This is My Life...

The Creativity Project...an update

Do you remember The Creativity Project? I do! It’s on my mind everyday! I know around Memorial Day I said I was taking a little bit of time off from doing the posts due to the holiday and the busy summer schedule. Well, it’s been longer than a little bit so I feel I should give you all an update!

I haven’t forgotten about it. Actually I love the whole idea so much that I’m turning it into my next class at BPS. Right now I’m in the planning, researching, preparing part of the class. Which means I haven’t quite figured out how I will be doing the class, so I’m not sure what I should share on the blog and what I should save for the class! I will be back to sharing more of it on my blog as soon as I get it figured out ;)

Have I still been doing something creative everyday? For the most part yes, but sometimes I get so busy I forget to step back and take the time to incorporate that into my day. Those days I notice a difference in my mood. Those are the days when it’s all go go go and I need to learn to slow down and enjoy each day to the fullest.

 

I’m really excited for this class! I have so many ideas floating around inside my head so I created this fun journal to keep myself organized and inspired at the same time. I do know that one part of this class will be trying all kinds of new things, so I wanted my notebook to be my first attempt at that! Using flea market finds is very new to me…this was my first time actually! On this journal the story is from a vintage children’s book I got at the flea market last weekend and the milk cap I got on Memorial day. I also used some glimmer mist and some super seal which are also new to me. The other products are Jenni Bowlin, Making Memories and Basic Grey.

 

 

 

 

I’m looking forward to seeing how this class unfolds. Anything you know you want to see???

 

How have you all been doing with incorporating more creativity into your daily lives?

Happy 4th of July...

Happy 4th of July everyone! I know it’s technically late for all of us in the eastern time zone, but the fireworks are still booming! Today, and even last night, has been magical and I wish I could savor these moments forever! Last night we had a cosy little gathering of fireworks, bon fire and glow necklaces. Tonight we went to my sisters for a chaotic, but fun night of fireworks and food and a lot of people! I just wish I could manage to take cool pictures of fireworks and the kids having fun with sparklers. Anyway, Happy 4th all of you...even you overseas!!



Look at this picture from the last fourth. My goodness she looks so young. She was just on the verge of turning 3 and seemed so big for a soon to be 3 year old. Now today she is almost turning 4 and it breaks my heart to even think about it. I have some cute pictures of the kiddo’s tonight, but I am home and my camera is not, so I only have old photos’ to share. Noah is at that age where taking his picture is just not cool, so unfortunately I don’t really have a cute one of him to share.

Tomorrow early morning, we go back to my sisters house for my baby nephews 1st birthday party! My kids have been the youngest in our family until Brodee, so it’s so much fun having him to love and celebrate.

Okay, off to bed since morning is coming soon! Have a safe and happy weekend everyone!

I'd love to hear how you all celebrate the holday! Or if you don't live in the US, how your weekend has been!!!

Throwing in my hat...

If you’ve been reading here for a while you know that trying out for a design team is only something I do if:

a. I love the product

b. It’s fun

c. I won't be hard on myself if I don't make it.

Last week, I saw a new call for Cosmo Cricket and my heart almost stopped. Now this is a product line I know I love and have fun using. When I hold the paper in my hands and look at the pretty designs I can almost hear the angels singing (okay, not really!!!). But working on this entry was 100% fun for me. Even If I don’t make the team the layouts I created are ones that I love to look at. They make me happy and in the end that’s what matters. I think this is the first time that a design team entry was really fun to do and I don't even care about the results because I finally learned to just have fun!

This first layout I had envisioned in my head with stitching and I wanted the page to have a throwing and skipping feel to it. I think the lil' man papers and the chipboard embellishments along with the addition of the orange stitching gave it the exact feel I was going for.

 

Cosmo Cricket Supplies Used: Lil' Man Dapper Dan, Lil' Man Handsome Henry, Lil' Man Ready Set Chipboard

This layout is a remake of a page I did during LOAD. The first page I did I thought way too much about it and never liked how it turned out, so I started over. I loved the Lil' Man line that I used on the orignal layout so I wanted to stick with that the new layout. I just need to change up the design because there was way to much going on in the first one. Now, this page I am very happy with. It has the right feel to it for me. I love the little baseball players and the handstitched baseballs I added. (I used the bakers twine from Studio Calico for the baseball) It’s a simple design but it has just enough detail to it that it makes me very happy!

Cosmo Cricket Supplies Used: Early Bird Sunrise, Lil' Man Cheerful Charlie, Lil' Man Dapper Dan, Lil' Man Ready Set Chipboard

I think this one might be my favorite. The colors and the texture on this have the exact feel I wanted. I love the little snow cones I added along the side. Are they not the cutest?? Love the little handcut scalloped paper too!

Cosmo Cricket Supplies Used: Early Bird Cherry Pie, Early Bird Sunrise, Early Bird Apron Strings, Early Bird Ribbon Sandwich, Girl Friday Tuesday

This one is very simple, but fun. I wanted to use my Slice with the Cosmo papers and the brackets and the letters add that perfect touch. I love how nicely the paper cut up to add the perfect flower embellishments on the page. I added some stitching and pearls for something extra. I know the picture doesn't exactly match the colors of the paper, but I wanted the paper to capture how I felt about the whole day and not just that one moment of the day. I like how it turned out!

 

 

Cosmo Cricket Supplies Used: Early Bird Apron Strings, Early Bird Farmers Market, Early Bird Ribbon Sandwich,

This little mini is something I created awhile back that I still love. I created it as a journal for Noah to record his memories of 2nd grade. I pulled it out this week and will post updated pictures after we finish adding to it!

   

Cosmo Cricket Supplies Used: Jacks World Journal Cards

 

This is one I actually started awhile back, but never got back to it since the pictures I want to use are not digital!! Now that I remembered I was working on it I want to get it finished soon!

Cosmo Cricket Supplies Used: Jacks World Big Sister, Jacks World Wake Up, Jacks World Animal Friend, Jacks World Blankie, Jacks World Playtime

Eeeeepppp...

I am honored to announce that I have been asked to be a part of the Simply Renee's 1st Design Team. I bought my clip-it up when they first came out and I still love it to this day. I can't wait to get to try out more products and have more reasons to scrapbook and to work with the whole team!! Congrats to the other 3 lady's chosen as well!! It's going to be fun!

Another thing that is totally exciting today is that my BPS class began and everyone is having a wonderful time! Registration is still open if you are thinking about joining us!! (I wanted to invite you to join us by saying "come on in the water is warm"...but that sounds too weird doesn't it!)

Tonight I am going to my sisters house to play in the lake and then I don't care how tired or late it is I will be scrapbooking...I just have to!

I'm melting

This is a public service announcement! Today, when it comes to excessive mood swings, crying, throwing fits and short tempers all bets are off...and I'm not even talking about the kids! Good grief it's flippin' hot out! Definitely one of those try to fry an egg on the sidewalk kind of days!

Where time stood still...

We went camping over Father's Day weekend, with my mom and dad and my sisters (minus one again) and their families, in Mackinaw City. It was the first time we've all been camping together since we were little kids. I wish we were still there!

Here are a few highlights!

We did quiet a bit of sitting around the campfire cooking our dinner, chatting, enjoying a few beverages and relaxing.

 

They celebrated their anniversary!

 

Our campsite was right on the shore of Lake Huron, just west of the Mackinac Bridge and it was beautiful. There was plenty of space for us all the play catch and just let the kids run around.

It was really foggy so I wasn't able to get a great picture of the lake, but if you were able to look through the fog you'd see the Mackinac Bridge.

 

On Saturday night the fog lifted just enough that I could capture the bridge. It was so pretty with the fog and the sunsetting, but it was really hard to photograph!

 

The sunset was beautiful!

On Saturday we went over to Mackinac Island, which is one of my most favorite places ever. I love the feeling of stepping off the ferry and feeling like time is slowing down. I wish I could describe how I feel about the island. There's just something about it that's like stepping back in time and everything just seems right! I've always been drawn to the Victorian era so that could be why I love the island so much!

There are no vehicles on the island so you have to get around either via foot, bike or horse. We opted for foot, which was very tiring, but enjoyable at the same time!

 

 

I loved all of the lilac trees all over the island. Everything was just beautiful everywhere we looked!

Here we are pictured in front of the Arch Rock which is really high (146 feet!) up a very steep hill.

 

 

After we had parked our strollers and all climbed up the very tiring and steep steps I had this brilliant idea to have the boys go back down the steps and bring up the strollers so we could continue through the island from there. No one was very happy with me. Not even the seagulls! (Gross I know!)

 

This is front of the Grand Hotel. Only Noah, Tre, myself and my mom ended up over there. Somehow we managed to get lost from the rest of the group and ventured even further around the island than everyone else. Someday I want to actually stay at the hotel because it has that same feel about it that the island does (or at least do the tour so I can see the inside!).

 

It just feels magical! Plus the lawn is beautiful and watching the guest play games made me happy!

The only thing I would have changed about our trip to the island is that I won't go through the middle of the island again. It was a lot of walking through nothing and we missed quiet a bit of the town part because of that! I'm ready to go back now!

Starts Thursday...

Are you registered for my upcoming BPS class The Challenge of Me yet? If not, you better hurry because class starts this Thursday! (You have until July 1st to register) If you register by June 30th, you get to use the summer savings code (summer2009) and take 10% off your fee. In one last effort to entice you to sign up for this totally awesome workshop (if I do say so myself!) here's a little bit about the class!

In this class, we are doing 24 layouts all about your life and what makes you YOU! These won't be the kind of layouts about what’s in your purse or what your favorite coffee is (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But, we will be doing layouts about your beliefs around politics, religion, the environment, your education, career, views on family life and friends, where you want to travel, your taste in clothes and music, and so much more. When this album is complete it will be a very well rounded picture of you. Your friends and family members will know you better and through this process you may even come to know yourself better (I did!). I think I plan to do a new album like this every few years to see how much I've grown and changed! I really believe that everyone needs an album like this sitting on their shelves!

So, hurry up and register and I'll see you in the classroom on Thursday!

Be sure to also check out this post of FAQ's for more information too!

My One Voice...

I totally 100% support the Disney Friends for Change: Project Green! I am using my one voice to pledge that I will help make this a better planet and teach my kids how they can help too. What I love about this project is that I can go on to the website and learn, with my children, how we can make a difference in helping to clean up our climate, water, waste and habitat. Disney is going to give $1 million to make a difference and by pledging and helping we get to help decide how they will spend that money. I encourage you to go check out the website and learn how you can make a difference too.

Summer reading...

  
photo credit: flickr - weeping-willow

Are you tired of me saying I'm back and then leaving for a few days again? I am!! I've been wanting to post some scrap related fun on here, but truthfully I haven't done a thing with it. I've thought about it non-stop, but I just can't muster up the energy to actually produce anything right now. We've been going 0-60 non-stop for a couple of weeks now. I've got lots of pictures I've taken and lots of ideas, just not the time. (excuses, excuses) I will be back with some fun stuff soon though...promise!

We  have been doing a lot of reading in our down time though! I've signed both the kids up for the Creative Reading program at the local library. They get to read and do creative stuff each week so that's fun! Noah is also enrolled in the GRASP program through the schools where he has math and reading homework each week. And, he's got some reading assignments through the school too. School may be out, but the homework continues in our household...mean mom!! Actually, he loves it!

I've been doing a lot of reading lately too. I have a profile at goodreads if you are interested in what I've been reading and what I think of those books. I am always looking for good things to read, so if you know of any good books please let me know! Also, if you know of anything entertaining for a soon to be 3rd grade boy please share too! We spent forever at the library yesterday looking for something for him to read and settled on Tales of Beedle the Bard.

First outing of the season (photo heavy)...

We had our first outing for the "summer" season last weekend and even thought it was cold we had a wonderful time. (Okay, in all honesty I was so glad it was cold...I'm not ready to put on my swim suit yet!)  We went up to one of my Aunt and Uncles house with all of my sisters (minus one) and their families and my parents. Our family is very close so I love outings like this!

Here are some highlights!  

Spent time with my awesome Aunt and Uncle! (My uncle is the brave soul below letting the kids drive the boat!)

Played Badminton - Gotta love his effort (I sucked!)

Played Bean Bag Toss - I love this picture of my dad. It's not often I actually see him genuinely having a good time (usually he's mad at me for something!!). (I sucked at this sport too)

  

Maybe I should have used Brodee's method!

 

Watch the kids go tubing. It was very cold outside that I can't believe they went at all and they loved it! Brrr.

And to top it off Noah and Tre actually got in the water. Nutso! Looks like fun...no??

We were brave enough to put my speed racer son behind the wheel of the boat! Notice his hand on the gas thingie and that evil grin on his face!

And my crazy daughter too! It's funny how focused she looks in this picture because it only lasted for .0003 seconds before she looked somewhere else and brought the boat to a complete stop!

 

Relaxed and had a fun time!

 

Played with water balloons! In case you are wondering if she actually threw it at me. The answer would be yes...she has no fear...little stinker!!

 

Spent some quality time together!

I love my family!

How's your summer going?