a shout out to my washing machine!

challenge: Scrap an emotion
Choose an emotion to scrap, and convey that emotion in all of the details of your layout (embellishments, journaling and of course the photo itself). For my layout I have chosen to scrap the emotion of Joy. I have used my embellishments and journaling as the joy that radiates right from my little girl's heart! Even the striped paper I chose looks joyful to me. Be imaginative and have fun with it.


challenge: Let your background set the scene
Use your imagination and have some extra fun with your supplies. Create a cool background scene by using your product in unexpected ways.
On this layout I used chilly snow colored paint, hand drawn windy swirls, and cut my papers into hills, sun and sky. This is a great way to explore your creativity!


challenge: Let your product lead you
Choose one cool product that you have been wanting to use and let your page be inspired by it. Product can be such a great starting place for inspiration!
For example, on my layout I really wanted to use these super cute wings from Fancy Pants so I used them as my starting place. From there, I looked for a photo showing her little back and then paper that would resemble the sky, everything else took shape around that. Don't think too hard, just dig in and go for it!


Challenge: Get your supplies out of your scrapbook
Raid your stash and pick a few supplies to explore in a non-layout project. It is so refreshing to take a break from regular scrapping and think differently!
I chose to make these little place cards for my girl's tea party, from slide mounts. I added a bit of paint and doodling, dressed them up with some little paper flowers, and even used my digital supplies and software to make the name inserts, (so you digi gals can't sit this one out, there is plenty you can do!) If you need some extra ideas, look through your favorite idea books or online galleries for inspiration.


I just thought I would post these challenges here. ( supply lists are here) Please join in the fun, even if you didn't get to join in over at CK. It feels so good to have work that I can share again, it has been awhile :)
some good news is that very soon I will have a blog space on the CK site where I will be able to share work and regular challenges, should be fun! I will keep you all posted on that.

tonight I am thankful for my washing machine :) I am serious, it is really nice. Cam surprised me by buying it when I was away last year and I love it. Front loading, uses only a bit of soap, does an amazing job, and it holds a ton! I have been so so busy this last little while, and then dealing with all of these migranes, that I am afraid our laundry situation was getting to a critical level! LOL! but with this machine I will be caught up in no time. I am a funny girl. I actually really enjoy doing laundry, and tonight as I was washing the first few loads in a long while I was just thankful to be doing it! mmmmm! Soon it will be out of the dryer all yummy smelling and warm....Love it!

last night's crop

we came, we cropped, people sang, inspiration was in the air, fun was had, and very cool projects were made! I have to thank everyone who popped in over at CK last night for making my very first online crop so much fun! That is really what I love about all of this; connecting with people, sharing ideas, and leaving eachother inspired. I really hope I was able to inspire some of the ladies as much as so many of them inspired me! please go and check out the challenges HERE and post them in the image gallery leaving a link in the challenge threads, or here on my blog in the comments. I would really love to see your work if any of these happen to inspire you!

Tiara is really super sick so she was up off and on all through the night. I ended up just staying up all night long going between helping her and writing/ scrapping like crazy! I'm sooo tired today but she feels loved, and I got a lot of stuff off my plate. ahhhhhhh, that has got to be the recipe for a good nights sleep tonight....I hope :)

Come and crop!!!

with meee!!!!! there is a CK online crop with me tonight ( wed Nov.29th) from 8-midnight EST. come and hang out, ask questions, play... it should be fun! I have made up 4 challenges one for every hour. and I have to say I am excited to be able to share my work again, and check out everyone else's! it is so much fun to share together, so so good :) I hope to "see" you there!

this is my life

to be a 4 year old ballerina! I love it, Tiara is so incredibly focused and passionate about dancing. We got to go in for her lesson to watch the class and see where they are at. I just couldn't believe what a difference a year has made. look at her little pointed toesies...the focus in her eyes! heehee and that bit of toddler belly that is still hanging on :)

and my baby, who is so not looking like a baby at all these days, across the room at the safety of her daddy's leg, she has changed a whole lot lately. all of a sudden talking so much and such stories to tell us. I love 2 years old, it is just a magical time of discovery and wonder.

on that note, Hellooo blogland peoples! I have been so out of touch these past couple of weeks. I was in a couple of car accidents years ago and I struggle off and on with those injuries. More off than on thanks to good therapy, but I strained my neck pretty badly on my trip out to Salt Lake ( thinking I'm tough and strong and carrying WAY too heavy bags) and I have been fighting through awful migranes. Pretty intense.

There HAS been lots of good stuff going on though. Tiara got into a program for her sensory issues at the children's hospital here, and this is a really good and important step in our journey with her and all that she deals with. 5 kids with 2 teachers everyday for 2 hours. It is a lot for her to take in , quite draining on her but a good thing and will be done after this week.

Emilea ( 7) has been an angel as always, just so kind and helpful. She made me smile tonight as she sat cutting out small wallet photos I had printed and doodled on for her... then you can see the wheels turning as she thinks of what she will do with them. She decided on a notebook album ( all on her own!) wanting to cover the front and back with patterned paper and make a ribbon handle. I love it!!! She is so creative and always watching what I am up to. Kids really take in and soak up so much.

and In my scrapping hullabaloo- I have just wrapped up getting everything in for my insert coming out with the March issue of Creating Keepsakes!!! how exciting is that?! Even a cover with me on it! I had never imagined I would be scrapping a cover for anything , nevermind scrapping one with my own pictures! WOW!!! Anyways, I have jam packed it with challenges and extra ideas, so be on the look out for what I hope will be a fun and inspiring read :)

be safe , be happy, give out a hug! T.T.F.N.!

Thankful

Just a picture I came across from the summer, that I like. My wonderful Cam, he is always a good guy but especially now, I have been needing to work much more than I ever have before, and he has really risen to the ocasion, taking on the things that I can't do, and helping in so many extra ways around here. Knowing that him and I are a team is something I am so thankful for I can't even begin to explain it.

We had our visit to the dentist this week. Girls did great, no cavities and each a photo on the smile wall ! I was thinking how blessed we are to have really good benefits through Cam's work, that we can get really good dental care. I don't take that for granted for one second, I know there are many people who aren't so fortunate. I am thankful. What are you thankful for today?

Silly me!

So, this past week when I was stuck in the Vegas airport for the night I pulled out the laptop I had brought and was chatting with Cam, he asked me if I was safe at least where I was for the night? and I said " I don't know" I had found a corner to settle into and couldn't really see what was going on elsewhere, but I had been hearing this security person around the corner go to this gentleman and ask him repeatedly "sir can you please place your metal objects in the bag" the man would grumble and make some angry grumpy sounds at her ( getting more and more agitated each time, or at least, that is how it sounded to me) she would leave him be and then go back and ask him again in awhile "sir can you please place your metal objects in the bag", so I told Cam in response to his question; "there is this guy who won't give up his metals, but I think they are taking care of it, so I should be safe" We chatted for awhile longer and this was still going on around the corner, so I told Cam " geee this dude still won't hand over his metals, he sounds totally grumpy" Cam told me he would pray for me, and we said goodnight. I settled into my corner floor spot for some good scrapping, praying myself for my own safety. But this continued every 15-20 minutes throughout the night, the security woman would ask the guy to hand over his metals and he would be angry about it.....Then after what must have been a hundred times I realized it was an airline security video playing over and over! , I laughed so hard at myself for being such a silly! Funny how your mind plays tricks on you in the middle of the night when you haven't slept in a couple of days !!! LOL ah well, keeps things interesting anyways!

My adventure to CK!

Here I am at CK! yep, for real!!! filming the DVD segments that I have been working so hard on. Totally cool and fun experience! This was my first time on the set of anything, so it took a bit of getting used to being in front of the camera, but once I did I had a blast! Everyone I met out there was wonderful, and I got such a kick out of walking around the offices and seeing where it all goes down. Once again, Leslie Miller was over the top good to me, and after our super busy day was done I totally enjoyed grabbing some eats with her and her husband Matt, and meeting their wonderful kiddos. I wish I had gotten a picture of Alexander (5) he had such great stories for me, we're definitely buds now!
Check out my new glasses, I traded in my blue ones, just did. I am happy with the choice :) Woke up on Saturday to a bit of a chilly morning ( nothing like here though!), but enjoyed a meeting over scrumptious breakfast, and I even fit in a quick trip to bath and body works and target before heading back to the airport. We don't have those stores here, so that makes a cool little field trip for me :)

The mountains everywhere were just breathtaking. A friend and I were talking the other day about how the good thing about living in totally flat prairies is that you never "get used to" the amazing splendor of the mountains. And I think it is true, I love being so in awe of such a cool creation, and I guess if I saw them everyday all of my life it may not be quite the same.

OK, so I have to rewind for a second and tell you why this trip was so much more of an adventure than I am making it sound! LOL! So the true goods are; I had come down with strep throat and an ear infection just a few days before my photo shoot, and made it in to the doc for some antibiotics. No biggie, nothing some tylenol and a big smile can't handle right? Well half way through photo day I knew something was wrong, but of course pretty much ignored it in favor of the tylenol and a smile route. I was supposed to catch a plane the next day ( yes, I said supposed to), so once the guys left I began packing and gathering all of my projects etc. Problem is I was having such severe stomach pain that I couldn't stand up straight, I tried to push through for several hours until I was literally on the floor, and sweet Cam was trying to finish gathering and organizing my stuff. Well I , by this time, was just trying to mumble at him where things had to go. Finally we knew there was no way I could travel like this, wrote to Leslie, and put in a call to the doctor. Anyways...Saw the doc, and turns out I was having a pretty bad allergic reaction to the antibiotics! So we stopped that in a hurry, and CK rescheduled the flight.

Well, should be good from here hey? Not completely! Cam brought me to the airport and I was told my flight would be slightly delayed, no biggie. Well it ended up leaving here 2 hours late and missing my connection. Where? In Vegas! So I land there and go through customs, am told to walk to the other terminal to get help and when I do NO ONE I need is anywhere, they have all gone home! The connecting airline people were trying to be nice and help me get ahold of someone but since they did not make my flight late there was nothing they could do. I ended up spending the night in the Vegas airport listening to WOW worship yellow ( totally awesome btw) and scrapping on the floor. It was actually pretty peaceful, I would even do it again.....Not today though. A bad attitude was not going to solve it all for me so I figured I may as well have a good time! LOL. A little excerpt from my journal says: " one month ago I was here in Vegas and my life was completely changed, I never imagined I would be back here so soon and definitely not under these circumstances, but it is a pretty cool way to celebrate and reflect on one rockin' month!"
Other than some issues getting an airline to take responsibility for getting me to Salt Lake in the morning, and a couple of teary moments, it was pretty smooth sailing from there and I must report that the trip home was MUCH smoother!

that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

CK photo shoot!!!

Hellooo!!!!! sorry for the absence in blogging, it has been a wild and wonderful week of CK goodness. Above is a peek at my work space right here in our family room. As you can see our home is filled with colorful fun! We have been working on an area for me down in the basement for the times when I need to get away and concentrate, but for the most part I really LOVE to be right here with everyone, having the girls sit and work on their crafts with me at my island while I work on mine, or chatting with Cam in the evening while he watches a show or plays a game. It is good.

Brian and Skylar came out last week to do my CK photo shoot. They did photos here at home with Cam and the kids, and we also got out skating and playing in the snow!!! whoo hoo! I seriously had such a blast! ( I even managed to forget about having strep thraot and an ear infection, and totally ignored the reaction that was coming on from my antibiotics!!!) The guys were wonderful, and totally cool to hang out with, working really well together, and making me feel completely at ease. Emilea said right after they left " those guys are just like dads" which from her means that they were kind and fun and comfortable to be around :) she was so right.

Below is Skylar and I shooting in our living room; different space, more stripes more color! I totally can't wait to see the photos, from what I saw of them here Sky is just as talented as he is fun! And Brian is perfect for his job too, kind and good with the perfect eye for making things look awesome! This definitely goes down as one of the coolest days this year, though we have had a few lately hey?!

Thanks so much guys!

a giraffe, a princess and a bumblebee in the snow!

and last but not least in any way, my baby giraffe was totally oh so happy. All day she was asking everyone " what you be?" and then telling us "I be j-raff" when the time finally came she was squealing with delight, and did NOT want to take her costume off at the end of the night. she carried a little lunch bag and said thank-you at every door. Oh and as you can see I was Minnie mouse ( minus the wee red dress and black nose) lol. Cam and I dress up to some degree every year. It just makes it extra fun and the kids get a kick out of it. It was great fun to join our good friends, the Kornelsens over in their neighborhood. Kris and Kristie and their three boys are the perfect match for us and our three girls, when ever we get the bunch of us together you know good things are going to happen...or at least great adventures! Friends like them are the greatest treasure, they make every day better just by being them, and I am totally incredibly thankful.

the prettiest princess to ever wear a touque instead of a crown! Tiara "got it" 100% this year and it was the first time that she just had fun and did her thing without feeling appriehensive about it all. I am SO proud of her. She deals with so many sensory issues and though it is hard for all of us at times, she is always so brave and tries so hard to be her happy little self

my sweet bee :) she wore this bee body for halloween the year she was two, and this year at the last minute decided to forgo her pink fairy costume and go for the bee again! only this time she mixed with with a teletubby head. and wore it over the puffy-est jacket she has. Cam and I laughed so so hard at our big eared oh so round bumblebee...too funny! I love this kid to bits, she makes me laugh every day

be encouraged....and Thank-you KI !!!

Look at me lost in my beautiful wonderful pile of happiness!!! thank-you to KI memories for giving me enough product and awesome beautiful albums to open a small store!!!! WOW! I am amazed and feel totally blessed to have these things come my way! some products I only dreamed of but just didn't have the $$ to spend on it all ( scrap budget, y'know). I am totally digging into this yummy stuff and using it on some of my projects on-the-go NOW! This is like the set for life lottery for scrapbookers!!!

Everyone out there who scraps whether you think you are "good enough" or not ( I did not think I could possibly have a shot at this contest and almost didn't enter at all ) I would highly recommend entering the SOY contest next year!!! For the personal journey of doing the portfolio and writing the essay; for me a journey within myself to dig up the best of what I have to offer, and for the chance to be treated like a princess by CK, and then THIS! Seriously...Enter!!! There is nothing at all to lose and everything to gain, just by completing the entry. Everyone of you out there is good enough. I am not someone who has been published a lot in CK, in fact I had submitted to calls for almost a year without getting a page call until after being chosen as a finalist. I had done one assignment ( seen in Nov. CK - Ali's lucky girl article) and received an honorable mention in this years hall of fame contest, and that's it. Just me, here, with passion and dreams. and look at this!!!

you will hear me say this a lot over the next year because it is my personal motto but I just want you all to be encouraged to Dream, believe , create...in whatever part of your life it applies. For me it applies to my art; dream a dream, believe you can, and create totally unique art from the heart. That is where it's at.

blessings and smiles

Thank-you Legacy!!!

what do you see in this picture? the dump of snow we have gotten in the last 24 hours? yes. it is suddenly a winter wonderland here. and I am happily awaiting my evening out trick-or-treating in the snow with a little giraffe, cinderella and a bumble bee. what else? a whole entire palette, as tall as me!!!! boxes and boxes filed with pretty pretty organizing goodies from Legacy! WOWZERS!!! thank-you so much Legacy crafters! I can't wait to dig into these boxes and start finding places for all of my fun goodies. I love organizing solutions, with passion. I bought this new BHG organizing magazine the other day and laughed at myself for being so giddy about it! At a glance of my house you'd never know how much I love good organization but girl can dream right?! and by the looks of the stack on my driveway my dreams just came true!!!

still Growing

click image to view larger

This is an older layout of mine that I had done for a challenge to make a page about how you see yourself. supply list can be seen here. I loved the way it made me dig deeper than I normally would in my scrapping about me...well if I even scrap about me lol! I think the journaling is just really real...something I will want to look back on years from now, so I figured I would share this.

journaling says:

My body is grown but I am still growing. God is doing a work in me that continues each day and grows with all the new experiences and moments that come my way. When I look at myself I see that there are so many sides to me; I am all of the things that I dreamed of being in my bestest dreams as a little girl. Being a wife & a Mama & an artist were my greatest ambitions as a child.

What a great honor God has given me to entrust me with this perfect little family. I sometimes feel like he has more faith in me than I do though! I'm not always sure that I have what it takes to properly handle every little big situation that I need to deal with well, in this oh so very important position I have. I've got one shot at these years with my young family, and I want so much to do it well.

I am someone who embraces life and every day with the thought that all I know for sure is that I have this moment here and now. I try so hard to give some of me to those I care for in different ways, to be a blessing to those who cross my path. I tell my immediate family how much I Love them often, but I am not always the best at saying how I feel to all the other important people in my life. So I love to give, and I often share my love for people through my art and my gifts. I pour my heart into the projects I do for the people I care about.

Then beyond happy dreams come true, there is so much more to me: I am silly and fun and I don't care much about what others think. I am so very sensitive and hurt way too easily. And what I like to call laid-back, often results in piles of dirty dishes and laundry to wade through.

As I am blessed with so many wonderful opportunities I am growing and learning to balance the different parts of my life better. And while I am learning to effectively balance, I am growing as a better wife and a better mom for my family.I take the challenges in my Art and work through them letting each challenge push me farther and make me better at what I do. I smile when I take a step back and see the growth in myself. Then I look inside at all the growing I still have to do and I know God is not finished with me, I know I am still growing.

so there you have it! and of course there is a bit more to this post :) I want to extend the same challenge to you. Dig deeper than you may normally, and create a layout that reflects you, how you see yourself, let "you" shine in every detail ( journaling, accent choices, colors etc). Iguaranteee no matter how you see yourself it will feel great to scrap it!Pleasee show me once you have done it, I would love to get to know some of you more :) come and leave me a link in the comments.

Be real , Be free, Enjoy this one!!!

a family weekend

It has been a nice family weekend, and good to take some breaks from the work I have been doing ( I'll explain that later) Tiara started a new gymnastics program on Friday and Emilea did on Saturday. Then Little Kaiella did a dance show for all of the grandparents at her mom-and-me dance class. It was really cute! We took her out with the grandmas to Tim Hortons for donuts afterwards. She wanted more and more! 5 Timbits didn't cut it, I am sure she would have eaten the whole box if we let her!

Totally fun to eat out last night with the two littlest ones, even though it was just McDonalds, and Emy had a total blast going to hang out with some good friends. Today we have kept things quieter, and right now Cam and the girls are off picking out pumpkins for us to carve! I love this tradition!!! I love getting all messy with pumpkin guts and roasting the seeds and deciding what this years pumpkin face will look like. I will never grow out of it!!! It is COLD here today and snowing! brrrrrr! not quite ready for that yet, but thoughts of a few days out in Salt Lake coming up soon keeps me happy, knowing it can not possibly be this cold there! These little people in my house just make me laugh so much, I am always amazed at how different each of the girls is ( just like us big people I guess) and their little quirks make me smile.

The gang is all back as I am writing this and I can hear buzz upstairs of baking sugar cookies with Daddy, rented movies, and the pumpkins that they picked. Off I go to join in the fun! hope you are all getting in some good fun family time this weekend

be happy

Kids are so great they find happiness in the most simple things around them...total simple wonderful JOY! remember today to see the simple everyday things in your life that bring you so much happiness if you stop long enough to notice them! 

Memory Trends- my version

Memory Trends 2006

here is another little web album, if you are interested, click on the image above and it should take you to the photos. from there you can click on the first photo to see them bigger or just chose a slideshow.

OK So, first of all, I apologize for being the slowest person ever to blog about Memory Trends, I haven't said much about the show itself and I wanted to share a wee bit. There just has been so much else to talk about!

The show was a blast, it was busy but the good kind of busy that means you are having fun! It was so cool to meet so many really great people, I can't wait for the next show now so that I can see some familiar faces :) Thank goodness I had Leslie keeping me on time, because I would have happily chatted all day long and lost track of time all together! On the first day she really got me everywhere I was scheduled to be, brought me water and was just a real doll to be around. The sponsors were all very good to me, I started the day at CKs booth and found it super funny to see my big face on the SOY sign! Nice to meet some of the more behind the scenes CK staff too they were all super friendly, I can't wait for my trip out there to the offices to see them all again! We headed over to Legacy crafters next and I have to say I adore this bunch they are fun and just way cool to hang out with, I felt right at home with them, except when Max started waving my big face sign in the air and announcing that I was there, I think my face turned a new shade of pink, but I still got a kick out of it. That is just what I loved about them, their willingness to have a good time. Leslie picked me up for my Diva craft lounge interview and then we were off to KI memories. I really enjoyed myself there too, Ira and the other KI folks were totally welcoming to me and the people who stopped by were totally ready to make something, I had fun meeting folks and seeing the cool ways that everyone's mind works so differently even with pretty much the same product. I love that! Then off to HP where I got to see an idea of just how HUGE the printer is that they are giving me! ENORMOUS! They had made up nice photo mats and people were getting a picture taken with me, printed right there, and being given a cool package to take with them. So that was fun. Next we left the show all together and got to relax a tad while Leslie drove us over to 'Pebbles in my pocket' to meet some nice ladies there. A super cute store, really set up nicely and I even picked up some yummy lolipops there for all of the SOY girls and a cool 7gypsies stamp for ME! Can't beat a store that has scrap supplies AND candy!!! Dinner with everyone was really nice, it was great to have some time to get to know some of the other girls a bit better too. That is one thing I really missed, I felt like there just wasn't enough time together with all of the amazing ladies to really connect the way I would have wanted too. We did stay after supper to get some extra visiting in and I can tell you I slept reeeeally good that night!

Day two Cam took over Leslie's job of getting me where I was supposed to be on time and I have to say he is WAY more strict than her! Honestly though, I have been really thankful for his organized brain guiding me through what I need to do next, not just that day but still now everyday. There is so much for me to think of and he does such a wonderful job of lovingly encouraging me to stay focused, or guiding me to what needs to happen next. Thanks babe!

We started the morning at Ellison where they showed me just how to use ALL of the new stuff I will be receiving from them, WOW, LOTS! I just can't believe the generosity of these 4 companies. I do have a confession to make, I had never used a die cut before this...Not a clue, scared of them even! But after our time there with the kind ( and patient) people from Ellison, I am totally excited to make some really cool stuff when my new machines and toys show up! A few repeat appearances on this day, which was fun because I was feeling even more comfortable with the whole thing. I was happy too for the chance to walk the show a wee bit and meet some of the super online friends I have gotten to know. That is my favorite thing. Meeting people, connecting. It is just wonderful! There was so much to take in and I loved it all, but it really is the people who make events like this so very cool. To all those I met, thank-you for making this experience great!

inquring minds

Haha, Erin says they want to know! so she did a little interview with me and posted it HERE. Some of the questions I answered are things that I would have written here, so if you are curious at all about some of the details of, how I felt when they called my name, or how I'll spend the prize $$, etc... check it out!

Happy Monday!

MRI update

Thank-you so so much for all of the kind thoughts and prayers sent our way. Cam and I were able to feel really peaceful about the whole thing and I am sure that helped her. Kaiella did as well as she could worried but brave, we had talked about and practiced the check-up part with her little fisher-price doctor kit and she even brought her own little plactic needle along with her! We promised her that after she woke up from her "sleep" we would go for ice cream, it was funny because she wanted to bolt after everything they did, like after checking her b.p. she would say tot he nurse "thank-you, OK done, bye, going for ice cream" she called her little gown a dress and felt so pretty, and the board on her arm for the I.V. they said was a "little bed" for her arm so she thought that was alright too. she was hard to put under, and before she was even fully out of the machine she was already awake asking for mama and her ice cream lol! we took her out for lunch ( she hadn't been allowed to eat since the night before and it was after 2pm) and she happily gobbled it up and then over to one of our favorite ice cream stores. She was so so happy. We will get results in 2-3 weeks. thank-you again to everyone for the caring and prayer.

The chalking fun!

here's a little visual of my chalk Joy from the other day. you can see our totally chalked black coffee table ( what better to use as a blackboard right?!) and it may be hard to tell from here but Kaiella's back had already been given a pink Ball gown, You can see Emilea in this picture working hard on a glass slipper and Tiara was at the side doing a nice long glove LOL! I am happy to report the table is only slightly chalkie looking now and the fun they had was well worth it!!! looking at it just makes me smile so BIG! I love this! THIS is what being a kid is all about! adventure , fun , imagination and TOTAL freedom to play and create ANYTHING! I learn so much from these three little people every single day :) 

MRI day for Kaiella

First of all I have to say that I totally Love this picture of little Bella, it just really captures "her" filled with total joy! dimple and all :)

Today is the day that our baby Kaiella goes for an MRI. She has suffered from dizzy spells since she was just under a year old. She will be running and playing or sometimes just sitting nicely and she suddenly gets really worried and upset, falls down or puts her head down and tells us "spinning!!!" It is not her inner ears so the Doctor is being very thorough and doing the BIG tests. I have to say the EEG was NOT fun, they made us leave and she was horrified to be held down while these things got put all over her head, she didn't calm down until they let me come back in and be with her. Good news is that I am pretty sure that test was all normal and good or we would have been contacted by now. I am glad to know that we get to stay with her for this one , and she will be put under so she really won't see the big MRI machine. I have been preparing her as best I can, telling about the I.V. in her hand, and that she will have a little sleep while they take pictures of her head. It may be hard on Cam and I, I am glad that we will have each other, I just really hope she can feel peaceful about it all, and that the doctors and technicians handle it all with sensitivity for her.

I was hoping to ask those of you praying folks out there to say a little prayer for us today. We sure would appreciate that.

Make and Takes and my chalk joy

It was so much fun meeting people and sharing my make and takes with them. Leslie Miller and her little 5 year old Alexander did an amazing job putting together hundreds of make and take kits for me ( thank-you sooo much!) It is a little motivational card that showed off products from all 4 of our sponsors ( HP, Ellison, Legacy crafters, and KI memories) and explores the world of mixing digi and paper scrapping! People seemed to have fun with them and I just had a blast meeting and chatting it up :)

here are a few more sample cards:

I really hope some people will go home and explore new ways of creating, using all of the possibilities of digital, while adding the dimention and texture of traditional scrapbooking. And if nothing else, the quote on the card is one we all need a reminder of sometimes;

" there is great joy to be found here in this moment"

It happens to everyone, we get so busy and caught up in our day that we can just forget to stop and find the joy in the little things. for me right this moment I have these three sisters all playing happily together, Kaiella is sitting in the middle of the coffee table and her, Emilea and Tiara have sidewalk chalked all over it while I was blogging, the big girls are now drawing a ball gown, gloves and shoes on little Bella while she happily enjoys their attention and thanks them every few seconds. lol! I could be totally mad for the chalk all over, but I have got to say THAT is Joy if I have ever seen it!!! I love it! off to get some photos of the body art and my new home decor!

remember today to stop and look around at the great Joy in your life.

Have a Diva Day!!!

On my first day at Memory Trends I had a live radio interview with Diva Danielle and Rayme Royale on the Diva Craft Lounge. They crowned me and everything!!! you can find the links to listen to the show here. My interview is at the end of the first link and the beggining of the second one! Fun stuff!

Day one in Vegas

I don't have more than a few photos of our first amazing day in Vegas including the beautiful reception that CK put on for us ( I am really hoping some of the other SOY girls will share with me! pretty please) but I figure the time has come for me to share some of our Vegas experience on here! It was totally mind blowing to drive up to this huge resort in this BIG flashy city, just the lobby of the Venetian took my breath away!

Check out the ceiling in the entrance hall! Beautiful!

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Since it was about 9 1/2 hours of traveling for us, we arrived and pretty much had only enough time to drop our bags off and quickly take in the sight of our amazing room before running off to meet Leslie Miller, Candace, and all of the girls. I have to say everyone was even WAY cuter in person!!! I loved them all right away. We got bags FILLED with amazing goodies from CK ( including Becky's new family heritage book coming soon and the new creative companion, as well as CKU shirts and "stuff", I have been totally living in the super comfy sweatshirt I got!) Once we had a chance to meet eachother we went off to the balcony at the front of the hotel for a photo shoot with Candace Stringham ( she is totally cute and super nice, not to mention WAY talented! I really enjoyed meeting her) We had such a blast it felt like I had known these girls forever, I was pretty bummed that I had left my camera up in our room, but there were plenty of cameras snapping so there is bound to be some good pics out there for me to snag.

I am trying out Picasa web albums for sharing the bunches of photos I have from the trip, so you should be able to click on the image below to take you to my album and then you can see the photos larger by clicking on one of them in there

SOY reception

The reception was beautifully done! I am so thankful for all of the hard work that went in to making it a really special night for all of us! Cute nametags, Wonderful flower arrangements for centre pieces, and we each had our own table featuring our photo, one of the layouts from our entry and a write-up about us. We each had editors, magazine staff and sponsors at our tables, so we all got a little love :) The food was great and the company even greater! And then Lisa .B called my name as the winner! and I was more stunned and speechless than I have ever been in my life, it was like a dream. You can read more about how I felt in my interview with Erin Lincoln on the CK site Friday ( I think) I will post a link to it when it is up.

What a wonderful whirlwind first day! It is one I won't soon forget, for so many reasons :)

scrap yourself

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I challenge you!
This weeks OTB challenge at Scrapartist was mine and I asked before we left if I could post it when we got home. So my challenge for this week is to scrap yourself. I know, I know, it's not innovative, or exciting, or some Fab new idea...but it is important and all too often left out of our scrapbooks. So please be like Nike and "just do it!" you won't regret it :)

make a layout about what makes you you, your thoughts on something, or a relationship ( with a pet, kid, thing....anything goes!) or a single moment, as long as it is you in there!!! when you have done your "you" layout come and join in posting over at scrapartist in the challenge gallery or leave me a link here in the comments so I can check it out!!!

This is a paper-digi mixed layout of mine, Cam and I sharing a milkshake in Chicago this past summer. The photo was taken by our good pal Amy Martin (alb52). you can see my supply list here.

take two: if just scrapping yourself is not enough of a challenge for you try one of these!
- use stamps to cut out your title
-use your own handwriting ( whether you like it or not)
-alter your photo to create the mood ( tinted here for a retro malt shop feel)

Happy scrapping, my friends!!!

ETA: by all means , please do this in whatever fashion feels good to you, paper, digi, mixed-up, or even as a project. Just have fun exploring "you"

Congratulations ( hi from Cam)

I thought this would be a good time for me to step in and take a shot at this blog thing while giving me a chance to congratulate my wonderful wife. For those of you who don't know me, I'm CD's lucky husband Cam. Over the past year or so I have had the chance to see my wife's passion pour out into this cool new world (For me at least) called Scrapbooking. What a world it is!!! I really can't say enough about how cool Las Vegas was and how great Creating Keepsakes treated everyone (Allowing the hubbies to more than just "tag along" was awesome!) Thanks CK for a wonderful experience.

It truly was a pleasure to meet all the finalists, friends on the show floor, and a bunch of the CK staff. All of you were very friendly and I really enjoyed spending time with all of you : ) Vegas was jaw dropping, but I can't wait to chat with everyone again. I wish you all the best in the future!!!

Alright.... CONGRATULATIONS CD!!! I love you!!! I am so proud to be your husband and your friend. Know that your family, and friends, and ME most of all, are here for you now and forever in the future.

Can you believe it??!!!!!

I am not even sure if I do yet!!!! but here in my hotel room is this sign with my big face on it, and this HUGE cheque for $10,000! So it has got to be real!!!

Okay, rewind...I better explain what I am talking about :) Here I am in Vegas for Memory Trends on this AMAZING trip that Creating Keepsakes sent all 10 of us SOY finalists on, seriously, they have treated us like royalty right down to the details!!! ( Which I am so going to write about when I get home!!) Tuesday night we attended a wonderful wonderful reception with the editors and magazine staff, and the sponsors of the contest, where they honored us all. and then.....announced ME as the new CK scrapbooker of the year!!!!!!! WOW!!!!! I just can't believe it!!!

I am so so honored and thankful and excited more than I can begin to explain. This just means so much for me and my family, and I haven't even wrapped my head around everything that is going to be happening yet. I was oh so Blessed in my life already, so this is really just icing on the cake! A couple of months ago, with lots going on for a few of my family members, I had come to a place of realizing what I already knew; that I don't know what this next year will hold for us all, or the next day for that matter, but God does, he knows what is in store for my family and where I need to be. And I was just feeling that I was not carrying on with this contest hoping to win Scrapbooker of the year, but instead, I had prayed so many times that I would just be where God wants me to be and be doing what it is I am supposed to be doing. So here I am! and I carry on from here with that outlook.....it's gonna be great!!! So many really cool people came to play with me and do make and takes on wed, and thurs. I just love meeting new people and getting the chance to chat! it was totally fun!!! And I have a bunch of photos Cam took that I will share when I am back home

Cam and I are trying to fit in as much seeing Vegas as we can in our two "vacation" days, it sure is nice just to be away together. We walked the strip yesterday and saw Cirque du Soliel at night. He wants to find the Apple store today, and see if our tired little legs will carry us all the way over to see the Luxor and a few of the Hotels over in that direction and if we are lucky maybe another show tonight before we pack up. When I get home I can share some of my pictures, and everything else I have forgotten to write right now. I can't seem to get access to my email from here, so I'll get into that when I am home too!

Can you guys do me a favor please? I have been told by some of the people at the show that there are nice congrats threads and stuff out there in scrappy net land and I don't want to miss any of them in my overwhelmedness. If you know of any and have a minute please leave me a link in the comments so I can go and read em and say thanks :)

I'll be back in two days! thanks so much to CK and all of my new friends for making this week a totally amazing one!!!

ETA: here I am asking for links so I don't miss out on the kind congrats threads out there and I totally missed all of the wonderful congrats right here in the comments on my last blog post!!! :O whooops! thank-you all so so much for all of the kind words, I am all teary reading what has been written to me. It really makes this all the more special :)