Hello Pencil Lines!

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

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 ;)

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.....

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!!!

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

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!

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!