full of life

My little Tiara, as seen in Scrapbooks etc. nov/dec issue. This photo just says it all! she really is so very full of life. I LOVE this delightful little face. thanks for letting me share :)

Happy day wishes to you

quick note

just a note to let you know that my challenge for the week is up Here with a new layout . This one is about scrapping the people that are so important to us but somehow end up missing from our albums.

Should be an RSS feed over there soon. Have a good weekend!

chat tonight

aren't these cute stamps?! I am chatting over at Designer Digitals tonight 10pm est and Katie is going to be giving these away to those in attendance! Come on over and hang out, it is always a good time with the DD crowd :)

today I Get Over IT !

I have been thinking today about something very important. Pictures. It is just so important to step up and take them! I so often feel like I am being a bother to people and even though I do get plenty of candid shots that capture life around, I pass up the chance to get good pictures of our friends or family members who may not enjoy having a "look up and smile pretty" photo-op. Or I don't simply re-take the one that may not have turned out very nicely even though my digital screen shows me the results right away. I am too concerned about being a pain-in-the-butt. Today is the day I want to Get Over IT! feel free to join me, I guarantee you will never regret having those precious photos. But you will regret NOT having them. Think of your grandparents, cousins, good friends, how many times have you been together and taking photos of maybe the kids or the cake and these very important people end up not there nearly often enough in your photo albums! Look through your files or albums right now, who is missing? Please please join me in making a conscious effort to change this. The time is now, we just don't know how long any of us have to be together.

I am going to be accountable to you all and show you in a month or two all of the wonderful people in my life I have captured forever in photos.

:) smiles to you, enjoy the day!

my snow people!

My girls in front of course and I am pleased to introduce "April" our snow lady. The picture is from last week. This week so far has brought need for hibernation, with the windchill it is -40c ! The van does not want to start at all and it hurts to breathe in deep. Everyone who knows me knows how much I love to breathe in deeply the fresh crisp air, so I am hoping this super extreme cold passes soon. I am working on assembling a list of good answers to some of the questions that have come my way. Some really good thoughts and ideas everyone has for me as well. Tutorials on things like drop shadows for digi scrapping and showing some of the how-tos behind my take on "hybrid" scrapping... etc, fun stuff :) I'm on it! Keep the thoughts and ideas coming my friends!

We have been doing some running around getting everything we need for our passports, not such an easy process. It will be a happy day when I can go and pick them up and check that off of my list. Beginning to think more about preparing everything for our trip to California, I can't believe how fast time seems to be going. I leave in 10 days! WOW! I am really looking forward to this new adventure, I have never been to winter CHA and going there with the wonderful ladies on the CK team is sure to be delightful. then at the end my Cam and Emilea will arrive and I can't tell you how pumped I am to see her reaction to this cool part of my scrapping world ( she's a little scrapper too y'know) I think she's gonna flip out!

happy Tuesday

head's up

just a quick note to let you know that the "feel the moment" challenge for the week is up at my CK blog with a new paper layout. In case you feel like checking it out! come on over and play with me there too :)

what can I do for you?

I am posting this on both of my blogs today because I have gotten so many emails with questions, I am thinking there may be others out there. I really want to get everyone involved, and be of help to you if I can. so today I ask you “what can I do for you?” Is there something you would like to see as a part of the blog? A feature? A discussion? Questions I may be able to answer for you? Tell me what is on your mind :)

There is one question that I have gotten so often, “how do I begin to customize my blog space like you have done?” To be honest I really have no idea, I am blessed to have a husband who is a software developer and does these types of things for me! I am happy to say that he has agreed to write up some basic instructions and we will leave a link here on the side of the blog soon.

I really do love to hear from you all, I am so grateful for the friends I have met from all over the world through this beautiful art we do. We tell each other our best stories and get to know the magical moments of each others lives through our pages. And through that we get to know so much about each other. I feel like I know so many of you from the parts of your lives you have shared. I always wanted a pen pal as a little girl, I could have never dreamed I would get so many!!! Thank-you.

a whole hand!!!

Happy Birthday baby girl!!!!

Our little Tiara is five! I can hardly believe it, time sure flies with these little ones. It seems she was just turning 2 yesterday and here we are getting ready for kindergarten next year. WOW! She is so proud to be "a whole hand!" we had a really nice day together. I let her stay in her jammies until the afternoon and we just stayed home together and cuddled lots and played. So many days she struggles with all of her sensory issues just to get dressed. so for her, staying home in jammies is the best treat :) We picked up daddy from work and all went out for a nice birthday supper. It was so cute the way her sisters both tried to make her feel special too. Little Kaiella was singing happy birthday all day long.

Experience life!

We went out tobogganing with Kristy and her boys yesterday, it was so so much fun! nice weather, fresh air and lots and lots of playing

Just Look at this Emilea-girl of mine! totally unsure of the outcome, it is very possible that she will flip, fall off, or wipe out completely, but she hops on that sled, lays back and shuts her eyes to fully experience the sensation of speeding down the hill. And when we went skating with our good friends on New Years Day; I watched in total awe while she skated as fast as her little learning legs could carry her and wiped out hard, just to get right up and do it all over, again and again. I am so much more cautious than that LOL, I often wish I had the gutts to take on life the way she does! To just totally enjoy the experience of living without the fear of falling. There is a quote I love that says "don't worry about tomorrow God is already there" How true. I'm not a huge worrier, just cautious, and my mind is always working overtime. I want to feel the joy of totally letting go the way Emilea does to fully experience life! and when I fall, well, I want to hop up and do it again!!! Thanks Emy for all of the ways I learn from you :)

I wish you the joy of speeding down the hill, experience life my friends! what a beautiful thing :)

a bunch of happy

click on image to view larger

This is the original version of one of my all time favorite pages ( a simpler variation seen in CKs digital insert- Jan 07) I really wanted to share the layout just as I made it, because I love it. but also I have been thinking about When I had my CK online crop and made one of the challenges to "let your product lead you" I was surprised to hear how many people had never thought this way. Some of my favorite pages have been inspired simply by one cool product that I just HAD to use and built around that. For example this page began with Amy Martin's cool bookplates. I love the memory I have of little Tiara happily discovering that she could wash the windows with snow, but I had been unsure for some time as to how I would scrap these 6 photos. These bookplates reminded me of windows and that was all of the inspiration I needed to build from there! Phonebook tabs with corresponding numbers tell the story in point form.

I want to encourage you once again if you are someone who most often looks for product to fit in to your layout, to switch things up once and awhile and let the product be your starting place. It's all kinds of fun! and speaking of fun, head over HERE to check out some new work ( with new fonts on it ;) and the first of my weekly CK blog challenges; this week it is called "just for fun"... I love this attitude, it makes me happy!

Honestly though, that is not hard to do these days. I am happy. Happy to have these beautiful kids, happy that my husband is amazing, that we are a family who laughs a lot. Happy that my work is my passion ( how lucky am I?!). and you know I am seriously just happy to breathe in the fresh air when we step outside. There are plenty of things I could grumble about for sure ( and believe me I do), but it's not going to help anything really, is it? so I would much rather look and find the things in my world that make me happy. choose to be happy. I hope that this will help the girls to grow to see the world through these eyes as well, that they can grow to be people who look for the good that surrounds them and be thankful for it.

thanks for stopping by today to see what's up in my little corner of the world, have a good one :)

what is.......

THIS?? heehee it is a super fun part of my job!...my new CK blog, opening today! There will be updates at least 3 times a week and Here is where I will be sharing my newest work and challenges. I am really looking forward to being able to connect with the readers, share, and highlight artsts in the community. For those of you who are scrappy folks please come and visit often, I can't wait to get this rolling and see how it unfolds

I have been working really hard on 25 new fonts coming soon!!! keep an eye out at the new CK blog over the next few days for a sneak peek ;)

Happy Thursday, make it a fun one!

a glorious mess!

This describes my house right now, everywhere I look is covered in wonderful messes, I mean covered! I am not complaining at all, far from it...I LOVE it! I am looking around and just grinning, it makes me so happy LOL! I see evidence of a blessed life in every direction, proof of fun and creativity. New books being discovered, puzzles and games that have been played over and over, markers glue and sequins from crafting with the kids. There are mittens and hats strewn about, drying from a romp in the snow. I have been making things with the girls today and we are having such fun, Tiara has been sitting at my island with me and she has made me at least 8 pictures and projects, the other 2 coming and going as they like. She wrote me a letter on the last picture, so so so cute! It says: "I love crafting with you mama, you are the best crafter in the whole world, have a special day, I love you sweet mama" This stuff right here is just the highlight of my life. I need to pull out the vacum and suck up the popcorn and sequins and little bits, but first I wanted to stop and smile at it all. One Big happy hurricane :)

The picture is a silly one of Tia from last week, we went out to the children's museum with our friends who were visiting from Seattle. Lots of fun!

hoping you can enjoy some happy hurricanes while the kids are home from school ;) Happy Wednesday

Check out this New Years treat!

Amazing and inspiring digi scrappers and designers Amy Martin- AKA alb52, and Natalie Braxton- AKA Tali, have a new store opening today with a cool new years discount. Check out The Lily Pad HERE. And they will be adding more new stuff every Friday! Yipeee :) I seriously can't get enough of these girls' elements. They are so totally "real" and super duper creative. I have been inspired time and again to create a layout after grabbing some of their new products. They both make just what I need to get out of a rut or add that fresh something I am looking for...Just can't say enough.

a few of my favs right here...Awesomely RAD and inspiring hey?!
good Luck ladies! I know you will have a huge huge success

Happy New year!!!

From our Winter Wonderland to you!

It was a perfect New Years Eve day after a lovely storm last night brought us more than plenty of fun fluffy flakes to play in today. And warm wishes to everyone, hoping you all had a very Merry Christmas also, I will have to post a few favorite pics from our festivities, I have just been really enjoying our family time this year and haven't been "computing" at all over the holidays. We have had some good family game nights complete with popcorn from my new popper ( thanks Baba!) and time with some good friends and family that we don't get to see every day. We really managed to have a great relaxed holiday this year, not too much rushing and hustle bustle, just happy togetherness :)

Here is the view down our street, awesome hey?! I LOVE the way the snow piles up on the evergreen trees, and the air is so crisp and fresh to breathe in, just like after a spring rain shower only chillier...Delightful! I Love living here, I love every minute of this, When I wake up and rush to the window to discover a world covered under a beautiful shimmery blanket I feel like a little girl all over again, and watching the girls discover it all and fully delight in the moment makes it 100 times better.

the kids had so much fun, sliding down the driveway, tunneling through the deep snow, creating beautiful snow angels and helping to shovel . The best part is that it is not our usual -35c at all, more like -5c ( which for those of you who don't speak Celsius is quite pleasant) So we get the best of it all ! all of the great snowy adventures that we love and nice enough temps. Not to be human popsicles.

Today I thank God for fresh flakey snow days. Tell me, what is wonderful in your world right now?