creative sparks

Basic Grey Kissing Booth Layout - Valentine

2012-01-26T17:13:00.000-08:00

My kids no longer hand out Valentine's - except for Jackson. So when the scrapbook companies come out with way cute Valentine paper, I am always wondering what I would use it for? The pictures in this layout were taken at Christmas time when all of the kids were together. I used Basic Grey's new Kissing Booth line. I like this paper because it is centered with the brown. The rose colors, fuscia, deep fuscia, a mint green and a deep coffee brown.

Some of the embellishments were from the Martha Stewart Collection from a couple of years ago. But I always like her embellies! Especially the felt ones. They look like they were made by hand! The pearl effects on the scalloped paper were made with the NEW Liquid Pearls from Ranger. I love this stuff! When I use it I find I am putting in on everything! I like the Liquid Pearls and the Stickles. They both come in such wonderful colors!

The lettering is from Thickers. I used the foam lettering. American Crafts comes up with the best lettering! I use Thickers on most of my layouts, even though I own die cut lettering and could easily punch some out quickly for a title. I only wish now that I could photograph my layouts with better color. These pictures do not do the Kissing Booth line from Basic Grey justice. I guess you will have to see it in person to know what I am trying to write!

Scrapbook Weekend

2012-01-16T11:25:00.000-08:00

I have never gone on the scrapbook weekend with the girls before. It never worked with my schedule until this past weekend! I had so much fun! The girls are such die hards - they get up early in the morning and can scrap as late as three and four a.m. the next morning! I brought enough supplies to do four layouts which I finished and I was able to start on Jackson's Valentines's for his classroom.

This first layout I used paper from Crate Paper from their "Static Collection." I bought the paper when the scrapbook store was still open, and I am just now am using it! I am so far behind! The pictures are from when the kids went up to Pismo Beach - Avila Beach - and San Luis Obispo after Christmas with the Dad's.

The second layout is "Turkey Time." This is from thanksgiving this past year! I used American Crafts paper from their Night Fall Collection. I like the colors and how it was balanced with the black. Thanksgiving is always fun to scrapbook, but it makes you hungry!

The third layout I worked on was the finishing touches on Jackson's Cub Scout Fire Department tour page. He is now in Boy Scouts, so I am behind in his Scouting Album also. Fun to see how much he has grown since these pictures were taken. Seems like only months ago... yikes! The fourth layout I'll share later. I amde a Valentine layout.

I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the Scrapbook Inn was! It was a brand new house with an awesome view. My friend, Valeree and I were able to sit at a large window and look out while we scrapped and munched on snacks. The girls all brought something to share which made it really nice. There were no "food" runs. A new snack or lunch/dinner item was brought out for everyone. How nice!

We were greeted with this nice sign to help yourself to snacks. Our bedroom had these cute footsie socks with a cute note attached with a ribbon. The home was so clean. You felt so comfortable walking around and using the kitchen and the facilities. I was very impressed. Plus I figured the rowdy group that went were going to get rowdy... but no. They are some serious scrapbookers and got right down to business and worked until the wee hours in the morning. I was even able to finish my book I brought. It was just so relaxing! We did put on the movie The Bridesmaids and cracked up! Thank you Judy for bringing some comic relief! What an awesome Saturday Night!

This is my friend Valeree. We finished up on Sunday and drove to Toms Farms for a late lunch and then headed home. Such a nice way to start of the New Year! Thank you Trish for inviting me!

Sunset From San Luis

2012-01-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

The sunsets from our beach house in Shell Beach - between Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo - are always breath taking. It is a wonder why we do not spend more time there. Listening to the waves crash is so relaxing...

Plus the colors from the sun setting over the ridge and the reflections on the water are truly gorgeous. Who needs to travel to Hawaii when California has this just up the coast? During the day the kids can go down to the rocks and venture for sea creatures. They also like to play chicken with the waves! The women folk love to go into town and shop. San Luis has some of the best stores. This time I discovered Mathew Taylor's. This store has the most beautiful items for the home and the floral arrangements are comparable to Jacob Maarse. We also went to the Farmer's Market on Thursday. The street was packed! The most people I have ever seen in San Luis. We had a great time! Love having time off!

Happy 2012! And New Year Resolutions for 2012!

2012-01-01T11:17:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012! I am hopeful that this will be a good year! We went to a very nice party to ring in the New Year last night! Thank you Marc and Staci for opening up your home and Happy Birthday Staci! Her husband is so cute, he prepared champagne flutes with raspberries in them and a strawberry garnish on the side for all of us to toast at midnight and to sing Happy Birthday to Staci! I love it when the guys get into the accessories of the evening. Plus their home was so beautiful... it has inspired me to add a couple of things to my to do list for 2012!

I'd like to share my new wreath for New Years. I was shopping in Target in November and saw this multi colored foil wreath there. They had solid colors in red, green, silver and blue. And then they had this multi colored fun one. I thought it screamed Happy New Year! So I bought it and glue gunned some left over party goods from a previous New Years. I found some plastic bulbs at target that were in all of the right multi colors and attached them with a pipe cleaner. Something festive for the front door as we transition into another year. Blessings to everyone and may you have good health and happiness in 2012.

This is also a good opportunity to write down my New Year Resolutions and reflect on the ones from last year.

1. ~~Clean out the clutter from the closets.~~ Accomplished. I did this last year. I just need to finish the closet in the guest room. This year I will organize my craft room and the few drawers that I did not finish in 2011.
2. Put Jack's room together. I had wainscoting added to his new room and painted it. This year I need to purchase his furniture (headboard, desk and bookcase) and move him into this room.
3. ~~Read books for Book Club before the meeting.~~ Yeah! I did this! I joined the Reading Challenge 2011 that was on Goodreads.com and not only read the eleven books from the Book Club but and additional four books! This year I would like to read twenty books.
4. Layouts. I wanted to do a layout a week. I did not do this. In fact, I fell far short. I finished one layout for my sons Boy Scout Album and one layout as a Christmas gift (previous blog entry), and an album that I gave as a gift. I made all of the graduation cards this year and hand made all of the gift tags that I used on the Christmas Gifts. But that was it. This year I would like to get more layouts done. Possibly finish and album altogether - such as my sons Boy Scout one.
5. Blog more. Huh! This did not happen either. I will make more of an effort here, even if I blog about cleaning! Or maybe write about some of the great books I have discovered lately. I write reviews for each of them on my Goodreads page, but that does not translate to this blog.
6. Travel. I took my daughter on a Mom and daughter trip to Huntington Beach for three days. Just the two of us. This was a first for me. I never traveled without David. Lauren and I had a great time. We stayed at a hotel that had a bridge over to the beach. We hung out there one day. We walked to the Farmers Market they have on Tuesday nights. We saw the biggest Great Dane I have ever seen! It was a horse Dane! I would like to travel a bit further this year some place.
7. Purge stuff I do not use. I was able to purge so much out of my closet over the summer. I had bags and bags of clothes. I cleaned out Jack's closet and gave bags of clothes and books he has outgrown to his tutor. Fun to see Jacks clothes on her son at the Christmas Program and on their Santa visit. "I recognize that shirt!" Plus I cleaned out Lauren's closet and got rid of a bunch of her old stuff too. And the linen closet got a purging. This year I need to purge my MAGAZINES! And I'd like to clean out my craft room. I would like to say that I hung all of my tablecloths on the thick hangers that linen rental companies use and have them in the coat closet. This is very helpful in finding the linens to put the table together. Plus they do not wrinkle. I also have the small garden flags hung on Jacks old kiddie hangers according to seasons. This was helpful too.
8. Curtains in the Family Room. The curtains I added this year went into the breakfast nook. Did not realize how expensive custom curtains are. Could not break the bank for the Family Room ones this year. So new curtains in the Family Room will carry over into 2012. Plus I need to put curtains in Lauren's room. Jackson's I bought the fabric and will sew them myself this spring (hopefully).
9. ~~Exercise.~~ I did this! Yes, I started running in August every Saturday and Sunday morning. I lost ten pounds doing this and can now fit into some clothes I was not able to before. :) I'd like to lose another ten and I will be happy.
10. Play a board game with the kids. Although my intentions were good, but once a week was not possible with their schedules. I did play Texas Hold Em' this past year with them, spoons, and we found a new game called 5 Second Rule which we have played alot this past month.
11. Get together with friends. Will keep this on my list to do again.
12. Bake more. Did not do this. Will try and do this in 2012.
13. Organize my garage. Did not do this either. Definitely needs to get done in 2012!
14. Love more. I made an effort to do this. I was able to hug and kiss my children more. Walk hand in hand with my husband when we go out, send a greeting to friends for no real reason other than to say I was thinking of them.
*15. I need to put the Gameroom together.
*16. Keep my eyes open for another career opportunity.

I added the last two. But upon reviewing my goals and resolutions, I am happy with the progress I made. I think writing them down on this blog helped! Even if no one else reads it - it helped me! Happy 2012!

Another Christmas Gift...

2011-12-31T14:08:00.000-08:00

I gave one of my friends at work a layout framed for her office. It was a layout on her job at the church we work at. I figured one day she would want to remember the place that took up so much of her time. She writes our parish bulletins and taught me Microsoft Publisher. I used paper from Basic Grey - their Thanksgiving style paper that came out in 2010. I embellished it with some of the rosette ribbon from Websters Pages, and sprayed it with "Ivy" from Tattered Angels. I found a great frame at Aaron Bros. that worked perfectly. It was a rough wood - kind of "cabiny." This will probably go on her wall with a layout I made her previously. That one was for her birthday a couple of years ago. I used paper from Karen Foster, some chipboard embellishments, and the wine label from the bottle we all shared at her luncheon.

Before Christmas

2011-12-27T16:05:00.000-08:00

I started to make my Christmas gifts back in October. I really should have started in July because I never finished some of them. I made a Pre-School album for my son's tutor. Her son just started Pre-K at the school my son goes to. When I would take pics of Jackson, I would stop by and snap a few of her boy also. I had a page for his first day, a page with his school friends, a page with his teacher (above), a page for the Halloween parade, Thanksgiving day luncheon, the school Christmas program, pics of them learning to pray in the church and some pics of his school work. I found the album at the Scrap 'N Yap. One of the few scrapbook stores left near me.

I also made a vacation album for one of my girl friends. That one was fun to do as I remember when we did all of the events I made pages on. Our trip up to Pismo Beach. I made all of the tags this year for the Christmas presents. I included clues so the person receiving the gift had to guess what was inside of the gift. This slows down how fast everyone opens their gifts so it takes longer and we can truly appreciate each one. Heck, they take so long to wrap, put on a ribbon, a package topper and then a tag. We should savor each one as long as possible.

I was able to go to Roger's Gardens twice this season. Once when the Christmas room opened in October, and then the first weekend of the sale. So much of their inventory had sold prior there was nothing left really. How lucky. I did see all of the purple flowers they had for spring. So refreshing to see the new colors. They had beautiful topiaries in white. I love looking at all of their potted plants and floral displays. I plan on scrapbooking more this new year.

As far as my resolutions from last year. I read my goal of 15 books. I love the goodreads web site. You get friends like facebook and can see and read their reviews on the books they read to get ideas on what to read next. I am currently reading The Paris Wife.

I put Jackson's new bedroom together, Now I just need his furniture and that is accomplished. I lost ten pounds. Gained back two during Christmas... I fell short on playing games with the kids, scrapbooking and writing on this blog. However I did read alot of the entries on everyone else's blog!

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and a productive New Year!

Fourth of July 2011

2011-07-10T13:31:00.000-07:00

My life seems busier this year, more so than last year. However, reflecting on my resolutions I made at the beginning of the year, it appears I might be doing less. Is this because I am getting older and poop out to early? Regardless, this is my second post for the year and I thought I would share a creative idea I found at our "local" scrapbook store. I put local in parenthesis because I have to take the freeway to get there. The scrapbook store that was close to my town closed a year and a half ago. This event seems to have stifled my creativity.

But, we were invited to a friends home for the Fourth of July and I wanted to bring something to the hostess. I saw this cute photo hanger decorated with Bo Bunny's Liberty collection. It is easy to do, as one of the paper comes with four equal squares that you would cut and adhere to cardboard. I backed the cardboard with a solid blue with small blue dots on it, also form Bo Bunny. Then I just added stickers and some cut outs with pop dots to give each of the three boards some dimension. The boards are attached to each other with festive ribbon and then another ribbon is used at the top to make it a wall hanging. The entire project took about an hour, hour in a half to complete. And it is so cute. A nice memento for the hostess to enjoy for future Fourth of July's.

I had photos from the Fourth of July last year, that I was able to insert into her gift. Our Fourth of July began with the parade in our town. So much fun to see the decorated cars and bikes, plus all of the people on the street. You run into so many friends that are walking around, which makes it alot of fun and a social event. Then we went home to decorate some cookies to bring to the bar-b-que that we were invited to. I liked the cover on the Martha Stewart magazine from this year, so we "tried" to copy these cookies. It was fun to decorate them and they were easy to put together. I made the frosting a bit too thick, and baked the cookies a little too long, but other than that they were easy to do.

We finished the day at the bar-b-que. The kids swam and the parents ate brisket made in an "egg" bar-b-que. So yummy. The hostess also served marinated shrimp she put on the barbie also. Shelly made soem great beans. She is the best cook. Then we watched the Pomona Fairplex firework show from our friends front yard. It was as if you were at the Fairplex. They were so big and brilliant. A great day! Hope you had a wonderful fourth too!

New Years Resolutions

2011-01-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

If I write down my resolutions on an open forum I will probably most likely be able to do them... so let's see...

1. Clean out the clutter in all of the closets and keep them organized.
2. Put Jackson's bedroom together - and set up the upstairs den.
3. Read my book club books before the book club meetings.
4. Create a layout a week (52 for 2011) and post them on this blog.
5. Write on the blog at least once a week (previous resolution will help with this).
6. Travel to atleast one place I have not been before, and stay longer than a potty break.
7. Throw out stuff I do not use... get rid of all the old magazines I have. (This one will be hard).
8. Put curtains up in the Family Room.
9. Exercise - which means for atleast an hour five times a week.
10. Play a board game with the kids if not once a week (Family Night) then twice a month.
11. Get together with friends more and go out. This is probably going to require new clothes more often, but that is what it takes to go out and look good....
12. Bake more. Or should I say bake again. I have not baked goodies in so long. I should do this again. In fact, this year at work we were given the last week of 2010 off. I watched the food network as I packed my Christmas decorations and wrote down some interesting recipes. Made the chocolate cookie one from the Paula Deen show - but I don't think it is one worth repeating. Would like to be able to try new recipes and have my kitchen back... look out David!
13. Lucky thirteen. I need to organize my garage. I have too many things. I love them all. I love all of my decorations and seasonal items, but I need to go through and only keep what I will use - the rest needs to be donated (I guess) - this one will be a tuffy. David will be happy.
14. And last... to love more. To hug, send a greeting without a reason, a phone call for no purpose, a kiss just because, a compliment with a smile :) .

Once Upon a Time

2010-11-13T09:09:00.001-08:00

I was crafty...

I made things...

I was on a Design Team...

I updated my blog on a regular basis...

I was surfing the blogs this morning and came across a post titled "Once Upon a Time," and I thought to myself "Yeah, that is me... once upon a time I was creative and made cute little projects." It resinated with me to the point that I decided I should add something to my blog . My blog has lingered because I have not worked on anything, really in such a long time. I also noticed that blogs I used to read are now no longer... so sad. Hey Turnips and Carrots where are you? I miss you! Plus going to the book store to pick up a creative magazine to get "re-inspired" is like an impossible task. Is "Creating Keepsakes" and "Scrapbooks, etc" the only two sources left? Not to mention "Scrapbook Trends" - but they are pricey, so I subscribe to them and have to wait (and wait) for the delivery to my mailbox.

Anyway, I entered a card and two layouts in the L. A. County Fair. Even the fair was not the same this year. They craft exhibits were not full and inspiring as years past. Some great costumes, but something was missing. I design layouts for the "Die Cut Diva on the Go" web site. The last layout that was featured that I did was the "Are We There Yet?" layout.

I liked this one, because the colors were so inducive to whatever photography would be used on it. I made another one using all of the same pieces for a Disneyland Autopia layout. It came out so cute. My son was driving a yellow car by himself for the first time and the pictures looked really cute on this paper group.

I went to Roger's Gardens and saw their Christmas displays the first week of the opening. So many yummy ideas, really gets you in the mood to decorate for Christmas. Can't wait. I bought a bunch of christmas themed paper so hopefully I can put a post together with my finished cards.

And lastly, I have been busy with the kids school projects and after school sports. My son's soccer team made it to the play offs! They really started to play and excell towards the end of the season. It just seemed to click with all of them. Jack was the mad hatter for halloween, apparently none of the photo's have been downloaded on the computer yet. (I don't want to receive a lecture for my other half if I do this... he has total control of the computer picture albums, so I'll just post a pic later). His costume came out cute. I added my own spools of thread to the costume and added more lace to the sleeves. I found a costume on the Disney web site and bought it early.

We went to our first Halloween costume party in years this year. So much fun! Hopefully I will become reinspired and "Once Upon a Time" will be about the time that I had no inspiration...

Cake Pops Bakerella New Book

2010-09-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

I have followed the Bakerella blog for awhile now. When I read Angie Dudley was going to combine all of her best Bakerella Cake Pops into one book I could hardley wait for it to be available! And yeah! They had it at our neighborhood Barnes and Noble! What an awesome source of ideas and creative goodness. I love it. I love all of the cute ideas. Can't wait to start to try some of them. They will make cute treats for the kids to hand out in their classrooms. Who would not want an adorable reindeer at Christmas? So adorable. If you find rolling a baked cake piece into a ball and decorating it too cumbersome she also has great ideas on how to decorate cupcakes, recipes for awesome brownies and sweet treats!

Halloween at Roger's Gardens

2010-09-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

Never to disappoint, this years Halloween presentation at Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach is sure to please. Not the their best ever, but definitely a display to see, especially if you need to decorate for a party or to get party ideas. They used all sorts of techniques such as cardboard walls, in which they glue gunned small cars to. They hung clip boards on the walls to describe each section or to display verbiage/pictures. Cardboard was cut into strips and painted black

or a gun metal silver and then curled as if it was rod iron. This technique was used on the ceilings in a scroll fashion. And speaking of ceilings, they even used boxes that the merchandise came in, hung them upside down on the ceiling with the box tops open and stuffed animals or creatures coming out, on the ceilings. But, I think it is the merchandise

that they carry that is so unique and one would probably not find anywhere else that makes it such a "treat" to go through their "Funn and Gaems." The snake that would snap at you as your hand got close to it was a hit with my husband. He stood there for the longest time trying to outsmart the snake. This item is similar to the one with the hand in the center of the candy bowl that would come down and slap you if you went for a piece of candy. You could tell the snake was fake, but there was something about that fanged mouth coming at you that just

gave you the creeps. One of the rooms had Barbie dolls in their packages with creepy names on the boxes hung on the wall. Dolls everywhere. Baby dolls, Barbie dolls, plastic dolls, dolls sprayed black and then arranged onto a wall like melted baby dolls all charred.

Bethany Lowe products made a prominent presentation. I like seeing her items, but then if you have already purchased her merchandise no need to buy more since the items are so similar. Looking at this display section one would come to the conclusion that you already owned half that stuff - now you know how to display it this year. A new twist. There was a candy table with sweet treats such as decorated cookies and kits to decorate your own cookies. Jewelry. Unique pieces from Two's Company - a rhinestone spider necklace, broaches, and glass pumpkin necklaces with matching earrings and bracelets. The rooms were decorated with fabric covered walls in

stripes and polka dots. All in black and white. Table centerpieces includes fluted vases filled with black feathered plumes. They were beautiful. One plume was $6 and it would take a handful to make a good display so I had to pass. The feathered crows are still my favorite.

They displayed them with their wings wide open as if in "attack" or ready to to attack mode. I love Halloween and I love going to Roger's Gardens to see their Halloween display. From the moment I receive the postcard in the mail to the actual opening is like waiting for Christmas! Oh and if you were wondering what to do with your Halloween decorations or memorabilia that breaks or is too small to use - one of their artists made trees with these incidental items and has them priced at $400 and $500! (This is the last picture in the post). Looked easy to assemble. I might just make time to put one of these together! Happy Halloween!

Back to School Cards

2010-08-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

What summer? It seems as if school just ended and now we are at our first week of the new school year! Yikes! Here we go... ready or not! I made some Back to School teacher cards blessing them for a wonderful school year. My friend Valerie made the teacher gift card holders. These can be used at the end of the school year, at the beginning or for Christmas and/or Teacher birthdays. The paper I used for the cards is from the DCWV The Grade School Stack. Cute paper in these stacks available at Michael's. Still missing our scrapbook store. It closed last year and so my creative juices have gone dry. However, i am making some cards for our Church Gift Shop which I will share with you when they are finished. Hopefully I can get my mojo back and start to catch up on all that has happened. What I could do wit ha week off from work and some cooler temperatures! Happy Creating!

Hang 10 1/2 Birthday!

2010-07-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

My son was born in December which means that birthdays just are as special as everyone else's. I think kids need that "magic" when they are kids. These are the moments that they will cherish and remember fondly. Jackson's last birthday party was when he was in Kindergarten. We threw him a Pirate Party. It came out so cute, but it sprinkled. Too cold to do most of the activities and the party goers left early for Jack to jump in his pirate ship jumper by himself. This time I brainstormed with an idea of a "half" birthday. This would make the party in June and thus warm enough for a Hang 10 birthday for a boy who is TEN!

We invited the whole class to our home on the last day of school, since school ended at TEN (10 am). The party could start at twelve and end around four. I made the invites with the Hang 10 1/2 theme - surfboards and hibiscus flowers. The party favors were brightly colored buckets which I used a paint pen on and wrote each child's name and drew some flowers. Filled them with Frisbees, Hawaiian purses for the girls, plastic jelly fish thingies, goggles for the boys, and some candy. I made tags to go on the outside and a prayer on the other side of the tag.

Wrapped them in cellophane and tied them with a brightly colored striped ribbon. Lauren drew chalk feet up the drive way for the "Hang Ten" theme and to show the party goers how to get into the party. I snapped a picture of each guest in front of a blue background with Palm Trees holding a Boogie Board. (When Lauren turned ten I used a pink Surf Board - this year I could not find someone who owned one). The kids dropped off their towels and clothes bag at the "Beach Check In Station", then off to the pool! I also had a "Wipe Out Station" which had band aids, sunscreen and dry towels. And a "Sweet Station" for refueling - Cawabunga. The Sweet Station was full of candy, rice krispy treats, butterscotch brownies, sweet tarts, lemonade, skittles, etc...

We had water guns to play with and we found these blow up water boats with water guns on either side at Costco. We bought four. The kids had a blast sailing around an squirting everyone. While others chose to shoot the guns and run around the pool. The girls congregated in the jacuzzi pool. We played the Limbo, Hula Hoop - who could keep the hoop up the longest, water balloon toss in pairs - then the kids had a water balloon fight with the left overs afterward. Great pictures! I wish I could share these. The kids were getting pretty smacked. Pow!

We also played the toothpick game. Drop a toothpick in the pool and have them search it out. They loved this! And a game that involved colors, called COLORS, where guests choose a color in their mind and then get into the pool so they can swim up to the designated "it" person who has their back to the pool and they try to make it all the way without having their color called out. Another fun game! I had alot of help that day, Lauren had a friend over (thanks Alexa), who helped with the games. Many parents stayed to help keep an eye on the kids in the pool. Plus my parents were there as designated Life Guards.

Jack's cake was a beach themed cake. The sand was crumbled graham crackers. Easy to decorate and the figurines I picked up at A & J Candies in Glendora.

It was a great birthday for boy who was so patient in finally getting a birthday party! Oh, did I mention that it was overcast and windy, and sprinkled in the morning so I could not set up anything right away! Holy Toledo! That is two for two! The Thank You's should be representative of the festivities. Since I am a scrapbooker I made each guest a mini scrapbook album (four page accordion card) with pictures from all the fun we had. The cover of the album was the picture I snapped at the beginning of the party with the guest and the bogey board. It was the last day of Fourth Grade so these made for an added memento for everyone. Happy Birthday Jackson!

Sacramento Trip for the Fourth Grade Class

2010-06-04T01:48:00.000-07:00

The Fourth Grade class flew to Sacramento for an amazing journey to our State Capital Building - which is surrounded by many points of interest such as a life sized statue of Father Junipero Serra, a Roman Catholic missionary (which the Fourth grade just studied) who helped colonize California for Spain, A California Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, a Memorial honoring Fire Fighters, several fantastic rose gardens, and I did not know that there are trees and shrubs planted on the grounds from around the world!

The Governor's Office has a new Bear outside the double doors. And we learned that Arnold is the first Governor to have his his name outside the office doors. Our tour guide had a plethora of trivia tid bits she would throw into her commentary. She was great. Our tour was with World Strides who flew us up to Sacramento, met us at the airport in a Coach (bus) and drove us to three locations.

This is the room where laws are voted on. Beautiful painted ceilings in here.

After we toured the Capital Building and the Museum grounds we got back into the Coach and drove to Sutter's Fort, where we toured the fort which has been fully restored. We saw the cannons that John Sutter and his men used and their gun room which was a big hit with Fourth Grade boys! John Sutter and his men were sent to aid the Donner Party and a doll that was cherished by one of the members of the Donner Party is on exhibit in the museum here.

Next we went on an hour long trip to Sutter's Mill in Coloma, Ca. The mill is next to the American River where we were given instruction how to pan for gold and then set out to pan on our own! How fun! And what a great day to go panning for gold. The sun was shining, we has scattered white puffy clouds, several groups of rafters went floating by... it was a lot of fun!

Our tour of Coloma began at the top of the hill where James Marshall Statue stands on top of his grave pointing to the location of the mill. We hiked down the "mountain" to see the first Catholic Church in California and the very first Catholic Cemetery in California. We saw the old shack and took several group photo's of the kids sitting on the steps. There was an out house which the kids were fascinated by... The hike took us down to the base where the jail is. Or what is left of the jail, and then we walked into the town of Coloma. Awesome! So many old, great buildings to see. They had a wonderful museum and we were taught by an official panner - how to pan for gold!

After we panned for our gold and saw Sutters Mill we got back into our Coach and drove towards the airport. We stopped for dinner and then boarded our plane back home. What a great day!

Girls Scout Awards Dinner

2010-05-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight is our end of the year Awards and Potluck Dinner for the Girl Scout Leaders in our "Neighborhood." Our GS Neighborhood basically consists of three local towns. The Awards dinner is a way of thanking all of the leaders for their volunteer work during the school year in leading troops and girls. Scouting is so important for both boys and for girls. The camaraderie and the development of community through service projects is vital for these kids. The Awards dinner also has a Raffle and Auction of various items... so much fun! I made these invites for the Daisy Scout Leaderss that I am responsible for... I am their Daisy Consultant.

In The Hospital Layout

2010-05-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

My son had out patient surgery on Good Friday. He was so brave! Never complained. Did what he had to do and what the nurses asked of him - even when the main nurse could not start his I-V and had to poke both arms before going back to the first arm and inserting the I-V needle higher up on the arm! He sat there patiently. And it is painful... each attempt required a shot of Novocain which is no fun.

The surgeon was late. So Dad, Mom and Jackson read our books and waited. Then Jackson finally gets wheeled off into the surgical room. Mom and Dad retreat to the waiting room. Waiting Rooms have TVs with each patients name a colored line across which represents each step of the surgical process that the patient is in. One color for admitting, one color for surgery, one color for recovery.... As you are waiting you can see the process. We would check every so often after the forty five minutes we were told to see if Jackson was out. It took almost an hour and a half. Made us wonder if something went wrong. But of course, Jackson came out of surgery and was sitting in his "surgical chair" being wheeled down the hall to the elevator to go into recovery. His hair all a miss and still kinda out of it. But a big smile on his face - as if to say "Thank God that is over!" He even said he was glad his surgery was on Good Friday - because he knew that "Jesus would be watching him."

I used paper from Karen Foster and one of her stickers for this layout.

Teacher Thank You's

2010-05-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

We just had our Parish Festival and I was able to coerce a friend into working a booth at the boutique with me. We sold some scrapbook layouts and scrapbook albums. We made greeting cards which customers could purchase. Anyway, my friend Valeree Calderon came up with these cute Teacher Thank You gifts. The top is a gift card holder attached to a pencil. I saw this on a blog and thought it was a cute idea so we embellished it... a little. The other is a clipboard teacher than you. One clipboard has a place for the giver to take a photo of the class and insert the photo onto the green paper for a memento of the school year. The other has a flip up feature with an added thank you verse. We are selling these in our Parish Gift Shop right now, if you did not purchase one during the festival... hint. hint.

Las Vegas "Aria"

2010-04-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh! So much has been going on since my last post! I don't even know where to begin! I made these darling centerpieces for the Girl Scout Father Daughter Dance. We had a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Theme... I painted twenty flower pots in various bright colors, painted candies all over them and wrote "Willy Wonka and the Me and My Guy Dance" with the date on them. Stuffed them with candy bouquets and colored cellophane. Wrapped them in tulle and sprayed them with glitter. It took me all Easter weekend to finish them. But, the sad part is I did not take even ONE picture of them when I finished. I was so tired and just wanted to deliver them to the event chairperson. Now I wished I would have taken a moment and snapped a few pics. We raffled them off. Such a fun event!

Anyway... I want to share our recent trip to Las Vegas and our visit to Aria. This is the new hotel and shopping center which is like it's own "city." In a nutshell. Two words to describe this new place are Logan's Run. Did you see this movie? It starred Michael York and it had a "city" within a bubble. Very modern. The city (in Logan's Run) had touch screens and automated doors, windows, used laser technology for surgery to enhance one's appearance. Oh... all the things that are present in this "city" of Aria!

The directory is a touchscreen. Touch the screen to "begin." Touch the area of interest and the screen diverts to that information page. Touch again and more defined information pops up. You can not say that you "got lost" as an excuse for missing a meeting here. The directory screens are very helpful. The building itself is a big metal ensemble. I am not one for "modern" architecture so I was not impressed or found the features appealing...

Tall, tall ceilings. Brightly colored green cones randomly placed? Cell towers? Not quite sure or just for aesthetics..? Technology is also in the restaurant's outside menu's. Walk by a restaurant and look at their menu and it is a touch screen. Select the "lunch menu" and the menu items pop up. Select an item, say the pasta dish. The description and calorie count pop up. Interesting to fully understand the menus. I liked this. My husband the "chef," especially liked this. The pool to the hotel was reminiscent of a tropical oasis. Covered thatched buildings, big pool, palm trees. Inbetween all of the tall buildings. Not sure how long the sun would be out once it starts moving behind the buildings. Plus the pool is visible from all of the windows inside the hotel and lobbies of the meeting areas. Talk about being in a bubble...

The restaurants were all decked out in their themes. This one was interesting with the "balls" floating down on the windows and the black trees. Seems like a perfect place to carve "SB plus DB" in a heart onto one of the trees... The mall was even a modern group of high end stores. Many, many stairs not stores.... not a place for someone who does not like to go up and down stairs constantly! And I am serious. Up and down. The picture of this wood contraption in the center of the mall - is very much like a Logan's Run feature - it is a restaurant. The blue ice sticks in this picture change colors - white, blue then fuscia. There is also a "cyclone" water display and you can walk through cylinders that have various speeds of a funnel in them. Why? This is in the mall. Just odd. I kept think I would see some odd hairstyles or outfits that looked like astronaut suits... beem me up Scotty.

Not all of the stores are opened yet as the "city" has just opened for business the beginning of this year. Just as a reflection, I have been going to Las Vegas for many, many years. I remember when most of the hotels were two and three stories tall. I remember Caesar's entrance with the statues, water fountains and patina green lights at night. I remember walking down Las Vegas Boulevard and the casino doors would be open to the strip and you could feel the air conditioners blasting out of the buildings and you could here the slots paying off in coins! I remember all of the trinket shops along the strip and all of the pharmacy stores they had. Now it is like a theme park with a plethora of "themed" hotels - Paris, Bellagio, Treasure Island, the Venetian. I like that too. I like all of the eye candy that the city offers. The Aria though, I am not into the metal and the modern entourage of a building it is. Plus it over shadows the beautiful Bellagio... just an eye sore next to a building which tries to replicate historical architecture. I wished maybe it was further down the strip, say by Mandala Bay... Then it would not stick out so much. Bottom line... not a fan.

Sneak for the Next Release

2010-03-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

This year so far has been busy, busy, busy! And not much creating... how sad. Where I live our local Scrapbook Store (LSS) closed. Then the next "best" one which was a drive - but worth it because they had a large selection, closed. Now we are left with a very small one. Not much selection, but she carries lines that I like: Cosmo Cricket, Graphic 45, October Afternoon, Melissa Francis, Sassafras Las, Tattered Angels, and Basic Grey. The other scrapbook store that is close to us has a wide selection - mostly of older lines that were released two, three years ago. The staff is not friendly. When I am there I feel as if I am interrupting their conversation when I need to be rung up. You would stand at the cash register for several minutes until they "noticed" you with a "Are you ready?" I would prefer to avoid this store, but now we have no where else to go -- except on line. But I really like to see the papers in person and look at samples to get ideas, and I love embellishments! Embellishments need to be merchandised with the group of papers to get a real understanding of how they might be used. Embellishments from one manufacturer can easily be used with a totally different line or group of papers. Anyway, so I have not been able to fuel my "outlet" thus I have been using my time volunteering for various projects. Right now, making centerpieces for the Girl Scout Father/Daughter Dance. The theme this year is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, so I am making brightly colored flower pots stuffed with candy and cellophane to make a "full" bouquet of color and sugar! **Post Script: I did not mention the third store by us on purpose. No new merchandise in what? A year? Never open... Closed Sunday, Monday early on weekdays. No one at the register. The customer has to go to the scrap tables and ask if anyone works there to be rung up. I figure this place is someones hobby and not a store.

The sneak - this the Mom's Day Layout which will be available for purchase in April. I used the Graphic 45 Romantique line and grounded the floral pattern with the solid Java paper. I mixed in distressing, lace and pearls for a vintage look. This is a two page layout with room for four photographs. This layout will be available on the Die Cut Diva web site. The site has all sorts of layouts and cards available for purchase, please visit them if you need an already cut out layout. All you need to do is assemble yourself, so you can adjust the layout to your photographs and journaling style. Most layouts range from $14 to $20.

Road Trip to Visalia

2010-02-18T06:28:00.000-08:00

Road trip up to Central California for Daniela's graduation from Dental Hygiene School took us to San Joaquin Valley to a little town called Visalia. Visalia is the oldest town between San Francisco and Los Angeles and is the "crown jewel" of the San Joaquin Valley. This old time theater is a landmark for the city and was completed in 1930.

The interior reminded me of the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.

After graduation we caravaned to Shell Beach (Pismo Beach) and stayed the weekend at the beach house. The kids love that! Just hangin' out playing games, reading and watching the waves roll in. We ate at my favorite restaurant Cafe Roma and had pancakes at Apple Farm in the morning! Great weather and a nice weekend! Congratulations Daniela!

Calico Ghost Town - Civil War Weekend

2010-02-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

This year we finally had the time to go back up to Calico Ghost Town, this time for the Civil War Weekend. The last time we went we camped and stayed for their Halloween Event. This is held every year the weekend before Halloween. That event is a totally blast! And a must for the kids. This weekend, however, we went for the day. The Civil War Event had something to see every moment of the day. Their was the Military Parade, they had Civil War Music which played up and down Main Street. People walked around in costume of the Civil War period up and down Main Street and then there was the Inspection of the U.S. Troops by President Abraham Lincoln.

The first of two Civil War Battles began before noon. This featured the Union coming up the valley and over taking the town that the Confederates were at. There was gun fire and canon blasts and soldiers dying. The Union won this first battle and the bugle played the traditional "Taps" when the battle ended. With all of the smoke and loud gun fire you felt part of the reenactment. They carried bodies out of the battlefield, placed hats on top of the dead. We were able to see how the men fought in the straight lines and drop as they were struck with gunfire. More men died in the Civil War because of this tactic.

After the battle, we made our way back to main street. There was the Spencer & Jackson Theatrical Troupe to see, Ladies Tea in the Town Hall, and Stories with Abe Lincoln at the wishing well. We toured an outdoor museum featuring authentic Civil War memorabilia including guns, rifles and swords. The fellow pictured below was most knowledgeable and told us how that women had to enlist in the military as men. That Mary Edwards Walker could not serve in the Army even though she was an accomplished and skilled physician which the Army desperately needed. So she volunteered as a nurse with no pay. She saved many lives and then became their chief surgeon (again with no pay). Two years later after saving many lives and donning men's attire she was finally recognized for her efforts. At the end of the war she received the Congressional Medal of Honor. The only woman to this day to receive one. Upon returning home, and returning to the customary dress of a woman she was then asked to return her medal. He was full of information. Such as we will never know how many women fought in the Civil War since they enlisted under a man's name. It was not until the bodies were tossed into mass graves that soldiers realized that some of the bodies were those of women.

The School house was open for a lesson. Children went to the head of the class and took a quiz which earned them a prize. We were able to tour the camps of the Confederate Soldiers. Many soldiers were resting and taking naps along the path as if just returning from battle.

There were photo opportunities with the sixteenth president of the United States, Abe Lincoln. And this guy was perfect! He was reserved and took pictures freely with "his" people and spoke to all of the commanding officers and gave gifts to the kids (book marks with the history of Abe Lincoln printed on them).

Soldiers would speak to you about their tools and ammunition. This soldier let us hold the bullets and metal balls that went into canon type weapons. They were heavy! He even had a blade that was used in the amputation of limbs that could not be saved.

Photo opportunities continued along Main Street as the street became more populated with vendors and musicians. Get ready for the second battle of the day...

This time the Confederate's won. Back in town they had a women's fashion show and explained the attire of the woman at that time, what ladies wore and when. How to tell if a family had fallen on hard times, and that when the ladies went to a formal dance they arrived the day before or that morning and servants would help them dress for the dance. Thus the women wore "lace up the back dresses" since someone would be there to help them dress. Very interesting... There was President Lincoln reciting the Gettysburg Address. Then retiring of the colors and the Open to the Public "Dine with the Troops" dinner at sunset. What a great way to spend the day on President's Day Weekend. Truly patriotic!

Warning! These Valentine's Are Hot!

2010-02-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

This year for the Valentine's to pass out in the class room I got the bright idea to take a picture of each student and create an individual card for them. I found this cute valentine card set from Making Memories bought some stickers at Michael's and made (what I thought) was some cutey personalized Valentine's. It wasn't until I went to the computer and read some blogs that I found some really cute and clever ideas, so I thought I'd post them here so next year I can use them. Can't lose my notes when I put my thoughts onto my own blog!

1. Give sucker candy with a cute tag that says "Don't you know that Valentine's Day is for suckers!" Saw this on the "bunny cakes blog." It is a good one for boys. Boys are always so hard when they get into the older grades.

2. Valentine heart shaped candies made from small candy canes. Saw this on "Homespun With Heart" blog.

3. Ice cream cone coated with chocolate topped with a pink meringue cookie and a secret Valentine message inside. This was also on Danielle Flanders page "Homespun With Heart." Scroll down to the very last part of her post.

4. Place a sucker inside a circle cut away container and stamp "I am a Sucker for You!" I saw this one at "Chic 'N Scratch." She is a Stampin' Up demonstrator.

5. "Valentine, Go Fish!" Another creative packaging idea from Angie Juda at "Chic 'N Scratch."

6. A Valentine Mini Album for your special someone. This idea came from Lia at "Organised Clutter."

Well, those were the best of the ideas that I saw for children's Valentine's to make in a large quantity to pass out to the class. Always love to receive that homemade Valentine... love Creative People... love to receive a Valentine with some thought... love all those special touches! XOXO!!! Happy Valentine's to all of you Creative People!!!

Mission Report & Projects - Fourth Grade

2010-02-13T08:14:00.000-08:00

When you think of Fourth Grade you immediately remember doing a California Mission project. This was a time you generally spent with your Dad building something big. It generally took several days and was a time you will fondly remember...! Yikes, how do we construct a Mission? How can we make our mission realistic and different? In this post I will share with you several mission projects that were turned in which were (in my opinion) exceptional. A lot of thought and planning went into these missions and the materials the students used were generally household products! Gone are the days of the sugar cube mission! I linked each photo to the mission that the student researched, so if you click on the photo it will take you to that mission's web page.

I loved the use of the lasagna noodles as the roof for this mission! Practical and inexpensive, plus looked awesome. This student constructed the building with cardboard and then covered it with paper mache. They painted the board brown for the ground and used green roll out grass which was purchased at the local craft store in the "Mission Section." The student used modeling clay to make the fountain and purchased pink mini flowers found in the "Wedding Section" for the floral displays around the mission. Several students used pasta for their roof's. There was Mostacolli and Elbow pasta! So creative! One student used rice! How perfect was that! Looked awesome. Another student used the "exposed" side of the cardboard to show the rippled roof look (inexpensive.)

The accessory items to the Missions themselves were so creative and so easy for the students to put together themselves. One student made a fountain out of several pieces of Styrofoam. She then covered the bottom half with the roll out simulated brick paper found at the craft store in the "Mission Section," and painted the water and the green algae. She added a mossy effect with the green planting material purchased at the craft store. A student made crosses out of Popsicle sticks (as seen in the second photo from the top). A marked grave can be made from a mound of clay covered with polished rocks and a cross on top (as seen below). The sand roll out paper from the craft store can be cut and made into walkways (the photo of the first and fourth mission show this). Walkways were also made out of stones and the purchased sand you can find at the craft store. Grassy areas were either painted or the students used the roll out grass found in the "Mission Section." Clay rolled into balls and then stuffed with plastic foliage made creative potted plant displays. Another student made their entire mission out of the rectangular Styrofoam kit that can be purchased also at the craft store. If I can remember it was ten dollars for a medium sized box. I figured two boxes were probably needed and I past on this medium. But, this student created her mission and then painted the Styrofoam pieces the tan color and the terra cota color. A great site for other "accessory" ideas and using materials found around the home is this Sylvan site.

I liked this mission project because the student visited the mission and incorporated the pictures of himself at the mission onto the display board. You can see the pictures of the mission and how they compared to his interpretation of the mission. He elevated the information card on the display board so it stood out from the other pieces of information.

Can I have a favorite without hurting any one's feelings or efforts? Because I have to say this mission display was awesome. This is the San Gabriel Mission and the student (who must become an architect or thank Dad for doing his project), built the mission so the roof would come off and you could see inside the mission. You could see the pews in the church, the communion rail, and the altar with the statues. The windows were made out of clear transparency paper cut to size and the panes painted onto them. The prayer garden next to the mission was full of plants and fountains and statues. The student even had the grape vine walkway which the mission has. Truly amazing. It was like a dollhouse!

The teacher gave the students the option of building a mission with no research report, doing a research report with a shadow box, or doing a research report with a historical picture scroll. We opted to do the shadow box with the research project. I wanted my son to learn how to research a topic and then decide the best pieces of information and put it together into a well thought out paper. Which now having seen the projects the other students turned in I am glad we chose this. I had no idea the creativity that had gone into these projects. Which is why I decided to share them with you. I hope it helps in your concept of your mission. Our projects were on display the night of Open House at the school. The students received extra credit if they came in costume and each were required to man their mission and explain their project to the parents that wondered up and down the display aisles that night.

We visited three missions, the one in San Luis Obispo the one in San Juan Capistrano which you can see pictures of. We also toured the one in Carmel, which is an awesome mission in an awesome town! I love Carmel. Well, this is the end of my post all I can say is happy creating!

Sneak for New Endeavor...

2010-01-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas just wipes me out! Takes me along time to get my "groove" back. I have been cleaning out closets, cabinets, storage spaces, the pantry and the refrigerator(s). Yes, the refrigerator in the garage needs to be cleaned too! Our local scrapbook store closed in December and since I'd have to take a drive to the nearest store I have been skipping the scrap shopping. Which I miss terribly. I find shopping for scrapping supplies soothing and it provides me with something to look forward to (making a project :) ). So what do I do with my free time now that I am no longer designing for Scrappin' Good Times? Well, I decided to join a book club (this one is called "The Bookies" and is so cute - they have a mission statement and bylaws!? Crack me up! I wonder if they "throw the book at you" if you do not read that months book?). Last year I made a resolution to read a book a month - seemed attainable. But no go! So now if I am in a "club" I am forcing myself to read. And then I figure as I read the required readings I can acclimate myself time to read pleasure reading as well.... We will see. I just finished Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiani. This was the third book in her trilogy. I need to read the first two to really appreciate this one. But "The Bookies" absolutely loved the book. Some cried. Some had to put the book down when she met up with Jack in New York. They did not know if they wanted to find out what Ava would do with Jack...

My other big project I am working on now is designing scrapbook kits to sell on line. I joined the Die Cut Divas - Scrapbook Kits for the Diva on the Go web site. Each week the site will feature a new layout to sell and a new card kit. The "sneak" for my kit is a winter snowing fun layout using the Fancy Pants "Frosted" line. It is titled "Snow Much Fun!" and features lots of snow flakes!

The other thing that is keeping me busy (in addition to working full time) is helping my son with his Mission project. Last summer we went to San Juan Capistrano for Lauren's softball tournament. In between games we toured the San Juan Capistrano Mission. We took lots of pictures hoping he would get this mission... But he picked the Mission in San Luis Obispo. So off to San Luis we went during Christmas break! The walls in the church are all handpainted now. They took several years to complete them. But they are beautiful. The bells are awesome and they have a grape vine that encorporates a whole arched walkway that is unbelievable. I just love these old missions! Another great one is the one in Carmel. I love the courtyard there also.

Well this is why I have not been a good blogger! Happy New Year to everyone!

Rose Parade Floats 2010

2010-01-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like going to the Rose Parade and seeing the floats and feeling the instruments from the band playing in your ears and hearing the last of the News Years Eve blowers still blowing every once in a while. It is a blast... well until now (maybe). I am talking about the new

televisions (LCD's and LED's) that bring so much to viewing anything on the tube to life. The parade on the HDTV was so beautiful and felt as though you were right there (less the blowers of course). The colors so vibrant and the images so defined! I have to admit that when I took my kids to see the floats up close and personal the next day... I was a little disappointed that the floats were not as colorful and beautiful as they were depicted on the HDTV! Can you imagine, real life taking a second seat to a tv?

But the weather was perfect for viewing. Nice and warm and we walked the whole park where they "park" the floats after the parade. We saw the Boy Scouts float. They had a whole section of tasks and activities for the kids to go in and venture through.

The float with the snowboarding dogs had the dogs still going down the slope. Fun to see up close. But I heard from friends who went to the parade that this float when it went by was awesome... they loved seeing all the dogs sledding down...

The barnyard float had the plane going up and down for the crowd. There were several dancing teams - one in front of the Chinese Pagoda float and an American Indian group of dancers in complete head dress. The Mexico 2010 float had travel representatives there handing out travel guides to Mexico (I don't think they could give away a free trip to Mexico right now....)

Oh, and the Cal Poly float (the college by us) was so adorable! The cartoon like animals were simply adorable! Truly. My pictures do not do any of the floats justice. They were all so wonderful to see.

Late Night Catechism - Sisters Christmas Catechism

2009-12-21T06:50:00.000-08:00

What a crack up! This show is definitely needed during all of the stress of Christmas! Sister Donovan from Donovan Entertainment does it again in another edition of Catholic parody. Sisters Christmas Catechism, click the link for a small sample of what her show is about, came to our parish the second Friday in December. She was even more hilarious and the laughter even more welcomed than her previous show! Parishioners from the audience were asked to join in the fun and become cast members....

But, before she recruited her cast mates, she peruses the audiences looking for rogue parishioners who are not honoring the sacred space. She will find you if you are chewing gum or if you dress inappropriately (sleeveless tops, dresses) for church. She will call you out in front of the congregation and give you verbal humiliation. Plus she will also praise those in the audience for off the wall things, such as: those who "re-gift," those who choose to sit in the back, and to those who are wearing "Christmas sweaters." She will pick the best four decorated sweaters and have you come up on stage, then the audience votes for the best Christmas sweater with applause! Plus she lets you know which one SHE likes the best...

Then she selects her cast mates by walking the audience making her comments on how members were Altar Boys who never "got over it." Or the girls who always tried to please but never could become an Altar Boy. The cast she selects, she hits dead on! Her comments are always appropriate for the roles each will play. Once she has assembled her cast, the play can begin. Who stole the Magi's gold? That was the mystery that needed to be solved before the show ends. It was a great night. We opened our Christmas Boutique and had finger food available for donation only to help support our neighboring shelters. The girl who ran this made cupcakes, cakes, gingerbread, hot cider, candy cane reindeer's, homemade Raspberry Jam, and homemade cinnamon-vanilla sugar. The evening was buzzing!

Switching Gears - A Visit to Rogers Gardens

2009-12-04T06:53:00.000-08:00

A visit to Rogers Gardens is a must every holiday season. They have the most variety and the most unusual displays. Each section has a different theme therefore, something will appeal to everyone! The shopping is easy, because right under each tree is a basket over flowing with the ornaments that adorn that tree. If the basket is empty, simple remove the ornament from the tree. The picture above is their Waterford Tree all decked out in red with metallic accents.

This tree is for the little boy, it is called Little Drummer Boy. They also have pink tree for your little darling! These trees are filled with heart ornaments, baby booties, angels, and Baby's First Christmas bulbs.

This is their Asian themed tree, all decked out with jeweled tone colors. The picture does not do this tree justice, in person this tree is stunning!

Moving on into Santa Workshop area the trees become more whimsical. Vintage Santa's, a toy tree, a tree filled with snowmen, an all green and red tree...

The Toy Factory brings you to the most imaginative trees in the store! This is where the

designers must have released their "inner child."

There was an all gold tree, a tree filled with vintage games, and the tree to the right that had all the accoutrements of a little boys travel. There were sail boats, compasses, globes (in black and vintage creme), airplanes, firetrucks, wired wreaths filled with glass bulbs, and my favorite this year a vintage flickering candle in a holder that attached to the tree with a clip. Similar to the candles that were on the trees in the Victorian days. There were instruments, tubas and wooden guitars. This tree was so creative I wanted to buy the whole thing and plop it down in my son's bedroom! In an adjoining room they had a black, white and chartreuse tree. Some of the ornaments were made of velvet, and there was lots of crystal glistening in between the branches. When you entered the Christmas rooms you were greeted by birch branches that had been cut into two feet pieces and assembled together with "S" hooks. They dangled from the ceiling and created an interesting feel to the room. A visit to Rogers Gardens is sure to inspire anyone. You can not help but want to go back to your home and put something together, especially using your newest purchase!

Thanksgiving 101

2009-11-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving morning is the beginning of a non-stop go, go, go kinda day. The day before - Wednesday is a great day. I have the day off from work and have a chance to get some Christmas shopping done. Some stores had a two day special (Tuesday and Wednesday deals) before the "Black Friday." This was nice. No one was in the stores... love that! All the food prep is done on Wednesday and the last minute cleaning of the house. With kids destroying rooms right after you put them together, Wednesday late afternoon and evening is the only time to really set things up for the Thanksgiving celebration. Now, I have found in my older days as I open packed holiday items - such as Thanksgiving display items, I can not remember how they were displayed? I did not decorate fro Thanksgiving last year so I was totally surprised by some of the items I had accumulated. (A good thing and a bad thing). So Thanksgiving 101 tip number one: Photograph your displays. Either pack the pics with the items in the box or keep a notebook and put them in their. Maybe with your checklist.

Thanksgiving morning, up at the crack of dawn making my pies. I made the Pumpkin Pies, my sister-in-law made the Pecan Pie and purchased the Apple Pie from Apple Farms in San Luis Obispo. She also made a Pumpkin Crisp. Which basically is a graham cracker crust with a layer of pumpkin, some roasted walnuts on top and a layer of homemade whip cream on top of that. She uses the Trader Joe's Heavy Cream. Do not use the kind from the supermarket. Once you use the Trader Joe's kind nothing else will do.

And speaking of Trader Joe's - we also buy their Cranberry Sauce and Cranberry Orange Sauce in a container. It simply is the yummiest and helps alleviate the task of making the sauce yourself. Too many other things to do... We used the Cheesecloth Method of cooking our turkey this year. We heard this keeps the turkey moist and makes for a crispy coat. Not sure if we were sold on this. David did not like the skin as much. Maybe he should have removed the cheesecloth earlier... But it looked nice and yummy!

We watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Always fun to have on as we bump into each other in the kitchen. Turkey has to be in the oven! Five hours cooking time! Twenty four people will arrive before the feast at 3:00pm.

I saw a Thanksgiving Trivia Quiz on the Internet, and thought how cute to type these up and place randomly on the three tables. This way guests who did not really know each other had a way to break the ice. Plus trivia is always fun.... gets people talking!Thanksgiving 101 tip #2.

Fresh flowers on the table always add a nice touch. We had gone to an event for my son's school over the weekend and took the centerpiece at the end of the night. The flowers were red roses sprinkled with sequined picks. I bought a floral arrangement for $3 from Trader Joe's, simply cut the daisy flowers down to size, pulled out the red roses and inserted the daisies into the green floral sponge and "wallah" a centerpiece! That is Thanksgiving Tip #3.

Thanksgiving Tip #4 is photograph and archive displays and the menu. I always take a pic of the food on the table so I know what we served. I had guests bring appetizers since we used both ovens I did not want someone bringing a side that needed to be baked. They included Crostini with Trader Joe's Pico de Guillo, Baked Brie with a Cranberry Walnut Chutney, Artichoke Dip, and various Cheese Rounds.

Thanksgiving Tip #5 - Invite guests who like to do dishes and have hand lotion available at the kitchen sink and in all the bathrooms! Your hands get so dry from washing dishes. I like Bath and Body Works lotion. Soft on the hands and not greasy. This day I am not kidding we were at the sink doing dishes all day long! We kept saying "Didn't we just wash this?" Andother tip is to cook using good cookware. Good cookwear heats food evenly and cleans easily. Check at my husband's web site for some great cookware! FactoryDirect2You.com. We use All Clad, Le Creuset for the casseroles and Shun knives. I can honestly say every guest who has helped in the kitchen LOVES these products and ends up ordering some for their own kitchen investment. They are pricey - but well worth it!!!! You only need to buy these items once in your lifetime. And they cook your food more even and the dishes clean so easily. It is amazing! Check out his site and create a "Wish List" for yourself this holiday. You will be glad that you did. These are awesome and Tip #6!

All that work for just this? Turkey, Stuffing, Home Made Gravy, Honeybaked Ham, Homemade Ham Glaze, Grilled Polenta, Yams with Marshmallow Topping, Asparagus Spears with Chopped Bacon, and a Corn Souffle!

Tip #7 is quite simple. Have a Christmas Movie ready to watch as no one has energy for touch football after dinner. Plus it is dark outside. I purchased Four Christmases. It just came out on Blue Ray on Tuesday. The girls watched this hilarious (absolutely hilarious - or maybe it was all the carbs and drink that made us think so) but we laughed so loud! The boys played Texas Hold 'Em in the other room.

Autumn Birthday

2009-11-24T18:45:00.000-08:00

My Dad's birthday is at the end of November. We usually combine his birthday with Thanksgiving, because it is so hard to get everyone together. The kids have such crazy schedules in sports. This weekend, for example, we will be at the kids sporting games - so no shopping. I scrapped my Dad's birthday from last year. We had a cake and made the Thanksgiving all about the birthday. It was quite nice actually. I used the new line from Basic Grey called Indian Summer. I LOVE this group of papers. It is so me! The colors are so conducive to so many projects and photographs. Mixing the browns and oranges with fuscia... how fun! Plus the chipboard embellishments really add to the project at hand. I copied a famous scrapbooker's layout for this page. But instead of having one photo on the page, I chose several. And it really tells the story.... right down to Jackson peering into Grandpa's spectacles to "see what he sees." How cute is that! So glad I was able to snap that memory for him.

We Are Thankful For...

2009-11-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

I am hoping over Christmas break I can understand how Photoshop works. Even though I altered all the pictures the same way, one came out okay and the other two are too washed out.

These are pics from Thanksgiving last year. We celebrated the holiday at my sister's house. Thus, we are thankful for other people who host big events! So many pictures were taken this day and I only wanted to do a two page spread. So I thought about having the main pictures on top and "peppering" the smaller ones on the bottom. This way the story is told all at once.

For Thanksgiving, my Mom made the pumpkin turkey for the centerpiece, and my sister who must have been ambitious made the stuffed tomatoes (so I had to take a pic just in case this never happens again!), and David arrived just in time to make the gravy! It was a scrumptious meal. And so enjoyable since we did not have to host or cook! Yikes, that means this year we will have to do it all! Well, David mostly. But, that's what happens when you are a chef.... you cook!

Soccer Layout

2009-11-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

Soccer season is coming to an end. We made the play offs

and tied our first game but lost the second. It was a great season for Jackson! He had some wonderful coaches who really helped him and had the patience for him.... I had some paper left over from another sport layout from
DCWV. Utilizing my scraps was an inexpensive way to

create a layout that has many photographs. The layout
does not appear as cluttered, even though I used patterned paper. Add some brads for whimsy and American Crafts Thickers for the lettering. The Blazing Dragons had a red and black uniforms which were perfect to make the photographs pop using touches of the red on an all black background. Plus I wanted to use as many photos as I could, not to have page after page of the same thing. And o many of the pics should alot of action and facial expressions that I wanted to have them on the page. Developing them as wallet sizes and then trimming them helped to make a nice collage.

Turkey Day!

2009-11-11T06:24:00.000-08:00

This layout was fun to do since it reminded me of how "crazy" Thanksgiving was in 2007! We celebrate Thanksgiving twice most years. Once with my husband's family and once with mine. Thanksgiving has been at my Mom's house for years and she always throws in my Dad's birthday with it since it is so close. This layout shows our Thanksgiving at my Mother-in-Laws house. What cracks me up, is that "whatever could go wrong this day, went wrong." People did not arrive on time. Key items were not purchased, my Sister-in-Law cooked the turkey on the BROIL setting all morning, thus the blackened belly of the bird. Some parts were cooked and then some under cooked. We had to carve the turkey and figure out what was eatable now and what had to stay in the oven! In the mix of trying to find the right dish to bake something in...

we broke the favored white baking casserole dish. Someone knocked over their glass of wine and the glass broke. When my step daughter was young she had a "kitty" mug that she liked to drink from, the handle to this was broken when the turkey came out of the oven and needed room on the counter top and my husband had to make room by jabbing the baking pan against items on the counter. The kitchen in my Mother-in-Laws house is so tiny only two people (or better yet - only one person) can be in the kitchen at a time. The garbage disposal does not work - so dish detail is cumbersome. But through all of this we ended with a nice meal and everyone making an "extra" effort to smile for the camera... (don't know if you can notice the effort of smiling). The paper used here is scraps I had in a folder marked "Fall/Harvest." The wood tag was a recent purchase from Michael's Recollections line... The stickers are from Debbi Mumm. Does she even have scrapbook supplies anymore? But a little of this and that put this layout together... atleast for a chuckle!

First Win!

2009-11-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

My son plays soccer and I watch every game. And every game their team either ties or loses by one goal. This Saturday the coach and his son (who is probably our best player) were not going to be there. The assistant coach had the team! Oh my, what a great game this was! WE WON! It was tense, we were ahead three to two then the game became a tied score at three to three... in the last quarter we scored again for a win at 4 to 3! So many times we almost scored and the ball either flies over the goal box or misses it on either side... It was such a great game I had to "scrap" this one for Jack! P.S. I used my new favorite product "Glimmer Mist" spray from Tattered Angels. I LOVE this stuff. And they come in so many great colors!!!! And they have a blog! I am "spraying" alot lately. (It's a good thing).

Kinder Kitchen

2009-11-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

I just have to share the most adorable kitchen utensils. These were designed specifically for children to help in the kitchen. The handles and measuring cups are made from a soft grip silicone so they will not break and yet dishwasher safe! My son loves helping in the kitchen mixing the muffin mix or stirring the water, oil and eggs. When I make cookies he is right there helping me retrieve the ingredients from the pantry! These are great tools to get your little chef started! Makes a wonderful Christmas gift.... They are available at factorydirect2you.com.

Alegria in Sierra Madre on Halloween Night

2009-10-31T23:45:00.001-07:00

This year for Halloween we decided to do something different. Each Halloween we have friends over and serve Chili and BBQ'd Pork Tenderloin. We usually dress up in costume and scare the trick or treaters as they come up to the door through the "fog" on our path. It is such a blast! Guests have to bring a pumpkin item so we end up with a variety of treats to taste. And to date no one has brought the same item yet. So it is always fun to see what people bring, this is making me salivate just writing about it! Well this year, since Halloween fell on a Saturday night we decided to do something different that the kids might enjoy and remember. We decided to take them to the famous Alegria Street in Sierra Madre...

The nights trek was a twenty minute drive, so we started to tell ghost stories in the car. WE each would contribute something to this progressive story. They were so cute. I should have recorded them! We finally made it up Baldwin in the train of cars. Now to find a place to park all or our cars together. That was a feat. Once we parked and hoofed it up to Alegria we were amongst hundreds of other treaters. The homes on this street go all out in decorations and pumpkin carvings. Grave yards line the lawns. Driveways are peppered with ghouls. Porches are strung with webs and creepy hangin' things. It is a sight for sure for us "older" treaters. The most amazing displays you will ever see of live pumpkins that have been carved into masterpieces...

Some homes put on a "show." There are flying ghosts on pulleys, two homes had photo opportunities - one had a live witch you can take a photo with, the other was a stationary creepy guy. One house served hot cider to everyone. You just needed to make your way up a long path filled with the most creative carved pumpkins. And the some homes have a theme.

Like this Spanish Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos , display. Complete with the hanging lanterns and skeleton display. One was a pumpkin house, the Parkers Pumpkin Porch as it read on a wooden sign secured to the top of the front door. Several homes were grave yards. One was a cacti mecha! The owners decorated their cactus plants with beaded necklaces and clothing. It is odd to describe - one had to see it in person to appreciate...

And it would not be Halloween if we did not see Michael Myers. This Michael loved the fact that I was taking his picture. He ended up posing for several. I liked the ones where I have him behind the group of people and you can see his face, as if he were following us... I don't think he was a "kid" either. He seemed like a "older" person. Creepy...

And I included this picture so you can get the idea of the number of people that come here for Halloween. The street is closed off. They bring in a porta potty. Police are visible. And the parking is difficult. The hords of people that line the sidewalk and streets are many! Some bring their oversized dogs? I observed one dog large enough to be a "bear" growling at a baby carriage. Hello! Why are you bringing a dog to an event that will be filled with children? Oh my! Crazy! Oh and do not come here with the idea of getting lots of candy. The boys were sorta disappointed that they did not get much. But that is because this street attracts over 3,000 people during the night. It was fun for them to atleast experience this treat once!

Cal Poly Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

This is the Pumpkin Patch at Cal Poly Pomona. Every year on the third weekend of the month they open this field to the public and have a "Pumpkin Harvest." There are booths, music, samples, displays, activities for the kids and of course this awesome pumpkin patch with every size and shape pumpkin you could possibly imagine! The Agriculture Department of this college sponsors this event. It was so much fun to go to when the kids were younger. We would select all of our pumpkins and take our "Halloween Photo" here. Now with the kids sporting schedule it has not worked out for us to be available at the same time. So Jackson and I go. I enjoy everything about October. The changing of the leaves, the weather change, the colors, the decorations on the homes, the pumpkin pies and cookies, soup and all the pumpkin carving! I can not believe the month is almost over... I loved it!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Halloween..!

2009-10-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

It's getting creepy! Very spooky around town! I just love it when people get into this holiday (if you will) and decorate their homes all haunted! Our neighbors decorated their house for their Halloween Party. They even had one of those carriages driven by a headless horseman. The house with the witch I found while driving around Claremont. Loved the witch! Too scary. She looked so real.

When I was young people did not decorate their houses like this. I can only imagine the memories that my kids will have. I just remember trick-or-treating with hoards of kids and using a pillowcase for the candy. Not the dinky candy that is handed out now. The big bars... oh my! Popcorn balls and cider were handed out. We treated for hours.... it was such a crazy night. Can not wait. I think I am more excited than my kids!

Roger's Gardens Magic Room

2009-10-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

Every year I try to make it down to Roger's Gardens to see their Halloween "Shop" of Horrors and when they open up their Christmas Wonderland. I missed the Halloween this year and was only able to capture the tail end of the display. (It opens late August and I was there on Columbus Day). The pictures do not do the room justice, it really is simply the most amazing display I have ever seen - and I say this every year! Truly a group of gifted display artists put this menagerie of horrors together into a cohesive treat. The display had a wall of photo's that would follow you or turn into a creepy pic if you turn your head a bit. I bought some of these. Way creepy! Vintage photo's of people from the 1800's. Some would turn into vampire's or display the way they died.

The Roger's Gardens display had a lab - complete with bubbling blue water in the lab flasks. A chandelier made from "heads," a creepy doll that was dusted in white looking into a mirror. A wall of clowns, a magic room with floating cards and vintage magic tricks. And of course the famous marionette "Andy" who spoke as he sat on a stack of books welcoming you as you entered the magic zone. And you had to see the vintage wheel chair! Just looking at it was scary....

I love Halloween! I love this creepy stuff. I love the displays people put together at their homes. I love Knott's Scary Farm and Halloween parties. I love spooky movies and the spooky music they have now to play on Halloween. I love the Winnie the Pooh CD. "Which witch is this?" and the movie "Hocus Pocus." Love those costumes! Fun, fun and spooky fun!

The Pumpkin Menagerie

2009-10-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Every year, my husband carves all the pumpkins we bought or acquired during our visits to the various pumpkin patches that we go to, the school goes to, the scouts go to. He starts to carve two nights before Halloween (as this is a methodically operation that requires Internet and magazine research on various pumpkin carvings and faces). We take pictures of them on Halloween when they are all lit up. The trick or treaters like walking up to the front door with the path lined with various faces of contortion! We put out the fog machines that have a rolling fog bank billowing in and out of the orange glowing smiles! I love Halloween! I love scaring the trick or treaters (we are usually dressed in costume). Our neighbors put on a haunted house for the trick or treaters, and another neighbor goes all out with a theme each year. One year it was an escapee from a metal hospital who stole an old fashioned ambulance and ran over some pedestrians... My son was afraid to go up to the door that year! Just spooky fun!

Countdown to Halloween

2009-10-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Scrapbook Trends is having "days of Halloween." Today is the Twelfth Day of Halloween cute ideas. These Halloween spooky picks were made from punches and ribbons and brads! So cute and perfect. Who would not want a cupcake with a cute topper to keep as a momento? Visit the Scrapbook Trends blog for daily spooky tips and ideas....

Boo Parade

2009-10-18T10:03:00.001-07:00

The Grade School that my kids attend has a Halloween Parade each year. The kids get to wear their costumes to school and just before the end of the day each class participates in a big parade! It is so much fun to see all of the costumes! So many kids have unique, creative ones - like a Cell Phone, a Gondola complete with the boat, a Headless Horseman, Pippi Long Stocking, and a Mummy wrapped in individual torn strips of linen, to name a few. When I saw this line from Bo Bunny called Boo Crew, I knew it was perfect to scrap the Boo Parade with it!

I added some googly eyes to give the paper some dimension, and used the black shimmer lettering from American Crafts Thicker line. The small arrows are from Maya Road. I glued the arrow onto the paper and cut them out individually. I tried to create a "parade path" to give the viewer and idea of a parade. Just loved this line. Bo Bunny's Blog has so many spooktacular creative ideas with this paper group, it's spellbinding!

Heritage Park Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

Since the Pumpkin Patch opened last weekend at Heritage Park, I decided to share this layout that I did with my pics from Heritage Park last year. I used the Halloween collection from Dream Street Papers. They called this line "Superstition," and appropriately named some of the papers "Seven Years Bad Luck," "Spine Tingler," "Sleepy Hollow," and "Scaredy Cat!" What fun!

Dream Street had the best Halloween Collection this year. A close second was Pink Paislee's Twilight line, and of course, Eerie from Basic Grey. But Dream Street's Superstition lends itself better to the photographs than the other two. Just brings out the "Harvest" feel in them. I know, I know, you are going to say what about Bo Bunny's "Boo Crew" (which I bought and I will share a layout from them later) and My Mind's Eye "Boo to You." Which I bought as well. But they are on the cutesy side. If you know what I mean. Dream Street, is just down right .... spooky!

This type of layout is good when you want to use several photographs and use up some of your paper scraps! I love this time of year! So much fun! I went down to Roger's Gardens finally yesterday. The Halloween "laboratory" was all picked over. I wish I could have seen it when it first opened. I bet it was "spook"tacular. I did see the Christmas though. I took lots of pics that I will share later....

Heidi Grace Halloween

2009-10-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

This is a "scrap lifted" page, but I enjoy it so much I had to share! Last year my son was The Joker from Batman the Dark Knight movie. This costume made for some great photographs because the colors were so vibrant! Plus I just loved this Halloween paper from Heidi Grace. And I am having alot of fun with the Sakura Gel Roller pen! I am finding I am using it on everything! When I saw this page on scrapbook.com in J. Devoe's Gallery I had to print it out. It wasn't until this year I found time to copy it. Now I see that she is having her layout published! And I can see why it is "too cute!"

Sunset

2009-09-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

Lauren had her first dance at St. Lucy's already! It was an 80's theme dance. They call this dance the "First Chance Dance." Lauren absolutely did not want me to go there and take pictures so I grabbed her and Jack and went outside and snapped a few pictures of them with the sun setting in the background. This evening had the fire still in San Dimas Canyon, thus the reddish glow in the background. Made for some interesting shots. The paper I used is Sassafras, and the flowers are "In a Stitch Orange Blossoms" from Sassafras.

LA County Fair Trains

2009-09-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

I love seeing the trains that reside at the Pomona Fairplex Fairgrounds. They are so big! You can walk inside some of the trains and pull the "whistle." You can climb on the outside of the big one! And there are guys walking around to answer any questions that you might have and sometimes they just decide to share their stories with you without being prompted! Interesting stories! Plus the train station at the beginning of the "museum" is a replica of the one in Arcadia! They have made this building a gift shop of trains. Fun to look through. I liked the fair this year. The Pirate Village had singing pirates wandering around, crafts and impromptu photo stations. There was a stage for their "Pirate Show" which looked like it would be a fun show to watch. We went once so far on $1 day. I bought pre-sale tickets so I am sure we will go back and see the other side of the park!

My Fair Entry Looks Sad All Closed Up!

2009-09-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

There are times, as an artist, that you create something that you think is so stinkin' cute and will be appreciated.... only to find out that it has been misunderstood. I was sad when I went to the Fair (LA County Fair) to find my "stamped card" in the closed position and with a "white ribbon." (I can not say the word - "third" yet)! I wanted to share with you what the inside looks like! The card obviously lays flat and looks like an out side of a "haunted house." Each grey strip of paper is a board on the outside and some have slipped and are loose. There is the "stamped" black cat on a fence and a "stamped" pumpkin. A front door and two stamped "trick-or-treaters," with the words "Trick-or-Treat" stamped in a bubble.

Okay, open the card and it opens up into a house complete with four rooms! All of which are stamped! I stamped the wall paper, the flower pot, the pictures on the wall, the rugs, the drooping spider, the jars, the broom, etc... I have tags in between the room where you would write your message - as this is a card. And then I covered the whole thing with a spider web! Just totally cute!

So, when I saw that my card was a "whiter," I wanted to see the cute, adorable one that received the top honor.... I'll let you decide that. As I do not feel it is appropriate to critique someone else's work when I do not know them. But I will say this about that, she only stamped some bushes on her card. ONE stamp. The rest was paper twilling! AND the category was stamped art!

But, I had fun doing this all the same. And it is not what we receive but the enjoyment of the whole process. I just wanted to share what the inside of the card looked like, since they displayed the card closed and no one has ANY idea how "stinkin' cute" it looks like OPENED!

Back to School for Jackson!

2009-08-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I finished Jackson's "Back to School" pages. I used some paper I had already (Bo Bunny "Back to Class" and the white background is Basic Grey). I took a bunch of pictures of him and his friends thinking I would end up with a couple good ones. But I liked so many and did not want to clutter up the page with too many pics, so I made some pics smaller. I actually ended up doing a third page with him and his friends on the play yard which I will share later.

First Day of High School

2009-08-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

Lauren's first day of high school was last Monday, and when I was in the store I saw this vibrant paper from DCWV that would be perfect for her first page as a "high schooler!" This line called Grade School features glitter papers as well as foil papers. Something fun for those "drabby" school layouts... add some "zing!" The pics are Lauren with her friend Diana. They had to practice opening their lockers before the "orientation" began. Lockers were not an item at grade school. All the new changes she is finding alot of fun! And she loves her teachers! A plus!

Back to School Memories

2009-08-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

My son will start the Fourth Grade next week so I pulled out some photo's of Lauren when she started the Fourth Grade. I decided since I had them out, I might as well scrap them! The store just received this new line of papers from Scribble Scrabble. Actually the line is not new - but new to our store, so very exciting to us die hard scrappers who have to have something they have not seen before each week! The line is called Autumn Afternoon and made for a nice school layout.

School layouts become more difficult as my children grow, because some of the paper groups focus on elementary ideas and colors. This group worked perfect for her first day in Fourth Grade with the apples. I remember snapping these pics! I remember my little muffin on this day. Now she started high school this week. Looking forward to snapping pics of Jack next week!

Countdown to Christmas!

2009-08-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

Each of the Design Team had to come up with a Christmas inspired project that could be completed in ten minutes or less. Scrappin' Good Times will start their Countdown to Christmas in September. Each weekend until December, they will have several creative projects to put together! For my project, I designed a recipe card holder. What a great way to give a plate of homemade cookies along with the recipe and directions on how to make them! I know this would be a gift that I would like to receive....

The picture does not show the "Directions" card - which is on red cardstock with a green peppermint candy for the tab. The recipe is for gooey chocolate cookies dipped into a white chocolate icing ten sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies. So yummy! ~ Happy Creating!

State Championships Softball Games

2009-08-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

The State Championship Games were last month in San Diego. The opening ceremonies were in Qualcom Stadium! So exciting to see all the teams enter the stadium as they were announces on the loud speaker. There were sport teams from Badminton to Volleyball there. The games were exciting because your team won they would place higher in the competition. Teams played three games a day. Our last game did not start until 8:45pm! We (the parents) were bushed! Just imagine the players... the temperature was over a 100 degrees and there was little to no breeze! Plus, since the ball field were by a lake there little pests that bit you! Smart players had the dryer clothes stuffed into their clothes to ward off these annoying little buggers!

But the games are more exciting to watch than professional ball! There is always something going on, whether on the ball field or in the stands... entertaining for sure!

Scrap Therapy at Scrappin' Good Times!

2009-08-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

I designed the Scrap Therapy card for this coming August 20th project. This card is perfect to give to the grandparents on Grand Parent Day in September! The background involves paper weaving to give it a homemade quilt feel. The house is from Quickutz "Reuse" set of cookie cutter dies. The house, the word "love" and the small tag are also Quickutz. Scrap Therapy projects can be completed in less than five minutes and they are offered every Thursday evening with Dr. Ho at Scrappin' Good Times! What a great way to make a cute little project in no time at all! See you on Thursday August 20th!

The Bellagio Atrium Summer 2009

2009-08-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

The them this summer for the Atrium looked like a "garden party." Such wonderful colors! There was a Ferris Wheel filled with wonderful displays of floral arrangements. There were watering cans sprinkling water, there were water beams shooting over each other (which people could help themselves and had to touch to see if the water was real - each time they would stick their finger into the powerful jet of water it would shoot water in all different directions and people would get wet! Some were even soaked! My family did not do this of course, we just observed the others disrupting the display....), extra large poppy plants, hot air balloons, a mini atrium which had parrots in it. This was a cool part of the exhibit. Jackson was looking at the birds when up popped a lady from the floor with a plate of fruit to feed the birds. They loved the watermelon and other samples and quickly ate them up. Three parrots flew on top of the lady's head and started to play with her hair in their beaks. She would walk around inside the caged area with these birds having a good time on her head. The water globes were spectacular to see. How do they do that? Make the water into a sphere like that? So cool... I appreciate all the work that goes into this exhibit and the seasonal displays they have. I was able to see the last day of the Christmas one from 2008 and the beginning of the Chinese New Year 2009 when we came to Las Vegas in January. Plus I LOVE the fact that it is FREE!

The picture of the kids at the very beginning was taken in front of the Tiffany window. They made the window display into an aquarium with their jewelry behind the water bubbles. So creative!

Hoover Dam

2009-08-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

We just got back from one of my favorite places, Las Vegas Nevada! We took four days to relax in the electric town! We had always talked about visiting Hoover Dam when we were in Vegas and this time we made point of it. I am glad we did. They are currently building a bridge over the dam for traffic. This will close the pass on the dam itself. In the future we will not be able to drive on the dam. So that in itself was fun to scurry across and walk onto the dam. We took the small tour which brought us down to the generators. Fun to go into the tunnel down below and to see the two minute film that documents the building of the dam. Such a huge place! Hard to believe in the early nineteen thirties that a bunch of young guys on pullies and a bunch (tons actually) of cement created this wonder!

You can see how low the water level has become over the last ten years with our drought. Amazing to see where water once flowed in this dam, and now there is none. They have an exhibit room that is interesting to see the tools and the clothes these men wore to build this. How hot it must have been in the heat with no air conditioning, no bottled water to cool you down. We have it made!

Lillian by Crate Paper

2009-07-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

And another project... This one I used a line from Crate Paper called Lillian. I liked the softness and the whimsy with the birds and the birdhouses. Made for a nice layout with photo's that had alot going on in them, and the photo's were dark. This paper lightened them up.

June Bug and Summer Soiree

2009-07-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

This is a totally "scrap lifted" layout I took from the Fancy Pants blog! I loved it so much I copied it! And now I can not find it on the blog or in a gallery to give this artist proper credit. I just loved the colors and how I had the perfect photo's that went with the design. The paper is from Fancy Pants' Summer Soiree line. And this layout was so much fun to create. I painted the chipboard swirls to add more umph to the wave spray. The other artist used round blue vellum like circles on the wave points which really looked good and balanced the different blue colors.

I also finished a layout using the new line from Basic Grey called June Bug! I thought it was perfect to use this plaid paper with pictures of Lauren's trip to England two summer's ago.

The paper has a "kilt" feel and I thought would add a good feel to a English Castle layout. Only I found these pic's from the Tower of London. Which by the way was completed in 1097! So much history. The tour that Lauren went on showed them the old cells that captives were confined to.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

I love all of the holidays! They are so much fun to scrap! Especially this Fourth of July with the Creative Imaginations new line, "Liberty," in their Mélange Collection. This group features vintage style paper and embellishments in a muted patriotic color scheme. The paper is perfect to use on a page from our trip to Washington D.C. - the visit to the Ford Theater. Can't wait to start that one. Glad I bought enough paper! The tea colored paper with the patriotic wording is from Karen Foster.

The photo's are from several years ago up in Pismo Beach. The Old World car is at Apple Farm in San Luis Obispo. We had a great day that day, riding bikes and lighting sparklers before the "big" show off of Pismo Beach Pier.

Green Tangerines Kit of the Month

2009-07-06T23:33:00.001-07:00

Green Tangerines is kicking off a new promotion to help jump start their Kit of the Month Club. Each month they will feature a guest designer who will create something wonderful with a sample kit. All you have to do is submit a comment and they will give a free sample kit to two people each week. And guess what? My name was drawn and I received this wonderful Kit of the Month for FREE! And the guest designer for this kit was none other than Kelly Goree! Even more special! They have featured some wonderful artists such as Kelly Purkey and Vicki Bouton to name a few. Can't wait to start using all of this yummy stuff!!!

Cosmo Cricket - Here is... Luau Blessing!

2009-06-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

Or maybe I am "Signal Us Blue?" These were some of the results I received when I put my name into the anagram program. These were the only two that made sense - relatively! I like Eric's results better!

I am posting a variety of layouts that I have done to show a my multiplicity as an artist. I love Cosmo Cricket! I think you have the best designed paper. I love your color palete in each line. I find myself drawn to your collections. I love the chipboard, the stickers and your new spinners!Thanks for this opportunity!

Cub Scouts - Widdling Patch & Knife License!

2009-06-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

So cute at our Den Meeting last night for the Cub Scouts. Some of the boys received their Widdling Patch for learning all about knife safety and completing the required number of hours "widdling." The troop used bars of soap to widdle away and learn how to use a knife. Last night the boys received their patch and their "license" to purchase a knife from the Boy Scout Store. They were so happy! After the award part of the meeting the boys played a game. They broke into two teams. Each team had two dinosaur feet. They object was to place a dinosaur foot on the ground, step on it, place the other foot on the ground, step on that one. Then pick up the first foot and place it on the ground in front of the one they were standing on. The first team to go back and forth and through all of their team members wins! It was a crack up! The boys were tossing their "feet" too far so they had top figure out how to get over to the foot without stepping on the ground. It was such a dilemma for them. The team that used small steps ended up winning. The game was to show the boys "how to plan ahead." They would have to plan their strategy, which the winning team did by using the small step method! Plus with the weather kind windy and gloomy on this summer night like a thunder storm was to let loose any minute made the dinosaur foot game all the more fun!

Homeroom Collection

2009-06-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

This layout was created with the school inspired collection by The Paper Company Studio. This line is called Homeroom. Such a perfect name for a perfect collection. The paper itself is softened primary colors and antiquated with cardboard mutted tones. When I saw this line it reminded me of vintage school supplies you would see at a yard sale! Enjoy!

Jenni Bowlin - New Stuff! And Yummy!

2009-06-15T07:45:00.001-07:00

I was inspired by this new line from Jenni Bowlin called Front Porch. I was in the store last Wednesday and helped Trish from Scrappin' Good Times put out several new lines including this one! This one just spoke to me and I could not wait to put something together! Lauren turned fourteen last week and she also had her Eighth Grade Graduation which had kept me preoccupied. The pictures are of Lauren opening all of her gifts from her birthday and from her graduation party. She was so excited! She read every card. Some of them were very special with handwritten notes and words of advice for high school. So sentimental...

The San Juan Capistrano Mission

2009-06-02T03:34:00.000-07:00

Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend we were in Dana Point for Lauren's All Star Softball Tournament. We had two games on Saturday. The first one was in the morning and the next one was late afternoon, so we decided to go into town and walk around. I have never been to the San Juan Capistrano Mission so we decided to go inside and look around. Jackson will study missions next year, so this would be good for him to see.

What a beautiful mission! Truly beautiful. I can see why they call it the "Jewel of the Missions." All the old brick work and the
fountains were gorgeous. A wedding party was taking their wedding photo's in the courtyard. I can just imagine how beautiful they will come out. Plus the old part of the original church (photo at the bottom) is still standing. An earthquake on November 22, 1800 collapsed most of the church. It was repaired and completed in 1806. The section that is still standing was listed on List of 100 Most Endangered Sites (2002); "The Great Stone Church." On the tour you are given an audio on the history of the church to listen to as you travel around the grounds.

For lunch we ate at the Cedar Creek. Awesome! Once we discovered this place we had dinner here that night in the bar by the fireplace and watched the Laker game. And then again on Sunday morning for brunch. We had a great weekend!

Card Kit of the Month Sneak

2009-05-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak to my Card Kit of the Month for June. Hint it is a Dad's Day Card!

Sassafras Lass "Bungle Jungle"

2009-05-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

This new line from Sassafras Lass called Bungle Jungle is so cute! I love all of the little animal characters, especially the monkey! I thought this line was perfect to scrap our pictures from our vacation to San Diego. We visited the San Diego Zoo one day during our four days down there. I mixed this line with some papers and borders from the K & Company group called Actopus to Zelephant sold at Michael's. I used a journal template from Fancy Pants to create the whimsical edges on the paper (traced around a journaling card). It is so nice to finally see these pictures (our trip was four years ago).

My Mind's Eye - Breaking Free Collection

2009-05-22T06:44:00.001-07:00

Lauren went to Camp Surf several years ago with her Girl Scout Troop. They learned how to surf over the weekend and camped out. They had so much fun. Truly a wonderful experience for the girls. My Mind's Eye just came out with this new softer surfer girl paper and I thought how perfect to finally scrap the pictures from Lauren's weekend. This new line is called Breaking Free and their are several sub-collections. I used some from "Surfer Girl" , some from "You and Me," and some from "So Pretty." I just loved the paper so much I had to buy a sheet from all of the collections! We went to Hawaii a couple of summers ago and I still have not scrapped the pictures yet, I figured this is the perfect opportunity to do so. I just love this group! Happy Creating!

Disneyland School Adventure

2009-05-21T02:28:00.001-07:00

A Disneyland trip with the school yesterday! Always so much fun when the entire school goes. We walk the park at our leisure and run into families from the school along the way. The kids never run out of friends to ride the rides with. Someone we know will always be in line!

This time was Jackson's first time driving the Autopia car by himself! It was a crack up beacuse he could barely reach the pedals! His car kept stalling so we traveled at a "student drivers" pace! But he was beeming when he got off the ride with his friends. There were the four boys in all and they had such a good time. No fighting or bickering. Just happy go lucky boys who all agreed on everything they did! Lauren hung out with her friend Krystal. They rode all the good rides four times! Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Express... truly a great day!

Stampers Corner Belated Thank You!

2009-05-12T07:40:00.001-07:00

I won all of these goodies from a cute stamp store called Stampers Corner! Actually the contest was a while ago and I have been so busy catching up I never blogged about it. I kept all the goodies together until I could properly send a thank you and just last week organized my scrap room (again) and came upon the basket... it was like a whole new gift! Since I have that memory loss thing I think they call it c-r-a-f-t disease.... (can't remember a - thing). Carol Pickett, the owner of this cute store (oh by the way Tim Holtz is coming to her store this month), put together a gift basket which included a circle journal, basic grey paper pack, pebbles inc. ribbons, gem stonbes, queen bee scissors, basic grey buttons & brads, american crafts spool ribbons, scrapper floss, alpha stix, pens, glue, and more stickers! So much fun! Thank you very much! I was overwhelmed at how generous the gift was. I will put it to good use!

Farm Team Photo

2009-04-27T08:13:00.001-07:00

Each time my kids receive their team pictures, I always plan to scrap them right away... and then for whatever reason they end up in the "To Do" pile and then put away. This year, I scrapped them right away! (I am so proud - I just received them last week!). I found the perfect paper to compliment the colors from We Are Memory Keepers, their new MVP line. Of course, I waited a long time to buy the paper so some of the paper groups were sold out. I bought the sheets that had four different patterns on them for a 6 x 6 album and then used them behind his photo. You can't tell. Then the blue paper is double sided with the big numbers on the back - also the last sheet, but I wanted to use both sides, so I cut out a rectangle at the top part of the blue paper, flipped it over, layering the numbered side on top of the blue side, cut out a strip of the turquoise blue paper and layered it over the exposed hole. No one would ever know this lay out was pieced together!

Girl Friday (ain't that the truth!)

2009-04-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

Cute new paper groups from Cosmo Cricket! I just love Lil' Man (the boy line), Girl Friday (for girls), and the Snorkel Collection! So many possibilities. I used the Girl Friday paper group for this layout. My daughters Last Dance in seventh grade. This year (as an eighth grader) will be her last with this group of kids. Next year is high school. New kids, new campus, new memories...

Bo Bunny - U Bug Me!

2009-04-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

Just finished a layout using the new Bo Bunny "U Bug Me" line. This was the hike that my son went on at the beginning of the school year with his Cub Scout Troop. I tried to used some old products that I have in my collection of supplies, like Magic Mesh. I remember I had to buy every color when I first discovered this stuff! I recently saw an ad for them in a magazine and thought I can use some on this layout to give it a "roughness" feel. I also used the new chipboard letters from My Little Shoebox in brown from the Wonderful Collection. I sanded the edges to give them a worn look. I got this idea from doing the Basic Grey calendar designed by Kelly Goree. She had sanded the chipboard stars in the kit and I thought what a great idea! I also designed the Card Kit of the Month for June. I'll post a pic closer to June. It is a Dad's Day Card. And I am finishing a layout using the new Cosmo Cricket "Girl Friday." I'll post a pic when I am finished!

Happy Be-lated Easter!

2009-04-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

If I had been home for Easter I would have made these! They are too stinkin' cute! I just love it every time I visit the Bakerella web site! They have so many cute ideas for Easter treats. I love the sheep they have on their site. These cute little Easter bunnies in their basket (cupcake). They wrapped them in cellophane so each one made a terrific gift! Plus the bunny cake balls on a stick! I'm wishin' I had been more creative. I'm feelin' like we need an Easter do-over!

Easter in Pismo!

2009-04-14T06:07:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter weekend in Pismo Beach with some friends. The weather was beautiful! Perfect weekend! We saw the Easter Bunny at Apple Farms, he dropped of Easter treats including the Crazy 8 card game which the kids

immediately started to play. Walked around downtown San Luis Obispo. The town is constantly changing. This time, one of my favorites stores called Anne's has moved to a side street in a location a fourth of her original size. I am so bummed. I guess she can not compete with Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch and Talbots.... however she has way better merchandise. Then we went to Avila Farms for our produce and Easter pie buy. Dinner at Cafe Roma - always on the agenda! Next day is Easter. We went to Easter mass then headed to the Avila Beach. It was packed full of people! We looked for shells, tried to get in the water (cold) and swung on the swings. The signs are still posted regarding the shark attack in 2006. A shark killed a morning swimmer that year not too far from the shore.

Back at our house we went down to the "rocks" and looked for starfish and sea urchins. A really big wave got us all wet. It was alot of fun! There were so many sea lions and sea otters swimming around. They are so cute. And so vocal. It was as if they were saying happy Easter! Oh and we also had an Easter egg hunt. Even the teenagers participated! Some of the eggs were filled with money which had a greater incentive... Hope you had a wonderful Easter too. Now back to reality!

Seattle - Washington

2009-04-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

I went to Seattle, Washington to visit family with my Dad. Boy was it cold! We took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island where my aunt and cousin live. The ferry looks like the one featured in the movie Double Jeopardy. It has room for cars and takes about twenty minutes to cross the Puget Sound to get to Bainbridge Island. We visited my aunt who has pancreatic cancer and can only visit with us in short spurts. We then explored the island some and found a cute bakery for lunch. The Blackbird Bakery had a Curry Lentil soup with thick grain bread and an awesome keish! Went back to the hotel and unpacked. My cousin came by in the late afternoon after she spent

the day shopping in Seattle with her teenager. She took us to her house and from there we went to J.J.'s Fish House for some dinner.

The next day after visiting with my aunt, we went into Seattle and walked around the Public Market Center. We saw the fish vendor that is so famous for "throwing the fish," Pike's Place Fish. Apparently they were in a movie throwing the fish and ranting back and forth! The fish was awesome. There were all kinds of fish, whatever you could possibly want they had. The produce vendors had beautiful, yummy treats and samples of everything. Especially their pears. And they had the most beautiful flowers. In the most beautiful colors. They were selling their bouquets for $5.00 and $10.00. Each one would cheer

up any room. And so beautiful for Easter. Wished I could have taken some back home... We bought a quick lunch at the cheese place. They make their own cheese right there. You can watch through a plate glass window. The spicy macaroni and cheese was killer! Plus they had a cheese loaf that was equally as impressive.
We visited the Magic Shop downstairs - where famous magicians buy their supplies (supposedly). And we perused through the Curious Shop by the ferry before headed back to the island.

I also have to mention another bakery, because they had the biggest Cinnamon Rolls, Brioche, Danish, Muffins, and rolls that I had ever seen! The baked goods all looked extremely yummy! And picture perfect each time we went into the store. This was our favorite bakery there, and it was called Bainbridge Bakers. The guy who owns it used to live right here in Southern California before moving up there and starting the bakery. I wish I could share all my pics from there because I probably took like twenty!

Breast Cancer Fundraiser

2009-03-27T06:12:00.001-07:00

The 12th Annual Housewares Charity Foundation Gala was held on March 23rd in Chicago. The emcee was David Venable from QVC. The honorees this year were Tim Adams, Chairman and CEO - Macy's Home Store and Lyn Kirby, President and CEO - Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. The dinner featured several James Beard Award winning chefs, including Art Smith (Oprah Winfrey's personal chef). He made the Hummingbird Cake and the Drop Goat Cheese Biscuits with Parmesan. Yummy!

The other chefs were Rick & Deann Bayless of Frontera Grill & Topolobampo, Paul Kahan of Blackbird, Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia and Bruce Sherman of North Pond. He was our chef. He made a Dangeness Crab Terrine and a Red Wine Smoked Ribeye with Cauliflower and Chocolate, Cocoa Nibs. Todd English was there as a guest. He was a James Beard Award Winner. The silent auction was fabulous, including seats to Martha Stewart Show with a personal tour and to David Letterman. A huge Waterford bar valet. Luggage, designer handbags, lap tops, cameras, fine china, servingware, clothing, the tables went on and on... so much fun! Thanks to Brady Marketing for our invite!

Chicago!

2009-03-26T05:52:00.001-07:00

Chicago is one of my most favorite cities! I love it

when we get to travel there. I love the big city. The town is always bustling with people and great food! We went to Gibson's (of course for their Sliders), had a drink at the top of the Hancock Building at The Signature Room and watched the sunset - thus the pictures you are seeing of the rooftops. Ate at the Italian Restaurant Osteria Via Stato. We had the family style dinner that comes in three courses with accompanying wines. Thank you to Kuhn Rikon who picked up the tab. We had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack for their Stone Crabs. And we were guests for a special event - a fundraiser for breast cancer the 12th Annual Houseware Gala. I'll post pics tomorrow. We took a guided tour and saw where Obama lives (can not go by his house unless you are a resident, but we saw a street that connects to a street...), saw the house where Frank Lloyd Wrights worked, and Ernest Hemingway's birth house. Oh and the original Playboy Mansion. I totally enjoyed myself the whole time from the moment we landed until we took off. The Chicago O'Hare airport has some great restaurants there too. Even the airport experience is first class.

Up, Up and Away!

2009-03-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

We flew out on Saturday morning to Chicago for the Annual Housewares Show. David's web business factorydirect2you.com sells house ware products, so we try and go to the show. I just love Chicago and the show is so much fun. This year the Opening Address was delivered by celebrity chef Tyler Florence. What a nice guy! He also was one of the chefs that did a live cooking demonstration in the Cooking Arena that is set up. He made a Bree cheese appetizer, a chicken dish, and a baked apple french toast for dessert. Yummy! He was followed by chef Todd English who owns Olives restaurants.

He made a Seafood Stew. He always makes enough for the audience to taste, which is always a plus because you salivate over their presentation, and your tummy starts the rumbly. Oh and I stood in line afterward to get a pic with Tyler Florence. Wished it was in focus, but what a cutey!

I {heart} Bangs!

2009-03-20T06:03:00.001-07:00

Just a quick layout I finished last night in a couple of hours. I used the Wonderful line from My Little Shoebox. Lauren has wanted bangs for the longest time, and she finally got them! This product is perfect for a teenager layout. So much fun and whimsy.

Easter Layout & St. Pat's Pictures

2009-03-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

So on St. Patrick's Day we went over to a friend's house for some Corned Beef and Cabbage. So yummy! And what a set up! She had several banquet tables in her back yard and invited a bunch of her friends. We enjoyed her view from her backyard (over looks the golf course) and sat and ate with friend's. David absolutely LOVED her corned beef. Shelly had marinated her corned beef in a syrup and mustard sauce in her slow cooking crock pot. The meet was so sweet. And of course, gets the comment from David "How come you don't cook like this?" "Shelly, is such an awesome cook!" - We all know why some of us just avoid the kitchen - takes a long time to plan, shop, prep, cook, and then clean after a meal.... and well, we would rather shop, prep, cut, assemble a layout. Get to look at it over and over again. A meal is finished and forgotten. Not that I do not like to cook, don't get me wrong... It is just that my husband is a "chef" and does most of the meals at our home. He can put together a gourmet meal just from whatever is in the refrigerator. I can not do that. They used to have a show on the Food Channel where they would "surprise" people by knocking on their door and making a meal out of whatever they had in their fridge. It was the challenge for the chef. Make a meal from someone else's left overs. It was a interesting show.

I just finished a two page layout for the store Celebrating Easter. I used the new line from Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations called Cotton Tail. I liked the bright colors for my pictures of the Easter Egg Hunt. My kids are at the age now where it is no longer "cool" to go on Easter Egg Hunts with a crowd of people. They will do private hunts at home with the cousins. I think my photography does not do the layout justice. The paper group really is very colorful. I am including some pictures from our night at the Hughes's Irish Fest! The guys were drinking the dark Guinness beer. I just can not seem to swallow even a sip. Not my cup of tea. But Jackson had fun!

Natasha Richardson

2009-03-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

I am truly saddened by the news from today that Natasha Richardson has succumbed to her injuries from a ski accident. Seems so senseless to lose such a vibrant, full of life wife and mother. Natasha was born the same year as me, she started to date her husband the year I got married and she had her first son around the time I had Lauren. So I sort of identified with her - especially as she continued to celebrate wedding anniversaries and raised her boys. I think we can identify with the "stars" who are in the same age group as ourselves. I am shocked. Truly in disbelief. I thought Natasha epitomized everything classy about a woman of today. I am deeply saddened for her family. Her husband and boys. She truly was a gem...

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, we went to a Benefit for the Knights of Columbus featuring Irish Dancers and Irish Song! The dancers were young teenagers, one looked as though she was eight years old. They were so good. They will be heading to Philadelphia for the Irish Dance competition. They finished their set of dances with the "River Dance." I just love watching how fast they can move
their legs! And so light on their feet - standing and dancing on their tippy toes! The dancers also had two leprechauns who danced a set! (So funny these guys!) And they had Bill Baynes singing Irish songs... which always brings you back to the first time you went into an Irish Pub. He was wonderful and totally in tune to his audience. He had us clapping - I thought of the scene from Titanic when Rose went down to the third class section and the group were dancing to the Irish music.The feel to this event was very much the same. And of course, corned beef and cabbage was the meal. Just a nice way to begin the St. Patrick's week. Who started St. Patrick's Day, I wonder? And where did the leprechaun come from? Is there really treasure on the other side of the rainbow? Or are we just supposed to hope so? It is still a fun day to dress up in green to avoid being pinched... Why do we celebrate Saint Patrick's Day and was Saint Patrick a real person? Upon some research I found out that he a real person. He was not from a religious family - but actually a family who collected taxes in England. There was an Irish Raid on his family that resulted in his capture. While in captivity, he turned to Christianity and religion as a solace. When he escaped from his capturers after six years and walked nearly 200 miles, he heard voices to return to Ireland and to become a missionary. Thus doing God's work and thus a saint.

Dave's Birthday Novena

2009-03-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

David's birthday was this week. It is always exciting to have a birthday celebration, except when you are feeling the pinch from the economy and a huge mess at work - it makes it hard to get into the festive spirit. (Aargh). For Dave's birthday we usually have dinner with friends in Old Town Pasadena and just celebrate. This year instead of going to a pricey eatery we decided t

give David a birthday "novena." Celebrate his birthday for nine days. Each day he will get a little treat. On his actual birthday, Lauren and Jackson made him an adorable card that they placed by his dressing station. We had a home cooked meal (pasta with chicken and peas in a white wine cream sauce). The next night, he opened some birthday gifts and we went to dinner with friends to Shogun. Celebrated with martini's and a birthday song! David wore the birthday crown and of course we had take the group picture which they inserted into a Japanese frame. Tonight is simple again (the kids have softball practice) maybe his favorite dessert and he can open some more gifts. Tomorrow he is going out "on the town" with his buds. Then Sunday is a Irish Dinner Fest - complete with Irish Dancers and Irish Musicians - that should be a fun show. I just need to think of four more days of surprises. Well, we also have a trip to Chicago - which we say is part of his "birthday." This year we are going to a dinner where five different chefs are competing against each other and they will serve us different selections from their "assignment." We get to help judge their meals. That sounds fun. I'll have to share that event when we get there...

Girl Scout Cookies - Booth Sales

2009-03-10T06:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday was our Girl Scout Troop's turn to sell Girl Scout Cookies in front of the new Vons. Cookies this year are still $4 a box, and $1 remains with the troop. The troop uses the money raised to help send the girls on their various outings. Whether it is camping, visiting a nature park, travel expenses to a museum or to attend a community event, the money is well spent enlightening the girls about community involvement and about events that happen outside their immediate neighborhood. I think the scouting program (for boys and for girls) is so important to their growth and

development into young adults. Girl Scout cookie sales is their biggest fundraiser and helps to fund not only their events but goes to help run the Council. The Council creates Neighborhoods and provides activities and activity planning for the girls. I volunteer as a Daisy Girl Scout Consultant for our Neighborhood. Which used to be called the Bonita Neighborhood and now it has been merged with Los Angeles, so I am not sure what our "little group" is called now. We have three cities in our group - for

planning activities and overseeing the Girl Scout Leaders. We had our Service Team Meeting ( a meeting for all the leaders in our "neighborhood") last night and found out about some very positive changes that are going to happen in Scouts now that we have had the "merger." Girl Scouts that are registered as independents or if they are in a troop that does not camp out they can participate in camp outs and activities such as field trips as a "Juliette." They do not have register as a Juliette, but can sign up for the activities as they become available during the year. This made alot of the Leader Moms happy. Some of their girls are in another troop that do not camp or rarely go on outings, so this now opens up that adventure to them. Happy Scouting...

Pre-High School Layout

2009-03-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

I am still trying to work out photographing completed layouts and uploading them into Photoshop to make "edits." Not sure how to use Photoshop so I do not know hot to change the background to all white. Guess I will have to take a class or watch a tutorial... At any rate here is the layout I finished using the photo taken of the girls before they went in to take their high school entrance exam. They all passed and have been accepted to St. Lucy's Priory High School! We had our first parent meeting last Thursday. Lauren was so excited! What should I wear? She has never been concerned about what she wore before (?) Plus she "made" David make a hair appointment for her, which I took her yesterday to to get her hair trimmed. It seems that she wants "bangs" now, like the rest of the girls.

For this layout I used October Afternoon paper KM Building, Woolworths and Fruit Stand. I really like their products and the wonderful printed papers. So bright and crisp.