Hello!

I haven't been up to writing much lately.  I am still recovering from foot surgery and it has been more painful than expected.  I had surgery to relieve the plantar fascia and remove bone spurs on the heel.  The plantar fascia apparently wasn't as bad as they had thought but the bone spurs were worse, so it is tough to walk.  But every day it gets better.

I am excited to start the new session of Finding Photo Freedom (Library of Memories) over at Big Picture Classes today. I have been taking the class since 2008 and each year since as an alumni. Each year the refresher is good to help me evaluate my system and tweak where necessary.  I am looking forward to this as my summer project.

I haven't been scrapping much lately, but I have a huge backlog of things I haven't shared.  I played along in the Studio Calico National Scrapbook Day celebration and finished 8 layouts that week from their challenges.

This one with my mom is my personal favorite....

Hoping to get back into a regular blogging schedule, so I hope this is my fresh start. Happy Thursday!

Back from CKC Mesa & ScrapTiffany Blog Hop Winner

The winner of my drawing from last weeks ScrapTiffany blog hop is posted below. I got back from the best CKC scrapbook convention ever Saturday night. The rest of the weekend was super busy too....

Sunday we took the boys to the Garden Railroad Train Tour and came home to have my computer crash on me, Mike had to take it to Best Buy to get it fixed for me.

I had Monday off of work, so after Nicholas got out school we went to see the Easter Bunny (Jackson would not go near him)

We dyed Easter Eggs in the afternoon...

It was a great long weekend, that ended with Nicholas waking up in the middle of the night Monday with the stomach flu, and me feeling sick too. But all in all it was a great weekend, and I think Nicholas was already feeling better this evening.

Here's a quick recap of the convention.  I will have a full review of my classes after I finish up my projects in the next couple of weeks.

This year's convention was....

Having 2 fun filled days with 2 fabulous friends (and another in spirit, who was home with her sick baby)....

Taking 8 awesome classes with 5 fabulous teachers, making 16 fun layouts, a mini book and 2 cards that I love....

Meeting 3 superstar Studio Calico girls (Lorie, Nicole H and Kelly Purkey)....

Receiving a few great giveaways....

Shopping....lots and lots of shopping....

Here is a recap of my shopping finds

Just when I thought I had all the Studio Calico goodness I could ever need....(okay I didn't really think that)....I of course did some stocking up at the SC booth.

A great deal found on a Slice cartridge, an awesome Fancy Pants book for altering, the one Distress Ink color I did not own....

Some new Basic Grey. A cute Easter altered project

And some Glitz Design goodies those brown woodgrain mini letters that I had been coveting, circle stamps I was drooling over, and my favorite Glitz line ever....

I have been going to the CKC Mesa show for years, and this was definitely the best all around show. The vendor fair was awesome, there was a good selection of shopping and a much improved selection of newer products. The classes we took had awesome teachers and great layouts that we loved.

And finally, I have drawn a winner from last week's ScrapTiffany blog hop.

True Random Number Generator

Result:

7Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 Mary Ellyn said...

Cute idea

April 13, 2011 6:38 AM

Congrats Mary Ellen!  I came home with some scrappy goodness including some Studio Calico, Basic Grey, and more. I sent you an e-mail so you can claim your goodies.

A ScrapTiffany Challenge and More Layouts to Share

Happy March to you! In Arizona that means one thing…..Spring Training baseball.  Mike and I grew up Angels fans, and when we moved from California to Arizona one thing he didn’t like was that we couldn’t go to Angel’s games anymore.  But, we have the next best thing here, Spring Training.  Tempe Stadium is a great place to see a game, especially when you have little ones. The big grassy area is perfect for lounging and watching the games. And of course we are raising our boys right….Angels babies!

So what better way to meet today’s ScrapTiffany Sports Challenge than to celebrate our Angel’s and Spring Training Baseball…..

Head on over to ScrapTiffany and check out the other ladies take on the challenge. And if you take the challenge e-mail your work to Tiffany (tiffany(at)scrapbooktiffany(dot)com), we would love to see it.

I also have a few more layouts to share. I was looking through my layout pictures and I still have a lot more to share.  Here are a few….

New Shoes – using Studio Calico Candy Shoppe January 2011. Doing some shoe shopping.

Fall 2010 using October 2010 Back 40. Celebrating fall decorations around the house.

From a past Sunday Sketch at Studio Calico using Elementary. Nicholas Fall school picture.

And finally Happy Halloween using the Color Me Daisy October 2009 Halloween kit. My favorite Halloween picture from 2009.

Have a great week. It is quarter end for me at work and it will be a busy one for me.

Has it really been 2 weeks?

I guess so.  Life has been busy. I have been working a lot of late nights and time with the kiddos has been short, so I my time online has been very limited lately.  We have also dug into a few house organization projects, so that has kept me busy on the weekends. It is time for a ScrapTiffany challenge. The first challenge for February was to use a yellow and grey color scheme.

Good colors for a Studio Calico kit. I think this was Napa Valley (November), with a few other things thrown in.

I have always loved this picture of Mike and Jackson.  Jackson is definitely Mike’s son. Jackson is very attached to his daddy. He is super grumpy when he is hungry, doesn’t like to be told he can’t do something, quiet at times and a chatterbox other times….which one am I talking about? Both.

I have been sidelined by heel pain. I was doing well on my walking for the 3 day Walk, but I am suffering from plantar fasciitis. My doctor has tried several treatments to let me keep walking, but I haven’t seen a tremendous amount of improvement, so I agreed begrudgingly to wear a boot for 2 weeks. Which means no walking, no extra things. Lots of rest. But hopefully it will be what I need to get over the hump and avoid physical therapy or worse, surgery.

Since I didn’t have to get up early to walk or go to work, I stayed up until 12:00 am on Sunday night and got 4 layouts done with January’s Studio Calico kit. I was struggling with this kit, so used a couple of challenges to get a start.

First was the Sunday Sketch at Studio Calico. I converted the sketch to a 12x12, but otherwise stayed pretty close to the original design.

Studio Calico was hosting some CHA challenges this weekend, one of them was a self portrait, so this was my take.

I’ll share the other 2 and more soon.

I have lots more to talk about, but it’s getting late and I am trying to get more sleep. So it will need to wait for another day.

Have a great week!

That's a Great Story

Although he can't read on his own yet, Nicholas loves books. He brings us books to read to him, his favorites lately are Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham and of course his beloved "Pigeon" books by Mo Williams. We read 4 of them every night, in the same order, before bed.

One night I got bored with the pigeon driving the bus, finding a hot dog, wanting a puppy and staying up late. I think Nicholas did too. So I changed it to driving a motorcycle, finding a sandwich, wanting a kitty and not letting Nicholas stay up late. It stuck and I am no longer allowed to read about buses, hot dogs, puppy's or the pigeon not being tired.

In the afternoon after Jackson has gone down for a nap, Nicholas heads to his room and finds his Pigeon books. He knows Mike can hear him through the baby monitor. He calls out each book and waits for Mike (or me when I am home) to acknowledge he is ready to start. He will then proceed to "read"/recite each book. With all of the changed words, all the intonations of the story, the works. It's cute.

I got these pictures of him one morning while the boys were destroying Jackson's room. Nicholas picked up a book and started reading to Jackson about monster's. Making it up as he went along, since he wasn't as familiar with this one.

 The layout was done as part of a lift of fave layout challenge over at Studio Calico. My layout was based on this one by Kelly Noel.  I finished the layout and didn't enter the challenge. But I am happy to have this little part of him scraped. And the title, that is what Nicholas says when he finishes a book. "That's a great story".

Have a great Wednesday!

A Layout, a Future Obsession and a Couple More Days from Our Week in the Life

I got to scrap yesterday afternoon and last night.  I spent a bunch of time playing in the afternoon for my ScrapTiffany assignment for the week. I can't share until that is posted over there tomorrow. I also had time to make a couple of layouts using the Studio Calico Continental kit.  I better get busy with it, because my August kit, Summer Camp is going to be landing on my porch in the next couple of days. This layout was to document my current obsession I have getting my Studio Calico box each month. I get excited for sneak peak night, shopping on reveal day and waiting (not so patiently) for UPS to show up with my box each month, just in time for it to start all over. So last month when my box arrived I snapped a couple of pictures. Don't you just love those cute cards that come in each kit.

Also, I stumbled on something I am certain will become another obsession for me:

Picture from the PaperCrafters Corner blog, follow the link and you can see all more pictures she has over there and enter for a giveaway too.  I see several of these making their way to my scrap room, looks like I need to free up another drawer. I haven't even seen what Martha Stewart punches are coming, but I usually can't resist those either.

It is an obsession I don't feel too bad about.  It seems I use at least one punch on every page or card that I do. So they are well loved and used obsessions. :)

Continuing on with posting our Week in the Life highlights, here are days 4 and 5 (Wednesday and Thursday) July 28th & 29th,

Wednesday I had trouble sleeping and woke up after having less than 5 hours sleep. Needing coffee...

Mike prepped for surgery...

Daddy resting, Nicholas making sure he is comfortable.

Someone really needed a nap....

Since no one but Mike wanted to take a nap, we had a family movie afternoon watching cars.

Brothers....

Random thoughts from Wednesday:

• Grateful for grandparents
• Waiting, waiting, waiting
• Surgery successful
• Thankful I can be home
• Taking care of my family
• Happy for places that deliver food
• Hoping for speedy recovery

Thursday

Jackson at story time at the library, enjoying the bubbles....

Shopping at Hobby Lobbyfor some upcoming home decor projects...

Fresh flowers from Super Target for $5.00...

Mike requests In-N-Out for lunch. Jackson falls asleep in the car, putting the brakes on chances for a nap (makes for a rough afternoon)....

One day the corn fields will be gone replaced with houses and shopping centers....

The sky above our house, thinking we are definitely going to get a storm today...

Super Target shopping trip for tonight's dinner....

Crazy storm this afternoon, thunder and lightening right above and crazy winds that knocked down trees in the neighborhood.

Reading together....

No cook chicken tostada's for dinner....

Random thoughts from Thursday:

• Little boy that doesn’t sleep through the night
• Tough day expected
• Lack of sleep takes a toll on all of us
• Jackson rowdy
• Nicholas helpful
• Fresh food and homemade Pico de Gallo
• Oreo ball cookies
• Nicholas says “Daddy had surgery” and “Daddy’s resting"

Happy Mail and a Layout

week it was fun to get the mail or hear the UPS truck pull up, because there were lots of good things arriving.  First I received the custom boys hoodies I ordered from Gina's Etsy shop, Baby Fish Designs.  I worked with Gina when she was on our design team and I love how she has taken her talents into the sewing world.  She does custom orders and these are perfect for the little dudes and princesses in your life.  Nicholas loves his Thomas hoodie.  Jackson is still too young to have a preference so I picked Nemo for him.

My crochet skills are lacking (lost with mommy brain cells apparently). I had asked Evelyn (my 2nd mom, I am  lucky enough to have more than one mom in my life), if she knew how to make crocheted flowers, because I wanted to learn how.  Well we just didn't get a chance when I was out in California last month for me to learn.  But imagine my happiness when a little box showed up with these fun, pretty flowers inside. I still would like to learn, but these will keep me supplied in the meantime.

And finally after almost 2 weeks of anticipation, my July Studio Calico kit and add-on's came.  Doesn't this look like fun.

I ordered all of the add on kits this month.  I have several travel related pages I want to do, and now I have enough coordinated product to make a cohesive album.

Oh my look at all those embellishments & all that paper...

Shop extras, including some new Maya Mist colors.

I have been working on a few other things, but I did get this layout done from mostly the Amerigo add on kit.

Have a great weekend!

Love Saturdays....

We got up a little after 5:00 this morning so Mike could do some cleaning up outside (you have to when it is going to be well over 100 degrees).  So I was able to get up and have a quiet Saturday morning with my coffee and computer before the kiddos got up. I worked on Operation Organize the House and cleaned out my bedroom drawers and bathroom cabinets, stuffing a huge bag full of clothes to give away and another with expired stuff to throw out.  The rest of the day was spent doing exactly what I hoped...relaxing.  I took a nap (a rarity for me anymore), scrapped a bit and planned my shopping list for the Studio Calico reveal tomorrow.

I did this layout using the Studio Calico Partly Sunny June kit/add-on's plus an additional coordinating We R Memory Keepers paper.  I had done a similar page about Nicholas a little while ago so I wanted to do an "alphabet journaling" page for Jackson, too. It worked great to do an 18 month page for him.  I found this 6x6 alphabet section on the backside of the polka-dot WRMK paper and the page was born.  And I love, love, love the stamps from this SC kit too.

Jackson is...

Salmon Pizza is baking in the oven and the boys are eating bagel cheese pizzas (because no matter what time we plan dinner they want to eat earlier.)  Looking forward to some more scrapping tonight after the kiddos are in bed.

A layout and ScanCafe

Another layout from my Baker's Dozen class.  Now I have just 4 layouts to work on to be caught up to the class.  One thing I love about the class is the simpleness.  You have already picked out pictures and embellishments and every couple of days you get a sketch and a recipe and you can get to work on telling a story.  Last night I wanted to scrap, but was tired so my heart wasn't in it as much.  So I flipped on the Glee season finale (which perked me up some) and grabbed my next assignment.

Me and Nana

PP, CS & ribbon from Studio Calico kit. Making Memories 

letter stickers and paint. Maya Mist, Quick Quotes canvas heart, 

Clearsnap ink and paper clip.

I love this picture of Nicholas and his Nana C.  He has really grown close to her since they moved here a year and a half ago.  I am glad that the boys will have a chance to grow up nearby to some of their family.  We are very lucky to have Mike's parents so close to us.

I am looking forward to this weekend already. My Mosh Posh and Citrus Tree Studios kits have arrived already this week.  My box from Studio Calico should be here today and another couple of orders should be here by Saturday.  It's been like Christmas! I have a big picture order to pick up at Costco today too.

So I'll have lots of new goodies to scrap with and a whole lot of new pictures to scrap with.  Including several pictures I recently had scanned by ScanCafe from my pre-digital days.  The Mosh Posh kit will be perfect for some pictures I have of my grandma's and my mom from the 40's - 70's. The Citrus Tree Studios should be great for a Father's Day surprise for Mike I am thinking about. And the Studio Calico kit is going to be great for last weekend's pool pictures.

If you have been thinking about getting photos scanned I really recommend ScanCafe. I heard about them when I took Library of Memories at Big Picture Scrapbooking and although the whole process took a couple of months I am so happy to have my old photos in digital format.  They retouched and in some cases restored photos and now I finally have them to incorporate into my scrapbooks.

I had been looking at scanning my photos for years including trying to do it myself.  I sent them about 2000 photos and selected about 1400 to have digitally. The great thing about ScanCafe is you are only obligated to pay for 50% of what they scan. So I sent negatives in that I had no idea what would be on them and only selected the pictures that were worth keeping.  There prices have gone up slightly since I ordered but they are still reasonable compared to other services.  And if you sign up for their newsletter they send out discount codes pretty often.  (I am not being paid to sing their praises, I was just really happy with their service.)

Is it only Tuesday

I am already ready for Friday. We took the boys to the park tonight to tire them out before bed (I think it worked). I will be glad when American Idol is back to only an hour. I hate 2 hour tv nights. No time for anything else. I made this layout over the weekend using the Studio Calico March kit, I love this face that Jackson makes, I call it his cheesy smile. He started doing it right around when he turned one, and still does it all the time, especially when I have the camera out. I love the wood veneer pieces that Studio Calico included in their kit this month. I misted the sun piece with Lemon Maya Mist. I can't wait to use more of this stuff.

Back to American Idol, I think that either Paige or Tim Urban are going home tonight.  Either one deserves to go, and it works out fine for my American Idol pool points, I won't be too far out of it if one of them gets the boot. But overall tonight, the show stunk. Pick better songs people. You can do better. But I think Miley Cyrus is a doll, and did alright as a mentor. She has a good amount of confidence for a 17 year old.

Off to read a few pages of my book before crashing for the night,