still me

in pursuit of inspiration!

I am going to try to get to bed before midnight tonight… I am taking off tomorrow for a little inspiration trip. 5am. Ugh. But have to make the most of the daylight hours! We are doing the calif coast.  Newport up to San Jose.  We are flying into Orange County and then renting a car, and driving all the way up the coast. Going at no particular pace- no schedule. Just a rough idea of the stops we plan to make. So excited. It’s always  tricky getting stuff pulled together before you leave town. I have been staying up way too late. Last night I worked on my “big picture” class. Exciting! More and more ideas keep popping into my head!
We’ll post some photos of our little creative adventure! Hopefully I’ll get some great ideas! I love these trips, and it’s been a long time since I went out to really focus on getting fresh ideas.

sat night

It’s almost 3am. I am going to SO regret this!
I have been scrapbooking- thought I’d share… I love doing 9x9 pages.
They are short and sweet.. and all about fun and finishing. I finished 4 layouts tonight. did one for each kid.
While I scrapbook I like to watch the same movies OVER and OVER. I get that from my dad. But I don’t really watch them. more just listen. I totally have all the soundtracks memorized! So tonight I started with “Italian Job” went right into “Orange County” and then just finished with “Raise your Voice”- it’s a Hilary Duff movie… and it’s so good! It’s a great flick, my kids love it too… every single time I watch it I totally cry like 3 different times. And usually I HATE movies that make me cry and I refuse to watch any ‘crier’ more than once. But I love this one for some reason.. so that is my recommendation of the week.
‘bike ride’
I was on a fuzzy rub-ons kick tonight. I love the fuzzys- and it had been awhile.
This one of quincy learning to ride the bike has my favorite one- that hot pink damask.
***FUZZY TIPS:
give them a chance… they are tricky to get used to, and require just a little patience, but then when you get the hang- they are fun. Keep in mind:
1.    they are sticky, so keep the protective film over until use-I never even open them. I cut right through the packaging when I want to use them.
2.    you have to cut out what you want to use, and you can’t see where the image is, so you will get good at visualizing where you need to position it.
3.    I like to use my little distressing too to do the actuall rubbing.
4.    Rub aggressively, and when you feel like you have got it all, lift slowly to check…if  its not done, lay it back down and rub more.
5.    When cutting out an image, cut from the side, and leave a section of that straight edge for referance.
And well, I couldn’t go an entire evening of scrapbooking without the glitter, so here it’s on a little plastic alpha Q.
‘the boys baseball’
more fuzzy on this one (stars and “the boys”). This one was quick, and I haven’t scrapbooked on black forever. I used the journaling spots w/ the days of the week (all spelled correctly LOL) i used a sharpie to write directly on the photo..it's a recent 'kick' i'm into.

“capri2weeks”
and I liked the black background so much, that I did it again on this layout. I got a little carried away with the fuzzy and jewels and the butterfly tags…

‘surf camp’
cory is so cute about the surfing stuff…I used my fav boy color combo on this one: orange and brown. Lots of tape made this page SO fast…chipboard frame is from a frame kit, and cut down- new rub ons on that... you'll notice i like to use sandpaper around all the edges of the photos... saves a step in 'matting' all the photos.. you know me-if i like it,i overkill on it.
‘she’s a star’
I am posting this even tho I already did a first day page . I like how it turned out.  amother black layout. (em is probably totally laughing since i just told her that i am out of every color cardstock that i like, and i found this huge stack of like 75 pieces of black cardstock when i was re-organizing some stuff...i guess you use what you have!)

I was having fun. I did another layout that I really liked last night, but I am going to post it with my class description for BPS (it’s my first DISNEYLAND layout in a LONG time)!
People are always asking me when I am coming out with an idea book…I would love to have the time to do that… hopefully I will find the time, but for  now, maybe these little samples will inspire! I really did have fun. I love to scrapbook.
(i use a lot of journaling spots-don't know how i ever lived with out them! just to make sure you know--journaling spots are a package of little mini-note pads in different styles and colors, people often mistake them for like just pieces of chipboard. there are 10 little sheets in each pad. i love them so much. they look something like this:
there are lots of different kinds now)

Also tonight, eric decided to make ‘blintz’ from the Martha Stewart magazine..
So funny… I thought he was kidding when he told me what he was going to do… so he went to the store, got all the ingredients… and his creation was delicious. He made strawberry banana instead of blueberry. I got plenty of photos, so I have to do a page about it.

they turned out so yumm- not great for the diet attempt.
but i am still going to make cookies tomorrow. i have been fighting the craving all week. i am really pretty proud of my will-power.
Have a wonderful Sabbath!

scrap happy sisters

I slept in until 10:25 this morning.
There is something wrong with me.
I am going to stay up so late tonight and work! I have so much to catch up on!

Last night we continued our “local store tour” at a great scrapbook store called “Scrap Happy Sisters”. Em and I drove about an hour to get there. I think I am continually amazed at the vastness of the greater-phoenix area. It’s seriously so huge! Anyway, we had such a great time last night. They had an amazing turn out… over 100 women crammed into their store. it was set up perfect for what we do. it’s usually a 2-hour deal, the first hour I talk about the “she” stuff, and different ideas and tips to using my products…then we do a raffle where someone wins me scrapbooking their photos. And that usually takes me about an hour… I kind of talk my why through it etc..it’s fun. I will admit, it’s a little harrowing to have 100 people watching you scrapbook!
This is Mari- she won the scrapbook page. I like to introduce people to the 9x9 size for scrapbooking, so I bring about 40 scrapbook pages mounted on boards so that everyone can see the real pages. Then I do a 9x9 page and give the winner a 9x9 album.
Here is also the owners and em…

Thanks for all the comments and email suggestions about different solutions for the hands-free baby holding… I ordered something from hotslings… it hasn’t come yet. And some sweet soul gave me a ‘metro wrap’ when I was at Creative Escape… it’s about 100 yards of fabric that you wrap around yourself multiple times- Capri seemed to love it! it’s quite comfortable. We are getting ready to embark on another ‘creative trip’ next week. I can’t wait. Miss Capri will be joining the creative team, so I have to come up with something that I can carry her in. I am sure one of these solutions will work! (this photo is of the “metrowrap”.

So I need to get some quality scrapbook time in!! I did a quick layout of quincy’s first day of school… SO cute. She is LOVING school so much! I plan to doing  some scrapbooking tonight. i am working on the first quarter of my BIG PICTURE class! I am really excited about it. eric is buying me a microphone this afternoon, and I am getting ready to do an audio class description that you can download for free and find out all about what I will be doing… the class will get me to do a bunch of things that I have been wanting to do, and just haven’t made time etc. Plus, I will be teaching some of my favorite techniques, and I have a bunch of other surprises that will come up throughout the year. I just heard that registration will open Oct. 1st… so I need to get my descriptions and info together as soon as possible. If you have never visited the Big Picture website, check it out! I am so thrilled about the possibilities of this class… it’s totally making me happy and re-energized to think about.

goal setting.

I love Mondays… seriously.
I really took the weekend off.  I think I hit the wall. I don’t think I have been that unproductive in months. Felt great. I just kept sleeping, napping, relaxing, sitting…
I mean, there were a few little shining moments. I re0rganized 3 or 4 drawers in my scrapbook room. But now the whole thing is just a big disaster. Way worse than when I started. Sigh.
Anyway… Capri is 6 weeks today. (I can’t believe it)
And once 6 weeks comes…excuses go! Time to exercise again. I am not one of those people who despise exercise. I love it. I consider it an opportunity- and a gift to myself.
So I went running this morning after the kids left for school. Quincy started all-day-k today! She is so excited! (I am so excited).  I am not really fitting into my running clothes which is- I guess just more motivation. The temp was perfect…it’s cooling off. It was probably mid-80’s. I ran my “old” short day. (seemed really far this morning!). I decided that I could walk the uphill and run the down, since really I need to re-condition my joints, and my lungs.  Despite the fact I was totally ‘draggin’cheek’ this morning…I couldn’t believe how great it felt. How it allows my mind to jump around and think, and conjure. I have missed that so much. when I run I can totally check out of my body and just think.
I have a goal. I am totally a goal kind of girl. I like to visualize myself doing what it is I want to do. that helps me accomplish stuff.  So, since about JUNE, when eric completed his first marathon…I decided that next year, I want to be doing that. Today was my first training day.  and I am officially training for the SLC marathon June 2nd.  I am from SLC, and the marathon is a Saturday. Katie, Heather… you guys still in? STACY?? How about you!? wink wink… maybe this will help me with that choc. Chip cookie problem! You will be proud of me, I really wanted cookies yesterday, and I took a nap instead of making them! I figure if I do good this week, I can make cookies next Sunday. I am going to search for a good online training program this week…
This is why I love Mondays… love a new start. (And loving getting my house cleaned!)

pros and cons of the snuggi

So Capri has officially graduated to the snuggli stage. She is more awake and really likes to be held… so I dredged that front pack thing out of my baby-archives…and tried to remember how to put it on, get her in, tighten the straps appropriately etc. she loves it. she is happily sleeping in it now.. I occasionally hear the little sucking noises from the binki…3-4 little sucks, then nothing. So cute. 
Despite the fact that she is happy and my arms are free, I can’t really DO anything… I think it’s a little bit of a fallacy that you can put the baby in a pack and still get work done!  You can’t see what you are doing- no writing,  if you try to eat, you totally spill crumbs and stuff on baby… you can’t like pick up the house, you can’t really bend over- you have to bend at the knees, and then you can’t see what you are trying to pick up! And now that she is sleeping pretty soundly- I defiantly can’t take her out of the unit… I remember when I used this with my other kids, taking it off my body and laying them down in their beds still in the snuggli.   The good news, is that I can type. So this time can be spent answering the 1.2 million unanswered emails. And maybe the ‘no eating’ is a good thing! I have a straw for my diet coke (thanks mom). And I guess I like having an excuse not to pick up the house. I still haven’t unpacked completely from CE… although I have done laundry.   Today is the CKC Phoenix, and I am teaching at 3, so I should have something to wear!
Yesterday was spent at Bazzill for the ‘wrap-up’ meeting… the list of things for us to talk about was REALLY long! It was actually really fun to talk about everything. Kind of reliving the event. I was teaching all day both days so I liked hearing what was going on outside of the classes. We spent some time talking about different comments and I will admit, we took a little time to enjoy the happy emails that have been flooding all of our inboxes!  I even liked talking about all the things we learned, and will do better next t ime!
One of our goals for CE was to provide some residual exposure for our sponsors. We wanted to promote education… and we wanted to pass that education and good ideas on! in order to accomplish that, we created the CE show book. Attendees got the book that acted as class notes, and we knew that we wanted to send the book to retailers so that they could plan classes out of it to perpetuate the ideas (store owners know what a constant battle it is to come up with great classes-I have 600 women that will agree these are great classes!) and give further exposure to the sponsors involved!  The book not only details every single class and project with step by step, instructions and how-to photos etc. but includes each and every item used on each project down to the size, color and item number so that retailers can order the exact parts and pieces for every project.  in addition, there are organization solutions for each project contributed by none other than Kristi Sikora-Blankenship of Cropper Hopper (by the way, happy birthday yesterday kristi!) and details from Eva’s WORD class.  If you missed out on CE this year… this is your opportunity to participate, and live the event vicariously! (the projects included are killer Christmas gift spring boards!) Also, there is this cool “trunk show” section that has a bunch of projects created by the teachers- just a little extra fabulous inspiration that you will love. (all it’s missing is a little bottle of stacy julian! You will have to find that on BIG PICTURE… stacy, could you just repeat yourself, so that we can download your talk and listen to it once a week?)

We are sending out complimentary books to Heidi Swapp and Bazzill retailers, and they will be able to order additional books to sell in their stores.  This is limited edition…there are only about 5,000 available. So watch your LSS and your favorite online stores… and if you want to be sure you get one, maybe drop a line to your LSS owner and get your name on a list! Based on the response and interest we have rec’d…they will go fast.

Ok, so I gotta go  peel this snuggli off of me and try to get in a quick shower before I have to head down to the scrapbook convention at the civic center.  I am teaching a class on tape… I am excited, it’s a fun class to teach… we are using glitter… that rocks!

OH SERIOUSLY…
Just as I was posting this, she just puked right down my front… she was perfectly positioned… I guess another bonus of the snuggli! Wow, that was a lot of …..
Good thing I hadn’t showered yet!

whew...

CREATIVE ESCAPE ROCKED!!!
It was so awesome… I had a blast. i only took 4 photos.. how lame is that???  Everything went pretty much as planned! Everything went so smooth! I am delighted. Seriously it was so much fun to see it in action! Those who attended were amazing too! So sweet, so kind… to appreciative! Everyone seemed to have a great time! there were a few little snags here and there, but people seemed to understand that it was our first event, and that was to be expected!  It’s been overwhelming to receive all the kind, happy emails yesterday and today of people raving about their experience. Arizona was on it’s best behavior… the temp was tolerable, and even showed off with a little RAIN!  We had to explain to the out-of-towners how blessed we feel when it rains!  I thought that the venue was beautiful and perfect for our needs…it’s really a NICE place! It seemed like the pace of things was good! … challenging, but doable!  You know, I was so excited about all the little things that we did that would really be unique to this event.. like the lanyards, buttons, bubble bath, flip flops, popcorn, exclusive paper packs…the cute t-shirts and especially my all time favorite: the room key… and I am so glad that people LOVED those little things. That was my favorite part. I love those little things.  The book turned out awesome… and if you want to get your hands on one, you will be able to purchase the show book! I will know details on that after our wrap-up meeting thurs, and I will let you know the story on that.  It has all the class projects.. including step by step and DETAILED instructions for every single project.. as well as  bonus projects and stuff that will be further highlighted on the CE website… anyway… the book rocked! No one was stressed about finishing in class, cause all they needed to finish later was there in the book! And it was all together, no extra handouts and project sheets and stuff like that. It was really cool. I have to admit.
I was OVERWHELMED with the GIFTS that people gave me, and CAPRI… my husband was joking about it being a big baby shower! SO SWEET… the yahoo group gave me this ‘good thoughts’ box… so cool… it had all these cards in it from people in the group. The cards were beautiful and had thoughts and quotes on them.  Capri received hand made blankets, cute clothes… all kinds of sweet thoughtful gifts. The generosity and thought that went into these things was amazing! THANK YOU to those of you who made that effort to bring me something. I was so touched, and amazed.  This was an amazing group of women… so many of you who I have met before, at events, classes and shows along the last few years of my scrapbooking career… it was totally a reunion of sorts. So many ‘she’s’ and even a few of you that have taken classes back in the  beginning when I was just teaching at memory lane.
  I loved teaching this project. I taught a clock. It was so FUN to see different people’s clock come together. Everyone put so much thought into the photo they wanted to use, and worked with such determination to complete the project so that they could show it off once they got home!  Even though I taught 8 times in a row, each class was fresh and exciting!  I LOVED it.. and we got to spray paint and use the gold leafing pens from krylon… all my addictions.

The best part of this whole thing… that has been a major epic in my life!... has been working with the people at Bazzill. Doug Jones is such an example to me.  As well as Lisa, Carol and Franni… these women know how to WORK. They are organized, determined and they do it with a smile. The process was long and hard and sometimes so frustrating and overwhelming… but in the end… they have become wonderful friends and have impressed me immensely.
The other best part of the event for me was listening to Stacy Julian speak. She is someone that I admire so much… she inspires me…not just in scrapbooking, but as a mom, a wife, a friend and a business woman.  She was nothing short of amazing with her remarks. I am so excited and happy to announce that I will be teaching a class on Big Picture Scrapbooking starting in January called “a YEAR to remember”.   I will be telling you all about it here pretty soon! It’s going to be so much fun… and if you do participate, you will truly have ‘a year to remember’… it will be like nothing you have ever done. I am so excited!

Again.. thanks to all of you who came to the event and just had a blast! There was such good vibes!  Thanks to the teachers… they did awesome! They worked so hard, and were so willing to do anything we needed them to do! the Volunteers were amazing. So willing to give of their time and leave their busy lives to be there and devote their attention to their assignments… without them, we couldn’t have pulled it off! those of you on 'staff'... you were on your toes 24/7~ taking care of every little thing that came up...with grace and charm...you handled it all beautifully!  And thanks to the sponsors that jumped on board and put their trust in us!

On Friday night, one of the ladies in attendance pulled me aside, and very seriously- looked me in the eye and told me that she would not be able to recommend this event to anyone.  I felt a little panic shot of adrenaline shoot through my body, and tried to stay calm as I was sure this woman was about to tell me something horrible!   Instead she explained that she wanted to be sure there would be a spot for her to sign up for next year!  chuckle… what a huge compliment! (not to mention I was SO relieved)!

I have been buried yesterday and today in ‘real’ work that I had to devote all my attention to… I still have so much that I have been pushing off until after the event! ….i am so relieved that it is over, it went well and so excited at the thought of beginning again! This time, armed with experience, feedback and momentum!  I am sure next year will be even better! Nothing like a good challenge of outdoing yourself! I love it.  For now, it’s the catch up game!

Mom and Dad… thanks for coming down and keeping things together here…
I appreciate your willingness to support my crazy habits!  Thanks for putting up with my heightened stress levels! 
and lastly, eric... thank you for being there for me... and supporting me in this adventure. it meant the world to me that you were there...helping out, doing what you could-standing by me. i couldn't do what i do without you.

my weakness

of course we all have weaknesses. those things that we just can't help but indulging ourselves with despite the fact that we know it's bad.
i have a weakness that has gotten worse throughout my pregnancy- and i thought that maybe it would go away after i had the baby...
my most vulerable times are late at night, and sunday afternoon.

choc. chip cookies.

this is not a new weakness. it's been fostered since i was young. every sunday i would make choc. chip cookies-- that is until my little sister was old enough to take over about the time that i went to college. frankly, she became better than me at making choc. chip cookies. i love her cookies. my dad likes coconut and nuts added... not me. i like semi-sweet chips.. that's all.

not just any cookie will do. certainly NOT a store bought cookie.
not even a bakery made cookie... although, i do enjoy PARADISE cookies. (i enjoy everything at Paradise Bakery). i have become quite the choc. chip cookie snob over the years. and particularly since i have been preg. with capri. i crave them. often, it's the only thing that tastes good to me. while i was pregant... i didn't feel so bad... and now, i am never going to get back into my clothes if i don't quit making cookies twice a week. seriously.

i love them warm- right out of the oven. but after they cool... i put them in a zip-lock bag and into the freezer. for awhile, this was my strategy for hiding them from the kids. and now... i just love frozen cookies. now even the kids love frozen cookies. i like to eat them for breakfast... and as midnight snacks. i made a batch tonight and, if i do say so myself--tonight: perfection. delicious.
so good.
i have to figure out how to break the habit.
it's not like i can replace the craving with carrot sticks. or grapes..
so...for now, it remains a weakness...

almost ready

it's sat.
i am sick.
i am not really sure where it came from. eric and i are both sick...colds. i am sure that the stress, not sleeping and just being a little overwhelmed is to blame...i hate being sick. and i have to KICK IT before THURSDAY because i just can't be sick for CREATIVE ESACPE... hellO! no chance... so i have to share these photos. i snapped them last week when i was at Bazzill working on some of the CE surprises!  everyone has been chipping in to get stuff done... you would not believe all the work that it has taken to get things ready. emily has been the driving force behind all the kids... emily is a kitting NAZI... she thinks they have packed approx. 10,000 kits (at least)... people... that is a freaking lot of kits. just to give you a tiny  bit of insight:
here is mr. bazzill himself. he is amazing. he has been totally involved with every step of this process.. including every single meeting... operating the fork lift.. climbing through the shelves to arrange all the kits, opening the product packs to prep for kitting... the works. this is a great guy. he's for sure the boss. his employees love him..
you can just tell... he is an amazing person. it's been a delight to work with him.. and all the bazzill folks. i know i have said it before, but these people know how to work.  Carol-who is the GM at bazzill- her hubby designed this fancy ribbon measuring device for all the millions of yards of ribbon that was cut and collated for various purposes throughout the event. i think that it would make us all freak out if we actually knew how many yards of ribbon went into this event. it's OBCENE. but you have to laugh at the precision at which doug is stacking the ribbon as he cuts it... can you see that in this photo? funny...

in order to make the classes flow as quickly and easily as possible... everything is pre-cut to the right sizes...and kitting according to pages and with exactnes.. it's really pretty impressive! it's been a life altering project for all those who have been involved... and now, it's like 5 days away. i can't believe it. we have been planning and preparing for so long... it's almost here. it's going to be so awesome. i can't wait to have it all come together. i can't wait to see all my friends that are coming.. women i have met and connected with at past events...familiar faces as well as some of my closest friends and family.  i am so excited. it's totally a dream come true. it's taken so much work. from so many people. what a learning and growing experience it has been for me... and i am sure for all of us.  today me and emily and liz and quincy and capri are going shopping for new clothes to wear to the event. that is the funnest part! basically, i can't fit into anything- so i have a legitimate reason for buying new clothes! although i hope the new stuff wont' fit for long.   capri is a month old on monday. the time has flown by, much to my dismay. what a joy she is--word's can't express... not only is she just the sweeetest, most happy precious soul... i am so happy to NOT BE PREGNANT anymore. (sigh of relief). chuckle... but i will admit, having a baby...4 weeks before the biggest event of my life- not the smartest thing i have ever done!  but it's almost here... we are almost ready and it's going to rock.