Life's a beach

I've been extremely impressed with my new cricut expression!! I'm so glad that I FINALLY purchased it! It is so well worth the money. Even though I really haven't had time to play with it much, I do treasure it! I am leaving for the beach Saturday and I REALLY NEED this new cart. I am going to do another vacation album and this cart would be so much fun to play with. I can't wait to take pictures on the beach with my new camera. I am already planning the pictures I want to take.

Photography is something I could really get into because I love it so much! People keep telling me that I could make money at it but I don't want any hobby of mine turning into a job. I do it because I enjoy and love it! I plan to take a class by Karen Russell as soon as a spot becomes available. I was 583 on the waiting list when I signed up. :SHOCK: So I'm hoping in July when she has another opening I will be able to get in. She says they sell out in minutes of registration. :EKK: You can see her blog here She is really awesome! I visit her blog almost everyday!

Blog Hoppin Good Time

Here's the cake that I made Haley. I cut out felt flowers with my cuddlebug to create a bouquet. Now I can use those same flowers on her birthday sb pages.

Today starts the blog hop at http://cardsforheroes.org/bloghop/ Don't forget to check it out. I think there are over 135 blogs participating. What a wonderful way to celebrate this weekend!

You can check out different blogs to see cards made by different card makers for our troops. There are also lots of give away's so be sure to check it out!! Also they are taking donations. CURRENT TOTAL 5/17/09 140,875 cards have been sent to our heroes so far! WOW isn't this great??!! I found out about the blog hop from Jana, click here to see her cards!

Last night we celebrated Haley's birthday because Clint had to be out of town today. She got to pick the resturant so we went to Applebee's our family favorite! Then we came back home and had cake and opened presents! Haley got a new bathing suit, beach towel, sunglasses, flipflops (for the beach trip), a cup she can color from (HL), some yarn and stuff for her cross stitching, a CS horse kit, a storage bag for all of it to go in, a new pair of shoes, little pets shops and money for the grandparents. She really had a great birthday!!

Happy Birthday Haley!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Beach Time

I'm really excited because today was the last day of school!!!! This mean's that in one week we are going to the beach for 4 days!! WOOHOO!! I'm so excited that I can hardly wait!! I've been wanting to take a vacation to the beach forever!! The last time was on my honeymoon 14 yrs ago. I can't wait for the girls to see the beautiful white beaches and clear blue/green waters. I am almost beside myself!

Tonight we are going out to celebrate Haley's birthday. I made Haley a bday cake last night with my new Wilton pans. Those pans are AWESOME! I should have bought those YEARS ago!!!! The cake came out perfect! I used hot pink icing and glitter. I cut out felt flowers and attached them to a white stick to create a bouquet. I'll be sure to upload a picture if I can get a good shot.

It's been raining nonstop all week but that's okay. We need the rain! We'll get pool time in soon enough. I think tomorrow, since the BBQ is off at my brothers, I'll go over to the craft shack and play with my new cricut. I've been DYING too!! I'm going to use my new glitz package that I won from Noel to do Haley's birthday layouts.

The girls had honor's day this morning. They both got 3 awards! I am so proud of my girls. Lacey got ACE and Haley got honor roll. This is a huge achievement for them because it doesn't come as easy for them.

Toliet Paper Roll Album

I saw this today and said I never thought toliet paper rolls could be sooooo cute!! I need a bind it all now!! LOL

The scrap review is giving away a kit. Check it out here....

I love this new song by Miley. This song speaks to me everytime I hear it.

Debit Card Holders

These are the new debit card/business card holders that I made tonight. Here's your picture Sandy...:) They turned out really cute!

Now I only need to make me one. I need more hours in a day. Deciding the colors is the hardest part!

Cathy and I are going to a crop Saturday. We're really looking forward to actually playing just for us and meeting new paper addicts. lol Have a great day!!

These are going to a local shop in town tomorrow.

Glitz Package

My goodie package came in the mail yesterday!! Noel sent 3 glitz pattern papers, 2 sheets of glitz rubons, 1 sheet of glitz stickers and Stampin Up birthday count mini note kit! Very Nice!! Thanks so much Noel! I love it all!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

PS Does anyone know why dsl modem boxes keep messing up??? ugh!! lol

Cricut Time~!

Isn't this a cute tote bag for the expression. Ebay.

Guess what came today?? My brand new EXPRESSION!! Now I'm FINALLY in the "club." LOL I'm no longer the poor little outside girl in school who doesn't have the cricut. :) I am so excited because it wasn't supposed to be here until the 12th! What a sweet surprise!

In the cricut newsletter that came today was a tutorial on how to cute fabric! Check it out here... Wow! This is totally awesome!

Tomorrow is our second craft show. We're just getting in the groove. Not sure if we'll stick to it yet or not. We'll see though. It's supposed to be really hot tomorrow. In the 90's. Oh Summer has begun. :)

Yippee

Ever have one of those days where everything seems like it's goes wrong? Well it's been one of those days for me. I feel stressed out and don't really know why. I have tons of things I need to be doing but don't have the time to do them!! :) Today I had some really important things that I wanted to do but right as I went to do them I got drenched. Twice. It's just been one of those days.

BUT... first when I stopped by the craft shack to pick up a few things I saw a little goody basket just for me. How sweetttttt.... Cathy had put together a little happy day gift for me. Oh boy!! She had no clue how I needed that! And then when I got home and I found out that I had won another goody basket from Noel! Sweet! Check it out here! Bitter sweet.

So tonight I'm turning in early with a book. Not a great book but it holds my attention.

Night.

Scrapping Time

I love the color combo here. Red and yellow look awesome together to me. I made a little pocket for all the extra pictures because I took a ton! lol

I used transparency's on all of these layouts. It's the first time I have ever used them and I LOVE them!! They are so much fun!

This is a large snowflake that Cathy bought me at Archiver's on one of her trips to Atlanta. I used the snowflake border punch on each side.

A while back I went to Pam's and scrapped while she made necklaces. I actually got quite a bit finished on my vacation album. We had so much fun on our trip to see friends in PA. We went to Lake Erie and saw Niagara Falls. I really can't wait to finish the album. It does feel really good when you finish doesn't it? Cathy and I are doing another show Saturday. It's supposed to rain so please pray we don't get soaked! A little water would ruin our things.

Only 3 more weeks of school and we can relax, sleep late and hang out in the pool all day if want. Can you tell I'm so ready?! LOL I'm counting down the days!!

Digital Scrapbooking

Recently I've been getting the urge to try digi scrapping. But I know NOTHING about it! So today I went youtube and watched some tutorials. Seems easy enough. Now all I need is photoshop or something. Does anyone know where you can print 12x12 layouts? Or what's the best program to use?

While visiting Patti's blog today I came across a new digi site. Check it out here... She has very very cute designs! I'm sure that's the first place I'll go when I do get started.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day

WOW! I can't believe how fast time flies! 3 More weeks and we're out for summer! Can't wait. Pool time. Beach time. Park time. I love the summer.

So today while I was visiting this blog I came across a NSD giveaway. Here Check it out here if you want to sign up....

Also. Creating keepsakes is having a give away every hour on their blog today. Check it out here.. They usually have an online crop today too. Actually most all scrapbooking forums usually have one. So if you're bored find one or two to join. They are super fun!

Then I was doing a little more searching and found fun things you can do. I know a lot of ladies got together today to scrapbook but I took today off since I've been extremely busy lately. I just needed a day with my family and to rest. Daddy and Clint are starting on a new deck for our back door. So I may have to help out with that. Can't wait! I'll post pics.

This afternoon the girls have a pool party to attend and Clint planned a surprise for me. Should be interesting because he NEVER does anything like this! More later. I guess it will be another busy day after all.

Top 10 Things to do on National Scrapbooking Day

Here are some ideas on how to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day
by Brandie Valenzuela March 23, 2004
How much do you know about National Scrapbooking Day? It was started in 1994 by the well-known album company Creative Memories. and is celebrated on the first Saturday each May. Thank you Creative Memories for giving us a day for our favorite hobby!
Here are the top ten scrapping activities for this fun day:
1. Attend a crop or scrapbooking party! Of course, this would be #1 on the list! There is nothing better, and more motivating, than to scrap with friends! If you didn't plan to attend a crop, be spontaneous and consider inviting some friends over!
2. Go shopping! No scrapper can resist buying some new goodies! If you find that you are on more of a shoestring budget, set yourself a limit, say $5.00, and buy some new papers or some new stickers.
3. Scrap by yourself! We all do this on other days of the year, but at the very least, do some scrapbooking by yourself today if you aren't getting together with others.
4. Learn a new technique! Even if you aren't signed up for your local scrapbook stores (LSS) classes, turn to the internet to learn to learn a new technique for your pages. Visit your favorite search engine, and type in what you would like to learn about.
5. Join a new email list! There are literally hundreds of scrapbooking email lists on the internet, so why not join a new one! Just visit sites such as http://groups.yahoo.com/ or http://www.topica.com/ and put the word "scrapbooking" into their search box. Even if you don't want the extra email, you can always read the messages on the web!
6. Submit your best layouts to magazines! If you find that you are home on Nat'l Scrapbooking Day, why not submit some of your best layouts to magazines?
7. Organize! Is your scrapbook area getting a little cluttered? Spend some time organizing and decluttering it! While this may not sound like a fun thing to do, it is essential to have a neat scrapping space to create your masterpieces.
8. Copy And Steal Everything (CASE)! One of the best ways to get ideas for your own layouts is to see what other scrappers have created. Spend some time reviewing your favorite scrapping magazines or visit a site such as http://www.scrapbooking.com/ to be inspired.
9. Try something different! Have you always wanted to use your rubber stamps in your layout? Maybe you would like to try the use of wire, jute, buttons, or ribbon? If you have always thought of using something non-scrapbooking related in your album, spend some time doing just that!
10. Teach! I think one of the best way to spend Nat'l Scrapbooking Day is to teach a non-scrapper your favorite hobby! Think of at least one friend or family member that doesn't scrapbook, invite them over (be sure to have them bring some photos), and let them use your supplies to create a few pages. Before you know it, you will have a new scrappin' buddy!
© 2002 Brandie Valenzuela
Brandie is a wife and homeschooling mom to three children, who also works full time from her home designing products and writing articles for the scrapbook industry. She is a proud design team member of Pages of the Heart at http://www.pagesoftheheart.net/ -- a free resource site for scrappers. She also maintains her own website at: http://scrapbookingwithbrandie.4t.com/

Field Day

These are the bracelets that Debbie made for the girls. She and her husband had a jewelry booth at the craft show beside ours. They are the sweetest couple! I'll be a regular customer from now on! Thanks Debbie!

Haley got quiet the other day and I found her outside in the chair reading her Spiderwick Chronicles book. The girls loved that movie and they both are into the books now. I'm so glad they have these at the library.



Today was a super fun! We had Field Day!! The girls got to be in 3 races each. One of the coaches kissed a donkey. I really look forward to a lot of fun with my girls! Can you believe they are almost 2 years a part? I noticed how Haley (on the left, the youngest) was almost a foot taller than everyone one in her class this year! WOW!