(diva)logues

"Yeah right, picture that with a Kodak... or better yet go to Times Square & take a picture of me with a Kodak..."

It's the last day of November (man, that month went by fast)... so that means it's time for a new challenge on the Nikki Sivils' blog!  This month's challenge is to create a page using photos taken with your cell phone.   

I went with a recent photo I took of Bryn helping Bob put up the tree.  For those of you who haven't already read my Facebook status from that day, I'll repeat the story.  I had a moment of temporary insanity and allowed my 10-year old to talk me into putting up the tree the weekend before Thanksgiving. 

I told her, "We can put up the tree today, but we can't decorate it until next weekend because it's against the law to have your tree up before Thanksgiving." 

With a very concerned look on her face she said, "It is?"

I said, "Well... it's against MY law.  I can only celebrate one holiday at a time."

I used the Gingerbread Land collection to create my page... 

Love the little tree & ornament punch-outs.  Makes it so easy to embellish a page.  Need some inexpensive red + white bakers twine?  Check out my ETSY SHOP!

So... join us in this month's challenge!  Use at least 75% Nikki Sivils' products (old or new) for your page and post your link here for a chance to win the Nikki Sivils' collection of your choice!  The deadline for the challenge is December 31.

Happy Wednesday!  I'm off to Spin class...  

"Jack & Jill went up the hill, each with a buck and a quarter... Jill came back with two-fifty... a working girl, now work it girl..."

6 days without blogging & I'm not even on vacation.  What up with that? 

Aside from being totally uninspired & lacking in motivation to do anything scrapbooking-related lately, here's a little of what's been going on around here lately & keeping me busy... 

... a family photo shoot (more on that later)...

... had a moment of temporary insanity & allowed a 10-year old to talk me into putting the tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving...

... prepared this turkey (inspired by an image on Pinterest), since I SUCK at the Butterball version...

... found out at 7am on Thanksgiving morning that I was going to have to teach the 75-minute Zumba class at 9:15am, when my friend/Zumba instructor said she was sick.  Created a playlist & burned a cd at lightening speed to prepare for the class.  Had about 70 people in the gym that morning... total BLAST...

... spent the rest of the day at my parent's house with my family... being thankful, eating, drinking & playing board games...

... saw 2 awesome movies in one weekend with our friends... (Jack & Jill was HILARIOUS, especially since I was seeing it with my friend, who's a TWIN... LOL)...

     

... some Christmas shopping online AND at the mall...

... wore this mini dress & these thigh-high boots to a dinner with friends and someone said to me, "Cute dress!  Missoni, right?" to which I replied, "Ummm, no... this would be the much lower priced knock-off."  (as in Forever 21... LOL)...

... helping spread the word about the upcoming ZUMBATHON at the O'Fallon YMCA on New Year's Day morning, with DJ Pru, strobe lights, prizes & the BEST WORK-OUT EVER to start your 2012 off right!  EVERYONE welcome & I'll be helping teach a few songs, just sayin'...

... back home from an awesome Spin class now & I'm determined to get to work and meet a deadline that's looming.  In major need of inspiration! 

SOS please someone help me... 

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Let me begin by saying that the title of this page is not meant to be taken seriously... it's just meant to be funny.  I'm blaming Pinterest for it.  I pinned this poster awhile ago because it just reminded me of my crazy friends...     

    

pinterest

Since there was a lot of crazy colors & prints in our dresses, I went with a very colorful background and title, but tried to anchor it all with white directly behind the photo.  I also threw in some SRM sticker sentiments, of course! 

I'm really thankful for those 4 girls. 

It's not every day that you meet someone so cool... let alone 4 people so cool.  We have a lot of crazy fun times together, but this past year has had it's share of tears too.  Somehow even through sadness though, we always end up laughing about something.  And I mean laughing really hard.  We all have each other's backs & we're there to pick each other up when we fall.  

And I mean literally, too.  That's happened.  LOL 

Zumba may be what brought us all together, but it's really liking each other's company that makes us want to spend more than just that hour we have at the Y every day.  And when one of us moves, or one of us isn't at lunch or at a night out... it isn't quite the same.  We miss who's not there.    

I speak for myself when I say all this, but I'm pretty sure we all feel the same way.  And with Thanksgiving coming up, I guess I'm just feeling thankful for many things... especially good friends.   

Have you heard...

Head over to the Nikki Sivils' blog today for the new 2012 Design Team call announcement!

I've been designing for her since her company hit the industry 3 years ago & I can say nothing but positive things about her AND her products.  It's a wonderful opportunity! 

You can find all the details on how to apply right here.

Good luck and have a GREAT weekend, everyone! 

"We ain't done... I said we ain't done..."

I'm meeting my mom & sister for a cooking class tonight.  We all know how to cook... pretty well, I might add... but it's always a blast & an excuse to get together so we try to do it a few times a year.  We're going to a new place tonight.  Hoping it's like the other ones we've attended where it's NOT a hands-on class.  I can cook at home, so I prefer to watch someone else do the cooking & be served, thank-you-very-much.  LOL  We'll see what happens.

Anyway, more often than not, if we're getting together my mom will ask me to bring a wedding card for her.  She has this thing about giving cards that have a "DKM" logo stamped on the back of them.  (DKM... as in mine & my sister's first initials.)  I NEVER have wedding cards already made.  NEVER.  In fact, the only time I make them is when she's going to a wedding, which seems to be quite often.  It's endearing & annoying all at once.  LOL 

So, I mentioned at breakfast this morning to Bob & Bryn that Grandma had asked me to bring a wedding card tonight, so I had to make one for her today. 

Bryn said, "Another wedding?!  How many weddings does Grandma go to every year... 70?!"

I said, "Actually I think it's 71.  And I should know because I have to make a card for every single one of them!" 

Frankly, this card looks more like it should be for a new baby... girl, that is... but I just don't have much in the way of wedding-themed stash sitting around (aside from my SRM Stickers) & the pink crepe paper was still on the brain... so it is what it is. 

All stamped & ready to go. 

Now let's eat...

"It's just another manic Monday..."

Well, it's Monday... and I have to say, I'm looking forward to Tuesday.  There's something about that monthly massage at Massage Envy that makes me feel like I don't have a care in the world.  Even if it is only for an hour... LOL

Here's something that put a smile on my face today... this sweet memory from back in May that I finally got around to documenting.  Just a random mix of products here... so what else is new?   And of course, at least one SRM sticker always finds it's way onto my pages these days.  The "celebrate" sticker was actually from an anniversary-themed set, but it works for any celebration & I liked the gold color for this page...  

I machine-stitched my border and used a Bazzill Just The Edge border strip with some Nikki Sivils' Burlap Buttons.  I pleated 2 rows of pink crepe paper underneath...

And on a different note...

A friend from scrapbook.com asked if she could feature me on her blog this week.  You can see Laurie's first post here.  She posted some of her favorite pages of mine & had me answer a list of questions.  I love how she said, "Let's dig into the colorful and Zumba-filled world of Deana."  My reputation precedes me... LOL  She also asked for a favorite recipe of mine & she'll be featuring that this week, too.  Thanks again, Laurie.  That was fun! 

Have a great week, everyone!

Now that's a STEAL...

 

Check out Scrapbook Steals today only (November 12th) for Nikki Sivils' Gingerbread Land collection!  It's perfect for the upcoming holidays and at only $12.99... it's a STEAL! 

11.11.11 Operation Write Home Blog Hop...

In honor of Veteran's Day... SRM Stickers is participating in the Operation Write Home Blog Hop, along with 10 other manufacturers in the industry.

 

About Operation Write Home:

 

OWH is a 501(c)(3) organization; we send blank handmade cards to deployed service members so they can write home to their families. As of May 2011, we've sent one MILLION cards!

 

The seed of the 11.11.11 idea:

 

This special hop was dreamed up by the OWH blog team - 12 creative women who brainstorm new ways to use blog technology to both inspire and entertain our donors. Celebrating our veterans - both those who have returned home AND those currently serving - is something we love to do, and we're so glad you're joining in with us! We're delighted to share our favorite companies in eleven sectors of cardmaking (two paper because we just adore paper!) - and allow YOU to share your passion for our troops, present some of your wonderful products, and to provide your well-known stamp of approval on our organization too!

I used SRM's 4th of July stickers + their We've Got Your Sticker Plus - Flower stickers for the "thank you" sentiments on my card...

Head over to the Operation Write Home blog for details on how to participate in this cause AND in this weekend's blog hop. 

Also... leave a comment on the SRM Stickers blog for a chance to win a SRM Stickers prize package!

Happy Veteran's Day... and thank you to all of our men & women in the military!

Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!

Abnormally "normal..."

I received the results from my annual mammogram yesterday and all is normal...in that area anyway.  As for my brain, I'm not so sure sometimes...

SRM "Celebrate Life" stickers found here.

"Yeah, you keep me holding on in Red Hill Town..."

We painted the town red Saturday night.  Well... I was wearing my red pants anyway.  We started with dinner at Modesto Tapas Bar on The Hill.  Haven't been there in at least 5 years, maybe more.  Always yummy food & it's just a great restaurant.  Bob forgot he had told them we were celebrating our anniversary when he made the reservation & they brought us each a glass of champagne.  Nice!  Didn't get to meet up with my sister & her friends afterward, as our dinner finished before theirs... and quite frankly we're just getting too old to stay out all night.  So we stopped at Bailey's Chocolate Bar in Lafayette Square on the way home for dessert... some "Chocolate Inebriation."  Bailey's is one of my favorite little hip & swanky places to go after dinner.  It's always packed there, so we're obviously not the only ones who love it.  If only they were closer to home.  Or maybe that would be a bad thing... ;-)

Here's another page using more of the photo collages created with Picnik.  It's just makes it too easy to put a lot of photos onto a page.  And what can I say... I find it difficult to just use one photo to sum up an event.  Maybe that makes all my pages look the same.  I do not care.  LOL  

 

I used a few SRM stickers on here, including the running shoes + lots of Bella Blvd...

 

Happy rainy Monday!  Have a GREAT week, everyone!

"All the other kids with the pumped up kicks..."

A little retail therapy at it's finest...

I think I've got things covered from day to night!  For a little while anyway.  You know what I'm sayin'... ;-)

It's Friday!  Headed out for some fun with the girls tonight, Spin class tomorrow morning & then it's "date night" tomorrow night, when we'll hopefully catch up with my sissy & her crazy friends for a bit after our dinner on "The Hill."  I do love having plans...

Have a FABULOUS weekend, everyone!     

Your world is a mirror...

Your judgments about other people say more about you than
they do about the people you're judging. The reason you can
detect the weaknesses and insecurities of others is because
you have experienced those same weaknesses and insecurities.

Similarly, the reason you're able to see beauty in others is
because that beauty lives in you as well. The positive
possibilities you see for others are, in many ways, your
possibilities too.

It's very helpful to think of the world outside of you as a
mirror. Whatever you see beyond you in some way reflects
what is inside you.

The most powerful and effective way to improve the world
around you, is to improve yourself. The best way to bring
real value into your life, is to create real value for
others.

What you admire and appreciate and support in others, grows
stronger within you as well. When you seek to understand,
you will be understood, and when you listen thoughtfully,
you will be heard.

Your world is a mirror, so choose each day to show it your
best, most loving and supportive face. And you'll be
delighted with the face you see looking back at you.

Ralph Marston

"Super freak... super freak... that girl's a super freak..."

Our Halloween was...well...I can't say I remember another Halloween quite like it! 

We had fun with friends, the costumes were all fabulous, Bryn made a haul on the sweets & our pumpkin got carved just in time for the Trick-or-Treaters... which we seemed to have much LESS of this year.  All in all, it was quite the eventful holiday...