Alex Loves Thomas!

I got to scrapbook today! I'm so happy that I actually made some time to take a picture that was just so "Alex" and turn it into a page devoted to his new love... Thomas the Tank Engine. My mom took this fabulous picture when we were at Day Out with Thomas in June. I am making a coat rack for him, and was looking through her photos to find a picture to decopodge onto the rack. I found this picture, which doesn't include Thomas in it, but just reminded me of how excited he was for the big day!

I got tagged!

I have been tagged by my friend Tamara. So this is how it works. I must post the rules, 7 random things about me and then tag others to do the same. Sound fair enough, right? These are the rules…. each player starts with 7 random facts about themselves on their Blog. People who are tagged need to blog 7 facts about themselves and post the rules as well. At the end of their blog list 7 people you are tagging. Let them know that they are tagged by leaving them a comment. Here goes!

1. Though I've been an admitted Diet Dew junkie the past few years, this summer brought a change. I switched to Caffiene free. The first few days I got a headache, but since, I've been surviving. I'm trying to stay away from the iced coffee.....
2. We don't get TV. We have television sets, but we don't get any reception and we don't have statellite or cable. To tell you the truth, I don't miss it most of the times. We are WAY behind the rest of the world in our knowledge about shows... but we watch our share of DVDs, and there is always the internet for news!
3. I have more jobs than the average person. I work part time as a teaching assistant, at the local movie theatre, as a Stampin' Up! demo, as a Tastefully Simple consultant, and I own a business with my mom making custom made die cuts.
4. I have a Mickey Mouse themed kitchen. I've never met another person that has a Mickey Mouse teapot, toaster, trivets, silverware, etc., but I know they are out there. Judging by the amount of stuff available, there must be a lot of us. I get comments about how cool it is, too!
5. I don't care for sweets that much. I don't like more than a bite or two of chocolate, and I prefer diet soda. It runs in my dad's side of the family, so it's gotta be genetic. I'm glad I didn't take after my mom's side when it comes to this!
6. I'm addicted to vegetables. Not eating them, but growing them. I planted a huge veggie garden this summer (for me it's huge) and I'm obsessed with it. We work out in it every couple of days, and are just starting to reap the fruits of our labor. Tim dug it by hand with a shovel, so it's the family garden. The kids are starting to help weed and water, and hopefully they will actually like some of the veggies to come out of it!
7. I love my job. Not a lot of people can say that, but I really enjoy my time at work. I am a teaching assistant at my daughter's school, so I get to see her quite a bit. In just a couple of years, Alex will be there, too, and it will be convenient! Then, I think I might go back to school to get my teaching certification.... so I can actually make some money :)

I am tagging Kathy H., Trudi, Angi, Jenny, Heather, and I don't know 7 people with a blog... I don't think! Tamara already stole my other people :)

wisconsinscrappers.com :: View topic - Post your May Challenge LO here!

I'm obsessed with challenges lately. I love to have a goal to work towards, and I just finished posting a layout to my favorite scrapbooking site:

wisconsinscrappers.com :: View topic - Post your May Challenge LO here!

So, I'm the only entry so far :) But, I feel like I have a focus when I can do a challenge. I like how this layout of my sister's moving on turned out.

I had so much fun scrapbooking yesterday at Sauk City! Thanks to Stephanie and Jennifer for organizing such a fun day for me to be super productive. I got 19 layouts from Tunisia done, one Disney layout done, a couple of Mackenzie layouts done, and some Tim layouts done (finally!). AND, I caught up Caramel's album. Only one more two page spread left to do in her's, and then I'd better take more pictures!

I love this new layout I made for the Wisconsin Scrappers May Challenge. I had many photos of my sister from the last couple of years that she was in school and when she entered the military. I wasn't sure what to do with them, until I was challenged to make up a layout that fulfilled a challenge. So, my challenge was to make a layout with the following:

Blue Background

Flowers

Following a sketch

And, this layout mostly did everything I asked it to do! LOL!

It was a good way to use lots of my new stuff. The new stamps, my new StazOn ink, and a new overlay transparency that I got months (if not years!) ago.

I've been scrapbooking!

I've actually been scrapbooking lately. I participated in the Virtual Crop this month at Wisconsin Scrappers, and I got a lot done... for me!

I finished nine layouts, some cards, and a few baby bootie boxes. The layout to the left is one of my favorites that I got this weekend. It was super easy to complete, as I used a kit that contained the patterned shape, rub-ons, and dimensional stickers. I just added cardstock, journaling and a tab with my new Stampin' Up! punch. And, of course, the adorable photos of my son, Alex, sleeping while sitting upright on the couch. I really like this layout, and how it turned out.

I did a tiny bit of shopping this week. I bought a few new stamps, a Cheetah adhesive runner, and a new travel kit. I will complete those pictures of Tunisia. I will, I will, I will!

Flavor of the Month

I have a favorite layout of last month! The pictures are just soooo Alex. His smile, his style, the way that he is with you for an instant and then out of sight. There is nothing that compares to being his mom. He's so different than my Mackenzie (I have another layout of her that will be my favorite layout completed in April) but that's not all bad!

My only question is this.... when will all the questions stop?!?!

Where does the time go?

I have no idea where my spring break went!! I know that I went scrapbooking for the first week of it, but after that, it's all a blur of doing taxes, errands, appointments, and cleaning. Surprisingly, I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow! Maybe they are finding that support staff and educators and students alike just need a break to refresh their minds and finish up the year.

Well, I'm hitting the Oh My! Chai tea right now and trying to organize my brain for tomorrow. I've been finishing up page layouts all day, in between FlyLady chores :) I just finished my first week of FlyLady, and I think it's going great. I have a shiny sink, my bathroom looks great, and I'm happy! I haven't seen my kitchen table in weeks... but dare I say it... it actually was under all the piles of stuff!

Ok, I'd better post something tonight. How about some cards I made last weekend?

Wow! I got a lot done...

I just participated in a Virtual Crop this past week at wisconsinscrappers.com and I got so much done! I actually got a chance to scrapbook again, and I made tons of cards. Now it's time to send out those Christmas Thank You's.
Speaking of, I sent out some Winter Cards this year. Too late for Christmas greetings, and not even in time for Happy New Year... someone needs to plan ahead for next year! This has never happened before, and I hope it will never happen again. The stamper needs to get stamping in June.
I need to try a new technique so I have something to post here! Maybe after I get my club projects together today, I will try something new. I have lots to do (projects to die cut too!!!) so I'd better get off the computer and get something done!

I'm back!

Wow! I can't believe how busy I've been with Stampin' Up! I remembered my original plan to keep my blog updated with new ideas, and I'm committing myself to starting a new routine of updating each week. I'm hoping the commitment lasts.
On this Thanksgiving day, I would just like to say how thankful I am for my wonderful family. Mackenzie, my "supporting demonstrator" is always willing to help me out. If she's not helping cut ribbon for an upcoming club or event, she's doing her own project and keeping her brother happy while I'm working. What a huge help she is. Tim, my supportive and wonderful husband, has spent countless hours cutting and scoring cardstock, cutting ribbons, running to Walmart to get me candles and watercolor paper, cleaning the house, getting the kids out of the house when I have club meetings, listening to me whine, and the list goes on and on. What a wonderful guy, to put up with me being gone weekends and nights and never saying much about it. Alex, who does such a good job playing when mommy is getting ready for an event. He rarely complains, and loves to work on his own projects. He even helped a ton this weekend by helping me pack my bags with projects for my club!
And, the list doesn't stop there! I'm thankful for my mom for all her constant help... "mom, can I borrow *fill in the blank*", my dad for his babysitting services, and my sister... who isn't really interested in this stuff at all, but is always willing to listen to me go on and on about it. My in-laws are so wonderful for watching the kids when needed, too!
Wow.... so that got a little longer than I intended, and isn't really stamping related. To make it up to you, I'll post a fun technique later this weekend. And, just FYI I'll post info about a fun event I'm doing next weekend. Just so you can see what I'm up to.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We should celebrate this holiday 365 days a year... and for any scrapbookers out there.... be sure to scrapbook a layout of what you're thankful for! Last year I did one that I made the whole family participate in; this year it's just for me!

Baby Wipes?

Not just for tiny little butts anymore! Messier than a diaper, but much better smelling; I used reinkers and a baby wipe to create the "painted" lines on the bottom of the card and the floral image. To get the flower to look like it does, I put dots of reinker on a baby wipe and then used it like an ink pad. I was able to do several cards with the one baby wipe, but remember to clean your stamp between images! If you are interested in seeing this technique in person, please contact me about joining my Super Stampers Club. This is one of the projects we'll be doing.
A special that I'm offering from now until June 31st: refer TWO friends who both place $50 orders and get a retired and limited edition Sell-A-Bration set for FREE!

Stampin' Up! March Special

Only 10 days left to take advantage of the special for March! Buy one of six preselected stamp sets and a package of assorted cardstock, and you'll get the coordinating wheel for FREE! I took advantage of this special to get the Paint Prints stamp set, which I've been wanting for a long time. Please contact me to find out which sets are included in this promotion. I'm off to make a card with Bold Butterfly and the coordinating wheel!

Here are one of the six projects that we did at my Stamp Camp this weekend! I learned how to make this mini album out of ONE sheet of double sided Stampin' Up! designer paper... then, I just needed to add a few tags and doo-dads and I had a completed album! I had a great time with this project.
This first picture is of the mini album opened up. You can see the tags that have things written on them, and I plan to add photos to my mini album when I have some time to complete it!
The second picture is of the mini album closed. You're looking at the cover of it!
Remember that you can make your mini album in any theme that you choose. "Things that make me laugh," "When I feel most happy," "The steps to making the perfect cookie..." and the list can go on and on!
If you would like to learn how to make this project, we could do it at a totally hands on workshop. Just contact me for the details of what that means, and we can talk it over!

I got to go to Regionals!

Friday, I got to go to the Regional Seminar in Milwaukee for Stampin' Up! It was a really fun time! Here, my friend Jodi and I are enjoying the creation of some great projects!
I learned a few new tricks and some really neat techniques from this all day event. We got a free stamp set that will be in the upcoming Idea Book being released in July, lunch, the chance to make 6 neat projects, and tons of new ideas and techniques to try out.
Thanks to Jen, Sheryl, and Jodi for letting me tag along all day. I'm so lucky I've made such great stamping buddies! AND, I would also like to add that my stampin' buddy Lenore was a presenter and did a really GREAT job! I can't imagine being brave enough to get in front of all those people, and demonstrators at that! She did a wonderful job, and now I can say that I know a Stampin' Up! celebrity.

Burn Baby Burn!

This technique made my husband say... "AH!" I asked him to come watch while I literally set a sheet of paper "almost" on fire. Problem: both my kids followed him into my laboratory and they thought it was equally interesting. I had to stop to shoo them from the room before I continued. My disclaimer is this: if you don't want to later in life wonder why your children burnt your house down, do not give them the idea of setting paper on fire in the name of "art."
I'm not going to spoil the technique for you. This is going to be a project that we do at my Stamp Camp coming up on the 25th of February and we're going to do it for my Black River Falls club. Soooo, you'll have to sign up for the Stamp Camp if you're interested in learning how to make a Soot Card!

Other techniques used: Faux suede

My Bag-A-Lope

Tonight was a night I was experimenting with a new project. Tonight's new project was a Bag-A-Lope. I have never tried one of these, but I wanted to see if it would work for a class I'm going to be doing. I LOVE how it turned out! It's made out of just a regular business sized envelope, so it's pretty inexpensive and fun to make. AND, I used a jumbo wheel (Adoring Hearts) that I just got last week. So, this project is a go for Wednesday!
The virtual crop is going pretty well. I missed chat today and I was at my Stampin' Up! meeting (and had sooo much fun!) last night, but tomorrow I'm going to be chatting for sure!

The Last Day of Vacation

The time has just flown, and it's the last day of vacation today. I had lots of projects to finish, so I got busy and completed two circle journals, 9 cards, put page protectors in my album and cleaned up some of my room!
A few of the cards I made use a little technique that is fun, but pretty time consuming. I used my VersaMark pad and some embossing powder and made my own custom colored brads. Just dip the brad head into the ink, dip into the embossing powder, and heat set. Be careful not to burn yourself on the hot brad!
I also made a couple of Christmas Thank-You cards, which look like the one shown here. I LOVE this card, the idea which I got out of one of the Card Creations books. Those books are the best when I'm stumped and not feeling very inspired. The card is 5X5, but I could have made it 5.5X5.5 and it would have still fit in my favorite Stampin' Up! envelopes. The red paper is just cut 4.5"X4.5" and the ribbon is wrapped around and tied. I don't like the color match of the greens, but I'll use a different tag the next time around.
Tomorrow I'm getting down to business and finishing up the plans for the Virtual Crop at www.wisconsinscrappers.com that's going to be this weekend. I have most of the planning done, but there is more to do!
Until next time~ Kate

I'm a stamping and scrapbooking fool!

Well, this is my first attempt at blog-creation! I envision this being a forum I can release updates between newsletters, share success and failure in my stamping and scrapbooking experimentation, and post pictures of some successful projects. Mackenzie is excited to help me get started, and we'll be sure to let everyone know when there is something substantial enough contained here to make our "grand opening" announcement!