My baby can swim (sorta)

Check this out! It kinda cracks me up, but I assure you there are several adults - parents, grandparents, etc. VERY near to her. And she is NOT drowning, but swimming with her face in the water. oh and that is a toy mermaid in her hand.

CHA mini album

On the cover here, you can see a YMBD nested circle. I thought it was perfect to highlight the photo and the title. I also used a prima hybrid file to print on a transparency. Then I applied some crystals to cover the glue spots. I stamped the title using staz on ink. I was going to print it on the transparency using photoshop, but I forgot.

I used the 6x6 YMBD acrylic album to make a keepsake of my trip to CHA this year. I wanted to include some memorabilia, and all the stories, so I tried to keep it simple with just grey cardstock and a few embellishments.

Here you can also see that I clipped some gems and a transparency crown onto the rings. This was a Heidi Swapp make and take.

The paper clip is so that the transparency overlay stays on the first page of the album. I made it so I could turn it separately, but I prefer to keep it together.

This page has another YMBD nested circle, my badge from the show (which shows through to the front to include 2008 in the title), a ymbd journaling spot, and a photo. The background of the second page is part of the floorplan

here you can see part of the list of exhibitors, another prima hybrid transparency, a crate paper die cut that just happened to be laying on my desk, and a button that I picked up at the show

Here you can see the photo of Missy and I with Heidi Grace, and the tag that she signed and gave us. I made another tag to include my story about it, because it was funny. The papers on this page are from the Webster's Pages samples.

Here I used some more of the buttons that I collected, along with another prima transparency, another jewel and another bit from the websters pages pamphlet

I had a lot to say on this page. I might add some rub-ons or something to the second page, just to dress it up a little more.

This is the back, with another part of the heidi swapp make and take, some jewels and a quote.

CHA day 2

Ok, can you believe that I forgot my notebook again today, and that I didnt take NEARLY enough pictures, so I am just going to tell you what I can.

So, on Friday Les and I got up early to be there pretty much when it opened. The plan was to make a quick circuit and see pretty much everything briefly on the first day, then go back to the hotel and narrow down what we wanted to look at again.

We hit the BIG room first. The first booth we stopped in was Buttons Galore. Those ladies were really nice and had some cool products. The one that we liked the most was the 'starters' which are basically bare buttons, tags and ribbon slides that you can paint, ink, stamp, emboss, etc. They gave us a really cool sample one to put on our lanyards. We vowed to come back and place an order, but ran out of both time and money first. They are still on the list though!

Next we hit GCD studios. I have been getting their papers in one of my kits and I love the bold colorful designs. They had a great understated Christmas and Halloween lines. They also had a really fun black and white line. Another thing they had was flexible epoxy stickers. Really fun! And example was a pencil holder where the expoxy sticker went around the corner.

Hmmm, after GCD it gets kind of fuzzy. we were trying to get to CK just in time for the Ali Edwards book signing. We stopped by Inique Boutique and ogled their adorable clear stamps. Then we made our way over to Chatterbox. The Chatterbox booth was so cute - full of cupcakes and hanging banners and ornaments. And I think I already mentioned - texture, texture, texture! I am in love with the artsylicious line. In fact, for the rest of the show I was saying, "oooh and this would go with the brown Chatterbox", "ooh and this would go with the blue Chatterbox" - LOL! They had brown, pink, black, white, peacock blue, lime green and cherry red. Each line has bling, frames, papers - flocked, foiled, glittered, and enameled - embossed chipboard books, fabric tags, foiled letters, and I am sure I am forgetting something. But even more cool, is that they arent exactly the same in different colors, the patterns are slightly different. Like the brown flocked is sort of fleur de lis, and the blue flocked is sort of floral (I think). And the embossing on the pink is floral, but the embossing on the blue is dots. So much fun! And then as if that isnt awesome enough, they just came out with the new Together line, which coordinates with the colors in the artsylicious and is still full of fun textures - felt stickers, fabric stickers, 3-d frames, etc.

Oh, AND we got to meed Melody Ross, the creator, and Courtney Walsh, the DT coordinator. Courtney was really busy with make and takes and we didnt want to bother her, but Melody chatted with us for a while and took a photo with us. Les had a funny story about calling her 10 years ago to order her first batch of books. So, in the end I guess we saved the best for last, because we came back to Chatterbox the next day right before the show closed and Les put in a big order! woohoo! can't wait to get my hands on this stuff. And I guess it is great that it is so versatile because my Chatterbox DT finalist box is on its way too - so I am going to be rolling in Chatterbox soon! Can you believe that I was incredibly nervous about introducing myself to Melody and Courtney, knowing that they are going to be judging my work in just a few short weeks, but after meeting them I feel so much better! Don't get me wrong, I am still totally nervous and think that the competition is really really tough, but they are so nice that I feel like at least I will be judged fairly, and if I don't make it then I lost fair and square. That always makes me feel a little better about not winning.

Ok, so after Chatterbox we headed over to CK for a book signing with Ali Edwards. Ali is Leslie's favorite scrapper. And we were about 4th in line, which was lucky because she only had about 15 books to give away - AND they are her brand new ones! I have to hang my head in shame that I havent gotten a chance to look through it yet, but I have been so busy and sick. I can't wait to see it. Did you know that that book is my very first idea book? Ok, maybe I have one super old crappy one from when I started scrapping.

Hmm, I can't remember what we did after CK - oh wait, maybe we went to Little Yellow Bicycle and ogled their fun Christmas and Halloween and Valentine's lines. I am not a big 'theme' scrapper, but I loved their themed lines. Lots of die cut papers and frames, and transparencies, and the colors are not too overpowering. Next we started backtracking to Chatterbox, to pick up where we left off, but stopped at Memory Makers for another book signing - boy did our bags get heavy with two books and about 6 magazines (not to mention the catalogs). And then we got in line for free scissors at Fiskars. Yeah, our plan to go fast really didnt work out all that well - LOL!

Ok, that is enough for now I think.

CHA review Part One

Ok, I left my notebook at home, and I am at work now (even though I am still sick - blah) but I am going to tell you what I can remember and show you a few pics, then I will fill in later today or tomorrow with my notes and more pics. Ok?
First - some trends that I noticed.
1. lower price points - it seems that a lot of companies are listening to the customers and trying to provide smaller packages of products with lower price points. For example: this new felt from Queen and Co that comes on rolls and is sold by the yard for less than $1.99

I didnt ask the price, but Maya Road and a few other companies seemed to have spools of trims that will be sold by the yard. Personally, I thought that was great because I never want to buy the big $6 packs of coordinating ribbon, because it is just too expensive.
Also, I dont have a photo, but EVERYONE seems to be offering smaller packs of stamps and even individual stamps. I thought that was pretty cool because I can never seem to rationalize buying a whole big set of stamps for $20, but I could pick up an individual or two here and there.

#2 - Die cut paper - this isnt a new one, and I am sure you arent surprised but the die cut paper trend is alive and well. Of course, we have the Ki memories, the making memories noteworthy, and the ci narratives but now it seems almost every company offers at least one or two die cut papers. I was especially impressed by the die cut Christmas, Halloween and Valentines day papers from Little Yellow Bicycle. They were unique and very useable.
Here is a photo of the Christmas line from LYB:

I only took my small camera and my Halloween photo from LYB didnt turn out too well, but I pretty much have the same thing to say about both Halloween and Christmas (and valentines too) here - LOVE IT!! I am a little bit less traditional when it comes to holiday themes and I loved how these lines were traditional, but a lot of it could be used for other things too. I also loved the gorgeous die cut papers. and you can see in the photo here - right in the middle is a round album - loved that! and on the left of the album is a set of glitter transparency frames! I love that idea! Sort of like the Fancy pants glitter frames, but you get a whole set! They also had a set of die cut photo mats that is not shown in this photo but was also very cool! Those products were available in all the lines and I loved them ALL!

#3 - clear clear clear! - everyone is on the clear bandwagon now. There were SEVERAL companies, new and old, that are offering clear albums, and embellishments. Clear Scraps is offering some really cool 12x12 acrylic die cut sheets. They also have a new 'mini album' holder - which was really cool because it can hold pretty heavy mini albums without falling over. think of like a calendar that sits upright on your desk and you can flip pages. it was like that only you can punch your own holes for whatever mini album you want. or you could use it as a picture frame. maya road, and prima both expanded their clear product lines. apple pie memories is a new clear company that I really liked - they had customizeable books that you can put a name on the top - cut out of the acrylic - as sort of tabs. They also offer thinner acrylic that you can emboss and use for cards and other stuff.

#4 - texture! everywhere! - I can't tell you how many things I just had to TOUCH! I am in love with texture and pretty much everyone at CHA totally delivered on my addiction. The first one that comes to mind, and probably my show favorite is Chatterbox. Their Artsylicious and Together lines - wow! flocking, glittering, enamel, foil, fabric, felt - you name a texture and it is in these lines! just amazing! Then SEI had VELVET PAPER - wow! the flocking was just everywhere. If I were going to to try to tell you about all the flocked stuff, I would probably be better off telling you which lines were NOT flocked.

#5 - knockoffs - LOL! I guess you can't really call this a trend, but there were a lot of things that I was referring to as knockoffs. I am not necessarily implying that these 'knock offs' are a bad thing - some of them seem to be improvements over the original. For example - Maya Road came out with a new 'Maya Mist' which is basically a knock off of the Glimmer Mist. It is more glittery though and comes in plain colors, silver and gold. The idea is that you spray the plain color, then top it with the glittery silver or gold and the color blends with the glitter to create a ton of different effects. I sort of already mentioned some other 'knock offs' like the acrylic albums that are showing up everywhere, die cut papers, glitter transparency frames, and then the other big one - thickers! It seems that lots of companies want to get in on the popularity of the thickers (can you blame them) and have come out with their own dimensional letter stickers. the one that comes to mind is prima. they have a new line of felt letters. They come in a variety of colors and it seems that they have a LOT of letters in each pack.

CHA day One

Ok, so, Thursday started my long and hectic weekend off with a bang. Ellie woke up that morning with a runny nose, and I thought - oh no! (yep, I got sick) But first we went to Ellie's camp for visiting day. Ellie was one of the youngest in her camp class, and she didnt do a very good job of following directions during the sports time, but she did do a great job of playing with the other kids and more or less ignoring us! I was thrilled that she didnt want to hang on me the whole time. she really seemed to have a good time playing with the other kids. Then they went swimming and she was the best one in the water! she is a total fish! Then Seth and I had to leave for the airport and Phyllis and SaBabba showed up to hang with ellie for the rest of visiting day.

I was way way way more upset about leaving Ellie for three days than I thought I would be, and I was nervous about meeting Leslie and Missy and just the whole CHA thing, and I was totally excited, so I was pretty much sick with nervousness. I had two hours to kill at the airport so I chilled out in a bar and had some sushi and two glasses of wine. They were EACH $9 but I didnt care becasue I needed some help relaxing. I just kept wanting to cry for leaving Ellie.

Once I was on the plane I was fine though. It was like I had flipped a switch and there was no turning back. So then I was just excited. I got to Chicago about an hour ahead of Leslie and made my way to her baggage claim - which was in a different terminal than where I landed. I hadnt checked a bag though, so I was ok. I waited and waited and it felt like forever! Finally when her flight was on the baggage claim thing, I moved to where I could see people heading over and I kept looking at all the women and wondering if I would recognize her. I would see a woman and say, nope too fat, too thin, hair is too dark, hair is too short, hair is too long, oooh - maybe that is her-nope she is with someone. But when I saw her, I didnt have to think about it I just knew it was her. It was really weird.

So we made our way to the hotel, chattering the whole way - I think there was not a moment of silence the whole trip. Yes, a big part of that was my fault - lol! We unpacked in the hotel, freshened up a bit and then went to meet Marcie (from 2 scrappy chix) for dinner at Giardonos pizza. Apparently Marcie and I both do not look as much like our pic because we didnt recognize each other at first. But once we did, it was all good. We had dinner and it was yummy! I am STILL craving more of that pizza. and we talked and talked. and talked.

oh and here is a pic of us at the pizza place:


Then we went back to the room and I crashed. I dont know what Les did then, but I was out like a light!

Eliminated - Project Scrapaway

Well, much as I predicted, I was eliminated this week from project scrapaway. I had a really great time with this contest - so many fun challenges and stiff competition that really made me think outside the box. I must say though that when I read that I was eliminated this morning, the main thing I felt was relief! I didnt want to drop out, or produce something really crappy to ensure elimination, but I also just dont have the time to be working on these challenges each week - especially for the next couple weeks. So, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Yes, I guess I am a little bummed because I thought my entry was pretty good, and possibly a little better than some of the others. But all in all - the entries were fabulous and I have to say that I lost fair and square. The person who won this round totally deserved it, and I pretty much deserved to be eliminated this time. It makes me happy when things seem fair!

So, back to the things that are really on my mind this week - Chatterbox, CHA, leaving my family for four days and work. I have to get some things done at work today, but I am having a terrible time staying on track! I just keep thinking about CHA - meeting my friends, going to the convention, and leaving Ellie for 4 days! I have never been away from her for that long and I worry that I am goign to miss her terribly. Then Chatterbox. I still dont know when the box with the supplies for the final round is going to arrive, but I have been reading the reveals on the blog and I just have to say - WOW!! I hope I get some of that new 'Together' stuff to play with! amazing! I was going to stop by the Chatterbox booth at CHA to introduce myself, but now I think I am going to drag Les over there and MAKE her look at the awesome product that is coming out! I am really really impressed and even if I dont make the DT, I see Chatterbox becoming my new favorite company. (and no, I am not saying that to kiss up - I figure no one from Chatterbox reads my blog anyway)

2 Scrappy Chix 1st Kit available!

I am so excited! 2 Scrappy Chix, a brand new kit club that I have the pleasure of being on the Design Team for, has posted the first kit for pre-order! The final elements are on their way to the store right now and it will be shipping out right after CHA!!

This kit is awesome you have to check it out: Nesting

Do you know what else is cool? 2 Scrappy Chix is going to be a mid-month kit! That means that when you are just getting tired of all of your monthly kits, but before the next month's kits have shipped, 2 Scrappy Chix could be arriving on your doorstep ready to fill in that gap with great textures and colors and fun!

I can't wait to get my hands on this kit! I will be getting mine at CHA! Just one more thing to look forward to this week! I am so excited I can barely sit still, let alone work! AHH!

Project Scrapaway - challenge 8

So, the entries for project scrapaway for challenge 8 were posted today. The challenge was to use only black and white - no exceptions - on a project (not a layout).

The entries are HERE.

Here is mine:

I just have to say that I thought my entry was 'pretty good'. I know it isnt great, but I thought it was acceptable. Then I saw the others. And I just have to say WOW! I think there is a good chance that I will be eliminated this week. We will find out tomorrow. This contest has been so much fun and really pushed me outside the box. I will be sorry to see my part in it end - if it does. But also, if I dont get elminated, then I am going to have to figure out how to finish next week's entry before I leave to go to CHA! I guess that means I will be up really late on Wed, after the next challenge is posted, toiling away to get it done. Hey, I will be the first entry! LOL!

I will update you tomorrow with the results from this round.

ACOT CT Spotlight

I totally forgot to post this because they told me about it before the article went public and I kept waiting and waiting, then life took over and I forgot. anyway, one of my pages was featured in the CT Spotlight Volume 26 at A Cherry On Top!!

Scrapbook Dreamer DT Reveal!

I *finally* got my pages done for the reveal at Scrapbook Dreamer. Ok, so I wasnt really late, just behind everyone else - LOL! Anyway, I got this great box full of Moxxie Zoo Fun for my review this month, along with some other fun things.

Here is a page that I made with some Karen Foster paper that I was not expecting, but loved. This just screams summer to me! :

I pumped up the lemons with a little paint. the leather boarders and acrylic tag are also from Dreamer.


Here is one of the Moxxie pages.


Several of the Moxxie pages that I made this month were two page layouts. Those dont post here on my blog well, so you should check them out in the gallery at Scrapbook Dreamer.
You can see all of my work in my gallery here.

We are Cropping!

Scrapwords is hopping with fun, games and prizes! Stop over and check it out!

Here is the crop forum.

Ive been tagged

10 yrs ago: I was 19, in college and just about to meet DH.

5 things to do today: 1. Lower body strength training 2. go to work. 3. fix blinkie for Scrapwords crop. 4. watch a tv show. 5. go to the doctor.

Favorite snack: hmmm, this is tough because I have been on this diet for almost 5 weeks now and it has made me change my eating habits - it is really working! Carrots and Hummus or honey wheat pretzels

What would I do if I was a millionaire: Well, if I was a billionare, I would travel with my Hubby...live in a warm climate year round and scrap, scrap, scrap! If I just had a milllion dollars, I would pay off debts, put money in savings, take a great vacation and maybe buy a bigger house.

The places I have lived are: Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Scottsdale AZ, and MD

Random update

1. Wanna hear something weird? I can't get to three of my favorite sites today. I dont know what the problem is. So, if you are reading this from one of those sites where I am conspicuously absent, you know why. I didnt forget about you and I will be back - whether you like it or not!

2. BFL - I had an ok run today. Got on the scale and am down 2 more lbs!! Woohoo! that makes me feel better. I was getting a little frustrated. This is week 5 and as of right now I am down 9lbs. So that makes almost 2lbs a week - perfect! I am really really hungry today and yesterday though, but I am holding out, not eating too much

3. The latest round of project scrapaway is over and the results are posted and I made the next round. I dont have a pic of my page to share right now, but you can find it here. (if you can get there, since that is one of the places I can't get to)

4. I am busy getting ready for CHA and the crop at Scrapwords this weekend. So far for CHA I made some business cards and am working on a sample of my work. I dont plan on really TRYING to show people, but I thought it would be good to have just in case. I made some dinner reservations for us, and printed out maps and vendor lists and marked where I want to go. Next, I have to work on wardrobe, and packing. UGH wardrobe! I hate that! I would have liked to lose more weight first, but oh well. Oh and I need to dye my hair. Not just for CHA, but for me. I have been putting it off and putting it off and CHA seems like the best excuse to just do it. And then I have to make a blinkie for the Queen of the Crop at SW this weekend.

5. The final round of the Sassy Scrappers Ms. Sassy pageant was over today, we are waiting for results. This layout was my entry. The challenge was to scrap something about yourself, answering one of several questions. I answered the question - what is one thing you would change about yourself. I said my perfectionism because it stresses me out. I am sad that this photo didnt turn out well, the colors are a bit off, but we had terrible weather this weekend and I couldnt get a good pic. I really need to work on finding a way to take better pics of my stuff.
Welp, that is it I think.

OMG Chatterbox!

I am one of the 35 finalists in the Chatterbox DT audition! Yep, that would be my name right up there at the top of the list (by virtue of the fact that my last name ALWAYS puts me at the top of the list)
http://www.chatterboxinc.typepad.com/

I am seriously stunned and shocked and my coworkers all think I am a total freak now!

Cowgirl hat and weekend

This weekend was really good AND really bad. The diet thing - really bad. OK, maybe I am being too hard on myself, not REALLY bad just not good. Friday, we almost missed the civic association event at the park. DH and DD were out back eating breakfast and they heard the loud speaker so they went to investigate. DH called to tell me that DD was running a race but by the time I got there with my camera I had JUST missed it :(DD even ran straight! (one kid went the wrong way)
DD got a red white and blue butterfly painted on her cheek (she wanted it on her nose - lol) and danced to high school musical with some kids and jumped in the bounce house. Then we went home. I scrapped a little, while they went to the in-laws to hang out, make cookies and DH had to help with something. Then we all had dinner there, lit sparklers and then went to the fireworks. DD had been all excited about them, but she wouldnt take a nap, so she was really tired. After the first one, she covered her eyes and said she wanted to leave. So we started walking away and she kept repeating 'I want to leave' over and over. Part of me felt like a bad mother for having my 2.5 year old at the fireworks. but I really did think she would like it. I still think she might have if we were not quite SO close and she wasnt quite SO tired.
Sat we cleaned (oh we cleaned Friday too - A LOT) then we had some people over for dinner and played Wii - that was FUN!
Sunday we slept in and missed going to the zoo for free stuffed animal day. so we relaxed before going to a family birthday party. overall a good weekend except that I didnt get much scrapping done and I didnt workout much.
Here is one scrappy thing that I DID do. The pink cowboy hat that Ellie requested. It was kinda tough, to glue the flat paper onto a contoured surface, so there are a few wrinkles and the dark spots on the pink paper are my modge podge finger prints. I think I need to buy more modge podge and put a top coat on to cover them up. But overall I think it turned out rather cute! (and thank you thank you thank you Janet! Ellie is totally in love! )
I have a pic of her wearing the hat that I have to post, it is soooooooo adorable! but I forgot all my photos on my home computer. Sandy had to send this one to me (thank you!) because I had sent it to her and I just NEEDED to post something today! LOL!

Crop Next Week at Scrapwords!!

At Scrapwords, we are in the mood to SCRAP, CREATE and WIN!!! Saturday, July 12 from 10 am to 10 pm join us here at Scrapwords for a fun Summer Crop!! Our theme this month is Finding and Embracing Your Style so you can expect cool challenges to help you do just that!!
Join us every hour for diffrent challenges, cool prizes and maybe even a few surprises! Our BIGGIE prize of the weekend will be a $75 prize pack!! Holy Cow!

Come on and let's have some fun!! Invite your friends over, pull out your scrap stuff, snacks and SCRAP! Be sure and keep your computer handy for more inspiration than you can imagine!!!
Be sure and check back next week for more details!! Mark your calendars and I hope to see you there!!

two e-zine pubs!

Yesterday I got two emails to tell me that Scrapbook News and Review online magazine wants to publish two of my submissions (one page and one mini album).

And the topic to blog about today at scrapbook dreamer is patriotism. I issued this challenge because I can't really put my thoughts on this subject into words. When I see an american flag or a soldier, I feel the warm fuzzy pride inside, but I couldnt really explain to you just why. The 4th of July (and memorial day and labor day for that matter) arent really my favorite holidays. I am not a big fireworks person. BBQs are nice. I guess my favorite part of these holidays is seeing the American flags come out. There is just something heartwarming about seeing those flags and remembering that we are all part of something.

ok, enough sappy-ness. Here is a page:
This page is a lift that I did of Gloria at Scrapbook Dreamer. I just kept looking at her page: party time, and loved how it looked like a stem of flowers. So I decided to copy it and make a page about my flowers!

next round

ok well, the results were posted. Teresa's comments on my project were not stellar. She said, "very creative". LOL! but whatever, I made it to the next round. Here is my project: The challenge - in case you forgot, tsk tsk, was to alter four coasters and use polka dots.





In other news, the new challenge is to do a layout about something unhappy in your life. hmmm. I am thinking on that one.

I had a rough morning this morning. I ran, poorly, went back to sleep, got to work late late late. But it seems to be looking up now.

Big things brewing at Scrapwords!! I will post more about it later, but you have to check it out!
This month's theme is Finding and Embracing your style.