Wednesday Giveaway!!!

Ok so here is the 1st giveaway!!! Yep I have an extra copy of this book, which is a GREAT Book!

Ali has some fun mini album ideas in this book and really shows you how to put different papers together. I know the winner will LOVE this book!

So here is how you get this....just leave a comment today. I will choose a winner Thursday Morning. Check back to see who won so I can get your address.

Here are two great ladies that come to just about every crop I have at my house! I love seeing their smiling faces and they are always two of the most productive croppers. I do love that this hobby that is all about paper and glue can also bring you great people into your life at the same time. It has been a reflective week this week on people for me. It is never a dull moment in the grand scheme of life. But I am finding out, as many disappointments that there are, as many people as there are that let you down, there are twice as many people that lift you up and restore your faith in the human race. I don't quite understand why sometimes, and being a Mom of an 8 year old boy sometimes is the best lesson that you can have for not understanding why things happen. I have learned so much from him and not all the lessons did I want to learn. But everything does seem to connect.

It is time to CREATE....hope to have a layout done for my post tomorrow....I am going to use some ideas from Ali's book today! Now go Create!

It is important to have a cup to fill.

Last week we celebrated earth day, and I celebrated in many ways, but one was to stop using disposable cups, so of course I had to treat myself to a new cup. I don't really like the tall ones for my coffee. I do love something that actually looks like a coffee mug. Whala I found one!! Complete with a lid, which I should use sometimes even when I am not in the car!! So loving my mug, sipping away, hopes of a great day. Even if the day goes totally wrong, as sometimes happen, these moments my mug and coffee....life is good in this moment.

Ok for anyone that is not a coffee drinker, I know I just lost you!! Those that can appreciate how I just went into a dreamy state of love, you are my people!!

In other news....(always loved that line)! Yesterday Ali my dear friend Ali mentioned the Corner Store on her blog. She is so great for doing this!! I had over 1000 hits yesterday alone just from her post. Thank you my friend, you are an awesome human being that believes in people and what they do. My hope for you is that it always comes back to you ten fold!! Thank you all that have been ordering too!! I promise to get the new stuff up on the shelves next week. I am working on getting the August Event for S.A.V.E. done this week since the event opens on Monday!!! So VERY EXCITED to be bringing in Melodee Langworthy in to teach this time. I can't wait to take a class from her, to get to talk with her and learn. I find her to be an amazing soul even tho we have not met in person.

This weekend, I was cleaning and purging my scrap studio...I hope to show some pictures next week also. (Have you noticed next week is getting busy?) In my cleaning I found I had a few things that I have two of. (How does that happen!!) But it is also a good thing, starting tomorrow I am going to start doing weekly giveaways!!! Wahooooooo! So tune in on Wacky Wednesday and see what is up for grabs. I don't think you will be disappointed. All you will have to do is leave a comment, then Josh will pick one of you at random.

So off to start the day, rainy here but lots to do. First things first....going to breakfast with my friend Sue...since I had to blow her off yesterday for my lovely time with the Delta Agent!!

One last thing today....4 MORE DAYS TILL EASTERN NATIONALS!!!! GOOOOOO JOSH!!!!

Weekend Recap

WOW!!! Yep WOW is all I can say as I look back at the weekend.
It is funny how your opinion of "perfect" can happen when you least
expect it. I would say the weekend was pretty perfect in many ways.

Just a brief recap would include, best friends, Ikea Trip, Watching my
son be honored, more great friends, watching someone appreciate your
work, quiet time, cleaning and purging, watching movies, nice family meal
that Kate cooked...aka....I didn't have to cook.

Now not so "perfect" the 2 hours I have spent on the phone with Delta
Airlines!!!

So I am going to just bask in the positive and the Delta thing will work out...
not saying I won't be posting more about that on another day!
(thanks Sue, for letting me vent to you on the phone with all the swear words
I could say in a 5 minute span! You're a good friend like that!)
So on to the good stuff!


If I was going to have a daughter or two, I could only hope they would be just like these two little girls! These are two girls that are so near and dear to my heart I couldn't imagine not having them in my life. I can't tell you how great they make me feel, and how Maddie can make my day that she wants to have lunch with me on her day off from school!
This lady beside me is one of my BFF's! She and I talk on the phone almost everyday, we enjoy a pack of new paper as much as a good chocolate! I love that we have time to hang out together, and talk about just everyday stuff, which is the important stuff.
Then it was off to IKEA...where look what I found in Aisle 1!!!
I got a call after Kim had read my blog...." I want to go to IKEA TOO!"
So it was a quick trip but Kim now has her Expedia Shelf up and hopefully
Home to her art supplies! GO Kim!!!

Saturday Evening was the big Wrestlers banquet with all the great little guys getting honored for their accomplishments of the year. Josh was double fisting it with his two trophies. He was awarded MVP for the JV team and also earned MOST TAKEDOWNS with 12 takedowns during the season. He was very proud as were we and the coaches words about him were great. All the boys enjoyed the books I made for them, I even got hugs, and that is a pretty big deal from 11-12 year old boys!! My favorite moment was after the ceremonies were over, there were about a dozen boys still sitting down front looking at the books I had made, as they flipped the pages with smiles on their faces. It brought me back to something one of my favorite people told me..."they really don't care what paper you use, or what embellishment...they just love to see themselves in the books. - Stacy Julian in "Finish Line" class I took.
So I think I just heard the UPS man drive up.....need to go see what goodies have arrived!! I think it may be Sassa Frass Lass :)

Finished!

Oh how wonderful that rolls off the tongue!

I love the excitement of doing a project.

I love the process.

I love being FINISHED!

These are the 9 scrapbooks for the graduating 6th graders from our wrestling team this year. I volunteered to do these, wanting the boys to have something special to take with them. I have gotten to know these boys over the past couple years and will miss them. I have some frames to make tonight, and then the project will be done. I am going to do those for the coaches. I had fun doing this project, but it was a long one. Now I have about 10 sketches in my sketch book that I want to get done in layouts....that always happens when I am working on a project, the mojo starts flowing for other things and I want to do them. I have gotten wiser and instead of trying to remember I will stop and write down my vision or thought, that way I can do it later just the way I pictured it.
Tomorrow night is our Wrestling Banquet and the boys will get their books, the coach also hands out the trophies for the year. Last year we were so proud of Josh for getting the sportsman award his first year, you can check it out here and this year, because I am involved in the plans I found out last night he is receiving the MVP award!!! He is going to be so happy, I think this one will just blow him away. I know he is not expecting this. He was talking about maybe getting most improved or something. He also has another trophy coming for Most Takedowns, which is just amazing in one year going from 1-9 , and this year being 9-1 in league. Amazing , he is just really amazing me.
Last night he went to practice and I was again impressed how much he is working, and working hard. He has just changed so much. There is a saying in sports and he has definitely taken it to heart. " Champions are made in the practice room"
Ok today is a bit busy and fun so need to get going and take that shower before noon today! Off to volunteer at school, then lunch with my buddy Julie and her wonderful girls, Ikea run...and back to school to serve Ice cream for Josh's class ice cream party today.
So here is to a great weekend for all!! Vroooooooooooooooom!

Things I love....

Ok so that wasn't the first title I came up with today as I was writing this blog post...but the others well besides making me laugh, probably would have been lost in translation. So I went with simple. Unlike my GREAT friend Ruby...... Can't even put into words sometimes what a great lady this is. She doesn't even know yet her full potential, but it is ok since she is in her 20's, and yep I could be her MOM! But she doesn't make me feel that, she makes me feel alive and silly, she makes me laugh and she makes me say "WTF" sometimes too :) Anyone that has come to get to know this lady would agree, you just love to be around her. She is one of the most artistic people I know, if and when she just lets it flow. You can check out her art here . I know my friend is going through some rough days as of late, and losing some faith in the human race, but I just wanted to remind her how special she is, and because of her I have faith in people. Thanks for being human Roobs!!
She is Ruby...... (She wanted me to see her band aid)
So Call , email, or blog about a friend today, it is a GREAT thing to remind people that they are important to you!!
Is there an elephant in the room??? Another great shot I got at the Circus! Damn I love the Circus!!

A little creativity and my flower boy.

I created this a couple weeks ago, but have been blogging about other goodness so hadn't had a chance to post it. Loved doing this layout and playing with the new Cosmo Cricket line Get Happy. Fun grungy look which was perfect to show off the HAWK! He often has people just come up and tell him how they love his HAWK, he just smiles shyly. I love being the Moms we are and letting him have the freedom to do what he wants with his hair.

I really believe we put so many rules on our children (and rules are good!) that we need to give them some freedoms in their childhood. I think it makes him less rebellious in alot of ways.

Now as I look at this layout and see his Hawk all spiked up, you would think a little guy with attitude, or would you think....Flower boy??

So he comes in from outside, with both hands behind his back, so were does a Mom's mind of a boy go, but something creepy crawly , hairy , gross....WELL OF COURSE IT DOES!!! But what comes out from behind when I ask....but this little bouquet of weeds! Flowers to him, and he wants to pick them all for me. (insert awwwwwwwwwwwww's here)

This boy never ceases to amaze me, he continues to show me the gentle soul he is. He continues to show me unconditional love, and continues to show me that you should never assume anything. Believe in people, beauty and Love. I have so much to learn from this little miracle that I was given.

This is ART!

I just love the little things they make at School and you find the goodness as you go thru thier backpacks.
This is what I dreamed about when I was carrying him, these are the little things that makes being a Mom.
These are the little rewards.
This makes me smile, all the way to my toes.
This seperates the good from evil.
This is Art.

Happy Earth day....Do something Kind for and to our earth today. This could even mean doing something as simple as getting your coffee in a mug instead of that paper cup.

I will be voting today, I will vote to honor those woman that made it possible to do so.

I have also opened up comments again on my blog. I am loving life and letting go of fears.

Take in the beauty of today.....

Simplfy.....

207 captures

That is the number of photos I downloaded tonight from this weekend. Pictures of the beauty of Spring, pictures of our family time together, pictures of creativity and the friends that remind me how wonderful people can be. Capturing everything around me again, smiles are coming back on my face with every click of the shutter. Smack me if I ever stop capturing again. (that was a note to self, not to anyone that may want to smack me).

So much great stuff this weekend, from my friend kidnapping me for breakfast on Friday morning to everyone laying down and reading on Sunday night. All the stuffing in between is just amazing.

Had some fun at a little gift shop on Friday morning....getting some bakery goodness to make at home. The Coffee cake was so light and fluffy, it just didn't seem like it had all those calories I know were in it.

Friday night I got to have a Sleep over!!! I just loved doing this and hanging with some great ladies, Chinese food and good ole games of pinochle. I am so very blessed in my life to have people like this in it. I love our quiet home most of the time, but every once in a while throw in a couple boys, 3 great ladies

and a couple other parents and it does tend to liven up the house a bit. Oh and if you are wondering.....of course I was on the winning team!!! These ladies came over to play and have some fun , fun we did. Altho, I would have to say that cosmos mixed in a plastic gallon container can look alot like KoolAid to an 8 year old boy!! Luckily he didn't like the taste. I won't mention any names, but Nancy was relieved to know she hadn't drunk all the cosmos!!

Saturday I had a dozen of the best ladies over to crop the day away with, great little creations came out of the day and This one was one of my all time favorite little craft projects.

I collapsed right away after everyone left that night, it was such a great day but I had nothing left. I woke refreshed and ready to go on sunday, because we were going to the CIRCUS!!!! One of my favorite things that we do on an annual basis....just love feeling like a kid for a few hours, watching all the visual goodness and waving to the clowns. Some of my favorite shots of the day,

The boy can wear a hat!
Just two kids having fun!
He put this on just for me :)
Those bouncy wheels looked like so much fun! Everytime I am at the circus all I think about when looking at these people.....HOW FRIGIN FUN!!! I know it is alot of hard work and long hours...but it sure looks like FUN!!!

Hi Camera....it is me again!

You ever realize that you stop doing something you love, and you can't pinpoint it but you know something is not right? Ok maybe I am the only one, but I all of a sudden realized I haven't been shooting the everyday anymore. I LOVE my nikon and I usually have it within 10 feet of my hands, but lately I had it sitting on a shelf, in my studio almost collecting dust!!! I should be slapped up side the head!

I am glad to report.....I realized the errors of my ways and I have once again started picking up my baby and clicking away. I feel so much better, my mornings are happier, my days more complete. I love the laughter and the tears my pictures bring me. I have missed those emotions that I find when I am photo editing, or uploading. I can't wait to see what little hidden treasures I have captured. Those gems, they make me smile and also get me thinking of new layouts I want to do. So here is a little happiness I have shot over the past couple days....with my fav subject of course!

Loving this photo, and the story will be in a layout soon. In short, I told him when he took first place at a tourney he could get that on his shirt. Well he did at Districts, and just our luck they were not doing the printing on shirts that day. So he did it again at Regionals...and he got it!!

Scared secrets you can only tell your dog! Like the Recipes for those baked beans!!

OMG I fall in love more everyday with this little guy!!

I am loving every element of this shot!

What is it about those pictures of the little guy running away or walking that I just love capturing. It just makes me want to stop time and hold him there. But knowing I have to let him run and be free too.

Inspired.....put into words.

WOW, AMAZING, INSPIRING, LIFE CHANGING.....these are just a few words and some might have to be made up to explain the rest of it.

I got back Sunday morning from a journey that was billed as an event about ART, little did I know it would be not only a journey into art techniques and creating but it was also a journey into who I am as an artist, a person, a womyn. Not sure where all this is going to go....but I don't think it will actually have an ending anyway.

First going on this trip was something I did to reward myself for a hell of a couple years of owning a Retail Scrapbook store. Doing for everyone else, providing the place, the product and the time for others to create in. Realizing after 2 years that I had lost a little of the artist in me while taking care of everything else. I wanted to get back what I had lost. So fast forward to April and the event is very near, I got ready , packed and really had a hard time with going, since my son was going to be wrestling one of his biggest events the same time I would be gone. Feeling I was missing something so important and didn't want to. Knowing he would do just fine, and I would too. Technology is a wonderful thing.....it can keep you in touch so well these days, so armed with the new FLIP Video camera, cell phones and a computer on my end....It would almost be like being there...ALMOST!!!

As you can read from the post he did more then fine, he WON and he now has his sights on Eastern Nationals and believe me I will be there..so will Grandma and Aunt Denise! We are all booked and ready to see Josh wrestle his way thru the brackets.

So back to INSPIRED!

Each class was just as inspiring and wonderful as the next. Each class was so different from the next. Each Teacher had their own twist on art, and we were able to learn from each and everyone of them.

Now comes the part for me that I didn't expect. I really thought about this alot the last few days, how i would describe this event to someone that didn't scrapbook or create....(sad I know, but there are some out there). So I really only could come up with one thing that would put it in a nutshell .

SUPER HEROS!!! That is how I felt after walking away from this event....these are my superheros. These are the woman that have not only so much talent that it is breath taking, these are the woman that will even share it with us...will allow us to be who we are and teach and inspire us to be the artist we are. They are the ones that we look to , that give us courage that ART is going to be ok.....that CREATING is going to be safe. That they will protect our hopes and dreams that this will not die. It is not just a trend to be an Artist!! That there are so many different ones of us, that this is so diverse....no one can destroy it.

Corny, weird, a little out there....yeah perhaps...but I would rather be out there then in a neat little box without my color pencils!

So much more about this event...and I don't think one post will ever capture it all....so as I finish my projects that I started creating I will post them and tell you more about the class and the teacher and how and why I loved each project.

For now I must get back to "real life" Lots of orders to fill for the Corner Store lots of stuff to order to fill up the shelves. All day crop at my house this Saturday , can't wait to see the girls! Also got my 8 new Crop n Style Cubes today, so time to get things organized and get in my studio and create more!!

Inspired......

Stay tuned....coming today, I finally think I can put this into words. I am going to try anyway.

1st period 2nd match

From Crackle: Apr 12 2008 - VID00007

Pin # 2 at Regionals

This is the 2nd period.

From Crackle: Apr 12 2008 - VID00008

1st Pin Regionals

From Crackle: Apr 12 2008 - VID00002

Josh the CHAMPION!!!

Josh won MAWA Regionals today!!! He is #1 Seed going into Eastern Nationals!!
I can't even express how proud I am of him today...can't wait to get home and hug him and tell him in person!!!

From Crackle: Apr 12 2008 - VID00010

Having some fun with PhotoShop!

I have had fun playing with photo shop lately and these pictures from the last weekend were my first attempts at doing some Cartooning. I think I may use them in a layout!


This one is one of my favorites so far! I love how it came out.
Off to Lewistown this weekend. Should be a great little tourney, the Eastern National Champ from last year will be in Josh's bracket. I am looking forward to see how Josh does against him if they get to wrestle. It is all about mat time and having fun. Looking forward to spending some more time with the Rush's too. They have become great friends and we are blessed to have them in our life.

Opening day!

Well yesterday was opening day for The Corner Store and it was a SUCCESS!!! I have to tell you the people that wished me good wishes and clinked their glasses with me made me feel like a success before I even opened the doors. I still remember opening the doors of the retail store almost 3 years ago, and while I didn't get to see all the smiling faces, they were still there through email and their orders as they came into my inbox. I was surprised and humbled by all the familiar faces. Thanks to everyone that is supporting me on this adventure. You restore my faith in people a little every day!
I also received a couple tokens to remind me of the day. Michelle came over to deliver this very wonderful Lucky Bamboo. Michelle is that person who has come in my life very quietly and I am discovering that she is one very special person that I am blessed to have around. I hope to get to know her better as time goes on. Besides the fact she makes great Jello Jigglers!

Then my Best Friend, my Rock, the one person in my life I never have to doubt about being there for me, Kate got me a wonderful plant
She wanted to get me something Long lasting, durable and hearty.....all the hopes she has for my new venture. I am so blessed to have her in my life. All the times I doubted if I was doing the right thing....she was the one with the words that would get thru to me. Thank you Baby, you are my rock.

So today, filling orders , stocking the shelves and doing some scrapbooking. I love coming to the office which is only steps away from bed, and being able to do what I love to do. My stress levels have been very low and my hopes and dreams still very much alive. Thanks to great friends and my family for seeing me through the last year. Your words were heard and I now know what you were saying. I am me.