My last LOAD.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what I was gonna scrap today.

My kid is on the front page of the newspaper

Allen's story is online

It's Not Easy Being a Goalie Parent

I'm proud of both of them. And hey.. my pictures are being seen by at least 160,000 people!

My boy..

Growing up, I always imagined myself married to some Adonis of a man, like Rick Springfield, Fonzie, or if I was lucky, Kenny Rodgers(insert eye roll here), or if I was REALLY lucky, I would latch on to one of the members from Toto, Men at Work, or better yet Journey. With all their glorious hair do's and talent (OK.. maybe not Rick Springfield or Fonzie in the talent department, but you get my point) I never ever gave thought to their personalities and how they were as REAL people.

(Hold on... let's wait for those who are trying to figure out by my references how old I am. I know I just aged myself. I was a shoulder pad wearing, feather hair toting, 80's girl. That puts me in my thirties. Ok.. late thirties. So, put away your quackulators, and get back to my story.)

Now looking back at age thirty-cough cough.. none of your business. I would have never guess that I would find myself married to my best friend. A man who has wonderful traits. A funny, wickedly smart, loving husband and a kind father. The truly sexy qualities, that make honest, loyal, caring men so darn irresistible.

But, on the flip side, he's also a real person, who has characteristics that would drive even the Pope insane. He's extremely messy, stubborn, resistant to change, incapable of watching a romantic chick flick with out inserting smart ass comments evenly dispersed throughout all the teary eyed moments. Unwilling to wash a dish, or pick up a dirty sock, unable to.... I digress. (Sorry got on a little roll there.) My point is, he's not perfect, he has the same idiosyncrasies that make us all human and works in progress. But, those "frailties" is what I find most sexy and genuine about my man.

Long ago, I heard a quote that I really stuck with me. "It's not despite their frailties that you love someone, it's because of them."

When life with this man I call my husband becomes difficult, I rejoice in his sometimes obstinate nature, because he is all mine. Thick and thin, through laughter and frustration, good and bad.. mine all mine.

And I am his. All his.

Are we done yet?

I'm running out of ideas here... So, here's a little peak into me browsing the message board, looking for inspiration.

Load day 28

I've had the Journey song "Don't Stop Believing" in my head all day. Don't you just love those types of mind worms?

Here, let me sing a few bars for you...
Don't Stop Believin'
- Journey

Just a small town girl
Living in a lonely world
She took the midnight train going anywhere
Just a city boy
Born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train going anywhere

A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

{Refrain}
Strangers, waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Paying anything to roll the dice
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

{Refrain}


So, I thought.. why not a page about a scrap girl, livin' in her scrappy world.


and if you can't get enough.. how about the LIVE version

The good, the bad, the really ugly..

When you are talking about messes... my office/scrap space is in it's various stages of disaster. Some areas better than others. But, I'm going to take care of it. Maybe that will help with my scrapping blah's.



Before the big clean up..

100% Girl

Load day #27

100% Girl

Just an itty bitty binge

Ok, so I went to Archivers in search of one thing. Pink Staz-on. And of course they didn't have it in stock yet. So, it's only natural to buy SOMETHING. Ok, who am I kidding, I bought quite a few somethings.

Hey, while I'm at it..why not create a little page to fulfill my LOAD requirement for the day. Nothing special. But, it's done!

I'm not smarter than a 2nd grader

My youngest son Benny asked me to download a few songs on to his I-pod a couple of days ago. Being the dutiful mother I am, I first listen to the songs, then if approved, I download them. For those of you with I-Pods, know that all you normally have to do is plug the darn thing, and away you go. Well, apparently not this one.

So for two days, I tried to turn the darn thing on. The first day, I was convinced that the battery was dead. So I let it sit plugged in. On the second day, still nothing. I was bound and determined to get it to work again, so I quickly hit the Help section on I-Tunes. I diligently followed all the advice the experts had to offer. Still nothing.

By yesterday afternoon, my frustration had turned to anger. Thinking that my 7 year old had just trashed his I-Pod.

Preparing to contact tech-support, Benny walked into my office, and asked if his IPOD was ready. I told him, no it wasn't. I then began to question him as to what actions he took to cause his music player to fail. The following is our exchange:

Me: "I think your I-Pod is broken Benny, it won't turn on."
Benny: "Mom, did you push the ON button?"
Me: "What ON Button?"
Benny: "This one here. See Mom, it works fine."
Me: "Oh..."

Man, I feel so defeated to be out technolized by a 2nd grader (yeah, I know technolized is not a word.. but I need to make big words up to validate my intelligence again)!!

So, here's my page to memorialize my stupidity!

Note to self...

You want to know a little secret? Lean in real close.. and I got a doozie for you... I CHEATED! I scrapped this page last night. Eek.. don't tell! If you must know. I want to get a couple of pages ahead. This weekend is bound to be busy like the last one, and I barely got my pages done on time. My goal is to do two pages today. But, I'm struggling, nothing seems to inspire me today.

One would imagine, that doing 3"x5" pages would be easy to create for this Layout A Day challenge at BPS. But, oh contraire... it's the creator that couldn't rub two primas together, and create a decent page. You'd think that a girl with my many talents (bwahahah) and endless scrap stash could just whip these pages out... but again.. not so much.

Today's page was a bit of a struggle to complete. It didn't come out at all how I planned. Then again, I didn't pre-think what I was going to do, I just winged it. I think you can tell!

Mr. Mojo.. where are you? I think he's seeing another girl on the side. Come on.. fess up.. which one of you took my man?

Well, in the mean time. I've got some cyber shopping to do! See ya in the check-out lines girls!!

LOAD #24



Journaling reads: So many supplies, so little inspiration.. buy, more maybe it will help!

Always Spring

As I look at the thermometer, I see 31° and wonder if spring is really just around the corner. Lots of bright, brisk, cold snowy days left. But, regardless of the weather outside, it's always Spring in my office.

Load #23

I have a date with the Wax Man!

I was in a public restroom the other day, helping my daughter use the facilities. As I'm standing in front of her as she's going potty, she looks up at me with those big green eyes, and says rather loudly... "Mommy, you've got a mustache just like daddy!" Hardy har har.

Yesterday, she comes to me as I'm working, and with a big goofy grin, and a giant milk mustache, she says. Look Mommy, I've got a mustache just like you!"

That's it... I've got a date with the wax man!

Load #22

Anal Retentive Scrap'a

So a couple of days ago, I was super brilliant about scrapping about my love of Bling. Frustrated with the pictures I came up with, I decided to pour all my bling into one giant container. Knowing very well, that one day in the future, I couldn't live with the mess of my bling, and eventually resort my stash.

Looking at that cute little sorbet cup, filled with all the adorable glitzy bling.. I couldn't take the pressure any longer. They must be SORTED!!

Thus.. LOAD # 21



Journaling reads:
There is a deep need inside me
A need to SORT
A need to have colors of things
Separated
A NEED to have little boxes
Labeled
I am an Anal Retentive
Scrap'a

My Favorite Place on Earth

This entire weekend has been a marathon of activity. Between kids sports, and family fun, I haven't been home except to sleep. Around 8 pm Sunday, I realized I hadn't scrapped my daily page. Panicked I struggled to come up with something that motivated me yesterday. Other than the thought of immanent sleep.. I came up empty. Until I got caught a glimpse of my husbands hand. Blamo.. instant inspiration. OK. So, my page is basic. But, it's the journaling that I focused on.

Journaling on the back reads: I just love your hands. Being in them is my favorite place on earth. I have found my most peaceful moments have been when I'm in them. Through all our good and difficult times together, they have always been my place for comfort. My true home.



** A little side note** Originally I wanted a ghosted heart in hubs hands. But, I couldn't figure out how to attach them. I then moved on to a fingerprint heart on top of the clear page. Unfortunately, the red Stazon didn't look so good and I don't have pink Stazon in my stash. (Guess what I'm buying this week? )

Frustrated, and in a hurry, I just cut the heart out. And.. wa-la... heart window. Effective non embellishment.

Fat

Don't ask where the inspiration for this one came from. I have no answer for you, other than to tell you. I resolved to eat healthier at the beginning of the year. aka.. dieting and let me tell you, it's a struggle.

I think there should be a study conducted examining the correlation between the munchies and how much you actually scrap. Because, I'm scrappin' a lot, and the munchies are constantly calling to me. Hey.. maybe it's the fumes from my ATG. Could I be getting them from that? MMM... something to think about.

Oh, and please, expel the thought of me actually taking a picture of my own butt. I must admit. I knew for sure someone would walk in on me doing it. But alas, the scrap Gods where with me this morning and no witnesses to that little activity.

Load #19



For those thinking font mine, here's something for your trouble
Fat Free

big daddy lens

You may not know this. But, I'm a sports photography nut. I take nearly 500 pictures a weekend of my various kids playing various sports. I take some for our local soccer and hockey associations to use on their websites. Mostly, I take them so the hub can use them in his sports stories he writes for our website, or even to appear on the online edition of our local newspaper.

Anywho...for Christmas, my DH purchased my new kick butt-big daddy lens. Cannon series EF 70-200mm F 2.8 pro series telephoto lens. This baby is super fast. Now, I have to convince him, I need the new Cannon 40D or 5D to make it sing.

In any regard. It puts my other lenses to shame. Walk around with a lens this big, people think you know a thing or two about sports photography. (Livin' the lie baby.. livin' the lie!)

LOAD #18:


Journaling reads:
Why no, I'm not over compensating for something.

Note the veiled attempt at humor, by the addition of the clear man symbol. That was Noel's idea.. blame her!)

My ode to Bling.

Oh, I just love this stuff. I had a hard time photographing the bling in their original containers. Thought this little sorbet cup would do the trick. Now, I have to resort the stash. Gads..

LOAD #17



Journaling reads:

Bling, Bling
the magical supply
The more I use
the more I buy
Bling, Bling
Colors galore,
Way to cute to just adore
Bling, Bling
is all the rage
I'm sure to use on every page

(Do you know this tune? I bet you do!)

Load day #16

My inspiration for a daily page.. is becoming a major challenge. Hard to find something that calls me to create day in and day out.

LOAD day 16 was an easy one to come up with. Right when the kids come home.. they start squabbling. Makes me crazy. Why can't they just be nice to each other? All I'm askin' for in an hour. Just enough time to ease me back into Mom of 4 mode. Nope.. they come barreling in... like a riot just broke out. AGHH...




I snapped this gem of a photo not 10 minutes after my little Benny got home. Sibling love.. nothing like it!

Journaling reads:

"Kids: Remember when they didn't make me so CRAZY!"

Things that just make me smile...

Something about little things that get me happy. (Besides my family) I'm talking about insignificant little scrap items that just bring a smile to my face.

1. Small pop dots. So cute and squishy

2. Paper lace by Doodle Bug. So danty and effective!

3. The feel of my Cropadile going through chipboard. (Like butter baby)

4. When I actually take a great picture. Trust me.. I'm working on it. I have that new big daddy lense, and it's taking me lots of practice with my manual settings to take any action shots that are actually in focus!

5. Bling Baby.. it's all about the Bling!!

Pet Peeve

Every darn time, I go to the fridge, sneak a cookie from the cookie jar, or pop a piece of gum in my mouth, this darn dog.. KNOWS it. Constantly looking for a bite. Oh, that drives me crazy.

Load day #15





Journaling reads:
I don't stare at you when you eat...So, why do you insist on having those beady eyes stare up at me, every time I put a fork to my mouth?

O the temptation.

What I have here, is one of those pages, that start off super cute, but somewhere along the lines.. you lose focus and can't figure out how to finish. Where's my Mr. Mojo.. I need to kick him in the bony legs. He has abandoned me.

Alas.. here is LOAD day #14



Journaling reads.

O the Temptation..
The urge to take and use just one is strong. But it's a gift, so I cant. But, oh the temptation!!

Game MVP

My son Sam was Saturday's game MVP. He received the Hammer Award. Nothing could have made his day more. You'd think winning the game would have been the cherry on top of his day. Nope. The Hammer Award was. He said, he's been waiting all year to get it! Glad he's patience finally paid off.

Load Day 13.

Got Tunes

I was excited to get a page done for day 12. Had a full day with the family, wasn't sure when I'd exactly get to do it. I actually thought quite a bit about what I wanted to scrap. For the last couple of weeks, I've had this I Tunes gift card sitting on my desk. I thought it made a great accent to the pictures of my eldest son Mikey. The trick on these little half pint pages is the size. Keeping things in proportion has been a bit difficult.

Any-who....Load day #12..

I'm OK with me.

Load day #11.

Noel gave me some cocktail napkins that feature the quote "She was nothing but a man-chasing booze hound. Why can't you be more like her?"

After close to 14 years of marriage and 4 children later. I think there's a man-chasing booze hound somewhere still deep inside me. Or at least I hope there still is.

Perhaps on the day the photo was taken.. I was boozin' it up. (I wasn't.. but, wouldn't that day have been nice? LOL)

TFL

Oh, for those of you thinking this was a font mine.... it wasn't. (Gotcha.)
Seriously... here's a font for your troubles. Booze

It's Official I am a Procrastinator..

Load day #10.

Hey, I completed today.. that's one step toward being proactive right?

You and Me

Load day #9.

I'll be honest, today's page isn't that hot. But, I'm tired, work is crazy today and needed to get it done. So there...

My Mantra

Load day #8..
I pray everyday, and after I offer graditude for all the blessings in my life, I ask for patience and faith (most days it works!)

Mr Mojo.

I'm scrappin' about my Mr. Mojo. Here he is in real life. How can you not think he's adorable?


Below is my homage to him. Please note Mr. Mojo is transparent, I just had to back him so his image could be photograph. He's illusive don't you know.

LOAD day #7

Here's day Six LOAD

Noel and I were scrapping on Friday night, when she finally de-packaged her ATG. I was in the middle, of trying to come up with an idea of what to do for my LOAD page. Watching her unwrap her package, was a lot of fun. I remember when I got my ATG in it's bubble wrap. It also reminded me of all the other glorious moments in my friends lives that I've been witness to. WA-LA.... LOAD page is born.

Journaling reads:
Web camming has become my life line.
My friends live all over the country.
But, I get to see them every day.
With out them, I'd be lost.

Snuggle

Yeah, I know it's not LOAD day 5 technically, but I'm headed out tomorrow, and needed to complete the challenge. Will load first thing in the am, before I leave.

TITLE: Snuggle. Snugglin' on you makes my bad days good again.


For the record.. I cut down the box that my Stazon ink came in. It has little lines across it. I thought it looked like a fun addition to my "clear" album.

TFL

Why I respect Polly Pocket

*She needs a little help standing up. (After a couple of cocktails, I know I sure do!)

*Her pants are always difficult to put on. (Yeah, yeah.. I'm on a diet..it's either lose a few pounds, or buy new pants.. I'll go with the former. It's OK to laugh, you know it's true)

*She wears the same clothes day after day... (If you work from home or are a SAHM, you know what I'm talking about. This is my third day with the same hoodie on. I change my t-shirt underneath, but no one else would know that. It looks all the same to them.)

* Her hair looks like she just had a run in with a rabid squirrel. (Welcome to what my DH sees every morning.)

* Her shoes are always lost! MINE TOO!

* Edited to add: I love that Polly is capable of wearing a strapless bra. I need reinforced cables to hold my wobbly bits up!

My new and "improved" scrap space.

I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately when I sit in my office/scraproom. Perhaps it's the fact that I actually have to WORK WORK in here that caused an uncomfortableness everytime I walked in here. That happens to everyone right? My instinct says it was because of the pressure my supplies where having on my subconscious, "USE ME, NO USE ME" or that sad pitiful sound they made everytime I walked out without scrappin' a thing. "Oh, Why haven't you played with us for EVERRRRRRR? snif snif Pleease play with us today!!". Worse than a whiny child. Ok, maybe it's the fact that I actually think my scrap supplies talk to me. Which, uh.. they don't. Regardless the actual reason, I was feeling overwhelmed when I walked into my office. I finally decided it was just the "VISUAL CLUTTER" that made me feel closed in, when I walk in here.

So, last weekend, I decided to do something about it. NEW STORAGE! Woo Hoo! After about 9 back breaking hours of screw tightening, nail hammering, supply moving, and a bit of cursing, my room transformed itself into something soothing and mojo inspiring. A place that I find comfort in once again. I still don't want to WORK WORK in here, but I do want to actually scrap again. It has once again, become a place to rejuvenate my creativity. A Scrap Dorks Home with in a Home.

Sorry the pictures are a bit dark.. My light in here is terrible, and I didn't want to break out the ole' tripod to make the camera work to my advantage.... so there.

This is a picture of what my storage looks like, from sitting at my desk.


The big cabinet right inside the door is full of 81/2x11 papers and miscellaneous paper packs. Black drawers on top of cabinet is all ribbon.


All Chipboard baby! A girl needs that close at hand.


Shoe rack holds Cropper Hopper Embelly drawers, My frequently used punches and some blank stationary. The glass jars from IKEA fit great there. They hold stuff that actually needs to be put away. I plan on moving the jars as soon as I find a cute rack.


Ok. Please note, I built this cabinet the day after I built all the others. I originally wanted it to store my multiple printers. But, sadly they didn't fit. Any who. I thought I was being super smart, thinking, heck.. I don't need to read the instructions, I built 5 other things. I have this process down pat. YEAH.. Brilliant idea. NOT! I'll fix the handles one day... maybe. It's my reminder that I'm not perfect.. It holds my sewing machine, and all my stamp pads


Stamp paraphernalia. I think I need a few baskets to make finding the right stamp pad easier.


Yeah, this wall is a bit much to look at. But, it's functional Top shelf, various stamps t hat I don't use all that often. Next down is my plastic envies full of stickers and rubons all organized by theme. I also store my extra photos here.
Following that are chipboard. and in the little box is MM tools. Magnetic Stamps, Instant Setter. Shelf below that is more chipboard. Do you see a common component to this storage? Chipboard is a necessity! Green containers below that are all clear stamps. They are full. I need another one. Clear envies next to them are all alpha stickers. Lastly, the next shelf down is all stamps. Clear, unmounted, wood mounted. There is one more shelf next to the floor, but we wont go there~ Foam stamps and junk really.


Last cabinet contains my die cutting essentials. On top is the Cricut and in that weird little nook are my Cricut cartridges. This room use to be a bar room circa 1975,hense the groovy green shag carpet. Hippies were "inventive with their design", so much so they added nooks in odd places. But, perfect for my cartridges right?


Said die cut essentials. One shelf has my photo printer. Not ideal place as it's about 13" from my desk, but I can squeeze into that space just enough to get what I need.


So, that's it. This is where I spend a good 10 hours a day, working and scrappin. Who am I kidding, scrappin' and working.

Thanks for looking.

Laugh Yourself Silly

Today's LOAD is called Laugh Yourself Silly. It's a little half pint page. To be honest, the reason it's so small is because, I'm using the Sizzix File Folder die as the base for all my pages. However, had I really thought about this die, I would have realized that the tab can only be placed on one end or the other. Nothing in the middle. So, that leaves me to cut the pages in half, and fudge it a little. Thus... half pint pages are born.

Anyway. Here's my baby girl. She laughs at nearly everything. She's my reminder to smile, and be a little free, be silly.

BPS LOAD PROJECT

So, I was conviced to join the Layout A Day class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I have been in such the doledums of late, that I thought it would be a great way to jumpstart my scrapping. I am in serious need of some Mojo here. Guess what.. between this class and redoing my scrap room (pictures coming soon!)... I actually have been motivated to scrap. Here's my pages so far...
Day 1:



Day 2:


Day 3:

I've been a bad Blogger. Sorry.

It's been forever and a day since I posted anything here. I could give you lots of excuses about the holiday, and company coming into town. But, all of those would be just that. Excuses. To be honest. I haven't had anything good to share. But, I promised myself (you thought I was going to say resolved..) to blog daily. So, it all starts up again today. Stay tuned