you simply can't go wrong with Soda Fountain.

my fave kit ever by my dear friends April & Scarlet over at Studio Calico...it simply makes me want to scrap. and scrap. and then scrap some more. the Cherry Pop and Shirley Temple add-ons have sold out, but please email April at info@studiocalico.com if you're interested in a potential reorder of Cherry Pop. it has the MOST AMAZING alpha stamps ever...seen on my 'Go!' layout and in my mini album below. it sold out in 28 minutes...and April is checking to see if a reorder is possible. don't miss out if you're interested!! as always, the exclusive SC stamps will be in the store in a few months.

as for my layouts this month...here goes!

this Collage Press paper was so fun to use, and has about a million different ways to be cut up! i used my exacto knife to cut out the months and then backed the holes with that beautiful yellow paper. did i mention i am in love with charcoal grey?
a fave pic of baby girl...from 2000, lol! the Cherry Pop alpha is an outline, so i filled it in with paint and a teeny tiny brush. the possibilities are endless.

this red metal pail remains one of my mama's fave treasure finds ever. it just makes her happy, lol. i made the 'circle' border by punching 2 strips of yellow cardstock with my Fiskars Apron Lace punch and then sticking them together. peeled the fabric tops off of the Thickers alpha and swiped them with a bit of black paint.

teehee...my family has been going to the West Side Market for as long as i can remember. and when we're there, we always stop by Johnny Hot Dog and have a bite at the counter...so it was fun to take Allie there and see her reaction to the experience.

Allie & Miss Lola Kitty = best of buds.

now.

this mini album only has 1 pic in it, but i made it more to jot down some thoughts i have about some changes i made for the better in the past year. i made it using the packaging from the Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons that are in the kit...check the SC blog tomorrow for a quick how-to-do.

i painted in the stamped words again...and after stitching the edges, i didn't like them lol. so i ripped out the thread and left the holes alone.

still a fan of erasing part of a rub-on for a bit of distressing.

the number 'tags' are the B side of one of the SC papers this month.

the journaling is pretty personal, but something i'm proud of. it hasn't been easy...but the results are pretty darn exciting.

i am once again blown away by my fellow design team ladies...honestly, how do they come up with crazy awesome stuff every month!? proud to be a part of this team...and to call them my friends.

i can't say enough about this kit...don't miss out on this one!!

=)

move over Garment District...

because Soda Fountain has knocked you out of the favorite kit EVER spot!!

my sneaks...

look at that tiny girlie...can that possibly be Allie?! what?? a mini album??

*sigh*

i. love. this. kit.

who could this be about??

grey + yellow+ red = nirvana.

honestly, i'm not stopping...must make MORE.

looking forward to a nice couple of days off...not heading back to work until WEDNESDAY.

soccer tomorrow...if we win or tie, we're in the playoffs.

then off to Cedar Point to buy our season passes.
(which we weren't going to do, but after much debate decided we will after all.)

then?

chill.

have a great holiday weekend.

=)

it just can't be.

it can't be that my baby girl is actually TEN years old.

i still remember holding her in my arms, trying my best to soothe what ailed her. and seeing her smile for the very first time with purpose. and watching her take those first steps. and checking on her every night before i headed for bed. (i still do that, lol) and seeing her develop into this amazing young lady that we are so very proud of.

it can't be.
can it?

we had her birthday party at the roller rink this year...where, apparently, all of the 'cool' parties have been from her school. i think she has been to 5 this year, and all but one was there. let me tell you for the record...they have not invested ONE DIME since i used to go when i was ten, lol! same tile missing on the floor near the concession stand, same disco ball and same carpeted walls. only 2 things have changed...the skates and the DJ. no more cool dude spinning records in the DJ booth above the floor. we now have a teenage TJ clicking away on his laptop, looking for whatever has been requested. funny note: Allie had heard Mike & i talk so much about when we used to go there, and how we skated to Van Halen's 'Jump' (which, naturally, you jumped every tiime they said the word) and Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', that she actually REQUESTED them from the DJ.

would you believe he played them, lol?!
ahhh...good times were had back then.

back to the party.

she's a pretty simple girlie...she wanted cupcakes from WalMart (i offered to go to our local bakery, but she knew exactly how she wanted them to look, so we had to go there). and at $5 for 12 cupcakes, how could we go wrong? she asked me to add these little peace symbols on toothpicks to them, so i fired up my Slice (with the Just Chillin' card) and whipped these up. those girls went nuts, lol...you'd have thought i carved them out of gold or something. throw them onto a very cool plate adorned with glam skulls and you've got a party. as i mentioned...the skates have changed. no more white boots, and where are the pom poms on the toes made out of yarn?

her treat bags. after much searching for something fun, yet cool...which is hard considering everything we saw was for 'little' kids, this is what we came up with. we cut the tops of the black lunch bags with a Martha border punch, folded the edge down, punched 2 holes so that we could thread the pink tulle through to hold them closed and added the punched scallop circles with each girl's initial on it. thank you again, Mr. Slice machine and Just Chillin' card...with your help, several of the girls proclaimed these the best gift bags EVER.

she was too excited to open her gifts, and i have to say that her friends are so generous...and it was pretty cool, because they each explained why they chose the gift they did. it was fun to hear other girls talk about Allie and how they know she likes to do 'this', so they thought she would like 'that', etc. but the look on her face when she opened the Nintendo DSi from us and Grandma T spoke volumes...

it's actually a neat device. basically, an I-Touch made under the Nintendo name, if that makes sense. she can play her regular DS games, use it as an MP3 player, a camera, chat with her friends and get internet access. very smart on Nintendo's part to market this as something for kids, don't you think, lol?

so on Sunday, her actual birthday, we just chilled. she simply wanted to go to our fave ice cream place for a birthday scoop...so we hopped in the car and drove the 45 minutes out to Sandusky. if you're ever near there, Toft's is THE place to satisfy your craving. their small cup includes 2 scoops of whatever you like, so she chose her fave combo...mint chocolate chip and cookie dough. ewwwwwww. naturally she didn't finish it all, which is always the case, lol...but your birthday only comes around once a year, right?

so that's it.

she is now a double digit gal.

she is more beautiful and mature than ever.

she continues to amaze us daily.

and we love her up to the moon and back.

happy birthday, lovey girl.

because of her.

wow...she is going to be 10 next weekend. kind of a wake-up call, i suppose. just a few thoughts...

• because of her...i am celebrated on Mother's Day.
• i know every word to every Jonas Brothers song recorded.
• i enjoy the game of soccer.
• my life is sometimes crazy...and other times perfectly calm.
• i smile at the little things.
• i am just a little more careful about everything i do.
• my protective mode slips into high gear.
• i look at her face and think, 'there is nobody quite so beautiful'.
• i am aware that the best parts of both Mike & i made it into her little body.
• my heart fills with pride on so many occasions.
• i began this crazy hobby.
• i understand that while bad days come & go, the good ones stay with you forever.
• i am reminded that no job is quite as fulfilling as being her mama...and there is no greater praise than 'Mom, you're the best.'
• i have seen heartache from a different perspective...refer back to the protective mode comment, lol.
• my hair is just a bit greyer...and there are a few more 'worry lines' on my face.
• i have these beautiful flowers to look at for the next couple of days...

love you my sweet girl...because of you, i am complete.

stuff.

hey all.

is it finally Friday? this week seems to have dragged on forever. not quite sure why...maybe because my delicious June kit from Studio Calico should arrive at my door sometime this afternoon? i'm telling you people, i think it is going to be more popular than Garment District...seriously. wanted to say thank you for everyone's kind emails and comments about Collage Press...hopefully i'll do them justice!

my legs have been killing me lately at work, so i finally decided it was time to ditch my old Dansko clogs and buy these babies. yes, yes...i know they aren't nearly as cute as so many shoes that people post on their blogs, but they are com-for-ta-ble. i resent having to spend $100 on shoes that i will wear only in surgery, that will get yucky stuff on them, but i have to take care of me legs...i shall need them for awhile, lol. so in an effort to sass them up a bit, i chose these grey patent leather babies...i'm a charcoal grey lover, and they will be easy to clean up when necessary. picture them with blue scrubs, not something fun, lol.

a few layouts for Lily Bee...the first one about Earth Day... and the next about how tight Mike & Allie are. (i could not for the life of me get this to either scan right OR take a decent photo, so just know that the background is Bazzill white Swiss Dot, lol)

it's stuck into an old flower frog to prop it up for the pic...that isn't some weird thing i attached to the layout...teehee. i think my fave thing about Lily Bee is that their products aren't at all themey...they can literally be used for just about anything. and i used just snippets of the 12x12 rub-ons on each of these...don't be afraid to hack into your rub-ons with a pair of scissors! it stretches your dollar and sometimes you only need a smidge, right?

soccer tonight...soccer tomorrow. GO ELYRIA. we're in first place right now, and the girls are totally gelling as a team.

breakfast Sunday morn with Brett, Deb, us and my mama for Mother's Day. my mom digs this tradition...it makes her happy, so it's what we do. :)

have a great weekend!!

you've got to be kidding me...

holy moly people.

i've been invited to join the Collage Press Design Team!!

to say i'm thrilled would be an understatement.
to say i'm in shock doesn't quite get the point across.
to say that i'm beyond honored just might do the trick.

whoa.
and i am so looking forward to working with this company...they've been a fave of mine for quite some time now.

anybody live close enough to come over and pinch me right now?!
WAHOOOO!!!
=)

post your NSD challenge layouts HERE!!

come on...you know you want this to be in your mailbox...

it's the Peter Piper add-on, people!!

just link your layouts for my GRAPH/LEDGER PAPER CHALLENGE here...and please make sure you post them in the Studio Calico gallery as well!

hoping to scrap myself after soccer this morning...enjoy the day!!

happenings.

lots going on around here...first, my May offerings for Studio Calico...

using the Sassafras numbers i'd been coveting since CHA... this one was my lift of a member, La Tunanta...you can see her original layout here. thanks for inspiring me my friend!!

just had fun playing with paint here...the 'buttons' are SC stamps.

and this one...i don't know, lol. very different for me, but i ended up really liking it for some crazy reason. SC paper and alpha stamps...

second, we are in full-out soccer mode right about now. between make-up games (from lots of rain) and the regular schedule, we have 4 games this week. there is definitely something to be said for a team that plays together consistently for a long time, because these girls are just amazing. as of last evening, UNDEFEATED...and leading the league in the play-off race. i'm so proud of them...they had some rough spots last year and were pretty down about it. but between lots of foot skills work and just being together, they've pulled through and have come out swinging, lol. and Mike has done so much for the league...his crazy self volunteered to be president (!!!), and has been doing every single thing he can to make this whole experience worthwhile for all of the teams in our city. they both make me realize that if you want something badly enough, and put your heart into it...anything can happen.

***then, things have been insanely busy/chaotic/crazy at work this week. the kind of busy when some days you just get home and collapse...know what i mean?

**oh, and don't forget...tomorrow is NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY!!!

i will post a thread over at SC for my challenge (see post below), and will also post here as a reminder!!

**have an awesome weekend!!

=)