is it spring yet?

sure feels like it around here. we've had 70 degree weather for most of this past week. its been really nice, and the kids have enjoyed playing outside as much as they can. well today is going to be spring cleaning day!!! feeling the need to get organized and clear out some stuff.

here's a few more pages of the new my mind's eye stuff. its from the signature life line.

gotta go clean out some closets :) have a good weekend!!!

sneak peek

yep that's right. been playing with the new My Mind's Eye lines. These are from the Tres Jolie. its beautiful and has this parisian feel. soft warm colors. and fun paper embellishments, transparencies and sticker strips. so fun.

he's 4.

can't believe he's four!!
time sure has flown by.
my baby is four!
he woke up this morning
and kept saying, very happily,
" i'm four, can you sign me
up for school yet?"
he's already been playing with
the legos we got him and built
a skyscraper and a super car.
we've got the cake baking in
the oven.
getting ready for everyone
to come over tonight to
celebrate :)
happy birthday drew!!

happy new year.

sorry for the long blog hiatus.
christmas was wonderfully quiet and reflective.
christmas eve we spent visiting with my parents
and brother and sister and their families. ( missed you lisa!)
and then christmas day with my parents.
santa was terribly generous,
as were the grandma's and grandpa's. :)
the kids were so excited.
the house and any sort of structure we had
has gone out the window since vacation
has started. but tomorrow, school
starts again and i must get organized.
i've been feeling like i need to get
things back in balance. so much
going on and i need to reprioritize.
i've been thinking about goals for
2007. i will go back to school this year.
i will take a photography class so i can learn
how to operate my new camera. i will
drink more water. i will cut down on my
junk food intake. and i will exercise more...i mean exercise.:P
on the scrapbook front...i will be trying
something new this year. i will be teaching.
so excited about this. if you're local and
interested...check out the Pocketful
of treasures site and take a peak.

tons of stuff has been catching my
eye lately. love this. and this.

hope everyone has a
happy new year.

xx

been busy.

I just got my first kit in the mail from One Page At A Time, and i'm in love. :) This kit is so awesome. It's stuffed full of goodies!! take a peek...

January 2007 Product List:
3 Sheets SEI Penelope's Potpourri
3 Sheets KI Memories Pet Shop
2 Sheets Scenic Route Eastern Ave. Collection
6 Sheets Bazzill Cardstock (includes 1 scalloped)
1 Sheet Chatterbox Jumbo Alpha Stickers
1 Sheet KI Memories Collection V Tattoos Decorative Rub-Ons (Aqua or Brown)
1 Package Lil'Davis Tinseltown Glitter 2 Hole Book Plates (Rose or Mint)
3 Prima Flowers- Essentials Collection (colors & flowers may vary)
1 My Minds Eye- Barefoot Collection "You & Me" Flower Transparency
3 Deluxe Designs Chipboard Shapes (will vary per kit)
4 Tickets- 2 Blue, 2 Pink
5 Yards Ribbon (may vary to match)
2 Silver Binder Clips
10 Really BIG Bazzill Brads
1 Wood/Metal Clipboard 8x11

1 Scenic Route Alpha Chipboard- Redmond Mint
1 Maya Road Square Coaster Book
1 Lil'Davis Rickrack- Licorice
1 Lil'Davis Glitter Garden Chipboard Shapes
1 Chatterbox Woodcut Border Rub-ons Tangerine
20 Buttons (colors to match)


And because i was one of the featured designers this month, i also got the add-on kit and i made a fun little mini album.


here's a few other things i've made with the kit.


in other news...rich is finally feeling a little bit better. finally off the meds for the dry sockets. he actually went back to work today, so we'll see how he feels tonight when he gets home. the weather has been gorgeous here. cool, but sunny. love that weather. rich took the kids up to the property yesterday and they went for a hike. had the best time and in fact he brought me pictures back home. maybe this pictures explains why Drew 's pants were all ripped up in the back :P

a big thank you.

this was the scene this morning after we opened the two giant boxes of goodies from Grandpa and Patty! Everyone was enjoying Wicked Whoopie Pies from Maine. Let me tell you...these things are huge and are they ever yummy!!!! Not to mention all the other goodness...the devil dogs, yodels, funny bones, and fluff. can't get this stuff out here in california, that is for sure. :) we will be in sugar heaven for a long time.

behind.

ok....so i'm behind on my christmas journal. i know. i need to work on it. rich had his wisdom teeth taken out on tuesday. all four of them. and he was in a lot of pain today....so...needless to say i've been busy. gonna try and work on it now...now that survivor is over :) go ozzy!! check back tmr...i promise to post something from my journal then. in the meantime here are a few layouts i did recently. night.

little packages.

hi all. i've loved working on my journal so far. this entry is about christmas cards. Love sending and getting them. little packages of christmas spirit. :) the second entry is a 5 x7 envelope i sponge painted and decorated. I'm going to use this to save all the christmas cards i get this year. thanks for peeking. xx

snow

here is day 2. just missing the snow.
the picture was the view from our little apartment in hudson, ma.
that was a long time ago.
i could just stare at that picture forever.
don't get snow like that here in fresno.
really miss it :)

i added a page of vellem on top with snowflakes sewn on top.
used some amy butler fabric, and IRL the word snow glistens.
thanks for peeking!
xx

reflect.

well here it is...day 1 of my christmas journal. had such a fun time making it. and so excited to continue. went scrapbooking tonight with a dear friend. had a wonderful time. it's amazing what a few hours of ME time does for the soul. I'm rested, recharged and ready to play with the kids all day tmr. Rich is working, so the kids and i are off to finish the xmas shopping and hit the park.

this past weekend i tried to take pictures of the kids to be included with the xmas cards this year. let me tell you... it is so hard to get a good picture 3 crazy kids. always laughing and giggling and doing the CHEESE smile. :) i finally knew it was the end of the session when i got that last one with the boys looking so jolly. LOL.
you'll have to wait til you get your xmas card to see the one i chose.

yesterday was an exciting day for me! i made the design team at One Page At a Time. Yay!! i am so thrilled to have made this team. Capella and Toni put together the most fun and funky kits. love them! I also got an email asking for two layouts for Memory Makers Magazine. So stoked!!!!

I've also been gathering up all my goodies to use in my christmas journal. getting so excited, and i really can't believe its almost December. :)

Manifesto: Noun. A declaration of one's intentions.

Starting December first, I will keep a Christmas journal. In it, I will write something every
day to reflect on the holidays of my past, enjoy the holidays of the present and dream
about the holidays of my future. To some, this will be a stack of papers and trivial
scribbles, but not to me. I am taking back my Christmas, I am letting it be something I
relish and, most importantly, I am giving at least fifteen minutes every day to myself no
matter how crazy this season becomes. I hope you will share, encourage and understand
as I make something with my own hands, my own words and my own memories.

I may post some or all of my entries here. Other artists are doing this with me, and you
can see their work here. http://www.writtendown.com/
Above all: enjoy the season. I will.

ohh..and happy anniversary to us :)

christmas is coming.

Just finished decorating this album for "journal your christmas". it's this awesome online class i signed up for. can't wait for it to start. each day we will get a prompt to create a page around. can't wait to have this album filled with goodness. this is such a wonderful time of year, and i can't wait to capture it in my journal. all of my thoughts and feelings will have a special little home.

feudalism, knights, and surfers.

these are scenes from my scrap-table. been busy making xmas cards and working on stuff for classes. i've been bitten by the quilting bug, and finally decided to pull out a quilt i started for shannon about 2 years ago. Maybe i will finish it this year and give it to her for xmas. Maybe. But i have been really inspired by all the fabric and patterns. Been stitching and adding a ton of embroidery to layouts i have been making. just makes me happy.

the kids have become monopoly maniacs. they really are getting good. drew really doesn't care to play...doesn't hold his attention, but then again he is only 3. but ryne and shannon love playing for hours, and ryne is a master negotiator. always trying to get something for nothing from shannon. makes me chuckle. this week we have been studying about feudalism, knights and serfs. Shannon keeps calling them "surfers". too funny. :) the kids made castles out of cardboard and have really been having a good time learning. off to the library. have a great day.

It's been like a zoo here lately. I'm always hearing animals roaring, monkeys screetching, and a hum of people talking. Ryne bought the game zoo tycoon a couple weeks ago and that is what they want to play all the time now. The game is great, you have to construct your own zoo. First you designing the cages, then pick the animals, and you can choose dinosaurs too. Really cool! Don't forget to add scientists to take care of the animals. The ultimate goal of the game is to try to make money and become a zoo tycoon. The first few days were spent building these elaborate zoos, with restaurants, and ferris wheels and lots of animals. Fast forward to yesterday....i'm in the kitchen making dinner and i hear the computer, but the animals are really roaring and people are screaming. I walk in the playroom to find Ryne and Drew on the computer laughing hysterically. They built a zoo that had a T-Rex and a yetti (abominable snowmonster) and they were feeding the guests to them. They were picking up the people and putting them inside the cage to be eaten by the animals. I didn't know whether to laugh or not. Rich walks in the door from work and he sees what is going on, and i quietly say to him, "do u see what they are doing?' he replies, "yeah, i showed them that!"

have a great day :)

so...this weekend i got to meet one of my "pea" friends in real life. lisa and i "met" last year when she put together our circle journal group. she is such a super sweet person, and I couldn't wait to meet her. She was in town just for a few hours, so we took the kids to the pumpkin patch and had a picnic lunch at the park. such a great afternoon. the kids had a blast playing together and shannon even got a little sad when frankie (lisa's daughter) was leaving. it was really sweet.

we were halloween'd out this year. Shannon had a harvest parade at school, where all the kids dressed up and they paraded around for the parents. it was really cute. sat night we were invited to an insanely awesome halloween party. and then last night was trick-or-treating. :) we had friends come for dinner and then go with us. so it was even more fun. ryne decided to be the hunchback, drew was darth vader, and shannon was the princess :) they had so much fun RUNNING from house to house. in the dark, this does not work so well. drew and ryne totally ran smack into one another. drew now has a black eye to remember halloween. :P

been scrappin lots and getting some picked up :) also been working on class samples. yeah. can't wait for january.
leave me a comment and let me know you stopped by.
have a great day!

here he is...skateboarding on a half-pipe. :) we visted our friends, the R's this weekend. they invited us for some fun and food. the kids had a blast on the half-pipe, along with dad. the tree swing was also a big hit. lots of laughs and catching up. seems like life is just moving so fast, we need to just take a minute and soak it all up.

friday night i took shan to her girl scout halloween party. such a fun idea. each of the troops had to come up with a game for the girls to play. so all the girls walked around the gymnasium playing games and collecting candy in their goodie bags. shan had a huge smile on her face the whole time. too bad i forgot to bring my camera :( but i did talk to a mom of one of the girls in shannon's troop. she was just telling me how sad she was because she can't come to all of her daughters outings, because she works. i could tell she was really upset and hurt. and then she asked me what i did, and i softly replied, "i stay at home with the kids." i felt so bad. seems like i just added salt to her wound, but it really was a reminder to me to appreciate the blessings that i have. i am very, very grateful that i am able to stay home with the kids, and get to attend all their outings and just spend as much time as i can with them.

a style all her own

she really does. this was the outfit she picked out to wear to school yesterday :) "but it matches mom! the blue in the tights goes with the blue stripe in the skirt, and the white in the shirt goes with the white in the skirt. " love the reasoning. LOL. and yes she did go to school like this. i couldn't tell her no after such a good reason.

tonight we are off to our first girl scout gathering, a halloween party. should be lots of fun. shannon really likes the whole brownie thing, and her mom is having flashbacks from her childhood :)

in scrappy news, just been working on some more heritage pages. finished this one the other night. it's a pix of granpa and dad, circa 1947. absolutely love this picture. so sweet.

have a great day !

lucky

things that are making me happy today.


finishing up this layout and a mini album for our local scrapbook store design team try-outs.

finally came up with an idea for a class i will be teaching. more on that later :)

pumpkin spice creamer in my coffee this morning.

shannon finally feeling better today and wanting to go to school.

rich not working the weekend.

sitting reading my country home magazine.

spent yesterday morning investigating oobleck with ryne for his science lab :)

getting love notes from the kids.

listening to the little ones having a conversation about santa, the elves, and his workshop.

this, this & this.

hope you have a great day!!

good stuff

sorry for the blogging hiatus but i've been super busy. lots of good stuff going on with the normal busy-ness. i've been playing with the new lines that My Mind's Eye will be debuting at Memory Trends, Bohemia Christmas and Magnolia. Lots of fantastic papers, transparencies, and diecuts. so yummy. love the colors.

so excited that i have been asked to teach at our local scrapbook store. trying to think of ideas for classes. i'm super excited about this opportunity. i've never taught a class before, so if anyone has any advice, let me have it :)

and drew has informed us that he would like to play football and be a "tackler". LOL
lots of football in our house today, can u tell?
GO PATRIOTS!!