silly as it sounds...

already?

wrong wrong wrong

off off off

we start school tomorrow and we're not ready; and its all my fault.  the mom's supposed to be the organizer, the reminder, the gentle guide to preparedness.  i'm not.  i haven't been.  its totally all my fault.

where did the summer go?  why is it already gone?  how can school be starting in the morning?

maybe its the disaster.

maybe its the deadlines.

maybe its just the way of things.

here's to a better tomorrow.

(oh, yeah.....maybe its the 3 hours of sleep i got last night........duh!)

bloggers block

i've got a bad case of bloggers block.

so i guess i'll just ask for suggestions, and stick a picture here.

LOL.

yup.  the finger's goin UP the nose, folks.

heartprints photography

wow.

this girl is amazing, AMAZING i tell you!!  my neighbor & friend, Amy, did a photo session with me.  she thankfully took pity on me, after my botched episode of self-portraiture, wherein i gave it all up and escaped into wanna-be-a-supermodel mode. (If you don't believe me, look HERE!)  I told you so.

amy owns Heartprints Photography, and just does the most AMAZING work.  she gave me a sneak peek, and i am just blown away by what this girl can do with a camera.  she actually made me look {COOL}!  (not an easy feat....)

and guess what?!  she said i can share my sneak peek with you!!!  If you like what you see, be sure to visit her (linked above) and let her know!!!  (And locals...as in you WA people...she's got her pricing info on the Heartprints site...its a GREAT deal, and SO well worth it.  Come on....you KNOW you need a more recent family portrait, don't we ALWAYS?!)  <grin>

see?

she rocks.

um.........

cleaning the house is fun to do

fun to do, fun to do,

cleaning the house is fun to do,

tra la, la la, la la.

(no it's not)  LOL

tag!

what fun....a rousing game of tag via blogs...

so as best i can decipher, Kris was tagged, who then tagged Lanus, who then tagged me....

so here goes!  our challenge is to list five idiosyncracies in our own little world of living life as ourselves.  my challenge is to only pick FIVE....it seems my being is defined by them.... LOL.  so here goes:

1. i cannot stand to have one tiny iota of curtains open whatsoever at night.  in ANY room.  i don't know if this is my inner diva worried that i am {hot} enought that peeping toms would think it worth their while to peer into my bedroom as i read myself to sleep, or WHAT, but my hubby knows, by now, that i will wake him from a deep sleep to adjust the drapery should a cat have the gall to jump from the windowsill and open a wee gap to the dark, scary world beyond.... (and that goes for closet doors, too.)  i think i'm still afraid of monsters.  ;)
2. bumper stickers annoy me.  apologies to those of you that have them.  included in this genre is the newer, mass produced magnetic 'ribbons', for those that want to 'tie one on' for ____________ [something cause-worthy].  i cannot explain why...just know that if you ever see one on my car, you'll know that aliens have invaded my body and i'm in need of an extra-terrestrial exorcism.
3. my teeth are always clenched.  i have to catch myself periodically throughout the day and purposefully focus on relaxing my jaw.
4. i hold my breath when i write.  gives new meaning to the phrase, "feeling blue...."  <snicker>
5. driving fast calm me down.  i have a secret plan to be a race car driver; formula one, to be exact.

alright.....now it's MY turn to TAG someone.............

Shannon M, Carrie O, Elsie, and Sherry

go get 'em, girls!!  :)

creative space

and don't forget:

and a little bit of:

and finally, a little atop-the-bookcase action:

that's all for now! :)

upcoming

i am so excited to announce that Mosh Posh, a highly addictive kit club <grin>, has added me to their design team...i am so grateful and happy to join such a great group of gals!  congrats to the other ladies who were asked to join the team, and hugs and love to ALL the ladies that applied. <your time will come!! I KNOW IT!!!>

also, i have a new font arriving to Designer Digitals come Sunday - Candy Shoppe!!  Be sure to hop on over there Sunday and see all the goodies Katie and her team have cooked up!  I can't say enough good things about how AWESOME they are!  The papers are so incredible, i <a digi-less scrapper> will actually PRINT out their papers to use for layouts; the ink is WORTH the lovely designs! ;)

it seems really weird to be so project driven, now.  i don't think i've scrapped for a "call" in ages...but i like being busy in this way; it suits me.  it's FUN!  sure, i'm finding moments along the way where i feel overwhelmed and frantic, but thats all just a part of the process.  those times come and then they go, and then i forge ahead with renewed courage, excitement, and creative energy.  my hubby says that designing is my escape.  and he's right.  in a way.  but as much as it helps to relieve all the stressors in my life, it also serves to bring me joy and fulfillment in just being ME.  i will admit that the preservation of my family's memories is, at this point, a by-product, but years from now when we take the time to be still.....to remember.....i will be glad to have the memories captured no matter the reason.  when i am creating, i am a better mother, wife, and woman.  a better me.

i think i'll take pics of my *clean* <insert shock and awe here> studio and post them for you this weekend!  i need to immortalize that momentous event (a clean workspace).....HAHAHAHAHA!

stinky vellum and cute dots

well, i'm posting my "things i stink at" layout for our challenge this week...though shannon is in Utah visiting family, and won't post hers till a bit later!  i offered to post it for her, but she had the impression that i may do something silly like change her avatar or signature????  where would she get THAT impression? <evil chuckle: heh heh heh>

anyway, here is my vellum challenge...i made use of a blurry photo by putting a vellum "filter" over it, and a ton of stamping with acrylic paint.  yes, that is a feather.  and thanks for the RAK May...i used a jewel for my faux "earring", lol!  couldn't resist using this 'tacky' gold braiding, too. <grin>

and now for the "cute dots" part of the title....have you SEEN THESE??????

by laurie at liquid paper.....even the NAME is cute!  ;)

oh. my. holy. cuteness. !!!!!  thanks, sarah, for sending me the link!  i'm LOVING this!

inversion

i'm a little hooked on this idea:

the ENTIRE reason i made this layout was so that i could invert it.

i love love love love love love how it turned out!

i want to play with this a whole lot more; introductions are now being made:

Paper layout?  Meet my scanner.

Scanner?  Meet my paper.

Now.....

INVERT!

sounds a little like a wondertwins episode......"form of THE OPPOSITE COLORS!"  "shape of THE SAME PAGE!"....... (yes, i was a Wonder Twins fan... ;)

relativity

yesterday.

today.

i lost light-years in one moment, with one pair of shears.

pause with me, now, as i mourn the loss of his curls.

<deep breath>

my oldest son was non-plussed: he only wanted to be sure that i had saved the cut hair in a baggie, labelled, of course with the name and date.

truly a scrapbookers son.

peruvian

i'm going here.

well, not technically, but stylistically.

i'm SO going here.

(thank you JoAnn's!)

i just can't NOT share.  go there if you dare.

tell them Tia sent you.

;)