Photo Chipboard Letters - very cool!

Here's the first page of the long-awaited pages! OK, not for you all {LOL} but they've been floating on my work space & in my brain for a few weeks now, so it feels so good to get them done, and IN my book. With only 16 more days to go until we sail the seas -- {insert big grin & TONS of excitement!!} I'm down to my final day. So... take a peek & let me know what you think. :)

HOW COOL IS THIS?! I had an assortment of photos with the amazing waves & couldn't think of how to incorporate them onto the page... so I decided to try to adhere it to chipboard letters & I LOVE how they turned out. And pleased as punch that I thought of it all on my own!

Second Page of the layout is below here. "Life is an adventure" is a rub on & used some of my vintage prima GOT FLOWERS? -- so fun to play with new goodies!!

A close up of the ribbon & brads... needed to fill up the space -- I *think* I like it :) ?!?!

Where Did SPRING BREAK Go?

Well, I seemed to have blinked and it's Monday again :-) What a fun-filled, busy Spring Break we had! Could have done without the rain, but for some reason the kids don't seem to mind. As long as they have friends & cousins to play with it's ALLLL GOOOD! LOL. My middle munchkin celebrated his 8th birthday and so the last couple of nights we worked on his {soccer} invitations to hand out to his friends at school today. We had lots of fun. It's so cute to hear him ask if I think it's the "right" green! LOL. A stamper in the making!
I was so hoping to post my final cruise scrapbook pages, but not yet. I have 18 days before we leave (HOW EXCITING IS THAT!!!!) so I need to get going so I make my goal of completing it before we leave for Panama! I also want to decorate a brown bag surprise for each day we're away for my babes. My youngest gets the most sad (I think it's a tie with my little man, but he doesn't want ME to know that! LOL). So I thought a great way to *Count-Down* the days until we come home is to have a special bag with a surprise awaiting them each day. So, times that by 3 munchkins and 10-days... I've got 30 bags to do up! YIKES. We're having my son's big birthday party this Sunday, so it looks like another crazy week -- I'll post some of the brown bags -- I have ideas floating in my head --- now just to find the time to stamp it.....

Shopping Extravaganza!

Yesterday was a fabulous *shopping* day for me -- my Spring BREAK! I had so much fun heading to Campbell River & finding a new scrappin' store. YOU MUST GO AND SEE IT if you're ever in Campbell River, BC - ask for Kristie!! Check her store out... She Runs With Scissors. Anyway, she's tucked in a small space, but she's got great stuff in every nook & cranny!! I even got my stampin' up! order yesterday so it was a GOOD day!! LOL. Now I need some time to PLAY!!! LOTS OF CHIPBOARD to play with in my order(s).

Some other goodies I got -- been looking for those small vintage Prima flowers :-)

Nothin' like a good SU order too -- Can't wait to play with DOODLE THIS and Office Accoutrement will hopefully ink some photos! YEAH.
I have my run tonight so I won't be able to play with ink (but the 10K is next month!!) so I'll have to book some play time tomorrow! :) Hope you are all enjoying your Spring Break.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I had a gift Certificate from dear hubby and I finally cashed it in tonight & bought my little ipod shuffle. I'm so excited. Hopefully this little mini will be the strength I need to get to the END of the 10K !!! :)

Happy Birthday Becca

It's my niece's 7th birthday this week so I finally was able to sit down & stamp her up a pretty little card. I used always apricot, certainly celery, almost amethyst, regal rose & some natural ivory cardstock. A little ribbon, a few *dots* of pearls & we are good to go. I love using the tab punch to make the brackets. HOW COOL IS THAT! Got that tip from a friend who found it on SCS. THANK-YOU! :) TOO CUTE.

Well.... Spring Break has arrived and I'm so looking forward to the slower pace this next week will be. OK, who am I kidding I'll have all the monkey's home, but not rushing out to school in the morning will be bliss!

Polka Dots & Paisley finally sees ink!

Well I got one of my cards done today :) To be honest, it's the first time I pulled out my Polka Dots & Paisley set and I really like it. I stamped the flower heads on another piece of cardstock and cut them out & used stampin' dimensionals to pop them off the card. And of course that tag punch!!! LOVE IT!
Fun, fun, fun.

I'm Registered!

(my new running outfit!!!)
I'm officially registered for the 10K next month. EEK! Last night's run went great (our coach is SO encouraging -- she makes it easy!) so we'll see how I do tomorrow with my running buddies! I find Mondays, when I'm usually on my own, the toughest. I've got a GC that I want to use on an MP3 player to run with. I think that would be a huge help. Just trying to decide between the mini Sony or the IPod Shuffle -- love the idea of having FM radio so I'm leaning towards the Sony mini....
Need to finish up with the house cleaning so I can get those final scrapbook pages done & need to get some birthday cards made up -- my niece turns 7 today :) ! I seem to *work* better in a clean & organized space. How annoying is that!? *smiles* Weekend is nearly here! YEAH!!!

Motivation where are you?

Have you ever had that day where you were just NOT motivated? That was me yesterday (on the edge again today! lol). So I picked up my camera and walked around the house and took snapshots of my messes. Humbling isn't it!? ha! Well... it MADE me get it cleaned up in some strange way. Then I went back when the task was done & took a pic of it all tidy :) Ahhhhh.... doesn't it just feel better?

A collection of forced motivation -

Page Number 2

I'm nearing the end of my cruise album -- whew! I thought I'd get more scrappin' time in this weekend, but no luck. BUSY! Lots of fun though with friends, so.... it's all good. I got my Photoshop Elements over the weekend - yeah. So I hope to get it on the computer this week and start LEARNING! Also.... shhhh! but I think I'm getting my new digi camera this month too. SO EXCITED about that one. Been driving my hubby absolutely MAD with all my camera talk! LOL. i want to get it & figure it all out before our trip! Crazy week though as I finish up with our kitchen cabinet layout & lighting so scrappin' might be in the wee hours of the night ;-) Here is a page I did get finished over the weekend. It was one I stared at for awhile... then added... then added a little more.... It's ok. I'm excited about the other two I'm working on....

Well, got my run in this morning -- the final hill was brutal, but I DID IT! :) Love that feeling when I'm DONE. My oldest has a tea at her school this afternoon where they are reciting poems so I'll be taking that all in as well. To top it off the sky is blue & the sun is (finally) shining here on the island. We've had SO MUCH RAIN, so this just lifts my spirits & makes me smile. Enjoy your Monday!!!

Back to Scrappin'!

Finally got back to scrappin' a couple of days ago :) Actually have four pages on the go as I needed to figure out where I wanted the photos on each layout so I could plan them all out. A bit crazy trying to wrap my mind around them all, but I finally have ONE completed & hope to get the other 3 done over the weekend. Between soccer, a birthday party, a potluck & church, we'll see if I can S-q-e-e-z-e---- in some stampin' time! :)

Here's my *title* page for day seven. Cabo was our FAVORITE!! Had so much fun there and totally want to go back again. I thought I'd incorporate a lot of tiny photos to capture all the events. Love the square punch, and perfect layers made the 1/16" layer in Night of Navy doable! :)

Another Birthday!

Having three kids in school means there's ALWAYS a birthday party. I keep telling myself I just need to SIT and stamp a STACK of birthday cards so I'm not always speeding through the process trying to *quickly* make another one! LOVE the doodle alphabet set in the mini catalog. TOO FUN. Sarah's little friend is turning 4 so I thought I'd spell out her name.... kids LOVE to see there name in "Print". :) I also used the "paper ribbon" sheet from the new Petals & Paisley designer paper.

I got a new toy yesterday at Michael's. I'll post a pic soon so you can *enjoy* my fun with me. :) Who doesn't love that 40% off coupon!!

Weekend is almost here!! I had my longest run last night & it felt great. I had a long list of excuses WHY I couldn't run, but my coach was right... once I got out there it felt good. Inactivity BREEDS inactivity. :) Feelin' it in my legs a bit this morning -- only 36 more sleeps until the cruise - yeah.

Coffee Chat

It's Tuesday again. It's funny, a friend of mine was groaning about it being Monday & I said not to worry, she'll blink & it will be Friday again. Doesn't it feel like that somedays? Weeks seem to blend into each other - at least in our crazy-busy household. I treasure my *coffee-time* when I'm in my house and I can hear the delightful sound of nothing -- the hum of the fridge, the soft fan of the computer.... ahhhhh.... Someone once asked my little 5 year old what was one of mommy's favorite thing - her response? "peace & quiet" {LOL} Does she know me or what! haha. I do though -- I love quiet. I also love music - which is actually usually on. I had to run yesterday by myself as my running buddy couldn't find someone to babysit her little ones and I was missing music. I started this running program at the end of January and I love it. We're training for a 10K at the end of April (the week after our cruise -- guess I'll be the geek running around the deck as I continue my training -- bleck!). I've tried running before, but never with a program and this *learn to run* type program is awesome. Although yesterday I really had to push myself to keep going. So if you've thought about running -- find a buddy. It sure helps to have someone to chat with & encourage you on the hills!! I've seen more & more people scrapbook an about me page. I love the idea and so once I get this cruise scrapbook done, I think I'll like to do some personal pages. I've taken a break these past few days from scrappin' and been making some cards, so I need to get back at it as it's only 38 days until Panama! Ahhhhh....
On an exciting note, I think we're starting back on our house. There's been no updated pics because there's been no updates :( house has been pretty much sitting there since Christmas. But, they're getting the garage ready to pour the slab in there so that's exciting - crossing my fingers for drywall this month. Hope to decide on the kitchen cabinets today (or at least this week)... I've had such a hard time deciding on my kitchen. {layout, design, & color) --
coffee's done :)

Wild About You

I'm not sure what's with my desire for the softness of baby cards (maybe because my SIL is due in a couple of months!), but they're fun to make. I've had my eye on Wild About You for quite awhile. TOO CUTE! So I finally got it out today to play -- hopefully that will continue a little longer. Saturday chores are looming upon me though so I'm not sure how long I can ignore them :) Anyway, here's my first take with this set. :)

45 more sleeps until our Panama Cruise -- :) Is it April... YET!?! {LOL}

Baby Card

I card-lifted this one. :) Please tell me everyone does that in a pinch! It was one of those days scrambling with everyone, dealing with the stomach flu, and ALL THAT LAUNDRY ~ my friend coins it Mt. Washmore! LOL. I saw this card on SCS & loved it. I had the Sarah paper so I even CASED the color scheme. Just added the oval punch to the front of the card. I love the idea of doing the center of the card raised with foam tape. Gives the card some great dimension.
Well it's another scrambling day so I'm off to pick my baby up from Kindergarten (Ok technically NOT a baby, but she'll always be MY baby -- won't she just love that {LOL}) !!

The Mommy Test

I thought this was too cute (it was forwarded to me, but I can TOTALLY picture this being a chit-chat with my 5 year old! {LOL}):
"I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that. "Why?" my daughter asked. "Because it's been on the ground, you don't know where it's been, it's dirty and probably has germs" I replied. At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked "Mommy, how do you know all this stuff? You are so smart." I was thinking quickly and replied. "All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mommy." We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information. "OH...I get it!" she beamed, "So if you don't pass the test you have to be the daddy."
"Exactly" I replied back with a big smile on my face."
I made up a baby card for a shower I was at last weekend. I'll get it on here today. It was *lifted* with a few changes. :) Stay Tuned....