finally,

... that scrapbookage update i was talking about week ago:

I haven't added journalling to this page yet. I'm not sure i'm going to. These are photos are from the first time we went to Happy Hollow . a very fun place for a couple of little boys. How are you supposed to know that Happy Hollow is where these photos were taken? See that little flash of copper in the lower right corner? That is one of those smushed pennies you can obtain at most tourist destinations. It has Danny the Dragon on it. I think its enough.

You&Me is a quickie LO to show off a little of the good time huband and i when we went out for our anniversary. not photo'd is the cards we exchanged that are adhered to the page protector in our family album.

I don't like it. Actually i dont like the title lettering and the stickles (glittery junk) around the title. we'll see. it might grow on me.

I found the photo of my mom and I from a disney world vacation in 1999. she looks so happy there. it made me think about how hard this past year has been on her and how much better things are looking. i thought it was a good photo to play with along with my favorite beatles photo and one of my favorite beatles song... who says you have to use your photos or your words when scrapbooking? especially when the perfect words/photos already exists?


During our last trip to houston, my cousin's little girl was really into painting nails. so, of course, the boogerbear ended up with pink tootsies.



Father's Day card for husband. the inside reads: "its what's on the inside that counts" and then some sappy junk.
Birthday card for husband.




Birthday card for a good friend of mine. oh, i put brads through each one of those little flowers and then i glued them each on one by one... i think that confirms my mental state.


Just a little ribbon and doodling on the inside of the card after i spend half an hour or more with those teeny tiny brads and flowers...

we're leaving for houston soon for 3ish weeks. i'm taking some of my junk with me and one of my favorite scrapbook stores is pretty near by, so i hope to return with something new and exciting done...

tasty tuesday!

Today's tasty tuesday is brought to you by the letter B.



BUZZY BEES! tracked down @ superbuzzy.com. awesome site for japanese fabric/notions/misc. i love the cutie pie flowers and the happy little bees. i would love to cover a scrapbook with a little of this. infact, i think i will.


BOAR BRISTLE BRUSHES! so, as my hair has been getting longer, i've been having issues with frizzy hairs and junk. not cool. After many years and haircolors, i'm hip with the shampoo/conditioner/hydration scene, so i knew it wasnt that my hair was dry due to my hair therapy methods. to make a long story short and not all forensic flies on your asses, i bought a new brush today. A oval olivewood boar bristle brush to be exact. when i was searching for what and why and where and how i should tend to my hair properly, i stumbled into a bit of information that i thought was quite informative and, well, on point to think about when buying a hairbrush with the intent of caring for your hair. Excerpt:

"First, decide whether you like an Oval Brush or a Rectangle Brush.

Oval Brushes are great for brushing longer hair as they cover move surface area.
Rectangle Brushes are great for brushing or styling shorter hair.


Second, decide whether you want wooden pins or boar bristles.

The wooden pins are shaped with rounded ends, made of natural hardwoods, smoothly polished and set into a natural rubber flexible cushion. The wood pins are not only gentle on the hair and scalp but also do not generate any static electricity. The cushion and wood pins combine for a very pleasurable experience because they will move through the hair easily and penetrate deeper than a regular brush providing a gentle scalp massage and stimulating circulation. These wood pincushion brushes are excellent for brushing out before and after shampooing or just at the end of a long day. Wooden pin brushes are used more for brushing of the hair rather than styling and work beautifully on Long Hair.

The 100% boar bristles have a natural stiffness yet will "give" as they are drawn through the hair and will not damage your hair. The boar bristles are set in tufts made with individual bristles of different lengths that allow the bristles to penetrate easily through the hair allowing for longer fuller brush strokes. Boar bristles usually will not penetrate the hair as deep as a wooden pin brush and work best after most of the snarls and snags have been removed. Boar bristle brushes should be used on dry hair and are not made for use on wet hair, as the bristles will not penetrate effectively. Boar bristle brushes make great styling brushes and are best used after the wooden pin brush to smooth the hair and distribute natural scalp oils through the hair"

if the hairbrush doesnt smooth the situation, then i believe i will invest in one of these BEADED WIGS. totally!

happy tasty tuesday you kidOs!

up, up, and again?

cereal? i dont need sleep any longer. i hit the hay about 6am last, er this morning and was almost animate when the boogerbear started to stir around 9:30. after 4-ish hours of sleep and an action packed day of costco-ing (saturday mornings are the best at our costco! there are the same amount of people as there are on week days, but ALL of the registers are open. who would have thought they could be so smart?) and visits to our favorite furniture stores for replacement knobs & brackets needed to repair damage the boogerbear has inflicted, you would think i would be pooped. no, not me. i just thought i would share my amazing new superhero power before i clean our floors and swap the laundry. if anyone needs me, just look into the night sky and call out for the sleepless wonder. hopefully i wont have already crashed by then...

ps. is insomnia contagious? if so, can it be transmitted to pets? if not, our poodle brings a whole new meaning to the whole pets who are like their people thing as he apparently thinks 1am is the best time to play living room fetch.

so many layouts...

but so little natural light to photograph them. tonight i cranked out 5 layouts. unfortunately i only have photos to share of one of the completed layouts and a class project in progress.



I love this photo of my MIL. in her hand is an ever so tiny bud of a flower plucked from her backyard and presented to her by the boogerbear. he may have been naked at the time. i dont recall. either way, it reminds me of what a cutie patootie we have.



Another up and coming class. Obviously not finished, but this is for what we're calling an "advanced" techniqe class. i have some ideas in my head, but i'm not 100% exactly sure where this layout is going at the moment. i thought i would share a little before and after with you guys.

anywho, that insomnia of mine apparently wanted to keep me up long enough to catch the 4am showing of Coming to America. SUCESS! although, i think i was only ment to watch the first hour. the eyes are getting droopy. YAY! good thing too. tomorrow brings an adventure to the local costco for printer ink and milk (fyi, cheapest place for organic milk that i've found even vs. sales, but you need to go through 2gallons a week-ish...) at some point i need to head to the scrapbook store to work on that layout i mentioned earlier(that might wait for monday. hooray for long weekends and husband who will stay at home with the boogerbear), take advantage of the sunshine and get some photos taken of those other pages i finished tonight, do a little laundry, look into flights to houston, take a nap, water the plants (the ones i havent murdered yet), pick up a new knob to our entertainment center, and so on and so forth. crap i'm tired.

the birds are already starting to chrip outside. laying in bed and listening to the birdie birds outside has to be one of my favorite things. although i tend to do it more at the end of my sleep cycle rather than the begining of it. OH WELLS! its good to mix it up from time to time. right? right.

that is all.

Its party time. excellent....

It's party time indeed. Just a little solicitation for those Silicon Valley scrapers out there looking for a good time and an acrylic album class all in one! This acrylic album class will feature Basic Grey’s Cupcake collection and take place on June 29th! Contact Memories Live On or email me for more information



In tribute to this post.

terrific twos...

my ass. The boogerbear has taken a turn for the best, and by best I mean the worst, most horrible and mean direction possible. Pure evil is secreted by the gallon out of this kid daily. For a while there we had a really cute vocabulary including his body parts (and mine…), purple, green, I, love, you (yes, separately), generic barn yard animal noises and so on and so forth. Now, I’m not sure he can say anything other than NOoooo, MEEEEeeeeeee, MIIIIIIINE, [GO,GO,GO,GO] (this is normally said as he’s pulling/pushing a parent around a room), and BAAAAAAAAAAAAALL. Oh wells, this too shall pass. I just thought everyone should know that, if you have a child or many, they are better than my child. Go and give them a kiss on the forehead.

Anywho, that’s been my week. Actually, today the child was much better and we have an action packed day planned for tomorrow including Gymboree, lunch with dad, a possible park play date, our new fangled daily (almost) 2+ mile stroller walk where hopefully he will fall asleep. Last week was so freaking hot I got us all geared up (you know, the swim diapers, 5gallon bucket of sunscreen, new spring float since I cant find last year’s or figure out who I lent it to, dig out my swim suits that fit, launder the beach towels, you get the point) to go to the pool again and, just as I was ready to jump in, it cools down and gets really windy all of the sudden. Oh well, it will warm up again I’m pretty sure.

tasty tuesday!

Since this past week’s “heat wave” has definitely alerted me to the ever increasing presence of summer, I figure I should share some summer hotness with my loved ones (that means you…)
First up:

A fabulous pair of Grape Ice Cream Earings. I love them. Definitely a calorie friendly way to enjoy a summer treat.

Next: Grilling. I cant think of a summer gone by where I didn’t have something grilled. I’m a big fan of a realatively clean way to keep the heat outside of the kitchen and still get something yummy on the table. For me though, its not all about the meat. I’m the biggest fan of grilled veggies. Not only can you serve them with your grilled flesh, but you can also make extra, store them in the fridge a day or two, and then toss them in a salad with a little vinaigrette of your liking and there’s dinner. I love a asparagus, mushroom, bell pepper, & onion mix seasoned lightly with olive oil, pepper, and a little salt, but don’t let my mix put a damper on your grilling imagination. Oh, and if you need some inspiration in the flesh department, allcooks.com has some helpful hints.
Third:

I cant think of a better way to scrap the oncoming summer that with Cosmo Cricket’s new line “Hello Sunshine”. According to the horse’s mouth the new line started shipping last week, so look for it at your local scrapbook store (or online) SOON, very SOON!

Last, but not least, as a parent (and a worry wart) I have to include a little babbling about summer safety. Definitely check out the American Red Cross and their guide for summer safety. Oh, and wear sunscreen. Every day. Its important, I promise.

Wilhelmina's triumphant return, premature?

Last night, on Ugly Betty, Wilhelmina was allowed to come back to MODE since she now had a surrogate knocked up with the deceased Bradford Meade’s unborn child. This would make perfect sense EXCEPT, legal nonsense doesn’t recognize unborn children on a man’s behalf unless he is married to the child’s mother. Bradford and Wilhelmina never got married, so the will allowing her to have a 1/3rd holding of Meade Publications shouldn’t kick in until the child is born thus allowing the Meade family at least 6months to prepare for Wilhelmina’s attack. Right?

Oh why does the stupid stuff bug me? (turn off you stupid brain! you've done enough damage for one day! just let me be and enjoy some mindless television with out your commentary,) And, is it just me, or was it really hot how Gio said “I don’t want to be the rebound guy. I want to be THE GUY.” Hot, right?

tasty tuesday!

ok, new deal. i like these one day of the week special posts that you see all overs the internets. so, i have a buddy who does funday mondays and everyone and their dog does wordless wednesday, whoorl has hair thursdays covered and so many people do fridays as their weekly uber update on something coolz. that brings me to tuesdays. anywho, TASTY TUESDAYS HERE I AM! i find neat stuffs on the internet. some you may have seen before and some not. either way, i hope you enjoyz yous some tasty tuesday! this week is a new find and an old reminder from rare bird finds (i love that place!) as well as a new organization find for those tweekers out there.



husband's birthday is coming up. and he is
made of meat after all.



the nior and nior sheers collection from Julie Hewett are super yummy. awesome coverage and there is literally a shade to match every skintone. i tend not to wear a lot of make-up, but, when i do, i love this little tube of instant glam!

last but not least, i found a new planner. i've been struggling with the easiest way to organize our family's schedules for a while now. in the begining there was two franklin covey binders. then there was the moleskines, which i loved. next i thought using my enV as a daily planner was good, which it was until the phone took a swim in a pool of coffee. after loosing everything on that phone because i didnt think it worthy to back up, i started using outlook. outlook worked well until tyler hit the magic button and outlook got pissed off. i havent searched very deep or reinstalled the software yet, but the experience made me feel like i should go back to paper for my planning needs. i wanted a new moleskine, but the best i could do was pre-order the 18month planner that is coming out for august2008. i pre-ordered and searched for something temporary for the now. through the glory of the internet i found theBusyBodyBook in an amazon bargin bin. i have been using it for about two weeks now and i love it! the grid is so flexible, it accommodates all of my shenanigans and there is room to spare for what they ingeniously call “to-doodles” which is exactly how I plan. I’m currently using the past 4 months of 2008 to organize my current stationary customers with the help of sticky notes and paper clips. its a small enough size (about 6x8"ish) to stash in a purse like bag and durable enough to rumble around in there with toddler tidbits. if nothing else, i do think that this is a great freeform planner for those in an organization rut and/or like to mold their planners to fit them perfectly. this badboy fits like a glove.

another {mostly} hypothetical question.

if i bitch in a forest and no one is there to hear me, am i really bitching?

ok, more clearly, when you're exposed to someone complaining/bitching/moaning/being pussy do you offer help or just nod and smile? husband likes to whine and i like to provide possible solutions. but, then he gets all butt hurt when i try to help with his issues. isnt that what people want? answers to there "problems"? i guess some people dont. for those people i say suffer then. i'm going to solve my problem and move on with my life.

so, how was everyone's weekend?

for mother's day...

i cleaned up my craft area downstairs (aka. the nest). the nest had turned into a catch all for, well, all. maybe this time around i'll actually do some crafting down there. if nothing else, at least its organized for my supplies and i can actually find my junk.

anywho, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY for all those mommies out there!!! (doggie and kitty mommies count too!)

wordless (version: "weekly" flower update catch up)

back up to anniversary flowers.

this week's flowers.

a comment turned post.

So really, it’s not a big deal. I think the vagueness of the last post is making seem like I’m throwing a little pity party.

I was really asking people if THEY would say something to a "friend". I have already come to my own conclusions on this topic (I’m very good at making decisions), but my hand was sitting dangerously close to the "post" button when I was thinking this matter over. Sometimes thinking out loud can be scary. Shoot, for me, thinking quietly in the corner can be scary.

I think, while maybe aimed at me personally, Kelly makes the best point. A lot of times people don’t know another person's situation and they get their feelers hurt as a result. Perception plays a larger role in people's interpretations than we give it credit. So many times we've all seen something, sucked in our perception, and then drawn our own conclusions even before we have all the facts. Sometimes many actions are taken on those conclusions and cause a lot of damage. I guess it boils down to not thinking yourself the center of the universe and remember that everyone has their own junk going on outside of you no matter how super rad you {think you} are.

But, on the other hand, I wish a lot of people were more open/honest about their situations. Unfortunately a lot of people aren’t secure enough or too shamed to do that. Which is too bad in itself? As a society people are too quick to judge. I know I have been guilty of it (I call television personalities sluts way too often), but I really try not to judge a person, especially at face value. Going back to Kelly, I don’t know their situation, therefore, who the hell am I to judge.

But my thought process isn’t exactly main stream. I’ve been known to be a little too honest lately, a little too forward, but if that is how I feel, then that is what I’m going to say. I’ve told many lies in my lifetime and I’m ashamed of every single one. I’ve messed with people I hold very dearly to me (among you, lee&co)and I’m still getting around to really apologizing for some of the things I’ve done to these people. I learned a valuable life lesion the hard way and what I learned from all of this was that hiding/lying/omitting the truth just digs big, deep, slippery holes that take a long time to get out of, thus my open honestly policy. It’s not for everyone, but it’s how I choose to live my life. Occasionally people get hurt by my word vomit, but I think that sucks. Really, I do. If the truth hurts, then something needs to change the truth. Not a lie. But something real that makes the truth different, something a person wants to hear. (that almost makes sense) I have a hard time apologizing for the truth because of this. (so Kelly, no need to apologize for your personally thoughts/feelings on something. At least not with me. I like it rough...)

The whole point is, I have a habit for calling things like I seem them and I was just wondering what people would do if placed in a hypothetical situation. That’s all. Nice comment huh? Good thing its my blog and I can totally babble at you poor saps who feel obligated to read my junk. XO too all you poor saps…

would you?

call a friend out for ignoring/snubbing you? if so, how? if not, why?

my project plate has been so full lately that i cant even check blogs much less actually post some photos of what is keeping me away from everything internets.

this past weekend contained national scrapbook day (NSD) as some of you may know (and the rest of you may be caused to think "wtf? you need a national day to scrapbook now?) anywho, NSD was an excuse for me to abandon my family on friday and saturday to attended scrapbooking events and i got loads done this weekend.

friday i went to memories live on (where i will be teaching classes towards the end of this month (if you're in the area, SIGN UP! i'm working on the best begining scrapbooking kits EVER!). while there i finished some class layouts (i will post photos in another post) and almost finished a "Baby" album for a friend who is due at the begining of june. i'm really happy with this album. i ended up using two of them and doubled each letter thus doubling the space i had to create. on the second layer i didnt cut the cut-out parts (i.e. the holes in the "B") out. when i'm completely done (hopefully today) i will post scans/photos of the completed album.

saturday i went to my regular haunt at scrapbook island. i was going to work on mother's day gifts and cards, but instead i started working on our seattle trip album and couldn't put it down. i'm about a 3rd of the way done with the vacation album not to mention i also a covered a boring black 8"x8" album i had laying around the house. and to prove i did something this weekend, i have a few scans of this album. not all of them, but in due time.

the album cover. i forget who makes that fabric, but i need to head to hart's and pick some more up for the stash. the photo is of a peek into a window of a random art gallery in downtown seattle. hambly overlay. thickers felt letters in playroom.


the inside of the album cover. random seattle map, sticker and a little hambly.


page 1. (or 3 if you're really counting) i have a tendency to pick up random post cards, flyers, brouchures and, ALWAYS, city stickers. with my keepsakes, i used note worthy journaling cards, thickers, a little new prima, and a cracked into my favorite new collection from sassafras lass my dearest, which i'm using through out the entire album.


page2. "UP UP and away!" (two page LO) for the begining of our adventure in seattle i used plain old bazzill cardstock, a little more note worthy, BasicGrey lettering in BOXER, and stickles all on top of in-flight instructions.


page3. (part 2 of the "UP UP and away" LO) documenting the saving grace of mr. noodle and our portable DVD player.


so, this Amy Butler covers the back of the album. its unadorned at the moment, so i figured this was just as good (if not better) than me scanning it. oh, and the binding is a solid hunk of royal purple. i'm very pleased with the results of covering that album

Sunday, i was exhausted. after scrapbooking for 20 or so hours between the two previous days, i was spent. my back ached. my hands ached. my eyes were strained. i needed my day of rest. instead, we went and got a few flower pots so i could transfer a succulent and some ivy around the house. once they were replanted and i had consumed a very refreshing cranberry, pom, and vodka beverage, i was in a very nice place for the remainder of our weekend.

today, i plan on finishing some mother's day things i didnt do this weekend because they have to be in the mail tomorrow. i think its going to rain today as well, so i guess its a good day have some rainy day activities lined up. i have the boy set up with some crayons right now, but i think he's about ready for a mid-day bath, snack and then, hopefully, nap. maybe i can even get a few more scans done and a few more projects finished. in celebration of cino de mayo (because i'll use any excuse to buy themed napkins and/or toothpicks with little flags on them) we're having bean dip, tacos, and margaritas. maybe i'll make the dip and margaritas early...

have a good day!