Time has been FLYING lately!!!

BIG LAR'S BLUEBERRY PANPANKS AND EGGS W/TURKEY BACON...A WW DREAM!

Okay, sooooooooooooooo, here's the scoop:

I owe prizes to three people...they will be in the mail by tomorrow. Other than that, no one else has played this time around, but that's okay, because boy oh boy has life gotten busy! I'm guessing yours has too! So GOOD JOB to those of you that did play! And WAY TO GO! This past week I've been spending time overseeing art in my oldest son's class - right now we're working on a book w/art and bible verses in it for the school auction. I've been spending time playing with the dogs each day, and they've really appreciated it. As well, I've been working on a new chore system for the boys - it was Jonah's idea actually - kinda cool. WW is going well - 1.2 lbs. down at weigh in this week - whoo hoo! I've really stepped up my working out sessions this week - I want that weight to come off and to firm up what I've got! I HAVE NOT been doing the following: cleaning house, organizing photos (my class starts tomorrow! yay!), laundry, obsessing over cleanliness around here. Which all translates into my house looking like a tornado hit LOL...seriously! I took a pictuere of my living room as I was walking out this morning...ugh. Nor have I been spending too much time online or in my craftroom or thinking about the rest of the details for our Arizona trip (which I SHOULD be doing!). I have been getting supplies ready for a Memory Showcase class I'm teaching Friday and watching American Idol when it's on...go figure! Okay, so off to the store to find an album to put this great artwork in for the 4th grade's auction donation, then to beautify it and we'll be done with that one. Then I think I'll make up a little coffee table book to add to the pot. Why? Oh because I don't have enough to do, of course! LOL... Here's leaving you with a cute photo S took this week - he loves to take photos of me and Big Lar - all the while he's saying "Kiss! Kiss! Come on, kiss!" We're usually happy to oblige :) I'm so glad my boys are HAPPY to see their parents loving on each other! So healthy!

So what's going on? You all got VERY quiet during the holiday...are you out there? Okay, I'm just going to keep on Creatin' over here and hope you come out to play (picture young girl out on sidewalk with her chalk in the rain all by herself...so sad!)

This is the clipboard I altered for my Library of Memories class that starts on the 28th...can't wait! Check it out at www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com under workshops. Everything here is from CTMH except the word stickers which are K&Co. and the blue flowers which are Prima.

Okay, off to watch the girls on American Idol...I admit it...I love that show.

Hope to see your ART soon! :)

HIATUS!

Yes, I'll admit it - I took a break from my very-own contest yesterday! What DOES that say about me? Hmmm...well, I was taking care of myself and spending quality time with #1 son and spending a LOT of time at the school taking care of some unplanned business and taking photos (so being creative in one sense of the word) and then being just plain TIRED! So it's OKAY. That's what I've decided for myself. It's okay. Moving forward with my personal challenge. I know what I'm going to work on today. It's a clipboard for the Library of Memories class I'm going to be taking. I'm going to "artsy" it up. I'll work on it and post it later today, after I do my stint at the Sr. Ctr. Thrift Store and pick up the kids...sometime between that and dinner hopefully...wish me luck! And remember, don't be too hard on yourself - the world is already! Just go for it!

SpiderWick Chronicles, Weigh In and Day Four!

So today was President's Day! Day off from school for the boys, and it was a BE-YOO-TI-FUL day! So I cleaned out the garage (whew! Earned 3 activity points doing that and am up to 13,214 steps on the 'ol pedometer as of right now 8:24pm! My aching back!) Took them to the 5:15 showing of The SpiderWick Chronicles - waaaay cool movie! Loved it! Had weigh in this morning...lost one pound...wasn't too happy until the lady behind the table told me to think of it like 4 cubes of butter - ewwwwwwwwwwwww! SO GLAD THAT'S GONE! Feel much better now! Esp. after having such a hard time with Valentine's Day and the day after that and yesterday...I thought I was going to DIE! The carbs were CERTAINLY calling! Today was MUCH BETTER!

Anyhooooooo, I just went into my studio 30 minutes ago, and took the photos, added digital text, cropped them, made this page, took photos of it, cropped it and am now typing to you and uploading this post - seriously, in 30 minutes. Did I know what I was going to do before I got home? NO. I DID know that it would use this star cello bag that my son came home with from a bday party. Today is garbage day. It flew out of his garbage when I picked it up. I took it as a "sign" that it was to be used :) It INSPIRED me to USE it! Then when I walked into my studio tonight there was an ORANGE STAR on the table...I was INSPIRED to use it as well (so I cut more obviously). I took out my Lomography camera to use tomorrow and was INSPIRED to take a photograph of it for posterity and voila! The whole thing came together! And that my friends, was today's process. So enough talking, here's the finished product - hope you like it:

And I hope this inspires you to be INSPIRED by the everyday, MUNDANE, hey, even the GARBAGE! LOL...have a great night! More tomorrow :) Have fun creating!

Day Three and the beat goes on!

Today was a completely LAZY DAY around here! Oh my! And let me tell you...Weight Watchers is HARD if you're not busy and occupying your mind with things other than eating! LOL...watching movies all day is HARD when you can't munch! At least for me! (I know, cry me a river, right?) Guess I should have taken Lar's advice and gone for a walk or something...oh well...a few more hours and it's over. I also had a hard time getting any gusto up to create, so I went to my studio (I decided I'm calling my craftroom a "studio" now...sounds so posh!) and saw these cool ORANGE flowers that I had picked up awhile ago (see previous posts) and thought, well okay, I'll use those FOR SURE! Then I picked up my scraps box and took patterned paper from that and voila! A card was born! So see, art doesn't have to be earth shattering, sometimes it can be that quiet little voice in the corner saying "Over here, notice me!" Just CREATE!

Now for the fun stuff - I drew names from the daily entries and:

Day One Winner: Trishia Swaggerty!

Day Two Winner: Allison Wren!

Keep on sending me your email scans (and hey, comment on here if you could as well that you've sent an email scan so others know there are players out there! :) ) or comment on here with a weblink to your daily art...I'll be sending each of you daily winners something in the mail.

Wish me luck...I have weigh in tomorrow!

Day Two of Create Art Daily!

Lazy Day around here...slept in (felt nice!)...kept within my W.W. points (whoo hoo!)...went for a family walk - the boys rode their bikes - we took some family friends with us - it was nice, the sun was out, but it was COLD! I went grocery shopping by myself, bought the store out even though I only thought I needed a "few things"...cooked a yummy dinner if I do say so myself, took a bath while reading a trashy tabloid (I have to do that once in awhile), and then came downstairs and made this cute card from a piece of JUNKMAIL that came yesterday - I knew I was going to make something with it today because this little frog INSPIRED ME! It was quick and easy and just came together so simply with papers from my scrap box. LOVE THAT! I hope you too are being inspired in your daily creating and if you haven't created yet, I hope you are inspired to join this challenge! Come on, CREATE WITH US! I've had two other entries so far today....will you make it in before midnight?

Oh Hey...a P.S. before I go to bed...

thought I'd share...

I signed up to take an online class over at http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/ called Library of Memories with Stacy Julian. It kind of goes along with her new book Photo Freedom which I mentioned a few posts back. Anyway, this online "class" starts Feb. 28th. Check it out - go to their website under workshops and if you're like me and have a lot of photos to organize, this just may be for you! Hopefully some of you will take it with me and we can have coffee and sort and talk and sort and laugh and sort and...you get the picture :)

Night!

Too bad I didn't count food as art for this one...

I made a new recipe for dinner from my Martha Stewart Good Food (I think that's what it's called) magazine tonight...Shrimp Lo Mein - YUM! Loved it! Plus I made some mini spring rolls that I had bought at Costco - only 1 pt. for 3! Now THAT'S something to shout about! :)

Well here is my ART for today, Friday, February 15th. I made a double-page layout for our family scrapbook about our LOVE for one another. No, I don't intend to scrap each day, I think I'll mix it up a bit, but this is what I was inspired to do today. These two pages are made with the Feb. Stamp of the Month set from Close To My Heart and I hadn't done anything with them yet and they are so cotton pickin' cute I was INSPIRED! Then I chose my colors and was again, INSPIRED! Then I put the layout together like I saw it in my head...THEN I went and found photos to work with the layout...love the process as much as the end product! Every time it's different. How about your process? Did you think about it? How did it flow? If you didn't think about it today, take a minute tomorrow and see if you notice how it goes and let me know too :)

Take Time to Create Daily ART Starts TODAY!

What is your medium? Paper, paint, sand, scraps, metal, wood, foiliage? What? Maybe you haven't discovered it yet. Well I'm here to tell you, it's time!

READY...SET....CREATE!

Then post your artwork somewhere online and post a comment here with a link to it OR send me an email with an attached scan of your artwork (photo or scan) for each day. I am so excited to see what you come up with!

For more details on this challenge see yesterday's post....

Off to figure out what I'm going to create today...

I'll be back to post it later! :)

BTW, posts/emails need to be made by midnight PST each day to count for that day's prize. If you post artwork EACH day during the 2 week contest you'll be entered for the GRAND PRIZE! WHOO HOO!

Thanks for playing!

AND REMEMBER, ART IS EVERYWHERE AND EVERYONE'S ART IS A PERSONAL EXPRESSION OF THEMSELVES...DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF...DON'T BOX YOURSELF IN...TRY SOMETHING NEW DURING THESE TWO WEEKS...HAVE FUN!

EYE CANDY for Valentine's Day plus 2 week ART challenge details...

AHHHHH....the eye candy...ALMOST as good as the real thing!

Okay, since we can't have a BUNCH of the real stuff for Valentine's Day, I thought I'd put some

fun eye candy here on my site, that I found on Flickr.com. I hope you take some time to really LOOK at these images. They are really inspiring - to me anyway - and I hope to you.

Who woulda thought to take some of these photos? Well obviously these photographers did! I could spend DAYS on Flickr.com looking at all of the beautiful photographs! Now that gets me thinking! ART IS EVERYWHERE!:

Speaking of which, are you getting ready for the 2 week art challenge? It starts Friday...2 more days to go!

Here's how it's going to work:

For two weeks I challenge you to make ART DAILY. EVERY DAY. SOME KIND OF ART. Each day that you make art and post it online (scan your artwork and email it to me as an email attachment or post a link in the comments section to somewhere that it is posted on the web) you will be entered to win a prize! AND everyone who makes ART for the entire 2 weeks will be entered to win the GRAND PRIZE! This is a challenge to get you to see the art in the everyday and to get you and myself going again! Paint a picture, make a card, create a tag, make a scrapbook page, paper mache, whatever floats your boat...just do it EACH DAY (no making 3 things on one to to "work ahead" for the week). Why? Because each day you will find insiration in different places. PLUS, the idea here is to make time for ART, not to fit it in when you can, those two times a year, to show yourself you CAN make it a priority. See you in two days!

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!

Week One DONE! WHEW!

Okay, can I just say, that Weight Watchers is not for wussies?! WOW! Well at least I don't think so! I admit it, I am a JUNK FOOD JUNKIE and a LATE NIGHT BINGER and counting points was hard! But I did it! I lost 4.8 lbs. this past week and Big Lar lost 4 lbs - whoohoo! That was enough to keep me motivated to move on to Week Two (which has been easier so far!) and motivated to start working out a bit more (walking & yoga at this point). Oh! And two of the best things were that: 1. I managed to go to McDonald's and not fail - got the Asian Chicken salad (grilled) - didn't add any extra dressing bec. the stuff they put on the chicken was plenty for me for the entire thing - yum! and 2. Went to Krispy Kreme donuts after a Chuck E. Cheese bday party with the kiddos (tradition to go there when we're in the area) and we all ordered just ONE donut! We even threw out part of one that the kids didn't eat that Lar grabbed up and threw away before I could eat it! LOL...seriously! Here's the proof:


Well that's all fun and all...so now you know what's up (and down) with me in the 'ol weight arena...

As for other things...OOOOOOOOOOO! Went shopping at Target today and got a few very CUTE items! I REALLY CLEANED my house yesterday and got a bit of the early SPRING CLEANING BUG...so I decided that goes with my clothes too!

Here's a cute Valentine's Tee for only $5! (can be worn anytime -

LOVE that! no pun intended :) ) and some SUPER-CUTE CUPCAKE jammie pants from my fave Nick & Nora (I have two of their flannel sets - luv 'em! My MIL got me started on them when I was pregnant with #1 son) I also bought a cute cherry pair and a cute gardening frog pair - too cute, too cute!

And this little mailbox of mine...It's from Mary Engelbreit and I've had it forever. I ALMOST sold it at a garage sale awhile back - SOOOOOOOO glad I didn't! We put it on the dining table last week and put "love notes" in it for each other during the day and pass them out and read them out loud at dinner. So fun and festive!






So...what are YOU doing in your family these days for fun and festivity?

OH! And ALLISON WREN is my WINNER! ALLISON you'll be receiving a goodie in the mail for me so watch your mailbox for some festive and fun stuff from my personal crafting stash! Thanks for commenting on my blog! I love to read comments :)

It worked for millions of other people...

So...Lar and I joined the ranks of W.W. Americans yesterday. Weight Watchers, that is. Day One went pretty good. I bought this cool little pedometer gadget (I am a gadget girl!) and am azmazed at the # of steps one takes in a day! Am hoping Day Two goes as well. Off to yoga...need to stop and procure a donation for the school auction first. LOVE my coffee stand...they are so nice - ESPRESSO CONNECTION in Smokey Point. Stop by if you're in the area :) Okay, more later...did you know that blueberries are only 1 point for 1 whole cup?? LOVE them! Need to go to Costco later...yum!

AND HELLO! NO ONE posted to win said stash item in last post!!!! So I have EXTENDED PRIZE DEADLINE to MIDNIGHT FRIDAY! SO post a comment silly! :) Luv ya!

Want to be COOl like me? AND YOU CAN WIN BIG TOO! read on...

LOL...okay, that just makes me laugh! I LOVE to say things like that! Anyhooooooooo, if you DO want to be COOl like me , I'm going to tell you how. I'm going to tell you the things to buy, do and see so we can have SOOOO much in common that we'll have LOTS to talk about when we get together for coffee or for when you post mahvelous comments here. Ready? Okay? (oops...a bit of "Bring it On" fever coming out...)

1. Go Online and buy Stacy Julian's book Photo Freedom. Read it, live it and love it. We'll have so much to talk about, lament over and share that we'll be life long friends, I'm just sure of it! I JUST pre-ordered mine today. http://www.simplescrapbooksmag.com/shop/item.ihtml?idx=738

2. Watch Lisa Bearnson's Paper Crafting Fair on QVC Feb. 4th - I'm VERY excited to catch a bit of this (hopefully!) because we never had QVC before and now we do! Sooooo, hopefully I'll get some good ideas here and we can shriek about them together! http://community.qvc.com/blog/Creating-Keepsakes-Blog/5700000000

3. It's $5 Friday at Starbuck's today - their top of the line coffee was only $5/lb. today! WHOOHOO! Go pick some up! While you're at it, get a bag for a friend. "You've bean on my mind..." I can see the card now...

4. Watch "The Game Plan" with your kiddos - cute and entertaining. And hey - who wants a bedazzler now? I do! I do!

5. COMMENT on my blog...let me know what YOU'RE doing! Why you read this blog anyway...what you like on it, etc. Let me know who you are.

6. Wear funky glasses because it's fun.

7. Wear flannel pajamas around the house because they're comfy.

8. Write a love letter to someone and NOT because it's Valentine's Day.

9. Make a coffee run to a friend or loved one in the middle of the day "just because" you thought they might need a pick me up.

10. Blog, journal, scrap, doodle, cook, experiment, paint...something. JUST GET MESSY IN LIFE!

11. Birdwatch. They are COOL. You can learn a lot from the birds. They are survivors.

12. Hug someone every day. Touch is integral to our happiness and theirs.

13. Faith. Have some.

14. Read a book. I'm reading The Kite Runner have you read it yet? What did you think? I want to read The Knitting Club next I think.

15. Check out FUN STUFF at BPS - you'll be glad you did! http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/funstuff.php

16. Take a challenge or make one up for yourself! I just finished the 31 day LOAD challenge over at BPS and it was GREAT! Here's the summary layout I made on Day 31 (the top photo is a digital montage of all 45 layouts I made):

17. Dig into your scrapping/stamping/art stash and start USING it! Leave me a comment and tell me what cool things you find and what you are creating or plan to create! I WILL CHOOSE A WINNER FROM ALL COMMENTS POSTED BY midnight PST Monday, Feb. 4TH AND MAIL YOU A SURPRISE FROM MY STASH!

18. Start thinking about something COOL to do for your loved ones for Valentine's Day - no, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money - actually homemade it oftentimes the best! Just start thinking about it now and get to work! Let me know what you're thinking!

Okay, I'll stop now, 18 is one of my lucky numbers...better save some for later! Have a good night!