National Scrapbooking Weekend

The first Saturday in May has been dubbed National Scrapbook Day and my local store always hosts a weekend long cropfest. Friday from 4pm-12am, Saturday 8am - 12pm, and Sunday 10am - 6pm. It is UBER fun people! Tons and tons of presents and prizes to be won! Seriously people FUN TIMES!!! All the ladies there are SO nice and it is really fun to see everyone's different styles. Here a few pics from my weekend and also the pages that I worked on :) (They are a bit out of order because Blogger is being a hag and not letting me move them around)

These first pages were all done digitally using Microsoft Publisher 2007.

The theme was a weekend in Paris so the decor, make n takes, and food all had a paris theme. There were lots of fun vintage hats for us to try on and play with! This yellow one was made for me don't ya think?

This is a card I made...

This is what I left home on Friday afternoon LOL

These are keychains we made Friday night. They were SO fun!

A page I did of my Lacie Bug

Yes there are exactly 100 buttons on this page :)

The only 2 page layout I did all weekend hahaha

The green background paper is actually bumpy like LEGOS are. So fun!
This page is adorable but it cost me just around $10 to make due to poor decisions on my part :(

This is just one of the fabulous presents we got.

Scrapbooking For Fun

One of the things you might hear alot of scrapbookers say is "I will never be caught up!"

It can be very discouraging to see the boxes and boxes of photos, or the countless files on my computer, that have yet to be documented. As much as I love scrapbooking, being "backed up" can often times take away from the fun of creating. I struggled with this alot last year and because of that I hardly got any pages done.

Finally this year I'm taking a step back. I decided that I am going to put all of my past photos in regular ole albums so that they are at least being enjoyed! And now I am starting fresh with my 2009 photos, of course I am already monstrously behind LOL but it is way less daunting then going all the way back to 2002!

I am also trying to really stretch myself creatively this year. I recently entered a project challenge with my local scrapbook store. My first ever! I didn't win :( but it was still a very exciting experience and I'm looking forward to participating in the next one.

So I wanted to share a few photos with you of the project I made and also photos of the layouts I made when I spent a weekend at the beach with a few of my girlie friends. Sidenote: I can NOT believe I never blogged about that weekend! UGH. Let's just say it was all sorts of crazy fun! :)

First is the memo board I created for the challenge. We were allowed to create anything as long as we used at least 2 papers from a specific line. It was fun for me to do something other than a layout.
And these are the pages I made at the beach:

I bought this little easle the last time I was at IKEA. It is perfect for taking photos of my layouts!

I need your help!

Ok people I need you help! I'm entering in a contest to win a weekend away at a nearby scrapbook retreat called Scrap-N-Away! I would LOVE to win this! All you have to do is go to their blog and leave a comment with my name. I will get 2 entries for each friend that leaves a comment! I will love you for-ev-er if you'd be so kind! Thanks in advance!

A Dream Come True

Last Sunday I got to live a dream. It actually started on Thursday or Friday of last week. I saw a post on my meetup message board and called my hubby right away to get permission :) My friend Erin, owns an online scrapbook store - ScrapWild and she is a member of CHA - the Craft & Hobby Association. Well ever January/February the CHA hosts a trade show in Anaheim. We're talking around 4000 exhibitors, it's at the convention center right across the street from Disneyland. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to this from the moment I heard about it. Now, most people don't even KNOW what CHA stands for let alone about the trade show. Basically it's every craft product company known to man showing off their new lines.

So Erin asked a few of us to go with her so that she could get feed back on the new lines to help her decide what to carry in her store. I JUMPED at this opportunity! Thankfully the hubby was on board :) Then I chatted up my friend Sarah, because she got to go last year. She got all jazzed and we made plans to go together once we learned that her 3month old was allowed to go to, he's nursing babe :)

So EARLY Sunday morning we hit the road (after hitting up Starbucks :) ) towards Anaheim. Walking in was really surreal. Right away I spotted signs of brands that I knew 3M, Prima, Scrapblog, Little Yellow Bicycle, CRAYOLA, and so on. Some of the booths were really decked out and it was just all so cool to see! We spent the day walking around and looking at the new product, sampling new product, taking pictures, meeting celebrities, and gathering freebies!

It was a fabulous fabulous time! Little baby Isaiah was such an angel baby the whole time. I even got to carry him in his carrier for the last little bit. It was a blast! Thank you thank you Erin for this amazing opportunity! If you need someone again next year I am SO your gal!

This is me with ANNA GRIFFIN!!!!

Those are pads of paper at the Me and My Big Ideas booth, isn't that cool? Sarah & I wanted to grab some so bad but it was not allowed :(

I have looked EVERYWHERE for Star Wars themed scrapbook supplies! So Creative Imaginations has it, now I just gotta find someone who carries it! Erin? ;)

This lady was hilarious. Her company created a cushioned seat pad with hang down pockets for crafters. She only talks in a baby voice and she sits in a giant chair with a giant version of her product. Her voice did kinda get annoying after awhile though. Don't you just love the baby's face?

This is me doing a make n take with Zutter

I spotted this zebra wall from far away and new that I'd love whatever was there.

OMG!!!!!!!! Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your life? They'll be ready for sale right before Mother's day! Hint Hint :) There is also a matching Point & Shoot camera clutch or a large DSLR case and they are all lined with HOT PINK! Swoon!

Me and Sarah-kins! My partner in crime! Don't know what I would have done without her! We had the BEST time!

LOVED these spinning embelishments from Cosmo Cricket

This was probably THE coolest thing at the show. It's a Baby Tooth album full of places to document when teeth come in and when they fall out. Even a little storage case for them! Seriously how cute is that?

This is me and the fabulous Jenni Bowlin! Love her and her BINGO cards!!!

Me in front of the CK Media booth. Unfortunately none of the girls were there - Lisa Bearnson, Ali Edwards, or Becky Higgins :(

EEEEP! That's Heidi Swapp!!!!! She was the sweetest! Her new product looks like LOTS of fun!

The Little Yellow Bicycle display was super cute and I loved all their new stuff! Especially the pads that coordinate with the chipboard albums but the paper is already cut to fit the pages perfectly!

Here are my kids and the goodies that mommy brought home for them. Colby got some Star Wars color pages & Crayola Color Surge markers. Lacie got some piggie tail headbands and glitter pens. And they both got foam SLICEs from Making Memories.

And this is MY loot! Check it out :)

A Making Memories Giveaway!

I saw their new lines in person yesterday at CHA (more on that later) and I could not stop drooling! I've always been a Making Memories fan and you'll see why when you check out their goods! Their doing some giveaways this week for funsies so if you don't scrap then go put in a good word for MEEEEE :) Click here for their blog and the live updates fro CHA!

Cutesie Poo!!!!

I've been following Elle's Studio for a couple months now. I've not been lucky enough to make any purchases yet but I'm hoping too soon. They have such cute stuff for scrapbooking, card making, etc. I personally think even non-scrapbookers will find several things to love in their shop.
Starting yesterday, on their blog, they are doing a week of Valentine's theme crafty projects AND giveaways. So far the projects have been EXTREMELY easy and the giveaways are to die for!
Anyway I'm just spreading the love :) I'll have add button on my sidebar as well.

Scrapbooking Buds

I have FINALLY found a group of the sweetest girls and they all love to scrapbook just as much as I do! A few of them came over to my place a couple weeks ago to exchange cookies, recipes, chitchat, and scrapbook! It was a blast! I always have a good time when I meet up with these ladies. Seriously, if you are local and enjoy scrapbooking, join us! We'd love to have you!

We also put together a few things for a local family that is losing their young daughter to cancer. A local reporter is a member of our group and the mother's request for scrapbooking supplies tugged at ALL of our heartstrings! You can find the article here.

It's Christmas time!!!!

Thankgiving has successfully come and gone (pictures coming soon!). I (pretty much) fulfilled my quest to respect the turkey! Now we can move on to... CHRISTMAS!!!! Do you love the new bloggy decor? We pulled out the tubs full of decorations today, and we're getting our tree tomorrow! I can't wait :) This will be the earliest we've ever gotten a tree. It's a necessary thing because of my husband's basketball & work schedule, an out of town bday party, and myself hosting a cookie exchange in successive order! I'm ready for it though!
One thing that I've strived for all year is a mostly-homemade Christmas in regards to our family members that we give to. I don't know that it is really a money saver so that's not the point. The point for me is taking the time to decide what to make, taking even more time to actually make it, and then giving it to the people that I love, a token of that love. My husband's contribution to these gifts is the $$ (haha) and my kids' will be helping me make some of the gifts. I'm really excited about and I've already completed a few - our family calendars and my kids' teacher's gifts. Now that my class is just about finished (I'll submit my final on December 9th woohoo!) I will be devoting the majority of my time to completing these gifts. It's killing me not to be able to post finished projects on here but, although they RARELY leave comments, my family does read this blog. So I don't want them to see their presents until Christmas!
Just for funsies, here's the list of things that I still need to create:

1. our family christmas cards/letter


2. a blanket


3. photo books


4. ornaments


5. crayon rolls


6. an apron


7. a few tote bags


8. sewing machine accessories


9. ipod accessories

I don't think I'm forgetting anything but who knows. Then all of this will need to be wrapped of course :) In addition to my kids' gifts :) I'm really looking forward to setting up my lil workshop and also looking forward to my friends and family opening these labours of love.
Are you making any of your gifts this year?

Look another one!

I sat down at my desk this morning to blog and just could not concentrate until I cranked out that other Colby layout. So here it is :) I apologize for the quality. It's MUCH faster for me to take a pic with my cell phone than with my camera!

This one is really simple but I love it. Scrapbooking supplies can be so girly/foofy most of the time so that's whyt his is so basic. I wish I had some boyish ribbon or rubons to add but I'm pretty happy with it just the way it is. I think it took about 15 minutes?

The journaling says "Next time please DON'T sing with me!" That is what Colby used to say when he learned his ABCs. SOOOOO telling of his personality through his toddler years LOL He didn't want ANYBODY in his business!

Gettin' Crafty! FINALLY!

I have been SO busy lately with home, schoolwork, volunteering, and LFR that I haven't had any time to get crafty! A few weeks ago I did go to a crop with some friends but even then I worked on Christmas presents!

Have you ever had an idea in your head for a project and it won't go away until you DO said project? This has been happening to me lately. I have had 2 ideas for scrapbooking layouts that I want to do about Colby and they have just been nagging me and nagging me. It gets to the point where I feel like I can't do anything else until I DO what is on my mind! I sound crazy I know!

Anyway tonight I finally had the time to do a lil scrapbooking! With the kids on the floor in the background doing their scrapbooking (so cute! I really should get some pictures of that), I sat at my desk and busted out this page:

The journaling says " One day Mommy asked you if you were CUTE and you said "No Mommy I'm not cute I'm COOL"

I had a lot of fun with this page. The background is a metallic silver and I used some embellishments that I've had on hand FOREVER! Oh and I also did some photo editing with my new picasa program. Can you tell? :)

After baths and bedtime for the kiddos, I was still in a crafty mood, but not so much in a scrapbooking mood anymore. So I decided to tackle another project that had been on the backburner.

This lil guy (gal?) is going to be hard to say goodbye to! It has a twin, and they will both be filled with treats and given to my kids' teachers for Halloween. I saw it in last month's issue of Scrapbooks etc. but I did some tweaking to the general idea with size and such. Isn't it darling!?

I wonder what I'll get a chance to work on tomorrow! I still have 1 more Colby layout in my head, need to finish the other lil frankenstein box, I have a baby blanket & taggie already cut and ready to be sewn, blogs to write, hmmmm...Stay tuned!

Halloween Costumes Past & Present

I know I already showed you what the kids & I are going to be this year but I love photos (especially those of my kiddos) so I got the idea to post Halloween costumes of them growing up. Eventually these will be put into an mini album that is brought out every year when we decorate for fall and we will add to it every year. :) I apologize in advance for the quality of most of these pictures - they were either taken with a crappy camera, scanned, or taken from my scrapbook.

2002 What else would my Lacie Bug be but a LADYBUG for her first Halloween :) I LOVED this costume! It was so soft & snuggly and I think my mom is the one that found those cutie patootie Lady Bug slippers for her.

2003

This Halloween was cold and rainy so I wanted the kids to be dressed in something comfy. Target had these ADORABLE costumes that were more like clothes but they were so soft and snuggly! I found a lil puppy dog for Colby & a pink kitty cat for Lacie. They were ADORABLE and these costumes got the most use I tell ya!

2004

This year Lacie wanted to be a bride (that's her with her lil friend Tayler at Preschool who by the way goes to her school now too :) ) but that night it was REALLY chilly so we put her in a lil outfit that her Uncle Greg brought her from Japan. Colby was our lil Dodger boy in a jersey that was actually given to us at the baby shower for Lacie (member she was supposed to be a boy?).

2005

Doesn't Lacie look JUST like Snow white!? I love it :) And Colby was Buzz Lightyear, complete with inflatable wings! Haha! Isabelle was Cinderella this year :) Love the wig sista!

2006

Lacie was Ariel this year and Belle put together her own costume w/mom's help! Colby/Buzz Lightyear made a repeat appearance this year because it was too hot to wear his other costume - Emperor Zurg!

Lil Raymond in his pumpkin costume was barely 1 month old!

2007 My lil Angel & Jedi - Luke Skywalker
My baby sister as Sharpay from High School Musical
My mom as a rodeo clown and Lacie

My nephew Raymond as Tigger

2008

And this year, we have the PINK Genie - "I want to be a Genie so I can wear a shirt that shows my belly" (oh lordie we are in trouble!) and Colby as BUMBLEBEE transformer!