I'm in the Tag Game!

Does anyone know the expression "life is just ducky"? What does that mean anyhow? Anyhow, wanted to share this card I made. I found the baby ducks by Jolee's on sale at Michael's and they were too cute to resist.

My friend Marti from SBPG tagged me. I admit, I am not always good at responding to tags for lack of time. My friend Julie can attest to that as she tagged me a week ago to list 6 random facts about myself. How about this I am going to give this a go – and do both of these tags. I will tag 6 others and you have a choice to list either 6 random facts about yourself, or 7 strange things about yourself. Can’t combine though –as it makes it too easy. (LOL)

If you are tagged at the end of this post, do one of the above and tag 6 others, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know.

Let’s see – SEVEN, only 7?, strange things about myself.
1. I talk to my computer – but hey, I found out I am not as strange as I thought when I hear others doing the same.
2. Last night I had a dream – I was at a seminar and we were being given a test. I remember answering questions ok, but I awoke with a headache and took two Aleeve and went back to bed. How strange to get stressed while sleeping!
3. I don’t like to my toes to show – nope, can’t stand my toes. Only buy closed-toe sandals, and when I wear flip flops to the pool I get my feet in the water asap.
4. I drink lots and lots of water. Rarely a soda or alcoholic drink. I have coffee in the morn, a glass of milk with dinner, but I carry a water bottle with me at all times. I don’t think it is helping me lose weight (obviously), but I am determined to ward off another surgery on L4/S5 down the line – and the doc said lack of water plays a big part in back/spinal issues.
5. My make up consists of lipstick. My skin tends to react to foundation, and we won’t even go into that gunky stuff you put on eyelashes – what’s that called again?
6. I seldom paint my nails because I don’t want to spend the time taking it off when it starts to chip and peel
7. As long as I am busy – housework, creating, whatever – I can go forever – like the Energizer bunny. Sit me down in front of a television and I am instantly tired – so I need popcorn to keep me awake for most shows.

SIX RANDOM facts about me
1. I was raised on a dairy farm, and was a morning person all my lift until I started scrapping late into the night
2. I saved my money and bought myself a horse at age 12 – she was my BF living out in the country. We’d go for long rides after evening chores, and on the return trip home I would wrap the reins around the saddle horn, lie down, sing, whatever – but just totally relax and let her take us home. I love those memories!
3. I love praise and worship music – it totally inspires me and is what I listen to most while scrapping.
4. I’m an otter. Don’t expect you to know what that means but I recently took a personality profile and that’s the critter I was classified as. Can’t recall all of what that means – other than I scored 100% as a people person. Makes sense – otters seem rather personable and friendly.
5. I love turtles – and am thinking DS may need one as a pet. (LOL) I just obtained info from our veterinarian on an area reptile rescue – I think I will email and get on a turtle/tortoise list. This could be a secret plot against my hubby who said DS has no more room for pets in his bedroom, but it’s not his fault the lovebird loves me instead of him. Finicky parrots.
6. I can hear my 5 yr young daughter singing her lungs out – she is into making up songs, and I wish I had a voice recorder that I could secretly use.

TAG TIME! I tag these 6 people.

Norma K: http://redrediris.blogspot.com/
Lisa F: http://www.lisafalduto.blogspot.com/
Laura F: http://barelyhanginon.blogspot.com/
Suz R: http://scrappybucket.blogspot.com/
Shawna W.: http://twokidspaper.blogspot.com/
Debby: http://www.blogger.com/profile/12742539000277925485

Dream Come True - Giveaway for You!

My biggest dream came true less than 12 hours ago – an answer to prayer raised in a heart to heart with God on July 10. I was disappointed at not getting a job I really wanted, but I learned so much about myself through the interview process. I scored 100% as a people person, and creative and leadership abilities shined through. I was not considered a match for a job thought to be too mundane for me. I went to CHA Chicago disappointed and confused.

In the hotel room on that Thursday afternoon I had a heart to heart with God. I asked Him – "What am I supposed to do with my life Lord? You’ve given me creative talent. I love talking to people. I enjoy teaching. I have a business idea, Lord…but have gone that route and I don’t want the stress of owning a business again. Point me in the direction Lord. You closed a door I really wanted to go through – so it is up to you to open a new one.”

So many of you have been my cheerleaders – and you have blessed me SO much with your words of encouragement. Many of you were certain that God had something better and more perfect in mind for me. Oh how wise you are my friends!

Fast forward to yesterday, August 20 when the owner of a local and successful scrapbook store offered me a supervisory job that will lead into management. I will be paid for sharing about my passion with others. I can help people who have overwhelming projects to scrap, I can rub my mojo off on them (LOL), hold new product in my hand before many of you (wink), create with it for store display, and be compensated.

The hours will work out well for my family. I will put the kids on the bus, and my husband will be there to greet them off the bus. There are some weeknights where Abby will be asleep when I come home, but I can have lunch with her at school before I go to work. This job is a new career for me, and one that is in all matters – perfect for me.

In appreciation for all of your wonderful support – I am going to have two giveaways. My husband just built me a new shelving system, so I am purging. Yes…I am finding things to give away. (LOL) I will have a RAK (don’t know what it is yet!) to the first person who can guess the name of the store owner (hint: things may be a little confusing at the store). (LOL)

Secondly, I have been saving a Fiskars Threading Water border punch to be given away for the day when I can shout out, “I have a NEW JOB!” Celebrate with me by leaving a comment, and a number will be randomly drawn to select the winner. I am sure there will be something besides a punch in the package. Comments left on this thread will be accepted until midnight September 14.

Many search their whole lives seeking their purpose, and I have just been blessed with an opportunity to live my passion, and the purpose for which God has made me. I will be using the gifts God has given me to glorify Him and begin a new ministry helping others preserve their memories. Because of the schedule I will have more time for myself (exercise!), family (because when I get home from work I will have already scrapped for the day), and my Lord (come join me for a Friday morning bible study using scripture challenges from Faithsisters.com!).

God answered my prayer raised on July 10 in a very forthright manner. It has been so obvious how God has been working for me when I seriously considered finding a new job five months ago. He is the Compass for my journey. He aimed the needle and gave me a little shove in the right direction. The Lord is in the driver’s seat and I am simply a passenger on the ride, living my life for Him. I pray that everyone I meet in my new venture will feel His presence as I serve, and help them preserve the memories of their own journeys.

Wisconsin Gal Starts New Company!

Today I spent some time checking out a new scrapbooking company - Bella Blvd. Check out the link for the sneak peeks - I am sure you will love it as I do.

Besides the fact that Stephanie is using my favorite color pallettes - her product designs are bold, bright and graphic. I can scrap with anything - but these descriptives are always what I most gravitate towards when shopping for product. Her designs are also different from that which we have become accustomed to. I love circles - as many of you know. She offers plenty of circular designs, but with a twist which I love.

As I perused the Bella Blvd. blog today I clicked on the designer's personal blog, and that is when I discovered Stephanie is from Wisconsin. I thought that was SOOOO COOL! Wouldn't it be even more cool if she lived near to me?

I can't wait to point my LSS owner in the direction of Bella Blvd. and hope to get my hands on some of this BEAUTIFUL product very soon. I've already added the link to my list of fave mfrs. - so hey, if you want to keep checking it out you can always get to Bella from here. (LOL)

Book Winner/Don’t Let It Bug You

Sneak Peek …read on for a link to this fun project!


I apologize for the delay in posting the winner of the Fabulous Friendships book giveaway. I decided to take the kids on one of the last “hurrahs” of summer and we went to our friend’s lake house for the weekend. We had a relaxing time. I always find it amusing that our friend Shawn becomes a gourmet cook while at his home on the lake. He dotes on his wife – their second home is his project and she, and many friends, get to enjoy it. Some of the treats we enjoyed were Belgian waffles with fresh fruit, stuffed tenderloin and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake – New York style. We were so spoiled!!

The lake was too cold to swim in, for my tastes anyhow. Kyle and I caught some bluegills and I had a test of wills with a large mouth bass…and he won. Urgh!! I swear that fish purposely spit out the hook to send the bobber flying at my eyeball – fortunately I moved my head in time. Next time I am going back with a bigger hook!

We returned from the lake Sunday afternoon – everyone, but me, has a summer cold and the guys have fevers as well. I personally just felt wiped out. Perhaps it had something to do with little feet poking into my back and side for a couple of rather sleepless nights. (LOL) Without further adieu…by random number the winner of the book is poster #59 – Teresa. Congratulations!

What do you least enjoy about summer? Is it the bugs? I personally think summer would be a whole lot more enjoyable if it were void of mosquitoes. However, because of my son I am finding some bugs to be of interest, even fascinating. Today my special project created just for Fiskars Crafts made its debut on their web-site. Check it out! Inspired by a growing collection of bug and other critter photos, I decided to make a mini-album dedicated to these creatures and the boy that loves them. I really am surprised at how much time I have spent on WhatsThatBug.com to identify some strange insect discovered in our backyard. Cloud 9 Designs has the perfect collection for the bug lover in your life called Max’s Backyard. The 3D bug stickers, glitter bug stickers and rub-ons, die-cuts and patterned papers were so much fun to work with.

I hope you will enjoy the concept of this album – it is waterfall album in which I used my Fiskars border punches to mix up the edge designs. You can download the complete instructions as a PDF file, which includes several designer tips. I purposely did not supply directions for each page layout – as everyone is going to have different sizes and number of photos. My photos certainly varied for each “insect or critter grouping” and the design process was determined by the photos I wanted to use.

Bugs make you squeamish? Use the mixed-up-border concept to create a mini-album about any subject. Max’s Backyard has awesome quote cards and word stickers to make a real cute album about that little boy, or girl, in your life that enjoys playing in the dirt, exploring the outdoors and being one with nature.

Be sure to come back and visit me soon – I am gearing up for another give away!

Love Chocolate?

I love chocolae, how about you? I grew up on a dairy farm...so ice cream always takes me back to childhood. We used to have Madison Shops Ice Cream drive out to the farm one weekend a month. It was always something to look forward to. There were usually seasonal flavors - my personal was blueberry, so when it was available my dad would buy it. We all had favorites, and he made sure everyone got theirs. My dad's favorite was chocolate marshmallow cream - available all year round and almost always in stock in our LARGE chest freezer. My sister liked Butter Pecan, and I always remember spitting out the nuts - didn't care for them when I was young.

I am willing to bet many people have ice cream memories. Do you? Our small town has a franchise restaurant called Culver's - known for their frozen custard. Granted, it is not a healthy choice compared to frozen yogurt or ice milk, but once in a while a visit makes the kids very happy. The restaurant is located at the corner of one busy intersection. We could avoid it, but somedays you just have to drive by to see what the flavor is.

This month's sponsor at the Scrapbook Playground is My Favorite Things, and they have fun stamp sets. Check out all the fun projects the design team has created with these stamps.

My set revolved around the theme of chocolate, sisters, and treats. The stamp set images are rather small, and ones first impression may be to use them for cards only. But consider creating a border with your small stamp sets - you konw...you all probably have those little $1 sets everyone was snatching up a while back. You can simply go around the entire edges of your page stamping small, themed images, or stamp them on cardstock and punch them out into a shape, such as a circle - like I did with the Sundae stamps in the layout above.

Another fun tip - hang out at a coffeehouse ever? If you have your stop may include one of those insulating coffee cozees around your cup. Some come in pretty cool textures. Our local stop, Crossroads Coffeehouse, has cozees in a texture that reminds me of grungeboard. Or in this case - a waffle cone.

By cutting felt to shape and rolling the bottom edge, stitching it in place, I topped the recyled cozee cone with a dollop of chocolate ice cream. I also have way too many of those standard, little white buttons. I painted them to match the line of Piggy Tales papers I used, and created sprinkles on the cone.

If you are addicted to scrapbooking like I am - you may tend to look at every item as a prospect for altering or to use on a page. It's hard not to! Think about creating a cone from recycled products like I did the next time you, or your kids, ae enjoying ice cream. And don't forget to think beyond the card when going through your collection of tiny stamp images.

Out of curiousity - I have to ask....which do you prefer - milk or dark chocolate? I look forward to your answers, and maybe the next time you visit I will have some exciting news to share.

5 Minute Deviation

So I received a package the other day from Fiskars. It contains Max's Backyard collection by Cloud 9 Designs. It's wonderful - especially since I have a bug loving boy! But hey - I am a butterfly nut. I am intrigued by these winged beauties. When I saw the glittery butterfly die-cuts I just knew I would have to use it for home decor.

I had a mojo moment this afternoon. Anyone remember those candle holders from the 80's - ya know, the ones where you melt wax in a variety of colors (melt down old candles) and drip it down the outside of a bottle? Well, that's kind of what I was reminded of when I dripped my Adirondack inks down the outside of a milk bottle. I set my bottle on a styrofoam plat, and just dripped one color after the next- sometimes picking up the bottle to angle and overlap the flow. My plain jar now is a work of art -especially with sunshine coming in behind it through a window.

I put a large flower over the dairy logo, used foam adhesive to lift the butterfly die-cut off the flower and walah! A beautiful butterfly jar for my buttons. I tied some ribbon on just because. I have more milk bottles that I use for scrap storage, not too mention all those Prima jars. I bet I could alter all my bottles with alcohol inks in less than an hour. Line them all up on a plate and drip away!

A circle sticker from Max's Backyard was the perfect jar lid topper.


Easy peasy scraproom decor. Never pass up a cool glass bottle! Now, back to my regularly scheduled scrapbooking project!

Piggy Tales Winner! And Summer Quotes

Wow – summer is flying past! August is here and the winner of the Piggy Tales RAK is Cindy!! PM me your address and I will get your prize out soon! I really want to thank those of you who sent a card out to my friend Kat, as well - it is so sweet of you to send sunshine to a fellow scrapper who needs a smile. Don’t forget – you all have until August 15 to sign up for the book giveaway by leaving one comment in the Friendships thread.

When August arrives I often ask the kids if there is anything they had wanted to do this summer that we have not yet done. Something on my “to do” list yet this summer is to visit our friends at their lakehouse. The first part of summer was so busy, and frankly – it was rather cool to be jumping into the lake. But now that it is warm, I am rarin’ to go! I was waiting for a date to be established for our house roofing project, and now that it has I can plan around it. Who wants to come over first weekend in September to help with our roof, or to help me cook? (LOL)

I still have photos from last summer yet to scrap, and many at the beach as we visited our friends. The first of every month I post a list of quotes at Kjoi Studios for the inspiration challenge. This month I had sunshine, sand and water on my mind…might have something to do with last summer’s photos I am itching to scrap! I love to google for key words and hit a couple of sites for quote inspiration. But I admit, sometimes a key word does not come up with the kind of quote I am envisioning for a layout, so I make up my own. I’ve actually written a few for August, that I admit, purposely worded for photos in my pile to scrap. Feel free to use them! Join me by playing along at Kjoi for the inspiration challenge, as well as other monthly challenges. The prize is a $5 gift certificate to the studio prize vault. Challenge layouts can be digital or traditional – and you have a chance to win awesome digital designs!

For my August challenge, use one (or more) of the quotes below, AND the color YELLOW has to be on your layout. How easy is that?

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. Joseph Addison

Keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the shadow. Helen Keller

It is the artist's business to create sunshine when the sun fails. Romain Rolland

"Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.
Theme from “Days of Our Lives” soap opera

All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon the sand.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Basking in the sun, sand between your toes, the melody of water greets your ears – a day at the beach puts a song in your heart! R. Shimniok

Feel the warmth of the sun, the grain of the sands, the water lapping around your ankles – that’s the feeling of summer! R. Shimniok

Like the grains of sand on a beach – how infinite is our God! R. Shimniok

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. James Dent

I would love to see your layout using one of these quotes. If you don’t share it at Kjoi, but play along anyhow I would love to see your comment with a link! Thanks for playing and joining me on the journey!