Close To My Heart Regionals Convention

So as some of you already know, this past weekend I attended my FIRST Close To My Heart Regional Celebration. I had a blast and was definately worth the money!!! We got lots of free products to use and create some fun projects while we were there. I left Eau Claire Thursday evening to head to Minneapolis. I drove...which was a huge accomplishment for me because I am not a cities driver. I got us there in one piece with the help of a little GPS...thank goodness! The convention was all day Friday and went until 5:30 pm on Saturday. There were business classes each day and then creative sessions where we even got to create a journal that isn't even out in the catalog yet! We also got to see a sneak peak of the Jan, Feb, and March stamps of the month sets. It was a fabulous time especially to spend a few days with 300 ladies that have the same hobby and love for a company as I do.

Below is a photo of Jeanette Lynton - the founder and CEO of Close To My Heart!

It was nice to see that Jeanette made it all the way to Minneapolis to share these few days with us!

Below is a photo of my working during the Friday creative session. It was a ton of fun and you will have to check back soon to see a photo of the layout that I am working on in this photo. Friday night I also attended the 5 hour crop that they held. I didn't bring anything extra to work on as I just finished up this layout and talked to all of the fun ladies. As you can also see, I got my hair cut again...love the new shorter hair. Fun, easy, and quick. Gotta Love It!

I am going to be trying to keep up on my blog more consistantly. I hope to be able to post every couple days and I would really like to start some new things such as showing some CTMH products and comparing some supplies that you might not have ever used before. I am also hoping to be able to have a Technique Tuesday or a project a week or something along those lines. The gears in my head have been turning since the first business session and I can't wait to get my CTMH stuff going again. I am going to try very hard to set aside CTMH time and not let my teaching take over my entire life!!

And my last photo for tonight is my precious little JAIDYN! I missed her a lot while I was gone this weekend but it was good to get away. She is so much fun right now and is learning more and more words. Today Jaidyn started saying "nine" (mine) and she now can call me mom instead of "bampa" or whatever else she felt like calling me. I am loving to hear all the words she is learning to say. I am guessing that it won't be long until she will be talking 24 hours a day. :)

Stay tuned for more fun photos from the CTMH Convention...

Photos...finally the photos!

I have finally gotten my act together and gotten the photos of my two duct tape totes that I created. The one below that is red, white, and black (Chippewa School colors of course!!) is a smaller purse size. Really fun size. I took this to the CTMH convention this weekend (that post comes next!!!) and it fit my camera and other little things that I wanted to take with me. Just the right size!

Below is a photo of both of my tote bags. The teal and black one is the first one I made at a class and I ended up adding some velcro at the top to keep it closed. The smaller one sits nicely and is a bit more sturdy. Gotta love the things you can do with duct tape!!!

Just so everyone knows...

I do plan to have a class on making duct tape tote bags. I am thinking that I will leave it open to create a bag of choice. I don't really care what size you want to make and you can even decide when you see my two bags when you get to the class. I was thinking of having the class at Down Memory Lane so it is a public class but then I am also wondering who else is interested because I was also tossing around the idea of just having a class at my house or at one of my schools in Chippewa Falls. Leave a comment here or send me an e-mail if you have interest in a class and that will help me decide where I want to have my class.

Duct Tape Tote Bag

Tonight I attended a class at one of the local scrapbook stores and created my very own duct tape tote bag. It was a ton of fun and fairly easy to put together. I cannot wait to try to create a smaller one or different sizes of them. They could work out for cute little gifts. I made mine teal and black...watch for a photo soon. I am heading to bed for the evening but hope to post a photo sometime tomorrow after school.

Yes I am still here...

I know that many of you are probably wondering how everything is going and if I survived my first few weeks of school. YES YES YES...I certainly did survive and am loving it. As most of you already know, I am no longer working at Down Memory Lane (the scrapbook store) as I got a teaching job in Chippewa Falls. I am teaching at the alternative school there, one of the elementary schools, AND the high school. I was so scared of the high schools but at this point, they are my favorite! At this point, I somewhat dread going to the elementary school each day. I never thought that would ever happen! I think it is just so early in the year and the kindergarteners and 1st graders are not into the swing of school quite yet. Those are the only kiddies that I teach...the REALLY young ones. They are fun but they never close their mouths or sit in their seats. There is constantly things being blurted across the room or kids coming to me asking me to tie their shoes or if they can go to the bathroom when they just had a bathroom break before class. I also get a lot of hands in the air wanting to tell me about their birthdays or their teeth or their shoes. I even get lots of stuff that I don't want to hear and try to get them to stop talking mid sentence because I feel like I shouldn't be hearing the words that are coming out of their little mouths. Oh kids - they can be so cute and funny and SO frustrating at the same time. Gotta love them. My alternative school guys are pretty good. The first day I asked them to come up to the front of the class to come look at something that I wanted to show them and they all just sat there and stared at me. That day I thought I would have my hands full as I had to think long and hard to figure out how to get them to move off their lazy butts and how I could motivate them. After a few class periods they are much better...they will actually get up and walk around if needed. There are 12 boys and 1 girl at the alternative school and the majority of them are really fun to work with. Now for the high school and that darn computer animation class. I haven't really stressed about the class much, yet kindof just slid by at this point. We have been working with a program to create our first project so we haven't even started on the animation program...that starts this week. Let the stress set in! I am still waiting to figure this darn thing out. I worked with it a little bit and then school crept up on us and I started to focus on things that were taking place at that time and set the animation stuff aside. Now the time has come to begin frantically (AGAIN) getting ready for that part of the class. Overall, I have had no problems with my older students, just those little guys. I even had to send one kindergartener to the principal's office already...after his 2nd class of Art. Oh how those little tykes can be a CHALLENGE! So overall school is good.

I have been keeping busy with trying to get things situated for my Close To My Heart convention in Minneapolis in the beginning of October. CAN'T WAIT! Should be a ton of fun. Just trying to get the rooms situated and we will be all set. Oh, I cannot forget, I still have to create my 16 cards for my card swap that I am participating in but that shouldn't be too hard and shouldn't take TOO long.

My mom and I have been super busy lately with trying to get a bunch of "stuff" created. We are going to have a booth set up at a chuch festival this weekend near Mondovi. Should be lots of fun. We have created lots of fun creative things that we hope everyone likes. I am hoping to get more of this stuff in my Etsy shop in the near future so you can all see it and purchase any of it too.

Well, I am off to bed now as the week is only about to begin. This week is going to be a LONG one as I am taking a duct tape tote class tomorrow night (super excited!!) and then lots of other stuff. Noah's first teacher conference, Nate has two meetings, Scrapbook Til Midnight this Friday night at Down Memory Lane, and the festival fun on Sunday. Wow what a fast week this will most likely be. I hope to be back soon to show you some of our fun creations!!!

Doc Martens

Here is the photo for those of you that are looking for the photo of the Doc Martens shoes that I have for sale. They are a womens size 8 and tan in color.

Like I mentioned, they have only been worn a week or two and are like new. I am asking $85.00. If it were my choice I would keep them but they keep bothering my neck when I wear them. There is nothing wrong with the shoes, if I was not a chiropractic patient, I would most likely be able to wear these shoes just fine.

Please let me know if you have any questions...

Cricut Cartridge Storage Box

As many of you know, I own a cricut and over time have collected a large assortment of cartridges. I do not like to take each cartridge, booklet, and overlay out of the box each time that I use it and find myself not putting them back where they belong when I am done so I began looking for some type of storage and organization. This however, was hard to find. I personally don't care for the cricut storage boxes made by Provo Craft so I decided to get creative and make my own. I have created my own cricut mini boxes using the Design Studio and my Cricut, that hold the cartridges themselves and then I created an organizational system that works for me. To organize my cartridges and booklets I simply tie a different colored ribbon on each booklet and then staple a small piece of that same ribbon onto the mini box that houses the coordinating cartridge. I also write the names of each cartridge on the top of the mini boxes so I can easily see where each cartridge is. I can then locate the booklet by matching up the ribbons. This box fits up to 13 cartridges, booklets, and overlays.
Below is a photo of my storage box full...

I have decided to sell these cartridge boxes to anyone that is looking for a unique way to store the Cricut cartridges. I am selling these for $22.00 (plus shipping if you are not local). You can either order one from me to be shipped to you or picked up. You can also visit Down Memory Lane in Eau Claire and pick one up there. I am willing to make arrangements to meet you or drop one off to you if you are local.

Each box comes with 13 assembled mini boxes, 13 different colored ribbons, a brief description of how the system works, and a photo. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to place an order.
justletmecreate@yahoo.com

a few things have to go...

I am selling a few Close To My Heart stamp sets and paper packs that are all brand new and NEVER used. Below are photos of each item and prices. Keep your eye on my blog for upcoming items for sale as I plan to go through some of the items in my scrapbook room and let a few things go that I haven't used or rarely use.

D1198 The Gift of Love - - $20.00 Shipped

(I will get a closer photo so the sayings can be read)

D1140 Miracle - - $20.00 Shipped

C1252 Abundance Borders - - $18.00 Shipped

C1243 A Friend Is - - $18.00 Shipped

X7060B Heirloom Level 2 Paper Pack - - $12.00 plus shipping

~~Level 2 paper packs come with 12 patterned papers (2 each of 6 designs) AND 10 cardstock sheets (4 sheets neutral, 2 each of 3 colors)~~

X7073B Abundance Level 2 paper pack - - $12.00 plus shipping

~~Level 2 paper packs come with 12 patterned papers (2 each of 6 designs) AND 10 cardstock sheets (4 sheets neutral, 2 each of 3 colors)~~

so after two and a half weeks of waiting...

The principal from Chippewa Falls High School FINALLY called me the other day and offered me the high school position as well. I AM SO EXCITED to have a teaching job next year. I cannot wait to get started with all of my preparing. I will have a ton to prepare as I have never taught high school before. My teaching load is going to consist of Kindergarten and 1st grade and 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. I am a little scared about that....such young kids and then such old kids. A big difference but I am up for the challenge. I do not know my schedule yet which kindof stinks but that is ok. I will have to contact the other high school teacher (who either just had a baby or will be next week) after the 4th of July weekend and see if she can tell me a little more. All I know is that I will be teaching at the elementary school every day from 11:00 until 12 something.

I wish I had more time to post my creative stuff but I haven't had a lot of time to create anything. I am making Tinkerbell invitations and Thank you cards for Jaidyn's birthday. I cannot believe she turns two NEXT WEEK! She will be two on 7/7 (Tuesday) but we are having a party for her on Sunday (7/12). We are having a Tinkerbell party and I think it will be so much fun. I was bummed on her 1st birthday because we just had a really small party at the campground when she turned one. Now we are going to make up for that and I have a large list to invite. I know that not everyone will probably make it but as some of you know, we have a small house and hope that we can fit everyone in!!! :) Keep your eye out for a photo of her invited and Thank you cards.

We also have our house for sale. Last night a lady came to look at it and I actually know her a little bit from the scrapbook store as she shops there from time to time. So when she came to the door she said...."Oh Stacie...I know you from the store." So that was nice that I already was familiar with her a little bit. She seemed to really like the house and actually asked if she could bring her realtor back to the house later last night because they were looking at some other houses in the area together. They came back and she showed the realtor everything and explained to the realtor how her stuff would fit in our house. I think she really likes the house so we will see if we hear back from her!!

Now off to packing for a fun weekend of camping. Gotta go make a pan of bars, pick up some strawberries, run to get some more Tinkerbell stuff and lots of packing. I don't like packing too much especially since it is for 4 people and a dog. But at least the house is clean and my brain is ready to hit the road!

A quick update...

So I have been waiting to hear back from my interview at the High School in Chippewa Falls and the principal FINALLY called me today. They have not yet made a decision but I am one of the TWO TOP FINALISTS! That is exciting but I still have to wait a week to hear their decision. He is going to be out of the office until later next week so he said they should have a decision by Thursday of next week. So I guess I won't just be sitting around wondering what is going on...just waiting for Thursday to come. I also got a call today from Eau Claire asking to set up an interview for the part-time middle school position that they have not yet hired for. It would be traveling between all three middle schools. I am hoping to get the Chippewa High School job so I don't have to worry about things but I will just have to wait and see.

Saturday I am going to go to Down Memory Lane and spend the day having fun. Of course I will probably have to make some cards for classes in July but otherwise I am going to chirp away on my Cricut and work on the baby album that I FINALLY started for Jaidyn. Maybe I will post some of my creations then. Sorry for the boring stuff lately!!

Until then....lata

I finally got a job!

So this is just a really quick update for all of you that have not heard from me lately. I have been busy with the house, finally got it for sale...only a sign in the yard though. I had been waiting to hear from Parkview Elementary school in Chippewa Falls for a week and thought for sure he had offered the parttime job to someone else since it had been so long since I had interviewed. Well he called me on Wednesday and left me a message and then he called back on Thursday to offer me the job. It was kindof a weird day because before he offered me the job Chippewa Falls high school had called me and asked for an interview for their parttime position that they have open. I am hoping that the two work out together and I could get the high school job too just so I can be more involved. The job I have been offered is only two hours a day but it still GREAT because it is a permanent position and if more time opens up for the following year most likely I can get it. I am excited...so glad that I got this small job so far!

Gotta go lay down...I have a terrible sinus headache and I am stuffed up and runny nosed. My head and face hurt...wow I hate allergies!

just waiting here...

So I have been waiting to hear back from my Chippewa Falls interview but it hasn't been on my mind too much. I have just forgotten about it and will let whatever happens happen. I won't be too upset if I don't get the Chippewa job as it was a very small position but it would get my foot into the schools there again! The principal said he wanted to hire at the end of this week or early next week so I am guessing since I have not heard yet and it is Saturday, that I did not get the job....but who knows. I also talked to my neighbor who is an art teacher at Northstar in Eau Claire and they are hiring for a traveling position along with Delong Middle School. It is a much bigger position than the Chippewa position so that would be better but I would prefer elementary art! Delong and Northstar have not started interviewing yet so I am waiting to hear from them as well. Wow...my life is full of waiting lately.
On a side note...hopefully a much happier note for next week...
My dad showed our house to a lady that we know on Thursday afternoon and she loves the house. We don't have the house on the market yet as she said she wanted to look at the house first. I cannot imagine that we could sell it before even putting it on the market but that would be AWESOME!! So we are waiting to hear what she has to say next week. Since we had the house all nice and neat we decided to put a for sale sign in the yard and an Open House sign in the yard and some around the neighborhood for today. The open house is from 9:00 am until noon. A LONG TIME since no one has stopped yet and it is 10:15. I know...I am somewhat impatient. It was interesting last night though, because after we put the signs up we saw a car drive by the house REALLY slowly and the people in the car were looking at the house...so maybe it will help. More waiting. :) My life is just a waiting game I guess.

Gotta go get ready for my class today at 1:00. I am so excited because I am teaching my first Cricut Design Studio class and I can't wait to show everyone in the class how the program works.

bad news, good news, and all there inbetween

So I heard back today from my Eau Claire interview and of course...the usual, bad news. The principal offered the job to someone else. BUMMER! But on a better note, I had another interview this morning in Chippewa Falls - my favorite district to work in!! This job is a very small position only being two classes per day in the middle of the day so that kindof stinks but I would take it in a heart beat if they offered it to me. No hopes up this time!!! This was my third interview in Chippewa in the past few years so I don't have my hopes too high. I will just wait til early next week to find out that I didn't get the job...no biggie at this point. I have a terrible attitude right now and I am sorry for that but when you have worked at a school three different times and the lady that currently works there says only good things about you, why do they choose someone else... Enough about that...onto teacher gifts.

Today was Jaidyn's last day at daycare with Krissy! Krissy was so sad to see Jaidyn go as she is the only girl at daycare. Jaidyn is leaving so I don't have to pay so much for daycare this summer for Noah and Jaidyn. They will be going to my friend Lisa's house to play with her little guy, Tiege. That should be tons of fun. Since Jaidyn's last day was today I decided to make Kris a bye bye gift. I decorated a Close To My Heart My Creations Cube. She absolutely loved it!

I decorated the cube really simple so Kris would have room to put larger photos on it. She doesn't get much time to create things or scrapbook so this was great for her!

waiting, waiting, and more waiting

Today was a LONG day...it started by getting up at 4:40AM to get ready for my interview. I felt well prepared by 6:30 when I left the house. I feel that the interview went well and the other Art Teach at South sat in on the interview and she felt it went well too! I am so excited and can't wait until Wednesday when I should find out if I got the job. Chippewa Falls also called me this afternoon to set up an interview for Wednesday morning at 8:00 am...I certainly have something with early interviews!! I am hoping to hear back from South before Wednesday morning so I know if I got the Eau Claire job so I don't have to go through the Chippewa Falls interview if I got the Eau Claire job. The Chippewa Falls interview is only for the elementary position which is a very small position and would most likely be paired with the high school opening as well. So I am hoping for the Eau Claire job since it is a full-time position!!

It is so hard to wait! But I will certainly keep everyone posted!

Oh So Much to Share...

I am going to make this short once again as I have lots that I should be doing right now. I just got home from getting my hair cut for my interview on Friday!!! I am so excited for the interview...now I just have to land the job. It is here in Eau Claire at South Middle School, where I have taught numerous times. The catch this year though is there is a new principal. So by this time next week I should know if I got the job. Now I have lots to do before 7:00 AM Friday morning...and yes, I did just say 7:00 AM. When the principal asked when I could make it on Friday I left it up to him. HE chose 7:00 AM! I am used to getting up at 7:30 so this may be a challenge. :)

Now moving onto the next subject of this post is my Sunday Close To My Heart Club. We are meeting on Sunday, June 28th from 1:00-3:00. The cost is $5.00 to be paid in advance to me or dropped off at Down Memory Lane. Below is a photo of the three circle cards that we will be creating this month!

Stay tuned for more information on the job situation early next week if not before!!

more blog candy...

So if you went to check out the last blog candy that I had directed you to you may head over there again!!! The same lady has another awesome blog candy giveaway going on so head over and leave her a comment on her blog.

It is always fun to see if you could win something for no reason at all!!!

http://passionforcrafts.blogspot.com/

more and more job applications...

So as many of you already know, I have been applying all over to find a teaching job for next year. I am super excited about next year as there are openings all around me even though some of the districts are not doing so well. There are openings in Fall Creek, Chippewa Falls, and of course...my favorite place, South Middle School. I am so excited with the experience that I have had in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire to have these openings come up but now is the long wait and then interviews - if I am so lucky to get one - and then the waiting game again. The Eau Claire application is already in, now onto the Fall Creek application which is due this Friday...yes is TWO days. Time always seems to fly by when filling out applications and it comes right down to the end to get them in. Yuck, I hate that! Then once I get the Fall Creek application and letter done TONIGHT, in the next couple days I will be moving on to the Chippewa Falls application which I have filled out twice before so nothing new there!! :) I know that all of my fans at Down Memory Lane and Joanne will miss me there but I cannot wait to get a job. Keep praying for me to earn my place with a classroom of MY OWN for next year! I will certainly keep everyone posted. Now back to this application!...bummer...would much rather be scrappin!

more blog candy to check out...

So I spend a ton of time online looking around at different things. Checking out what I can buy next or just HAVE TO HAVE. As usual, I don't need anything more as I have WAY too much already but it is always fun. I came across another blog candy giveaway and this one is different. She is giving away a $100 gift certificate or gift card of the choice of the winner...run over there ( http://stephaniecastrodesigns.blogspot.com/2009/04/ive-reached-10000-blog-hits.html ) and check it out. Sign your name up for a chance to win. I did!!!

Oh and by the way...ignore my blog background right now. I do not like it and I was messing around with things and didn't realize what I ended up with. I will work on changing that soon!! Sorry!

check this out...

Ok, I don't know if you ever leave comments for Blog Candy on blogs on the net but I have found an awesome chance at some blog candy at http://passionforcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/04/blogoversary-candy.html . I am so serious...you will die if you see what this woman is giving away on her blog. Head over and leave a comment and get your name in the game!!

trying to get something done...

So I have been trying to get stuff done but it hasn't been working so well. I was already dealing with being tired all the time and then having Vertigo, I am on a motion sickness medication which causes drowsiness....just what I need!! No, not really!

Anyways, I am trying to not think about the dizziness and get something done. As many of you know, I am an Art Teacher as well as working at Down Memory Lane. I am currently applying for Art positions for next year and am totally excited to hear back from schools. My application was already due in Elmwood, WI and I still have a couple to send out to Cornell, Independence, and Gilman. I have my fingers crossed because it certainly is time for a teaching job!!

Also, I am get anxious about selling our house. We were doing so well with getting it all ready to put on the market and then I got sick. Now two houses down the street have sold and makes me want to get that For Sale sign in the yard RIGHT NOW!!! We also have to wait to see if I get a teaching job since that would most likely force us to move somewhere other than Eau Claire so we can't sell too soon but I think now is the time with the first time homebuyers deal out there right now.

I am also super excited about tomorrow as I am getting my hair cut. A new hairstyle is somewhat exciting although I am a bit scared. I will have to update tomorrow when I get home!

Gotta get to bed...feeling drowsy!

sorry for not blogging...

I have to appologize to all of you...I have not updated in awhile because I have been struggling with ear infections and now vertigo. If you have ever had it you will understand what I am saying as you feel dizzy most of the day. It does come and go but for the most part I have to be very careful with what I am doing so I don't get over dizzy. It is not just a little light headed feeling, it has the sensation of the ENTIRE room spinning very quickly. It is no fun and I have been wanting to work on things in our house and craft room so much lately but this has been holding me back. I even got ahold of the new LIFE IS A BEACH cricut cartridge yesterday as Down Memory Lane got ALL of the cricut cartridges in a couple days ago. They are about ready to be rented out!!! Go to the store to find out more about renting the oh so many cricut cartridges and of course, if you can't get by with just renting it for a day or two, certainly just BUY IT!!! I hope to be back on here soon with some fun things that I have created...fingers crossed!!!

project for our first club meeting...

So I have decided to start with this lovely stand-up calendar as our first club project that will take place at Down Memory Lane on April 26th from 1:00-3:00 pm. I hope to see many of you there!!!

This calendar has all the months of the year split up into the four seasons. It would be a great gift or a nice addition to your desk. I will attach the club information again to this post so you can hear more about it if you missed out on the last post!

Just Let Me Create Club with Stacie

We will meet the LAST Sunday of each month from 1:00-3:00 pm beginning on April 26th. Cost will be $5.00 per month you plan to attend. You can come one month or every month! I will need to know the last week of each month if you will be attending the following month so I can get enough supplies. Money must also be paid in advance. You will only have to bring your basic tool kit which includes: paper cutter, scoring blade (for paper cutter or stylus/bone folder), scissors, adhesives (different kinds is good), pop-up dots, black and brown markers/pens if you have them.
We will create a project or two each month. Some examples might be: cards, gift card holders, mini projects, coaster frames, gift ideas, etc.
I will have information and pictures of the projects on my blog each month at http://www.justletmescrap.blogspot.com/.
You may pay with Cash or Check ONLY which may be dropped off at Down Memory Lane for your convenience.
Call 715-279-0076 to sign up or send an e-mail to justletmecreate@yahoo.com
Feel free to contact me with ANY questions!

Join the club!!

I have decided to start a Club that will meet once a month at Down Memory Lane in Eau Claire. Details below...

Just Let Me Create Club
We will meet the LAST Sunday of each month from 1:00-3:00 pm beginning on April 26th. Cost will be $5.00 per month you plan to attend. You can come one month or every month! I will need to know the last week of each month if you will be attending the following month so I can get enough supplies. Money must also be paid in advance. You will only have to bring your basic tool kit which includes: paper cutter, scoring blade (for paper cutter or stylus/bone folder), scissors, adhesives (different kinds is good), pop-up dots, black and brown markers/pens if you have them.
We will create a project or two each month. Some examples might be: cards, gift card holders, mini projects, coaster frames, gift ideas, etc.
I will have information and pictures of the projects on my blog each month at www.justletmescrap.blogspot.com.
Call 715-279-0076 to sign up or send an e-mail to justletmecreate@yahoo.com
You will be able to drop your cash or check off at Down Memory Lane if that is more convenient for you.

I have already created some really fun cards that I would love to share with all of you...please let me know if you would like to join me or if Sundays don't work for you let me know because I am always open to having more than one club! Check back here often to see photos of projects!

BLOGGER IS NOT ALLOWING ME TO ADD PHOTOS AT THIS TIME>>>GRRRR. I will be back later to post a photo of a cute little spinner card that could definately be a card done in the Club!

SALE!!

So as many of you know, I am a Close To My Heart consultant. Currently I am running a special for anyone that places an order before the end of March. If you place an order, I will give you a 10% discount. If you would like to see a catalog or have never seen one please let me know and we can make arrangements to get you one.

Also, keep an eye open if you are interested in becoming a member of a Close To My Heart club held at Down Memory Lane once a month. I am still working out the details but I hope to start a club that will meet at DML one Sunday a month and do a project or a couple cards. Let me know if you have any interest in this as well.

Gotta run tonight as I am drained from a LONG day. Be back soon!

anyone ready for a challenge??

Hey there...I just got done doing a challenge for a group on creative-scrappers.com and I had a blast. The challenge there was taking a random photo that the head of the challenge took and we had to create a layout with it. It was hard to wait for her to reveal the photo as it was a surprise after we signed up. The photo was a picture of a bunch of ice shacks all lined up in a row. After all of our layouts get revealed tomorrow night I will show the photo and my layout for the contest.

I am wondering if anyone is interested in participating in a contest like this where I take a photo of something and you will create a layout and then we will vote on them to see who wins a fun prize...otherwise we could do a layout challenge and all do the same layout with whatever photos/themes we want to. Please leave a comment here if you would be interested in something like this. I want to know there is interest before putting something out there.

Can't wait to hear from all of you!!!

teaching

I have been somewhat busy lately and have not had much time to blog. The next couple weeks shall be the same way as I am teaching in Chippewa Falls again until March 11th. I do have next week off and will be back working at Down Memory Lane for my normal three days. Life has been hectic with things that come up and going out of town last weekend. We are also thinking about selling our house and plan to get things started on that end. WOW so much to do...never thought it would all happen at once! I am actually just waiting for the clock to hit 3:15 so I can head home and pick up my little cuttlebug, Jaidyn. I miss her so much when I leave early and am gone all day. I also heard that Noah misses me today as well...I called Nathan (who does not work on Mondays) and he told me that Noah mentioned missing me earier today. It is strange that Eau Claire schools are closed today for President's day but Chippewa Falls has school. So I work and he plays...lol. Anyways...off to chut everything up for the night and off to pack up some things to take out of our house. Know of anyone that wants to buy a nice 4 bedroom house...PLEASE let me know!! :)

the reveal...

So I finally got around to posting again and this time I am actually going to post some photos. I know some of you have been waiting to see these so here goes. I have to appologize right now for the bad photos because I did not take all of the layouts back out of their page protectors to photograph them. That would have taken an hour because I have a lot of layering on many of them and added embellishments. I also do not use a whole sheet of paper if a large portion is hidden behind other papers so I piece the pages together making it hard to get in and out of the protectors. I think I have these layouts in order from Jan. 1 and I do not have them all finished. I do however have Jan 1-Jan 10 all completed!! I apparently did not take a photo of the first page except for the two page spread so you don't get a close up of that one. You can tell that the layout is about my daughter.

The layout on the right and the one below are done completely with the cuttlebug. You should be able to see in the one below where I embossed each of the colored pieces and also used the embossing borders in the top and bottom of the black strip to emboss that as well. The projects and cards in this layout were made for my husband's step mother-in-law for Christmas. I thought it would be fun since the cards were made with the cuttlebug to tie that in the layout as well.

In the next layout my daughter has my glasses on. She loves wearing my glasses for some reason. She must be able to see with them on because one night she sat in the cart at a store for 5 minutes with them on. She also got sunglasses for Christmas that she loves to wear. If you go into Down Memory Lane you can see a layout there that I did with Jaidyn being silly with her sunglasses on.

Below I scrapbooked photos from the 19 hours of cropping I did at Down Memory Lane a couple weeks ago. I had a blast!!

As you can see, I am not completely up to date but did 4 layouts last night. I am having so much fun with this because all I have to worry about it one page and some of them only have one photo on them. It is giving me the opportunity to use a lot of layout sketches that I like and would never use in other albums since I normally do all 2-page layouts.

infection?!?!

So I woke up this morning with a bad pain in my left ear...I figured it would go away but it didn't. When I got into work this morning my boss told me I should go to the Doctor since it hurt so bad and I mentioned the Express Care that Luther Midelfort now has in the same strip mall as the store. So finally around 11:00 I just had to go. And yes, I do have an ear infection and probably a sinus infection as well. YIPPEE!! But at least I got medication and didn't wait until midnight tonight when the pain would probably be terrible.

I am still hoping to get some of the photos posted of the layouts that I have done lately...I am behind on my challenge but have some of it done and want to try to catch up this weekend! Since I don't work on Fridays I hope to take some pics tomorrow and then have a large post so all of you can see what I have gotten so far. I was so inspired at the crop last weekend that I even started to work on Jaidyn's scrapbook! I hope to get downstairs tonight but with this pain in my ear, head, and face it is a little hard to concentrate!

I will hopefully be back to post tomorrow!

keep the scrappin going!

So I went to Down Memory Lane this weekend for a scrapbook weekend. I had so much fun and it really got me excited to keep working. I was at the store from 5:30 - midnight on Friday and then 10:00 am - 10:00 pm on Saturday. I lugged everything home and usually don't touch the stuff for weeks but this morning I have already put everything away and even found better organized places for many things. The room is completely cleaned up again and I have READY TO SCRAPBOOK some more!! My husband is still sick...he watched the two kids Friday night and Saturday even though he was sick...nice guy! I am kindof feeling icky today so I have already taken vitamins so hopefully that helps kick it. Off to keep working and I will possibly post some of the layouts I have been working on. I did not get completely caught up on my 365 challenge because I got inspired to start Jaidyn's baby book and that was SO much fun. Be back later...

let the creating continue...

Well I had a great weekend in my scrapbook room and decided today to take some time away from scraping and cleaning and create a card. I have collected MANY cupcake stamps over the past few months (more than I should have!!!) and decided it was time to use them. So here is a card that I made today. It measures 8 x 3.5. Close to My Heart does a lot with 8 x 3.5 cards so I thought I would try one!
Cardstock - Bazzill (yellow) and Close To My Heart (cocoa and sorbet), Patterned Paper - We R Memory Keepers (Promenade - Ferris Wheel), light green dew drops, Scralloped Circle - Cricut (Accent Essentials Cartridge), Stamps - Close To My Heart (Say It In Style) and Inkadinkadoo (Birthday Cupcake set), Ink - Close To My Heart (Cocoa), Ribbon - American Crafts, Cupcake Frosting - Flower Soft, Cupcake Base - crumpled vellum
I am a little behind on the whole challenge as today is the 12th and I only have 4 layouts done but I do have all of the photos taken and I plan to work on them tonight if possible. I have to teach a class tonight at Down Memory Lane so I won't be home till later and I also have to watch the Bachelor. Cuttlebug class tonight, super cute cards...go check them out at http://www.downmemoryln.com/class-calendar.html . I hope to be home by 7:30 so I can watch the Bachelor and do more layouts. Today I took a photo of my husband playing playstation. He has Mondays off and he likes it when I scrapbook because that leaves time for him to play his games. I am also going to a Scrapbook Til Midnight this Friday night and an All Day Crop on Saturday of this week. I am excited to hopefully get a bunch done. No one is signed up with me so I plan to take my mp3 player and all of my stuff and settle in. Can't wait!

moving forward with my goal...

I have been very motivated since I started my 365 day photo challenge! I have 4 pages done already which is a lot for me considering I haven't done four pages since the last crop I went to. Nathan told me yesterday that the day was mine and I could scrapbook all day and he would watch the kids. Well of course, I did one layout in the morning and then figured I better clean my scrapbook room and sort through all of my fiskars embellishments and papers and such so I can find something when I want it. So that took most of my day unfortunately. Now today it is 1:17 pm and I still have not gotten anything done. I have done a little sorting through things but haven't sat down to create anything. I think I have most of my stuff cleaned up so I can start creating again. So that is what I am off to do...maybe if I feel like taking more photos I will post the other three layouts that I did. Well I am off to SCRAP!!

first layout of challenge 365!!

So as I said before, I was really excited about the whole Challenge 365 and I actually started it tonight! I was so excited when I got home from shopping that I went to my scrapbook room and began printing photos from Jan.1st. I actually started with today since Jaidyn turned 18 months today. I am only a few days behind so I hope to get those other 6 layouts done in the next couple days. Turning 18 months was somewhat exciting so I thought I would start with that and then move on to the less exciting topics like daddy and I coloring the other night. Oh it was such a sight...Nathan and I were both sitting on the couch coloring while watching the Bachelor. He came in the living room with Jaidyn's crayons and bent down to pick up her Handy Manny coloring book so I told him to get me one too. I will have to post the page of our coloring fun when I get that one done. It should be interesting!!

Here is the first layout that I did tonight. There are a few things I am not so happy with but overall, I can say I accompished something tonight...YAY!!

my personal challenge...

Ok so I know my goal is to post as much as possible and it rarely happens but today I was inspired by something. Now I don't know why I think I can do this when I can't even post three times in one week but I am going to try to at least start the 365 challenge. Check out this site - http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/content/view/20171/ if you want to learn more. This is really sad but I don't even know how to make a link in my blog posts so hopefully that part works. Anyways, I looked on my camera and have found enough pictures since Jan. 1 so I thought that today would be a great time to start. I am so excited because sometimes I get so overwhelmed with what to scrapbook and this will give me something and I can then use some of the embellishments and papers that I have collected over time! I want to get started RIGHT NOW! I am ready to go down to my scrapbook room and shut the door. Unfortunately we have to go shopping first to get some dog food. My poor Squirt has been getting sick lately and we have come to the conclusion that it is probably her food. So off to shop for diapers and dog food and then I am hoping to be back to finish the one page layout that I started today at work and then begin my 365 photo-a-day challenge. Check out the DOWN MEMORY LANE blog soon to see the layout I am talking about...it is going to be a kit for sale at the store! Check back soon!