Can you believe 2010 is only hours away?

Welcome 2010! I'm ready! I am feeling the new beginnings starting, I am getting organized and ready to be back into routine. I have my resolutions ready to go! Last party of the season tonight, bitter sweet. How will you celebrate?

And Scrap Matters is ready for the New Year too...check out the big sale they will be having!



Have fun and be safe tonight and then tomorrow, relax, do a little shopping at SM and then scrap!

Happy New Year!

The ScrapMatters DSD Blog Train

Hop on board, choo, choo!!!!

But before you go to the next stop...check out all the awesome fun going on at Scrap Matters this weekend...there's a sale, games, a chat with prizes and a FREEBIE collab kit with a $15 purchase...and with all the awesome grab bags, that won't be hard to spend!



Also...check out this awesome freebie from Chelle...

Want it? Become a Chelle's Creations Facebook Fan today and receive it as a gift!

If you are following the train in order, you should have come from Denise's blog and received an awesome QP.

The train started at the SM Blog, so if you get lost, go there:)

Here's my car on the train...


Link has been removed, check the SM store soon for the blog train items to be sold:)

Ok, you should be heading to Kim's blog now for the next stop on the choo choo...

have a great weekend and Happy DSD!

Digital Scrapbook Day is coming...

And SM has a party brewing with games and a sale and grab bags and a chat and a FREEBIE!!! Here's a little sneaky peek of what's to come...

Sneaky Peekys!

LOL...I have two sneaky peeks for you this week...both are SUPER fun, both are seasonal...hint, hint...wink, wink...Here they are!





Happy almost Friday!

Scrap Matters is Having a CT call!

Run, don't walk to apply for the ScrapMatters Creative Team...it is the best around! Deadline is this Sunday night, don't miss it! It's a very supportive, fun team to be on, you won't regret it!

FORE!! Zach is gonna be a golfer!

Well, after many tries of many different activities for Zach (DS4), maybe we've found the one for him.  He's not ever been into going to a class or activity like tumbling or sports or music.  Don't know why, he just says 'I Don't Know' when I ask him why he doesn't like something.  Maybe he doesn't really know, he just knew he didn't really LIKE it.  Boys are definitely born different from girls when it comes to communication, at least my two are.  It's pulling teeth to get him to tell me about school or an activity or something.  He'll answer with a token "We played Transformers" or "Yes, it was really fun" but that's all I get!  So, talking to him about why or why not he likes or doesn't like something in an effort to get intel out of him for clues in choosing the next activity is usually futile.  So, the other day he says that he'd like to play golf.  I've been asking and asking him "what activity do you want to do for Fall?" (sister has Brownies).  I've showed him rec center pamphlets with lots of activities, talked to him about t-ball, soccer, basketball, even Karate, and nothing impressed him.  But out of the blue, golf.  Go figure.  Although, I've had a couple days to ponder on this and he does really LOVE mini-golf!  And he LOVES golfing on the Wii, neither of which, I realize, are comparable to "real" golf.  But, his interest does make sense! So, I tried to explain there would be no pirate ship to hit the ball into and no waterfalls and music and snacks.  He said "OK."  He asked about what he would wear and seemed really excited! So, I looked into it and pretty quickly found a place to take him to try it out.  Turns out, our membership at the YMCA gets us substantial discounts to their own Junior course attached to a National course, awesome!  I called and found out about classes (I was afraid of the cost) but it turned out to be fairly comparable to gymnastics or other organized sports.  Today, the family went and golfed 3 holes just to show him what it's like and see if he wanted to go ahead and try the class.  He really did like it!  He (and Alex) had their own little kids' bags that the course provides to borrow and they used their drivers and putters and really golfed, it was fun!  I explained that class would be some instruction and not just playing all the time, they teach skills as well as rules and etiquette.  He still wants to try, so he's signed up!  Yay for Zach!  I hope he enjoys it and will feel proud!  Here's some pics of us on his first day out on the course...

I took these pictures with a point-n-shoot, one handed while carrying stuff and while walking, so the quality isn't the best, but the cuteness is to die for!!!!

Thanks for reading!
'nite

A Perfect Picnic Blog Train!

I am so excited to be a part of the Scrap Matters 2nd Birthday bash blog train featuring the awesome collab kit 'A Perfect Picnic' by the SM Design Team!  Isn't it sooo cute?  The best part?  It's FREE with a $15 purchase at Scrap Matters this weekend!

Have you heard about everything going on at SM this weekend?  Games (including Bingo and a comment contest), a Chat with prizes, SEVEN Speed Scraps (all with participation prizes), a big  SALE, and a HUGE blog train (see below).  There is a ton of fun to be had, come on over and join in!  Head over to these forums for all the details!

All of us hosting a train car are sharing our favorite summer picnic memories in honor of the party....I am fortunate to have good friends that we share a lot of time and fond memories with.  It's hard to pick just one...but a favorite is definitely our annual 4th of July trip to see fireworks, always with a stop for fried chicken!  We get together early in the day, have lunch, the kids all play.  We always have a cake or cupcakes to celebrate America's birthday and we always sing Happy Birthday.  Then, we load up the car(s) and head off to get our chicken and stake our claim on a good fireworks viewing spot.  We get to watch them over the water at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in VA...it is really beautiful!  We all hang out and eat, the kids play some more, we bring light sticks for the kids and at 9PM, we all huddle up and watch the sky light up!  I really really look forward to this day every year.  Partially because I get to spend it with great friends and partially because I am very patriotic and so this day means a lot to me.  I hope you have equally as awesome memories with your family and friends, either on July 4th or whatever other days you have picnics together.

And now for the blog train...are you enjoying the ride so far?  Boy, do we have some FANTASTIC goodies for you!  So CHOO-CHOO!!  Hop on and go grab your loot, then, head to SM to join in on all the events and browse the awesome shop full of great products to buy ON SALE!!  Fill up your cart and don't forget about the FREE collab kit with a $15 purchase..so easy to spend there...the shop is amazing!  Happy Birthday SM!!

So, if you are following the train from the beginning, you should have come from Heather's blog (Haynay Designs).

And here's my goodies for you, a three-pack of wordart that coordinates with the collab 'A Perfect Picnic' -- FREE with a $15 purchase this weekend!

Next, head to my fellow CTM Kim's blog and see what she has for you!

And if you get lost, just go to the Scrap Matters Blog to get back on track.

Thanks for celebrating with us!

Come join the celebration!

Soooo...there is a TON going on at Scrap Matters this weekend for the Birthday Bash!

There will be a free with purchase, AWESOME new collab kit...spend just $15 at SM (and there's a sale to spend it on!) and receive this awesome collab kit FREE!

There will be games, a chat (which I am hosting), a big SALE, and SEVEN Speed Scraps, each with their own participation prize! What a fun weekend it will be! Check out these threads at SM for all the details. And here's a couple of the ads for the events so you can get planning! I'll see you all there starting tomorrow...get shopping so you are all prepared for the rest of the festivities:)




'Nite

ANOTHER Speed Scrap!

Natasha is hosting another SPeed Scrap this week at Scrap Matters, this week's night time SS. Here's her ad....hope to see lots of you at all these, they are my favorite Scrapping challenges!

LOTS to catch up on and a freebie!

So, I had a very busy weekend and didn't touch my computer other than to check email for 2 days, yikes! SO, now there are lots of things to catch you up on!

First, Scrap Matters is having a birthday! Yay!! We are celebrating all weekend with lots of fun events and special games and prizes!



And I am lucky enough to host two of the events!

The first is a Speed Scrap, of course, because you know how much I love these! There are going to be SEVEN this weekend for the celebration! I get to host the first one on Friday night...



And I am going to host a special Chat at Scrap matters on Saturday...there will be a little game with prizes and lots of fun! Scrappers, CT and Designers will all be there to gab gab gab!



AND, as if that's not enough fun...there's a daytime Speed Scrap this Thursday to get us warmed up for the celebration...



Now, about the catching up...there were lots of great new products introduced at SM this weekend! Go check them out at the SM blog...really cool things this week!

Chelle's Creations has this beautiful new paper pack...you can check it out and all her other great products in her store at SM.



AND...on Chelle's blog, she is offering this August Desktop freebie that Krisi from our CT made for you all...



So, that's it for tonight...but I'll be back with other important announcements about the Birthday Bash at Scrap Matters, you won't want to miss them!

Nite!

Chelle is Hosting a Speed Scrap at SM

Hi everyone! I know I have been full of Speed Scrap ads lately, LOL! But here's another... Chelle of Chelle's Creations is hosting one at Scrap Matters this Thursday night and take a looksie at the prize she made for us!




Aren't those gorgeous!?! I love Chelle's stuff! Oh, and did I mention that I am on her CT now? Yeparoonie, I am the proud new wearer of her CT blinkie, hehehe. Thanks again Chelle!

Here's what I made for my Speed Scrap yesterday...we had fun!



So, I hope you all have a great day, I am off to clean, do laundry, bills and workout. BUT, my reward is i can scrap later! Yay!!

Jen

Scrap Matters Speed Scrap

It's time again for a Scrap Matters Speed Scrap...I am hosting this one, its my first daytime one!

It's tomorrow, July 27th at 1PM.  They are so much fun!  You can visit this thread to learn all about a Speed Scrap and how they work, but really just know that we have a lot of fun!  

Here's the participation prize you get for completing the Speed Scrap:

Hope to see you at SM tomorrow!

I am back and a freebie template

Well, I've said it before...I am a bad blogger...I am just returning from: a scrapping leave of absence (burnt out), vacation and my Mom being in town.  My creativity slump is gone, I am back in business, but the timing was right when I was to have a VERY busy late June (in Walt Disney World, yay!) and early July (Mom visiting from out of town).  So, I was still in the forums and on my blog.  Mom and I did manage to Speed Scrap together though, I hosted last week at Scrap Matters and came up with this layout:

If you've never done a Speed Scrap, you should try it!  They are soooo fun!  The next one at Scrap Matters is TODAY at 1:30PM EST.  You can find out all the details including specific times and where to go plus the rules/guidelines for doing a Speed Scrap here.

Anyway, to ease myself back into blogging, I thought I'd make you all a template from my Speedy layout last week...and here it is.  Image is linked, just click to download.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all at a Speed Scrap soon!

Jen

Mom, I had a bad dream...

Every once in a while Alex comes in at night and has had a bad dream.  She is a girl with a wild imagination and that translates into her dreams too.  Sometimes her dreams are about truly scary things like volcanoes, earthquakes), sometimes they are scary and funny, like the one where a little girl set down her ice cream cone to tie her shoe and while she wasn't looking someone put a bomb in her ice cream and then she unknowingly ate it.  Wow, at 7, these are real, true fears of hers!  Eek.  Well, Alex is also a clowny little girl and that also translates into her REM sleep images.  The other night she came in and was crying...I was watching Desperate Housewives or Brothers and Sisters, don't remember which.  Todd was on call, so she climbed into bed with me and we cuddled.  I never know how much detail I'll get on these dreams, sometimes she is so out of it that she mumbles and I just comfort her and tuck her back in.  Sometimes though, she has a full on conversation with me complete with expressions and all.  This was one of those times.  She proceeded to say that a beetle had eaten her plant.  And as I sat there trying not to giggle and hugging her, I began to probe for more..."I'm sorry punkin', where did you get the plant?"  She said she had grown it from seeds so it was special.  She was upset!  Poor little thing!  So in the morning I asked if she remembered this..she laughed and said yes, she remembered the dream and that the beetle was a really big one and described it's color and teeth and everything!  Then, she drew it for me....so I had to share.

I am glad it was a beetle this time and not a bomb or natural disaster!

Alex Scrapped!!!

So, I took a LONG break from the scrapping world b/c I was burnt out!  I needed a little time to refocus on other priorities in my life and recharge my creativity...I am back now and man have I been busy!

But, before we get to that....my DD scrapped her first layout tonight!  She's been asking me to do this for years and she is so cut out for it!  My Mom told me (while I was on hiatus) about this kit Shape Up! that Amy Sumrall at The Digi Chick did.  It's a kit and comes with some special files of shapes and other simple elements geared towards kids AND she makes video lessons for the kids!  She's since added another installment of goodies and several more videos (once you purchase the system, add'l videos are included).

So, tonight Alex watched the first video and I set her up in Photoshop and the shapes and let her have at it.  of course, she was already asking how to do things well beyond the scope of the first video, she is so ready!  So, i let her in on a few other tricks of the trade and off she went...she used a scene background paper and added the cloud, rain, tree sparkles and "seeds" (yellow glitter).  I think I'm in for it now, we'll be fighting for computer time...

Oh, wait, was that chore bribery I just heard...oh, yes, it's in her future!

Here's what she did...she would love some love if you'd like to leave her a comment, you think we like getting comments, 7yo girls are even more excited to see that others really saw her work!

And here's a little update of all the layouts I've done just in the past few days, yes, NSD can do that to you...

And with that, I am really tired! So off to sleep I go!
back tomorrow with a cute story and another piece of art from Alex.
G'night!

Just a little something...

...to break the monotony...

WHY I LOVE MOM
Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, 'I'm tired, and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed'  She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lunches.  Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, pu t spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.  She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer.  She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.  She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.  She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.  Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution &age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.

Dad called out, 'I thought you were going to bed.'

'I'm on my way,' she said.

She put some water into the dog's dish and put the cat outside, then
made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on.  She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV's, hung up a shirt, thr ew some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.  She set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.

About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in
particular. 'I'm going to bed.'
And he did...without another thought.

Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer...?

CAUSE WE ARE MADE FOR THE LONG HAUL..... (and we can't die sooner, we still have things to do!!!!)

A new kit and an awesome Grab Bag!

I have a busy weekend as usual...ughhhh...I want a weekend where I can stay home all day both days and have no comittments, is that possible? So, before I set off on my craziness I am popping in to tell you of a couple awesome new buys out there today in digi-land...the first is this gorgeous new kit Marmalade Skies by Franziska Altmann at Scrapbook Graphics. It is just a pleasure working with her designs! Isn't it pretty and fun at the same time? And, it's on sale right now for 20% off!



Here's what I made with it last night...I was really happy with it.



And at The DigiChick, Pamela Donnis has a Grab Bag...I've seen the contents and it's really good.....and it's only $3!
So, go check them both out and get scrappin'!  Have a great weekend!  I'll see ya back here Monday.

Jen

I'm Hosting a Speed Scrap tomorrow!

Hey everyone! Have you caught the Speed Scrap buzz yet? Well, whether you answered yes or no, come on over to Scrap Matters tomorrow night and join us for a a Speed Scrap, I'm hosting! Check out all the details here and here.

And look at what you'll get for participating!



So, hope to see you over there...it is sooooo much fun!

Holy Moly, Doozie of a post, including a freebie!

I guess that's what happens when you don't post for a while!  But I have a freebie for ya if you get through it all, LOTS of great info here!

Let's start with Mandy Mystiques...did you know she has a new blog?  Oh, yes and it's so pretty!  AND she has a newsletter now...so go run over there, check it out and sign up for the newsletter.  She's going to have exclusive Newsletter Subscriber freebies, so don't miss out on that!  And speaking of freebies...she has a new collab kit out with Jennifer Barrette and Mandy has a freebie addon to the kit.  So, when you go to the blog, don't miss that either.  Here's the new kit, it's called Sunshine and Rainbows, isn't it just the fresh breath of Spring we all need right now?

And here's what I did with it:

And last but not least, Mandy is having a CT call right now, so if you love this and her other awesome designs, apply to be on the team...it's a great one to be part of!

And in other news...Franziska Altmann has an awesome new kit out at Scrapbook Graphics.  Isn't it just gorgeous...as are all her designs!  You can buy it here.

Here's what I did with it, it was so easy to be inspired!

And...look what's coming soon.... a new collab...Impressions of Delight coming to Scrapbookgraphics on February 1st...ooooh, it's so pretty!  here's Franziska's portion and I will be back with my LO from this yummy collab!

And from pamela Donnis...we're all feeling a little Springy and Valentinesy!  She has several new kits out and a sale!  Let's start with the goods....

At Funky Playground Designs, she has these new yummy treats:

I was inspired and did this:

And at Elemental Scraps, she has this new Springy kit:

And I did this, so easy to work with, I am tired of being cold!  LOL

Oh, and the sale....Pamela announced that she will be leaving Elemental Scraps at the end of January and so she is having a moving sale.  See her thread announcement here.  And here is her sale flyer.  Click it to go to her shop at ES for the sale.

And lastly tonight...if you've made it this far...a template freebie.  It was inspired by this LO I did with Franziska's Snowberry kit.

Just click template image to download.  In case there is a password (I never know with 4shared) it is inspiration.  Please no sharing links or files, just send friends here to read all my exciting stuff and download their own template for free.  And hey, why not leave me a little note or thank you while you're here?

Thanks for reading!