NEVER trust a 2 year old!

How come I just can not seem to learn that! I think 'No not my sweet little angel!' The fool I am! It takes me way too long to realize that she is quietly off playing by herself so nicely... so I go to see - and she has an entire roll of toilet paper in toilet. Or - she has found a Sharpie in my bedside drawer and has drawn all over her face. Or she is nicely coloring a picture and when I walk back to see her pretty picture she has lovingly colored for her Mommy - I find red marker covering every toe and her hands and her arms! Or - when she picks up a crayon in the van and I think she is again drawing a picture and find out that she has drawn red lines all over her lovely little cream tights! (see why I never dress her up!)

So why do I STILL think I can trust her??????? Because of those innocent beautiful eyes of hers! So when she decided to play in the van yesterday while I was pulling weeds in the front yard... I didn't think anything of it! Until this morning when I have now realized that my beautiful - darling - sweet little girl - put every coin she could find into the cassette player!!! Isn't that just so sweet of her!!

Maybe just maybe.... I will learn to question the silence!!

Nah - I doubt it - Isn't this the face of an angel?

Baby Workshop Created!

I did it! I have finished the baby workshop that I am going to teach at Scraps this month. This has been something I have been doing off and on for many months now. Finding time is just so hard. But it is going to be a class that the students will walk away with TWELVE 12x12 pages that will basicly get their 'babys' first year done! What a wonderful thing! It has been designed as a fairly basic design so that we can also sell them as a kit - maybe even to people that have never scrapbooked before. My fabulous mom went to the store with me this weekend and while I put together the girl version of the kit - she put together the actual kits for me! She rocks doesn't she!!! And to think I am actually getting most of this done a whole 4 weeks in advance!!! If only I could plan ahead so well with the rest of my life!

Since I have been working on this workshop - I have basicly done no scrapbooking of my own!! And I am really getting the bug to get some stuff done! (doubt my
scrapbook area is clean again...) So last night when I worked at the store (remember... the goal is to spend less than I just made while working... didn't work last night) I picked up the cutest little kit from Pebbles Inc. that included sticker letters that had individual words and sayings on them so that I could try to make just a quick mini alphabet album all about the Loves in my life - Todd, Logan & Lexi. Looking forward to it!

I originally thought of making one album for each of them but sadly enough I have discovered that there is very few pictures of Todd and I together!!! And almost none since the kids were born!! This has got to change! It is now a goal of mine to actually document in photos - Todd and I's life together! So if any of you see us out together and have your camera on you... be sure to snap a photo for me please!

Have a great one! I will keep you posted on my progress of my mini album!

Finally a little creativity

Well - I finally got my scrap area at least a little picked up and got to sit down to do something creative. It was just a card but it was still fun to at least get to play some! I got inspired by a card that I saw on Two Peas this weekend. Todd's niece Kim is having a baby and her shower is this weekend. The colors of the card are very non traditional but the nursery is teal and brown and I know Kim's favorite color is celedon green so I decided to use the new My Mind's Eye paper that I love! I also got to play some more with the Autumn Leaves swirl stamps that Erin from Scraps let me borrow. I LOVE them!! Thanks Erin! I promise I will get them back to you soon! Especially since you have been spending so much time creating!

Just wanted to share that I actually do still create on rare occasions!! Hopefully the start of a wonderful trend! Have a wonderful weekend! I will be congratulating Kim & Craig on the exciting time that is about to come into their life with this being their first child! Keep them in your prayers!

I'm still here!

Yes! I am still here!!! It has been a hectic couple weeks and just now trying to get life back into some semblance of a routine. Todd just got back into the states this weekend after spending 8 days gone in Germany. Luckily for me, my wonderful mother in law was willing to come into town to help me out with the kids so I wouldn't go completely crazy. She slept downstairs and since I wanted to let this be here 'domain' - I stayed away from the computer and my scrapbook area most of the time. SO.... needless to say... that mess on my scrapbook area has only grown over the last few weeks rather than improved! So I guess it will now be new and improved focus to try and get it picked up so I can actually create! First on my agenda is to complete the baby class pages and get them ready to make kits for them since they will probably be taught in April. Then I hope to actually get some of my own scrapping done!!!

Speaking of Scrapbooking - I spent Saturday with my mom helping out a wonderul program given to 3rd - 8th grade girls that was entitled "Empowering Young Women". What a great thing!!! It was all about showing these young girls that no matter what - they are all special and important in this world! What I helped with was a little 'scrapbooking' section where each of the girls got to create a page using a picture we took at the beginning of the day - to place in the front of their binder. Each girl was given a 8 a/s by 11 sheet of cardstock and two coordinating half sheets of pattern paper. They were also given letters to cut out for their name and some words to cut out to describe them. They were told to decorate however they want but to be sure to use some words or descriptions to show their strengths. Our 2 classes were made up of 6th graders and 3rd graders. It was AMAZING to see how these girls just took off with the little guidance we gave them and just went to town with their creativity!!!! Seldom did they ever ask for our help - nor did they ask their friends or copy from their friends! This was all about what they came up with by themselves!!! It was really fun to see them working so hard to create and the fun and wonderful pages that they made! It was a wonderful workshop and great for me personally to be able to share in (Thanks Mom!!) I hope workshops like these are around when my little girl gets old enough - but I also hope that I do well enough conveying to her at home that she is special no matter what!!!)

Also makes me want to be sure to get my kids into scrapbooking when they are young - to see what their minds can create!! Hopefully I will be posting again soon with something I have made myself - but in the meantime... I am still here and thinking of you guys!

Happy Birthday Daddy/Poppy!!!!

A wonderful birthday wish going out to my fabulous daddy! (I love being Daddy's Little Girl!) Hope you had a great one driving back from Canada!! We love you! (isn't he cute! and what a great Poppy!!!)

Happy Birthday!

Just wanted to send out a Belated wish to Cousins' Kaylee and Alan hoping they had wonderful birthdays! You are in our thoughts and we can't wait to see you guys soon!

Hope you had great ones!

Creative Chaos

So how do you work in creative chaos? That is what I am asking myself everyday that I sit down to try and scrapbook. My hubby has been very kind to me and given me an end of our downstairs room to call my own - my Scrapbook Area. The problem is the area just doesn't seem to be big enough for all my 'collection' and I am still not coming up with the best storage solutions for my space. This area is also the catch all for family info, my mail, purchases, gifts, projects, etc. So at any given time it is a complete disaster! It takes me 20-60 minutes + to clean up before I can even sit down to create. Unfortunately dampers the creativity.

I have my eye set on a large cube bookshelf that I think will solve alot of my problems. I am anxiously awaiting IKEA to open but it will be a good year plus so I wait (Thanks to my friend's Tannile & Aysha who turned me onto this bookcase)... Meanwhile I have found a wonderful one at Meijers that I might even have to have to save me from the waiting. I'll keep you posted on that one.

I have been at least able to do a little bit of fun scrapbooking! I have almost completed a 14 page 1st year baby album pages that will be offered as a class and kit at the scrapbook store I work at. That was fun!!!! (Too bad I am done with most of those pages for my kids! ;) I also am having this bad habit of starting pages and projects and not finishing them! I currently have a canvas painted to do some wall art for my scrap space, large clothes pins painted to decorate also for my area, chipboard books cut and scored to be covered and decorated into mini name albums, Magnetic paint to make boards for my area, and three new sets of My Mind's Eye paper set out with sketches to do pages that just needs pictures chosen and then done! And that is just on one of my tables!!! See how sad my area is!! ;) But I still love it!

My goal is to get this area tip shape! So that I can thoroughly ENJOY looking at the space, being in the space and creating in the space. (Remember - my word for the year is ENJOY - I must embrace this). I have some organization methods that I truly enjoy that I have gotten from friends and books. But... if any of you have some great (and inexpensive) ideas... I would LOVE to hear from you!!! It is always better to hear from people that truly use these ideas and know they work.

So my wish for you all - Have a wonderful week and to those who scrapbook - Be creative and find your inspiration! My friend Erin (www.erinwells.typepad.com) has been so productive with fun and meaningful layouts lately that she has truly gotten me inspired! (and you said you wouldn't be scrapping anytime soon!) Happy belated birthday Erin to you and to Ronda A! Know you guys had a fun one!