Cosmo Cricket - just for fun!

The month is almost over and I'm crazy busy selling fireworks raising money for our youth choir/drama team. The little "downtime" I have had I've been busy scrappin' the night away with my DT goodies!!! In between my DT assignments (that are TOP SECRET for now) I heard about a Cosmo Cricket DT call. I have to admit we all have our favorite brands (Bisous, Fancy Pants, American Crafts, Bo Bunny,Websters and COSMO CRICKET to name a few!!!) So I had to stop what I was working on to create a couple of layouts! Now I don't know if I will make it but hey, I already own the stuff and you never know until you try (hmm...having a flashback of my mother! LOL!) so here it is. (Please click on it to make it bigger!)

Close up of the the (Thickers) letters I inked. I love the vintage feel of these papers! I don't what is with my obsession to rip and distress papers but I like the look! LOL!

My oldest - reading, what she does everywhere we go! The border was sprayed with another favorite product of mine, Moon Glow. I cut the backgorund pattern paper to slip the mat inside and I could not resist doodling on the actual photo. (Please click on the photo to see all the fun details!) Note the litte journal tag sticking out from underneath - the journaling strip is from the bottom of the Cosmo Cricket papers (the part you usually rip off and throw away?) It says "But wait there's more". I thought that was cute, I had to use it!
This is the journal tag from underneath. Do you ever find that it's so easy to create when you have products you love? I do!

_________________________________

Speaking of which (yes, I am changing the subject! In the middle of this post my dd says "Mom theres a package for you." Oooh! I love those words!!! It is my wonderful package from Bisous!! I will be the designer for Sept and Oct and I have to share the totally geneorous package Suzanne sent me!!

and...

I am a very blessed girl! Thanks Suzanne! I hope your day is just as blessed! And don't forget I've got lots more to share soon so come back!

Refresh

Hey, hey, hey! The end of the month has come quickly and I have so many totally cool things to share with you! First of all the layouts on these pages were based on a sketch by Noella at Creatively Yours http://creativelyyourssketches.blogspot.com/ ! They are having a giveaway tonight for a RAK! I hope you guys entered!!!

I hope you can read the journaling,(right click on it to make it big) it was a challenge over a Scrapbooking from the inside out http://www.scrapbookingfromtheinsideout.com/ Thos months theme was renewal, I was so busy this month with all my new DT assignments!! :) !! (and fireworks) that I only got to do one this month.

"For the first challenge, please create a LO about how you recharge your energy, physically, mentally or emotionally (or any combination).For the design twist, please use a symbol or visual of energy - a battery, a plug, movement?"

The journaling: One of the beautiful things about children is that they have a way of seeing thing through a fresh set of eyes. I can be having the worst day and one of the kids will bring something to my attention or make me laugh and it can make me change my whole perspective! Watching kids and their awareness and amazement of things around them is refreshing.

For me the flower represents new life, starting over, and the whole layout represents the renewing of the mind. Taking a moment to be quiet and enjoy what God has made. How awesome is it that a child nver misses the beauty that is all around us.The papers are all from Lilly Bee. I love this quote, it is so true.

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." Angela Schwindt

Here's a close up.

Well I have many things up my sleeve I may even have to post something else tommorrow AND the next day!LOL! So ya'll come back now ya hear! (Sorry - I am so not country but I couldn't resist!!)

MIA

To my friends on the message boards...You may notice that I haven't been around, well it is an extremely busy time for me! In addition to my family of 6(hubby and kids) this is my first month as a Design Team member at Scrapbooking From The Inside Out! I have been busy putting together projects from the fabulous kit Rachel sent me. I can't show you those projects yet but I can tell you that the kit was so totally fun! I should be able to post a sneak peek soon!

In addition I have another sketch from Creatively Yours that I finished and will be posting soon...

I have also been crazy busy getting ready for, and now working fireworks for a fundraiser. This is our biggest money maker for our youth choir and drama team and we need the money to go on our trip! Today was the craziest day! Here we are June 26th and it has been pouring rain on and off! The tent even flooded twice! We have been scrambling to get everything up off the floor, unpacking and packing things back up because of the weather! It's been quite frustrating!

So I'm not gone, just busy...but I'll be back! Meanwhile I left you a layout I finished. 50 random things about me. I hope you can read because I did it as a challenge and do not want to type up those 50 things I wrote! LOL!

Have a wonderful weekend!

free goodies anyone?

Conversations at our house:
I am checking out the Creatively Yours sketches blog because a new sketch was posted today and this is the book mark that I submitted. My teen daughter sitting next to me says "Oooh that's so cute! You should make stuff like that!" I say to her "I did make that!" KIDS!
(I really need a smiley face that rolls his eyes here!!!LOL)


So do you feel like making a bookmark? If you said no are sure? Not even for a PRIZE!?!

There is a whole post on ideas for bookmarks and about how to win a prize over at CY! Plus there are other totally cute examples!

They are going to draw for it next Monday evening! Each idea you share in the Comments section nets you a ballot in the draw Monday evening June 29th 2009!GO check it out and you might win something! http://creativelyyourssketches.blogspot.com/

_________________________________________________________________

This is one of several layouts I sent to Bisous paper! Today I got good news I got my first Manufacture designer spot over at Bisous! I have been chosen to be the Featured Designer over at Bisous in Sept and October! http://www.bisous.biz/main.htm I will post about it when it actually comes out so you can see it! Meanwhile if you subscribe to their newsletter they will email you when it comes out!!! Here it is with the hidden journaling pulled out.

A closer look at the journaling - the layout had to be somethihg about me. And just so you know doing layouts about me are hard! But I am getting much practice over at Scrapbooking From The Inside Out http://www.scrapbookingfromtheinsideout.com/index.html ( I still can't show you anything from there yet but it's coming...)Call me crazy but I am really liking this bird, of course the layout is in purples which I love! And the whole layout is Bisous paper that I cut, distressed, manipulated...And lastly I had to show you a close up of the title and note. The musical note was sprayed with Moon Glow and the "m" was covered in glossy accents, then I used Ranger alcohol inks to get the cool effect. Of course I can't possibly leave something alone until I have added some type of bling or shimmer, so I added a little glimmer mist on top! TFL! (Thanks for Lookin')

Class of 2023 !?!

I have so many cool things I am working on but I just can't share yet! So I'll share this fun layout that I had less than an hour to create! It was so fun, it was a challenge on a site - they gave you specific instructions and you had to post it within the the hour. It took me about 40 minutes- I thought I was fast but some of the other ladies had it done before me!
This is my little guy on his kindergarten graduation day- I was in shock that day when they did a slide show and the last slide showed the whole class and the words "Congratulations Class of 2021"! This may not seem shocking to you but it is to me because our oldest graduates next year, class of 2010! And baby girl hasn't even started school yet, she will graduate with the Class of 2023! I'm tired just thinking about it!!!

Meanwhile have you checked out this months challenges at Scrapbooking From the Inside Out the challenges are all about renewal. (challenges are here http://www.scrapbookingfromtheinsideout.com/board/index.php?showforum=37 ) My favorite so far is the one about what makes you renewed and what wears you out. Well I tell you right now this "so called" summer vacation is wearing me out! LOL! The kids are keeping me busy, busy, busy! (Class of 2023! Can you feel me rolling my eyes!) As far as renewal goes -prayer, singing, worship, scrapbooking are all things that renew me.
What renews you?

Today, probably

" Today"

I am so glad to be home! I am finally caught up on all the laundry from our trip and almost have everything put away! Whew! I dragged all my scrappy stuff with me on our little trip and accomplished nothing! :O!

However I always have something up my sleeve because I am on two totally cool design teams! The picture above was inspired by a sketch from http://creativelyyourssketches.blogspot.com/ This was so much fun! I have it hanging in my scrapbook room right now! I had to wait until it was posted at CY before I could post it here! If you haven't used a sketch before you should go check it out! Ali and Noella have some really cute ones and the team did a fabulous job at interpreting this one!While I was out and about with no Internet service (seriously in this day and age to not have Internet service in a hotel seems so archaic! But I digress...) I had so many lovely ladies stop by and leave the sweetest comments! Thanks for saying such sweet things! I even got two blog awards - so sweet!

I love that little bird! I've been doing a lot of hand cutting lately. I actually understand now why my little guy likes cutting, it's very soothing.

My cutie pie left my this sweet note on mothers day, I copied it and shrunk it to fit the layout. He adds the word "probably" to everything he says.

Me "Did you have a good day at school today"

Him "Probably yes." (this means yes)
Me "Did you play with your friends"

Him "Probably yes, we were running and chasing each other."(this means yes)

Me " Did you like what they served for lunch?"

Him " Probably no, I didn't even eat it mom!" (This means no)

And that is how the conversations go with my little guy!

Probably, it would be good for you to keep checking back! Oh yes, probably I have some exciting things around the corner! I will be very busy the next couple of weeks and then I will have some really fun things to post, probably. ;)

Potty Capers

Well I am not home from my trip but I do have access to Internet tonight so I decided to make a blog entry! I would love to post a little scrap eye candy but the stuff I've been working on is top secret for now! LOL! However I thought I'd give you a little inside view of my trip.

First of all yes, we are traveling with ALL 5 of our kids. (Picture me rolling my eyes because this is no way a vacation - this is work!) This story is about baby girl, who IS fully potty trained and has been for almost a year. When you are out and about with kids you may find yourself in the predicament of having to find and use a public restroom. Not a problem - I can do it, I'm actually quite experienced at it. However I had no training for the reaction that was to come when baby girl experienced for the first time the fast and furious flushing sound of an automatic toilet!!! Here we are in the Wendy's(fast food) restroom, the toilet automatically flushes and baby girl jumps off the toilet, starts screaming and crying hysterically and almost knocks me down as she is rushing to the door of the stall! I manage to get her undies and pants back on but in her hysterics she is fighting me! It was so bizarre! I managed to get her calmed down after we were safely in our car. I explained to her what it was and she said the noise scared her. I thought we handled it and were doing fine until she had to go again...

This time she started screaming as soon as I opened the stall door - I tried to calm her down and explained to her that she was going to have to use this toilet if she has to go potty. She cried and screamed but she did use the potty. We did lots of holding and explaining. Again I thought we figured it out.

The next time she had to go potty I made sure I had back up! I brought in my oldest and told her what to expect. By now she had held it through two public restrooms and we knew if she didn't go soon she would probably have an accident. Picture me in a stall, holding baby girl over the toilet - her arms are stretched out as she is trying to stop herself with the sides of the stall while kicking and screaming as my oldest is trying to grab her legs! I am so sure that the other ladies in the bathroom were wondering what was going on but in the state we were in I was not in the mood to explain, they probably wouldn't have believed me anyways!

After that she didn't even tell us when she had to go potty; well not until after she already went. Now I am feeling like a bad mommy for torturing my girl; I mean really, who likes public restrooms? So I went shopping and bought her pull ups, she would tell me when she went and I would change her. Much less stress for all involved. Hopefully we will be back to normal when we get home and she can go in her own restroom!

The things we do for our kids.

Missing..

Papers are all My Minds Eye.

All of these papers are from Bisious. Sketch is from 52 sketches52 weeks.

Two of my boys.

Ok so I 've been missing - just a little! But I have been scrappin' and doing laundry and packing! Doing a little family outing but I thought I'd leave you with some of the stuff I've been doing! I will post more stuff later!

Oh and go to http://www.scrapbookingfromtheinsideout.com/board/index.php They have the new kit out "RENEW" and they have some amazing challenge prompts for journaling! Oh wait! And did I mention prizes? All you have to do is participate and you get a chance to win, I did last week and when I got it in the mail I was so excited! Don't you just love free??? So go over there already! See you there!

Beautiful

"Beautiful" Out for Publication

So out of my stash I pulled this PDQ paper (and chipboard letters) from Bisous http://www.bisous.biz/main.htm They have the cutest designs! The chipboard letters I had were a little bright for me so I distressed them with my handy nail file, I added some dots, ad Stickles (glitter). The basic design was there but I doodled on top to add mores curls in the design. I also cut the big swirl with an exacto knife so I could slip in the letters "U" and "T". The little bird was cut from another paper; I used glossy accents on top.

And here she is, baby girl! Funny how you get some of the best shots when you're not even trying. This is in the car, she was acting goofy and had the giggles- you know I had to pop that camera out of my purse! Good thing dad was driving LOL! Gotta love kids!

-----------------------------------------
Change of subject... Today I got my first DT package form "Scrapbooking From The Inside Out" and I can't share it with you yet because it's top secret until July 1st but it is AWESOME!!!! (Thanks Rachel!!! ) And let me tell you after this week I needed that kit!!!


Monday my washer broke and leaked all over my laundry room floor! I spent Mon cleaning up the mess and pulling everything out of there. Tues the repair man came and said don't waste your time it's not worth fixing. By that night we had a new machine got it all hooked up and guess what? It DID'NT WORK! Wed morning Hubby was at work and didn't have time to load it up take it back so I met him at a different store to buy another washer. So then I had a washer in the living room(not working), one on the back porch (not working) and one installed(working yay!)! Thursday we got rid of the washer that had to go back. I have spent the last two days washing all the clothes (when you have 5 kids it adds up quick!)! So yes, I was doing a "happy dance" when I got my new package of yummy scrapbook goodies! I can't wait to get started!

TFL! And thanks for all the sweet comments!:)

Precious, two of a kind

Techniques: Lately I have been pulling out artistic techniques and in the process having lots of fun. One of the things I love about scrapbooking is that there is no wrong or right way to do it and you can use whatever materials you like. The first thing I used was a sketch from pagemaps. I broke out my leftovers from Making Memories and ran them through my Cricut. On all of my die cuts I used Moon Glow and Stickles.

My little felt birds are from Jenni Bowlin. I used fiber and die cut leaves together for a "nest". I inked the leaves and wrapped the fibers around it. I added glitter brads for the eyes, pearls and cute little buttons just because I like them!

The title was sprayed with Moon Glow and the butterfly with several shades of Stickles. I use my heat gun to speed up the drying time on the moonglow ( don't do this with Stickles, unless you want it to bubble and brown!)

How cute are these two? Just goofin' around on our front porch! I really don't think I'm biased! Sometimes I get the best pictures when the kids are just hangin' out!

Oh I also took a marker to that little basketball embem on my little guy's shirt, made it orange to match the papers. So TFL!

Perfection is my enemy

Hi all! So I have been crazy busy ( well and I also loved my Magical LO and I hate to bump it down but it's been a few days so I figure I'd better post.

Changin' the subject - you may see me and my first DT layout over here! http://creativelyyourssketches.blogspot.com/ where you also find super cute sketches! I love sketches, especially I'm in a hurry or in a rut! ( What me? Never! :0!)

--------------------------------------------

The journaling was a prompt from http://www.scrapbookingfromtheinsideout.com/board/. Oh and they just came out with their June kit! It has beautiful blues and greens and the theme this month is Renewal. Here is just a sampling of things in the kit!

... Patchwork Thickers, Lime Ice Stickles, a brand new Donna Downey canvas tag from Prima, a large, yummy Prima Fiesta flower, pretty Maya Road Trinkets Leaf pins and a cute stamp kit from Prima complete with ink pad, journaling spots and the cutest little bird and branch stamp you’ve ever seen!

-----------------------------------------------------

Love this kit!!! It reminded me of a layout I recently did called "Perfection is my enemy". The journal prompt was also a challange at Scrapbooking From the Inside Out. The challenge was to scrap a secret fantasy or hope. That was a little hard for me - I am very blessed, when I get some crazy idea or want to do something my hubby finds a way to make it happen or at the very least encourage me to do it! But the more I thought about it the more I thought - hey this is truly a secret (ok maybe not so secret!) but it is a fantasy ( hope, wish...) read on...

Journal says: "Ok so call me crazy but is it too much to ask to want a clean house? I mean really, I’m not saying perfect but how about when I put something away it’s actually there when I go to use it again? How about when I reach for juice I don’t find an empty container in the fridge? How about when I wash, hang and fold all the clothes they actually make it into the closet? I would love for there to be NOTHING on the stairs- no shoes, backpacks, books, dolls or cars. In a picture perfect world I would have a clean house. Ha! I keep thinking when my kids grow up and move out of the house I will have order. The reality is when all of our kids are out of the house our oldest will probably be bringing back grandchildren! LOL!"

The top of this post is the layout with the flap closed (the outside of our home) and here it is with the inside showing. A couple of typical shots around the house. I don't dare show you everything! LOL! After all I have 5 kids, a hubby and a GUINEA PIG! ( But that's another post!)Papers and sticker letters are from October Afternoon, flowers are Prima.

TFL! And thank you for those who leave such sweet comments! It's so nice when somebody else likes your creations! ((hugs!))