Getting Ready for The Snow

• New Scrapbook Supplies - check
• Overnight Guest - check
• Gas in Car -check
• New Scrapbook Idea Books - check
• Clean Studio - (maybe we don't need this one)
• Bread Recipes and ingredients - check

Officially ready for the snow, bring it on. I want lots and lots of the fluffy, white stuff and I want it to stick. It was pointed out to me at the crop last night that just because Bob the weatherman says that it is going to snow, does not mean that it is going to snow at my house. Bob does, after all forecast the news for all of SC. Thanks friend, I needed that reality check, lol. But I am still holding out for lots and lots of the fluffy, white stuff right here at my house!

My husband always wants to know why I love the snow so much. Good question, it's wet, cold and puts a halt to everything when it happens here in the south. But to me it is Peace. It looks peaceful, it sounds peaceful and it feels peaceful to watch a landscape blanketted in snow with more gently falling down. One of my earliest memories is this - We had gotten some snow (I grew up in SC so we didn't get it very often) and a little while after my dad came home from work, I guess he looked out the window and saw a bunny in our front yard. He woke us all up and called us to the window (we loved animals. My baby sister had wanted to be a vet when she grew up) just so that we could see the bunny in the snow. We just sat there in quiet and watched it till it hopped away than went back to bed. Such a simple thing, but everytime I think of it, I feel how much my dad loved us. It reminds me of all the little things my dad always did to let us know that he loved us. He told us all the time, but he showed it too. Snow takes me right back to that day, every single time.

I had a great time at the crop last night. I belly laughed, snacked, chatted and completed 2 pages. I am happy as a clam, who needs to complete 10 pages in one night anyway? The belly laughs added at least a year to my life expectancy so it was all worth it.

One of the layouts that I did. Not in love, love. Still feel like it needs something. Oh well, not going to obsess it will go into the album just like this. A napped everyday. She had to have one. And if she was playing and I did not catch her in time to put her down for her nap, this is what happened........

A card for my sweetie. He just came back from a trip and will be leaving again Monday (?). So I want to send this to him while he is gone so that when he gets back it will be waiting for him. I have a ton of these hearts left over from my classes last year. I try to use them whenever & wherever I can. That being said, they will probably be on every layout that I finish for the rest of my life!

I found this pic of Q from 2002. He still does that you know. He climbs in my lap and snuggles with a toy in one hand. Love this kid, he melts my heart.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a grrreat day!!!!!

Be Still My Heart

We are scheduled to get snow! SNOW, HERE. I am beyond excited!!!!! What's been going on? Well,

• I finally signed up for Janets Class. After months of telling her I would.


• I am going to go crop tonight.


• We got excellent news on the selling of our house.


• I finalized the details for DD Inspired and my classes are posted. Registration is going to go live on Sunday, Mar 1st and the classes rock! I think I might take a couple myself.


• I enrolled in classes to finish my degree. I was going to be starting tomorrow but couldn't get my fin aid in line in time. So I will start at the end of May. Right around the time that we are scheduled to move. Yeah, good move Shere.

What a productive day. Hope that you are having a fabulous day as well!

Challenge Time

Thanks for your kind words. I am getting back to myself. My little guy was quite upset when he found out that we had to buy a large pizza to get the one cent deal and felt quite ripped off. So did I when I got the bill. $40 for 2 pizzas (not including the one cent one) and a couple of drinks. What? I sure did not let him know that, I just appreciate him being such a kind person.

I have been challenging myself to use it up. So much great stuff was released at CHA (hello Sassafras Lass, Pink Paisley and Jenni Bowlin) that I can barely make myself wait to get it all. But I already own so much stuff, what the heck am I going to do? With the economy the way it is, supporting 2 households, 1 kid in college, 2 kids on the way to college and 1 little piglet to spoil rotten I can’t justify continuing to buy, buy, buy without using anything. So, I have challenged myself to use twice as much as I buy. You have to understand, I don’t just buy a couple of sheets here and there, I buy a couple of lines here and there, lol. So for me to say that I have to use twice as much as I buy that is one tall order! I am so totally up for the challenge. In fact I have been purging and using regularly over the past few weeks and it feels great (my studio is cleaner too). Wish me luck, thanks for stopping by and blog you later.

P.S. registration for the mini-workshops at Inspired will be up and running on March 1st. Make sure that you stop by and check them out!

Just Keep Swimming

Melancholy (pronounced mel-uhn-kol-ee) color - blue, feeling - sad. It started Friday and has not stopped. I cannot seem to shake this feeling of blue. It's not the weather, my kids are less aggravating than normal, the girl is not having car problems, the husband is being sweet so what the heck is the problem. I pray that I can shake this feeling very, very soon. I do not like this at all!

I guess the little guy feels it emanating from me because he offered to take me to dinner tomorrow night. I had to ask him how he was going to afford it, you know I did. It turns out we are going to Pizza Hut. They have a 1 cent deal going on. Apparently it is affordable after all for a little guy to take his sad momma out to dinner.

Using The Stash

I am on a mission to use my stash. I have found out more about my scrapbooking style since I started this mission. Things about the scrapbooking me that I noticed.........

1. I don't use a lot of alpha stickers/products. But I sure do buy a lot of them! From Die-cuts to Thickers, I have some of everything.


2. I don't use a lot of CS. Most of my pages are backed with some of the more solid PP's, especially the reverses of patterns that I love.


3. I am not faithful to one manufacturer. I just finished a page that had products from KI, K&Co, MME, Karen Foster, Basic Grey, Bazzill, Making Memories and some huge rhinestones that I picked up somewhere. I love the layout! It is so wonky that I will probably be the only one that gets it but that's ok. Here is the page. The photo is the view from my studio window. Once we move, my view will be the Potomac. My hubby is supposed to be checking out the new diggs sometime in the next few weeks.

The next 2 layouts are about the girl, again. Sigh I guess I am really missing her. She is truly my easiest child. She was only insane for about 6 months when she was 13 or 14. Other than that, we hardly knew she was around most of the time. A new baby (real or plastic), food and tv was all she really needed to be happy. This was her first trip to the zoo. She was so excited and we stayed for hours.

We had just returned from the Phillipines and were attending my aunts wedding when this photo was taken. She would not go to anyone but me. None of my sisters, my brother, my parents, friends, no one at all! She adores my family now and would probably rather spend time with her Aunties & Uncle Man than anyone else in the world, including me! When my husband saw this lo, he said that it was weird seeing me like that. I had no clue what he was talking about, I thought he meant young. But no, he meant skinny. I am truly a skinny girl trapped in a big girls body and 9 times out of 10 I don't think I look any different than I did 4 score and 50 lbs ago.

Thanks for stopping by the blog and I hope that you are having a fantastic day. Blog you later!

Pages in Albums

I always make the comment about how I always scrap my pages but never put them in albums. Guess what, I have placed all but the unphotographed pages in albums! That is a real milestone for me. I have even had to open up some albums that I have bought and never used and am fillling one that I had gotten in a DD class about a year ago. I find myself needing a couple more good D-ring 12X12 albums right about now. Good thing I own a store huh.

Me and the children will be moving to DC this summer to be with my husband and I am so much more excited than I thought I would be. It is scary, for sure, with all of the unknowns but the 1 known factor makes all of the unsurity (a word?) worth it. We will be a family that lives under one roof again. The boys are sad to leave their friends and their established way of life. Q has good friends that he hangs with everyday and these children are a delight and a blessing. He is doing exceptionally well in school (in advanced classes) and loves, loves, loves his teacher. A has a group of guys and a girl that he spends his free time with. To be honest they all act exactly alike, scary. His grades are improving to the point where the hubby and I are not only shocked but proud of his efforts paying off. We've always known he's no dummy, now he knows he's no dummy. We love our Church and am unsure if we will be able to find such a perfect Church home in DC. Hopefully moving will not put a kabosh on all of these good things. But I trust God and I know that he will ease our way. We are supposed to be there and he has plans for us there so in May or June, we will locate ourselves there.

Still finishing about 3-4 projects a day and so loving it. I have been obsessed with pencil lines lately and have been doing their sketches every week. Love the exercise it gives my creative muscles. Here are a few of the lo's that I worked on......

This is going to pencil lines. I found some pics that my hubby took when I came back from my very first deployment. I have never in my life been so happy to see dry land and my cuter than cute kids. And holding the hubby wasn't so bad either. It is very, very difficult to be reduced to sleeping alone and not having your family to discuss your day with, let alone not be able to return the favor to them.

When I had A, I swear that I believed that she was the most adorable child on the planet! She was a perfect baby. I'm so not exaggerating! She rarely cried, always did what I told her too and 9 times out of ten, she was smiling & laughing. She even took naps up until the time she was 8 or 9. Heck, she still takes naps and she is almost 20, lol. I love this page. Love, love, love it.

This little guy dreams big (well except for the wish to be a garbage man when he grows up) and I love it. He is always talking about discovering new species and inventing the best electric car ever seen or even finding a way to live in outer space or beneath the sea. I love his imagination and can seriously talk to him all day.

I don't have a pic for this yet. I have to set up a photo shoot with the 2 boys because although I have a ton of pics of them together, I don't have anything that quite fits the vision in my head for this page.

Ok, seriously, my husband is the greatest. I don't always tell him this but he really does his best to take care of me. Not in the sentimental, mushy but not too mushy way that I dream of sometimes, but in the Dr. Spock like logic that is all him. He knows that I hate, I mean really hate, having to download my photos from my card into Kodak. So he picked this little gadget up a while ago. When he was home this time, he asked me how I liked it and I had to tell him that I didn't even know what the heck it was for and had never even touched it. Well, once he showed me what it was and how to use it, I was in seventh heaven! What would take me an hour before the life saver, now takes about 10 minutes and loads directly into my photo editing software. Needless to say, the man had an incredible dinner that night!

Sorry the post was so long! Hope that you have an incredible day and blog you later. Ice cream and Oreos are speaking to me from downstairs.

Gentle Rain

It is gently raining outside. Soft enough to be soothing and not scary. Loud enough to lull me and the little guy right to sleep. Today has been revealing. Church was an adventure in crying. As always for the last 2 years with me. To feel God moving in me and in my life so strongly is exhilirating, scary, comforting, overwhelming, peaceful and a whole host of other adjectives that seem to contradict each other. I never in a million years thought that I would be going through this, that I would feel that strong calling to act. I am so grateful for all of the blessings that God has placed in my life. From my family to my lifestyle, He has blessed every inch of me. My prayer right now in this moment is that I can be a blessing to someone else and that He will use me to do His work. What an honor to even be thinking of it.

Kite Fun, Almost

Me and the little guy were going to make a kite today. But by the time we had gone to the store, bought all the supplies, eaten and come back home it was dark outside and his favorite tv show was on inside. So enthusiasm waned and the shiny new pile of supplies gets to go in the unfinished, never even attempted pile. Oh well, better luck next time!

Sad Day

After 2 weeks home, the hubby is on his way back to DC. Back to the routine of missing each other but seriously, I think we get along better when he is gone. Which makes us get along better when we see each other. Weird. I was a mean mommy last night and made the little guy cry. I hate it when that happens so of course, I had to wake him up to lots of hugs & kisses this morning and a few I'm sorries, I love you to pieces. We both felt better after that. He invited me to his art class to see his very first presentation. He didn't know that his daddy would be here so it was a nice bonus for him to have his dad there instead of me. He would have loved to have us both but I had an appointment that day. He was nervous so my husband said he talked so low throughout the whole presentation that he couldn't even hear him. Unusual to say the least because he is neither shy nor quiet. In fact he is a world class motor mouth that never stops talking, lol. Here are some of my favorite pics.......

This is my daughter and my best friends son when they were about 2. They were supposed to be in time out but they sure don't look like it. They where born 4 days apart and we used to get asked all the time if they were twins when we took them places. I always fancied that they would one day marry. Oh well, it is still not too late (but I won't be telling the girl that anytime soon ;)...........

Have a great day and blog you later!

It's Official

I sent in the paperwork today and it is official. I will be teaching at Memories Expo in Ohio in March. Too, too excited. And on top of that, my husband will be with me helping me out in class. Hopefully, I won't get too many comments about how "helpful" Curtis is or about how "I was lost but Curtis helped me catch up" ala the last convention he helped me at. It was cute but I must stay on my game to make sure that I don't leave my husband in Ohio! lol. Here is a peek at the 2 classes:

The first one is a scrapbook frame class (I know that I had put it on yesterday but I didn't remember when I downloaded the photos, oops)-

and the second one is an accordian album with gift box. I love the colors, I Love the La Creme from DCVW and I absolutely love how this class turned out!

The class kits for both these classes are amazing. I was able to pack so much product in them!

Class #1 includes

• the frame
• 5 sheets of 12X12 paper
• 1 Sheet of 8 1/2X11 paper
• 1 package of rub-ons
• 1 package of H Swap alphas
• primas
• bling
• a Transparency

Wow! I think I forgot something but what a list. And the second class has

• 1- 8X8 slab of DCVW La Creme PP (48 sheets & about half are flocked)
• primas
• bling
• K&Co new Wild Raspberry Chipboard Sticker set
• 1 paper mache box
• 1 7gypsies accordian album
• 4 sheets of 8 1/2 X 11 cardstock
• tulle

Sweet, this is a kit that I would love to get from a class.

I have been diligent with getting my layouts for the year done (still lovin on the girl but I did complete a mini-album for the boy that I gave him as an I'm thinking about you gift).

This was such a great trip! The pictures are crap but who says you have to scrap only stellar photos? Definitely not me.
This day was fun too! Again with the bad photos. Oh well.

So proud of him! My BIL.

I even managed to post a couple of things on ebay. Well they will post tonight around Bones time. My ebay name is shere1068 if you want to check them out!

It has been a busy day! Hope that you are having a fantastic day too. One hour till Bones comes on so I have to start wrapping it up. Blog ya later!

*Yes C, I did notice that I used way to many exclamation points but I had an incredible day. What can I say?

Long Time No See

Wow! It has been a long time since I posted. 2008 was an adventurous year for me.

• I hit the convention circuit hard and heavy and learned alot about teaching.
• I created more than I thought that I would.
• I scrapbooked less than I thought I would and
• I met many more people than I thought I would.

I am very excited about 2009 and am looking forward to getting back into the swing of teaching. I have 4 classes to teach but have only entertained 2 conventions. I have to admit that last year was exhausting and certainly starting out my first year of business with so many teaching commitments was a little bit of over kill and I have definitely rethought that strategy for this year. This year I am going to try to teach once or twice a month but I won't have the booth. I will still keep the online store but am thinking of ways that I can change the direction of it. I have also been doing a lot of custom work this year and would like to continue with that. Ebay is something else that I will be moving back towards because I love the freedom of it.

Moving on to something else........My sister had a fantastic bash for her fiance's b-day this past weekend. The hubby and I partied with the fam until the wee hours and just had a ball. My daughter and my niece were there partying right along with us (because they are "grown" now! I can't believe that they will both be 20 this year!!!!! yikes). I had a ball. I can't say enough how much I love, love, love my sisters and my brothers. I would not give any one of them up for all the gold in the world and I think that I am so blessed to have them in my lives. I love em so much that if I were ever to win the lottery, I would not even have to think twice about splitting it with them! No pics of the bash because, as always, I forgot my camera but I have a couple of promises for some email pics.

A couple of layouts that I completed:

My husband when he first joined the AF. He honestly does not look much different now.

I have been all about the girl lately (maybe because she is off to college) and have done at least 5 layouts of her. Here is one that I just love. I used a really funky color scheme of black/brown/pink/red and blue.......

The boy in Kindergarten (he's in 11th grade now). Awwww he looks so angelic. Don't let that fool you, he was a hellion! He actually got sent home from school for cutting a little girls pigtails that year. His teacher and I "talked" daily and I am sure that he had her in the bathroom crying on more than one occasion!

A wall hanging that I did for my studio:

I had had these cute laser cut pumpkins for years and decided to just use them already. I really like how it turned out. Very different.......

And lastly, one of the classes that I am doing this year. It is a 11X17" framed page with lots of paper piecing, stamping on glass, cutting and coloring. I am too excited about it! The project for class won't be exactly the same because I plan on using some newly released papers that won't be available till early next month, but it will be close!