Sunday, August 24, 2008

Winner Winner...

So, the luck number for tonight is...

12...
Hello....stopping by again....have a wonderful
weekend!!!


meaning that Ami is the winner of the RAK.

E-mail me at tinytink76@yahoo.com with your shipping information! Thanks for playing along girls. You really have helped me clean out my room (just to be filled up again!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Second chance RAK. . .

So a few of you know that I did a pretty huge RAK earlier this month. It was so huge that I actually had enough stuff to draw 2 names. Well, Carmen was the first winner and her stuff was sent right away! Hope she got it, I didn't hear from back from her... but she lives in Canada, so it might take a bit to get there. Anyway, Stacey never relied. So, now I have this...

It is full with this...

And I want to send it to you! So, I am doing a second chance RAK. So if you would like a chance to win this box of goodies, leave a comment and I will do a drawing on Sunday night. Good luck gals. You can enter as many times as you want too. I really want this out of my new clean space. Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

So Grateful...

I have noticed that there are several gals, whose blogs that I read, who have been sharing a little about themselves lately. I think this is a great idea. Not only so that we can learn a bit about them, but I think it is nice to "remember" what gives life meanings to each and everyone of us, and to remind ourselves how blessed we really are. So, I thought I would give it a try.

1. I am truly blessed to have my health. I am able to walk up to my hubby and kiss him. I can pick up my little one and squeeze him. I can run (very slow), and jump, and skip, and play. I am so fortunate to be able to enjoy the simplicity of movement and the senses that come along with it.

2. I have a wonderful family. My parents, who offer to babysit (although they have to drive an hour and a half to get here). My in-laws who drop everything to help us out. My hubby, who works like a dog. My baby boy, who makes the biggest messes in no time flat. I think he should actually be in the Guinness book of records for the fasted mess-maker. I have amazing sisters and brothers. The best part is that we can all get together, my family, all of us and have a great time. This is truly a blessing.

3. I have incredible friends. Some I have had for a very long time, and some I have known for a short while, but they are like gold to me! My mom always told me that if I ever found one honest and true friend, I should count my blessings. I have been very fortunate in that I have been able to find a handful of wonderful amazing people to share my life with.

4. My local scrapbook stores... Scrapbook Atelier... has really helped me come into my own as a scrapbooker. Silvia & Esteban encouraged me to begin teaching a class and to try to get published. Teaching has helped me to realize that I can do this, and it has given me a new outlet to meet other wonderfully talented individuals whose friendship means the world to me. Several ladies come to every class and have been extremely supportive to me... girls, you know who you are, thank you so very much. Paige and Amy have helped me in finding the right paper and embellishments so many times I couldn't count them even if I tried. But more than that, they have helped me keep my sanity! Often our visits have nothing to do with scrapbooking, and more to do with keeping me sane when my little one is making me crazy. You gals are my daily intake of sanity and I love how you are with my little monkey. Treasured Memories Too... is another store in our area. I work on the design team at this store. JoElle and Karen gave me the opportunity to work with the latest and greatest produces, on my own time! They have encouraged me to play with the girly stuff, that I love, but that I don't often get to use because I have a little boy. . . who is ALL boy! Thank you girls!

5. I am so thankful for education. I think this has a lot to do with my mother actually. She always pushed me and told me that I could do anything I wanted. So, even though it was not easy, and it took me a long time, I finished school with a Master's Degree. It has helped me easily find jobs, and be truly happy with what I do for a living. I have recently just made a change in my employment too. I will be working for the school district again, and I am super excited. I am also very sad to be leaving Early Intervention behind, as I honestly truly love it too, but this budget crisis that we are going through. . . well the economy. . . you all know.

6. I love my puppies. Okay, so they aren't puppies anymore, but I love them. They cuddle with me everyday. They love me, even after I get upset with them. They run to meet me every time I come home. And they keep me company when my hubby is away at work. I have never had a dog before Charlie, and it is weird to say this now, but I never realized how you could love a dog so much. It is amazing. These 3 little hairy puppies are like my children. I don't know how I went through life without them.

Okay, I think I have rambled on enough for today. I will be back tomorrow night to tell you all about the crazy Monday that I have coming up. It is going to be Phelps like! Hopefully I will win at all of it like he did!

And Kristii... sorry it took me so long, but here is my Charlie, Bella, and Little Bit. Charlie is the lighter one on the right, Bella is on the left, and the last two pictures are Little Bit.


Thanks for stopping in. Have a great day.

Monday, August 11, 2008

New element...

I have been trying to update my blog and add a place to upload images of my layouts all day today. And, as you all know... I am no computer genius! I finally have gotten the slide to work on my blog, but I am not really happy with it right now; however, I think that it will be better once I can get my pictures better. So, I will be working on that for the next few days.

This weekend ended up being pretty crazy. I had so much fun at The Clay Canvas. I made a trivet for the kitchen. It should be ready next Saturday. I will post a picture when I get them. Kimmy and I had a blast, and as she is not pregnant. . . we celebrated.

Tristan's birthday was fun. He did have a hard time though, as he is just two and is a little bit of a Dracula... he bites! So, my sister had her hands full trying to keep him under control. It is so amazing how someone so small can reek suck havoc in the lives of so many. I have to look at Matteo and remember that he is just a little guy sometimes, because I don't understand how such a little one can make such a huge mess!

Anyway, I am going to get going. . . I have to try to fix this blogger thing! Thanks for stopping bye.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Flea Market Finds...

I got up way to early for a Saturday, but it turned out to be completely worth it. After reading how all of the gals over at Studio Calico have this incredible nak for finding wonderful treasures at their local flea markets, I did some researching and found one locally here too. There is only one that I could find for Reno, so I decided to give it a try. I talked my girlfriend, Ashley into going with me. So, I got up and met her at the coffee shop at 6:30am. When I was looking on-line, it stated that the market opened up at 6:00am, so I figured that 6:30 would be fine.

We purchased our coffee, and headed out. Come to find out that the information on-line was wrong! It didn't open until 8:00, so we had over an hour to kill. We decided to go for a walk around the marina in Sparks. This was actually a great way to begin the morning. I really enjoyed the cool breeze and warm coffee.

Finally, when we got back to the flea market, it was open, but there was still a ton of people setting up their booths. We walked around for a while, just checking everything out. We stayed for about 2 hours, and in the end we found some great finds.

This is what I got. . .
An amazing stash of acrylic thread. I can't wait to sew on some of my layouts with this. It is a bit thicker than embroidery floss and it is sorta hairy, so the texture is different. I got a steal of a deal for . . . $3.00.

I am going to wash up this basket and take the silk flowers off of it. Then I am going to put all of that cool thread in it for storage. This. . . $0.50
This ribbon was hiding in a huge bin. I found though. It has 40 yards on it, and it was $2.00. On the way home I stopped at the WARC, they were having a 50% off sale, and I got that orange ribbon for $0.25. It says that there is 50 yards on it, but I think it is probably about 30 yards now. . . wow, what a deal!

I also found this window planter. It is really dirty, but once it is cleaned up, I think it will be great. I love the mirror in it. I think I am going to hang it on the fence out in the backyard. This baby was a measly $2.00!

And for my favorite find of the day. . . I found this awesome iron chair. It is amazing! I can't decide if I am going to make it into a planter for the garden or if I want to clean it up and refurbish it for the house. It is actually really heavy, so I wouldn't be worried about the little one turning it over on himself. This my dears was. . . $6.00! Can you believe it!

So, I think I am officially hooked. I think I will become a regular at this! I am on a search for a big bin of buttons. One booth thought they had some, but couldn't find them! I was so bummed! I will try again next week!
So for the rest of the day, I am actually going to be pretty busy. My sister is coming into town this afternoon, so we will probably hang out. Then my girlfriend is getting to come home from a 2+ week stay at the hospital (Standford, CA). Her little one had some complications and needed to have heart surgery. He was born on July 27th, and he is being released today. He is doing wonderful! So, I will probably have to go see her and the little one. I am so glad that he is doing well, and can come home. Such a blessing! And then I am going out for "girls night" with another girlfriend. Kimmy and I try to have a "girls night" once a month. We missed it last month, so I am so stoked to have it this month. We are going to go to The Clay Canvas. It is a local pottery shop. We were going to have margarita's, but Kimmy thinks she may be pregnant, so no margarita's for us! Then tomorrow, we will be going to Yerington, for my nephews birthday party. So, it will actually be a busy weekend! I am sure I will have a ton of pictures for you by Monday!
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

Friday, August 8, 2008

A little late...

Okay, so I know that I was supposed to post the pictures of my "newest" layout on Thursday, but things got a bit out of control at my house. My Mom came over on Thursday afternoon, during Matteo's nap time. This, of course was when I was going to finish that layout. We started chatting about one of our bathrooms that we have been contemplating re-doing, and well... we started to rip it apart. It has old wallpaper on the walls. I was not looking forward to ripping down, but once you get going, it wasn't all that bad. We didn't finish, but we made a good dent. So that took up all my time on Thursday. Today, I haven't been feeling all that great. Actually, I haven't been feeling good since about 12:00am last night. I think I may have a stomach bug or something. Let me tell you, it is no fun!

So, now that he is asleep, I have a second. So here is the layout.

These are pictures from the Fourth of July up at Lake Tahoe. It is so amazing up there.



Here's a better look at the title. I used Heidi Swapp clear letters. I liked this because Tahoe is the most amazing crystal clear lake. It is absolutely amazing.



I also used a whole package of rub-ons. This is a first for me. Typically, I hate rub-ons, but I love how this turned out. I staggered them down the right side of the 5 by 7 photo. I also punched out a circle on the portrait picture on the right side of the layout and used a rub-on there.



For the journaling, I used a Technique Tuesday stamp. It flowed like the flag in the wind. I also used a ton of bling. I love it when I can use rhinestones on Matteo's layouts. I love bling. (I not so secretly want a little girl very badly) ;)



So there it is. I will take pictures of the bathroom and post them too. This is for Yo. She is dying to see it. I don't really have a "before" picture, as I already started, but I will show you what it looks like now. It is far from finished!
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

It goes so fast...

It is so amazing to me to watch him go and grow. He is moving along so fast. We went to the park on Monday with Daddy... well it was actually the playground at a local school. The park is always fun, but I have to stay on top of him, because although he is only 15 1/2 months... he has NO fear, and he thinks he can do anything! So when I saw this little playground, I was ecstatic! It is for the pre-schoolers, and it is just the perfect size for him!

I love these pictures of him. I typically have to help him go down the slide, but not today. He did not want anything to do with me. So, I just tried to take some pictures. These are him learning to slide... all by himself... turning around...



Then so proud of himself!



I snapped this one as he was walking around to do it again. I love this little onsie. Auntie Jennie got it for him at Christmas last year, and it is just now fitting! It is his little special jersey, with his birth date for his number. How cute! Don't know how she does it, but she always finds the cutest little things.



Any who... so yesterday instead of blogging, I submitted some layouts for publications. Kinda scary, but I figure... the worst that can happen is... nothing! The best... they are picked up. I will keep my fingers crossed for the latter. I am hoping to get published soon. This was one of my goals for this year. And seeing how I didn't submit anything until last month... it is gonna be kinda hard to accomplish that goal. But for now... I am trying.

So, I am going to go scrap now... I will post what I make tomorrow. I am doing some more of those July 4th pictures. Thanks for stopping by. See ya tomorrow!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Monday... Already....

So this weekend was not as exciting as I thought it might be. Saturday, we did go to the water fountain. I took my nephews with me, we met some friends there too, and my brother in law brought his kids too, so it was pretty crazy! Needless to say, I did not get to take too many pictures, but I got a few.

This was the beginning of the day.... in my back seat...

Here is one I love of my nephews drying off...

And one with Matteo in the background....

And one of Daddy playing in the water with little Matteo...

And Matteo crashed out... my nephews are just too silly... but stinking cute!

I wasn't actually feeling very good, so we did not end up going to the lake on Sunday. This made me sad, but I ended up sleeping til about 1:00pm that afternoon. My dear hubby just let me lay around and sleep... so sweet! I was going to go to the urgent care, but I was feeling a little better after some R & R, so I just stayed home. I did however get this layout finished...

I know it is totally the opposite time for this kind of a layout, but I started it months ago, and it has been sitting in that GAP box since. I just couldn't seem to get it right. So, now it's done, and I love it!

Man I need to get photoshop or something, so that I can get my pictures of my layouts to look better.... Here's a few of the details...


So, anyway, I better get in the shower if I want to get one... then off to swim lessons. Thanks for stopping in and having a peak. Have a great day!

Friday, August 1, 2008

August layouts...

I finished the third page today... well it had been finished for a while, but I just put the pictures in it. So here are the three layouts for the August class...



I know I have already published these two, but I wanted them to all be in the same spot so they
were easy to find. Here's the other two...




The class will be on Monday, August 18th. If you want to sign up, you can go here... I think from now on, I will put the pictures up on the first of each month. That way they will be easy to find. Thanks for stopping by and taking a peak.