New items up for grabs in eBay store

Just listed some recent scrapbooking back issues (Creating Keepsakes, Digital Scrapbooking, Memory Makers, Paper Crafts, Scrapbooks, etc., Scrapbook Trends, and Scrapbooking & Cards Today) as well as some Creating Keepsakes special issues and idea books in my eBay store...some really great inspiration at can't miss prices!! Check 'em out!

My eBay Store

Quotes to Ponder

Dr. Seuss:

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go."

Walt Disney:

"When you are curious you find lots of interesting things to do."

Confucius:

"Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart."

She's going through withdrawal!

Beauty & the Beast has certainly NOT 'left the building' at our house.

Kaitlin's singing the songs more now than even before...I think it might her way of dealing with her 'loss'. :-)

There are two songs that she is especially breaking out into song on.

"Belle"


In this scene, she was a village child. The part in this clip where Belle is singing,

"Oh! Isn't this amazing? It's my favorite because you'll see. Here's where she meets prince charming. But she won't discover that it's him till chapter three."

to the sheep by the fountain is her favorite part and often just sings this part over and over again. After all, in her play there were no sheep and Belle was actually singing this portion of the song to the village children.

However, she DOES not the who thing and she can sing ALL the parts - the baker, the women who needs three eggs - all of it. It really gets entertaining when she starts using different voices for the different characters!!

"Be Our Guest"


In this scene, Kaitlin and another little boy were gingerbread cookies...I could have eaten her right up.

This was is especially fun to hear her sing because there are a few phrases that she doesn't get quite right - like "Soup du jour, Hot hors d'oeuvres" and "Beef ragout, Cheese souffle, Pie and pudding "en flambe" - and it's just adorable!!

Withdrawal from theatre life might be rough for my little actress!

Goodies in my mailbox...

I got some goodies in my mailbox from Scrapbook.com the other day...

I really like the new Art Nouveau Collection from Dream Street Papers.

The papers are double-sided and nice and heavy...beautiful. Can't wait to use them!

I also got some Teresa Collins papers from the Journal-it line.

This is the first time I have gotten any products by Teresa, but really like them...I already have some ideas about how to use some of these cute journaling spots - especially the little calendar blocks.

These Teen Chic papers from Bo Bunny looked so cute online, but I have to say that I am a little disappointed after receiving them. The colors online looked a little softer than they are in real life...they're actually a little too bright for my taste. Also, they ARE NOT heavyweight papers, which I tend to prefer as they add more texture and depth. But, I'll still probably find a use for them. :-)

However, I do really like the new rubons by BoBunny...might have to get some more of those!

Now I just need to get scrappin!!

Fun-filled Easter

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

It sure was a busy one for us...doing laundry, making salads and dying eggs was on the agenda for Saturday.

Kaitlin spent most of the day cleaning her room...it had gotten into SERIOUS disrepair over the past several weeks since she had been so busy with the play. She did a wonderful job - we can see carpet again!

Evidently sticking out your tongue is very helpful when being creative...

This egg dying kit came with face stickers. Here's Kaitlin's imitation of this eggs face:

The Easter Bunny didn't forget Kaitlin this Easter...and he remembered the tradition of bringing her a pair of new pajamas for spring and summer. He also brought her a new swimsuit (evidently he's as anxious for some warmer weather as we are around here), stickers, pencils, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, the movie "Enchanted" and, of course, a few chocolate eggs.

We went to my parents house first for dinner...just a relaxing morning and early afternoon. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera out much there, but I did happen to catch this cute shot of Kaitlin sneaking the bunny ears on Grandpa Joe during his after-dinner nap!

Around mid-afternoon, we headed out to Justin's parents. Kaitlin didn't have much competition this year for the egg hunt...


Probably the most exciting part of the day for Kaitlin was her first introduction to Wahoo. The game board was handmade by Grandma Ruth's grandfather and handed down the lines.

Kaitlin had a run of beginner's luck, I think, because she and her partner won every game they played!!

This is Great-Grandpa Tom teasing Kaitlin that he wasn't sure if he wanted to play with her anymore after she knocked one of his marbles out of play.

It was a fun day...and clearly wore Kaitlin out. She just got up about 15 minutes ago!!

REVIEW: Scrap Simple: Using Minimal Design to Create Beautiful Scrapbook Pages

I have been admiring Hillary Heidelberg's scrapbooking style for quite some time and was not surprised when she was chosen as a Memory Makers Master for 2007.

So, when I found out about Hillary's book, Scrap Simple: Using Minimal Design to Create Beautiful Scrapbook Pages, scheduled to come out, I added it to my wish list right away.

The book is divided into 6 chapters:

1) Creating with Cardstock
2) Incorporating Patterned Paper
3) Adding Embellishments
4) Creating 2-page Layouts
5) Test as a Design Element
6) Utilizing White Space

There are over 100 fab layouts included within this book from Hilary and five other very talented contributors - Severine di Giacomo, Tracey Odachowski, Nichole Pereira, Amanda Probst, and Celeste Smith.

There are single photo and mulit-photo layouts in 12 x 12 and 8 1/2 x 11's. Hillary focuses on the craft of scrapbooking in a way that is liberating. One does not need to use a plethora of embellishments to create a stunning and memorable layout. My favorite piece of advice from this book is to focus on 'open-ended' or 'basic' embellishments rather than themed as themed can actually be very limited in their uses.

I also love the general designs of Hillary and the other contributors to this book. I found myself making sketch after sketch in my idea binder after the wonderfully inspiring designs.

MY RATING:
5 STARS

YOUR RATING:???
I am always curious and open to hearing the opinions of others. If you own or have read this book, please feel free to share your opinion of it in the comments below.

WANT TO READ MORE AND/OR PURCHASE?
Visit the Scrap Simple: Using Minimal Design to Create Beautiful Scrapbook Pages, page on Amazon.com to read other reviewers opinions and find out more about the book. You can also read more of my reviews or visit my aStore for other recommendations.

Upcoming Review:
Paper + Pixels: Scrapbook Layouts by May Flaum and Audrey Neal

Quotes for Spring

In honor of the first day of Spring, here's some spring quotes that I've come across recently that I really like.

Kahlil Gibram

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to
play with your hair."

Hans Christian Anderson

"Just living is not enough...One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little
flower."

e.e. cummings

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful."

I can't say that we've quite yet hit full-fledged Spring yet here in South Dakota, but it's getting closer...thank goodness!!

More publication news...

I had a pretty long draught, but it seems that the saying "when it rains, it pours" is true!!

When I submitted to the Memory Makers Masters contest last year, I really had no aspirations of actually being chosen. Good thing...'cause I wasn't.

One of the requirement of submitting to this contest, though, is that you have to submit one real layout (the rest are just copies) on an assigned theme. Last year's theme was "I wish." So I created a layout following that theme and sent it in.

The bad part is that you don't get the layout back - unless they decided to publish it that is - so, I had pretty much figured that the layout was lost to me and actually just reorder the picture I had used on the layout so that I could recreate it.

Then, I got an email from Patty from Memory Makers on Friday telling me that they wanted to publish the layout in the Best of the Masters 2008 feature that will run in their Scrapbook Idea Gallery which is set to hit newsstands on July 8th!

Pretty excited to have another pub and also very excited that I will get my submitted layout back!!

I can't share the layouts that have recently been requested with you on my blog, but you can be sure that I will be once the issues are available for purchase. Stay tuned!!

The final curtain call...

This afternoon was the last curtain call for Beauty & the Beast.

Justin and I attended the full show again. My sister also came again and Kaitlin's cousins - Nick, Emily and Rachel - were there also. Kaitlin was really excited.

This was her favorite part in the whole play...because Belle is singing to the village children. She calls it "Belle's Song" and she knows it by heart.

Or maybe she liked it because she had cute little boys whispering sweet nothings in her ear!! :-)

Here she is as the gingerbread cookie...she's the one on the right with the purple trim on her costume.

Here's her final bow...like a true princess...

It was a little bittersweet though, Kaitlin got flowers from a few of her older cast mates...it always amazes me how easily she makes new friends.

Although it was sad to be ending this show, it's now pretty clear that Kaitlin will be back on stage soon. The director said she's already looking for a new show for this summer and she told Kaitlin she'd better be back!

A Layout: fall beauty

Thought I'd share a layout here today. I created this layout not too long ago based off of a Becky Fleck PageMap...LOVE her sketches!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper, Cardstock Letters: Basic Grey
Rub ons: Making Memories
Ink: Colorbox
Circle Punches: Marvy
Font: Unnamed Melody

Journaling:
I wanted to make sure that I got some good pictures of Kaitlin before the fall foliage completely disappeared this fall and we cut it quite close. This tree at the College still had some brilliant red leaves and we were lucky we got our shoot in because within days, they were gone.

Kaitlin was so cute on this day. I basically just told her to pose near the rock and she did all the rest herself. She kept saying “Why don’t we try this?” and she’d let me shoot away……. It’s certainly a rare occurrence for her to be this cooperative and it was a very fun shoot! Thanks, Sweetie!

Comments & Techniques:
This was a fun layout with the combination of colors and the layering of circles. The second word of the title is layered right over the cardstock letters.

I also just posted a challenge over at iScrap.net based on this layout this morning. Check it out...would love to see your creation in response to the challenge!! There's are some other really great games, contests and challenges going on other than mine also...a little something for everyone.

The spoof run...

Kaitlin has no school today, so I took the day, too. Hoping to get some scrapping done later.

It's been another busy week. Last night the gals in my office had a small baby shower for one of my co-workers who just adopted a beautiful little baby girl. It's always nice to hang out with the girls a little outside of work!

Kaitlin had a break from play practice early this week, but they had a run-thru practice before this weekend's run of shows. I left the shower at about 8 p.m. thinking they should be close to getting done with practice, but they had only finished the first act when I got there.

However, I was glad I got there in time to watch some of it as it seems that last night was unofficially designated the spoof run. In almost every scene there was someone in costume who wasn't supposed to be there (one of the mothers, one of the stage hands), things didn't go quite as they were supposed to, or certain events were exaggerated to the point of pure silliness.

During the castle battle scene where every one's just running around the stage and up and down the aisles screaming and waving their arms, even Allison (the director) got into the action and made a caped appearance on stage.

And in the final scene, the guy who's been playing the piano throughout practice and during last weekend's shows made an appearance with a huge red tutu on his head as a wig.

It was hilareous.

At the end of the night, Allison told all the kids that she thought they we all just wonderful. The other good news was that the production broke even last weekend, so anything earned this weekend is pure profit. She said that this production was one of the best the playhouse has ever scene. Great news for every one involved.

Kaitlin is both excited and sad about the final weekend for the show. She has made a ton of new friends and had a ton of fun. She was already asking when the next show will be and I don't know, but hopefully the success of this show means there will be another Lewis & Clark Children's Theatre production in the works soon at Dakota Theatre! I think she's got the theatre bug!

The Color Sense Game from Pittsburgh Paints The Voice of Color

Just something a little fun tonight...now I guess I know why I'm always drawn to rooms that are shades of green and orange!


The Color Sense Game

I am Al Fresco - Fresh and balanced, the al Fresco greens are a natural and versitile choice for all interiors. They recreate nature and put the essence of renewal in our everyday lives.

My secondary harmony family:
Desert Spice - If you are in search of warmth and friendship, look to the muted or radient orange that emanate from the Desert Spice Harmony collection. Known to enhance conversation, teracottas and oranges are a perfect match for evening and candlelight, and work especially well in dining and living rooms.

What were your results? Were you surprised or what you expected? Are you tempted to repaint your entire house now? :-)

Her Village Girl Debut...

Here's my little village girl!

Since they had their show in the afternoon today, there was a little more time for pictures afterward, so tried to catch a few before the costumes came off.

Here's Kaitlin with Week 1 Belle (next weekend a different girl has the part).

Waiting for the cast photo with a few of her village children friends...

Here's the whole cast - over 90 children were involved in this production.

Four shows down...three to go next weekend.

I asked Kaitlin today if she will be sad when the play is over.

"Yeah...I'm gonna be crying."

For my scrappy readers...

Let your Creativity Bloom!

Catch Spring Fever with weScrap's (International Scrapbooking Association) On-line Crop. We are holding our 2nd Online Crop here at the ISA! It starts tonight and runs through Sunday.

It will be a weekend full of great challenges, games, make and takes, and best of all - fabulous prizes!! The crop will officially began at 6:00pm (EST).

We're bringing back favorites from the last crop: new rounds of Scattegories, Bingo, loads of fun challenges, plus lots of new stuff! You won't want to miss this! Come on over! I have a special quote challenge that I will be posting tomorrow.

weScrap On-line Crop

Still alive...

Yes, I am still alive. It's been one crazy week. I think this is the longest period between posts in a LONG time. So, here's an update:

KAITLIN

Kaitlin had practice for Beauty and the Beast every night this week. The earliest that I had her home and in bed was 10:30 p.m.! Needless to say, I've had one tired little girl this week.

On Wednesday, Kaitlin's teacher emailed me to say that she fell asleep immediately during quiet time (around noon - remember, she's NOT a napper) and she ended up sleeping until 3:15 p.m...right through activity station time which is the loudest part of the day! Mrs. Moser and her children have all been in play productions before, so she understood that perhaps on that one day, sleep was more important. :-) Gotta love great teachers!!

Beauty and the Beast opened last night. It was a sold out show and it was wonderful!! It was so awesome to see it all 'put together'. Kaitlin did a great job - I couldn't stop beaming during her three little scenes!! Six more shows to go...Kaitlin is super excited for the other family and friends that are coming to the upcoming performances. (For those friends and family members, be sure to talk to me ahead of time so I can tell you exactly when and where to watch for her.

I have the day off because there was no school today. It is 10:15 a.m. I still haven't heard one peep from Kaitlin's room. She's usually up by no later than 8:00 a.m. 'Nuff said.

ME

I told you about my exciting news last Friday. Well, I got EVEN MORE exciting news on Wednesday this week. I had a layout picked up by Creating Keepsakes for their July 2008 Seasonal Solutions column!! I am super excited because this is the first time I have had anything picked up by CK!!

I met with a friend of mine for lunch this week who is now the director at a tech educational center where I live, and discussed some teaching opportunities for me in the coming months. In April, I'm going to be teaching a three-night scrapbooking 101 course...FUN! They've also been getting requests from the professional community to offer a business & technical writing course, and with my background in education and English, he thought of me, so it looks like I might be teaching that in July.

I was recently asked to do a scrapbooking presentation for the staff at the college where I work (there is a committee that tries to offer fun/educational presentations to the staff a couple times of year) and that took place yesterday. I used a mini-version of the presentation I plan to use for my Scrapbooking 101 class and it went well. I got lots of positive feedback and ideas for topics to add into the course.

I also signed on to be a Junior Achievement volunteer this week. I will be teaching a six-session course to an 8th grade Social Studies class at Catholic school here in town. I am both a little nervous and excited about this. This will happen in April, so I'm sure I'll have more to say about that as it nears.

Well, that's about it. On my agenda for today??

Well, my external hard drive arrived in the mail earlier this week, so I will be dealing with this issue for a good portion of the day, I'm betting.

Wish me luck!!

5 NEW Scrapbooking Idea Books

This should come as no surprise to any of you...I'm as addicted to scrapbooking idea books as I am to scrapbooking (maybe even more!).

Here are some sneak peaks at a few idea books coming out later this year that I am quite excited about:

1. Show It Off!: Scrapbook Pages And Projects To Display by Memory Makers


2. Scrapbook Page Maps: Sketches For Creative Layouts by Becky Fleck


3. Get It Scrapped!: Organize, Visualize, Create by Debbie Hodge


4. Oh, Baby!: Precious, Adorable, Lovable Ideas For Scrapbooking Baby Pages by Memory Makers


5. Modern Memory Keeper: A New Approach To Scrapbooking Your Family Legacy by Ronee Parsons

You might be wondering why I am so excited about books that aren't even available yet. Well, I'm just weird that way, I guess...excited about scrapbooking inspiration yet to come.

BUT, I also wanted to make sure that you were aware of one VERY neat feature at Amazon.com. Another way to save even more money by buying your books through Amazon.com is to PRE-ORDER your books.

On most pre-order books, you will see a "Special Offers Available" link just below the price info. The special offer is that if you pre-order the book, you will receive an additional 5% off at checkout. Also, if the Amazon.com price decreases between your order time and release date, you'll receive the lowest price as well as the 5% pre-order discount.

Considering you already save an average of 30% on these books through Amazon.com, that's one pretty sweet deal, I'd say!

Also, don't forget about FREE SHIPPING on all orders above $25. Basically, buy two books and you get free shipping, too!

Note: No, I don't work for Amazon.com, nor am I getting paid for endorsing them (wouldn't that be cool!), but it really is where I do virtually ALL of my shopping for scrapbooking idea books. They really do have the best prices around and with these added benefits (pre-order discount, free shipping), the savings really do add up...which helps me to be able to buy more books for my money!!