My organized CHAOS...

Happy Halloween everyone...

I hope everyone has a SAFE and festive evening!

x0

Just a quickie....

Uuuugh, I have spent my entire weekend supervising this Bolivia project!!!

Anyway, it's over with.  But sadly, no scrapping for me.

We did have time to go to a spooky little Halloween party where the hostess, Teresa, made the cutest Halloween goodies.

and decorated her entire house with cobwebs and even had a fog machine

All of the pictures were taken with my iPhone.  Sorry for the poor quality.  Well, I'm off and running.  I have a busy day today.  First, I'm hauling Alexander's project to school, then volunteering in Christopher's class, then I'm reading to a group of Christopher's friends during lunch,  then I'm swinging by my classroom to decorate, picking up the boys,  then off to Kumon, and finally the Kickoff party at Scrapbooks and Stuff!  It's from 5-7.  Hope to see you there.  Have a great day!

xo

Yes, I'm a good mom...

Because last night, despite the fact that I was so tired that my eyeballs wanted to pop out of my head and roll onto the ground, I took my boys here

Yeah, Christopher is the flip-flop wearing Ninja and my spooky ghoul wears Crocs with little peace signs, heehee.

Anyway, they played lots of games
     

and won tons of candy

The were even kind enough to take photos with their mom!

Here I am.   I did my best to "dress up" as a non-frumpy mom

Alexander took these

And Christopher took this one

Alexander's face is still covered with make-up.  The poor thing wore makeup underneath his mask just in case it got too hot to keep it on.

And finally, my layouts for my third class at Scrapbook& Stuff. 

They should look familiar.  They're scraplifts of my Fancy Pants DT entries.    You can see one here and the other here.   Have you ever tried scraplifting yourself within a budget and without all of your original supplies?  It's tougher than you think!
Here's my first scraplift of my Fancy Pants DT entry.

Here's the journaling

I had to change a few of the subtitles to accommodate the different transparency that I used
 
and I used my black gel pen instead of a stamp on the photo

Yeah, I think I definitely have a thing for pop dots

And my second scraplift of my layout

I diecut the letters from chipboard and doodled on them.  The alphas on my original were American Crafts
 
and I had to make this butterfly with 3 different punches

I used a stamp for the top flourish and doodled the second.

I still used popdots to add dimension to the sun rays

I have the dates and times for my classes.

Happiness is.... Tuesday, November 11th, 6-8pm

The Sweetest thing...Saturday, November 22nd, 11am-1pm

Fancy Pants Workshop...Monday, December 8th, 11am-1pm

I'm pretty sure those are correct.  The "official" info will be released on Monday.

Well, the boys and I have a day off today.  We're about to make pancakes...yum.  I love pancakes.  Butter.  And tons of syrup.  And whipped cream. 

Yes, I know.

I'm feeding my boys junk food for breakfast.

And yes.

As far as moms go,

I still feel that I'm the bomb-diggity.

I'm well aware of the lack of nutritional value in a plate of pancakes.

So for "dessert", the boys are getting an extra dose of vitamins, heehee

hope you have a great day.

UPDATE ON ALEIDA'S BOOK:

I have been such an awful person for not posting this.  I told my friend Greta that I would:

For those of you who need a refresher, my friend Greta has been working on turning Aleida's blog into a book.  She has been working very hard on the book and is almost done compiling it.  She has enough for two copies and Brandon, Aleida's husband is so happy and grateful that she is creating this treasure for Aleida's children.  Greta is still accepting donations.  Please visit her blog here to get more info.  Every little dollar helps.  She'd like to send the books and a check.  I know money is tight.  Even a dollar is something.  Thanks ladies...

xo

The sweetest thing...

This is the second class I'm teaching at Scrapbooks & Stuff.  The official kickoff party is on Monday, October 27th, the first day you can register for classes.  If you happen to be in the area, and are interested in taking any of my class, I'd love for you to stop by!

Okay, details on this layout:

I layered BG PP, Bazzill, and KI Memories' Sheer Delights...and of course doodled, distressed, and inked it all

 

I doodled on a piece of Bazzill to create this photo mat

I diecut the alphas, painted them with two shades of green, and doodled on them

 

I loved adding Prima sprites to make these

 

and added sappy journaling cuz that's how I roll

 

 

then popped up a few of my journaling strips

and parts of the title

After creating these flowers, I zapped them with my heat gun to add a little dimension

and distressed a few stickers

I think that's about it.  Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.  Well, I'm off and running again.  Hope you have a great day!

xo

Happiness is...

finishing all of my class projects on time!  Woohoo! 

HAPPINESS IS...

Yup, your eyeballs are working properly...it's missing the journaling.  It's the first class I'm teaching at Scrapbooks and Stuff.  Normally the classes there are done minus the pictures and journaling, so my pictures you see  on the layout aren't glued down.  Here's how the class layouts look:

 

 

I used the Sassafras line Happy Place.  Since it's my first time ever teaching, I decided to do a basic layout...you know, to test the waters a little.  As you all know, my style is a little crazy and all over the place, so honestly, I didn't want to scare people off with my first class, heehee.  It's kind of an intro to basic layering and doodling.

Here are a few close ups:

Yeah, I love pop dots

I popped up a few things, just to give it a little dimension

And instead of peeling the letters off of the alpha sheet, I cut around them and stuck them on a piece of cardstock:

 Here's a little added doodling:

Well, it's 7:52.  I have to start my day.  The boys and I might be a little late today...eeks.  Hope your day is wonderful!

xo

Happy 1 Year Anniversary...

to me. 

A year ago, I created my first 12 x 12 layout:

Sorry the picture is so poor.  A year ago I didn't have any clue as how to photograph my layouts...I'm still struggling, hee hee.  I took this picture in full sun, thinking the BRIGHTER the LIGHT, the better.

Anway, prior to actually scrapbooking ON PAPER, I did eveything in my little head, looking at magazines and attending crops without actually doing any layouts.  Crazy huh?

I started finally creating layouts because the 3 women standing in this photo with me

Nichol, Diane, and Cathy called me a "Scrapbook Poser".  I didn't blame them.  I never actually created any layouts while hanging out with them...and I didn't ever show them any scrapbooking albums...heehee, I didn't actually have any!!!  We just got together every month--they scrapped and I talked!

Well a year later...and I absolutely love it.  And I've met so many wonderful women as a result of it---yes, I mean all of you wonderful blog readers!

I know I haven't been around lately.  I have been scrapping...working on layouts for my classes starting in November.  I haven't chatted with all of you in so long, I don't know if I ever mentioned the fact that I am going to TRY to teach a few classes at my LSS Scrapbooks & Stuff.  I've run into a few issues that have me frazzled, but I figured, all I can do is try my best and see what happens.  I can't post the layouts yet.  The store's Reveal Night is October 27th.  That's when everyone's projects go LIVE.   I can show you a few sneak peeks...

I'll be working with:

Sassafras Lass

Basic Grey and KI Memories

Well, I'm off to go start my REAL JOB.  I pick up my boys at 2 and then 3...and then we're off to Kumon.  I know this is a really dry post and really short, but I'm running behind!

xo

So I'm taking time to Exhale...

And spending more time with him. 

The boys are in school and we're on a little date...too cute right?

No, we're not into fancy-schmancy.  We're hanging out at Starbucks, enjoying hot coffee and scones.  I'm blogging from my phone, so forgive me if this post looks all jacked up.  I know it's been awhile.  I promise to be back really soon.  Aleida's death hit me really hard so I've taken some time off to make sure my husband and boys know how much I love them.  I started scrapping last night, so hopefully my mojo will find its way back to me.  Wish me luck and hugs to everyone who sent emails checking up on me :)