Monday already???

Where did the weekend go?

Let's see I spent 2 1/2 hrs Friday night at "dance pictures" She had 3 different time slots scheduled (3 different classes=3 different costumes= a serious dent in my wallet :wink:) starting with the 1st at 6:25pm. When we arrived to have her hair done at 6pm and to change from soccer gear(came straight from practice) to the first costume we heard that they were running seriously behind. About 8:25pm we were finally climbing into the car to head home. It had been close to 4 hours since she had been home and she wanted to know what I planned for dinner. By this point it was the McDonalds drive thru...I myself had passed the point of hunger and just wanted to get home.

Saturday morning Fritz had his first game as a "referee" actually today he just shadowed the assigned referee. Starting next week he will have at least one game every Saturday morning...his first paying job. As well as earning an income the program was designed to teach the "traveling" players respect for the ref. Nothing like walking in another man's shoes I suppose.

Saturday afternoon we traveled to Cherry Hill for Becca's game. They won 5-4.

Another Mom emailed me this picture of her getting it past two defenders (it didn't last long).
After the game we headed out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in honor of Dan's birthday on Sunday. After dinner we went to Barnes & Noble...the kids picked out some books and got hot chocolates. I then ducked into Coldwater Creek with my 25% off coupon and came out with 2 new tops.

Sunday was church and then another game of soccer. This one was played in a steady drizzle of light rain. They actually won the game 3-2. Afterwards we came home, ate our leftovers from Cheesecake Factory and presented Dan with gifts and a small cake.

Phew!
Then today was work...the cycle starts all over again.

I attempted to start a layout over the weekend...the keyword was "attempted". Getting ready to sit down and work on it a bit right now. Got to printout some pictures...for me this is the worst part. I put off doing it all the time...hoping that they would just magically appear over night I guess.

A mini-canvas???

That's probably what some of you are going to say when you get your May "Fancy" kit from Coordinates Collections. When we were putting together this kit at CHA we felt it had an "artsy" flair to it and decided to put one of these mini-canvases in each kit...

They are just like a big artist canvas, stretched on a wooden frame, but is just a small 2" square. Whatcha going to do with yours?

I broke out mine today. Had an idea come to me earlier, so when I got home I had to get started.
To start I placed a chipboard heart in the center of the canvas (as a mask) and misted the canvas with the Turquoise Glimmer Mist (included in your kit) Then with some watercolors and a small misting bottle of water I added some color to the heart.

This is what I have so far...


I have more planned for this little canvas, but this is where I'm at right now. My vision is so cool, I hope it all comes together. Now you'll have to wait until the 5th to see the completed project.

I know...poor neglected blog

Sorry...have had a lot on my mind lately. (A few people in my life with stuff going on...and about the only thing I can do for them is say a prayer. Just wish I could do more.) A lot of it has preoccupied my thoughts for most of the week and I just haven't been as creative as I should be. But don't fret...I do have two peeks to show you!

Remember the peek from last weekend? Well I decided that the image I stamped with the "Glimmer Mist" just didn't work with my layout, so I flipped the cardstock over and used the other side. Here's a little peek at the finished layout:

So I did managed to get another layout done this week. Still have to add the journaling, but otherwise it's pretty much done. Those of you that had the April "Flowers" kit got a roll of the Pink Paislee Artisian tape in the kit. I finally managed to get my hands on some of it (there are a few rolls available as addons this month in the store) and have used it in both layouts.

Here you can see I used the "Black Dot" then layered on top I pleated the "Bayberry". You can also see the Pink Paislee Limeade "Expressions" look great with this kit.

We had 2 soccer games this weekend. Becca's team won 5-1 and Fritz's team was tied 1-1.
That's all for now. Hopefully I can get my mind back on track and I can show you some more later in the week.

Happy Saturday & a little peek.

It's a beautiful spring Saturday here in southern New Jersey. My family returned home last night(late...the plane was almost 45 minutes late getting in). We don't have the blazing hot temps that we had early in the week...definitely more seasonable.

Wednesday I got the May "Fancy" kit in the mail from Coordinates Collections. This kit as well as the May "Funky" kit are available for pre-order now. Here's a little preview...

Lot's of fun new goodies. Pattern Papers from Fancy Pants-Road Show, Crate Crate Paper-Paper Dolls, Webster's Pages-Life's Portrait, & Pink Paislee Bayberry Cottage. Some Glimmer Mist, Pink Paislee Artisan Elements, a mini-stretched canvas. So much fun!!!

It's actually nice to have it early in the month. I've been working on a few ideas in my head and this morning I sat down and started to actually play. I'm going to try a different kind of sneak peek today. I'm going to show you a few of the items I've made to go on the first layout...


The white flowers were stamped on cardstock and then misted with some of the leftover Perfect Pearls from last month. The turquoise flowers were cut from the Crate Paper and misted too. Made the little banner from some PP Artisan Tape and whimsies stickers (not included, but available in the CC store) I misted the turquoise cardstock with some Glimmer Mist, then sprayed the Glimmer Mist on part of the Donna Downey "wheat" stamp (used in the corkboard project in previous post) and stamped on to the cardstock.

That's all I'm sharing for now. Getting ready to head out to Becca's game and then from there we will be heading up to Philly for the Union's opening game. Maybe tomorrow I might have more to share, but we have another game and there's some yardwork I want to get done...so not sure if I will have time.

Corkboard 101

So I made a little something yesterday...by the time I finished up it was too dark to take a decent picture. This afternoon I managed to get a picture of the completed project...


What do you think? Another piece of wall art for my scrappy room and it can double as a corkboard. (Not sure exactly where it's going to hang, but somewhere close to the work area)
I've had this idea brewing in my head for quite sometime and finally collected the materials needed and had a nice quiet afternoon/evening to complete it.

Supplies needed:

• Picture frame (mine has 11"x14" opening)
• cork (I bought a roll at AC Moore, might try to diecut some of my leftovers)
• acrylic paints & inks for stamping
• stamps (Donna Downey wheat stamp & inkadinkadoo alphas)
• chipboard letters (Fancy Pants used here)

After cutting my cork to size I stamped the wheat in a cream colored paint across the cork sheet.
When that layer of paint had dried the next color was applied. In an attempt to create a little dimension I slightly offset the stamp so a thin area of the cream colored showed around the edge.

Allow this second layer of paint to dry, then repeat the process with the third color choice. When this was finished I thought it needed a bit more definition, so I outlined the wheat stalks with a fine point brown Sharpie.


I love mixed titles so I used a combination of stamping & chipboard. When this was done I mounted the cork sheet and inserted in my frame. This was quite fun, I'm thinking I may have to make one for Becca's room in the future. (Different colors & design of course :wink:)

The Bunny was here and gone

Yesterday was absolutely GORGEOUS! The kids and I got up, quickly checked the Easter baskets to see what the bunny brought, and then headed off to church for the 8am service (Dan was at work) It was noticed by several people at church that we were not at our usual service, but I explained we had a busy day ahead of us. After getting back home and having a quick breakfast we were off to the family Egg Hunt and dinner. The kids had a blast. Apparently the bunny left quite a stash here in this planting. I think they each pulled out 2 or 3 eggs.

We had a pleasant day and also celebrated my Dad's birthday. My cupcakes were a hit with the non-chocolate lovers and even the chocolate lovers admitted they were good.

So now on to today the 5th...the new reveal day. I can finally show you those projects. In each "Showers" kit you get one of these...

...a Bella Blvd. "Blooms A Bella". (thanks for the picture Lisa :wink:) Each flower is made up of 6 layers (3 little & 3 big) they are held together with a few stitches and a brad. Easy enough to take a part if you wish(and I did!).

This was my first project...

At CHA we saw an example that used a small layer from the bloom. If you cut apart the petals...viola, a heart! I then misted the hearts with the Perfect Pearls and mini-mister that come in the kit, and then mounted with foam tape. Except for the letters (Thickers & Doodlebug) this is all from the SHOWERS kit.

Next I did this with 2 of the big layers...

I cut each layer in half, slightly overlapped, then stitched to my layout above and below my picture. I used a piece of the flocked transparency from Fancy Pants, cut a scalloped piece of pattern paper from the Crate Paper "Downstream", and cut stars from the Pink Paislee "Queen Bee". I misted the stars with the Perfect Pearls and mounted with popdots. To these kit materials I added Pink Paislee chipboard letters, Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type stickers, and some Prima Pearls. (all available in the Coordinates Collections store)

I did a card with the final big layer & another layout with the two small layers. If you'd like to see them other other ideas by the Design Team using the April "Showers" or "Flowers" kit, just click here.

So today was opening day...got to watch the Phillies win their 1st game of the season! Just dropped my peeps off at the airport about an hour ago. The house is mine until Friday night...woohoo! I'm even getting a massage tomorrow.

Life is Good.
(yeah, yeah, I'm all talk I will miss them terribly)

Spring break has started...

On Wednesday we had an interesting turn to our weather, sunny & warmish. Thursday was beautiful...I actually left work early (not to enjoy the weather) I used a half day of sick time to pick Fritz up and take him to the Dr's. For the last week or so his allergies have been horrible. A constant cough from the drip. Basically I was tired of listening to it and afraid it might have developed into something else. At Dr's they did a strep culture and when the Dr. came in she said that it was negative and she believed the cough was just a result of his allergies (cedar & oak pollen is crazy right now) She prescribed a stronger cough medicine for him to take and off we went. How surprised I was when I glanced in my rearview mirror, when getting ready to leave the parking lot, to see the Dr. waving at us to stop. Apparently when they checked the strep test again before disposing of it, it was positive. So now he's taking an antibiotic & cough medicine. Luckily there is no soccer practice for the next week, so he has plenty of recovery time.

Yesterday was gorgeous! Sunny highs in the mid 70's. I washed the bed linens and hung outside (except for Fritz's, didn't want them to load up with any pollen) Went grocery shopping and did a few other errands. While I was out and about I picked up 2 climbing rose bushes. I want to have them grow across the picket fence that closes off our backyard from the front.

Today is a bit overcast and damp...a cool fog rolling in off the ocean. Finished up all my projects for Coordinates Collections, wrote the newsletter tips, just waiting on Lisa to send me a picture before I send everything off.

Tomorrow is the annual egg hunt and dinner at my Dad's house. Here's a picture of one of my contributions to the meal:

Don't they look nice and Springy? They are angel food cupcakes with a topping made of crushed pineapple, instant pudding mix, and cool-whip. oh, and half a strawberry placed on top. Since there are so many choclate lovers in the family I am also making some chocolate mousse bars too.