I'mmmm Baaccckkk...

I'm back.  I'm unpacked - and was just an hour or so after we got home.  I even got laundry sorted and started.  I made dinner with some of the giant bunch?  Herd?  Flock?  String of fish we brought home.  My son's monster of a Mackinaw at 22".  Later after bathing the toddler, who despite having a shower every night while camping, still managed to lug home about 10 pounds of dirt on his body.  I capped off my return home with packing up a huge portion of the kits and set them out for pick-up this afternoon - actually I oversaw hubby and sons packing up, while I took care of the kitchen.  This morning I got up and got my Monday chores done - even with sleeping in.  I even have dinner in the slow-cooker!  I am on a roll. 


Or I was. . .  Due to some street sealing going on on my street tomorrow, I'm not sure that the remaining kits will get picked up tomorrow.  My street will be closed, as will be the street that runs perpendicular to my home.  We'll have to park in Wyoming if we plan to leave the house at all for the next 48 hours.  It's hard to ask the postman to make numerous trips back and forth with stacks of kits to whatever Kansas parking lot he had to stop in to deliver our mail.  Why do I tell you this?  So if you're one of the kits arriving a day or so later than usual, you'll know why.


Looks like everyone's a tad out of practice in the creating layouts and getting them uploaded.  I'll have to fix that.  Because of that you all made it very easy for Jengd to be the winner of last week's challenges!  Jen, I think I have your information, but send it to me again just to be on the safe side.


Today's challenge is based on the look below from Pottery Barn, one of my fave places to window drool. . .ah. . . window shop at.  Use it to inspire a layout this week.  I love the cool crispness of the white and blue.  The beachy feel of it.  The cute tin star and tin knick-knacks on the window ledges.  Even the blue and white pillow with the seashells.  What do you see that you can incorporate into your layout?  There are tons of great little details in this picture. 

Layouts will be due Saturday eveing. Prizes are available. . .come on, you know they're good!!  Think of this week's challenges as a warm-up and stretching exercises before the big "show."   I said I'd do some reading, some scrapbooking and some planning for the next big challenge. . .and I did!  Stay tuned.

Happy Monday.  Off to get back on a roll, with a left-over bar of Hershey's from 'Smore Night in tow.

Hello Old Friend. . .Sketches on Wednesday or Thursday

Who said summers are lazy?  Well, I guess in some ways they are - no school shuffle, no homework nagging and a slight break in athletic madness.  Soccer will start up again in a few weeks, but my daughter's volleyball conditio~ing has started. . .at 7:00 AM!  I'm not sure which makes me feel worse - she's up at 7:00 am, I'm up at 7:00 am, she's running her butt off that early for two hours (she slept for four hours when she got home) or that she's not getting to enjoy later nights because she's got this conditioning training four days a week for the next eight weeks.

I've got a little family va-kay coming up, in which I plan much lazing around, taking my kits with me and I'll do a little planning.  The break from challenges here is over. . .or will be soon.  So oil those scissors, refill the glue and shove a space clean.

Let's do some stretching exercises. . .Today's sketch is brought to you by the talented Shawn over at Nuts About Sketches.  I always love Shawn's sketches - multi-photo HECK YA!  Double-pagers WOOHOO!!  Check the link if you need more inspiration, check the link above to see what the designers did.



This and Monday's challenge will be due Saturday evening to be eligible for a Treat.

Tuesday's Sundae

Here are your ingredients based on your selections yesterday.  Your layout needs to include these items, not be limited to them like 5 on  Fridays.  So just incorporate.

• Chocolate Ice Cream =  Color cardstock of your choice
• Vanilla Ice Cream  = Neutral cardstock - brown, kraft, white or black
• Hot Fudge = Epoxy Embellishment
• Caramel Sauce = Ribbon
• Strawberry Syrup = Frame 
• Pineapple Syrup = Acrylic Embellishment
• Cherry Syrup = Stickers
• Bananas = Brads
• Marshmallow Cream = Rub-ons
• Whipped Cream = Fabric or Felt Embellishment
• Cherries = Buttons
• Chopped Nuts = Chipboard
• Sprinkles = Jewels

This layout is due Sunday evening to be eligible for the Cookie drawing.

Short and sweet today - I have two 2 y.o.'s wandering around my family room, trying to gain "rights" to the Mickey Mouse Club House. 

Have a great Tuesday and enjoy building those Sundaes!  I can't wait to see them.

Monday Challenge

Were you on pins and needles all weekend, wondering did she scrapbook or did she complete the November kits?  Geez, I hope not.  For the record I did neither - I worked on the kits but they are not complete.  I had the desire to scrapbook but not the energy.   That was Saturday. 

Sunday was the crazy day.  Got up, fixed breakfast. I knew we would be close on time coming home from DH's office picnic, so enlisted the kids to do some vacuuming, clutter clearing and bathroom washing.  This turned out to be a good thing as we arrived home 10 minutes, seriously, before the party was to start.  So I set one kid on the wood floors that I forgot to get done, one doing some last minute clearing and one to do Toddler-Wrangling.  I called in the pizza, while DH took off to pick-up the cake and ice cream.  It all turned out.  Pizza was hot, ice cream was cold, cake was yummy and fun was had.  By the time everyone left and the youngest of the birthday boys was finally in bed (he had only gotten a 30 minute nap) it was about 9:00 PM and I was done too.

So Monday dawned bright and early.  Chores are done.  My work-work is getting started and depending on how the day goes there may be time for play.  With a late volleyball practice; it STARTS at 8:00 PM, I may need to play to stay awake so that I can go get the volleyball-er.

Will you need a challenge to play with?  Of course - it is Monday after all.  Still in the challenge-block-mode, I rely once again on Elizabeth Kartchner's "52 More Scrapbooking Challenges."  Today, find inspiration in a print design.  You can find a print design in anything from book sleeves to product logos to postage stamps.  Use it as you see it, or alter it slightly to fit your layout needs.  With this challenge please include your inspiration as well as your layout when you link it up.  Layouts are due on Sunday evening.

Finally, last week's winner and a little change in the selection process.  I will be drawing a name (still using Random.org) from those who complete any layout from the weekly challenges.  Do more challenges, get your name in the drawing more than once.  I know time can be at a premium, so whether you're getting three layouts done a week, or one (which is still four layouts for the month and nothing to shake a stick at) you'll be eligible for the weekly drawing.  With the new rules laid out, the winner from last week:  Kai!!  Kailyn, you'll get your goodie in your next kit.  If you haven't had a chance to check out last week's layouts, click on a thumbnail and take a look - they were all great.

Off to keep plugging away at work-work.  Have a great Monday, ya'll.

Saturday Challenge

Okay, so it's a last minute challenge.  I call 'em as I see 'em, unfortunately, I'm seein' 'em when they're not there.  I could have sworn I posted yesterday.  This is not a good sign.  I mean memory function for me is all relative lately anyway, but I was so sure I'd made a post yesterday.  SIGH

So, for today - you get free license.  Create a layout, any layout and get it uploaded by Sunday night to finish out this week.

I've got some nice color from games today (one 4-0 win, one 4-0 loss.)  Too bad the color is lobster-red.  And too bad it's only on the left side of my body.  And for added character, only certain exposed parts.  So the next time I go for shorter sleeves and shorts, like, oh say, tomorrow at DH's office picnic, when it'll be almost 90, I'll look spectacular.  I'm sure it'll make a marvelous impression on my husband's boss and colleagues.  Super fun.  We'll also celebrate our three-birthdays-one-party tomorrow - I'm seeing lots of running, lots o'food and hopefully much fun.  Tonight, I'm trying to weigh my options - scrapbook or November kits which I seem to have hit the wall with. 

Check in Monday to see what happened. :)

Have a great weekend.

I'm here. . .

I'm not dead. I'm not sick. My kids haven't driven me insane. . . anymore than I already was anyway. I'm not even on vacation - and by that I mean away from the house and all that beckons when you're home. Nope, it was just plain old shipping. But that is wrapped up and I'm moving on to July stuff - which is totally fun! I can't wait to play with them and, if I can get ahead of the game, show pieces of them here. :)

Let's start with a couple blog shouts to start:

• Sous Chef Jennifer has posted her extras from her June Apron Strings work. After completing her layouts she still managed to make all these cards. An amazing note, she used her October Afternoon kit down to just a small 4x6 piece of paper! And if I know Jennifer, she couldn't throw it away and it will appear on something. :)
• Sous Chef Amy posted the most adorable stitched card a couple days ago on her blog. On top of the awesome work she does on layouts for Apron Strings, she's an accomplished card maker and her ideas would be very "liftable" to help you use your scraps down to the last drop; just like Jennifer!
• Finally, fellow-blogger Melanie is hosting a photo challenge (not in photos you take, but in finding inspiration in photos she posts) in honor of National Camera Day on June 28th. Plan to follow along on her blog for daily posts. You could win a nice little prize for playing along. I know of at least one piece of her "offering" ;)

Alright, so you need your challenge-fix for the week. (I will be posting the 5 on Friday, too). So here you go. The sketch is by Sous Chef Gloria! Always great work. She's one of the Card Chefs, but you can totally create a layout from it! That "image" space is perfect for one, two, four or six (small but well placed) photos. Let's see what you can create! Would love to see some of my card kit followers out there link up for this one (or any challenges for that matter!)

This challenge along with tomorrow's will be due Saturday evening to be eligible for the weekly prize.

Final note: be on the look out for some serious scrapbooking opportunities coming soon! "My Croppy Summer" is heading this way!