Lain's challenge:

Finished a page for Lain's challenge - here it is - we were supposed to scraplift a page and post the original and our take on it. I however got confused (no, really, mE?!?!? GO figure! You can take the blonde out of the girl but you can't take the...oh nevermind! LOL!!!!)

I mixed up and put two challenges together and thought I was supposed to scraplift and ONLY use 5 products. So I used:

1. Breeze cardstock CTMH

2. K & Co. Patterned paper

3. K & Co. Patterned paper

4. Bigger Brads CTMH

5. Sparkly chipboard letters by Kurio

I used Tombow adhesive, a black pen to journal and a Cricut to cut my flowers.

So TOTALLY excited that I made a page today AND cards AND the sun was out!! WAHOO!!!

The original layout came from BH&Gs Scrapbooks etc. Page Planner Sketches & Tips for Easy Scrapping - it's in mag. format and it's in stores now. You know I'm ADDICTED to anything that resembles a magazine! Anyhooooooooooooooo, that's all for today....REALLY!

New look! Paper Party Projects! Fun! FUN!

Paper Party Summer Day!

Today is paper party sumer day at my house...here's what we're making :) Don't you wish you were here? So do I! If I missed ya', make sure you don't miss out on this too cute stamp set - it's the June Stamp of the Month - order it quick before it's gone! ALSO don't miss out on the once a year JUNE special - buy two stamp sets and get one free! Only good this month, JUNE! Get your order to me today!

So if you didn't make it to today's soiree, don't have a heart attack. There are two more Summer Paper Parties coming up - mark 'em down now so you don't miss out - door prizes, gifts with purchase, make n' takes and TIME TO WORK ON YOUR ART PROJECTS! Bring whatever you're working on - anything goes! Just $5.00!

Reserve your seat today...limited spots available.

The last two dates for the summer are: Saturday, July 19th 2-10pmn and Friday, August 22nd 2-10pm

Sooooooooooooooooo, on another note...check me out! I did a major hairstyle change! I went from long & blonde to THIS! What do you think? I was just sick and tired of my hair and decide to GO FOR IT! I'm liking the new do...wonder if the sunshine will let me keep it dark or not...time will tell :)

Spent last weekend down south, at the NW Trappers Rendez-Vous with the family...we had lots of fun believe it or not! Here's a few snapshots...it's pretty cool to see my kids bonding with old school stuff like this with my Dad and his friends. I grew up with this stuff so it's second nature to me to have traps around, etc., I mean really, my Dad trapped for a living for awhile while I was young, so I don't think anything of it, but it really is a dying trade with all of the new laws, etc. so I think it's cool that my boys like to spend time like this with my Dad. They learn a lot about life, people and wildlife doing things like this. Very cool. And if you're a hater, go ahead and keep your comments to yourself please - this is a part of our personal heritage and it is what it is. Thanks for respecting it.

We also went out to our friends the McDonalds and had a blast spending some time with them for a night and then went to see Auntie Michelle and Uncle Chris on their Garden Tour - they're on the circuit you know...here are some pics from their house/garden. BEAUTIFUL! Seth almost gave Aunt Michelle (and myself) a coronary when he displaced these expensive glass balls from their floating pot and moved them ALL OVER the gardens - I mean ALL OVER, into palm trees, under bushes, etc. - apparently he wanted to "decorate like Aunt Michelle"! We thought someone visiting the garden had done it! Little rascal! We never even saw him do it! Oh my am I going to have my hands full as he grows up!

My online class, Library of Memories is officially over now. Whaaaa, Whaaaaa! So now I must stay motivated all by myself! So I'm thinking I need to have some MOTIVATION! Who would like to see some challenges posted? Email me and maybe that's just what we'll do! :)

Okay, off to clean up a bit before the boys get home from fishing with G'pa Ski...those boys would keep him out fishing every day if he'd let them! I just LOVE that they have such AWESOME, INVOLVED grandparents! THEY ROCK!

Hope you are out enjoying some sunshine somewhere and creating art in your day!

SHUSH UP! Check it out!

www.glittergirl.myctmh.com

Click on New! MYCTMH TV!

Too stinkin' cool! Let me know what you think!

What's Up??!?!?!?

Well, well, let's see...sooooooooooooooo much has been going on!

I hit lifetime membership at WW! Whoohoo to that! yay! It's definitely a challenge figuring out how to stay within 2#s of my goal weight...but whatever...I'll figure it out :) It's been working so far! Here I am receiving my Lifetime "keys" :)

Seth and Jonah both finished up school last Thursday - Seth had an actual Graduation ceremony (from Kindergarten) - it was too cute! He's now a 1st grader and Jonah's a big 5th grader - watch out world! Speaking of graduation...Jake graduated from puppy obedience class today! No, he isn't exactly obedient, yet. He did REALLY well in class, when he knew he was going to get treats for doing his commands, but at home he is so-so. Guess I'll need to carve out some time to work on that each day :)

So our "plan" for the summer is to try and squeeze in fun where and when we can. LOTS OF LOCAL fun too! Here we are at the local SWAP AND SHINE CAR SHOW in downtown this past weekend...love these little hometown events! It was fun and we were out enjoying the SUN which blessed us with it's presence that day - mmmmmmmmmmmmmm - love that sunshine!

Speaking of sun - or rather, absence of, I have decided to create my own summer this year by hosting once a month Summer Paper Party's in my home. They will be for a number of hours and will be for crafting with other women, creating projects I have designed, projects you are working on that you bring yourself, door prizes, snacks, etc. Enough of this letting the weather decide when my summer starts! Phooey! So if you're interested, check out my other website, http://www.glittergirl.myctmh.com/ for details under MyStory and Calendar of Events.

Lar found a job! YAY!!! He just started this week, and the company he went to work for just lost a huge contract they were ramping up for as well this week, so don't know yet how that will play out with his new-found employment, so we shall see...we shall see.

Close To My Heart is having an AWESOME special this month, buy TWO stamp sets and Get One Free! Again, check it out on my other website...offer only good during June.

We had a MARVELOUS time over in MOSES LAKE over Memorial Day Weekend this year! Here's a photo of my little brother and myself and my favorite niece :) Wish they lived closer! And the beautiful sunset at the top of this post is the sun going down over Moses Lake - sigh...to live near water - I mean NEAR water! :) Well now that it's summer I will be posting more regularly with PHOTOS even! So have a great day and I'll be back SOON!

Where is YOUR LIFE taking YOU????

Who's in the driver seat? Are you riding the brake or pushing down on the accelerator?

Who's knocking at the door? Are you listening?

Are you answering? OR are you hiding behind the curtains peeking out?

Are you on perma-cruise? You know, just plugging along each day at the same speed until you're forced to hit the brakes?

Hmmmm...just wondering.

Lar was temporarily laid-off from his job Tuesday. That's what they're calling it. A "temporary" lay-off.

No more cruise around here.

Sure do wish the sun were out today though.

Missed yoga trying to put photos onto a cd for S's teacher...finishing up end of the year portfolios for the kids. I really get frustrated when technology that is supposed to make our lives "easier" takes stinking forever...however, in this case, it COULD, PERHAPS, have had SOMETHING to do with operator error ;) Whatever! :)~

I am going to a scrapbooking retreat this weekend - leaving tomorrow early aft. and gone until aft. Sunday. This was planned "BTL" (before temp. lay-off)...hope it's nice weather - we're going to a lodge in the po-dunks, but in a very beautiful place - hiking and s'mores - YUM! And of course SCRAPBOOKING! Am excited though, because I think I may have figured out how to take all of my photos with me, my digital files, to sort through. Which is something I need to finish up doing and this will be a GREAT opportunity if it works...I'll let you know Monday!

And no AllyCat, you are not terrible for thinking anything...I'm all about being REAL here Baby! :) You are in fact, wonderful, in my book, for being a field-trip-traveling parent in the first place! Ha! That in itself takes hoodspa if you know what I mean.

Okay, off to eat lunch...Lar is making me a sally...guess TL has it's advantages! ;)

Have a great weekend and MAKE SOMETHING OF YOUR LIFE THIS WEEKEND and post to me about it :)

I'll post Memorial Day Weekend photos Sunday or Monday as well as let you know when the CREATE BIG day is at my house (read: bring your stuff over, drink wine, eat and create!) - it's coming soon!

Uggy Bluggy Day!

Ten things about today:

1. It is raining!

2. Jake did great in puppy class.

3. Volunteering at the Thrift Store was fun - those Senior Citizens keep me young!

4. I think it has stopped raining!

5. I feel uggy.

6. I am craving carbs!

7. I need to wake up!

8. I'm about to make a pot of Robios MarketSpice tea - want some? YUM!

9. My boys got into trouble this morning and had to help me CLEAN after school today...LOVE that!

10. I am reading a HILARIOUS book called I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids - now where is my Big Girl Blankie?!?!?!?

OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE GARAGE SALE IS OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I STILL have art, stamping, scrapbooking and craft items left!

WERE YOU HERE?????

Happy Mother's Day! The recipe box...

May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day to Ya'll!

Here's to all of the women out there who take care of others even when they don't feel good themselves. To all of the women who go the extra mile and a half. Who smile when they feel like crying. Who think a painted pot by a child they love is equivalent to being handed their hearts on a platter. To all of the women who listen, and give advice. Who apply bandaids and ice, who kiss boo-boos and find jars for bugs. Who dress up like princesses or veterinarians or knights just so you can imagine and PLAY with your children or the children you know. To all of the women who give unconditional love and hugs - I CELEBRATE YOU today! Thanks for being a part of MY life - I couldn't do it without all of you!

ALL HAIL THE RECIPE BOX:

This little recipe box came into the Thrift Store the other day. Unassuming in a box with a few other items. Special items. Items that someone had obviously been hanging onto for quite some time. You know, those things that you don't part with until you have to. Well this box SPOKE to me. It is in incredible shape. It begged to be opened. So I did. This is what I found inside. Complete order. Not a thing out of place. And tons of recipes! All filed oh-so-orderly! They begged to be looked at, to be touched, to be read, to be used! I was amazed at the care someone had obviously taken with this little box! The time that had been invested! Each little recipe was tidily handwritten or even typed! All the cards were the same size and neatly slipped into protective plastic sleeves! Oh how I was having recipe-box envy thinking of my own haphazard box at home spewing with recipes and the ziploc bags that it couldn't or wouldn't hold! This box was sheer delight! And the recipes sounded mouth watering! Definitely not the kind of recipes you even THOUGHT about dissecting and figuring out Weight Watcher points to! That would be sacrilege to these historical morsels! It continued to speak to me..."Take me home! Save me!" Normally, in the backroom, when an item comes in with personal stuff left inside of it, we discard the personal items and price the "container" and shelve it for sale. But that just seemed so WRONG in this case! It just couldnt' be done! I talked with a friend of mine there about it, a much wiser woman and she suggested I take it home and sort through the recipes and see what I might find. Oh what I have found! I cannot wait to try some of these! I thought in honor of Mother's Day, I would post one here for you all to try...it's quick and the ingredients are easy to come by, yet it's Pink and fluffy - just right for Mother's Day I think :) Hope you enjoy!

STRAWBERRY CAKE RECIPE

Hey Gang...cool, quick challenge!

Here's a cool new scrapbooking challenge for you from Lain over at http://knitandpurlgrrl.blogs.com/scraphappy (she was the teacher of the Layout a Day for a Month challenge I took earlier this year). ANYWAY, it looks fun, she calls it "30 Minute Thursdays". Check out her site for the full info. and post your layout here and post a comment on her blog (and mine :) ) with a link to the page (if you can't link it, send me a digital photo and I'll post it here for you so you can have a link).

Now, for next week, use:
-A vacation photo
-A paperclip
-And some hidden journaling, just for kicks. ;)
Keep it under 30 minutes and show me what you can do!

Christa's Favorite Things...

May 10, 2008

Well Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Whatever,to you!

Today is a good day! Yes, it might be overcast outside, but I am determined to make it a good day! Everyone in my family might have caught a spring cold or allergies, that is yet to be determined, but it is STILL going to be a good day! The company where Lar works is still on egg shells as to where their next job is coming from, but it is STILL going to be a good day! Know why? Because of the little things!

Things like friends stopping by for a quick coffee and to pick something up and taking the time to go for a walk with you!

Things like being married to your best friend for 16 years and celebrating it with homemade breakfast for dinner WITH YOUR KIDS, at home and flowers and a FOUR-PAGE love letter and your favorite coffee delivered by your dh the next day at lunch time! SURPRISE!

Things like your honey having a long enough arm (aka: "The Long Arm of The Lar") to get great close-ups of the two of you!

Things like not caring if you go out to eat or if you stay home as long as you're together on your anniversary.

Things like the sheer fact that you're all alive and well on this day makes it a good day!

Then there are actual THINGS too...

Things like deciding to have a piece of artwork commissioned by a local artist and LOVING looking at it each and every day!

Thanks Persis! You rock! I just love this facebowl in RED!

Persis Gayle- Pottery---persisgayle@yahoo.com

Things like growing herbs in bowls and pots on your deck, outside your kitchen window where you can see them each and every day and USE them in your cooking! YUM!

Thoughtful friends like Julie, who drop off surprises on your doorstep when you're sick...and it's "just what the doctor ordered" - kindess and a cup of tea! I LOVE this teapot and cup! Can you see the cup says, "Creativi-tea" ?

Soaking my feet in my "new" footbath (from the Thrift store where I volunteer) and having BOTH boys ask if they could have a turn :) LOVE that even though I have boys we like to do some of the same things that don't involve mud, balls or bugs! (Okay, we WERE watching National Treasure at the time!)

Sitting in my cozy spot and being invaded by two of the snuggliest boys I know while watching Episode 1 of the Discovery Channel's Planet Earth series...it was a good thing...some of that stuff was kind of disturbing to me...but S kept telling me, "What?!? It's okay, Mom, it's just killing. It happens. Someone has to die! They have to eat!" Ah...my future hunter! Grandpa would be so proud!

Taking Jake to puppy class at 11 mos. old and having him actually RESPOND! He's turning into MY dog...following me around everywhere and listening to me, but he's actually starting to LISTEN! It's great! And he SMILED for this photo! It really IS the little things!

And of course I would be REMISS if I didn't mention, COFFEE! Any kind really...as long as it has EXTRA CREAM! LOL!!!

And thanks goes out to Jules again for this cute little tin that sits atop my Espresso machine, it was one of those "thinking of you" presents from her - LOVE those!

OH! AND Answers to Questions! The unknown bird in my photos on my last post? Dad emailed me and said, "The bird in question is a Black Headed Grossbeak." So there we have it! I just LOVE learning something each day! Not to mention I LOVE it when ya'll read and comment on my blog :) So thanks for all the LITTLE THINGS :) THEY ARE WHAT COUNT!

PS

If this post looks FUNKY with the spacing or anything I GIVE UP! I have tried to edit it probably 10 times now...and you know, it's just eating up too much time...so you get the gist, right? :) Thanks for understanding! -C :)

Visual Diary catch up...

Here I am in all my glory...I've lost somewhere around 16 pounds now...weigh in is Monday so I'll know more then. I think I'm in Week Three of Maintenance - it's definitely tricky to figure out what you can eat and what you can't. I'm being a goofball here because I was so excited to be wearing a dress and heels since it had been SNOWING and hailing and raining so much! Plus when I put the dress on it fit so much better than when I initially purchased it! YAY! Anyhoo, Lar and I had just gotten home from the MOPS Auction (they raised $20,600!!! WOW!) and I realized I hadn't taken an "after" photo of myself so I had Lar snap some...and these orange flowers were nearby (yes, I'm STILL into orange!) so I hammed it up of course :)

Okey Dokey...

Let's see...I've been posting my latest posts from the 'ol laptop which does NOT have my photos on it, so I thought I would post a visual diary today to catch you up on the life of the familia...

Here we go :)

Jonah and Dad at "soul patch" night at the Mariners...thanks for the tickets Cuzy Carmen!

Speaking of cousins...check out these three cuties! Can't tell their related, can you?!?!? LOL!

More Arizona photos...Shannon and I RELAXING!, Seth "surfing" in their pool LOL! and my niece Sara showing off her Dbacks Princess hat and a little "'tude" to go with it...hmmm...wonder if that's hereditary? And here's Uncle Adam with the kiddos after a Mariner's Spring Training Game...boy oh boy do they love their Uncle! Too bad Auntie Alea couldn't go with us! She, however was dealing with a dead water heater back at the house...ouch!

Grandpa Bill retired and we all chipped in and gave him a GPS system...obviously, once he realized what it was he was tickled! Seth is sooooooooo proud of the "worm" cupcakes I made for him to take to school on his SIXTH birthday to share with his friends!!! YUM!

Still plugging away at my Library of Memories class and LOVING it! Oh, and remember that impromtu bday party I planned for Seth, seriously, I think there were 20 kids in the house...you can only see 1/2 of them here...it was so much fun though!

Remember that snow I told you we came home to after we got back from Arizona? Well it snowed yet AGAIN a couple of weeks after that! So what do April SNOW showers bring in May??? I'm afraid to ask! And Lar HAD to take a photo of our colorful dinner...he's so proud that I cook most every night - glad he appreciates it! :) And here's Seth, so excited about his newly organized room - Daddy and G'pa Ski made the dividers for his closet and I bought the cloth drawers and made tags for them - notice his Bionicles on the shelf? He just loves it!

We're still reeling in folks over here to play ROCK BAND! Oh YEAH! Have you had a turn yet? Here are our latest band members, Kolt, Tamila, Darby, Isaac and of course Jonah! He can really rock it out...and if Rock Band isn't your thing, how about a bite to eat in the kitchen? I just LOVE a COLORFUL kitchen! I love my fruit/veggie basket in the kitchen!

And OH MY GOODNESS! WHO IS THIS?!?!?!? Is this JONAH??? WITH A HAIRCUT?!?!?!? Oh YEAH! I can see his face! He of course, HATES it with a passion, but I love it and Lar loves it...oh to be a pre-teen and have haircut angst all over again...he made this pinata for Cinco de Mayo by the way - too cool, right?

Baseball season is in full swing here...Seth is playing coach pitch and Jonah is playing minors - boy can he pitch! Seth is shown here doing the little "happy dance" he does once he gets onto first base...it's priceless! Oh! And boy can he hit that ball!

Here I am with some of my "favorites" at the Volunteer Appreciation dinner last week at the Stilly Senior Center. I don't get to see Bill hardly at all now since we don't work on the same days anymore due to his health (he's the one in white). I sure do love the people I work with there! So hey, here's a question for you...can you NAME THIS BIRD? IF SO, please leave me a comment with what type of bird you think it is...it's new to me and has a parrot like beak - loves the sunflower seeds. There are 3-4 of them around here...very pretty. Some are more yellow than others, too big for a finch and the beak is different.

Oh! Who is this?? P is back! Or she was! She made a grand appearance and babysat the boys for us so we could go get Lar some clothes that didn't fall off of his new, more svelt body...obviously Seth was LOVING it! Thanks again P! We miss you!

Okay, thanks for looking...more later this week! Off to sort and organize some photos!

Post a comment and let me know you're reading this so I know it's worthwhile to keep it up! LOL!