Long Time No See!!!

I'm pretty sure that at the creation of this blog I mentioned how awful I am at keeping a journal of sorts. I vowed to give it a good try and keep it going, or at least somewhat current. Well, as you can see from my last post, it's been almost a year...OMG! It hasn't been without various creations and artistic endeavors, however. I've been busy!!! Unfortunately, I have nothing to show for it since I've given everything I have made away, but I'm still on a creative streak. I hope to get to posting something really soon...but I can't make any promises! Hope to post photos soon!

Maria

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday and I hope your Mother's Day was wonderful, too!

Everything was sooo.... fabulous for Mother's Day. My mom stayed for the weekend, we had a relaxed breakfast at which I didn't have to lift ONE finger (thanks Bean!) our WHOLE family took a nice walk along the beach and we saw so many of our good friends! For dinner, it was an easy barbeque with family and friends again and I did absolutely nothing but delight in the fact that I am so incredibly blessed to have my sweet family and great friends. I love days when everything just seems to flow so nicely and spontaneously!

I have been slacking on the creating scene...I just have one card to show you, but promise to do some more this week. I have a fundraising fair to attend this upcoming weekend, so I will be busy creating some items to sell and will showcase some of the classes I will be teaching. I am planning on doing a make and take, but haven't decided exactly what to do just yet. It usually comes to me at about 2am, so it's clearly too early for any epiphany right now!

Hope to have some eye candy for you soon! Here is one of the Mother's Day cards I created this past weekend:


All supplies Stampin' Up!


Stamp Set: Blooming with Love
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Mellow Moss, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Really Rust, Almost Amethyst, Regal Rose, Pixie Pink, Basic Black
Accessories: Dimensionals, Hodgepodge Hardware (pewter brads) needle for piercing




I'll be posting some more pics soon! Have a great day!


Hugs,

Scrappygirl

As Promised!!!

Back again? I didn't scare you with my last post?

Well, I promised to have some new projects and have been busy trying to create some new goodies for you. I know my last post was somewhat verbose, so I knew I needed to make up for it. Things have calmed down on the homefront long enough to create these cards and post these new pictures! {Click on the card to view larger!} I am planning on teaching these for a class called "I'd Like to Thank You..." My customers will make two of each card and they will receive a soft-fold clear box to package them in. It will make a lovely gift for someone special or special treat to keep for yourself! If you are local and would like to take my class, send me an email! I'd love to have you come and join me! I'll post details about these cards later. Here's to a wonderful, calm day! I'm off to create some more!

Hugs,

Scrappygirl

Mommy Olympics, Cinco de Mayo and a Recipe!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! Is it 5:00 yet? It must be somewhere, right? Well, I'm ready!!!

It has been a few days since my last post, but not due to a lack of initiative or desire. It was Mommy Olympics time again...and this time, the games lasted for four days. Now, I know you aren't reading this because you need to know all the intimate details of my life, but are hoping to see some creative projects. I'll get to them...eventually. I am hoping to do SOMETHING tonight, but we'll just have to see. For now, I will explain WHY I haven't been able to do anything...

For those who know me, I suffer from a serious condition called Volunteeritis. It is not hereditary, nor contagious {although I wish it were sometimes!} I have been suffering with this condition for a long time. To date, there is no known cure. I have made promises to seek help, I have made New Years' resolutions, I have even tried isolation therapy, but somehow, volunteeritis seems to rear its ugly little head.

Normally, I only work 2 days a week {Tuesdays and Thursdays}. I am a preschool teacher and LOVE my little kiddies. I was asked to sub for another teacher {I feel an attack coming on...} and, being a conscientious team player, of course I said yes. I knew I had some major stuff to get done, but could spare my next {Friday} morning to work. I love the kids, so it really wasn't a big deal, unless you count, however, that I will be down on TIME...So I work Friday morning, but as things always seem to go for me, someone can't make it in the afternoon {uh-oh, another attack...} and guess who agrees to stay for the afternoon session...Yup, you guessed it, except that I have some major stuff I need to get done for today (Friday) and now I'm really cutting it close.{These things I have to get done...yup, I blame the volunteeritis!} Okay, so I am working and now I am beginning to panic. I have to get an Eiffel tower done for the multicultural festival tonight and I have a boy scout meeting as well. Hmmm...maybe I should just tell my director I can't stay the whole afternoon session...

Okay, so I leave work at 2pm with a grouchy preschooler in tow. Did I mention he had to come to work with me? He had a good time with his friends at school, but a full work day proved too much for the little boy...poor baby. Anyway, we get home and not 5 minutes go by when my neighbor calls me to remind me I missed my friend's son's birthday party....Oh s**t!!!! Now, I'm not one to use profanity at all, but this one warranted it! I fly over to my friend's house and apologize profusely for being such a FLAKE!!! {L--I really am sorry...and I swear I'll drop T's present off to you!!! and D--thanks so much for the phone call!!!} Okay, so now I'm at my friend's son's birthday and feeling like such a LOSER...the party ends and I'm off to making my Eiffel Tower. I realized I didn't get to the bank, but that's going to have to wait...

I finished putting my 6 foot tall Eiffel Tower together just as my 2 older boys arrive home. I instruct my oldest to get changed for his scout meeting while my middle one protests having to leave home for a meeting that doesn't involve him. Point taken, but I have no time for arguments...I get them all ready (now I'm really feeling sorry my my little guy...he's been everywhere today!) and we're off to my scout meeting.

The scout meeting went well and all is done, but now I have to rush the tower over to our elementary school. YES... chalk one up to the hubby...he's home on the early side and can take the boys home from the meeting while I run home, pick up the tower and run to school....{breathe, Maria, breathe...}

The tower has been delivered, I get home and now I need to get ready for a sleepover my oldest prince is having tomorrow night. I clean the house {and I mean CLEAN!!!} and put together the survival packs...it's now midnight and I get myself to bed.

Saturday morning...I am up and ready to tackle anything and everything. My husband and oldest are out at soccer practice and now I clean AGAIN...unfortunately, my 2 youngest thought it was a good idea to get up at 6am and feed themselves, AND the floor. Okay, so everything is clean, all errands have been completed and we wait for the arrival of our 4 ten year olds that will be sleeping over. Not too bad of a day so far...the boys arrive, they go out with my husband for a "boys' night out" and I am getting things ready for the evening. I make popcorn, mini hot dogs, cookies, ice cream cake (from scratch, sort of...thanks D!!! It was delicious!!!) and wait on the boys hand and foot. They are a really nice group of boys, so there was no barking of orders or impolite requests. They all got along, entertained themselves and always said "please" and "thank you." An absolute pleasure, in my book. Now, it's 1 am and it's time for bed...NOT! I think I finally gave up telling them to go to sleep at 3 am...I just couldn't stay awake any longer. I sent Peter, my husband, to tell them they NEEDED to go to sleep or the Monkey Bread I was going to make in the morning would not be possible.

Sunday morning...OMG...I can't even function!!! Meanwhile, the boys confess they put a movie on at 4 in the morning {OMG!!!} They are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed while I repeat to myself...come on, just a few more feet to the stove, come on, you can do it....My fingers refuse to bend and work any type of dough so I need to choose a shortcut to making the Monkey Bread.{Click on link for recipe} I hate to do it because it doesn't taste the same, but, Hey, they chose to keep me up all hours of the night so that I can't function! I'm rolling out little dough balls and making the monkey bread, my husband is the short order cook and making the pancakes, sausages and bacon and the boys are like puppies all around. Breakfast is served and the puppy-boys are nice and full. Meanwhile, the kitchen looks like a bomb hit it and all the sleep over stuff is all over my living room. Just a little while later, the parents are over picking up their children and my oldest along with my husband are getting ready for soccer at noon. The rest of the day is pretty much a blur, but the house is once again clean and ready. That's all that matters.

Monday morning...Okay, so the weekend festivities are done and I can finally get to some crafting, right? WRONG! I told you....I haven't been able to do anything creative! I need to get to the bank this morning and run a couple of errands, but nothing major. The boys are at school and all is well. I get to the bank with my million notes of things to take care of there and as I am being helped by the very nice customer service person, my phone rings...it's school. My middle sweetie has gotten sick at school and looks pretty pale. No problem, I say and I tell them I'll be there in 10 minutes. Well, to my dismay, the customer service person says, "I don't think you'll be there in 10 minutes...this is going to take a while." To make an extremely long story, short, I leave the bank, pick up my son from school, fit in a bathroom break for my little one and return to the bank (YES...I really needed to go and take care of stuff at the bank!!!) TWO HOURS later, I am done at the bank and I return to the comfort of my home with my two little munchkins behind me. I have tons of laundry to do and I have to find my oldest's baseball uniform for his first game today...can you say, "Calgon, take me away?" No problem, I'll get to those pretty little stamps before the day is out...that's a promise!!!

NOW, are you ready for that drink? Salud!!!

School Days Class

Happy May!


Well, the end of the school year is in sight and that means those teachers' albums are being moved to the top of the "things to do" list. I usually try to keep my teacher albums simple. A common color scheme, a basic layout design and very few embellishments. I try to tie the whole album together with a repeating element, such as a border, or the same alphabet font. Now, basic and simple doesn't mean boring...it just means no spending hours on one single layout (come on, admit it, you know you've done it...hours on one layout just to change it the next morning!!!) Here are three layouts I'll be teaching in an upcoming class. I'll post details later, but you can take these three layouts and repeat them throughout your teacher albums to get your album done in a night! Can't beat that!


{Click on the picture to view it bigger.}

One of those days?

Did you ever have one of those days where everything worked out perfectly? You get up on time, everything is all done early, you get to that chore you have been putting off for days just because you have extra time? Well, today is NOT one of those days. Not by a LONG shot! Oh, I got up early...6:30am courtesy of my eldest child... but, guess what, I went back to bed! I was soooo tired. I must have drifted off to sleep even though it felt like I had just closed my eyes when all of a sudden, MOM!!!! I FORGOT I HAVE BAND EARLY TODAY!!!! I NEED TO BE AT SCHOOL NOW!!!! Well, it felt like a bucket of ice water had just been poured all over me. I jumped out of bed, don't even remember getting dressed and raced to get him to school on time, which I did...thank you very much. Then, already having made arrangements to drop off his lunch at school for a FIELD TRIP he is having today, I raced to the bagel store to buy a dozen bagels since nothing I had at home was worthy of the prince. I get home (it's 8:30am now) and my middle child decides he's not going to school today because he didn't get enough sleep (queue the smallest violin in the world.) I entice him to reconsider with a nice, hot bagel for his school lunch today and he quickly gets dressed and comes down the stairs (score one for the mommy!) He has a nicely toasted bagel for breakfast while I make up his and the other prince's lunch. In the meantime, I forgot to put the coffee on the timer last night, so I am going to have to wait for my sweet relief until it is done brewing. My youngest prince would like a bagel, too (no problem, I'm on a roll...) when I see the school bus rounding the block...Looks like I'll be driving to school again, but no big deal...I'm running on adrenaline now. Okay, so now I have all lunches packed, kids ready to go and we are off to school...Everyone makes it without a problem and by the time I reach home, it's 9:45. I walk through the door and look at the aftermath of a late start...crumbs all over the floor, clothes strewn all over the stairs, shoes tossed about....**{SIGH}**Well, it's all cleaned up and things are back to order, but now it's 12:30 and the kids should be home in a couple of hours. Where has the day gone???? Grrrr... I was looking forward to lots of uninterrupted creating time, but that shall not be the case today. I do, however, have some pics (don't forget to click on the picture to enlarge it!) of things I worked on yesterday. YAY! Chalk up another victory, albeit a minor one, to the mommy! I hope to finish up the planning for my upcoming classes. I'll post pics when they are done. Thanks for sharing in my morning olympics! I'll get to posting more pics soon!

Hugs,
Scrappygirl

All images & products by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Post-It Note Holder & Beaded Pen
Stamp Set: Time Well Spent Hostess Set
Cardstock:
Rose Red
Certainly Celery
Bashful Blue
So Saffron
Whisper White
Patterned Paper:
DSP Cutie Pie
Inks:
Basic Black
Rose Red
So Saffron
Bashful Blue
Other:
Versamark Pen
Signo White Gel Pen
MicroBeads
SU! Dazzling Diamonds
Aquapen
Acrylic Frame
Grosgrain Ribbon (Offray)
RSVP Pen
Sticky Tape
SU! Ticket Corner Punch
Post-It Note Pad


Blooming with love card
Stamp Set:
Blooming With Love
Cardstock:
Certainly Celery
Rose Red
Whisper White
Ink:
Rose Red
Bashful Blue
Pixie Pink
Gable Green
Basic Black
Other:
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder
SU! Hodgepodge Hardware Antique Brass
SU! Pretties Kit (flower and half-back pearl)
Grosgrain Ribbon (Offray)
Circle Punches



Just the Facts (12x12 Scrapbook Page)
Stamp Set:
Genuine Articles (retired)
Stamp of Authenticity
Take a Number Standard Wheel
Cardstock:
Very Vanilla
Ruby Red
Really Rust
Chocolate Chip
Kraft
More Mustard
Whisper White
Ink:
Basic Black
Chocolate Chip
Bashful Blue
Real Red
Other:
MM Snaps in Antique Brass
Dymo Label
Pop-Dots

Holy Weather Batman!!!

The kids are off to school and the weather is absolutely miserable!!! I think I may see an ark in the distance...What a great excuse to stay indoors and PLAY! I have a couple of projects lined up for today in between the bed-making, clothes-washing and preschooler at home-feeding. I better go and get started. Stay tuned for some new pics...same bat-time, same bat-channel...