BABY BOY ONESIE MINI ALBUM & CARD

I finally put my Onesie Sizzix XL die to good use - WOOT!!!! Tomorrow I have my best friends baby shower. This is her first baby and she's having a BOY!!!! From the beginning I knew I wanted to make the onesie mini. Don't ask me why, but I procrastinated.....I hate when I do that. Not only did I make her the mini album tonight, I also made her the matching card which will hold a gift card.

I'm really tired and have to get up early tomorrow so I will leave you with pictures.

The front cover says:
"What we love about you" and the inside pages say:
"your eyes"
"your nose"
"your hands"
"your toes"
"ALL OF YOU!!!"

I left the back side of the pages blank so they can add journaling. When the baby is born, I will take pictures of his eyes, nose, hands and toes so she can add them to the mini.

Thanks for stopping by....have a great day!!

Hugs, T

REORGANIZED SCRAP ROOM

Last Friday my friend Ana came over and helped me clean out......purge.....and reorganize my scrap room. I needed it sooooo bad!!! She was at my house from 7pm till 3am....yes after working a full day at work, we worked 8 hours in my room. We got so much accomplished. THANK YOU SO MUCH ANA - I appreciate all your help from the bottom of my heart....I had a blast and my room looks great. Part 2 is yet to come but that's after the closet comes down.

Here are some pictures I wanted to share with all of you.

Have a wonderful day!!

Hugs, T

FUN GIRLS DAY OUT!!!

What a great day today......I spent it with my beautiful daughter Kasi and my local scrap friends Ana and Mercy. I picked up Ana and headed South where we met up with Mercy at her Michaels and O-M-G......that Michael's IS THE BEST!!!!! I thought the one 25 minutes from my house was awesome.....I see myself visiting homestead more often lol. They had TONS of Cricut cartridges for $9.99. I didn't get any because I had most of the ones that were on sale.....BUT they had the brand new recollections items out and WOW...BEAUTIFUL STUFF!!!! I did buy a few pieces - NOT ALL - and a few other goodies. We had a blast - these girls are so much fun!!

After M's we headed to Mercy's house where we hung out for about 30 minutes......her scrap area is GREAT!! She has great size shelves with the Ikea storage boxes.....her punches are on the wall with the rails and she has the most amazing cherished teddies collection - WOWZA!!!! It was really great to see the room where she creates and films her videos. Mercy had found some ornament hooks at Target in gold and silver that my Target didn't have and she also found the alterable boxes from Michael's and she was so sweet to share some with me (pics below).

On the way to take Ana back home we made a pit stop by my house because I wanted her to see my room and give me some rearranging ideas.....her tips were great!!! Kasi and I drove Ana back home and let me just say...her home is so warm and yummy.....even the back yard. I had been there before but I just LOVE her home....it's BEAUTIFUL!!! While in her FABULOUS scrapbook room, she showed me a few ways I can consolidate my flowers, brads, papers, etc. I think that once I start organizing, I will have more room than I thought I did. She gave me some really beautiful flowers that will work great with my Project Life album and a huge role of gorgeous ribbon (pics below) and she gave Kasi this gorgeous vintage/shabby jewelry storage with a mirror (pics below)....we are planning on doing her bedroom very shabby chic so this piece will go perfect with the glass jars I found at M's a couple weeks ago that have these vintage looking crowns with bling on them. We are so excited to start her room as well. In addition, she gave Kasi this really cute pink paper storage, a couple of super cute hand made layouts she created and a brand new pink tote for her scrappy supplies....Kasi was so happy. She is going to switch out her teal and brown tote for the pink one and she will keep it on her desk. THANKS ANA!!! Kasi loves everything and is so grateful!!

Thank you so much girls.....I truly had an amazing day.....we have to do it again!!!

HUGS, T

PROJECT LIFE IS IN OUR HOME!!!!!

WOOOO HOOOO!!!!! I had the most special gift waiting for me when I got home today (a gift from me to me LOL)!!! It was my Becky Higgins "Project Life" Kit that I had ordered on December 29th. As soon as I walked in the door, I wanted to rip into it right away but I waited.....took a few pictures, prepared and served dinner and then Kasi and I went into our scrapbook room and dug right in. She helped me check all the contents of the kit, set up the first and last pages, peal the protector of the monthly dividers and WOW.......I am so in love with everything.....THANK YOU BECKY!!!

Anywho, I promise to share my monthly "special" 12 x 12 layouts that I will add within Project Life and I will try to do a video quarterly with updates as to the progress of our 2011 family album. We are all super excited about this project.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Hugs, T

TAKING A BREAK FOR A WHILE........

Well not exactly 100% but during my 2-3 week crafting break at the end of 2010, I had time to really sit and think about LIFE. I browsed the internet....read blogs and then I found BECKY HIGGINS!!! WOW!!!! She changed my way of viewing what was REALLY important in my life and although I already knew (or at least I thought I knew), she just broke it down to "REALITY"!!!!!

Becky Higgins is an amazing artist and founder of PROJECT LIFE. Documenting moments in your life and the life of your family at any given moment is priceless and it doesn't have to entail all the bells and whistles that my layouts would have. I did a lot of research, read blog of crafters that have participated in Project Life, viewed each and every video of Becky's "12 days of Christmas" and then just fell in love with the idea. My PROJECT LIFE kit was ordered on December 29, 2010 from Amazon.com and I expect it to arrive tomorrow - woooo hoooo!!!!

Here is a little crafting history about me:
At the beginning of my scrapbooking hobby, I had the honor of being a part of BITTEN BY THE BUG with Regina Easter. Regina and I met through the Cricut message board. We both joined in on a Secret Santa and she had ME. YES I was envied by many LOL and I was truly very lucky.....not for the "goodies" I received but for the lifetime friendship that came of it. Our sisterly relationship grew from there. I admire her work (it's awesome), the person she is as a mother, sister, daughter, wife and friend!!! She is my shoulder when I need to cry and vent.....I don't have words to explain my love for her. She is a VERY special friend and she will FOREVER hold a special place in my heart.

Through the Cricut message board I also met Connie Scott and her daughter Becky which I LOVE very much. I can't express in words how much they mean to me ♥

Shortly after I became a designer for Bitten by the Bug, I had the honor of being on the HALLMARK SCRAPBOOK LADYBUG design team. WOW!!!!! Jody and Brad are AMAZING and they too are very dear to my heart and I will forever be greatful to them for having me on their team. During this time, my work was also published in several crafting magazines and as you can imagine, I was ecstatic!!!!!

Two amazing friends blossomed from BBTB and Hallmark Scrapbook. Sharon of Grandma's House of Cards and DeeDee of Scrappin' with DeeDee. OH...EM.....GEEEE, what can I say......summing it up, I LOVE these girls from the bottom of my heart. We may not chit chat often but when we do, we pick up right where we left off and I know should I EVER have a problem, they are just an email/phone call away. Regina, Sharon and DeeDee are MY THREE MUSKETEERS...today, tomorrow and FOREVER!!!

Oh boy......can I now tell you about my fabulous SBFF????? Oh yeah, that's "S" for "Scrappy" BFF LOL Christina from Creations with Christina. Being a part of the very first Christmas with the Cricut (CWTC) and sharing the same week of projects with Christina was all we needed to kick start an amazing friendship. We helped each other with some ideas, informed each other of different techniques and products, emailed every single day because we were both stressed out and wanted our projects to ROCK LOL......after CWTC, we remained great friends. We chit chat on the phone every other week (or so), send each other text messages, etc. She is an amazing friend......my twin sis for life and I love her to pieces!!!!!

Through the crafting years I have also had the honor of being on some AMAZING design teams......SUSANA'S CUSTOM ART AND CARD DESIGNS; GENERATIONS CRAFTING and LINDY'S STAMP GANG. The owners of these company will FOREVER hold a special place in my heart - ALWAYS!!!! They know that if they EVER need anything, I will be here. I love you always Susana, Floren and Tracey!!!!!! I had some wonderful DT sisters that shared their spectacular work with the world. I learned so much from each and every one of them and I can't thank them enough for being a part of my life.

Then I started my Youtube channel and met some GREAT, FABULUOS, STUNNING, AMAZING, TALENTED, GIFTED...you name it.....crafters!!!! To mention a few: Bona, Arlene, Regina F., Rose, Jade, Rina.... and the list goes on - way to many to mention but these few girls totally stand out!!! Because of THEM, I got inspired to make videos. THANKS GIRLS.....I LOVE YOU ALL TODAY AND ALWAYS!!!!! Also this past year, through Youtube (and also my blog), I met some local crafters that are amazing.....Ana, Mercy, Marlene, Olga, Rita, Kathryn, Martica, Yeya .... We had such a blast together the day we all met!!! xoxoxoxo to all of you!!!

Now on a more personal note......As most of you already know, I am a full time real estate paralegal and my office if about a 45 minute commute each way. I come home to cook, clean up, check homework and get ready for the next day. I have a handsome little boy named Damian that will be 9 next week and my beautiful princess Kasi that will be TEN at the end of Febuary!!! (YES they are ONLY 10 1/2 months apart LOL) My son plays baseball (it's his PASSION...uuuummmmm MORE LIKE AN ADDICTION!!!!!). There are two games a week plus 2-3 practices a week. Kasi used to be in gymnastics but decided it was not for her and that's OK. Sundays I spend the day doing groceries for the week, laundry and getting ready to start the week and routine all over again. I know...I'm not the only BUSY mom out there....it's what moms do but.....

When January 1st came, I made myself MANY goals, one of which I already accomplished and one that is going to be a lifetime commitment. My little goals are all HOME related.....deep clean EVERY room in the house, including the two car garage - YIKES, and get organized (this too may take several months). Another goal is to take 2-3 mini vacations this year with my family........first one already booked for March - WOOT!!! I quickly came to the realization that my crafting will just have to be simplified.

My kids and husband are MY LIFE and I want to document all of our special moments together quickly and without all the bells and whistles because to be honest.....at the end of the day, it won't matter how many bells and whistles my projects have, or how many design teams I was on, or how many times I was published in a magazine, or how many gadgets and gizmos I own...........I will NEVER have this time again with my family and I want to enjoy each and every spare moment with them. I know PROJECT LIFE will be awesome and every month, I will include a 12 x 12 layout in my book for the "Special event" of the month (b-day, anniversary, holidays, etc.), spotlight special pictures on a different - stand alone page, etc. I also want my kids and husband to take part in the journaling of this book. Thank you Becky Higgins for opening up my eyes to what documenting life is "REALLY" all about!!! I will share my journey of goals throughout the year, share my Project Life every few months with everyone.

A special "Thank you" goes out to all my Blog followers......all the subscribers to my Youtube channel and all the wonderful friendships that have blossomed from it all.

Best to everyone for 2011!! May your year be filled with lots of LOVE, HAPPINESS, PROSPERITY AND GREAT HEALTH!!!!!

Hugs, T