmas card that I created for Stephanie alllll the way Down Under in Aussie? Steph is bright and funky and fun, just like our Sweet Season line. I could swear this line was made just for her. Happy Holidays to you and your Steph:

Check out our ADORABLE Berries!!! These are such a fun treat to play with. I wrapped Webster's Pages Vintage Inspired Netting around the bottom to make a cute little holder.

And the star of the show, drum roll please,ddtdttdtdtdtdtdddtdtdttdttt Webster's Pages Stamps! The "Sweet Season" image is obviously from our "Sweet Season" stamp set and the adorable bird in the birdcage is from the "Merry Christmas Home" stamp set. Talk about a versatile stamp collection, Merry Christmas Home is it! And the Webster's Pages/Unity Stamps are a DREAM when it comes to making stamping simple. If a stamp-challenged person such as myself can create a clean stamped image like this...then you know you have a stellar product on your hands!

I would love the chance to share the gift of Webster's Pages stamps with YOU! Simply leave a comment sharing something from your Holiday Wish List with me and I will draw one winner at random to receive your their choice of stamps! Also stop by my post below to see how you can win a Webster's Pages goodie bag :) Tis the 'Season!

So this was your final stop on the Webster's Pages Winter Wonderland Blog Hop! We hope you had as much fun as we did. Stop back on over at inspireME and share your favorite Blog Hop moments with everyone!
Happy Holidays!

Week of Winter Wonderland Starts Today!

2010-12-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

Phewwww! This has been a long time in the making! Our 2nd Annual Holiday Event is happening right now at inspireME! The Design Team has been hard at work over the last few weeks putting together 10 different, fabulous mini-classes for our inspireME members. We are having giveaways, a blog hop over the weekend and a live chat wrap up event. So head on over to inspireME to get the skinny! This is one Holiday Event you don't want to miss...So head on over to the Winter Wonderland Forum

ohhh
and did I mention????

That Webster's Pages is having it's first ever Open Design Team Call? Here are all the juicy details:

Webster’s Pages is pleased to announce their first open design team call!

We are looking for paper crafters that 1) love working with Webster’s Pages products, 2) are looking for an opportunity to be involved in both creating paper crafts as well as sharing their enthusiasm for Webster’s Pages on InspireME, Facebook, and other online outlets, 3) enjoy helping to inspire other paper crafters with beautiful and unique projects.

We will be looking for members to be on our team that uses traditional products as well as looking for members for our first Digital Design Team. The Digital Design team will work exclusively with our digital products. Paper crafters that consider themselves “hybrid” paper crafters and use both traditional supplies as well as digital images, should apply for the “traditional” team but mention they are hybrid paper crafters. Those applying specifically for the digital team should mention this. The application requirements for both teams are the same.

International designers are welcome to apply to both teams.

Specific requirements and compensation details are provided upon invitation to the team. However we would like to mention that regular creation of projects and online participation are requirements for this team, and compensation is provided through a generous amount of product as well as monetary compensation for hard copy published items and trade show/advertising assignments. The term will be until the end of 2011.

Please note that Webster’s Pages Design Team members will be limited to being on no more than 3 paper manufacturing teams total.

We are envisioning a team of 15 members with 3 exclusively on our digital team.

To apply send an email to wpdt@websterspages.com with the following information:

Provide a one or two paragraph biographical statement telling us a little bit about you and your scrapbook experience including any publication history, design team experience, teaching experience (in stores and/or online), etc.

Explain in one paragraph why you would be a great addition to the Webster’s Pages design team.

Include a link to any online galleries (you participate on (please include your user name and make sure that online galleries do not have a login requirement) and your blog (if you have one).

Attach a scan or photograph of 3 paper craft projects that you feel best represent your style. Please make sure you include 1 scrapbook page, 1 card or altered item/home decor project, and the 3rd project can be a scrapbook page, card or altered item/home decor project. Images must be no larger than 600 x 600 px. We do ask that if possible you use Webster’s Pages products on these 3 projects in order for us to get a sense of how you would work with our style of products.

Please include your name, address, phone number and email address. Confirmation emails will NOT be sent. Notifications will be made by email or telephone in January.

Applications must be received by December 31st.

We are a very happy team at Webster's Pages & we value our Design Team tremendously! We are growing in leaps & bounds and we would love to share in our excitement with you. If you have any questions on applying, please send an email to wpdt@websterspages.com with subject QUESTION.

We look forward to hearing from you!

and guess what, we need some help spreading the word....so if copy and paste this DT Call on your blog and come back here and show me your link: I will chose one person at random to win a Webster's Pages Surprise goodie pack! How is that for a little incentive. You spread the love and I will share the wealth! Now get to sharing ;)

When Black Friday Comes......

2010-11-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

You are going to need to buy some Shimmerz!!!

Shimmerz is updating it's website. It's gonna be all shiny and new and we want to show it off.
So in honor of our website's new 'do' (debuting on Thanksgiving!) and BLACK FRIDAY...
We are having our FIRST EVER website sale.
Check it out!

Did you see that.....yes 30% off your ENTIRE order! Black Friday thru Cyber Monday! So that gives you all weekend to shop. Pick and choose those favorite colors and heck grab some for your scrappy friends for the PERFECT gift! Each purchase made will be entered into a drawing to win a Vibez prize package containing 6 of our HOTTEST Vibez colors! There is NO better time than now to stock up on Shimmerz.

WHOOO WHOOO WHOO Changed Their Blog Background?

2010-11-15T22:20:00.000-08:00

Ummmm ME!
Isn't that owlie the cutest lil dude EVAH! Totally love shabbyblogs.com...you need to head there and pimp your blog with some of their cute designs!
Life has been busy as ever...ne'er a happy medium to be seen...but what fun is life if you are totally bored. Simply have no time to be bored.

Lil puppy Sammy is keeping me busy every day. He is the cutest lil sucker ever and I love this frickin dog 100 times more than I ever thought I would. It's pretty ridiculous at this point. He is so darn spoiled but I just simply cant resist his fluffy lil face. Could you?

Zoe is doing well in 4th grade. Skinny and cute as ever. She amazes me every day with the crazy things that come out of her mouth. And though she can be the stinkiest poop sometimes, she always redeems herself with her wit and charm. This kid is flat out hilarious and too much like her mother.

Scrapbooking is as crazy busy as it has ever been...but yet I do less scrapping now than ever before...go figure. Heading to my friend Pam's house this Friday for a much needed girls day of scrapbooking. Have no idea what I am going to make but I think I will play around with my large, overflowing box of Webster's Pages goodies and some of my Shimmerz Paints!

And if blogger would have been kind enough to oblige me, then I would have shared some proof positive, that I do indeed still know how to scrapbook, but alas, it isn't wanting to behave..so that will have to wait for a different blog post on another date.

There shall be more updates in the near future...sooo many things going on with both scrappy work and personally that there is going to be oodles to share, so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy my fabulous taste in music LOL!

Winner Winner...Chicken Dinner!

2010-10-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

How fun was that ever so long blog hop?!? Did you guys have a great time??? I know that all of us on the Scarlet Lime Design Team did...

and now for my winner......
Drum Roll Please.... dddttdtdttdtdtdttdtddttdttdtdtdttdtdttdtdttdtdtdttddtttttt

My winner of the Nov MAIN KIT is none other than Miss Romy:

Romy said...

Huuuuge congrats to you! And thanks so much for the opportunity to win.
October 2, 2010 1:57 AM

Hooooorayyyyy Romy! If you will email me at denaandzoe@msn (dot) com I will forward your shipping information on over to Christy!

But WAIT.....
Guess what else I have in store for you all today! ANOTHER BLOG HOP! This time it's for Webster's Pages. I have worked me fingers to the bone, as well as the other Webster's Girls...in putting together a WonderFALL blog hop. And it all starts right HERE! So hurry scurry on over and have a great time participating in it :)

Testing, testing....is this thing on?

2010-10-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

hellooo hellooooo testing 1.2.3.....

yes, I know. Worlds worst blogger here. To both of you who may be left out there wondering what the heck happened to me and my poor blog...life, life has happened. I just haven't had the time nor the desire I suppose to get on here and post for ohhhh say the past 6 months. But hopefully this will be the start of something new. The Return of Organized Chaos...

And what better way to make a comeback than with a blog hop! That's right...blog hop. Scarlet Lime is having it's new kit release today and we are adding some amazing new design team members, so we are ready to celebrate and ummm GIVE things away....Like perhaps the new October Main Kit in my instance! Check it out:

So how about you all leave a me a kind vote of confidence that I can indeed make more than one blog post in the next 6 months and why you need this Scarlet Lime kit. I will draw a winner later this month!

Now you aren't stuck with only my blog,you have a bevy of other blogs to go visit.

Valerie Salmon
Savitri Wilder
May Flaum
Mimi Leinbach
Lori Jolley
Melanie Jarocki

Happy Blog Hopping and here is to the Return of My Blog.
*I think I can, I think I can, I think I can*

Girls Love Pearlz!!

2010-05-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

And luckily, Shimmerz has come out with 11 fabulous new and vibrant Pearlz colors. Check out the amazing video that Jeni put together! Filled with Pearlz wonder :)

Pearlz is available today right here in the Retail Shimmerz Shop.....and even more exciting.....if your order is at least $35 you will receive a FREE Jar of Pearlz! (offer good through May 17th, 2010)

Be sure to join us on Facebook to see the new colors featured throughout the day.

We can't wait to hear what you think!

I am working on a project right now that I will share in a bit!
Happy Tuesday All

Can't believe my own eyes!

2010-04-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yep not 1, not 2, but 3...yes 3 posts in a month!
Gonna make it short and sweet though.

Any local readers, tonight is Annual Bingo Night at Fullerton IV Elementary School. Food is being served at 5:30 pm. Your choice of either pizza or hot dog for $1.50. Soda is 50¢. Snacks and Chips- 75¢
Bingo Cards are $5 each. You can play them all night long.

We have over 20 baskets ranging from:
Mom's Night In- with a signed edition of Jodi Picoult's newest book, an 1 1/2 hr massage, 3 different gift certificates, chocolates, a teapot and more. valued at over $150
Diary of a Wimpy Kid- a signed edition of the first book, a customizable Wimpy Kid t-shirt, a Wimpy Kid Do It Yourself book
American Girl- The American Girl Doll of the Year "Lanie" with 3 Lanie books. Valued over $125
can't have Bingo Night without a.....
Twilight Lover's- for all those Twilight Lovin girls...the new Twilight in the Forks book, Edward puzzle, Twilight game and more

Other baskets include:
2- Scrapbooking, Coffee Lovers with a Keurig $175 coffeemaker, Family Movie Night, Mama Mia Italian Kitchen with signed Ina Garten cookbook, Webkinz, Nerf-o-Blaster, Shootin Hoops and many many more.

You KNOW you wanna come!

and for some of the best news I have gotten this year, is this announcement at Little Dreamer Designs! I was literally floored when I got the email from Michelle saying that I was one of the 25 girls that were chosen. Jeni B. and I were chatting away on the phone when I opened my email and voila, there it was, then we both started screaming because she had gotten one too....and well I was acting like a ridiculous 13 yr old..giggling, screaming, dancing...it was lame, but I am really excited about it...until I saw the competition. HOLY COW, I am in wayyy over my head because these other girls obviously know what the heck they are doing and I am literally clueless..
But here is my FREE kit called Little Boy Blue. You can download it here! http://www.littledreamerdesigns.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=30082
And here is my sneaker:

So feel free to download it, use it and you can post your layouts, cards, projects etc.. to the LDD gallery for a chance to win a gift certificate!

While you are at it, go check out Jeni B's super cute and funky kit "Runaway" ...yep, now try to get Bon Jovi out of your head now LOL...oooohhhh she's a little runaway...

It rocks huh! So Jeni and I are going to close our eyes, take a huge deep breath, cross our fingers and toes and hope to God we don't make fools of ourselves LOL. We are going to dork and CRAXY things up over at LDD. So stay tuned!

Now on to a huuuge long day!

It's a new record!

2010-04-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Twice, yes two postings in one month!
Gonna take a few minutes of time out of my day to update a bit.

A few fun opportunities came my way this month:

The first in the form of being asked to be a guest designer for a new Japanese Scrapping Blog called Scrap in Japan. I received a random email out of the blue from a very sweet gal named Yuko Abe asking if I would like to participate in a sketch blog that she started. I couldn't resist and wanted to be a part of something so fun! I created this sketch

and this layout to accompany the sketch. I used Shimmerz new Teresa Collins Pearlz in Ballet Slipper Pink and a toilet paper tube and some other round objects as stamps to create the circles. The cutie pie baby girl, is the granddaughter of my dear friend Pam!

Check out what the design team members came up with based off of the sketch. Some really cool and creative ideas. I just love seeing how different people all over the world have varying styles.

My next bit of fun news is my recent promotion as Design Team Coordinator for Shimmerz Paints! I am really excited to be taking a new role in Stacey's company and really believe in this product. And I get to work alongside my favorite gal pal, Jeni Boisvert, who is the Ed Team Coordinator. The two of us=TROUBLE!

And my last bit of scrappy updating are my layouts for this month's Scarlet Lime Kit! The colors were AMAZING. Fun and bright with some black and white thrown in for good measure.

Here is the April "Morning Sunshine" kit:

And here are 2 of my layouts I created with the kit:

I have another layout to share using the kit but am saving it for a special challenge. For information on how I achieved the cool paint effect on my last photo here, check out the Shimmerz Blog early next week!

Now back to my regular crazy schedule....

talk to you all soon, if anyone is out there!

Long time no see and a super cool announcement!

2010-03-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hello there long lost friends. It is I, the worst blogger in the known universe.
Been crazy, stinking, super busy (hey who isn't I suppose) but blogging has taken a backseat for a while and probably will for a few more weeks.

But I have some fun news concerning Shimmerz! Take a peek:

Liz Kartchner is the newest Face of Shimmerz!!!

She is excited to become a Shimmerz Endorsed Instructor and will be using Shimmerz Products in her upcomming classes!

Liz writes a monthy column for Creating Keepsakes Magazine called "Dear Lizzy", she wrote the book "52 more Scrapbooking Challenges" and has a fun Craft Line called "Dear Lizzy" from American Crafts.

Welcome to Shimmerz Liz!!! To learn more about Liz you can check out her inspiring Blog Here!

Pretty cool, huh!

Stop by the Shimmerz blog later this week to see some more fun and exciting news!!

Introducing Shimmerz VIBEZ!

2010-02-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

Introducing VIBEZ....16 Vibrant Colors with intense Shimmer and Shine!!! Watch our announcemnet below and share it with your friends!Shimmerz will be giving away a FULL Collection Set of Vibez Miniz to one lucky blog reader that makes a purchase from our site today! Set contains all 16 colors!

and because we are soooo excited about VIBEZ we are giving you more chances to win...be sure to drop by the Ed team blogs and leave them a comment. They are each giving away a free bottle of Vibez today!!!

Jeni Boisvert
Lori Renn
Lucy Edson
Bethany Kartchner

We can't Wait to hear what you think about Vibez!!!!!
Shop here for your chance to win: Shimmerz Shop
and be sure to ask for Shimmerz Paints at your favorite store!

Who's being Sneaky?

2010-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

I am being sneaky and showing you a peek!
This is one of our 4 lines debuting at CHA. This lil beaut is called Established&True from Webster's Pages New Life's Portrait Collection.
The colors, oh my the colors in this line are something totally different for WP and I am diggin it. So very versatile and bold. I think this will be a fabulous masculine line but will have a ton of colors and designs that can cater to more feminine layouts as well.
Well enough blabbing, take a peek for yourself

Now head on back to inspireME http://www.websterspages.ning.com/ to see the rest of the peeks and participate in our CHA Reveal Blog Hop! So much fun you guys :)

The Big Shimmery News

2010-01-13T20:22:00.001-08:00

It's Up! It's Up! In case you haven't seen it yet, checketh it out ;)

Fun Shimmery Announcement!

2010-01-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

Shimmerz has a HUGE announcement on their blog tomorrow and it has a little something to do with this:

The announcement goes up at 10am MST which is 9am over here in PST and 12 pm for your EST's!
So head on over to the SHIMMERZ blog and see what we have up our sleeves.

Pssst...Sneak Peek time!

2010-01-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Hooray! if you are coming from inspireME, then congrats! You found one of the hidden clues.
So are you ready? I said are you ready???
Take a gander at these fabulous new papers from one of our 4 new collections from Webster's Pages.
This image is a new paper called Garden Lights from our new collection Garden Gala:

Don't you just love the lanterns? I think the nice, bright and bold colors are a fabulous addition as well! So there you have it. Just one of the sneak peeks from our upcoming lines. Head on back over to inspireME for more clues to the other design team member blogs to see even more peeks!

Hello Old Friend.

2010-01-09T09:43:00.000-08:00

Good to see you again. It's been a while. A pretty dang long while.

Well, December was a blur. I cooked and baked up a storm. I can't remember EVER making as many goodies and yummy munchies in my life. We spent lots of time with family and friends and I can easily say this was the best Christmas that we have had in this house during the past 7 years of living here.

January has started off full blast. Booster Club has pretty much taken over as our busy season approaches. On January 22nd from 7-9pm we will be hosting our first Sock Hop at the school. Admission is $5 per family. We will be selling rootbeer floats and popcorn. There will be lots of dancing and contests and prizes to be won.

February 5th from 6:00-8:00, I am putting together our first Art Walk at Fullerton IV. Our Booster Club has paid for a local artist-in-residence, Victoria Carnate, to come teach several different art projects to EVERY child in our school. Now talk about an undertaking. This woman is incredible! The projects have been amazing, the kids have been having a blast and Victoria and I are ready to drop at the end of each day. But we will be featuring the kids' fantastic art in a show. Punch, hot cocoa and CHOCOLATE will be involved!

THEN, coming up in April...our Annual Bingo Night with our BIGGEST PRIZE EVER! Can't divulge all the information right now, but it does concern a certain mouse with really big ears!!!!

Now onto SCRAPBOOKING! Every time this year, I experience burn out and just an over all lack of mojo and inspiration. I blame it on the rainy Oregon weather. But being able to work with such fabulous products and people definitely helps bring on the mojo!

CHA is right around the corner and the sneaky peekies..they are going to be happening ANY DAY now. So if'n I still have any readers, stay tuned!
Well, lookie what I have in my pocket right now..hmmm what is this?
Is it a sneak peek right now? whyyy yes, yes it is:

These lil gems are headed to my house as we speak and I can't wait to get my hands on the Vibey wonder of it all. Check out that COLOR and SHIMMER on it!

And now that January is here. That means Scarlet Lime has a new kit out!

Here are my layouts using both of these kits:

Our guest designers this month are the owners from Glitz! Make sure to check out their use of the kit and the rest of the amazing design team in the Scarlet Lime Gallery!

So that is all my scrappy goodness for now, but next week...the peeks, they shall BEGIN!

Stay tuned!

It's a Limey Kind of Day!

2009-12-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

Happy December! I can't believe that December and all the insanity that comes with it is here already. I swear it was June just a few days ago.

Well a new month means..................
New Scarlet Lime Kit!
I shared some sneakie with you a few days ago but here is the whole kit in all it's beauty!
December Paper Roses:

Here are my layout using this kit. I was wild for the black/red/white combo...something so classic about it!

For Road Trip, I used pictures of my Grandma and Grandpa out on a trip. I found an old Christmas card in a box of photos that went PERFECTLY with my theme. The GCD Designs rub ons by Melody Ross are GORGEOUS people, GORGEOUS!

Mmmmm Houndstooth! I couldn't resist using the houndstooth patterned journaling spot on a layout. I cut it in half to use it as both a journaling spot and a design element. Clustered elements at the bottom add a lil bang to the layout.

The Project Kit this month is a Calendar Mini Album. If you aren't into creating an album, the journaling cards included for this project are AMAZING and perfect for layouts or making cards:

I used a highlighter on this layout. Who would have thought a highlighter could look so cool.?

This was my favorite layout of the bunch. I love working with corrugated cardboard and gesso and I combined the two on this layout. The lil birdie booklet opens up with pictures and journaling cards inside for hidden journaling ;)

A one time purchase for the Main Kit is 36.50. If you sign up for a monthly sub, it costs only 31.50!!!! If you are interested in the Project Kit, 28.50 will bring it home to you! PERFECT for gift giving. And also perfect for gifts: our WatchArt. You can choose a finished watch or pick out a watchface and a bead kit and create your own. Give a handmade gift for under $25. Ohhh and Christy is GIVING one away on her BLOG!
This one is my fave:

This lil beauty already has a home with me, in fact I wore her today!

Ok...now go check out what the rest of the team did with the kit and we have a fabulous guest designer this month as well: Amy Tan aka Amy Tangerine. This girl just plain rocks!

Have a happy first day of December!

gobble gobble gobble....

2009-11-27T14:55:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving a day late. We had a great Turkey Day in my household, lots of things to be thankful for this year, lots of good food, drinks and hanging with "the fam".

And now....back to reality and getting some scrappy work done! I got my Dec. Scarlet Lime kit in the mail this week and need to get hard to work on it. Heyyy would you all like a peek???
Main Kit Peek:

Project Kit Peek (check out the HOT butterfly GCD paper!):

If you don't subscribe to the Scarlet Lime Newsletter, head on over and read it for yourself! More peeks and a chance to win one of Scarlet Lime's new watch kits. Christy made each of the Design Team Members one of these BEAUTIFUL watches and I swear I get compliments on it EVERY time I wear it!

Well this is my last Friday as Lotus Paperie's Guest Designer for the month of November. I have had such a fun time working with all of these fabulous challenges this month! Thanks to all the girls for including me ;)
This weeks challenge is to create a layout based off of this sketch:

I created a layout about being thankful that my Mom made it through her heart surgery ok! That was the thing I was most grateful for this year!

I used Webster's Pages Nature's Storybook papers and vellum, storyteller alphas and Shimmerz Gold Glimmer paint.

And speaking of Shimmerz...I recreated a layout for Thanksgiving and posted the steps on the Shimmerz blog. Here is the layout and you can read the instructions on the Shimmerz Blog!

So that is what I have for you today. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Super Quick Post.

2009-11-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

So today my Mom is having a procedure done on her heart, so I am going to be making this one a super quicky post.

A quick reminder that the 12 Days of Christmas Crop is still going on at inspireME. I hosted a challenge on Monday and the response has been terrific. My project was creating a layout with a landscape cropped photo:

Honestly the gallery has NEVER looked better than it does right now. Our members have really WOWED us with their unique and beautiful interpretations of all of the projects posted thus far. So head on over before the party is over and you miss out on all the fun! Tomorrow there is a live chat with the incredibly sweet and talented, Terri Hayes at 9pm EST

converted times: 6pm PST, 7pm MST, 8pm CST

International:

7pm -Canada, Alberta

11pm -Chile

2am -Nov.13th United Kingdom

3am -Nov. 13th France/Germany

10am -Nov. 13th Singapore/Western Australia

11am- Nov.13th Japan

3pm- Nov. 13th New Zealand

Next up, since it is Friday, it is Lotus Paperie Challenge Day! Today's challenge is to Create a Layout Using Scrapbooking Packaging! Which just happens to be one of my favorite things to do. ESPECIALLY with Prima packaging. BUT alas, I had used up all of my Prima packaging, so I went with the next best thing: Making Memories and Pink Paislee packaging. Here is my layout:

I used the negative images from a package of chipboard Pink Paislee alphas and my Shimmerz Spritz in Rockafella Blue to create the background on my white cardstock. Then I used the packaging from Making Memories ribbon as a base for my pictures, the transparency cover of Making Memories journaling notes and the trim of SassafrasLass paper.

I know you have to have some product packaging laying about, so pick it on up and use it :) All kinds of fun things to do with those leftovers.

And finally last but definitely not least: Shimmerz Paints is having a DESIGN TEAM CALL! Stacey has been a delight to work for. Her products are top-notch and the team is full of wonderful and talented ladies. So if you are interested in learning more about the call, please head on over to the blog for details. And if you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an email!

Ok so that is it for now. Have a wonderful and fabulous day and keep my momma in your thoughts if you can : ) Thanks!

Dena

Muuuahhhaaahaa Friday the 13th!

2009-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

Hooray for Friday! That seems to be my theme this year. Try to survive the week without going crazy and Friday is like the breath of air that keeps me going :)

Friday ALSO means LOTUS PAPERIE time
Challenge #150 is to create a layout based off of this sketch:

Here is my interpretation of it:

An homage to the 80's. My layouts was spurred on by my sisters and I being dorky on Facebook and reminiscing about Roxette. I remembered that I had taken some pictures from my mom's house last year. Nothing better than pictures from 1983 right! I had on a killer Carebear dress that I LOVED. Sasha is rocking the super fly early 80's feathered hair and little Ginger, well just look how cute she was. I found some old Valentine's (POPPLES!!!) that my mom had stashed away and my pop bead bracelet. I love how those silly elements totally make the page.

I used some Cosmo Cricket paper from the November Scarlet Lime kit and a scrap of leftover Hambly transparency. A sheet of gunmetal grey Bazzill and Shimmerz Wed Wagon paint add to the splattery paint 80's vibe.

Check out what the Lotus Paperie design team did with the sketch. Some have followed the sketch super closely and other's had a more loose interpretation like I did.

And don't forget to come check out the 12 Days of Christmas Crop that is running now until the 23rd over at inspireME. Our team has worked insanely hard at putting together a killer crop with chats EACH day.
There is a little something for every one. So if you feel so inclined, come hang with us :)

Well that is all I have for now. Today is going to be spent showing the Staff at Fullerton IV just how much we appreciate them. Soup for every one!

Hooray for Friday!

2009-11-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhhh. As the alarm went off today, I struggled to open up my peepers but thought, thank God I can attempt to sleep in tomorrow! Sleep is good. Oh so good.

Ok so I have TONS of scrappy stuff to post, so beware, lots of links and scrappy goodness coming up.

First up, today is my first post at Lotus Paperie. Challenge #149 is to Use a Coffee Filter on a Page!
The immediate thing that came to mind was a flower, and apparently I wasn't the only one LOL. You have to see how many cool coffee filter flowers lots of the gals came up with! Each one of them is unique and fabulous in their own way. Here is my layout:

Every Monday, I clean my coffee maker out by running vinegar through it. I used the left over vinegar soaked filter and my Shimmerz Spritz in Plum Pudding and Rock-a-fella Blue and sprayed the filter while it was still wet. This helped the paints to blend into each other AND I think the vinegar helped keep the color nice and bold, but this could just be my imagination LOL

If you want to play along and have some fun with coffee filters, go brew a pot and play along! Check out what the Lotus Paperie team came up with!

Next up.....Who likes GIVEAWAYS? Heck, I think we all do! Well you better head on over RIGHT NOW to the Webster's Pages blog and leave a comment because the drawing is TODAY! You could win one of our FABULOUS Magnetic Expressions Design Boards. I created this Menu Board but there are ENDLESS possibilities here with this product!

You can create cute little magnets by using our new Cameos and a gluing a little magnet to the back. Takes all of 1 minute to make some super cute! These would make great little gifts for grandma!

Cool Class Alert: my long time friend and fellow Scarlet Lime DT member, May Flaum, is teaching a new class at Big Picture Scrapbooking! Adventures In Scrapbooking:Using Kits is going to highlight several differnt kit clubs (including the rocking Scarlet Lime kits!) and show you how to get the most use out of YOUR kits! Pammy Mac, this one just screams your name LOL!

And I can't finish this blog post without putting a few of my fave pics up from Halloween. Zoe was a crazy scary yet oh so cute Vampiress.

Ok so that is it. Go have a creative and wonderful Friday all :)

It's Scarlet Lime time!

2009-11-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

Yeahhhh! I missed the debut, due to Halloween insanity here, but I must say that this kit was a TREAT to work with. This month's main kit is Autumn Harvest and it is LOADED with goodies from Prima, KI and introducing Shimmerz Spritz this month too! The colors this month really pack a punch as well! Here are my layouts using the Autumn Harvest Kit:

For Take My Breath Away, I trimmed out the cute little birdy and floral shapes from one of the Scarlet Lime exclusive papers. On the background, I added random pearls to the circle shapes in the Crate "Fireflies" paper.

Then I made a cute little flower using some fun fabric, a felt flower and button that was included in the embellishment pack.

For On the Hunt, I was inspired by the Prima packaging. They reminded me of little hills and that made me think of some pictures of Zoe during an Easter Egg hunt.

I made the cute muslin ruffle ala Jeni Boisvert style, by using the Shimmerz Spritz,in Plum Pudding and spraying the muslin generously. I allowed it to dry and then stapled the folds together and glued them to my layout.

I used the Tim Holtz masks included in this month's kit in a non-traditional way by painting the mask itself with gesso, spritzing it with Shimmerz and using it as an embellishment.

The November project kit is full of Christmas wonder and is aptly named All Is Bright.

It is currently all sold out, but if you managed to get your hands on a kit and want some inspiration: here you go!

On the Tree, kinda put itself together. It didn't turn out AT ALL how I had planned, but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow!

I used some Shimmerz spritz and heavily dosed the chipboard tag. While it was still wet, I sprinkled on some of the gold glitter included in the kit. For my title, I arranged the letters to look like a Christmas Tree shape with a cute little sticker star on top.

I created a quick border using the Making Memories Mistletoe Wordfetti:

My last layout Bird Song was inspired by the birds that chirp incessantly in this huge holly tree we have in the back yard and this gorgeous glittery music sheet paper.

For a cool title, I simply added the Basic Grey rub ons on top of some of the letters:

I couldn't resist using the ADORABLE little red birdie and nest. The other inspirations for this layout.

Please stop by to see what the other designers created with this month's kit in our Gallery! Our guest designer this month is Danielle Layton. I have loved her work for ages now!

Also stop on by Lotus Paperie, this month starts my guest designer spot with them AND they are having a design team call for anyone interested!

A quick hello!

2009-10-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

So Monday is off and running full steam. This week is mounting up to be a wild, crazy, no time to stop to catch my breath kind of week. So I figured I would post while I had a spare 10 mins.

Zoe and I are both excited for Halloween. She is going to be a little vampire. Theatrical blood and all. Crazy kid. I am ready for the chocolate!!! and my lame attempt at carving pumpkins. Halloween has snuck right up on us and we didn't even make it to the pumpkin patch. I feel like a bad bad Mom for that one!

This Friday, if you are in the 'Burg area and are wanting to show pity on some poor Booster Club moms and their kids...Zoe and I will be outside Sherm's starting at 10am. selling Entertainment Books for $20 with the Jinkins Fam. Stop by, say hi and pick up a book. Half of that money goes to support Fullerton IV Elementary!

Scrappy News: For the month of November I will be the guest designer at Lotus Paperie! They are a super cool challenge blog with some amazing designers. You will be totally intrigued by the challenges they have in store for November. For more information about Lotus Paperie and how they work, head on over to their blog for all the details :)

And if you haven't seen it yet but are wanting a little sneaky, check out what Christy has in store for November's Scarlet Lime Kit!!!

Main Kit Papers:

Project Kit Papers:

Ok I am off to finish my SL kit and to head on down to the school for more official Booster Club biz... Have a great week!

Ho Ho Ho!!!

2009-10-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hark, is that the jingle of bells I hear...ALREADY?!

Why yes it is! Now yes, we know that Halloween hasn't even hit yet, but we are wanting to gear up and get ready for the Holiday Season a bit early and would like to invite you along for the fun!

Please join us for the Webster’s Pages 12 Days of Christmas Crop!

Starting November 12th (so you have plenty of time to create and use your crop projects):

12 days of fantastic holiday projects and crop activities!
12 days of prizes and fun!
12 days of inspiration from our design team and special guest designers!

and at the end one of the crop participants will win a 6-month design team term with Webster’s Pages!

Our crop will be held at http://websterspages.ning.com/ and we will be posting supply lists and peeks early. We look forward to seeing you there!

And we have a winner!

2009-10-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

First off, I just want to say thank you again for everyone who stopped by, left a comment and shared in the fun this weekend.

And without further adieu and with help from my random number picker aka Zoe:

Anna who posted:
I love how versatile the PL sketches are, they are such a jump-start to my designing!

October 17, 2009 7:08 AM

Is the winner of my giveaway! Congrats Anna. Please contact me with your shipping information.

Thanks again everyone and Happy Monday.

A Pencillines Project

2009-10-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

So the huge Pencil Lines bash has finally ended and hopefully on a good note...with my project ;)
I chose to revisit the sketch from when I was a guest designer a few months back.
Here is the sketch #137:

This was the layout I created for my guest appearance:

And here is my updated version for the Birthday Bash. I was inspired by all of the beautiful Autumn colors around me. I used papers, letter stickers, velvet trim, pearls and brass buttons from the October Scarlet Lime Pumpkin Spice kit. I also tried a fun, new technique using Shimmerz spritz, which I will be posting on the Shimmerz blog later this week!

This sketch is so fun and versatile, that I could think of a million other ways to use it. Well maybe not a MILLION but I think you catch my drift.

A special thanks to Anna for including me in her celebration...And did you hear the huge announcement? There is going to be a PENCIL LINES BOOK! It's gonna be released on December 14th! So very proud of Anna and excited to see this book in person :)

Thank YOU all for playing along and for celebrating such a fun occasion!

Pencil Lines Pass the Parcel Blog Hop! ETA... RAK IS CLOSED... THANKS!

2009-10-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to my part of the Pencil Lines Pass the Parcel Blog Hop. I am really excited to be a part of this fun celebration. Can you believe that Pencil Lines has been providing amazing sketches and inspiration for 3 years now?!

Don't you all just LOVE Danielle's blog? She is one of my favorite scrappers and such a wonderful, sweet friend. I am proud to know her!

Sooo....I am sure you are wanting to see what kind of goodies I have up for grabs??
Well here you go:

Simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite thing about Pencil Lines is in order to be entered. The drawing is open until 8pm PST Sunday evening and I will post the winner on Monday.

For my contribution to the party, I decided to revisit my guest sketch. Here is a little sneaky of what I did:

Be on the lookout for all the girls' work over at the Pencil Lines blog tomorrow!

Sooo now, where do you head? How about on over to one of my biggest inspirations. The fabulously talented Iris Babao Uy. I have been lucky enough to work alongside Iris on several design teams and have found her to be just as sweet as she is talented! Head on over to her BLOG to check out what she has going on. And tell her I said HI!

Thanks for joining in on the fun and HAPPY BIRTHDAY PENCILLINES!!

A quick heads up!

2009-10-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

Pencillines is going to be celebrating its 3rd birthday this weekend. To celebrate, Anna is throwing a huge blog bash and we will be blog hopping and having giveaways and sharing some fabulous sketches. So make sure to check out Pencillines blog and my lil ol blog over the weekend to participate in all the fun!

Here is a quick run down:
It all kicks off Friday night with a "pass the parcel" blog hop. Game rules will be posted here Friday 16th at 8pm GMT.

Midday Saturday we start our online crop with some of your favourite past guest designers; from new sketches, to archive sketches and step by steps. There is something for everyone! Whether you are a digi scrapper, conventional paper scrapper, love mini books or even cards, we have something for you all!

There will be prizes up for grabs too from My Little Shoebox, Pink Paislee, May Arts, 3ndypapir and My Minds Eye to name a few!

We hope you join in on the fun!
While you are at it, grab this blinkie and spread the word :)

Think Pink with Shimmerz

2009-10-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

It's October! That means it's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Everyone at Shimmerz wanted to show our support by showing our Pink!! For the whole month of October, the Shimmerz girlz will be sharing Pink projects BUT, we want you to get involved also. We want you to create projects using ANY Pink Shimmerz that you have! Any shade of pink. Then, upload it to the Shimmerz Flickr Group! Each Design Team Member will choose their favorite project, and each winner will receive something Pink!

Today, I posted my pink project up on the Shimmerz blog! I was inspired by two very special people to create this. My beautiful friend Joanie who is a breast cancer survivor and a HUGE awareness advocate. You have heard me talk about her before and most certainly will again. She is a constant source of inspiration to me. She put up the good fight and beat it! Sadly, it doesn't always end that way and my sweet friend Tina lost her mother after not one but two battles with breast cancer. She reminds me to keep my mother close to my heart and to treasure the time I have with her. With these two people in mind, I created. Here is a little peek at what I worked on.

Head on over to see what the other girls have been hard at work at as well. Lots of pink goodies EVERYWHERE!

And the winner is!!!!

2009-10-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Hey gals. Had a great weekend out of town and away from home!
And now it is time to pick a winner for the beautiful Scarlet Lime kit.
drum roll please............

My random number generator AKA Zoe picked:
Vel who said "What a gorgeous kit! I absolutely love these colors. Congrats on the DT! :)"

Thanks to all of you who left a comment. I only wish I had more to give away.

Lots of cool stuff will be coming up on the ol blog again shortly. Soo stay tuned!

{644.5}

2009-10-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since Jeni and I have been able to focus on our {644.5} challenge but yesterday I was inspired...Like a punch in the face, laid out flat on the floor inspired.

My inspiration: Go scrap a JUST SAY NO layout! A lesson I think we as women should do more often. Just say no! I don't know about you, but I feel pressured to be some kind of super mom on daily basis. I need to accept that fact that I just can't do it ALL and to tell people NO! I don't know why that is so dang hard for me. But it is. Always has been, most likely always will be. But hell, if I am going to survive this crazy thing called life, I am going to have to stop being some kind of insane people pleaser and remember to make sure that I am happy once in a while too!

Here is my {644.5} layout- NO NO NO!

If you are feeling inspired or moved to create along with us. Hey now is the time to vent, let it all out on paper! Heck, isn't that part of the reason why we scrap? I know that it is for me and that I have been diverted in a different direction for a while. It feels good to scrap REAL!

Make sure to head on over to Jeni's blog to check out her gem of a layout! Trust me, you will be glad you did :)

Sharing the Scarlet Lime Love!!!

2009-10-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Sooo guess what?!?!? To kind of kick off our debut, Christy gave each of us new Scarlet Lime Artists an October Pumpkin Spice Kit to give away! Soooo who is game for a chance at winning one of these babies?

Simply leave a comment telling me what you like most about this kit, in order to be entered. I will leave the drawing open through the weekend and post my winner on Monday!

Nothing quite like sharing the love :)
Enjoy this beautiful first day of October!

What's Red and Green and White all over?

2009-09-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

Scarlet Lime and my face!!!!! I am so nervous for this Scarlet Lime reveal. Talk about an insane amount of pressure to create great projects. EEK! But I am more excited than anything else. I love being a part of something so cool and to be supporting such a great person and businesswoman. Christy has got her stuff together! She works so hard to bring her customers beautiful and inspiring kits at an extremely reasonable price, with top grade customer service. Just what a kit club should be! Plus, I couldn't believe the amount of goodies in both of the kits this month!

If you want to find out more about Scarlet Lime kits and how it works please check out this link for all of the details.

Sooo...here we go. Here are my first layouts for Scarlet Lime and I hope for many more to come in the future cause I am just in love with this kit company! May my muse be good to me!

So there is my debut as a new Scarlet Lime Artist! I had so much fun working with this kit and was so inspired by the colors which are just perfect for all of those beautiful Fall photos that we all have stacked up!

2009-09-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

Fall is here. I have to deal with it. Usually I greet Fall with open arms. I love the changing leaves, going to Farmer's Market, making soup...but this year, I am just not ready for it yet. Not ready to be perpetually cold for the next 8 months, for the mile deep fog, the never ending rain.

So I said my farewell to Summer and am going to have to accept Fall. Cause it is my favorite season after all ;)

To help jump start my Fall attitude, last night I made some homemade chicken noodle soup. The smell of bay leaves and fresh thyme and oregano filled the house. Of course I totally reek of onions and garlic today, but it is worth the aroma inside this lil cracker box today!

If you are feeling like me and are not quite ready and need a little help getting in the Fall mood yourself...well here are some awesome soup recipes! Go make yourself a bowl of something tasty and see if that helps!

My favorite Potato Soup Recipe EVER:

POTATO SOUP

8-10 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 pound bacon, crisped, drained, and crumbled
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
3 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp. pepper
Put the potatoes, onion, and bacon in the crock pot. Combine the other ingredients (cream cheese, chicken broth, chicken soup, pepper) in a large bowl and whisk together. Add the mixture to the crock pot, and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours Near the end of cooking, pour about 1/3 of the soup into the blender and mix it. This helps the soup to thicken up. Variations: -Add some cheese, or substitute the cream of chicken soup for cheese soup -Add corn or other veggies to make chowder

Beer Cheese Soup: wonderfully fatty and yummy. Make it with beer bread :)
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 cups diced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups beer
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
4 cups milk or half and half
6 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
popped popcorn, for garnish

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir together carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Stir in hot pepper sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Pour in chicken broth and beer; simmer until vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, heat butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Stir in flour with a wire whisk; cook, stirring until the flour is light brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Gradually stir in milk, whisking to prevent scorching, until thickened. Remove from heat, and gradually stir in cheese. Keep warm. Stir beer mixture into cheese mixture. Stir in Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard. Adjust for hot pepper sauce. Bring to a simmer, and cook 10 minutes. Serve topped with popcorn.

Taco Soup-
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce (not paste, SAUCE)
1 can corn
1 can black beans
Jar salsa of your choice
1 package taco seasoning
1 package Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix
2 avocados
Baked tortilla chips (or regular)
low fat grated cheese
fat free sour cream
To make:Brown beef. Add onions 1/3 cup water and taco seasoning mix.In large pot add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, black beans and 2 cups salsa. Bring to a light boil. Add beef and onions and Ranch dressing packet. Stir well and allow to lightly boil on medium heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 35 minutes.Prepare easy guacamole. Halve avocados and mash into a bowl. Add 2-4 tablespoons salsa. Mix well and Set aside.When Soup is done, pour into deep bowl, add a heaping spoonful of sour cream and shredded cheese on top. Eat with tortilla chips and guacamole. ENJOY!

Black Bean Soup

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
1-1 1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cans black beans, undrained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 lemon, juice of
1 Can refried beans
In a pot, combine the first six ingredients; simmer for 10 minutes. 2. Puree half a can of beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes. 3. Add puree and the rest of the beans to the soup. 4. Add broth . 5. Add the lemon and refried beans to the soup; cook until thickened.

Baked Potato Soup

4 lg baking potatoes
2/3 c flour
3/4 tsp salt
4 green onions

2 c shredded cheddar

1 c (8 oz) sour cream

2/3 cup butter

6 c milk

1/2 tsp pepper

12 slices of bacon, almost burned and crumbled.

1. Cut potatoes in half, scoop out pulp and put in small bowl.2. Melt butter in lg. pot. Add flour. Gradually stir in milk. Continue to stir until smooth, thickened and bubbly.3. Stir in potatoe pulp, salt, pepper, and 3/4 of the onions, bacon and cheese. Cook until heater. Stir in the sour cream.4. Top with remaining onions and cheese! Yum!

So there you have it. Loads of soup recipes. Go make something tasty!

Somebody PINCH ME!

2009-09-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Cause I must be dreaming!

So life is pretty crazy right now. Between school and cheerleading for the kiddo, Booster Club for me, DT work and John's rather slow back surgery recovery, I have been pretty swamped and overwhelmed at times....

BUT when an opportunity so fabulous comes your way, well you DON'T turn it down. You don't say NO when you get an email from Christy Tomlinson! Yes, you read that correctly. I couldn't believe it myself when I opened up an email from Christy asking me if I wanted to join her design team at Scarlet Lime. Dumbfounded and shocked was I. Talk about a dream team! So here I am ready to start a new adventure with some INSANELY talented women. So be on the look out for some Scarlet Lime goodness in the future :)

My other great DT debut is today as well. Head on over to the Shimmerz blog to check out projects from Deanna Kroll and myself. Also make sure to have fun on our blog hop as well and check out the awesome videos that the Education Team has worked so hard to put together! Here is my project for the week and you can read more about how I created it at the Shimmerz Blog.

So there is my "Pinch Me" news. Still can't quite get a grasp on it myself. I guess all I can say is that I am one lucky girl!!!

It's a Shimmerz Blog Hop baby!

2009-09-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right. Shimmerz is having a Huge Video Blog Hop today to launch our new Fall Vintage Collection Release and our New Shimmerz Education Team! Our new Education Team is here to bring you the latest and greatest techniques using our Shimmering Products. You will find new ideas galore and perhaps have a little laugh as well. We have a great group of funny, quirky and talented ladies on our Ed team!

By participating in our Video Blog Hop, you will find multiple chances to win some of our new Shimmerz colors! With names like Wed Wagon and Vintage Lace....how can you NOT want to join in on the fun.

Make sure to stop by our blog each day this week to check out what our Design Team has been up to! Here is a little sneaky peek at what I have been hard at work at :

While you are at it check out our brand new updated website! So whatcha waiting for? Head on over to the Shimmerz blog and check out all of our fun videos. Let the HOPPING BEGIN!

A Shimmering Announcement!

2009-09-15T08:56:00.001-07:00

Phewww! I have finally found a few free minutes to post my most recent and exciting scrappy news. And I am really excited about it!

A few days ago I was asked by Stacey McElyea, the owner of Shimmerz, to join their fabulous design team!! I love love love paint, love getting my fingers all dirty and smeary and in this case sparkly too!

If you haven't had the chance to check out Shimmerz new release for Fall, well take a peek at this fabulous FALL VINTAGE COLLECTION! I am dying to get my hands on the licorice and antique lace colors. I think they will go fabulously with my Webster's Pages papers.

Swing on by the brand spankin new website and check out the new products, the amazing design team members and also brand new....our Shimmerz Education Team, headed by one of my favorite peeps, Jeni Boisvert! You can find my girl Leslie Ashe and my other girl Lori Renn on there. They are chock full of Shimmerz knowledge and inspiration to share with you :)

I can't wait to get my first box of Shimmerzy goodness and be able to start playing and showin some Shimmerz love!

Project S.O.B. Save Our Bree UPDATE

2009-09-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

A Project SOB update:

A huge collective THANK YOU is in order here. The amount of generosity-ranging from complete strangers to well known friends-has been astounding. From meals to transportation to dance and lots of things in between, a community has come together to lift a family up! So we thank each and every one of you who has gone out of their way to help the Dille's.

In order to keep things in one place: if you would like to help assist the Dille's in any way: be it meal delivery, house cleaning, child care etc... please leave a post on Bree's Facebook page. The paypal option has been removed at this time.

Thank you once again for everything!

{644.5}

2009-08-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

It's ALIVE ALLLLLLIVEEEEE! Seriously, I can't even believe that I only managed 4 measly posts in the month of July. I should officially be banned from blogging.

But today I will try to redeem myself just a wee bit. Jeni and I were feeling the need to create and thought that it was time again for another {644.5} Challenge!

The challenge this week was to: Go outside, close your eyes, spin around 5 times and take a picture. YOU HAVE TO SCRAP IT, no matter how AWFUL or STUPID it was.

So I threw on my flip flops, stumbled around in a circle with Zoe watching with a curious WTH look on her face through the dining room window and ended up with............a picture of the side of my house. First instinct:"What on earth am I going to do with this?" Second "OMG, I know exactly what I want to do!" and here is what I came up with:

The window at the side of my house is my scrapbook room. Filled to the brim with crap right now, well this little hole is where my ideas come to life. Where I put them down on paper, or canvas or heck....photoshop and express what I feel creatively.

I went the digital route this time because it feels like eons since I have scrapped a digital layout. I used this fabulous woodgrain paper that I got for a whopping 33 cents at the Little Dreamer Designs sale! Used a Rhonna Farrer circle brush and some House of 3 brushes that I got from taking Jessica Sprague's Photoshop class.

So there you have it! Now.....you need to go check out what Jeni has in store today! I haven't seen it myself yet (we decided to make it a surprise for each other today), so I am anxious to see what creative work of art she put together. Head on over to her blog and say HI!

I WILL be back later this week with some more layouts and maybe a few John back surgery updates as well.

Have a fabulous Monday!

5 Faves Fridays, 2 weeks late Birthday Edition!

2009-07-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

So I made it to the ripe old age of 31. No longer just a 30 year old but a 30-something year old. Gah! But today has been good so far. Lots of lovely birthday wishes and Zoe made me coffee and breakfast this morning.

I have been a bad, busy girl and have neglected my 5 Faves and how I have missed them. So let's just roll with it shall we!

#1. Joanie and her clean bill of health-One of the greatest things about 5 Faves is the amazing friendships that have been forged. And anyone who has joined us in the 5 Faves journey is sure to know the beautiful Joanie by now. What an amazing woman indeed. She is open about her journey with breast cancer and is such an advocate for breast cancer awareness. She had a check up appointment with her Dr. last week and was given the best gift...a clean bill of health! I think we all had a collective sigh of relief. Check out Joanie, the #1 5 Faves AND breast cancer awareness advocate. An inspiring, loving lady whom you need to know!

#2. Gilmore Girls- OK you all know that I HEART GILMORE! And there was a WHOLE SEASON that I didn't even know existed until ABCFamily started playing it a few weeks ago. Well, I have now watched them all. I just got to sit down a few days ago and watch the final show finale and yes I cried like a baby! Zoe kept saying "Gee Mom, get OVER it" but damn it, I love this show and am so sad that Rory didn't marry Logan, was sad to see her move away and leave behind Lorelai but was so thrilled that Lorelai and Luke kissed and made up. Once again I will say this: if you haven't watched this show yet WATCH IT NOW! ABCFamily just started the whole series over again this week. One of my fave all times shows EVER!

#3. ddeforest etsy shop- Dianna puts together some super cute, shabby, vintage kits and she had this to die for b/w houndstooth ribbon that I just had to have! She has a sale going on right now! Check out these cute packs at only $4 a piece!:

#4. Sohomode etsy shop- now while I haven't bought anything from here yet, ughhh I am sorely tempted to. Pencil skirts, aprons, her dresses ohhh her dresses. Crisp, clean, elegant and simple!

#5. Simplyrecipes.com-I don't even remember how I stumbled across this site, but I am a sucker for recipes and pictures of food and well this site is FULL of both! They have spicy, citrus black beans up today and yummo they look so tasty!

#6. Avocados- I used to HATE, LOATHE avocados and now I can't get enough of them. They taste good on almost everything. My favorite way to eat them this past week is:

Flour tortilla, spread cream cheese on top, add chopped onions, 4 slices of avocado, 3 slices of bacon, 1 slice of muenster cheese, 1 romaine lettuce leaf and eat as is OR I have been adding BBQ chicken fingers or smoked turkey slices as well. Oh and if you have ranch, dude throw some of that on there too! And you MUST have some pepperoncinis to go with. I have eaten this no less than 5 times in the past 2 weeks. Also have been making a ton of homemade guacomole too. Here are some more avocado recipes!

#7. Webster's Pages Winter's Wings line- Almost makes me wish it was winter but umm not quite. Totally enjoying the warm weather right now and working on my tan. BUT this line is sooo gorgeous! Take a peek at this:

#8. Amazon gift cards- Zoe and John got me one for my bday and now the only hard part is paring down what I want to get. Cause this girl always wants it ALL LOL! But it was a very sweet present from my 2 favorite peoples! Love you guys!

Ok so I think that is all I can think of for now! Enjoy your day and I am going to go finish having a great Birthday!

It's SNEAK PEEK TIME!!!!!

2009-07-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

CHA time is seriously one of my favorite times of year, thank God we get to do it twice right?! All the craziness, short deadlines, new lines and products.....just a great time to be a scrapper!

So with CHA in mind...How about some beautiful Webster's Pages sneaks?
Brandin and Terri have been slaving away the past few months putting together the most beautiful lines of papers to date.

I give you "Postcards from Paris"

Don't you just love the peacock and hot-air balloon images?! I know I do!!

If you are wanting to win some fine beautiful Webster's Pages goodies, well you better head on over to inspireME RIGHT NOW and leave a comment on THIS POST in order to be eligible for our new DAYS OF THE WEEK journaling cards! They are ADORABLE!

And another announcement: Webster's Pages has added 3 amazing, beautiful and insanely talented designers to our team: Lisa Pace, Lucy Edson and last but certainly not least Amy Tara Koeppel. I am so honored to have them be joining us for each girl brings something unique and wonderful to the table. So welcome aboard girls!

In non scrappy news...the weather has cooled off immensely yet somehow Zoe and I both managed our first sunburns of the summer. My great friend Lisa is coming to Oregon all the way from Hawaii and I am so excited to meet her little boy Miles. We are going to have another famous GIRLS NITE OUT in celebration of her being here and my birthday! Jamie, girl your absence will be greatly felt! And Joanie, if you are out there, I hope your Dr.s appointment went well my sweet friend!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

I survived a Jonas Bros. concert

2009-07-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

and lived to tell the tale!

So the Jo Bros. concert was a couple of weekends ago. It took a few days to recover from the craziness. Zoe had a blast! You wouldn't believe how many people were outside waiting in line for this thing. Unlike anything I have ever seen before and I have gone to many a concert in my days.

My pictures turned out HORRID. No SLR's were allowed in the building but I managed to get a few videos with my little Kodak camera that I haven't used in years.

Anywhooo. These are the few photos we ended up with. I had to hold all 40 lbs of Zoe with one arm and then try to take pictures with the other.

Here is a quick video as well:

So there you have it. That which does not kill you can only make you stronger ;)

July?!?!?!

2009-07-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

July, really? Where has the summer gone. I swear the summer months go by 50 times quicker than the rainy, cold winter months. What gives....

Well July is kicking off with a bang at Webster's Pages! Webster's is celebrating its 4th year in business bringing us all the of beautiful, classy, shabby, wonderful scrapbooking products.

July also happens to be this girl's birthday....So with birthdays and celebrations in mind and MY turn at the monthly challenge at Webster's Pages inspireME site, I chose to have some creative fun by creating and challenging our members to:

Create a Birthday Themed Layout!

What started out as a layout about my upcoming birthday, quickly morphed into a layout about a little saying we have in our household. Zoe, at the age of 3, came up with this little song she would sing called "Happy Birthday to Family Love" and she would give both John and I huge hugs. I found the Family Love quote on our beautiful Sweet As Cherry Pie vellum. And the layout started making itself from there.

So when creating your Birthday Themed Challenge Layout this month, please feel free to think outside the box. Create layout about your pets birthday, a silly family phrase, the way your family celebrates or doesn't celebrate birthdays... Make it fun, make it beautiful and make the challenge work for you!

Please upload entries to our gallery with July Challenge in the title by midnight PST July 31st in order to be eligible for one of our fabulous Webster's Pages paper collections of your choice!

Check out the official challenge thread for all the details!

July ALSO MEANS CHA!!!!!! Yesterday we kicked off our month long JULY JOY RIDE event at inspireME as well. Each day we will be posting sneak peeks, our new design team members and other fun goodies, all leading up to the wonderful fun that is CHA. So grab that old Roxette tape that you KNOW you have laying on the floor of your closet, pack your bags and join the joy ride with us. If you hurry over there right now, you will get to see a SNEAK PEEK of our newest line "Postcards from Paris"! It is truly divine!

The hot weather and sun are beckoning me, so I shall answer their call. Enjoy your day and head on over to see all the fun things that Webster's is brewing!

Wait, what are those I see?

2009-06-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Are those layouts?

What....no wayyyyy....

She did not scrap something.

Well believe it or not, yes I actually did! Just for me. I went over to my friend Tina's house on Saturday for an impromptu crop and I had a blast. I actually managed to get 3 layouts done in 6 hours! Some kind of record for me.

Wanna see what and who I scrapped?

Up first is my cutie pie. I snapped this picture of her on her birthday. She looks so innocent and cute. Don't let the picture fool you though ;)

Next up, is my beautiful friend Jamie. I took a few pictures of her the other day when we were waiting outside a restaurant for our friends to show up. I think she looks BEAUTIFUL!

And last but not least, is a self shot of Zoe and I. We have been dorkin it up, taking lots of pictures of ourselves lately. It has been lots of fun. I think this poorly cropped, out of focus one actually turned out to be one of my favorites.

As with most times when I go to crops, I end up with some sort of theme to my layouts. I used the same somethings on each of these layouts here. Can you figure out what they are?

Five Faves Friday on Saturday "the Birthday Edition"

2009-06-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

So it totally isn't my fault that my post is late.

I have reasons, really LOL

Ok sooo anyhow...this week is a special one because my cute girl turned the big "8" on Thursday. So this weeks 5 Faves is dedicated to my Zoe girl.

She had a fabulous skating party last weekend. She got all kinds of wonderful gifts from her friends and Grandma and Auntie June.

John and I saved the BEST present for last.... You will find out what it is in a second.

So without further adieu, my 5 Fave pictures of Zoe's birthday.

#1. This beautiful picture of my now 8 yr old. She just looks so grown up and sassy:

#2.The look on her face. She loooves water balloons!#3. Blowing out her candles. She had a Hannah Montana cake since NOWHERE in this damn hick town had a Jonas Bros. cake. #4. We had a scavenger hunt for her biggest present....Here she is with her"Golden Ticket"

#5. What tickets are THOSE, you might be asking...Tickets to go see the Jonas Brothers World Tour! Check out this face....Remind me it was all worth it just for this face OK!!! I am going to need that reminder when I am surrounded by a sea of Tweens going crazy for the Jo Bros!

So there is my lil pumpkin, all grown up and ever so excited to get to see her favorite band. And I get the Mommy of the Year award for suffering through it....at least I think I deserve it, right? LOL

Introducing.... {644.5}

2009-06-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Now what in the hell is {644.5} you may be asking yourself? and why should I care?

Well you don't have to care, but you may have some fun watching, sharing and playing along if you are driven to do so.

Born out of necessity and a need for Miss Jeni and I to stay connected now that I am no longer with Bad Girls...simply put, an idea brewed in my head. Jeni and I grew so close together working together at BG's and I couldn't stand the thought of not having that creative connection that she and I share. Soooooo what if we challenge or dare each other to do some crazy, cra(x)y, wacky stuff?!?!? Challenge each other artistically, be silly together, laugh a whole lot and well just be our dorky selves....

Thus {644.5} was born. There are precisely 644.5 miles between Jeni and I. But trust me...we are on the same wavelength. She and I have spent countless hours working together, talking on the phone; thousands of emails sent to and fro...half the time we don't know what the heck we are doing or what we are even saying....Anywhooo. I will shut up and share with you our first challenge to each other:

{644.5} Challenge #1-

Scrap a picture of each other and include our dorky homemade word cra(x)y.

Here is my layout with the beautiful Miss Jeni!

I used a beautiful Prima paper,ribbon and ribbon card, Bam Pop! frames, Fancy Pants felt and stamps, Pink Paislee rubons and Paper Trunk alphas to create my layout about my amazing friend!

Head on over to Jeni's blog to see the layout she did of me!

You never know what we crazy girls will be up to next. So stay tuned to find out ;)

Five Faves Friday!

2009-06-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

Sooo I am jumping AHEAD of the game here if you can actually believe it.

We have a full day of fun scheduled tomorrow. Going to Wildlife Safari with my gal pals from high-school Bree, Jamie and Jen. Then we are headed out for a girls night out and having some good food, good wine and good gossip!

Here are some great things that I hope you will love as much as I do:

#1. This recipe for Mexican Shredded Beef: You would NOT believe the smell in my house right now, it is insane.

Mexican Shredded Beef:

1 boneless beef chuck shoulder roast (about 3 lbs)

1 Tbs ground cumin

1 Tbs ground coriander

1 Tbs chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 cup salsa or picante sauce

1 Tbs cornstarch

2 Tbs water

taco shells, corn or flour tortillas

Slow Cooker Directions:

Combine cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper in bowl. Mix and rub over roast.

Place 1/4 cup of salsa in bottom of crock pot. Put roast in. Layer remaining salsa on top.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours. (I never cook this long though, I have a super hot and fast crockpot. So know your crock pot cooking habits!)

Remove roast from cooking liquid; cool slightly. Trim and discard any excess fat from meat. Shred meat with 2 forks.

Let cooking liquid stand 5 minutes so fat can rise to surface. Skim fat off. Blend cornstarch and water until smooth. Whisk liquid into crock pot. Cook uncovered, 15 minutes on HIGH until thickened. Return shredded beef into crock pot. Cover and cook additional 15 minutes. Adjust any seasonings to taste. Serve in taco shells or tortillas.

May be refrigerated for up to 3 days or FREEZE up to 3 months.

#2. Anthropologie bib necklaces: I had an email from Anthropologie today in the ol inbox and they had these DIVINE necklaces in them.

Here are a few of my favorites (I think they would go well with the dresses from shopruche.com, don't ya think)

#3. When Fried Eggs Fly- John recorded this show on the Documentary Channel. Here is a quick synopsis from the website so you can get an idea of what it is cause I can't do it justice: Visionary teacher Bruce Mack makes a commitment to get 162 eight-year-olds in a New York City public school to compose, perform and record original music with their parents. The topic is pressing: saving the environment. Serious rehearsals. No cutting corners. And it has to have a great beat. A film for both kids and adults. When Fried Eggs Fly shows how to beat the odds and get a song made.

It was amazing to see how this one music teacher made a tangible difference. A touch it, see it, feel it, hear it, difference. He somehow managed to bring not only 162 kids but their teachers and parents together to create music. It was incredible and inspiring and made me want to go start some kind of damn revolution in our school. Go check out the trailer at the When Fried Eggs Fly website.

#4. Jeff Buckley "Grace Around the World"-I heart Jeff Buckley. If you haven't listened to him, or have and thought "Lord, I hate this" please oh please give this man another chance. I have one of his songs on my playlist, go listen LOL. This is a DVD of unseen live performances and it is beautiful and haunting at the same time. From Grace to Hallelujah to my favorite Lover, You Should Have Come Over...

Read these lyrics and tell me if the man wasn't a genius.

Lover, You Should've Come Over

Looking out the door I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners

Parading in a wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water

And maybe I'm too young to keep good love from going wrong

But tonight you're on my mind so you never know

When I'm broken down and hungry for your love with no way to feed it

Where are you tonight, child you know how much I need it

Too young to hold on and too old to just break free and run

Sometimes a man gets carried away, when he feels like he should be having his fun

And much too blind to see the damage he's done

Sometimes a man must awake to find that really, he has no-one

So i'll wait for you... and i'll burn

Will I ever see your sweet return

Oh will I ever learn

Oh lover, you should've come over

'Cause it's not too late

Lonely is the room, the bed is made, the open window lets the rain in

Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him

My body turns and yearns for a sleep that will never come

It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder

It's never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her

It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter

It's never over, she's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever

Well maybe i'm just too young

To keep good love from going wrong

Oh... lover, you should've come over '

Cause it's not too late

Well I feel too young to hold on

And I'm much too old to break free and run

Too deaf, dumb, and blind to see the damage i've done

Sweet lover, you should've come over

Oh, love well i'm waiting for you

Lover, you should've come over'

Cause it's not too late

Got goosebumps yet?

and

#5. My Scrappy Fave of the week comes via my friend Pam and in the form of Basic Grey June Bug....Ohh stop my beating heart!!!!

and thus ends my longest post EVER! Lordy, I am long-winded tonight LOL

Have a great weekend.

Chirp Chirp Chirp....

2009-06-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

Ahhh the sweet sound of a silent house.

As we near the end of the school year (only 2 days left), I am having some mixed feelings. It will be great not to have to be up and at 'em before 7 am every morning if we don't want to. I am a lounge in my jammies, drink 3 cups of coffee before starting my day kind of girl. No homework to keep track of, no lunches to pack....BUT with all of that comes the constant entertaining of an 8 yr old. All of my free time sucked away from me for the next 3 months. So today I sit and soak in the quiet house, a few minutes of free time and mentally prepare for the craziness that is summer.

So while we are just chilling...how about some 5 FAVES?!?!? A few days late, but Friday was crazy as all get out...

Here is what has kept me entertained and going this week:

#1. Check out these 2 totally cute etsy shoppes. I spent no less and an hour the other day checking them both out. Guarantee you will LOVE them as well:

Caramelo's (one of my favorite candy bars as well, so what ISN'T to love)

and Pink Grapefruit Style (one of my favorite breakfast fruits!) Both stores have amazing photography of their products. The colors at Pink Grapefruit are enough to leave you inspired for days.... Enough talking though, GO CHECK THEM OUT!

#2. ShopRuche.com- found this site via Scoutie Girl, I believe. The site design itself is adorable. Birds, birds everywhere! The clothing is beautiful and the prices are UNBELIEVABLY low! I need all of these ASAP:

#3. The Tonight Show with CONAN O'BRIEN- Move over stupid Jay Leno, Coco is coming thru, kicking ass and taking names. I LOOOOVE Conan. Think he is hilarious. I have missed him and his show has been better than ever. So happy to have Conan back on again. Ohhh and did you see my crush Joel McHale on there the other night? Sighhh he is sooo cute!

#4. Banana Laffy Taffys- Seriously, these stupid things are so dang tasty! I hate bananas, hate them but I love fake banana flavored candies. And how can resist the stupid jokes? Not me, I get angry if I accidentally rip thru one and can't read it (like I JUST did). I vote that there should be a strawberry banana laffy taffy! Who is with me?

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week- Well I haven't scrapped all week long, and I probably should get my teachers thank you gifts done huh, being there are only 2 days left. But I used some Shimmerz paint on one of my projects and I am in love with this stuff. Thanks Jeni for getting me hooked! I used the Chickadee paint and ohh lala...I love how my project turned out.

So that's it for this past week. I am anxiously awaiting the season 7 of Gilmore Girls on ABCFamily tomorrow!!! Eeeeeek! I didn't know that I had missed an ENTIRE season. So this is me jumping up and down like a huge, stupid dork right about now. Speaking of which I need to go finish watching the Behind the Scenes Gilmore episode I tivo'd!

Have a great rest of the weekend,

Dena

I must be getting old.

2009-06-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

So I am having a mid-life crisis and I haven't even hit 31 yet. I am sitting here looking at summer concerts in Oregon. John gets to go to concerts all the time, so I was sitting on the couch thinking to myself...heck there might be something I want to go to this summer, I am going to go check out who is coming to our area...so I find, none other than The Cult! Sighhh Ian Astbury...FireWoman, She Sells Sanctuary...well I could go on and on right.

Anyways, back to the mid-life crisis part...so I see that the Vans Warped Tour is going to be here, something I went to in my younger days. "Who is going to be there?" I ask myself. So I proceed to check out the website and do you know how many bands I recognized on the list? Try 5 bands out of about 60! 5...that is all Bad Religion (older than dirt) being one of them.

So here I sit thinking to myself "have I gotten old and just not realized it?" well I think I have already answered my own question! I used to be cool, right? The fact that the only band I can find that I want to see was popular 20 years ago has nothing to do with my age...

Add to all of this. I am trying to do a challenge layout and frantically searching for pictures of myself and not having any luck at all. I realized that not ONE picture has been taken of me since my birthday LAST year and has already been scrapped 3 times. Do I not exist in this family or what? Note to self: hand over the damn camera Dena! So it has been great looking at the progression of wrinkles on my forehead from 2006-present day. Ohhh life before wrinkles, it was nice!

Also forgot to add that my baby is turning 8 in just a few short days! Am I old enough to have an 8 year old? Wasn't she just in diapers the other day?

So yes, today has been a traumatic eye-opener to say the least.

Back to Reality:
Anyone game for seeing The Cult??! We can pretend we aren't old together!

Hello Pencil Lines!

2009-05-31T17:44:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to be the guest designer this week alongside the AMAZING design team at Pencil Lines. Anna has outdone herself with the sketch this week. I told her that I felt she had made it just for me. I love the shaped paper, the nice clean design...well just take a look at it for yourself! Guaranteed you will love it too!

The team blew me away with their unique takes on the sketch.

Anna put a fun circle twist on it, Ania BLEW ME away with her oh so cute lamby and color scheme, I love the burst of Fancy Pants color behind Carina's, while the soft pink colors in Michelle's layout made my heart sigh. Sue funked up her layout with bright colors and hand stitching and Tracie, well Tracie does what she does best...bright, bold, eye-catching designs and last but definitely not least, Yuko's clear background with the green tape around the edge is a MUST SEE!

Here is my take on the sketch:

I dug into my beautiful new Webster's Pages stash and used our new trims and new die-cut stickers. The die-cut sticker was the PERFECT match for the sketch. I used this really cool background paper that my lovely friend TINA gave to me. It made me think of a church tile and my pictures from my recent trip to Portland immediately came to mind. And the layout came together just like that.

So head on over to the Pencil Lines blog if you haven't already and check out the beautiful work that the girls have put up for this week! They have put forth 137 sketches for us all to enjoy and somehow they just keep getting better.

Thank you Anna and team for having me play alongside you. I am truly honored!

Five Fave Fridays-The Portland Edition

2009-05-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

So last Friday my mom, sisters and I went on a wee road trip. For my Mom's birthday (we won't mention how old she turned!) I had the idea to either take her out for a day at the spa and go get pampered or to take her to Portland for a Girls Nite Out...well Mom chose the latter.

After extensive researching and trying to find the best bang for our buck, we ended up with a hotel package at The Paramount via http://www.portlandperks.com/, which I found via http://www.myacorn.net/. If haven't checked out myacorn.net, do so! Tons of coupons and money saving deals and if you live in the Portland area, even better because so do the girls that run this site and they are always posting deals that are pertinent to P-town!

Anyways, it was only an over-night deal, so we didn't get to cram in as much as we wanted to. And had my mother maybe driven over the top speed of 60 mph, we might have had more time to shop LOL, gotta love my Mom. We stopped off at Bridgeport Village first, where we somehow managed to burn through 2 hours in only 2 stores. BUT Crate & Barrel and Anthropologie will do that to you. My little sister Ginger had never been to either one (totally OUT of her scope) and funny if she wasn't the one who spent the most money at both stores! These tiny little personal gravy boats found a home with me. I will treat you well little guys!

Here are some of my 5 faves from our little excursion:

#1. My girl Jeni won a GDT spot with Rose Moka-Totally off topic but deserves the #1 spot today! I threw on my cheerleading outfit and cheered this girl on when she told me she wanted to submit. I just KNEW she would make it and Jeni, I am so thrilled for you. It is always so fun and amazing to watch a friends dream come true!

#2. The Heathman Restaurant- Seriously addicted to this place. The food is simply to die for. Mom and I ate here last time we came up to Portland together and we had to take my sisters out so they could experience it as well. Because it is just that, an experience...not just a meal. While it did take a while for our food to get to our table, well you know the old adage, good things come to those who wait, it was worth every second. Plus it gave us some time to order cocktails. We all agreed that the Gin Blossom was the cocktail of the night. As for dinner: Mom and I both had the grilled Kobe beef with potatoes, shantrelles and grilled asparagus. Ging had some kind of chicken dinner that I don't remember the name of but I will from here on out, always be putting fresh tarragon on my chicken! Sasha had the hanger steak which came with this potato galette that had been cooked in duck fat and we all agreed move over Emeril with your bacon fat, duck fat is here to stay!

#3. Flying Elephants Fox Tower-Just a quick stroll from our hotel, the cutest little deli and gift shop is a hidden treasure! The smell of homemade goodies hits you like a ton of bricks as you walk through the doors. People sipping on wine, eating amazing looking sandwiches, noshing on huge salads...for a little deli, this place is full of life AND amazing treats! And while we are on the subject of treats, they have these cute little elephant shaped sugar cookies dipped in red frosting (had to pick one up for Zoe girl) Which leads us to my next faves

#4. Fran's Chocolates- It is funny to think a caramel can bring a tear to your eye, but if it is the best damn caramel you have ever had, then I suppose it isn't too crazy right? I bought a box of gray salt caramels that has made me a firm believer in all things Fran! Note to self: salt is a must on caramel!

#5. Butter Baked Goods-Another little gem that I found in Flying Elephants were these amazing looking homemade, all natural marshmallows. I bought Zoe and John some strawberry marshmallows and a big smores as well. I don't think I can ever eat a plain ol white marshmallow ever again.

#6. Jo Malone cologne- While in Portland a trip to Nordstrom's is a definite. While fondling shoes I could never afford, I caught a quick scent of something tantalizing. Enter Jo Malone: A world of scents so clean, fresh and sophisticated. Driven by something larger than ourselves, Sasha and I made our way to the Jo Malone counter and started huffing Jo Malone like it was going out of style. After giving my nostrils a good, healthy work out, I went with the Nectarine Blossom&Honey Cologne. It came all wrapped up in a beautiful box with a bow, which was delicately placed inside a beautiful bag all tied up with ribbons. Buying this cologne was an experience all in its own. One I highly recommend. With scents like grapefruit, lime basil&mandarin, pomegranate noir....how can you possibly lose?

After a night of horrid sleep, we were serenaded by our next door hotel neighbor and her bratty kids yelling and crying all damn night, we also awoke to all of our food spoiled in the non-functioning refrigerator in our room. NICE HUH! So I wept a sad farewell to my tiramisu that was not to be eaten and my mom gave the hotel staff one of her famous lectures. Of which they did nothing to fix the situation at all....So we shall NOT be staying at The Paramount again and I suggest if you are visiting the Portland area, that you do the same. Head on over to The Heathman, stay there and save yourself the walk for dinner!

I will finish with a few pictures from our trip that was cut short with a text from John saying that Zoe was very sick and he was having to take her into urgent care...ends up I have a kid with pneumonia and now a John with the same thing. Wish me luck that I don't get sick. I don't think this tiny body could make it through a nasty spell of pneumonia right now.

Farewell sweet Portland...til we meet again!

Five Faves Friday!!! Ummm pretend it is last friday ;)

2009-05-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Ohh sweet blessed Friday! If I hate Mondays, well I loooove Fridays. And especially today. The sun is shining, the weather forecast is UNBELIEVABLE (like record breaking heat unbelievable) and well I have the general feeling that today is going to be a good day. So let's hope that it is.

The faves, oh the sweet Friday Faves!

#1. endless.com- Thanks to Miss Suzanne, who shared this link over at Bad Girls, well I found a new favorite online shoe store. Does it get ANY better than FREE OVERNIGHT SHIPPING? I think not! And they really meant overnight. I got these beauts for my big weekend trip! I looove the hot, sexy bronze color on these.

#2. Silversun Pickups "Panic Switch"- I love this song because it reminds me of old-school Garbage. And I was a huge fan of Garbage! Go check out the video now :)

#3. Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller- So I hate watching her show cause she does this weird things with her eyes that always reminds me of a deer in headlights...BUT this woman is onto something with her approach towards cooking. I picked up her cookbook at Ross last year sometime for $3.99, used it several times and then hadn't really used it for a while. Well, I was rummaging thru my cookbooks the other day and busted the ol Quick Fix Meals out and let me tell you, it has been a lifesaver the past 2 weeks or so. And it isn't so much the recipes themselves as her approach towards cooking. I love her cook 2 of everything and freeze and save for later methods and her meal kit ideas. I will be going on and on about her processes in the future on this blog because well, it works!

#4. My new Nine West Bag Habits tote- It says it is mini, but this is the biggest purse I have ever owned. I feel like I could zip myself up inside this sucker. But it is green and shiny and is fabulous and hopefully will look cute on my arm this weekend!

#5. My scrappy Fave of the week:

soo, excuse me while I have to toot my own horn a wee bit, but I am the guest designer over at Pink Paislee for May and I LOVED playing with their Fascinating line! Rebecca spoiled me rotten with some amazing Pink Paislee goodies and I have to say that I love their new sticker books. The stickers are fabulous and the book itself is dual purpose. I transformed mine into a little mini album. Oh and I love the chipboard shapes too! They are adorable. Here is what I came up with, so here's to hoping I did the product justice!

So there they are! Don't you just love the colors of this line? I know I sure do.

Thank you so much Rebecca!

Well girls...I am off for a weekend on the town, P-town that is. A much needed break and some girly time with my Mom and sisters. Wish us luck!

pssst... while I'm waiting.....

2009-05-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am waiting for a little go ahead before I post my 5 Faves for today...

I realized I am sitting on a rather large stash of layouts that I haven't shared yet.

First up: Bad Girls May kit layouts

And up next is some new Webster's Pages....Ohhh which I don't think I have announced yet but I have been made the Webster's Pages Community Coordinator! See girls, it literally pays to have a big mouth LOL Any whooo... The design team has been hard at work using the Magical Wishes and A Sweet Life lines, so head on over to inspireME to check the gallery out right now.

Here are the layouts I made:

I hope to have my list up soon, but until then....A little something to peek at while I wait!

Five Fave Fridays!!!

2009-05-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

No it is not an illusion. I am actually posting a Five Fave Friday list on Friday!!!

let's just get right to it

#1. Tropical Skittles (or otherwise known as the blue pack)- You can keep the crappy red original pack, I wanna taste a sweeter rainbow LOL. With flavors such as: banana berry, kiwi lime, mango tangelo, strawberry starfruit and my favorite pineapple passionfruit...how can you ever eat grape, cherry, lemon again?

#2. Bob Ross- Yes the crazy puffy afro painter. I love this man. I love watching this show and now I have Zoe hooked on it too. He is such a wacky dude. The way he talks while he is painting (and now I will put a little happy tree over here, but wait he needs a friend) and the way he makes painting look SO EASY. I walk away every time thinking...man I wish I had a fan brush!

#3. Bottega Veneta sandals- Look at these beauties! Aren't they adorable. My feet so want to be caressed by them!

#4. This Stella McCartney dress- what is not to love about this. Dainty and girly and lacy. It is beautiful. I totally need this to wear out next weekend. Anyone have a spare $500 to loan me? LOL

#5. My Scrappy Fave of the Week- My new K&Co Amy Butler tote bag! It is grey/green/floral and adorable. So easy to just dump my most often used tools in there and haul my crap out to the living room for some good ol scrap time. I picked it up for..get this...9.99 at Michaels on clearance! Talk about a steal!

So there is my 5 faves for the week. I could have gone on forever! I hope you have a fabulous wonderful weekend!

A lengthy post

2009-05-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

Ohhh joy of joys...Monday has rolled around again. I guess the up part to it, is that we are that much closer to the school year being over with. I am counting down the days! This Monday greets me with a pot of coffee and a half eaten Apple Fritter from Henry's Donuts and I am still not fully functioning. Sugar has to kick in soon right?

So once again, I was too busy on Friday to get a 5 faves post up. So umm just pretend it's Friday ok!

#1. Aforementioned Henry's Donuts- So there is the donut argument that goes on in this household...who has the best donuts. John likes Albertson's, Zoe and I like Henry's and well 2 against one, WE WIN. I like my donuts to have crispy outsides and Albertson's are piles of mush. BLECH. My standbys at Henry's: one old fashioned and one apple fritter.

#2. Irises- They remind me of Gram. There is always an abundance of irises at her old house. Purple and yellow. So every time I see one, I think of her.

#3. This Fendi purse!!!! If only it was green!

#4. 40 games in 40 nights- I have been meaning to throw this on a 5 Faves list for a long while now. This is one of my fave times of years because there is an NBA game on every night for over a month. Unfortunately my stinkin team didn't even make it to the play-offs this year (Suns) and John's team was just eliminated (Blazers) so we are pulling for LeBron.

#5. My Scrappy Fave of the Week-NSD! We had a blast over at Bad Girls. Jeni and I manned the fort all day long. I only ended up completing 2 projects but I had a blast.

My layout for the challenge I hosted for NSD- 15 minute challenge (you only have 15 minutes to create a scrapbook page!)

My layout I completed for Kara's Scrap a Room Challenge:

My layout I created for Sri's Scrap a layout about your Mom Challenge:

I have to run for now, but I will be back later with some more layouts to share :)

NSD at Bad Girls Kits!

2009-05-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

Need something fun to do for NSD!
Head on over to Bad Girls Kits, we have our first class up and running and it is beautiful.
We have classes and challenges on the hour every hour until 9pm PST today!
Come check out our schedule and you can find a list of everything you will need to play along right HERE,
We are having driveby giveaways all day and you must be present to win. So check in often!

No Good Girls Allowed!

2009-04-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

We want the naughty, BAD ones please!

Turn your knobs to full diva and come scrap with us on Saturday at Bad Girls Kits.

A little something something every hour on the hour from 9am-9pm PST!

We hope to see YOU there!

It's ALIIIIIIVEEEE!!!

2009-04-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

Yes this blog is alive. Barely... I had to check it for a pulse and I have some paddles on site, you know just in case. LOL

Ok so once again, running around like a crazy mad woman. But today YES TODAY... I am taking the time to post on this poor baby. Come hell or high water, I am making a dang post.

Let's start off with some sneaky peekies of the May Bad Girls Kit shall we!

Vintage is making a comeback at Bad Girls. Don't forget that we have our VIP kit reveal night coming up! THURSDAY, if you can believe that! At 9pm PST.

Which leads us to NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY, May 2nd

9am PST-9pm PST

Bad Girls

You totally want to be there to play with us.

Classes, challenges and some honk honk DRIVE BY GIVEAWAYS!

If you are wanting to scrap today and are kinda stuck for something to do...head on over to the Paper Trunk Blog!
Danielle has just posted her challenge for today and it has to do with new beginnings. Plus there are 5 other challenges and ideas up on the blog as well!

And what the heck...while I am here....I am going to post some FAVES Dang it!

#1. Homemade smoothies- I have been making these religiously every day for the past 2 weeks or so. Incredibly easy, insanely tasty and noone ever complains about them LOL

Our favorite way:

either frozen strawberries or tropical fruit mix

1 cup of yoplait yogurt the orange strawberry surprise one is fabulous in smoothies

1 cup of strawberry orange banana juice

1 cup of milk

and a banana

Mix it up and you are good to go.

#2. Family Circle Magazine- Oft forgotten, every time I pick up one of these while waiting in line at the store, I am ALWAYS ALWAYS happy that I did. 1.99 is a small price to pay for some of the fabulous ideas, recipes, website links etc.. that they have in their magazine. I never thought I would ever like Family Circle LOL. Boy how times have changed.

#3. Babies babies everywhere-One of my besties Brandi had her beautiful little girl this week (same day as your bday Jeni!!!) and she is precious and a little angel baby. CONGRATS B!!!

#4. In Treatment on HBO- So glad this show is up and going again. I love Gabriel Byrne. Don't ask me why...I just do ever since Little Women LOL Incredibly smart show, as John was saying it is very cerebral...engaging characters and yes a bit depressing at times as well. But who doesnt love a good funk right?

#5 My Scrappy Fave of the Week- Actually SITTING DOWN AND SCRAPPING! Just the simple act of playing with papers and glue and getting messy this week. It feels like it has been so long since I have been able to do it. So I am grateful for the time spent with my supplies this week.

Which is where I am headed now..TO SCRAP!

Wish me luck and

AHHHHHHHHH!! it felt damn good to post a 5 Fave List today. Even if it is ummm Tuesday!

It's BLOG CROP TIME!

2009-04-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Paper Trunk has kick started its BLOG PARTY! There are so many things going on at the PT blog that it is hard to keep up! So you had better head on over there and check it out for yourself. I will be hosting a challenge on NSD May 2nd, so you can be on the look out for my challenge both here on Organized Chaos and over at the Paper Trunk blog. Check out the cool challenges they have up now and ummm did I mention PRIZES yet??? Yep, we have those too!
A little birdie told me there is a $25 gift card to Scrapbook.com just for spreading the word on your blog or Facebook, twitter WHATEVER you can think of! So what are you waiting for?? Head on over already!

So this is what BUSY feels like?

2009-04-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

Apparently there is to be no happy medium for me in life LOL
Either I am sitting around bored at home with nothing to do OR I have so many things to do I feel like a chicken sans head.

I have been obviously awful at 5 fave Fridays, but I HAVEN'T forgotten about them! I made a cute little 5 Faves Friday blinkie a while back but never got around to posting it on the blog.

This month I was asked to take a bigger role over at Webster's Pages and will be working with the always wonderful Terri Hayes :) AND was voted Booster Club President against my better judgment..But hey, someone has to do it right? So I have gone from having virtually nothing to do, to a buttload of things to do. Making the adjustment has not been so easy for me.

Lots of events going on scrapwise so let's start from the top, shall we!

Bad Girls and Hambly have teamed up for a fun giveaway! Make sure to stop by BOTH the HAMBLY BLOG and the BAD GIRLS BLOG and leave a comment at both. Allison will be drawing a name tomorrow for the winner of a free Butterfly Kisses April Main kit!

Also time to start talking National Scrapbook Day! Yep, it is right around the corner.
On Saturday May 2nd at Bad Girls from 9am PST-9pm PST we will be hosting an all day crop with classes, challenges and of course some give aways. So make sure to stop on by and hang out!

Paper Trunk is going to be hosting a week long event starting April 22nd-May 2nd on our blog! The girls have been hard at working coming up with some fun challenges for you all. Check the blog in the next few days for more details.

and lastly but not least!

Webster's Pages is going to be hosting not one but 2 live chats (to help accommodate those overseas!) on April 28th at both 9am EST and 9pm EST at our inspireME site! We have some fun exciting things to talk about and hopefully we can get Brandin to share some sneak peeks of our new midrelease!!

Phewww!! ok so I think I am all caught up on the scrappy going ons.

Stop by and say HI, I have missed my friends!!!

Butterfly Kisses

2009-04-01T11:28:00.001-07:00

No I haven't been listening to Bob Carlisle LOL

It is the name of the new April Kit at Bad Girls!

Isn't it beautiful?!?! It is filled to the brim with the latest Sassafras Lass papers and their new embellishments Paper Whimsies. Throw in some puffy stickers and of course PRIMA for good measure and you have this months Main Kit!

And here are my layouts for the month using it:

As always make sure to head on over to see what the rest of our Bad Girls made using the kit!

Ohh and I am sure you want to see the Add-Ons this month, right?

We had a fabulous time at our VIP reveal last night. Remember it is always the last day of the month! And this FRIDAY we are having a live chat with Vee Jennings! So stay tuned for more information.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

with a peek peek here

2009-03-31T15:54:00.000-07:00

and a peek peek there...

Here a peek:

There a peek:Everywhere a peek peek:

And yes I had wayyyy too much caffeine today!

This blogger has been a Bad Girl...

2009-03-31T11:19:00.000-07:00

Stupid pun TOTALLY intended there as well. Feel free to laugh at my dorkiness.

I can't believe that I can't find one piddly hour in the past week and a half to sit down and post something on this pathetic blog. BUT I am here for the next 5 mins so I will make it short and sweet.

Tonight is our fabulous VIP kit reveal at Bad Girls! These are always fun and if you haven't been to check one out, well you should.

Wendy has put up an amazing Prize Package this month.

Want to be eligible for this beauty? Here are the rules:

All Add On Kits are eligible for a ticket (excluding cardstock addon)

Eligible purchases must be made between the dates of 3/31/09-4/9/09.

You need not be a subscriber of Bad Girls Main Kit.

Auto Ship Customers are eligible and will receive their tickets automatically into the drawing.

Winner will be announced prior to 4/12/09.Prize package will be shipped with your April Kit Package.

So tonight at 9pm PST the fun begins HERE! And for you East Coast girls out there, Gina will be hosting a fun little something as well. Come hang out with us and find out what Bad Girls is all about :)

And don't forget to stop by my poor blog tomorrow if you want to see what I did with this month's kit. It was a killer one this month!

5 Faves Friday!

2009-03-20T09:01:00.000-07:00

I have been looking forward to 5 Faves Friday all week long. I bought a little notebook (that has a little pen attached to the side of it) to help me with those random ideas that pop into my head and it has helped a TON with keeping track of my 5 Faves list as the week goes on. I just run to my purse and jot down whatever pops into my head! Another thing that helped me out a bit was saving images as I found them on the internet. I found some doozies I tell ya.

So here is my list for this week:

#1. Dhani Jones Tackles the Globe- Prepare your eyes for a feast. This man is a beauty to behold. He could be reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica on air for all I care and I would sit and watch it. But luckily enough, his show was pretty interesting and he is downright beautiful!

#2. Sade Lovers Rock- Sade is one of those singers that you kinda forget about, ya know. Highly underrated and in my book she is one of the best female singers ever. Her voice can literally calm crying children. I would play Sade for Zoe when she was a crying, colicky baby. John likes to make mixed CD's and I ran across one in the car and lo and behold Sade was on there. If you find yourself stressed out today, go find yourself some Sade to listen to...trust me it will do the trick.

#3. Orla Kiely dishes at Target- I must have these dishes. MUST! They have pears on them and Orla Kiely is a design goddess. If you want to check out her clothing and purses etc...head to her website. You could spend hours just on the site alone!

#4. DryIcons.com-Found this site via flickr yesterday and if you love free vector files then you are in for a treat my friends. Head here!

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week-Webster's Pages Sweet as Cherry Pie line! Webster's is coming out with a mid-season release and it is beautiful. You need to head to the blog though to see it! I think this line is set to release in late April. So be on the look out :)

So there you have it. My 5 faves list. What are yours? If you have free time today, take a stroll thru all the other 5 faves posters, their links are in my sidebar.

Today the sun is shining, it is warm and it FINALLY feels like Spring. So I am going to take full advantage of it. I think I am going to grab my camera, go for a drive and go take some pics of all of the beautiful fruit trees in full bloom.

Have a Fabulous Day!

5 Faves Friday the 13th edition

2009-03-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

I think I am having deja vu...Haven't we already had a 5 Faves Friday the 13th this year? hmmm

So I am GOING to make a dang 5 Faves post on an actual FRIDAY whether I have to glue myself to this chair until it is posted or not!

Let's roll with it:

#1. Carne Asada at Los Dos- This is one of my all time favorite meals when we go out to eat at Los Dos. I have to have the carne asada. I wish I knew their secret because it is just soo dang tasty. I have tried several carne asada recipes trying to duplicate it and it wasn't EVEN close. And it is always nice to have a banana daiquiri to accompany it as well.

#2. Ben Harper- Ben makes an appearance in the CD collection in my car every few months. And each time I am reminded of how much I love him and his music. This guy has more talent in his little toe than most anyone PLUS he is GORGEOUS on top of it. He can serenade me ANY DAY!

#3. Seventh Generation Natural All Purpose Cleaner- There has been a bit of Spring Cleaning going on around our house lately and this cleaner has been a life saver. Works on just about any surface (the only thing that I don't like to use it on is my oven top, it left things a bit smeary looking ) but it works great on floors, counters, mirrors etc...without a nasty smell and it is non-toxic, biodegradable and vegetable based. Here is a link for some coupons at their site!

#4. Inside a Black Apple-Prepare to be inspired. Most of you probably have Emily bookmarked already BUT just in case some of you haven't, go check her blog out today :)

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week- I haven't touched a piece of paper for 2 weeks now, so I will share a link to a free and beautiful digital kit that I downloaded yesterday! The Sweet Springtime kit from Summertime Designs! I was blog hopping yesterday and ran across Summer and her beautiful work! I love the little birdies and the colors on this kit, so I had to download it!

So that is it for me! Do I get some kind of bonus for making it on time today?!?!

Now on to Booster Club duties. We are having our Annual Bingo Night at our school, so if you are in town and have nothing to do tonite, come on down and have some fun! 5:30-8:00 in the Fullerton IV gym! I need to go down and help set up.

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to say Hi today!

Worst Blogger EVER

2009-03-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

Do they have that award? If so, I am in the running for it. Once again I am 3 days late on the ol 5 Faves list. I am going to have to start writing them during the week or something so I can stay on top of it because Fridays are just getting way too hectic.

Here is my list though-

#1. The BEST snickerdoodle recipe EVER- John actually said and I quote "these cookies are absolutely incredible. They are some of the best I have ever had. How on earth did you make these?" Now that is quite the compliment coming from him ;)

So now I shall share with you the nugget of a treasure:

from allrecipes.com (of course)

Snickerdoodles II

INGREDIENTS

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the shortening and 1 1/2 cups of white sugar until smooth. Stir in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; stir into the batter until blended.
Roll the dough into balls the size of small walnuts. Roll in a mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned, but still soft.

#2. Big Love- This show is absolutely addicting. I can't believe that this season is already coming to an end, when it feels like it has just started. HBO just knows how to put together GOOD shows. Big Love has it all. It is sad, funny, quirky, STRANGE and somewhat creepy at times but the characters are believable and they make you feel like you know them. Good watching. Good watching.

#3. Paul Villinski butterfly art-I found a link to this man's incredible artwork today via the Modish blog (which has been listed as a previous 5 faves) and I find it STUNNING! I am an inspired woman today after leaving his site.

#4. House-hunting- I swear I was a real estate agent in a former life. I love looking at houses, whether it be online or going to open houses. We are on the look out for a larger home and are ready to leave our lil first home behind us. I have spent countless hours scouring the internet, driving thru neighborhoods, looking like some kind of freak I am sure...I am just hoping that the right house will come to us at the right time and when the time comes that we can unload this one LOL. But there is just something to be said about house-hunting.

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week- Little Dreamer Designs- I think I have had them already as a fave, I can't remember but....dang, I just love this place. Gonna get me THESE and these swirly brushes and I really like these overlays.

An apology to all of the other 5 Faves posters as I have not made my weekly rounds yet. But I am looking forward to it.

Enjoy your Monday everyone!

Bad Girls and Prima!

2009-03-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

Hey did you all see this post over at the Prima blog? Pretty sweet huh :)

I just wanted to invite you all to come to our chat with Sharon Laakkonen from Prima tomorrow night at 6pm PST! And what would a chat be without a giveaway? Sharon will be giving away this bad boy to one lucky chat attendee. So make sure if you do come to the chat, to say HI so you will be eligible! That is one heck of a giveaway prize huh!

I will leave you today with this little gem that Zoe left taped up on the wall for me:

I am your Angel

You are my Sunshine,

You are the best Sunshine

and I am the best Angel,

and nothing changes the difference.

What a kid!

March Madness

2009-03-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

It has already begun!! Eeeek. This week is going to be a killer of a week, I can just tell already LOL

Let's start the day off right with some beautiful Prima goodness in the form of the March Bad Girls Kit Windsor Court! I have to say I think this is my favorite kit that Wendy has put together, a tie between this month and last.

Here are the add ons:

I adore the Gossip Girl kit. The colors are phenomenal!

Here is my work this month with the Windsor Court kit:

Also today is Project 52 as well. Our newest Bad Girl design team member Suzanne has got a little treat in store for you!

I am sure I have more stuff to share with you but I must get my day off and started.
Happy Monday!

FFF

2009-02-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

Good Grief! My computer has had a death wish I swear. My stupid mouse went on the fritz and I am only NOW able to finish my post that I had almost done yesterday LOL. So really these were on time, I swear!

So let's get down to business shall we?

#1. Eastbound and Down- The newest comedy addition to HBO is freakin HILARIOUS. You know any show that has Will Ferrell and Adam McKay as exec. producers is going to be golden. PLUS mullets galore. Between that and the crazy benders and obscenties flying out of Kenny Powers mouth, this show was meant for me.

#2. Metallica "Sad But True"- You know those songs that you hear and you are instantly sucked back in time, Sad But True does it for me. I heard it when I was picking Zoe girl up from school the other day and instantly I was transported to 1995, inside a tiny red Sprint, driving around town with my best friend Jamie, pissed off at the world. GOOD TIMES GOOD TIMES, huh Jame!

#3. Dry Soda Co.- Prepare your mouth for a whole new experience! With soda flavors such as vanilla bean, juniper berry, lavender (my fave!), lemongrass, kumquat and rhubarb...your tongue will surely thank you for trying it! Now picture a splash of lavender soda with a few fingers of vanilla vodka and a sprig of dried lavender as a garnish...and you have one of my sisters and my favorite drinks! Here are a few recipes I found off their site:

DRY Sunset

3 oz. Vanilla Bean DRY Soda

2 oz. vodka

1 oz. orange juice

1 oz. cranberry juice

Serve: bucket

Garnish: orange wedge
Half-fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, orange juice, cranberry juice and shake well
Strain and pour over ice into glass
Add DRY Soda, stir and garnish

Twisted Coffee

3 oz. Vanilla Bean DRY Soda

1 oz. Irish Whisky

1 oz. Irish Cream

1 oz. Kahlua

Serve: chimney glass

Garnish: sugar rim

Half-fill a cocktail shaker with ice
Add whisky, Irish Cream and Kahlua and shake well
Strain mixture into prepared chimney glass over ice, add Vanilla Bean DRY and stir.

California Lavender

1 1/2 oz. Raspberry Vodka

3/4 oz. Chambord

1/4 oz. Lime Juice

5 oz. Lavender DRY Soda

Serve: Bucket

Garnish: Fresh Raspberries

Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice
Add raspberry vodka, Chambord and lime juice. Shake well.
Place raspberries and ice in glass. Add mixture from shaker.
Top with Lavender DRY Soda and stir gently.

#4. Obsidian Dawn, Dafont.com, Jason Gaylor and DeviantArt- If you are looking for some awesome photoshop brushes and/or fonts. These are my go to places. LOVE them all. Have yourself some fun doing some downloading today!!

#5. My Scrappy Fave of the Week- Prima cardboard! OMG this stuff if FANTASTIC. I love using cardboard in my scrapbooking and the fact that these beauties are printed makes it all the better!

Also I would like to extend an official invitation to the Bad Girls VIP kit reveal party. Swing on over to the VIP forum at 9pm PST to come chat with us, play some fun games and talk all things scrappy ;) Our kits go live at 10pm PST and I just put together the images. So I have seen the valley people and it is good!

Have a great weekend. I am going to go nosh on some Girl Scout Samosas. I am thinking those are going to be on my 5 fave list next week ;)

and yet another week has gone by

2009-02-26T10:35:00.001-08:00

And my poor blog has been ignored.

This has been one roller coaster of a week here in our household.

I thought I would pop in and say hi and post a few little sneakies of the March Bad Girls kit! This one is sure to please! I think this is my favorite so far.

If you like what you see ;) we are having our VIP kit reveal Feb 28th at 9pm PST in our new VIP forum. I have some fun games planned and we had a blast last month. So if for nothing else, put on your cutest shoes, grab a drink and come hang out and chat!

I hope this Thursday finds you all doing well. Have a fabulous day and tomorrow.... 5 Faves Friday Baby!

FFF...with a twist

2009-02-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

of lemon that is. Girls nite out tonite! I am feeling a good martini headed my way. Gonna go with my Mom and sisters to have some good drinks. BUT FIRST....

my 5 Faves:

#1. PBS- Thank God for PBS. It serves you well when you are 2-8 and watch Sesame Street and Electric Company...then for about 20 years you don't watch it LOL then when you are 30 you come full circle and love it again! I tivo at least 3 shows a week off of PBS. This week my favorite was Cezanne in Provence. I have a soft spot for Cezanne and am just moved by his work.

#2. This scrapbook room- I can't remember where I even found this pic or whose room it is ...I am thinking it was off Modish but am not positive. But I want to duplicate this wall!

#3. Sew Hip by Shannon Mulden- I got this idea book from C&T Publishing. It is just jam packed with all sorts of cute sewing projects that should be just right for a newb like me. I am really wanting to make some cute belts and a hand bag!

#4. Little Window Shop- One stop spot for any crafty being. First off the design of the site is ADORABLE, I love the colors and the easy navigation. It has everything from crafts, and recipes and etsy highlights... I love it and it is quickly becoming one of my every day haunts.

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week- Now this isn't actually a scrapbooking something persay but check out this hot etsy site UMECRAFTS and tell me if her felt work is not some of the cutest and well put together felty goodness ever! Now they are just patterns, which is kinda a bummer because I know I could NEVER get mine to look this good. But there is no denying her talent! I can totally see using some of her patterns in altered art.

Ok so that is what I have for ya folks. The postman did NOT drop off my Bad Girls package so I must wait another stinkin day. UGH. I am NOT a patient person. Have a fabulous Friday!

oh you poor poor blog you

2009-02-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, my blog feels lonely and abandoned. I have not been treating it well this week I must admit. So very busy the past few days plus both Zoe and I have had some stupid virus that is trying to kill the both of us off. I do have lots of updates to make such as....

The NEW Bad Girls Design Team Announcement! Congrats to our all new design team :)

Which leads me to ANOTHER announcement of being named the newest Bad Girl Design Team Coordinator alongside Jeni Boisvert :)

Let's see what else....the new Webster's Pages CHA release should be on its sweet little way here, so I am excited to see it in person and perhaps share the wealth ;) Always fun to have a little giveaway right?

My Friday Faves are EVER so Late...but no time like the present right???

How about

#1. Twin Peaks-Seriously, I could devote an entire blog post just to this show. I love David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive) and think the man is a quirky genius. I was 13 years old at the time and of course was too young to watch or even understand it if I did. But I remember it always being on at my friends house and listening to her mom and friends talking about it all the time. Fast forward 10 years...I am 23 and a stay at home mom and John borrows the tapes from some friends and I am instantly hooked. I watched Twin Peaks on a constant loop for a week straight watching EVERY single episode. Fast forward another 7 years and to my surprise I found it on TV again...and you guessed it, I am addicted yet once more.

Who killed Laura Palmer? ;)

#2. Culinary Circle Thin Crust Supreme Pizza- I picked one up the other day at Albertson's because they had them on sale for buy one get one free and I can not believe how tasty these suckers are. Roasted peppers, onions, sausage and pepperoni....what isn't there to love. Try one next time you go to the store!

#3. Vh1 reality shows- Tool Academy, the name alone is fantastic. Being tool is one of my favorite words and we use it in this household all the time. So it pays off just to watch all the drama so you can get to the very end and hear "I am sorry, you are just a complete tool!". Also Rock of Love, what a guilty pleasure this show is. I laugh, cringe and half gag every episode but dang is it ever entertaining!

#4. Large boxes of heart shaped chocolates: what is Valentine's Day without a HUGE box or two of chocolates? I managed to get one heart shaped box and a box of turtles. YUMMO! I love any of the ones that have the fruit cream in the middle like the orange and the strawberry. I just may have to go get one right now!

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week-I haven't scrapped all week long, but I do have a little soft spot in my heart for the new October Afternoon Cherry Hill Collection. Those papers are just adorable.

Ok so I think that is all for now. Tons more work around the house to finish today. Stop by and say Hi though :) Let me know you are still out there!

Five Faves Friday already??!

2009-02-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I can't believe it is Friday already. Last week went by at a turtles pace and this week is already over with? WTH!

I am going to be struggling for 5 things this week so we may have a few good things and a few bad things LOL. I am just rolling with it as I am TOTALLY unprepared! Let's see what happens shall we....

#1. American Idol- I think I totally overlooked it the past 2 weeks. I love AI, especially in the beginning stages when they show all the crappy people. That is the best part! And what is up with bikini girl? Thank god she got the boot!

#2. Super Bowl-I love the Super Bowl. I love the awesome excuse to pig out and eat whatever crappy junk food you can come up with. Little Smokies are a MUST HAVE. And if they are cheddar smokies that is even better. I was rooting for either team, so it didn't matter who won or lost. This years game was fun and exciting as well. Just when you thought it was over with, NOPE....something else would happen.

#3. Miss Jeni Boisvert- I love this girl and she has been my gal pal for the past few weeks and helped talk me down from ledges and been an all around amazing cra(x)y friend! Love ya J!

#4. Jenn Ski's blog- I can't remember if I have shared this one yet or not. I have got to get some kind of FFF tagging system going. LOL But anywhoo Jenn is amazing and she posts Friday Freebies on her blog. So if you haven't gone over there...well you better. You will love it, I promise ;)

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week- Pink Paislee. I have been working closely with Rebecca this past week trying to arrange the chat with BAD GIRLS today at 1pm PST, and Rebecca has been so accommodating and helpful. So not only do her products rock but she does as well! Make sure to come by and chat it up with us today and ask her whatever burning questions are on your mind. This is the awesome prize she so generously donated:

So there is my lame and boring post. Sorry people! I am still trying to wake up and I have even had 2 huge cups of coffee already. Time to go make some more I guess.

Have a wonderful weekend!

When Bad Girls and Pink Collide

2009-02-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

What happens when Bad Girls and Pink Paislee collide?
Well you get this fun post over at the Pink Paislee blog AND you get a CHAT with the owner!

Bad Girls Kits is going to be a having a chat with the fabulous Rebecca Cross, owner of Pink Paislee. She is such a fun and vibrant person and this is your chance to tap into the mind of one of the hottest companies out there right now! AND Rebecca has been kind enough to put up a Pink Paislee Prize Package for one lucky chatter.

The chat is at Bad Girls Kits, FRIDAY the 5th (tomorrow!!!) at 1pm PST! So get out your time conversions tables folks.

Friday 1pm PST, Bad Girls Kits....BE THERE :)

Who wants to play Hopscotch?

2009-02-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

Double Dutch Hopscotch is the fun name of this months Bad Girls Kit! And the kit is EVERY bit as fun as its name. Loaded with all kinds of Pink Paislee goodies and some fun ribbons and papers from We R Memory Keepers, this was my favorite kit to play with so far. Bright, cheery and fun.

This is how I used the kit this month:

And being that it is Monday again, it is time for Project 52 at Bad Girls and this week it is MY week! I made a butterfly dream catcher, come check it out, let me know what you think! Make sure to leave a comment to be entered in our drawing for a fabulous Making Memories LoveNotes give away!

Before I go, I have to say CONGRATS to our DT member Jen Matott and her family for having their beautiful baby boy this past weekend. He is just a doll!

Have a Great Monday all. I have got some major work to do now :)

V.I.P.

2009-01-31T19:33:00.000-08:00

Tonite we are having an impromptu kit reveal in the all new Bad Girls VIP lounge! Grab your drink of choice (mine tonight will be a wonderful Pinot Noir) and come chat it up with us starting at 9pm PST in the VIP lounge. Our kits go live at 10pm AND if you buy an addon kit (excluding cardstock add on) you will be entered in for a drawing for a FABULOUS Making Memories prize valued at over $125! Wanna see this bad boy?
Awesome huh! Ok so you know what to do. Get your drink, come chat it up, do some shopping if you feel so inclined ;)
Hope to see ya there!

FFF

2009-01-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

Before I start of my 5 faves list today, I have to share a little story written by none other than Miss Zoe herself. Our conversation prior to her "novel" went a little something like this.

Z- "Mom, I am going to be a writer just like Nora Roberts, you know her right?"
Me- "umm yes I know her, but what the heck do YOU think you know about Nora Roberts my dear?"
Z- "Well she is a writer AND her favorite color is PINK!"
Me (rolling my eyes)- "Now how on earth do you know her favorite color is pink?"
Z- "It just is MOM! and I want to write books just like her"
Me- "ohhh because you have read soo many of them right"
Z- "well you wont let me because they have bad words in them, but when I get older I am going to write books and they are going to have bad words in them too!"

At this point I just give up. There is no winning here. So without further adieu or editing, I give to you........
Tittle: BLOOD CASTLE (written in squiggly scary handwriting of course)
By Zoe
Rated R
Illistrated by Zoe

Dedication- To my mom who taught me to write and read and do math. She loves books!

One day Sara Robertsons lay in bed. She had a bad dream, not even a dream...a NIGHTMARE.
She did NOT(underlined 3 times!) come out of her dream. She was in Blood Castle!

She found dust all over the cielings and doors and hallways. Spiderwebs were on walls. Then mist and darkness came.

Blood Vain who was bad, took the girl into the dundeon (dungeon). As the went further, the more the light went away. Blood Vain locked Sara Robertsons in a gloomy dungeon with bars most like a jail.

The End!

What can I say to that? My kid is HILARIOUS.

Now a segue into my 5 faves:

I have 2 lists today

First my 5 faves from CHA:
#1. PRIMA PRIMA holy heck PRIMA- I have to say their releases were the BEST. While I am not wild about some of the papers, the embellishments they added this release are nothing short of spectacular. I can't list all of my faves from them but the Artistry Tins, the Flirty Little Secret line, Artful Cardboard and Donna Downey's fabric are all at the top of the list for me. And I just remembered, Wendy has some of the new DD fabric in the store right now! CHECK IT OUT!

#2. Pink Paislee-I love their new Enchanting line and the new accessories they have added to the mix. The new sticker books are at the top of my list of must haves.

#3. pictures of the Graphic 45 booth- WOW! Did they ever do an outstanding job. Their booth looks like a store I would want to shop in. And wouldn't you know, I just went over to their site and they WON Best in Show! Well deserved! Check out the photos here.

#4. Tattered Angels- I really like the look of their new Glimmer Glass. I would love to try it out!

#5. The Making Memories blog party- Making Memories throws THE BEST blog party during CHA. It is always a ton of fun, they are so generous with their giveaways and there is ALWAYS something going on. So THANK YOU Making Memories for giving those of us stuck at home something to do and a way to feel involved.

2nd list-
#1. Man vs. Wild- Bear Grylls visited none other than OREGON! Who woulda thought? He was dropped off in Hell's Canyon, which I have never been to. So it was kinda cool to see that part of Oregon. The episode had the usual eating of a rotten deer carcass and all around insanity, but was pretty cool to watch. Plus he is EASY on the eyes, if you know what I mean ;)

#2. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella- This is the first book of hers that I have read. And just like I knew I would, I LOVED it. The book was funny and quirky and I can't wait to get a hold on the Confessions of a Shopoholic series :)

#3. Fat Tire beer- I can't remember if I have already listed Fat Tire as a favorite but if I have then it must REALLY be one of mine LOL. A fantastic amber ale and when you add a little slice of orange, ahhhh it is pure heaven in a bottle, or glass as I drink it.

#4. yahoo radio- seriously where on earth have I been that I have not been listening to this while I am on the computer?!??! My favorites are the 80's rock, 90's alternative and every once in a while for a good laugh I hit the Power Ballads!

#5. kirin notebook blog- love the clean design she has going on over there. Great highlights and funny writing. check it out :)

Ok so my mile and half long post has come to a close. Have a fabulous and safe weekend and as always, if you posted a list today let us know! Still on the fence about participating in 5 Faves? TODAY is the day, try it out. You can do it! Think of 5 things that you loved this week or heck it could be 5 things you hated, but try it on for size. I think you will like what you see ;)

Must wake up...Need more coffee!

2009-01-28T09:50:00.000-08:00

Geeeez, what is it with me and mornings? We have got to work on building a better relationship because this is just PATHETIC!

Well the Webster's Pages chat went well last night. Thanks to all of you who showed up. I was bummed I didn't get to stay and chat longer than I did, but duty and naproxen called. My head STILL hurts today. Tammy Kay was our winner in our quarterly drawing! So congrats to her. She does wonders with Webster's products. Well pretty much anything she touches is gold!

Here are a few layouts I made yesterday as well as a little birdie courtesy of Maya Road. They were kind enough to send the Webster's team some fun new books to play with! So a huge THANK you to Maya Road!

First up: Beautiful Birdie

This bird was part of a Maya Road acrylic birdie album but I had to take him off and do a little something special with just him. I covered him with some Hello! Beautiful paper. Drew and cut out the wing and then lined it with some fabulous Websters trim to mimic feathers. Then added some hand cut work, button eyes, and some more trim for a hanger.

How cute are these pictures of my Mom in her baby buggy. They are small I know, but not much can be done about that. She looks all cute and chubby. I used the Hello! Beautiful line again on this layout and added some Webster's trim as well.

So can you tell I am into heritage photos right now? Webster's paper is just too perfect for them! Here is my Grandma and her friends all dressed up in their furs. I have no idea where they were going or what they were doing but Gram wrote a little message on the back saying that something must have been really funny but she couldn't remember what it was.

So there is Hello! Beautiful for ya! Perfect for Valentine's Day projects as well ;)

And before I leave...How about a couple of peeks at this month's Bad Girl kit? It is glittery, girly and FUN! True Bad Girl form.

Also there is about 2 weeks left on the Bad Girls Design Team call if you are interested at applying! Get your info HERE.

Have a great Wednesday!

Sooo whatcha doing tonite?

2009-01-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

If you need something fun to do, Here is your official invite to the Webster's Pages chat at inspireME! We are having a fun little party over there tonite and if you want to win some of the brand new and gorgeous goods that Webster's debuted at CHA this week, than you had better be there.

Here's the details:

Time- 6pm PST
Place- inspireME simply click on the chat link located at the top of the page
Grab a drink and some chocolate and you had better do a few finger exercises as well because it goes FAST!!

So I hope to see you all there :)

Come check this out!!!

2009-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

Are you sulking? Feeling sorry for yourself that you are not at CHA having a blast with everyone else?? Well so am I....
So I decided to have a little fun while my boss Carrie from Paper Trunk is having a time with some of the Paper Trunk girls down in sunny CA!

Come check out the blog if you want some goodie treats!

Happy Monday!

2009-01-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

As I down my 2nd cup of coffee and try to ignore this pounding 3 day long headache I have had, I try to think that it is CHA week, time to be HAPPY! I have been scouring online looking for CHA show photos, so far www.lifetimemoments.com is the only place I can find anything. So head there if you want to take a peek at the few photos they have up!

Since it is Monday, it also means that it is Project 52 day as well! Today's project is brought to you by Jeni Boisvert. She thought of something really fun and inspiring. So head on over to check it out and leave a comment to be entered for a drawing!

Now I have some work to do but I will be back later with some goods!

you know what day it is....

2009-01-23T09:42:00.000-08:00

5 Faves Friday! And guess what...we have a few new people playing along today so make sure to stop by their blogs to check out their lists. Please welcome: Gina, Pamela P. and Gine.

Are you new to 5 Faves Friday and want to be added to the sidebar, just holler :)

So on to my list for today:

#1. American Masters with Bob Newhart on PBS- so this week I haven't done much but scrap and watch TV, really exciting I know...I watched this show on Bob Newhart last night and it was fantastic. I remember as a kid having Bob Newhart on in the background and wishing that he was my Grandpa for some reason. Not old enough to understand how funny he really was, I now wish that someone would put the show on syndication. People had nothing but kind things to say about him.

#2. Annie Lennox- John had told me several weeks ago that he saw Annie Lennox on T.V. and that she gave such an incredible performance and that I had to keep my eyes peeled out for it so I could see it. Well we ran across it and it was every bit as good as he said it was. One woman, her voice and a piano. The entire auditorium was in a reverent hush, captivated by the power of her voice. She is one of those performers that you can NOT take your eyes off of and there is no way that you are going to be able to avoid having a tear slip down your cheek. She is just that damn good. Ohhh and I can't go without saying the woman is a powerful writer:

Why can't you see this boat is sinking
(This boat is sinking this boat is sinking)
Let's go down to the water's edge
And we can cast away those doubts
Some things are better left unsaid
But they still turn me inside out
Turning inside out turning inside out

#3. A little feast for the eyes and ears in the form of Lenny Kravitz- Short hair, long hair, NO hair....doesn't matter this man is BEAUTIFUL.

#4. Elle's Studio: It has been so fun watching how she has just caught on fire and how fast her business is growing. What amazing talent. And her blog is hopping with fun this week, so you better check it out. Free giveaways and downloads, all kinds of good!

#5. Scrappy Fave of the week- CHA baby!! the sneaks, the beautiful new products, the madness. There isn't anything quite like CHA week. Even for those of us who remain at home instead of being able to help out at the show, there is something for everybody to participate in! So for those going to CHA, good luck and have a blast. And for those of us here: we can make it! I know we can :)

So there is my list for today! Make sure to take the tour of 5 Faves blogs and say hello!

Coming up in the next few days: goodies from Paper Trunk, a chat at inspireME and I may have to put a little giveaway together as well with some all new goodies ;) You know, share the wealth!

Have a fabulous weekend!

introducing Project 52!

2009-01-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

It is finally here, the launch of Project 52 at Bad Girls. A combined brain child of Tracie Hudson, Jeni Boisvert and Wendy Rago, Project 52 is a new blog meant to inspire you creatively. Here is some of what Wendy has to say about Project 52: "Welcome to Project 52!
Or should I have said…welcome to a whole new world of art? Because that is what you are in store for here week after week as the BAD GIRL DESIGNERS and I tantalize your senses with lots of gorgeous artistic creations that will enable you to unleash the hidden artist in you. Make no mistake…we will push the envelope…we will help you to rethink….to reinvent art…to tear it down to its bare bones, to analyze it, but most of all to set your soul free and learn how to enjoy the process…that is what art is all about. This is not a challenge Blog….this is a Teaching Blog…an Inspiration Blog if you will…and we do wholeheartedly encourage you to be inspired and then to create your own inspiration and share it with us….
My goal with Project 52 is not only to help you to be inspired, but also to help you learn how to unleash your fear. Most of the barriers that hold us back from being the best artist we can stems from that nasty little critic inside of you that taunts you every time you sit down to create….do you know who I am talking about??? The evil little voice that always convinces you that “you suck”….”just give up…you can’t create art”……”that doesn’t look good, maybe a different color would be better”….”you know you can’t work with that medium…give it up”…”what the heck are you thinking??? Are you crazy??? You can’t mix those elements and colors together” and the banter goes on and on until your soul is worn out and you truly throw in the towel….no mojo…and you stop creating….or if you keep creating, you feel unsatisfied and your art is lacking from what you truly want it to be…and why??? Because you shut down…because you are not creating from the depths of your soul….you are listening to the critic and he is winning the game. It’s time to make a change….and that is what Project 52 is here for…so roll up your sleeves and get ready to create…

So if this sounds like something you would love to check out, head on over to PROJECT 52!

Five Fave Fridays and some CHA sneaks

2009-01-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

well it is that time again already. I am going to make a super quickie list because I am running out of time here today here we go:

#1. Wedding Singer- Love this movie! One of my faves and no matter how many times I watch it, it never gets old. Ever!

#2. American Idol- is back on yeahhhh! One of my guilty pleasure shows and yes I think Simon is HOT!

#3. shepherd's pie- the perfect comfort food. Of course I made it and noone but me ate it. The ongoing story here at my house.

#4. Millstone Vanilla coffee- I have had a pot a day, every day for a week now. Keep in mind my coffee maker only makes a few cups of coffee though. So I am not THAT bad now.

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week- It's CHA sneak peek week. I LOVE this time of year. So much fun to see all the new products coming out. And with that I have my few peeks to share with you.

Earlier this week Paper Trunk posted a few small peeks at scrapbook.com. Carrie has been working so hard the past few months and has 2 new paper lines and finally her cute alphas!

Last night Webster's Pages posted their sneak peeks at our 2 new lines plus new alphas, diecuts, vellum overlays and trims. Make sure to stop by the inspireME site to leave a comment and be eligible to win some new goods! Also we will be having a LIVE CHAT at inspireME Jan 27th at 6 PST. So be looking for more details later on.

sorry so short and sweet today but I must be moving on. Booster Club calls ;)

Bad Girls...Bad Girls....whatcha gonna do?

2009-01-15T09:25:00.001-08:00

When Tim Holtz gives a shout out to you! This month the Jan Main Bad Girls kit contained a package of some Tim Holtz grungeboard and the girls went to town on this stuff. Really if you haven't seen Jeni's AMAZING grungeboard book, well you HAVE to go check it out. It really is incredible. Well BG's somehow managed to capture the eye of a certain Tim Holtz who was kind enough to post a little BG lovin on his blog. Pretty cool huh :)

That isn't all the Bad Girls news though. Yesterday also started the launch of our 2009 Design Team Search! Wendy is looking to add a few new design team members to the group. The call is open from January 14th to February 11th at midnight PST. You can find all the details HERE!

We will also be launching the Bad Girls Project 52 blog very shortly! So keep an eye out for those details. Wendy has something pretty incredible up her sleeve.

So now I bid thee farewell as I must hop in the shower so I can go scrapbook with my friend Pammy Mac!

Five Fave Fridays Baby!!!

2009-01-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well my 5 Faves post is coming up a bit early because tomorrow I am busy with some Booster Club madness ;) I get to pass ice cream out to cutie Kinders and 1st graders tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it.

So this week has been a busy, stress filled but fun one. I think I have compiled a pretty fun list of faves. So here are the things that rocked my week.

#1. Independent Lens "Helvetica"-WOW! This show totally had me enraptured. I sat there with a pen and paper and was literally taking notes. Talk about inspiring people. As much as I love hand journaling on my layouts because I feel it adds a personal touch to the pages, man I love typography. And if you are into typography then this show on PBS is a MUST WATCH. The whole show was dedicated to the Helvetica font, its derivation, its frequency in its use, etc... The show had on all kinds of marvelous designers (who if I had ever gone to art or design school would have known I am sure LOL) but two designers and their quotes really captured my attention:

Massimo Vignelli- "The life of a designer is a life of fight, fight against the ugliness, just like a Dr. fights disease. For us the visual disease is what we have around us and what we try to do is to cure it somehow with design."

" A good typographer always has sensitivity about the distance between letters. We think typography is black and white. Typography is really white. It is not even black. It is the SPACE between the blacks that really makes it. In a sense it is like music, it's not the notes, it's the space you put between the notes that make the music."

Wim Crouwel- Wim uses a grid in creating his typography and seeing him use it was eye opening. He said " I am always interested in clarity (in typography). It should be clear, it should be readable, it should be straight forward...For me it is a tool of creating order and creating order is typography. The meaning is in the context of the text, not in the typeface."

Now both of these men are modernists in design. Clean, straightforward, simple. The show also featured designers who thought the Helvetica font was basically of the devil. Boring, out of date, constricting. Hell just watch it and be marveled for yourself. I can only sing its praises so much LOL

#2. Simon Pegg- Dude, I love this man! He is HILARIOUS. John and I watched Shaun of the Dead for about the 20th time this weekend and every time we watch it, we find little tidbits that we missed the time before. He is kinda cute in his own dorky way. But most of all he is smart, witty and hilarious as all get out. Other movies by him that you have to watch are Hot Fuzz and Run Fat Boy Run.

#3. Deschutes Brewery Obsidian Stout- I am actually drinking one at this very moment. Super dark, creamy and just down right delicious....this is one of my favorite beers. Now if I could only find someone who will drink it with me LOL. And hey, I just found out via the website that this beer won World's Best Stout at the 2007 World Beer Awards plus 23 others...so I am not entirely cra(x)y!

And in the words of Homer Simpson "mmmm...beer.....ahhhhhhhh"

#4. Counting Crows "August and Everything After"- This album is fantastic. So beautifully written and sung and performed that it will bring tears to your eyes. Round Here is such an amazing song that it gives me chills every time I hear it.

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week- Well, I am tied between Somerset Studios magazine and The Dares book. I have been reading both of them on and off all week long and absorbing everything they have to offer. Somerset (any and all) of their magazines are works of art in their own rights and The Dares book has made me want to get a little more funky and primitive with my scrapbooking.

And from inspiration from both of those publications, I tried my hand at the Prima's Build-A-Page challenge for January. Here is the sketch if you would like to take a crack at it too:

Here is my take on it. I tweaked it a little bit to suit my design but the general idea is still there. I used bubble wrap as a stamp on my background. I used a Prima flower bottle cap as a "stamp" by putting brown paint on it and stamping on my background to mimic a coffee cup stain. Then I followed the basic design of the sketch and journaled about how I was feeling crappy about my style and skills as a scrapbook designer one day. I bought a Starbucks one particular day while I was feeling especially awful and I happened to look at the quote on the cup and it said the exact words that I needed to hear. Stupid and lame I know, but it was just the right words at the right time, ya know!

So there you have it. My 5 Faves of the Week. What are yours? If you are new to 5 Faves and want to be added to the official sidebar let me know. Half the fun is reading everyone else's 5 Faves.

Have a great day all!

Wake me up....

2009-01-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

Before you go-go. Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo...

For the love of all that is holy someone come smack me in the face and help me wake up. UGH. I have had a pot of coffee and am still not fully awake. You know my relationships with mornings by now.

Well last night was the reveal of the January Bad Girls Kit Ma Petit Masion.

This kit features goodies from Webster's Pages, Jenni Bowlin and Making Memories. Here is what I made with the kit this month.

My annual year in review layout. I followed my same design as last year. I just love this Jenni Bowlin diecut paper. Or any die cut paper I guess I should say.

Zoe sure has grown in 3 years. I found these pics on my computer a few weeks ago and thought how cute and adorable she looks. A tiny, chubbier version of her now 7 1/2 year old self. Webster's Pages paper meets Tim Holtz Grungeboard on this layout. Ohh and I snuck some new Webster's trim in there as well!

Wendy challenged the designers to do a layout about resolutions. I used a combination of Making Memories paper, a trimmed out edge from the Jenni Bowlin diecut paper and I love that Daisy D's hinge. Been a long time since I used one of those!

My last layout is a tribute to my Aunt Claudette. She passed away several years ago from brain cancer and I try to make a layout every year in her honor. The Webster's Pages paper was absolutely perfect for this picture and for the feeling I wanted to convey in this layout.

And last but not least is my little birdie ornament. I bought a little nest for 1.00 at M's and then added some Spanish Moss and the ribbon included in this months kit to make a nice little home for him. For the bird himself, I simply painted him with a mixture of glitter mod podge and some Pearl Ex pigment. When he was dry I added some Basic Grey rub ons.

So there are my goods for January. But wait........what is this I see?

Hmmmm. I wonder what this could be all about?!!? Stay tuned to see what Miss Wendy and Bad Girls has up their sleeve!

Five Fave Fridays New Year Edition!!!

2009-01-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

2009! Holy Cow. Can you all believe that? Seems that just yesterday the world was up in arms over the fact that the world would end in Y2K LOL. If I was an organized type of person, I would have tabs on how many Five Fave Fridays posts I have made, but well I am not. I have to say that FFF has been such a fun ride to be on and I am glad to have a few friends who have joined the ride with me! So Cheers to 2009 and a WHOLE YEAR of 5 Fave Fridays!

Up first in my 2009 edition:

#1. Christmas fun- Ok now bear with me and my HORRID photos! Zoe woke up somewhere in the 4 oclock area and I was mostly asleep, my flash wasn't working and everything happened sooo dang fast. I figured really awful pictures are better than none at all. But watching her unwrap her ipod for Christmas and the look of shock on her face was fun. Every year she has something that makes her do the "Happy Dance" and the ipod was the clear winner there.

Before:

After:

Another awesome Chrismas moment was watching my sister cry as she looked at the scrapbook album I made for her for her present. Now THAT is the reaction I love from a homemade gift.

For Christmas I got to go to my first NBA game! Blazers vs. my team the Suns! Now this may sound like kinda a lame present to some of you, but I can't even begin to explain just how much fun it really was. We scored some awesome seats (row 12!) and we were right behind the Suns bench, so I got to see my fave Steve Nash up close. No one could have fully prepared me for how stunned and shocked I was going to be. I can't wait to go again. I am hoping to get to see LeBron in action this time round ;)

#2. Watching movies at home with the fam- With everyone being on vacation in this household, we got a LOT of movie watching in. There is just something so enjoyable about cuddling up on the couch with the fam and just relaxing.

#3. Lean Cuisine Enchilada Suiza- My friend Jamie turned me on to those. Zoe and I went to visit her and her lil pumkin for Christmas and she said that the enchiladas were awesome. So I picked one up at Alby's the other day and I have to agree. They were packed with flavor and quite a bit of food too, I couldn't finish the whole thing.

#4. Tale of Despereaux- THE BOOK, not so much the movie. Auntie Sasha got Zoe the book for Christmas and we have been reading it ever since. I have to say that I enjoy the book a lot more than I did the movie. The movie, while beautifully animated, it really was, just didn't capture my attention like the book has. What a fun story and Kate DiCamillo is a WONDERFUL writer. WOW!

#5. Scrappy Fave of the Week- The Pink Paislee DT Announcement- I was so shocked and excited to see my name on the GDT list. And am even more thrilled to be sharing a spot alongside some great friends and designers such as Leslie, Kimberly and Jolene! I really love this company and the people behind it and am honored to get to share in the fun.

So there we have it, the first 5 Fave Friday of 2009. May it be a fun and blessed year!

A super quicky peek for ya

2008-12-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

Before the Holiday craziness begins. I wanted to throw out a quick peek at the Bad Girls January kit. This kit is FANTASTIC. If you are a lover of the color green like I am...then you are in luck this month.

Reveal date for the Jan kit is Jan 5th. So mark your 2009 calendars ;)

Have a great Sunday all!