Oh yeah, baby!!

Ya know that feeling when you've "nailed" a layout? You feel like you've captured the essence of the moment, and all the planets are in alignment? Well, this one is it for me!!

I totally rocked these Cherry Arte Cosmic Energy papers. They were the perfect compliment for this picture of Hayden at her softball game. Of course, I was there with my camera, snapping away as usual...Well, she totally dished me some attitude--like I was annoying or something!! LOL Who, me?! SNAP!!! I got that one, baby!

Am I the only one....?

Am I the only one who thinks this layout is super-cute?! This little baby has been sitting in the gallery over at ilove2create.com since April 26th, and not ONE FRIGGIN' COMMENT!!

Who doesn't love The MaryTylerMoore Show? Am I really that old, that people don't even get the reference to her theme song from this lo's title? It totally makes me want to sing it from the rooftops!! "She can turn the world on with her smile....She can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile..Well it's you girl, and you should know it...Each glance and every little movement you show it... "

Well people, it makes ME happy...I guess that's what matters the most.

If you who haven't heard...

I have officially resigned my Design Team position at ilove2create.com. It is a sad decision on my part, sort of like breaking-up with your first boyfriend...you know you are no longer good for each other, but will always have a fond place in your heart. :)

I had been contemplating this decision for quite some time, but came to the realization that it was no longer working for me when my kids thought i liked crafting better than them. Those words stung. I was spending too much time trying to make deadlines for newsletters and monthly gallery projects, praising in the gallery, keeping up my presence on the message board, creating a monthly challenge, participating in other DT's challenges, not to mention all the other "little" events that are a continuous stream of occurences: Member's Only projects, 12 days of Christmas, Cybercrops. Although being on a DT is a tremendous honor, it is LOADS of work, and 18 months of a breakneck pace was just too much for me. I want to start focusing on my photography skills some more too, so I want to fill my extra time learning the ropes of my camera!

I cannot remember the last time I actually made something because I felt like it. All of my projects over the past year have been created with an agenda in mind. How stifling!

I still have my DT at 2SS, and my classes at Lasting Memories to keep me busy...Pat at Express Yourself! wants me to be their "spotlight artist" for the store in a couple of weeks, so I still have plenty of stuff goin' on, and won't be dropping off the planet any time soon!

Just so you know I am alive and well, here is a little project I made for my mom for Mother's Day. I've gotten a really great response from this project, and will make-up another one with different papers to teach at LM :)

How cute is that?

The DT hosted a bunch of NSD challenges over at 2SS's. Here is one I participated in that was hosted by Melanie. The challenge was to take 9 different pieces of patterned paper, and use them all together "Ali Edwards style". The thought of using all those patterns is quite frightening , so this was a challenge for me through and through!! Anyway, I love the result!

I've got another busy week planned, with the kids having 3 softball games (**mental note--bring camera, you dufus!!), a trip to the Martha Stewart show in NYC, (look for me in the audience on Tuesday, May 8th!), some yardwork that needs to be completed, and get that mini book for my June class at Lasting Memories done!! Well, that should keep me off the streets for a while!

Coming up for air

It has been far too long since I last made an entry...So let me take a break from the mayhem and catch up on what's been goin' on...

Man, this past week was the week from hell!! I had that darn Yankee Candle Fundraiser for school, and had to orchestrate and fulfill pick-up times for the parents to come and get their orders. The shipment came in, and when the school secretary told me they shipped 103 boxes, I nearly had a coronary! I was at school every day last week, and some days I was there twice! I had no idea when I signed-up for this fundraiser what the heck i was getting into...the real kicker, is that it isn't really over yet, either!! YC sent a list of about 15 items that were backordered. We had about 25 people with these items on their original orders, and YC isn't going to be shipping them till the end of May....so I'll have to do this all over again! BLECH!

In addition to my crazy week with the fundraiser commitment, I got cornered to help with the book fair at school( you know, "well, since you're already here..."), plus I also had to prepare and load my challenges for IL2C's cybercrafting weekend, AND it was May Kit deadline for IL2C this past Friday. I had to juggle my schedule enough so that I had time to prepare my projects for the May kit and get them uploaded... Needless to say, we ate out almost every night this past week. My sincerest apologies to my family for neglecting them!

Yesterday I took a big-time veg-out day. i played board games with the kids, went to their softball game, and finally managed to make dinner for everyone, AND was able to get my family's Yankee Candle orders delivered. It was a good day.

Today, I have been crazy-cleaning the house, sort of like the Tasmanian Devil with a Dyson!! LOL I have done 3 loads of laundry so far (but must get them folded and put away, too!), cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed the carpets, mopped the floors, and cleaned up my scrap room. It feels so awesome! I want to get the household stuff done and out of the way, so I have a couple of days to work on my 2SS's projects as those deadlines are quickly approaching. I also have some stuff to do for Lasting Memories that I want to complete and deliver by the end of the week...there is no rest for the weary!

Thanks for checking up on me...

:)

Cherry Arte projects

Here are some projects that I completed for the Design Team at 2 Sassy Scrappers. I was given the Cherry Arte Kitty Lou papers to work with. They were so easy to create with!! I cut out a lot of flowers as you can see in this LO "Mr. and Mrs.", of me and DH, on our wedding day...that was almost 12 years ago, and this is the very first time I have every scrapped one of our wedding pictures! The rub-ons(book1 in white) are by American Crafts, as well as the letters in the title , they are the Thickers.

"Self-Portraits" is a layout I did using a bunch of pictures I took of myself trying to find "my good side"(LOL). Aren't I goofy? These pictures were taken to use for the Design Team bio's at 2Sassy Scrappers and ilove2create. Still using the Cherry Arte Kitty Lou papers, but with a totally different look than the above photo.

Here's a really simple card using some scraps of paper from the above projects...the "happy birthday" stamps are from Stampin' Up's Happy Everything collection(Item #107375) . If you look closely you can also see some Heidi Swapp bling goin' on!! I love those HS products, they are so versatile, and easy to use!

Here's a little something to get you in the mood...

Here is a little basket of felted Easter eggs that I made...Aren't they the cutest things, ever!?! I got the kit from ilovecreate and started working on them last night. I have to say that I am in love with them now, even though it took me a while to get the knack of wet felting around an egg form. I have wet felted before, but never over a form, and it was a little bit different. A couple of things to know when doing this project...Use extremely hot water, just bearable enough to get your hands in...and I needed to use more dish detergent than I thought I would need. Both of these things helped immensely to get the wool roving to shrink around the form...it took me until the 3rd egg to figure this out. So I ended up re-doing the first two eggs. If you purchase this kit, take out all of the different colors of felt first and see which color you have the most of. Start with that color first, in case you need to re-do like I did.

I had a difficult time using the lengths of ribbon that were provided to wrap around the eggs and tie with bows... I had to use ribbon from my stash to complete the eggs with bows. If you don't plan on tying bows, you will have no problems with the ribbon provided.

I made this cute little Easter basket to give to my sister as a hostess gift, as she will be having us, and the rest of our family for Easter dinner at her house. Do you think she will like it?

Check this out, people!!

You can be the proud new owner of this little honey!! Yes, it's a Dyson!!

Check out this blog, 5 minutes for mom on how to win one of your very own, but hurry because the contest ends on April 4th!!

I just purchased a DC-14 full kit this past weekend at Costco, and boy does it suck!! LOL!! Get it? That bad boy sucked dirt out of our carpet that's probably older than my kids...YIKES!

I really did my research, and hemmed and hawed about what I wanted to get...My biggest question was, "Is the Dyson really worth the extra money?" Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to that magical question. I think it will only truly be answered if my machine stands the test of time. But, it does come with a 5 year warranty, and that made the deal a little sweeter! So I took the plunge! My current vacuum is burnt out. I can smell that motor burning every time I use it, and I am not one to neglect my tools... I take care of my machine with regular cleanings. It is now 5 years old, tired, sucks (but not in a good way) and no warranty left on it. I am kickin' it to the curb, cuz there's a new "man" in town!

Welcome home, baby!

My latest creation...

Here's my latest!! The papers I used are Basic Grey's Urban Couture, the chipboard scroll is by Fancy Pants, the large brackets are Technique Tuesday's Functuation, the title is Pressed Petals Chip Chatter, the flowers are American Crafts, the little label is Lil'Davis, the small brackets are My Mind's Eye Magnolia transparency.

My inspiration for this came from one of our members at 2SS's. The link is Here .

My sister took this picture of my daughter over a year ago. Mary has a great eye for photography, and I always love to use her work on my layouts.

Today, I will say goodbye to my friend...

I will have a tough day ahead of me. Today, I will be bringing my friend of 15 years to her deathbed. It sounds so ominous and creepy. And I feel like I have to keep explaining myself, and justifying this decision. Somehow, it just doesn't seem right, and yet I don't want her to suffer any more. This mental struggle is one I have been wrestling with for over a month, and while my head knows that it is the most humane thing to do for her, my heart is having trouble with letting her go.

My friend has been sick for a while. She has kidney failure, and has been in a slow decline. Although her good-natured temperment has never wavered, I can see her change as this disease has progressed. She has lost weight, and is no longer the pleasingly plump little kitty she used to be. The interest in food isn't as captivating as the desire for water. She will constantly stalk the house for the freshest water. Including her water bowls, which get freshened several times a day, she will seek out water in the toilet bowls, the drops of water left in the tub after a shower, she will stalk the kitchen sink for bowls or dishes with water left in them. I even saw her licking the melted snow off the floor when the kids came in after a snow storm.

I will spare all of the unsanitary details of living with a kitty with renal failure, but in my selfish mind this was the deciding factor to my ultimate decision.

After I bring her to the vet, I will bring her home again, and provide a proper burial for her. She will be under a tree, out near the garden, and in view of a birdhouse...a most pleasant setting.

I am selfishly glad to be home alone with her for her last few hours.

Today, I will say goodbye to my friend...

Better late than never...

Well, I was supposed to load the pictures of the new papers my lss gave me to work with, but my life got outta hand and I didn't have time to load them. So here are the finished products of some store displays and my upcoming class. Unfortunately my pics came out all wonky, so you'll just have to pretend they are pristine!! :)

This first one is using American Crafts a la Carte papers. The little felt flowers are also American Crafts, with some added button centers. The title I did using my Cricut, and then layered the two different fonts. I also broke out my trusty Signo Uni-ball pen, and made white dots around the pp's.


These papers are SEI's Citrus kick. I absolutely love the colors in these papers, and this photo does not do them justice. The cardstock is supposed to be a deep rich peacock color, but instead it looks all faded and muddy. Anyway, I also used some Bazzill wings flowers, a Junkitz flower, my new set of acrylic stamps by Art Warehouse (see the link in another post), some alcohol inks to dye the chipboard file tabs, and again my Cricut for the title. This one will probably be my next class for April.






I was intimidated by these papers at first, but the color combination was just so fabulous, I couldn't resist. These papers are 3BugsInARug Seeing Stars. I also used new my Art Warehouse stamps for this lo (see other post for link), my Crafter's Workshop Dots and Circles template, and some Tulip Slick Dimensional Paint in white.


Just as an aside...a little pet peeve of mine is posting layouts without pictures...It drives me crazy, and I don't like it!! It looks so unfinished...ok, I got that outta my system now!

Get outta town!

We took a little 2-day "get outta town" trip with the kids, where we spent the night at Mohegan Sun, and played some arcade games, went for a swim, had dinner at Johnny Rocket's, and just generally hung out.

Look at what Olivia won in the arcade! You know those games that have the giant mechanical claw that is on a remote control and comes down to grab the animal out of a heap of plush toys? You know the ones...they're nearly impossible to win at...Matt took one turn on it, I took one turn, and Olivia took one turn and wham-o!!! Jackpot!! She scores a big headed dog! She was happy as a clam, and wanted to bring him everywhere we went...Too bad she isnt old enough to play the craps table!! LOL!


From the casino, we went to Mystic Aquarium, and spent the day exploring, and checking out all the animals and fish they had there...Here is just one of the many cool things we saw when we were visiting the aquarium this past weekend. This is a beluga whale.





Here is a jellyfish

This is my favorite picture from the weekend(well, that I am willing to share at this point)!! I thought for sure I would get wicked glare/distortion from the tanks, but it wasn't too bad...Although dangerous, they are so beautiful and graceful!!


I have been gettin' busy with crafting since we've been home, I have a deadline with ilove2create, and I still have a couple more things left to do. I am planning on using another picture from our weekend away, but you will have to check back later to see what it is!

It's a good thing!!

In my creative flurry today, I was doing a little photo editing, and look what I discovered...radial blur! This is a really subtle use of it, but I love the way this picture of Olivia turned out, and I just had to share it right away! I have a layout planned for it already, but in my excitement, I had to post my discovery, pronto! Check back to see how I used this picture on my layout.

oh, by the way, if you click on the picture, it will enlarge, and you can see the radial blur effect even better!








And here is my creation with that cool photo...These papers are from the March kit at ilove2create, they are A2ZEssentials.

I worked my tail off today!

Let me start by saying i have a love-hate relationship with Yankee Candle...I am totally in love with their products, and I have even visited their flagship store in Deerfield, MA--FUN!!! So many delicious flavors to choose from, and tons for every season. Yes, I'll have one of everything, please!!

But right now, I am so NOT feelin' the love!! Our school is doing a YC fundraiser, and in a brief moment of insanity sometime in Feb., I agreed to Chair this fundraiser. Today was the end of the sales period, and the day we tallied our sales. That means we (four of us volunteers) were inundated with wacked-out order forms that had scratched out items and arrows pointing every which way from crazed parents trying to get their kids packets in before the deadline (and yes Heather, I am talking about you :) !! Order forms where addition was incorrect, some sellers with multiple order forms that would take Einstein a week to wade through... We received checks, cash, IOU's and yes, even change to make up the total amounts due. Can you see where I'm going with this? Can you see why I am not feelin' the love for YC right now? I think I need to self-medicate with some adult beverages right now.

Fundraising is such a sticky business, and yet, we do it for the benefit of our kids. I have to remember to keep repeating that mantra..."We do it for the benefit of our kids. We do it for the benefit of our kids. We do it for the benefit of our kids". After this fundraiser is over, I will have a new mantra, "Don't Chair anymore fundraisers".

All of this whining really has nothing to do with Yankee Candle, themselves. They always have superior products and a stellar reputation, that I am sure (ok, i'm crossing my fingers here!) everything will run smoothly from here on out. I will be one happy camper when my $105 worth of candles arrives in April, and who knows, perhaps this will be like the pain of childbirth...they say you forget it after a while.

So when all was said and done, and we wrapped up our little YC pow-wow this morning, I high-tailed it out of there, went to get the oil changed in my car, and filled 'er up with some gas. I also got some laundry done, dinner made, helped the kids with their homework, dropped off the money from the YC fundraiser to the PTO treasurer, wrote some notes to the kids' teachers, and generally picked up the big chunks of clutter around the house.....All this, because tomorrow I AM GETTIN' CRAFTY!!! Do you hear me people?! and I DO NOT want any interruptions!!! Geesh!! What's a girl got to do to get some crafty time?!

Tomorrow, you know where to find me!

What's in a name?

I have given my blog a catchy new name...A Life Artist's Type Culture.

"What the hell is that?", you may ask.

Hmmm...let us ponder this for a while. While we, our little sub-culture, are more commonly known as scrapbookers, many of us who tell our life's stories have adopted the more accurate name of "Life Artist", as coined by Ali Edwards.

She seems to have summed it up quite nicely:

...gave a little presentation about my scrapbooking philosophy and introduced my new name for scrapbookers/creative people who are into celebrating life through art: life artist. "Scrapbooker" just doesn't cut it - it is so much more than that name implies.

So, life artist it is.

So who is a life artist? Do you take photos of your family, yourself, your environment, your world? Do you tell stories? Do you bring them all together onto paper, into your computer, onto a canvas (or some other cool concoction)? Do you create art journals with all kinds of wonderfully interesting pieces of your life and thoughts and emotions? Do you celebrate your life through your art?

You are a life artist.

I am a life artist."

.

So it is. I tell my story through my artwork. Through my photos, and my words, and my thoughts and my hands. It all comes together in a flurry of cutting and pasting, whether in the tangible sense, or digital, it has my stamp on it. It is my story, and I'm telling it as i see it.

Let us now dissect the phrase, "type culture". Webster's definition is: (n) a viable culture of an organism that is directly descended from the strain or isolation on which the original description of the organism is based.

In my warped little mind, I see myself as an adaptation of the original...and yet, an original in my own right. Sort of an evolution of what is commonly known. As a Biology major that analogy to the scientific is just, well, damn good! Plus, let's not forget the fact that I have played on the word "type", as I am only able to keep this blog alive through my type, and that blogging is a total sub-culture in itself.

I get so jazzed over playing with words like that. Maybe I am a little idiosyncratic, and maybe it goes unappreciated by most, but hey, it makes me happy!

...and here's something else that makes me happy...don't know why, but this guy makes me smile! :)

Hey, Turkey!!

I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by. Here is a turkey vulture perched on my neighbors (the Hines') chimney. He sat there for over an hour! I couldn't figure out why he was perched there for so long...Was there a nest of babies in the chimney? Was there a critter in there he was waiting to snack on? Or was it just a warm spot to perch, cuz baby, it's cold outside!?

Anyhow, I couldn't let that moment pass without saving it for future use...I haven't quite figured out how to scrap these yet...any suggestions? To find out more on Turkey Vultures, and how really nasty they are, go to the Turkey Vulture Society LOL! Yes, they really do exist!


So speaking of turkeys, here's another turkey trying to take a self-portrait for her DT bio pix! I set my camera up on a tripod outside on our deck. Then I used the timer function so that I could focus on a paint can that was sitting on the railing behind me. Once I brought that into focus, I would press the shutter to activate the timer and then run into position and try to pose and look cute...I think I just look like a turkey!! :)



Needless to say, I didn't choose either of these pictures. My theory on focusing didn't work very well, and these pictures aren't as crisp and clear as I would have liked...they are a little too blurry to crop and resize to an avatar. Better luck next time!


They have closed the schools for today. We are supposed to have a wintry mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain all day long, and into tomorrow. Yikes!! I don't wanna shovel that heavy stuff!! Matt is still in bed. He is coming down with a cold...I think he should stay home with us today(so he can shovel, LOL)...we'll see.

Here is my list of things to do today. I seem to do better at accomplishing them when they are in writing. Let's see how many I can get done:

1. fold laundry
2. send out get well card to my neighbor
3. Bring Yankee Candle Fundraiser to Sue--she wants to buy!! :)
4. Work on the ilove2create kick-off challenges
5. Work on LM store displays
6. Pay bills

Look what I got today!!!

I have been away most of the day, between bringing the kids to school (had to bring in their rocket projects, and there is no way they'd survive the trip on the bus), going to Mahopac for my class at Lasting Memories, doing some shopping at LM (!!!!--i'll spill the beans in a few minutes), coming home, and hearing the weather report, "What!!! We're getting how many inches of snow?!", jumping on the computer really quick to whip up a reminder document for the Yankee Candle Fundraiser, zooming over to school and printing off copies and distributing them, bringing the kids home, and helping out with their homework, it is now 5 something PM, and I am just catching up with my daily web haunts. OK, so that was a terribly long run on sentence, and I was never a scholar when it came to grammar, but I got it all out, and you got the gist, right?

So after all that I stop in at 2 Sassy Scrappers, and lo and behold, my new Design Team Blinkie is waiting for me!! Isn't it cute?



Well, as far as making any money today off of the class I taught, that all went to hell in a handbasket when I saw the stamps that came in!! I got two new sets of acrylic stamps from ArtWarehouse Limited Edition, they are by Danelle Johnson...they are sooooo great!

Memories Interactive Circles Lg

Memories Interactive Journaling Circles Sm

YaY!! I can't wait to play! I will also post some links to the new papers I will be using for some of my upcoming classes...but for now, I gotta get busy! :D

Getting ready...

I am teaching a class tomorrow at my lss, Lasting Memories , and I am getting my supplies together. I am using the oh so cute Technique Tuesday stamp set Loves Me, Loves Me Not which I can't get enough of. I've also got my trusty spray paint out to spray some bottlecaps with, and a mallet so that we can smash them!! :)

I am definitely learning how to streamline my classes more so that we can keep things moving along, hence the chipboard templates. I have learned they are a great tool to use for tracing and cutting out shapes during class, fast and efficient!


So here is a picture of the finished product for my class for tomorrow, "You make my world go 'round"...I don't even know how many people have signed-up, or if I have enough supplies--YIKES! We'll figure it out, we always do! The papers I used are from The Crafter's Workshop (scroll down to see the Creamsicle line).




I am sure Barb and Julie are convinced that I've fallen off the edge of the earth, I have been flying under the radar lately with so many projects going on, and I haven't been around to see them or even answered emails...that's BAD! Mental note to self: work on communication skills :)

Speaking of projects, I have one of my challenges underway for the new ilove2create launch! If you are confused by the link, Scrapbooking Society is going through a transformation, and will emerge on March 20th as "ilove2create". There will be a whole lot crafting going on, and we are NOT just talkin' scrapbooking!

I have received my first assignment for the month of April for 2SassyScrappers. I will be using Cherry Arte's Kitty Lou papers. Now I just have to wait ever-so-patiently (that's a stretch for me!) for my package of goodies to arrive. If you'd like to join us on the message boards for 2SS's here's the link to chat. The message board is growing leaps and bounds, and there is always a lot of activity--there are some crazy folks over there!

... I have to get back to getting ready...

Let's try this again...

And here we have it...

With my latest development (don't worry, i'll get to that later), and with the transformation of ScrapbookSociety to ilove2create , I am again feeling the pressures of keeping a blog. I STILL cannot fathom what it is that I have to say that would be so interesting, that others would want to come and read about it. Dh says I should...He's all tech savvy and what-not, and has even created my own website... Are you kidding? I can barely keep up with the message boards I frequent, and he wants me to provide the content AND update my own site!!! Sheeesh!! The nerve of some people ;) Yeah, we will revisit that subject later.

Now on to the good stuff..

Wow!! Such exciting news! I submitted for a call for a new Design Team for 2 Sassy Scrappers...and out of 61 applicants, they liked me!! They really liked me!! I feel like Sally Field accepting her Oscar....kinda lame, I know. So, I am one of nine new DT members for a brand new online store opening on April 1st. www.2sassyscrappers.com
My gut instinct is telling me this is going to be a really great opportunity and just loads of fun...and I get to wallow in new product every month!!! Are you jealous? Oh, it feels so decadent!

Here is the work that I submitted to 2sassyscrappers for consideration:

For this one, I used kit contents from SBS's March kit

I've succumbed to the peer pressure!

It is so cool and hip now to have a blog. Matt has been gently (or not so) encouraging me to start one up. He even believes in me enough to have started working on my own website...to be continued. My question to him is, "What do people want to read about me for?". I am the "anti-exciting". He thinks that I need to start sharing my abilities with others. So here it is...

For those of you who don't know, I have been dabbling in the world of paper crafts. I am doing design work for www.scrapbooksociety.com where I am a design team member, and also for www.lastingmemoriesscrapbook.com, where I design store displays, and create and teach classes. What started out as a distraction for a SAHM, turned into the discovery of an untapped talent. Can I say that about myself? I guess so, it's my blog, so there!

Well, I really don't want to overdo it...I wouldn't want to strain myself on my first post! I have to go and look around. I have to see about sprucing-up my new "blog home".