(diva)logues

"It's just the beasts under your bed... in your closet... in your head..."

How do you feel about scary movies?  I'm not really a fan.  Especially those true-to-life movies... like your child's been kidnapped.  No thank you.  Don't need those bad thoughts in my head.  These days I'd much rather see comedies or musicals.  

Oh... and I'll probably be seeing Shades of Grey when it comes out.   

I know.  It's not a comedy or musical. 

Just a red room mostly.  LOL

Anyway... when Bryn told me she'd like to see "Monsters University" I said YES right away.  She hasn't wanted to see any animated movies in a couple years, as "she's too old for that"... at the ripe old age of 12.  Sheesh.  She invited a couple friends & I invited friends.  It was a cute movie.  And since I got a few cute iPhone photos afterward... I figured I ought to put it in the scrapbook. 

I used Nikki Sivils' My Little Monster collection for the page.  Such a cute collection, but it's probably more geared toward younger kid-themed pages.  Who knew I'd have a reason to use it again?  And while the monsters in this collection don't look like the monsters in the movie... I think it still works. 

And the big 3D glasses at the top of the page?  I just put mine from the movie on my copier & ran through a piece of white cardstock.  So... they are actual size.

And of course... I do love googly eyes.  Can't have monsters without those!

 

I also added a ticket stub to the page so I can remember just how freakin' expensive it is to go to a movie these days.  And if it's a 3D movie.... add an extra $3 to the already over-priced ticket. 

Although I pretty sure some day we'll look back & think... "Wow!  Look how cheap it was to go to the movies back then."

 

Looking forward to teaching a couple extra Zumba classes this week starting tomorrow... my favorite day of the week! 

Scrapbook Steals...

 

Just a little fyi...

Today on Scrapbook Steals you can get 4 of Nikki Sivils' collections (Audrey, Noah, Messages & Exit Here) for 50% off the retail price.  The price is definitely a "steal" and I noticed they even have one of my projects up on their website as inspiration.  Love it.  ;-)

Hurry though.  Quantities are limited and the deal lasts for today only!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!  Mine just started with Spin class.  Thank goodness I finally got out of the house.  This  snow STINKS and the treadmill was really starting to bore me.

Huge inventory sale...

Hurry for your chance to purchase $200 worth of product for only $30 plus shipping!  Check out all the details on Nikki Sivils' blog!   It's a GREAT deal! 

Everyone who purchases a box will have their name entered for a chance to win a giveaway! 

Happy shopping! 

Cracked...

Well... another week has apparently come and gone without too much happening on this blog.  I'm on Facebook regularly & occasionally on Instagram (mostly to keep up with what Bryn is posting on there ;-), but my blogging seems to be happening less frequently lately.  Whoopsie.  And it's not because I'm lacking on anything to blog about... I've been quite busy... but it's partially because my design responsibilities are currently non existant.  So lately,creating is happening just for FUN... a good thing, of course! 

If you follow Nikki Sivils' blog, you've already seen this post a couple weeks ago about her indecision with the future and whether she's going to create new collections for the Winter 2013 CHA trade show.  I, along with my friend Julie, have been designing for Nikki since day #1 of her company hitting the industry 3 years ago, so I will be really sad if she decides to make a career change.  It's been nothing but the most positive experience working with her & creating with her products.  I'm a huge fan of her paper crafting products, for sure!  I adore Nikki... as a person, designer and business owner.  But I wholeheartedly agree in following your heart & doing what's right for you, right now.  And whatever she decides to do, she'll be a success for sure! 

And speaking of Nikki Sivils... I made this page last week using some of her It's Your Day collection, some SRM birthday stickers & some other random coordinating stash I had on hand...

I'm looking forward to a very FUN week ahead, including the Madonna concert on Thursday!  And I even have a new Zumba class beginning this week that I'm helping to teach every few weeks at the butt crack of dawn... Tuesday mornings at 5:30am.  Whoa... gonna be different I tell ya... but lots of FUN! 

Oh... and I dropped my iPhone 4 for the 500th time on Thursday and totally cracked the front of it.  Yay me.  Good news though!  Bob called & I was eligible for an upgrade to the 4S for $99. 

Hoping my new phone comes in the mail tomorrow.  The little slivers of glass in my finger from too much texting, is kinda getting old... 

BUTT ugly...

There are 100's of reasons I'd like to slow down time and keep Bryn young & innocent forever.  The butt ugly glow-in-the-dark spider webs on our bushes that seem to bring her great joy for 2 years in a row now, are the one lone reason I'm ready for her to grow up. 

Oh and "we're the only house that doesn't have their yard decorated."  Which in layman's terms means... our yard has no giant inflatable pumpkins, no mummys coming out of a casket, no mammoth spiders on the roof...

Ummm nope.  Not gonna happen.  Can barely deal with the butt ugly spider webs. 

And before you start feeling sorry for Bryn & thinking she doesn't have a fun mom... I do agree to doing stupid stuff like this during 6th grader sleepovers...

I've always been into building pyramids, but it takes a glass of wine or two to agree to a butt hovering over my head. 

Ok then.  Moving on...

How about those CARDINALS?! 

Hmmm.  Not a great weekend for Cardinals baseball.  We're still in it though!  Game #7 is tonight and the winner goes to the World Series.  I'm thinking the Cardinals will do it!   

So... while watching that losing game last night, I got out my photos from the winning game we attended last week!  I used some SRM baseball stickers & some of Nikki Sivils It's Raining, It's Pouring collection... since it was POURING DOWN RAIN that night! 

I also used some Echo Park clouds & made my own rain drops...

Happy Monday!  It's time to go teach ZUMBA! 

And LET'S GO CARDINALS!!! 

Everybody's working for the weekend...

Ok so I didn't really work all weekend.  Some may argue that I barely "labored" all year.  But I did work for one hour on Labor Day & it was a total BLAST... primarily because I had so many people show up to Zumba with me, which was FANTASTIC because I wasn't sure what to expect on a holiday.  And then today I got asked to sub the Zumba class tomorrow morning, so I'm ready to do it all over again!  Yay! 

Our Labor Day weekend was a ton of FUN though... dinner with friends on Friday and a Cardinals game with friends on Monday were the highlights.  I ♥ my friends.

I'm still trudging through last year's photos here, little by little...  

The green paper was left-over from the July HIP 2B SQUARE kit.  I added a bit of the Nikki Sivils' Gingerbread Land collection and some Christmas-themed SRM Stickers.  I also used some graph-paper Post-it Notes that I found at Target... don't know why, but I love graph paper & thought this would be a good size for journaling spots.  The title was made using my Slice + the Handwritten Fonts card...

 

Did I mention that I agreed to be part of the "Parent Concert" by playing my daughter's clarinet?  Yeah, umm, pretty sure we'll be the comic relief for that evening.  I played the flute for 8 years, but this is way different.  And in the meantime, I have to do homework every night... as in... she's my teacher. 

 

Shouldn't there be some kind of rules against the teacher making fun of the student on Instagram?   I look ridiculous...

Nikki Sivils + Ribbon Carousel blog hop...

The Ribbon Carousel Crewmates are teaming up with the talented designers from Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker to bring you a blog hop jam packed with crafty eye candy and some great prizes!

At Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker, we create distinctive and original designs. Our designs are based upon two core beliefs which also serve as the foundation for our company and everything we do to support it.

We believe that scrapbooking, card making and crafting are always:

• Authentic artistic expressions
• Created with love

Our designs are driven by imagination; we strive to be different, not for the sake of being different, but to inspire you to express yourself in meaningful and fun ways. We mix elements from different sources, including styles, colors and materials. Our designs are genuinely eclectic. Our papers use vibrant colors with unique patterns and often contain irresistible characters. We are authentic in intention, action and results. We have achieved our goal if you are inspired (and tickled) when you see our paper.

The Ribbon Carousel was very generous with the Nikki Sivils' team & sent us some FUN ribbon!  I used 2 different ribbons to create my card using the School is Cool collection.  Love that tape measure ribbon! 

... and the striped ribbon matched really well with this collection...

Now, lets talk prizes! 

 

The Ribbon Carousel will be giving away a $25 gift certificate to the Ribbon Carousel Store and Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker will be giving away a scrapbooking kit (winner's choice!)  Enjoy the hop andbe sure to leave some blog love along your way to be eligible for the prizes!  Winners will be announced Saturday night at 8:00 PM EST.

Ready or not...

With "back-to-school" time upon us, the School is Cool collection is being highlighted on the Nikki Sivils' blog for the month of August.  I have a few projects on her blog today, two of which are these cards.

With Bryn starting middle school for the first time next week, I wanted to make a card for her first day of school to wish her good luck in 6th grade...

And then just a quick little card for a special teacher...

I also have a school-related scrapbook page on Nikki's blog today.  You can see it here!

And speaking of school...

We tackled the school supply shopping yesterday & got everything on the list except a few pocket/prongs folders that we're totally sold out.  The first day of school outfit was purchased today.  And now we just need to go rent her clarinet for band and I think we're set.

Well... SHE is set.  Still not sure I'm ready for this new chapter in her life.   

Ready or not though... here we come! 

The Bees Knees...

Just a quick fyi...

There's a new kit up for sale on the Nikki Sivils' blog.  It's a really CUTE kit that includes the School is Cool collection and more FUN goodies.  There's enough product and instructions to make 6 cards + a bonus scrapbook page! 

Go here for all the details, but HURRY... it's only while supplies last!

Well that was random...

I was scanning through my blog reader catching up on blogs, when I saw a card that I made posted on the ScrapScene blog, along with a link for my tutorial for making my pinwheel.  The card was made using Nikki Sivils' Exit Here collection. 

Very unexpected to see that... but thanks for the shout-out, ScrapScene!

And speaking of Nikki Sivils... check out the guest designer for the month of July.  It's former Nikki Sivils' designer, Delaina Burns.  And if you leave a comment here, you'll have the chance to win the Exit Here collection!  It's one of my FAV Nikki Sivils' collections, as you know! 

Good luck! 

"Ooh baby baby... ooh baby baby... ooh baby baby... ooh baby baby..."

Yesterday was my day over at the Nikki Sivils' blog.  If you missed it, you can check it out here.  I made a few things using Exit Here... which is one of my all time favorite Nikki Sivils' collections.  Love it!

My flag banner was just hand cut.  I used a small flower punch to add some interest.  I also added a SRM sticker sentiment right above the banner...

I made this card for Bryn & snuck it into her suitcase when she went to the lake last week...

Got a little bit carried away with the sewing machine & my line went a bit wonky.  I was going for the imperfect look though. Yeah...that's the ticket. 

If you don't already know how to make paper pinwheels... check out my very EASY tutorial on the Nikki Sivils' blog!

TGIF!  Just finished Spin class & I'm ready for a fun weekend... that also includes me subbing the Saturday morning Zumba class!  Yay!!  Any weekend that includes Zumba is perfection as far as I'm concerned!

Don't forget to comment on this post for a chance to win a spot in the Scrapbooking Family Vacations workshop that I'm giving away.  You have until 9pm CST tonight! 

I like new stuff...

As you may have already noticed, I haven't talked about the upcoming Summer 2012 Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) trade show yet.  It's the first July in 3 years that I'm not frantically designing for a booth.  If you follow Nikki Sivils' blog, you've already read her post about taking this summer off from creating new collections.  It's just a temporary break though!  While it's nice to not have the pressure of any deadlines right now, I am a tad envious of all the hoopla surrounding the show.  It's a TON of fun to get to create with new produt & be part of the whole thing.  But... I'll be ready & excited again when Winter 2013 CHA is here!  And I can't wait to see what Nikki has in store for everyone.  I know it's going to be FABULOUS...just like her!

And speaking of new products for CHA... I just heard that I'll have all the brand new SRM Stickers coming my way soon!  YAY!!  As you know, I'm a HUGE fan of SRM Stickers ever since being part of their first team of designers.  As the owner of the company already knows... her stickers seem to make their way onto most of my cards & pages these days.  For some reason my projects just seem more complete once I've added some of those transparent stickers.  LOVE them.    

Like this new page.  I was finished with it, had it in my hand with my camera & was on my way upstairs to photograph it.  When I looked at it again, I thought... I need to put some kind of SRM sticker sentiment on that red border strip.  And yep...that finished it for me.   

I used the Echo Park Sweet Day collection for the rest of the page, along with some old Basic Grey letter stickers & some red Want 2 Scrap bling...

More Echo Park on this next page... the School Days mini collection.  It's not mini, as in 6x6 mini book, it's mini as in there's not as much product included in it.  And it doesn't cost as much as the standard collections.  Heehee  I think it's cute!   

I kept the page design pretty simple because I wanted to use the whole DARE essay Bryn wrote.  Took me longer to type the essay than it did to make the whole darn page!  I have a way of making even simple pages take FORever to make... 

And what do you know?  Another SRM sticker on there. 

I'm a fan!  What can I say? 

Off to teach ZUMBA this morning!  It's gonna be a rockin' class!  Woot wooot! 

PS... Don't forget to check out my workshop GIVE-AWAY on yesterday's post!

"On the boats and on the planes...they're coming to America..."

Happy Independence Day, everyone! 

Stay COOL if you can, be safe & have FUN today! 

"I'm going off the rails on a crazy train..."

This kid of mine has resorted to making me strange videos as an alternative to her incessant begging for a cell phone (which began...oh... around 2 years old).  She's crazy.  And yes I already know... she gets it from me. 

 

And then what happened, you ask?  Nope... I did not support her cause & run out to buy her a cell phone. 

So sad, I know. 

And one more thing... check out the Nikki Sivils' blog for the July kit for sale:  the My Boy's Mini Album Kit.  It's a GREAT deal, but only while supplies last so hurry! 

PS... my day on the Nikki Sivils' blog got moved from today to next Thursday, just incase you read my post yesterday & were wondering! 

'Til Tuesday...

Tomorrow is my day on the Nikki Sivils' blog.  And I have yet to receive my new camera...I believe it's coming by Pony Express because it's taking forEVER to get here... so I'm still forced to use the old one.  I'm becoming quite the pro at taking off-center photos too, I might add. 

Nobody puts baby in the corner.    

Anyhoooo...  Bryn left town today and won't be home until Saturday afternoon.  She's spending the week at the lake with my parents & her cousin.  It's an annual event & she was beside herself with excitement before she left.  While I can admit that Bob & I will have lots of fun during our "date week" at home... I already miss her like CRAZY.  So this page might be my new favorite page ever.  She had curled her hair that day to make it look like her new American Girl doll's hair.  So cute.  So her.  I love her SO MUCH...

Every year since she was born, I write a letter to her & include it on the last page of each year's scrapbook.  The letters have always been hand-written, but this year I thought it would be fun to just make an entire page out of the letter... thus the title "Dear Bryn."  I'm getting better with the glue + twine title thing too.  It's a little less sloppy than my first attempt at it a couple months ago.  Well... assuming you don't look too close.  Heehee.  The page is a combination of mostly Exit Here along with journaling cards from Messages... 

I have 3 more projects that will be on the Nikki Sivils' blog tomorrow, along with an easy peasy tutorial. 

It's Monday!  And you know what that means!    

Time to go teach ZUMBA!  Woot woooot! 

I ♥ Zumba...

... just incase you didn't already know that.

I also kinda love these 12x12 divided page protectors... although I did think they were going to make it easier & faster to get a page done.  And nope... up 'til midnight last night trying to figure out what the heck to do with it!  Considering I usually end up trying to squeeze all my photos onto one 12x12 page, this is somewhat different for me though.  I think I'm going to try this more often (especially since I have a whole package of these page protectors to use!) 

And one more quick page I made last week using some random stuff... of course... (SRM Stickers, Bella Blvd, Nikki Sivils & Echo Park)...

When I posted it on scrapbook.com someone said, "I love the house you created."  I thought, "Huh??"  Totally unintentional, but I guess it does kinda look like a house now that she mentioned it.   

 

And here's a few other things I l♥ve right now...

• 25 rules for mothers of daughters... made me cry. 

 

• My friend, Toni's, collection in this Designer Discovery Contest.  Please vote for her HERE!  Seriously CUTE, CUTE, CUTE collection.  I NEED IT! 

 

• And one more thing I love... packing to go to Bermuda!  Woot woooot!  :-)

"...someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection..."

I've got rainbows on the brain, since Bryn & I hit the stores yesterday for all things rainbow.  I have to admit, my patience was wearing a bit thin by the time we got to the 2nd store. 

"Look at this!  Look at that!  Can we get that?  Let's get this.  No, trust me, they won't like that."

No. No. No. No. No. 

Calgon... take me away.  And I mean for GOOD this time.  LOL

We did manage to get quite a bit accomplished though, so I'm glad she talked me into going shopping yesterday considering it was the last thing I felt like doing at the time.

Anyway... with rainbows on the brain & this page laying on my floor in progress (with just the 3 photos + the blue Bella Blvd paper + the Martha Stewart punched border) I decided to do something rainbowish last night and grabbed these WAY OLD Prima flowers.  I mean, OLD, as in at least 4-5 years old.  I put some Want 2 Scrap pearls in the middle of each.  My original idea of what to put inside each flower was rejected by Bryn before she went to bed.  It's nice to have another set of eyes around here...  

I also made my own journaling spot using some Nikki Sivils' paper + a strip of Echo Park paper on the bottom.  My title is a SRM Easter sticker sentiment...

 

It's probably safe to say this won't be the last you see of a rainbowish page.  Once I have photos from Bryn's birthday this weekend... I'll have to do something with them, of course! 

Keep it simple, sweetie. Or not...

My projects for the month of June are up on the Nikki Sivils' blog today.  For two of my projects this month, I used the Messages collection & decided to challenge myself to use the collection for it's unintended purpose.  Sometimes when I've been working with a collection for awhile, I like to see if I can use it for a different reason just to show some versatility.  Or... perhaps I just like to make things difficult for myself & spend more time than necessary on a page?  That's how I roll sometimes.  Or... actually a lot of the time... who am I kidding? 

There's lots of red + green in the Messages collection, so I went with a Christmas page & some list-style journaling of some of the things Bryn wanted for Christmas last year...

I printed a pretend letter to Santa on some of the lined patterned paper using a typewriter font.  I also covered the orange that was on the typewriter cut-out with black marker, as the orange would've clashed with the rest of the colors on my page...

And then I made a birthday page using Messages again, as it matched well with the colors in my photos even though it's not really a birthday-ish collection.  Although it's probably more birthday than Christmas... just sayin'.

Using the Exit Here collection, I made a quick birthday card for my sweet friend & fellow Nikki Sivils' design team member, Melanie, who's also a fellow May birthday.  It was sent out a little late, but better late than never I guess!  ;-)

Off to do Spin class, then a little running & then a little birthday party planning for my soon-to-be-11-year-old.  Like... as in this weekend. 

She requested a rainbow theme for our family BBQ.

Let's see.....hmmmmm......rainbows...... ummmmmm...... welll.... OK! 

Wonder if I can work some clouds into the theme too?  Hee hee. 

Nikki Sivils + Basically Bare...

It's time for another product swap... this time with Nikki Sivils + Basically Bare.  Basically Bare was very generous with the Nikki Sivils' team & sent us lots of fun embellishments & even a mini book, some of which I have already used on other projects as seen here.  I LOVE those CUTE dress forms!   

For this page, I used the Celestial Shapes acryllic chipboard & felt embellishments (the sun + clouds) from Basically Bare along with the Nikki Sivils' Noah collection...

I painted my sun yellow & then added gold sequins on top.  I wrapped the outline of my clouds with "Shore" twine from The Twinery...

I decided it would be funny to put my photo inside the car, even though technically I was riding in the tow truck to the tire store.  Yay me... such a fun day.  LOL.

Check out how the rest of the team used the other embellishments & mini books on the Nikki Sivils' blog.  Leave a comment on Nikki's blog for a chance to win the collection of your choice.  Then head over to the Basically Bare blog for another chance to win!  It's a 2-day feature, so make sure to comment on both blogs... BOTH DAYS!   

Time to start packing... almost time to hit the road again! 

A little sketchy...

All month long on the Nikki Sivils' blog, there have been sketches featured from Sketch Support.  If you like using sketches... check out their blog.  They have TONS!  For this page, I used a fun one-page sketch from their Volume 2... 30 More Sketches book, which was generously sent to me from Sketch Support.  Thank you again, Sketch Support!  The original sketch used 6 photos, but I used the Diptic app to create photo collages with my iPhone photos and was able to fit 15 photos on my page...

The page was created using the Exit Here collection... perfect for vacation photos!  I also used my Martha Stewart border punch to create a little more detail on the page.  The palm tree was just my own hand-cut creation. 

I'll be back tomorrow with a new page made for our upcoming 2-day feature with Nikki Sivils + Basically Bare. 

And fyi... there will be a couple give-aways! 

"I never can say goodbye...no, no, no, no, I..."

Well, it's here... the final packing day for my sister before she drives to her new home in Denver tomorrow.  Bryn & I are going over to help finish boxing things up with her & my mom.  While I'm still pouting about her moving, I am grateful for all the extra time I've been able to spend with her in the past month.  Most months we don't get to see each other as often, so this has been awesome and we've had many laughs!  

As I mentioned on Monday, there were a LOT of photos from my birthday weekend (too many to post), but here's a few already showing up on a new page.  My sister & I have birthdays within 4 days of each other, so we usually celebrate together.  These photos were from Friday night's celebration...

 

It's a combination of products of course... Nikki Sivils for the birthday gifts & cupcake, KI Memories' blue chevron paper and SRM Stickers (for the MAY sentiment, the Make A Wish border & the numbers) + various other things found on my craft table.  Haven't used my Glossy Accents in awhile, so I put some of that on my candle "flame..."

I always enjoy Bryn's critiques of my pages.  Last night when she saw my finished page she said, "I didn't like how that page looked when you were working on it, but it turned out really cute!" 

Uhhhh.... thanks?? 

I'm already back home from my early Spin class this morning and we'll be heading over to Marci's to pack after lunch today.  

And give lots of hugs + kisses goodbye.

Time to start thinking about trips to Denver...

Happy Birthday to you, sissy...

Yesterday was my sister's birthday.  Not only do we look alike & act alike, but our birthdays are 4 days apart.  Could be a reason we act alike...we put the BULL in Taurus.  We've always celebrated together and we'll be doing so this weekend.  Can't wait! 

Anyway... I needed to make a card for her.  And since she's a bit of a fasionista like myself... I decided to use a Basically Bare Dress Form.  The "skirt" is 2 layered cupcake liners.  I had a card published in Cards Magazine a couple years ago using the same technique.  You can see that one here... using the same kind of cupcake liners too, I might add...  

I used paper from the Nikki Sivils' Audrey collection for my card & random bling for my "belt" + "necklace." 

And celebrate in style?  We always do! 

And speaking of Basically Bare, we have a product swap coming up at the end of the month with them + Nikki Sivils.  I made something fun for that yesterday.

In other news around here...

Bryn had her art show on Tuesday, her DARE graduation ceremony last night with the entire 5th grade class and a talent show this morning where she sang "A Thousand Years" with her bestie.  My best friend in 5th grade & I used to sing ALL.THE.TIME. which drove the 2 boys we had assigned seats with in the cafeteria totally nuts.  LOL  Tomorrow I have to go back to school in the morning because she's receiving some kind of award at the all-school awards assembly and then again in the afternoon for the last day of school party.

Summer is here & I have to say, I'm not totally ready for it. 

Time to figure out how we're going to stay busy.  Pronto...     

It is what it is...

Well... I suppose I participated in my own little version of National Scrapbooking Day, minus the Cinco de Mayo margaritas.  Or perhaps you might say I've "celebrated" the whole week. 

Yesterday Bob said to me, "You sure have been busy working this week.  You got a lot accomplished." 

I said, "Yeah, as you recall, it hasn't been such a great week.  And creating takes my mind off things." 

Seriously though.  I made 10 pages + 1 card in the last week.  I think that might be a record.  Would much rather it didn't take sucky stuff to get me lost in my craftroom, but such is life I guess. 

It is what it is. 

More old photos from last year here, with another random mix of products.  Gee that never happens.  My craftroom floor looks like a grenade hit it, so I kinda just keep picking up stuff that matches & going with it.  I'm fairly confident that when I bought these Crate Paper chipboard stickers last year that my original intention wasn't to use them with some old and new Nikki Sivils' paper, but it works for me so it's going in the book! 

 

The red paper is from Nikki Sivils' Audrey collection.  The blue background paper in the middle is from Nikki Sivils' It's Raining, It's Pouring collection.  I just cut off the scalloped border from it.  I used a SRM school sticker and some tiny little Want 2 Scrap bling on my tree & on the door.  Love their bling! 

Bryn had her bestie spend the night last night & now they're off with her friend's dad seeing the movie The Avengers.  I haven't heard boo about it, but I have read quite a few comments on Facebook about how much people love it.  Have any of you seen it yet?  Hopefully it's age-appropriate & NOT scary.  That girl does not do scary movies.  Nor does she even do movies like Elf.  Remember when I mentioned how much she cried & had to stop watching it only a half-hour into the movie?  And I was thinking... it's Will freakin' Farrell... how sad can it be??! 

Just wait until she gets to be my age.  Everything will make her cry.  Or yell.  Or laugh.  All in a matter of minutes.  LOL

National Scrapbooking Day...

 

 

Just a quick FYI...

There's a HUGE give-away going on this weekend at the Nikki Sivils' blog in honor of National Scrapbooking Day.  So be sure to head over for there for a chance to win Nikki's new collections.  Looks like there will be 3 winners chosen, with one of those winners receiving ALL FOUR of her new collections!

Good luck & enjoy your weekend! 

Happy CINCO DE MAYO too!

Nikki Sivils + Sketch Support...

For the month of May, Nikki Sivils has teamed up with the Sketch Support blog for a cross promotion.  All month long there will be different sketches featured, with some of our design team featuring their take on each sketch. 

The first sketch featured is a card sketch...

    

I used the Nikki Sivils' "Messages" collection to create my card (and no, not because the sketch says MESSAGE, MESSAGE... no subliminal "messages" here.  LOL) 

I also added some Maraschino twine from The Twinery to finish off my card...

Head over to the Nikki Sivils' blog and to the Sketch Support blog to see how everyone else interpreted this sketch design.  And fyi... the Sketch Support blog is doing a little Nikki Sivils giveaway!   

In totally unrelated news... I did 3 hours of Zumba today for a middle school field trip that came to the Y.  My body is beat up, but I am ready for the weekend!

Happy Friday & Happy almost Cinco de Mayo! 

Be kind... for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle...

Just a few more random pages.  I seem to be on a creative roll lately.  Probably because disappearing into my work takes my mind off other things.  I'm definitely trying to roll with it though, because most of the time the creative mojo just isn't there.   

The first page has photos from back in 2010.  I ran across them when I was going through all my old photo files on my laptop and started laughing out loud again.  This was the day I was waving good-bye to Bryn and her Bitty Twins while Bob was pulling out of the driveway.  As I was waving & he was backing up... he backed over one of the sprinkler heads & caused a huge geyser of water that was spraying into the backseat window where Bryn was sitting.  She started screaming.  I was yelling, "Bob!!!  STOP!!!"  Finally before he turned to drive down the street he realized what happened and said he couldn't hear me yelling at him because Bryn was screaming in the backseat.  I said, "That's because water was spraying in on her!!" 

The 3 of us together = one nutty combination. 

Just a random mix of products.  The car & heart are from the Nikki Sivils' Noah collection.  I put some Want 2 Scrap bling on the tires.  The lined paper is from Nikki Sivils' Summer collection.  I paper-pieced my own drops of water...

Another random mix here.  Sometimes things just need googly eyes added to finish it off.  Or maybe it was to make smile.  Either way, it worked for me...

And I finally used these professional photos + a screen shot of the website that were taken for this recording studio photo shoot with Bryn & some friends.  Another random mix (surprise, surprise) of whatever happened to be laying on the floor that matched.  Heehee.  The headphone & records were from the Nikki Sivils' Dan The Record Man collection.  More Want 2 Scrap bling on the headphones too... 

I think it's obvious I like those red Bella Blvd letter stickers.  They've only been on 3 pages in the last week. 

On Charter's home page today, one of the "hot searches" they were highlighting was "What's the best way to get rid of a migraine?"  So I clicked on it... because I have a migraine today.  And I get to teach 4 hours of Zumba tomorrow for another middle school field trip at the Y, so I'm kinda hoping I'm not teaching with a headache.  The article is A Better Route To Migraine Relief, by Dr Andrew Weil.  The last paragraph stuck with me...

"Finally, if you continue to have attacks, try to change the way you think about the headaches. Migraine is like an electrical storm in your head - violent and disruptive, but leading to a calm, clear state in the end. You may, upon reflection, discover that it is not so bad to let yourself have a headache once in a while. It is a good excuse to drop your usual routine and go inward, letting accumulated stress dissipate. As you come to accept migraines in this way and see them as serving a purpose in your life, you may not have them so frequently." 

I ♥ Target...

...because who knew I needed some washi tape when all I walked in for was laundry detergent & shampoo? 

Oh ok... I had chocolate on my list too.   

But have you noticed that in their office/school supply section they carry this cool tape now?  And you know that washi tape is one of the "in" things in scrapbooking, but it isn't cheap.  This 4-roll Target version for only $5.00, however, is a GREAT deal if you ask me.  Did you even ask me?  They had 4-packs of other colors too, but I went with the red set...

And voila... a taped border is a quick and easy way to add color + pattern.  The tape is a bit transparent, so you can tell I didn't get it lined up exactly straight but I'm all about imperfection here.  Only in scrapbooking though, not in trying to tame my wrinkles.  And even then I'm not doing a great job, but let's move on... 

This was another page I finished over the weekend.  Pretty basic design here, which is good when you're just trying to get pages into the books & not worry about too much detail.  The patterned paper is from my Recollections All Girl paper pad, a Nikki Sivils gingerbread house, a white SRM sticker sentiment adhered directly onto my photo, Bella Blvd letter stickers & my Martha Stewart snowflake punch with some pink Want 2 Scrap bling in the centers...

Another event documented and into the scrapbook.  I'm on a roll here...

"Turn up the music, I need it in my life yeah... turn up the music, just turn it up louder..."

 Happy Monday! 

I've received a several emails from out-of-town friends about the storms in our area over the weekend, since it made national news.  The weather was different for everyone around here.  My parents, who live a half hour away, only had rain.  We had 2 separate hail storms on Saturday night.  The first one happened around 6pm and shortly after that a tornado siren was sounding.  No tornadoes touched near our home, thankfully, and we were only under the warning for an hour... which was good since we had dinner reservations for Bob's birthday.  LOL  The 2nd hailstorm happened around midnight that night.  Very unusual to have hail twice in the same day. 

Bob's State Farm office is in a different area of St Louis and that area probably sustained the worst hail damage of anywhere.  Needless to say, he & his staff will be very busy taking claims today & probably all week.  The airport is also in the area & my sister's car was parked in an uncovered lot over the weekend while she was out of town.  She came home to a badly beat-up car.  Add that to the list of claims from Bob's policyholders...  ;-)   

Bob turned another year older yesterday.  We celebrated his birthday on Saturday night at a restaurant and then again on Sunday night at our house with family.  Bob also went to the Cardinals game with my dad yesterday.  They each got a mini replica of the 2011 World Series trophy with their paid admission.  Their seats were in the Champions Club (an all-inclusive area with food + drinks) which was a Christmas gift from my sister.  Fun day for them, except the Cardinals lost. 

In addition to celebrating his birthday, I also managed to get quite a bit accomplished.  I finished choreographing a new Zumba routine that I'll be using in class today and finished 4 new scrapbook pages.  Slowly trying to get through old photos from last year that I still haven't used yet. 

Like this event.  My friend's daughter & I share the same birthday.  And I always tell her we're cool girls.  Well even without the shared birthday we're cool girls, but that's beside the point... 

I used a random mix of Echo Park paper & letter stickers, Nikki Sivils scalloped border strips, SRM border stickers and American Crafts + the Twinery for my "balloons"...

Time to put on my dancing shoes & go teach ZUMBA!

Have a great week, everyone! 

Nikki Sivils + Glue Arts...

Head over to the Nikki Sivils blog to check out the product swap going on with Glue Arts today & tomorrow! 

Glue Arts was very generous with our team in sending several different adhesives!  I made a card for "dad" using the Nikki Sivils Noah collection .  I used Glue Glider Pro under my Father Knows Best sentiment and the U Cut It 3D Adhesive Foam Blanks under my patterned paper to raise it up a bit so I could wrap my twine around my paper.  I also put a small square under my star.  Both adhesives ROCK.  Very easy to use & adhere well to paper...

(The paper used for my card was cut from the cover sheet to this collection...can't waste one bit of it!)

And since Bob's birthday is this weekend... guess who will be receiving this card? 

Check out all the inspiring ways we used these products and MORE on the Nikki Sivils blog and on the Glue Arts blog!  Leave a comment at each manufacturer's blog today & tomorrow for a chance to win some prizes! 

Good luck and have a great day!  I'm off to do ZUMBA!  Woot woooot!

April is already half over...

Just a quickie... as today is my day to share a few projects on the Nikki Sivils' blog.  I almost forgot it was the 15th already.  This month is certainly flying by!   

I used the new Audrey collection to create a page about the Garth Brooks show we recently attended.  The musical notes patterned paper made me think "concert page." 

My journaling was taken from my blog post about our Vegas trip.  Just copied + pasted it into Word... then printed.  Easy peasy.  I used the Maraschino twine from The Twinery to finish off my flag banner...

I also made a boy's birthday card with the Noah collection.  I added some Want 2 Scrap bling for the tires and some Shore twine from The Twinery...

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend!  Ours has been a TON of FUN!