Incredibly neglected...

Yep thats what the new title for this blog should be. Neglected is an understatement..unfortunately I now have NO time for scrapbooking, ever....just busy being a mom and a taxi, and working, maid, cook, you know the drill. I am trying to make a solemn promise to myself that I will update this blog at least once a week. I will start with an easier goal so I dont fail myself :S

I have been making a conscience effort to see every day as a good day....a better than good day, a GREAT day. It doesn't always work, but I keep trying like I should be trying. Wearing a smile is much easier than wearing a frown and it seems to produce much heartier lovely responses from all that you come in contact with. Almost two years ago, that smile was literally removed from my face for a long time when my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I didnt smile for a very long time. Now since she is cancer free and her two year anniversary is in February, I am working everyday to SMILE more. Go ahead and try it...see how good it makes you feel. See if you get good reactions from everyone around you. I dare ya to go out there and just smile. Obvious old quote, keep smiling...it makes people wonder what you're up to. Well I am up to nothing malicious...I am UP to living a better life for me and for my family. A better environment to be in, all around better for everyone.

I am NOT a writer and I have never claimed to be, but what I know is there are days where I would feel a TON better if I could just sit in front of the computer, and blog blog blog my feelings away.

I know my blog cant tune me out or just keep nodding and sayin Uh huh....I see, blah blah blah blah blah! I want to start a journal but not one on paper, fear of people reading it?!?!? Now how foolish is that?? I know some of you still have my blog bookmarked and its now all over the internet for anyone to read :S I think I will also be writing on this blog more about me and posting more pics of my family and such, using it for personal inspiration instead of personal gains (like scrapbooking). Yeah, that's what I will do, a few inspirations from my head, or desperations depending on the day of the week, a few snapshots of family and we'll call it good...that is if anyone else besides me will be reading it.

So for now, a photo about how our family spent the evening...all dressed in black and ready to support the Iowa Valley volleyball team!

Gawl I love thses kids of mine <3 But for now it's goodnite and hoping to post something more interesting later in the week!

April sneaky peeks for JBS papercrafting kit!

I was giddy with March's kit, and April tops that! I cannot wait to continue creating! But for now, here's a sneak peek!

March kit creations and a JBS CROP!!!

Thought I would share another layout I created with the March JBS Papercrafting kit AND the Hodge Podge mini album created using the March Project kit first...





I am absolutely inspired by March's kit and have not stopped creating since it arrived on my doorstep. LOTS more to come...
And for some exciting news......


We cordially invite you to "Be Our Guest" at our first ever online crop which will take place next weekend on our new and improved message board complete with chat room! Please help us spread the word! It's going to be great fun with lots of quirky games, inspiring challenges, and chats with our designers. We will be giving away lots of gift cards to JBS Mercantile, plus we have two amazing top prizes! First Prize is a Guest Designer spot for the April JBS Mercantile Kit Club ($75+ value) plus a gift box of new "Be Our Guest" goodies ($75+ value). Second Prize is a Guest Star spot right here on the JBS Inspiration Blog with a gift box of new "Be Our Guest" goodies ($75+ value). You can't win if you don't play, so we hope you'll find time to "Be Our Guest"

I HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US!!!!

How bout a preview of March's JBS kit??

Just a short post for now....thought I would share a preview of the March Jenni Bowlin Studios kit!!

We have a WINNNNNNNNNNER!!!

For the Monday blog hop.......

The winner is #10........CRAFTY CAT!!!!! I did the whole random integer thing to decide my winner but for some reason blogger is refusing to post it here???? Just my luck for trying to get a winner posted in the morning, right?? ;) Contact me Crafty Cat with all your info so that you can receive your prize! CONGRATS!!!

BLOG HOP MONDAY!!!

Welcome to Jenni Bowlin Studio's CHA Winter 2011 Blog Hop brougt to you by our newest release, "Be Our Guest!" This is our largest release ever filled with all sorts of pretties from the patterned paper, stickers, rub-ons, bingo cards, and unique embellishments you've come to know and love to a new foray into acrylic stamps and project foundations. You can see the entire release HERE. To celebrate, we're offering you lots and lots of opportunities to win $15 gift cards to JBS Mercantile.

You can enter to win at the following locations:

Twitter : We will be giving away TWO $15 gift cards to NEW followers on Twitter. These will be sent to the winner and to a friend of the winner's choosing, so if you're already a follower of @jbsmercantile then get some of your friends to follow us too! We will also be randomly choosing a winner from those who retweet the "CHA Winter 2011 Giveaway" post.

NEWSFLASH . . . Jenni now has a Twitter account! It's @jennibowlin and we will be choosing a random winner from her followers as well! Follow her on Twitter HERE.

Facebook: Look for the post that mentions, "Be Our Guest Giveaway" and leave a comment to be entered into the first drawing. We will also be randomly choosing a second winner from our NEW Facebook followers, so tell all your friends!

JBS Mercantile Message Board: In the "Town Square," leave a comment on the thread entitled, "Be Our Guest Giveaway."

The JBS Inspiration Blog: Leave a comment on the "CHA Winter 2011 Blog Hop" post telling us which of our new products is your favorite.

I would like to give away a $15 gift card to JBS Mercantile here, too! We'll end it and announce all the winners on Friday. Just leave me a comment!

Get to hopping! and Good Luck!

I wasn't a stamp girl til NOW....

Check out the newest of the Jenni Bowlin Acrylic stamps....MUST HAVES!!








Just IMAGINE the possibilities!! I think the banner and the receipt are my favorites of them all!!

NEW Project Foundations from Jenni Bowlin Studios!

I personally cannot wait!!!!!
Hopdge Podge mini albums Jenni Bowlin style! Swooooooon!
A 5x7 bingo card for the base, the cover is a vintage reproduction primer cover, and inside we have a postcard, a seed packet, a photo frame, and a die-cut transparency plus two book binding rings to hold it all together




Tiny tart tins?????? GENIUS!! Wooden spools......amaaaazing!!

And finally there's the classic white on one side raw on the other chipboard. These come in small and large and the small size is just perfect to fit our die-cut pads from our fall release.

Coming out of hiding...

2011 WILL be a better year...I will blog, and life in general will be better, this I am sure of. I know I am in charge of my own happiness and my own destiny, and I no longer sweat the small stuff. 2011 brings GOOD health to my mother who is battling pancreatic cancer, my family and my mother are my rock, they help me live the good life...I see soo much hope and promise in everyone's eyes. It is definitely contagious. I feel the hope from them and I feel the promise from them, I feed off of that and I KNOW that 2011 is going to be a year to remember. We will all make sure of that!

With that said, in the next few weeks I will be revamping the blog, making a conscience effort to blog about life, about hobbies, about family, about scrapbooking. I realize how important documenting my life and my surroundings are, and I intend to DOCUMENT ;)

So for now, if there is ANYONE that still has my blog on their bookmarks, I AM BAAAAAAAACK!!!!! I have suffered thru the hardest year of my entire life, and I am ready to move on and be THANKFUL!!!

And since I have rambled on, I will leave a few of my favorite photos of recent days...

How bout a sneak peek of an upcoming tutorial??

Can't wait to show you all how to make one yourself :)

And the winner is...........................

by random pick is ANN CICILIE!!!!! Congrats Ann and THANK YOU to all that left comments about why you love Jenni Bowlin products AND those of you that also left comments about my mom and her progress. It means the world to me that you care!!

Ann! Contact me via email at hudy5@msn.com with your snail mail address so that we can get your Jenni goodies out to you ;)And once again....CONGRATS!!

I AM BACK and with a Jenni Bowlin GIVEAWAY!

It has taken me this long to finally come back and blog and to get back in the scrappy world after hearing my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It has been a very long three months and I have NEVER EVER in my life known anyone as strong as my momma. she has endured a MAJOR operation, recovery, major weight loss, eating issues, and now is going thru chemotherapy. All with a smile on her face and positivity in her voice. I am proud to say as of the last scan she is CANCER FREE!!! I am trying to move on and be faithful and know that SOMEONE somewhere is watching out for her and our family. God and prayer have played a huge role in helping me get thru this time mentally. I thank Him everyday. So now I am feeling ready to resume a more normal life, a happier life thinking happier thoughts! and with that said I HAVE A GIVEAWAY!!

JBS Mercantile is introducing a new quarterly kit we are fondly calling the Mercantile "Dime Store" Kit. Each quarter this kit will be packed with classic JBS products at a special price - 25% off of the total retail value! And. . .best of all, it comes with a project idea and basic instructions to get you started.



You can find more of the kit information RIGHT HERE!! And all the purchase info RIGHT HERE!!
The very exciting part about all this is I get to GIVE AWAY the NEW Dime Store kit to someone!! so starting today until Thursday June 10th, at 8pm cst, LEAVE A COMMENT about what you adore about JBS product and your name will be entered to win the Dime Store kit!!! All entries will e accepted until the above posted time, then I will have a winner picked at random and notify you all on my blog on Friday about who the lucky person is.

Can't wait to hear what you all have to say about why you Love Jenni Bowlin products!

There's a reason for my absence

I have been thinking about blogging about my absence for two weeks now. I am no good at writing interesting stories. I just type what comes into my head and sometimes that isn't all that eloquent, doesn't read like a romance novel, and I dont use extremely large words. But the reason for my absence is extremely large in my life right now. I dont even know how to say it but I will say it....my mother was just recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I remember the phone call on her way home from the biopsy like it was two minutes ago. I froze in my footsteps not knowing how to react. I stuttered over words, I was silenced by fright, and then tried to muster up the courage to give some promising words to her. The minute I hung up the phone, I cried like a baby. I am an only child and dealing with this whole ugly cancer thing is difficult to do it alone. I dont like it at all. Not that I ever thought dealing with a loved one with cancer would be fun, but PANCREATIC CANCER????? I found a quote the other day quite suiting for the situation at hand.... I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. I went thru the whole gammet of emotions, denial, anger, sadness, and I am now focused on HOPE.

For days I buried myself in the internet learning all I could learn about pancreatic cancer, and that made me even more mad and sad and angry, so I just QUIT! So my new quote of the day is Once you choose hope, anything's possible. I have chosen hope and I hope they will be able to treat her and make her well. I hope everyday that she lives a very long life and sees each of her three grandchildren have grandbabies, I hope that she has hope like I do.

My momma left for the Mayo Clinic this morning in Rochester MN. It's all real now, no turning back, no just 'talking' about surgery and treamtents and doctors, its REAL. Time to turn hope up another notch and believe in the doctors and believe they are giving her the best care.

So this is the reason for my absence on my blog and possible absence from scrapping for a bit. I am researching ways to hold a fundraiser for my mom as her medical bills are going to be completely OUTRAGEOUS to say the least. She is only 57 years old and can not get full retirement benefits from her job for another five years, I believe. I want to help her out in any way I can. So if any of you are aware of fundraisers out there, how to organize them, or helpful sites on the internet, let me know!!!

Seriously, MARCH???

Seems like I have been waiting an eternity for March to come....with the new month brings promise of Spring being right around the corner, melting snow, sloppy yards, and WARMER weather....goodbye grey skies, goodbye snow! well not soo much goodbye snow since we still have mountains of it and the temp right now is 18, but I am dreaming :)

Now for my gallery reveals for the March Jenni Bowlin Studios papercrafting kit using the brand new Homespun line!









I love the whole color scheme and feel of this papercrafting kit, could create just about any theme, boy or girl. Lots more to come from the kit and the project kit during the mid month release on the 10th. If you would like to be inspired by the rest of the JBS design team, go check out the entire gallery HERE!

Mid Month JBS Gallery reveals

All of the DT reveals should be up soon over at JBS Mercantile so I thought I would share my mid month reveals here, too :)
First up is the JBS February project kit, a mini vintage aspirin tin with LOTS of tiny little vintage goodies inside. I decided to use my circle punch to create a very mini mini album for the inside of the box. I used my sewing machine to sew the circles together leaving a space in between each 'page' that is all being held together by the thread.





I love the look of the aspirin tin being open just a bit. Reminds me of a vintage mini suitcase filled with goodies :)
I managed to crank out a couple more layouts as well with the JBS Mercantile February Kit...






And after all of that creating, I STILL have leftovers to create more!

They are my Everything...

I created this 'canvas' to celebrate Valentine's day and you can see full instructions at the JBS Inspirational blog :)



What are you creating for your loved ones this year?