I am starting another contest....

this one just strictly for fun....over at Scraplover's where one of my fave girls Amanda is the dt'er over there! Something about Amanda makes me happy! She is such a sweet girl with a huge heart that is always soo positive and uplifting! Anyway....it's a SEVEN WEEK contest...can I really commit to a seven week contest???? Aaaaack! The first challenge was to create a layout using rich colors, three hearts, and a foreign word and the layout had to revolve around the love theme. As soon as I got these pics, I knew what I wanted to do and here it is...

It's really kinda hard to take a bad pic of that mug....soooo cute!!
And I don't know bout everyone else but it seems the general consensus around here is that WE DO NOT WANT ANY MORE SNOW OR SNOW DAYS!!! Well Old Man Winter cometh this evening with another three inches....oh when will we see the light at the end of this tunnel??? Today is the first day all week that the kids have had a FULL DAY of school!!!

my BIG NEWS is outta the bag now...

and you can read about it RIGHT HERE!!!!!! I kept this a secret for a very long time and worked diligently to get it all done...all 300 pieces of the felt!! The kits are all sold out now so there is no picture but I got my lil hands on one of the kits and just as soon as I create using my own felt, I will let ya see!!
And last night was my first official class that I taught at my lss called Reminisce! I honestly felt for like the first half hour that I was going to hurl...not a good feeling...but as the night went on I got more comfy cozy and I really did havea good time. Nothing like a big ole weight off of my back now knowing that my first class is "under my belt"!!! I am teaching this coming Tuesday again!! This time I will be showcasing a Shamrock wreath which I will just give you a sneaky peek here....

Tonight's the first time...

for me to teach an actual scrapbooking class at Reminisce!. I have to say that I am incredibly nervous to say the least. Last night's sleep was filled with all sorts of weird dreams of teaching, things going wrong, things going right.....just weird!! I know that once I have one class done and under my belt, I will feel much much better! The class is called Funky Fresh and I will be teaching how to create layouts using felt and paint, two of my favorite things! I cut and put together little kits yesterday for the class and that was pretty fun! Something I looove to do! So with that said....WISH ME LUCK!!

A lil dreamstreet...

patterned paper and all is good!! Scraplove soo graciously offered to the dt this month the Dreamstreet papers and they are soooo yummy!! Here are a couple of my creations so far...


I have to tell about what kinda love I have been feeling lately in the scrappy world...just when I thought that I was succumbing to the catty unfortunate drama that the scrappy world sometimes brings, I find out that the world is not such an awful place! I have been soooo fortunate to come across the most DEVOTED, lovely, caring, nurturing, good hearted women I have ever found. This group of women are incredibly DEDICATED to the online friends that they have had and will follow them wherever they go and will support them in whatever they do. We have built a new community of friends and our bond is STRONGER THAN EVER. For this I am truly thankful! I am in awe every time I log on and find out that over 30 NEW MEMBERS have decided to join me and my Lovely friends over at SCRAPLOVE! I get all excited and somewhat misty eyed seeing page after page of posts! Just goes to show me that there are true people in this world. There are people who will stand up for you in times of adversity and there are people who care!!!
I just want to thank you all and you all KNOW who you are! You have definitely brought back my passion for the art of scrapping full force!!

Short but sweet....

two posts in one day???? HUH???? LOL!!!

Have to post something happy! I SCRAPPED WITH PASSION TODAY!!!
And I looooved every minute of creating...back to doing what I love...no one can EVER take that away!! NEVER!!
This layout is for Round #3 at TREASURED SCRAPBOOKING'S current contest...scrapping your guilty pleasure!! Tried something new with my title work...covering letters with fabric!! Worked out ok and I am thinking of doing a lil tutorial for you all cuz there are some lil tricks to it! Anyone interested???

I could really use....

a break...
a scrappy happy moment...
anything to take my mind off of what is going on...
Just warning you now...this will probably turn into a book! Read on if you like...I need to get it out!!
So I have been a member of a certain site for a long long long time. I had over 10,000 posts there. I have made what I feel are "lifelong" online friends...these girls I would do anything for and they would do ANYTHING FOR ME! i was on the DT there and loved every minute of inspiring my friends and being inspired by them. Well just a couple of days ago we get a MASS EMAIL from the owner, sheis firing us and starting over...we are "required' to complete our duties thru February. Now with that said, being off the dt is no biggie for me. I understand the ways and means of an online site and the dt switches every 6-12 months everywhere on every site. That is the way you get fresh new perspectives, new people, new ideas. I am all for that. WHAT I DO NOT LIKE is the way this all went down. A mass emai lto say we are terminated??? NO discussion in the dt forum on the site?? NO nothing...just basically a slap in the face saying we are not good enough for "the owner" and that we dont do enough for her. She wants girls who are active on other sites, that linger at other online galleries, and that can teach new techniques. DOES SHE REALLY KNOW WHO I AM AND WHAT I DO??? I am active all over the place, and I can multitask on boards like no other. Guess that is not really the root of my anger. I am not angry at the fact that we were fired. I am angry at the way she approached it.
I could mud sling right now and throw her name out here for all to see...I could throw links to the site and show you all just how much drama she has caused on her own board...which has now been EMPTIED of its' members because they were made aware of the situation and they left the board for another board. She also stated that the people on her message board just don't buy from her and she is NOT HERE to pay for us to havea place to hang out. Well well well...aren't we all high and mighty?? Guess our years of dedication to that site is all for nothing. That is the way I feel. Her lack of respect for her members and her now defunkt design team really makes me question her motives and her true feelings for us. After her email went out, the other emails from other dt members started flowing in and 'the owner" decided to do some mud slinging of her own and things got UGLY!!! I actually waited more tan 24 hours to respond to her emails....wanted to sit with it for a bit before I said anything I would regreet...well I got ready to send my email retort, tried to log onto the site and saw that I WAS BANNED from the site...yeah you heard me right.....BANNED!!!! She banned all of for what she said we were doing thru pm's???? she was reading our pm's. Very shady indeed. Only pm I ever wrote was to the members I absolutely adore and I wanted their emails...that was it...no more....no less....cuz I KNEW that she was reading our pm's. I am loyal to my girls and I wanted them to know what was going on. Just like you would let any best friend know of your life happenings. Agreed??

This is truly really all soo messed up. Nt only were we not able to say goodbye on the boards to some of our most dedicated online buddies, we were not able to tell our side of the story. This is ultimately what I HATE to see in the scrappy world. This is not why I scrap and I will not tolerate drama of any kind. I am totally washing my hands of that site and of her. Maybe one day soon I will come on and let you know just where this all went down...but for now I have integrity that "the owner" has none of. I care about what happens to ppl's feelings...she does not...she has to simmer and sit on the fact that her mb has now gone down the tubes and she will get plenty of "site jumpers" to fill her new dt call that are just there for the free product and that will still not buy from her store just as she said her current mb is not buying from her. I sooo wish this did not happen, but it did and it is over and I am thru with her.

The Scalloped Coasters Mini Album class...

IS POSTED AT SCRAPLOVE!!
I must admit this was one of the most fun mini albums I have ever done! Here are some sneaky peeks of the final product...go check it out!!

Week #2 in the books

Over at Treasured Scrapbooking! Loving the results of this challenge...we had to use three and only three photos and at least three different hearts of three different textures. Also title had to be from those lil conversation candy hearts! So here is what I came up with...

One Little Word...TRUST

My layout for the GDT spot over at One little Word blog...word was trust this time...and boy did this hit home for me....


Journaling reads:
there is a reason for everything that happens in life, this I am a firm beliver in. Jason losing his job in the very near future has to be looked at as a good sign of better opportunities to come. i am putting all of my faith and all of my TRUST in God that he will help us thru these rough times. we are a very strong family and we will get thru this together. I trust that there is a bigger plan in life just waiting to be uncovered.

Just want to thank the girls at OLW for letting me be a part of your blog for all this time and thanks for being sooo honored with getting a title such as Guest Designer! You are truly inspiring each and every week with your heartfelt layouts and I am sooo glad that I have had the opportunity to be inspired by you all!

my excitement for the evening...

creating a playlist to add to my blog...
wanna take any bets here???
think that I will be able to pull it off?
think I can get it to work??
only time will tell....
will try to get it here tonight....
wish me luck!

my entry....

for the contest over at Treasured Scrapbooking...

Absolutely adore this picture of Kamy and her daddy playing....she is sooo animated! This contest is four weeks long, you get a certain number of points per layout and no one is eliminated so you won't know where you stand till the end of the four weeks! Winner gets $100 worth of scrappy goodness! Soo much talent entering but I just had to give it a shot!

School is FINALLY back in session today...first full day all week!! Had snow days Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and they got out early on Tuesday! Let's just say I am soooo happy to have them back in school!!

I got THREE WORDS for ya....

SNOW!!!
SNOW!!!
SNOW!!!
I think around 12-14 inches or so...lots of it!




CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE MOTHER NATURE A MESSAGE and tell her we are all sooooooooooooooo READY FOR SPRING???

Sneak Peeks for my newest online class...

over at SCRAPLOVE!! Suz, the owner was gracious enough to put together a kit for me so that we could all enjoy a lil class on altering the Maya Road Scalloped coasters album. These albums are DARLING!! This has been the most fun mini book I have ever created! And guess what??? The kits for the class are completely SOLD OUT!! I am soo excited for them all to be shipped and we can get this clas a rolling as soon as all goodies are in hand. But for now I will leave you with some sneak peeks of the class to come...

Soo much snow...

that I am dying for spring...when is all the snow going to end?? I am surely expecting some sort of delay for school tomorrow or even a cancellation....gotta get ready for the day and get this house cleaned up so they can all mess it up again!! I have been working on numerous different projects...all not finished yet...but I can tell you that I will be finishing a very cute and a very cool Maya Road Coasters
album and posting a tutorial over at SCRAPLOVE and
Suz has put together a kit that you can purchase and make the exact same album!
Would be perfect to keep for yourself or give as a gift to a loved one!

I will entertain you with some quite humorous pics
of my lil two year old in action with a very dirty mug shot!



and some of my latest creations from the FAB KIT for February at The Scrapbook Site

Soooo Freakin excited...

and honored and enthusiastic and just
about every word you could think of right now...
took a LOT for me to hold the secret...but I did it!
GO CHECK HERE!!

I have the ultimate honor of being a guest designer for
the One little Word Blog!!!!

Here's my take on it...

I attempted the paper topiary....

Mine is not quite as purty but it will do! I will post more later!

One Little Word.....

STILL....from the ONE LITTLE WORD blog challenge...

The challenges using the one word are soooo inspiring to me and I thnak the girls at OLW for pushin me to my limits!
Some inspirational eye candy for you....


Heather Bailey has one of the most eye pleasing blogs ever!! I would love to try these cute lil paper globes...just pure eye candy! Go visit her blog and I do believe you will find a link to a tutorial for these!! Just might have to try this today!

My Ribbon Wreath tutorial

Here it is!! Your ribbon wreath tutorial!! Very simple, very quick way to use up those scrap ribbons or just some pretty ribbons and make a fun hert shaped wreath!

Supplies:
Various colored ribbons
Stapler
Hot Glue gun
paint
chipboard
buttons




Cut all of your ribbons that you plan on using in various lengths. This length is really up to you...if you want a loopier wreath, cut the pieces longer. i would mix it up and go with the longest piece about 3-4 inches at most. All depends on how large of a heart you use as well. I had PLENTY of ribbon left over after completing this one. I cut up approximately 4 yards of ribbons here.



You can cut your heart easily out of the chipboard by folding it in half, then cutting out half a heart...this way both of your sides are symmetrical. Then after you have your main heart cut out, cut out another heart inside tht to get the outline of the heart you see here!

Step #1
Paint your chipboard heart with coordinating paint. That way if there are any spaces in between your ribbons, you won't really be able to tell because of the paint!


Step #2
Start looping your ribbon around the chiboard heart as shown and staple into place.



Another option is to use your hot glue gun, as shown below...which I personally foudn to be a lot easier and quicker this way. just line up your ribbons beside the heart the way you want them, run a short bead of hot glue and set ribbons into place like this.....


This is the front side showing....you will need to turn the heart over and glue them to the back side as well completing the loop.

When you are finished with the ribbon attaching, your heart should look something like this....

Step #3
Now start gluing your buttons down around the inside of the heart to cover up the staples or any ends of the ribbon as shown here...

Keep going all the way around the inside....layer up some buttons for added dimension and you are finished!!!

I just have this hanging on a nail on the wall...I like the tilted angle and both of my hearts are now hanging together. You could use some coordinating ribbon to tie at the top to make a hanger of sorts or you could even use this as a cute picture frame!!!

Getting in the holiday spirit...

Of Valetine's Day!
My fave scrappy holiday of the year...
Love love hearts, red, pink, and all candy!
So here is a lil Eye candy for you...

I wish I had better news...

about dh's job, but I dont...
we will be out of health insurance as of Feb. 1st
UGH! Trying to find quick health insurance
in 12 days and coming up with the fees to pay for that
in that short of time will be a miracle at best.
I want to strangle the ppl that did this to us.
But that will get me nowhere and anger is not
good for the soul. So I will just "talk big" here
and get it out of my system and move on to bigger
and better things.
No job leads as of yet...dh has been searching the
internet for hours and hours...nothing in state...
lots of opportunities in other states...Is
RELOCATION in our future??? I sure do hope not.

On a lighter note...some scrappiness I did till the wee
hours last night...what a feeling to scrap again!!
I looooove my passion!!
You can hop on over to SCRAPLOVE and pick up all the supplies you see in these two layouts! I was lucky enuff to get to play with the Love, Elsie goodies for the month of January!