What a Magical Vacation!!

Just a few random an unedited photos from our WDW trip! We went to all the theme parks. Saw tons of characters. We first met Mickey at Animal Kingdom. Arielle fell on the way out and Mickey followed her down the path and hugged her and wiped her tears away. Awwweee! that was priceless. We did the Safari there. The next day we went to Epcot. We took turns doing the Test Track. Jeff and Daniel did Mission Space. We met Gemiel Matthews and her son T.J. (she's my fellow Flair Designs sister) at Epcot. We had lunch with her and walked thru a few of the countries before we had to say goodbye, but I ran into her, TJ and Tim at Magic Kingdom the next day! Forgot to get pics! woops! We had a Princess Dinner at Norway's Akersus - met Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine and Aurora. Daniel was feeling bad that day. The next day he got a shot and was off to Magic Kingdom. We stayed until midnight. We were walking around the crowd and ended up at the gate that started the beginning of the lighted parade (8-9pm??). We couldn't have planned that. It was awesome. The crowd, however, was dangerously thick. They turned people away that day at 1pm (Daniel and Jeff were coming to meet us after his doc visit and he had to tell them we were already in there so they would let them in!). We made our way thru the crowd that was gathering for the 10pm fireworks and we got on the bridge right under the wire that Tinkerbell uses to fly from the castle from. That was awesome! Then we went straight for the rides, which - YEAH! had no lines b/c it was so late. We rode Winnie the Pooh, Small World, Buzz Lightyear (all together) and then I (gulp) rode Space Mountain with Daniel. I rode it when I was his age and didn't like it any better then. At least this time they didn't have Michael Jackson music blaring in your ears. LOL. Well, that's just a few highlights. Too much to remember! Our next park was MGM Studios. Saw Lightening McQueen and 'Mater from Cars. Did the Star Wars thing (including Arielle, which she didn't like much). And oh my gosh - I did Tower of Terror. Closed my eyes the whole time except for one time when the elevator door opened. Jeff rode it next. Couldn't get a fast pass for the Rock N Roller Coaster, but really, no one wanted to ride it with Daniel. Stayed for 2 hours in the Ampitheater waiting for Fastasmia and Arielle was entertained (or entertained) some high school band girls from Ohio. That was really fun. I think my favorite parks (at least for this trip) are Magic Kingdom and Epcot. I REALLY want to go back to Epcot and take alot of time at the countries. We didn't even get to visit half of them. Daniel and Jeff liked MGM the most. I asked Arielle what her favorite ride was and she said "All of them". But, she'll tell you she didn't like the Star Wars simulator. She LOVED the Winnie the Pooh ride. Well, that's about all the highlights. Whew - we are so tired!

No One is Home

...waving hi at Margaret!! Don't bother reading here until next week. Have a wonderful week everyone. Oh - and I found out this morning that one of the girls I've been on 3 Design Teams with is going to be there, too! We're meeting up at Epcot. I can't wait! Meeting her will be fun. You'll have to wait until I get back to find out who she is!!! We're off!!

Scrapbooking on a Budget?

Budget, what is that??? he he he

Julia Sandvoss (one of my Paper Salon sisters) challenged me and several other designers to create pages that cost less than $3. See how much I spent on this 'budget' page and see more examples from designers at Scrapbooking on a Budget



Meanwhile, I have tried to take care of last minute papercraft projects AND clean AND pack. Not doing too good on the last two, but I still have another day. I did get a request from Papercrafts for the "Room to Room" issue. I had to decline an assignemnt because I'll be gone all next week, but I told them if they could extend the deadline.... still hoping they will. **(Update - they gave me an extension...yipppeee)**

A bit of personal Disney triva for ya. Did you know that I actually participated in the Mickey Mouse 50th Birthday Parade in Magic Kingdom? That was 1978!! Our high school band marched in the parade. Imagine entering Magic Kingdom via the "backdoor" and actually seeing Minnie Mouse walking around without her head! I think the photos for this are in the attic. (not of headless Minnie, silly, just of us kids). I really wanted to post a few (even tho they are terrible photo taken with a 110 camera...remember those??). I did, however, find a link online to someone's photos of the event. Look here Mickey's 50th Birthday Parade


...the journey begins in less than 2 days.....

Many Minnies....

just 5 more days......

Dear Granny...

Dear Granny

I sure do love my new outfits.

Thanks so much. Here is a photo of me wearing my new clothes today.

Arielle




****SIX MORE DAYS UNTIL WALT DISNEY WORLD******

A Shout Out to the New CK Hall of Fame 2007 Girls!

Congratulations to the new 2007 Creating Keepsakes Hall of Famers! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your already inspiring work.
Check out the complete list

here and if you click on each person's name, you can hear the special phone call from Lisa.

And lets not forget the Honorable Mentions! Shoot - I think everyone that put together an entry deserves a prize.
I bow to each of you.

It's a Puppy!!!

okay- okay- not a "real" puppy. This is a story about my silly little dachshund Jasmine. Her adventures inspired me to write my first entry in a blog. So what's up with her now? She thinks she's a mommy! This isn't the first time she's done this. More like, at least the third. I've lost count. Her puppy is a little pink puppy that I brought back to her from my trip to California. When I told Arielle I had suprises for her and daddy and Daniel, she said "What about Jasmine?". So the next store I went in - believe it or not, had pint size pet toys. It was just a toy until last week. It is now her pride and joy. She carries it everywhere with her and, until we put her bed in the pet carrier (which we only use when we need to confine her - a rare thing) she was unsettled. She roamed from room to room whimpering. I tried putting her in our closet, but she wasn't satisfied. One night Jeff told me to go look in Arielle's stuffed animal toybox and there she was, nestled in on top of Minnie Mouse and a lion, nursing her fake pink baby. Arielle didn't want her in her room (poor Jazzy), so that is when we got the crate out. It has been her sanctuary. Want a peek at the new mommy and her bundle of fluff?




I guess I need to make a scrapbook page about Jazzy's and her baby. Really, I miss my dog. She stays in her "nursery" all day. I have to make her come out to eat and do doggy biz.

I'm loving my new work space. I'll be working some brand spanking new product this week for product packaging. I'm so glad my room is ready for fresh inspiration. Speaking of inspiration - these are the first two layouts I've created in my new room.

The first is using 'Story of a Seed' collection from Dream Street papers.


This spring page uses Karen Neuberger's Serenity line from Paper Salon.



And a note to Margaret. I'm so sorry I haven't blogged regularly in like - forever. I'll try to remember that you need to rest your eyes from all the paper work and try to make your visit here worth your while - but - well, things aren't THAT interesting. LOL So glad you have a slew of other scrapbooker blogs to stalk. *wink*

A new look!

For my scraproom. (My blog will get a new look - soon!) For the past few months we knew we would be doing some major things in the house, and in my scraproom/office. Back in November Jeff went to Dallas and brought back the huge Expedit shelves from Ikea. I saw photos of Hilary's scraproom and immediately wanted those shelves. (way to expensive to ship...another story). When Jeff said he was going to Dallas - bingo! I have to add - I still absolutely covet Hilary's scraproom. That's still another story. Love it Love it! Thanks, Hilary, for the inspiration. Once I "saw" a way out of my chaos, I knew I could do it.

Anyway - we didn't put them up yet b/c we needed to replace the floor... all the flooring except kitchen and bedrooms/bath. Water had been leaking from the back door and the water was hiding under the "floating" floor (that's what they call click-locking floors). Yes - literally - our floor was possible floating on water. Because of the plastic sheeting underneath - the water had no place to evaporate. That explains my sudden "allergies" that started last spring. Yep - once I FINALLY figured it out, we pulled up the floor in my office - the major source of my sneezing. It was all wet underneath. But our wonderful insurance company covered the cost of replacing. Then came the holidays and CHA. Way too much going on to do anything - so FINALLY - last week we did it. We have beautiful hardwood floors now, and my very very very much needed shelves are up in my work area. I still have much to do and alot of things to purge, but now I won't be embarrased for people to come over. I purposely did NOT take photos of the before. It would be way too embarassing.(Trust me, I'm not exaggerating). Some of you have had the unfortunate experience to witness the chaos in person (Margaret, Mom, Maraya and unfortunate family members and friends whose name may or may not begin with an "M"), so I know you are rejoicing in the new look. It's far from finished or perfect. In fact - as you can see I still have one overstuffed cardboard box with homeless items spilling out. But I'm working on it.

So - without further boring you...here are the pics! (click on the pics to enlarge them)

March already???

Where did February go??? I fought a nasty lingering cold for 3 weeks, right after I got back from CHA. It seems that the month flew while I played couch potato. Well, we went from freezing temps to highs in the 70's in those 3 weeks. No wonder I've been sneezing.

Okay - Okay - I just wanted to pop in and share some more pics from the trip (that seems like way back when...



This is me and Anabelle on one of the rides at Toon Town(yes, a kiddie ride). I left her red eyes there on purpose - makes it look scary!



Me and Linda with Stacy Croninger, Editor-in-Chief of Papercrafts Mag. I was so happy to finally meet the Papercrafts ladies. Jennafer was kind enough to take these pics for us.



Me and Linda with Jennafer Martin, Managing Editor for Papercrafts.



Me, Linda, Anabelle, Kelly and of course, Mickey.

It's finally time!

To share my Mustard Moon creations! I was asked several months ago to be a featured scrapper for the website. Thanks, Vicki and Karen!

For the Prism Girls

This is for the Prism Girls!

and more pics...

Nothing new to report. Just some more pics to add of various people from CHA. I'll try to list in order: Disney, Trina from Piggy Tales, me and Kim Moreno, Dream Street girls, Cindy Smith and me at the Paper Salon Dinner, view from the plane coming into CA, me in Mickey's car.

I had to take the photo from the plane - amazing view! Some people have some pics they are sending (times when I didn't have my camera with me. It may be another few days before those come in. Been sleeping alot!!! Getting over this Disney induced cold. more later!

Back from California and CHA

I'm baaaaccckkk!!! My plane got delayed in Dallas until 6pm. I was supposed to be home at 4:30. I got to watch it snow. Then I got to watch snow accumulate on the plane while sitting inside the plane for 2 hours. But let's just skip over the stuff we'd rather forget.

California CHA was fun! The Paper Salon girls are so much fun! I met Ruth Akers in Dallas and had a slight delay there and it was SO FUN to have her with me there and for the rest of my journey. Ruth has been dubbed "roothuckers" by some of the girls. Linda Beeson was my roommate and she's the best! She was fun to walk the floor with, too, because everybody knows Linda! The Paper Salon booth rawked. This year they added about 10 feet to the booth to display the Karen Neuberger product, which, by the way, was very well received!

Sunday night I went to Disneyland with 3 Paper Salon girls, Anabelle, Kelly and Linda. We went through the Haunted Mansion and then rode some kiddie rides! One of the rides was a Tune Town, the other was the Buzz Lightyear space ride (sorry.. don't know the names! I'll see what I can find out). I took my photo in front of the Alice in Wonderland ride so I can post it next to the "baby melanie" photo (posted below) in my scrapbook. Can you believe they have the same ride and they look the same??? wow.

I met all the editors at PaperCrafts Magazine (I'll have photos later); the new editor, Amy W., at PaperWorks / Giftmaker; Tanya Fox from Cardmaker and Barb Sprunger. Saw lots of Peas and other girls that I'm on DT's with. The new product is all fantastic and can't even begin to name it all.

I got to spend time with my fellow Flair Girls Stacey, Donna, April, Amy Marsha and Paula. We met at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney, where, it just so happened that Lisa Bearnson and her kids were dining at, too.

I'm still trying to recoup. I'm posting a few pics here of the trip. More later.

Below are pics of: Me and Sonda T.;Kim H., me, Linda B.;
me at Alice in Wonderland Ride (many years later); Belle at the Disney Parade;Tim Holtz doing a demo; Linda, Anabelle, me and Kelly at Minnie Mouse's house; Flair Girls Stacy, Donna, Me, April

final checklist...

camera - check
cell phone recharger - check
airline tickets! -check
biz cards - check
disney park twilight ticket - check..
........
....
just doing the last minute run-down before the "race" begins. Check back here Friday for updates and photos from the land of the mouse with big ears. I'm SOOO looking forward to meeting so many people.

I just finished making these sweet treat bags for some special ladies I'll be seeing. Ssshhh - don't tell them. It's a secret.

Bon Voyage...

I don't leave for another day, but I probably won't post. The mad rush is on - packing for cha. Getting last minute projects done for the show, calls or whatever. Not to mention the regular life stuff to take care of. As life would have it - my daughter has a new cough so off to the doc in the morning so we can take care of whatever it is "before" mommy leaves. Just in case it's nothing - they are having us come in early before the really sick ones come in. Straight back to the room. Better safe than sorry.



The great scrapbook related news this week is that I was invited to join the Prism Papers brand new Design Team. I've worked with their cardstock for over a year, and love it. I'm so excited to be included with these talented ladies.

On a sad note, this week has seen the passing of my dad's dear cousin, Luther (Uncle Luther to me).


Below are some new projects.
"Adore" uses Paper Salon "Pristine" paper collection. "Mother's Love" Uses Paper salon's Serenity line from the Karen Neuberger collection. This vintage photo is my mother and my oldest sister, Nancy.

Wanna see some CHA Sneak Peeks from Dream Street?

This pages uses the new line from Lara Ellingson called "Nancy". I used a vintage photo of my older sister, whose name happens to be - you guessed it - Nancy! Check back for more peeks!

More from Paper Salon

More sneak peeks from Paper Salon. (btw - be sure to check the Paper Salon blog - link is in the previous post). This page is using the new line "Blossom" along with the new chipboard alphabet letters and scalloped frame. I used the new Tailored Tins "Pattern Builder" to stamp the background on the frame. Thanks for peeking!

Paper Salon Winter CHA 07 Sneak Peeks

Yippeeeee! That cat is out of the bag and there is some big news - The KN Karen Neuburger® lifestyle brand scrapbook products. You can read the press release at The Paper Salon Blog! Keep an eye out for more sneak peeks.


Here is a project using Chesapeake:




And one using Serenity:


More to come!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Now we all have to get used to putting 200 "7" on everything we date.

I'm working hard on CHA-W 2007 projects and can't wait to be able to post them. What a wonderful show this is going to be. I'm counting the days. It's been, er, well... I can't say exactly how many, but quite a few years since my last visit to Anaheim. Here I am in the this photo. I'm the brunette in the front seat next to my blonde sister.

I love that my dad took lots of photos. They were all done in slides and I used to gripe about them on being on slides. During the past few years I would take them in for print processing until I learned to scan them. Then he surprised us all and send them somewhere and now we all have them on CD. High quality. LOVE this b/c I had to use one recently and the color wasn't right - so I changed a yellow dress to pink. Call it altering history if you'd like.

One more new and wonderful scrapbook related happening for me. I've been asked to join the Dream Street Papers Design Team! I recently worked with their papers for a challenge in the Pub Calls Challenge. Check them out.

My daughter said the following to her daddy yesterday morning: "Daddy, I need to go to the mall. I want to thank Santa Claus for all my presents".

awwweeeeeeeee. I suggested maybe we send a card since he's on a long vacation now.

Happy New Year!

twas the day before Christmas Eve...

Note to self... always finish your holiday shopping before December 15.

I had to get a couple of gifts at the mall yesterday - the Friday before Christmas aka December 22. 'Nuff said. I phoned hubby and said "if you don't see me by dark, send in the troops". We made it out - my daughter was with me. She was unbelievably happy. But of course, she always does like going to the mall.

Have a Blessed Christmas - oh, and for Seinfeld fans: Happy Festivus!

Beginning to look alot like...

Christmas!! We finally have our tree up. It's getting more and more full of handmade ornaments every year.... delightful treasures. I've had most of the kids shopping done before December, but *ugh* all the other shopping. I hate shopping... I do... why? Because it depletes the checkbook. That is the only reason. *sigh* I have talked my son into waiting for "other stuff" until after Christmas. I told him the sales will be HUGE - and he likes to shop.

I took my first of many Christmas photos last night. The kids were delightfully cooperative, although the lighting wasn't the best. Oh well - 2 more weeks of practice to go!

Dear Santa....

Dear Santa,

Do you remember the last snow we had in Northeast Louisiana? We sure did enjoy it. It came late, late on New Years Eve (2000) and New Years Day 2001 was beautiful. My son, who was...gosh - only 8 at the time, built this beautiful snowman.... the last snowman we ever built. Santa, could you be a dear and send us snow this year? Just a little bit? Not a huge ice storm (we really don't like losing electricity because... well... tv and computers don't work well without it. And you can't recharge your digital batteries very well to take all those snow pictures). Please, Santa. We would like snow - before my son grows up any more. He's now 14. And there is my daughter who is almost 5. She has never touched snow. Never played in snow. Never built a snowman or tasted a snowflake. Please send enough snow that will allow the kids to have a snow day... or two. And don't let the temp get too high to melt it all away too fast. I hope I'm not asking for too much.

That's all on my list.

~me~

Black Friday also titled "Out with the crazies"

Well, I went out at 5am on Black Friday. I have only went about 5 times my entire life that I can remember. Too crazy - but I lost my mind this year. I went and my son (he's 14) went with me. My main reason was to get a $90 sewing machine for $65 at Target. It's a Christmas gift from last year that I was too lazy to purchase (my folks gave me $) - but my really, really old machine died a couple of weeks ago. First we went to a store in the mall when it opened at 5am (actually I was about 5 minutes late so I didn't actually get caught in the mad rush thru the doors.) I bought a few good buys using my b-day money (gee - and that was 5 weeks ago..he he). Then we headed to Target. The line wrapped around the side of the building. No WAY was I going to the end of the line. THere were people standing in the parking lot across from the front doors - so we crossed over and stood there with them. What were 2 cops and 2 store owners going to do to the line breakers? Yep - call me a line breaker. Me and my son dodged the cops and made it thru the first few people - and were able to get a buggy. Since that was the last store we needed to go to - once we got our "goods" we weren't in a hurry to leave. BIG MISTAKE. After we browsed, we went to the checkout line and the line went to the right to all the way thru the store to electronics, then curved BACK around and went to the check-out area. (I personally think that lack of sleep must impair people's judgment so that they are more apt to be herded like cattle without complaint). So we are standing in line looking at electronics for quite some time before we even turned in the right direction. Low and behold the pharmacy opened 2 checkers there and we were able to get thru - but I'm not sure how much faster that was since those 2 checkers seemed to move slow. I shared my buggy with the lady behind me who had an armload of things. SHe was abandoned by her partners who didn't want to stand in line for an hour (they went to eat). I let her put her things in the bottom part of my buggy. It was the least I could do since she was one of those who actually got in the long line that wrapped around the outside of the building and didn't get a buggy. At 7am my phone rings - I guess my daughter got up. (she's 4 1/2).

hello..... hi, mom. how's it going.... fine.how are you?....... I'm fine. Is it crazy?..... yes, dear.pretty crazy....... are you getting me that toy? what's it called again?...... etch-a-sketch?.... yeah.etch-a-sketch.......no, honey.No etch-a-sketch.Santa is bringin you that....... oh, okay. well, bye.......bye...

Then the line broke off to the pharmacy so we took it. Of all aisles to be in, we were now in the feminine products aisle. We felt quite educated. Can you imagine my son??? I didn't know they made panty liners especially shaped for thongs. Not that I would ever need any, but it was funny. by the way, does anyone get the logic as to why they put condoms next to EPT tests?? Sure wish we had of been on the cosmetic aisle instead. I could have used some new lipstick but I'm always in a hurry to pick out just the right shade. ha ha ha ha ha ha I would have had plenty of time.

Then we headed back to the mall b/c my son wanted to go to the new Starbucks. Yes, people, Northeast Louisiana now has a Starbucks. What did we find there - at least a 30 minutes wait. But my son saw 2 of his friends there. Then I went to Bath & Body works, saw the line that went through the store- and said - that's it - lets go home.Came home - put away my b-day gifts, played with my machine, and went to bed. The other holiday gifts are still in the trunk. Shhh - don't tell the kids.

Tee Shirt Rak - we have a winner

Hi! We had a good response to the tee shirt rak. I put all the names in a bowl and had my son draw one. And that name was......Scrapcat. I'll be trying to contact you. If you see this - Pea-mail me on my 2 peas id. Congratulations!

It looks like it's that time!!.. and a RAK

It looks like it's that time - and finally feels like it, too. Fall has officially graced the Bayou state. Most of you reading this are scratching your heads - but you have to realize - in Louisiana - you usually run your A/C 9-10 months out of the year and wear sweaters maybe 3 weeks out of the entire year (if you own a sweater). Fall foilage? We're lucky to have leaves turning RIGHT NOW! My friends from Michigan were here in mid November a few years ago and was amazed that everything was still green. Snow? My dd is 4 and has never seen snow in person. Maybe this year! We opened the door today to take the below photos and bbbbbrrrrrrrr - it was almost freezing! Just two nights ago we went to the Fall Festival in short sleeves, and she had on a flimsy princess dress - and we were outside - no coats.

Okay - okay - so let's get to something FUN! My two friends, Maraya and Emery have developed a unique line of scrapbook tee-shirts! They debuted the first 2 designs at a local convention this summer and they were a hit. The Scrapboutique was recently at Scrapbook Expo in Austin, Texas with three new designs and I have the honor of RAKing on of the shirts right here on my blog! Check out the photos of my daughter holding up the Croppin' Cowgirl shirt (in the almost freezing weather!). This is the shirt we are RAKing (in your choice of size). (What is a RAK? RAK = random act of kindness). It's pre-shrunk, and the fabric is distressed, vintage and very soft. I have the Croppin' Cowgirl and the Madame LaRue's (besides one of each of the first debut - view them here ) and love them!!! If you saw them in Austin, you know how classy they are. Jennifer Stewart has pics of these shirts on her blog taken in Austin!





All you need to do to be entered in the drawing for this t-shirt is visit the
Scrapboutique website and look at the 5 different t-shirt designs and tell me which one your favorite is. I'll draw names Sunday night and post the winner Monday on my blog!