Angry Birds Party Favor Boxes

When Jen told me the theme for her son's birthday party was going to be Angry Birds, I immediately turned to the worldly widely webs for crafty inspiration.

After some discussion about what I could do to help, I settled on these adorable Angry Birds boxes. I used my Cricut and the Sweet Tooth boxes cartridge.

I cut out the bottom part of the cupcake for the tops and bottoms of the red and black birds. I cut the tops 1/4" bigger than the bottom. I used the cake box and lid for the yellow birds.

I used the circles from Plantin Schoolbook to cut out the eyes. I free handed the angry eye brows and beaks.

I tried glue sticks, snail adhesive, and sticky strip to hold the boxes together . Snail was the easiest to work with, but sticky strip held better.

 

One more thing before I go! I can't take credit for this idea, but I totally had to share it! The birthday boy is my Godson. He's also super into action figures right now. What's the perfect gift for such a scenario? An Action Bible, of course! It's a Bible, presented superhero style, complete with amazing graphics.

Pretty Hands From the Pantry

Hello! Yes, I'm still here! Between migraines, and home life craziness, oh and massive work deadlines and 12+ hour work days, I haven't had a whole lot of time for crafting, let alone blogging lately!

I've been feeling like my cuticles needed some TLC lately. Well, more like INTENSIVE treatment. Believe me, I have plenty of cuticle creams, softeners, removers, etc. But nothing seems to be doing the trick lately. I remembered from my BeautiControl consultant days, they had an amazing hand scrub that was really good for my cuticles and my nails.

Not one to pay full price when I can get away with it, I went to eBay. I found some listings but not a whole lot of savings after shipping. Then the light bulb came on.

This is not the first time I had done this. I went to my kitchen, where I gathered the following supplies:

• Vegetable Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Olive Oil
• Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Table sugar
• Table salt
• Kosher salt
• leftover side dish container from Kentucky Fried Chicken

I put the dry ingredients in first, about a tablespoon or so of each. Probably twice that much brown sugar. Then I started adding coconut oil by the tablespoonful. I think that one might be the most expensive oil, so I moved on to the others, adding a tablespoon at a time and stirring it together to a nice, thick, pasty consistency.

VOILA! Ladies and gentlemen, I just saved myself about $27! I now have my very own yummy smelling, skin softening hand scrub! I look forward to fresh, beautiful cuticles in the next few days!

There are SO many hand scrub recipes and tutorials online. The bottom line is, throw together some natural oils, scrubby stuff (can be coffee grounds, lavender, herbs, you name it) and get to mixing! Keep it in small batches. Unless you use something to keep the grodies from growing in it, you want to keep the batches small to keep your scrub from going bad. I think Vitamin E oil would do the trick, but I need to research it first!

Happy Hands! 

March Madness!

The I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge helped some die hard scrappers get some pages done.  Since I still have QUITE a few pages to get done to get caught up and stay on track for 2012, we are going to keep rolling with March Madness.

Usually, March Madness pertains to Basketball. For us scrappers, though, March Madness is our challenge against ourselves to get more pages completed. It doesn't matter if you are a digital scrap-booker, or if you are a fan of paper and stickers, or somewhere in between, all are welcome here!

The daily challenge might have been a bit overwhelming, so this time around it will be weekly. It is a challenge against yourself (until week 3, anyway!)to get more pages done, so here is how it will work:

Week 1: Goal: get 4 layouts done

Week 2: Did you achieve the week 1 goal? If so, this week's goal is 10 pages. If not, this week's goal is double what you accomplished in week 1.

Week 3: Pair yourself up with a buddy scrapper. Do not tell each other what your goal is. Who completed the most pages at the end of the week?

Week 4: This week is more about applying new techniques. Stretch yourself creatively. Get yourself a real life, hold it in your hands, scrap-booking MAGAZINE and apply at least THREE new ideas that you find to whatever you work on this week.

FINALS: You've scrapped it, now what??? If you're a digi-scrapper, get those pages PRINTED. If you go old-school, make sure your pages are totally complete, with embellishments and JOURNALING and get them in the appropriate albums!

To help keep each other inspired, we will continue to use the #love2scrap hashtag! If you're a blogger, feel free to come back and comment below with links to your March Madness posts!

   
Note: I submitted this post to YeahWrite. There are a lot of amazing bloggers who also post there. Please stop by and read what they have to say, then come back and vote for your top 5 favorites (usually you only get to vote for 3, which is really really HARD!)

More I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge Inspiration!

I want to give a huge shout out to Jen for sticking with me, even though I have fallen behind on this challenge.
I am also devising a plan for a new challenge next month! Stay tuned!

Now, on with the show!

Day 21: Turnover Tuesday - Take a layout you have already done, or a quick page, and turn it 90 or 180 degrees. If it's a quick page, I recommend also adding some embellishments. If you are using a former layout, remember it's just the layout you are turning. It doesn't have to have the same papers, etc.

Day 22: Wavy Wednesday - I am a big fan of curves! Create a page incorporating waves/curved lines.

Day 23: Thankful Thursday - This could be a page portraying Thanksgiving, or a collage of pics of things you are thankful for.

Day 24 (yayy! We're caught up!): Froggy Friday! This could be a layout incorporating froggies, or a phrase like "it ain't easy bein' green..." so many ways you could go with this!

Day 25 (whoa! jumping AHEAD here!) - 

And...to help me get ready for next month's challenge, here are the prompts for the rest of the month:

Day 26:  Speed Scrap Sunday - Become a fan of MyMemories on Facebook and join the Speed Scrap Sunday. So much fun!


Day 27: Maple Monday - Fall leaves/colors, pancake breakfast page, pay homage to your Canadian ancestry, perhaps?

Day 28: Welcome Home - Think cozy, comfort food, shabby chic, cabin, quilts...or use Welcome Home as your title and make a page about your new home (this is what I'm going to do once I find the pics from when we bought our house!)

Day 29: Take a Leap of Faith, Leapin' Lizzards (we watch Annie quite a bit around here!), A complimentary page to Day 24, Froggy Friday, include Leap in the layout somehow. It's a Leap Year, after all!

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Stay tuned for more "back issues" of the I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge! Today, I have something really exciting for  you! I found this super duper fun, easy and free website that lets me make a screen cast of what I am doing on my computer! I thought it would be fun to show you how you can get started with digital scrap-booking using a program you probably already have: Microsoft Publisher!

The first one shows you how to make a layout using a Quick Page. I used a freebie called Huggables QuickPage from ScrapWow. Do not adjust your sound. There is no audio on these screen casts.
This next screen cast shows how I created a layout using freebie papers and elements I found online. You will notice that some of the elements just suddenly appear. That is because the process is the same as what I demonstrate with the lettering. I cut that part out to save time. These screen casts have a 5 minute limit. My next screen cast will show you how easy it is to convert these publisher files into .jpg files you can have printed for your scrap-book! Stay tuned!

Back in Action!

Wow! 2011 was a pretty crappy year...and here in 2012, I seem to be having a hard time getting my motor running...one obstacle after another. Hmph! You don't want to hear my sob story, so suffice it to say: I'm sorry I've been away, but I'm BACK!

Without further delay, here is some I {Heart} Scrapping Inspriation for you:

Day 17: Freaky Friday - Remember the movie, Freaky Friday? I think it's been remade too. For those not familiar with the story line, a child and parent's bodies are switched on Freaky Friday. So, you have an adult in a child's body, and a child in an adult's body. You can imagine the antics that ensue! I can't wait to see how you apply this role reversal to your layout!

Day 18: This was going to be Sketch Saturday, but since I'm behind as it is and don't want to cause you any further undue delay, let's call it Sexy Saturday! Include something spicey in your layout! Red background and black lace, perhaps?

Day 19: Spiritual Sunday - Scrap something inspirational or spiritual. It could have an encouraging phrase on it, or be a layout dedicated to your spirituality. Hint: the season of Lent and Easter are just around the corner!

Day 20: That's today! Today is Music Monday! Scrap about your favorite song or style of music! Journal about something that's "Music to My Ears..." so many possibilities here! Remember, I posted some cute musical paper back on Valentine's Day!

There you go! Four more fantastic days of scrapping inspiration. Thanks for hanging with me while I got my scrapping/blogging machine back in working order. She's still a little slow, but she gets the job done!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge Day 15 & 16

Hello, Scrappers! I am BACK! I hope you missed me! Most of all, I hope you continued scrapping without me. I know a couple of you have and I'm so proud of you. My digi scrapping machine has been at the doctor. She is finally home, but resting (which means I'm so hammered with work deadlines right now, I haven't had a chance to plug her in!).

I also misplaced my notebook with all my inspiration for this challenge. *SIGH* I found it today, so I'm using my backup bloggy machine, Pink. Now, on with the show!

Day 15 inspiration: Wacky Wednesday - Create a layout with wacky colors and shapes. Or, create a layout around a wacky picture. Have FUN with it! After all, if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong!

Day 16 inspiration: Back to School - Create a layout using a school theme. It could be your child's first day of school, or just work in a chalk board and a chalk font or something. I've seen some great letters that are like a child's blocks that are really cute.

No linky today because I have to get back to work, plus no one was using it anyway. Please do tweet your work with #love2scrap, though! I appreciate your playing along and I will get caught up myself soon.

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 14

Happy Valentine's Day, my dear fellow crafters! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I hope you remember that this challenge is all about getting YOUR scrapbooks caught up, YOUR way. I know today is Valentine's day, and you are probably doing something extra special with your Valentine(s)! So, no worries, come back tomorrow and make it up!

Haha, I'm just kidding, sorta. If you are the by-the-book kindda person, you will NOT want to miss today's page...so, I have a super duper suggestion for you. Rather than try to go OUT to dinner, along with everyone else in your town who was blessed enough to get a sitter, stay home, and make a delicious, nutritious meal with your family! Don't know what to make? No problem, my dear friend, Jen at Mom Rocks Mealtime has you covered!

Do something fun and create a memory...then go and SCRAP about it! Or wait til morning. Just DO IT! Ok, enough said about rules and lack of them... today's theme is Love is in the Air! Oh boy! What comes to my mind right away:

• Hot air balloons
• Heart shaped balloons
• Chocolate (cuz we're basically talking about scrapping our Valentine's day page, right?) 
• Heart shaped bubbles, which makes me think of bubbles in general
• Music...

Speaking of music...sometimes one though just flows into another for me. Sometimes the results are amazing, some times not so much. Jen asked me if I was including links to free papers on this challenge. I told her I was tossing in a few Freebie Fridays, which she thought was a pretty nifty idea. Well, I decided to incorporate her idea (this whole challenge was actually her idea to begin with!) into today's prompt.

I won't get into all the details right now, but let's just say music is a very big part of my family's life. Our wedding was something of a musical! Before the previously mentioned conversation with Jen even took place, I came across this beautiful paper and saved it for later. Now I'm sharing it with you, and encouraging you to use it in one of your layouts from this challenge. It doesn't have to be today's, though that would be super awesome, in my opinion! Click on either image for more Vintage scrapping inspiration & goodies!

This linky will be open for a couple more days longer than usual...since it's Valentine's day and all!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 13

"Lucky Number 13" is the inspiration for today's challenge! I instantly thought of a few different ways to play this one:

• Cards
• Queen of Hearts
• Dice
• King of the Castle
• Call a spade a spade (gardening, perhaps???) 

Have fun with it! Play around with the words. Let the concept of "Lucky Number 13" roll around in your head and your heart...then get scrapping! Link up below and tweet your work with #love2scrap so others can be inspired by your ideas.

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 12

"A Month of Sundays" is today's scrapping prompt! This could be a calendar page, with special days of the month highlighted. Or, it could be about a special Sunday. It's YOUR scrapbook, I'm just the easily amused muse! I can't wait to see what you've done in the linky tool below! I'll be watching for your tweets with #love2scrap too!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 11

Welcome to Sketch Saturday! My hands are very cold today and not cooperating. Rather than try to get my mouse to talk to Paint to create my own sketch for you, I found this cute sketch at ScrapBooks Etc.:

You know me, no hard and fast rules around here! If you see a sketch you like better, go for it! It's all about getting some scrapping done! Go on now, go do it! Then come back and link up and tweet #love2scrap! 

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 10

Woohoo! It's another Freebie Friday! Simply click on the quick page image below and download your freebie. You don't even have to have fancy (or not so fancy) digital scrap-booking or photo editing software! Simply plug in your pics and you're DONE! Feel free to rotate the layouts and/or add embellishments. Enjoy!

Tag, You're IT! Blogger Style!

I've been tagged by Just-Jennifer. Here goes!(Note: I started this the day she tagged me. Then my computer was out of commission, more life happened,  and I am finally catching up)

The Rules:

• You must post these rules.
• Each person must post 11 things about him/herself on their blog.
• Answer the questions the “tagger” listed for you in their post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
• Choose 11 people to tag and link to them in the post.
• Let each blogger know that you have tagged them.

11 random things about me:

1. I have been married for five years to a man who can't stand country music. I don't know how that little criteria got by me,  but I sure do love him anyway!

2. I am an Avon Unit Leader.

3. I am in dire need of a touch up, highlights, and a cute haircut!

4. I am tight with my two half-sisters, even though we were born and raised thousands of miles apart. Pretty awesome.

5. I am not as tight with my step-brothers, whom I grew up with, as I'd like to be. I think that's because they are older and had more pre-Sara years than I had years without them. I don't remember life without them in it.

6. "Camping," to me, means having an RV. Microwave & TV optional.

7.  I am a trained, licensed cosmetologist and trained, (expired) licensed medical assistant. I don't work in either of those fields any more.

8. I enjoy making cake pops. I do not aspire to be as good at it as Bakerella, though! I just don't have the patience or that attention to detail for something that will be devoured. I am comfortable with this.

9. I am a procrastinator. On one hand I need to be less of one, but on the other I recognize that others in my life could benefit from a little MORE procrastination.

10. My dad used to write notes to me on my chalk board before he left for work in the morning, while I was still sleeping. When I got old enough to drive, he warmed up my car for me. He probably thought I would be ready more quickly and the car wouldn't sit idling in the driveway as long as it did. That was an awesome act of service and love.

11. I always knew I wanted to be a mommy. I just had no idea what that really meant, what it would do to my heart and BRAIN!

Here are the questions from Just-Jennifer:  

1. When you're in a bad mood, what will, without fail, always cheer you up?

Listening to George Strait songs like The Chair.
2. What would your dream house look like?

I loved our last house, except it had no yard. So, I'd like to have that house with the yard we have now, but  little bit bigger so we can put in a play yard.

3. Obviously you love blogging, but is there anything about it you don't like? Be honest.

I wish my blog had separate pages:

• Quilting
• Scrapping
• Knitting
• Cooking
• Everything else

I suspect there is a way to do it, I just don't know how yet.

4. What do you think your life would look like if you had made a different decision than the one that led you to where you are today?
If I had never moved to Chico, not knowing a soul, I wouldn't have met my husband and I wouldn't have my precious Miss M!

5. What would your death row last meal be?

For dinner, it would be my hubby's scallops with this amazing bacon dipping sauce. For dessert, he makes this incredible, "to die for" (pun totally intended) Bittersweet Chocolate Marquis with Cherry Sauce

6. Facebook or Twitter? Why?

I think I prefer Twitter because it essentially just has the status messages and pics, my favorite parts of FB. Not all the extra games and nonsense that clogs up my feed. Also, I don't know how to come back to posts I've "liked" on FB like Tweets that I've RTed or favorited. Is that even possible in FB?

7. Coke or Pepsi? Why?

Coke, cuz I was raised right. Just kidding. I don't know why, that's just what I prefer. Better marketing I guess!

8. Name something you don't think you've ever blogged about.

Politics. And I don't think I ever will.

9. Besides where you currently live, where else do you think you'd like to live?

Is there anyplace gangs haven't gotten to yet?

10. Not considering kids or money or anything practical, what car would you like to own?

I love love love the van I drive now. I'd like to have a brand new one! Mostly cuz I don't get out and test drive other cars though.

11. What is your customary order at Starbucks?

It depends on the time of year, and the mood I'm in. In the Fall I prefer a grande vanilla pumpkin spice latte. The rest of the year, it depends on my mood. Usually a Cinnamon Dolce.

 Here are the questions I would like to pose to 11 bloggers:

1. Who was your favorite teacher (and what made them so memorable to you)?
2. What are you REALLY afraid of?
3. What's your guilty pleasure?
4. Tell us about the last good book you read.
5. Do you pay anyone else to handle domestic tasks such as laundry, house cleaning, landscaping, other? If not, which ONE would you most like to have?
6. Please share a recipe you can make without looking up the recipe.
7. How do you relieve stress?
8. If you could have any non-domesticated animal as a pet, what would it be?
9. Do you have a "bucket list?" If so, what are 10 things that are on it? 
10. What would you do with your time if you removed your computer AND your TV from your house for 30 days? 
11. It's a beautiful day out today, so to celebrate, I'm giving you a freebie!

Here are the bloggers I am tagging (If you have already been tagged, please just comment with a link to your blog tag post! thanks!):

Diaper Dads

Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

City Bitch in the Country

Kindred Adventures

Haute Mom

1 Mommy 2 Monsters


Baythe.Me

Reporting for Duty: Mommyhood

Our Footprints on the World


Creative 2x Mom

Irish Italian Blessings

If you are wondering who I am or where I found you, it is probably either YeahWrite or Bloggy Moms!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 9

I have always loved the water! Well, ok maybe not always. My dad tells me that when I had chicken pox they put me in a cool bath and I screamed bloody murder. It wasn't until I got a little older, and we had a swimming pool, that I came to appreciate the water. Now, I can't get enough of it!

That is where today's inspiration comes from! I call it Thirsty Thursday! There are sooo many ways you can work with this:

• Incorporate your favorite beverage into the layout.
• Include water drop elements.
• Use a water type background paper.
• Make a layout about a day at a water park, the beach, or just running through the sprinklers in your yard!
• What else can you think of? Feel free to brain storm in the comments, then go do your thing!

Share your ideas with others by linking up below and tweeting #love2scrap.
Come back tomorrow for Freebie Friday!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 8

Here we are again! Are you ready for the next piece of inspiration for completing one or more scrapbook (digi or old school) pages today? Me too! let's get started!

Today's inspiration is Wild Wednesday! Create a layout with an animal print, or a spread about a trip to the zoo, or feature your favorite pet. These are just some ideas to ignite your brain things.

Other scrappers might get stuck, so remember to post your work somewhere and link up directly to your blog, flickr, picasa, wherever you decide to post  your pages! This way we can all share ideas and meet our scrapping goals! Please tweet your work too with the #love2scrap hash tag. Thanks for playing along!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 7

I hope you are blasting through your scrapbook pages like there's no tomorrow! Thankfully, there most likely IS going to be a tomorrow, which is why we all create our scrapbooks in the first place, right?

Today's challenge is: Two-fer Tuesday! Create a 2-page spread, depicting the same event. When you're done, link up below so others can see what you've created. Help spread the buzz by tweeting your post with #love2scrap.

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge Day 5: My Turn (STILL catching up!)

Oh it feels SO good to get caught up, and hopefully stay there! I may just have to keep scrapping every day! They say it takes 21 days to create a habit right? And we'll be at this for 29 days, so I guess I'm making it a habit, too! I was supposed to do this layout yesterday, Superbowl Sunday. Instead, I was having Craftybowl 2012 with my friend, Christy. She has a new embroidery sewing machine. She brought it over so we could figure out how to get her machine to talk to her computer. It was a success!

While she experimented with her machine and downloaded images to embroider, I got my netbook connected to my Cricut. I recently discovered Cricut Craftroom and I'm SO excited! That's all up and running now, so watch for Cricut projects coming to a blog near you!

On with today's layout! For Day 4, I scrapped a page about my trip to the UK. It was a pic of my sister and me. Today I thought it made sense to do a page about my precious, adorable, sweet nephew! Notice the soccer ball! They're big on soccer in the UK (only they call it football). Since I wasn't really into the Superbowl this year, I thought it fitting to include a soccer ball on my nephew's page!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge Day 4: My Turn (Catching Up)

The inspiration on Day 4 was: "One image with journaling. I added this one because both issues are a challenge for me personally." The funny thing is, once I started journaling this page, I nearly ran out of room! I had a LOT to say about my trip across the pond. 

Papers are from Shabby Princess (free). 

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge Day 3: My turn (Catching up!)

I used a different Quick Page than the one I offered up on Day 3 of this challenge. That's just because of the way I'm attempting to stay current on my scrapping, while also catching up, working backwards. Here is a layout I made in about 2 minutes, using a Quick Page from Free Digital Scrapbooking: 

My personal digi-scrapping machine is in serious need of medical attention. In the mean time, I am able to use a back up machine and create pages with Microsoft Publisher. I am working on a tutorial for you on how to do just that! Stay tuned!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 6

Welcome back! Having fun? Doesn't it feel GOOD to get some pages cranked out!?

Today's inspiration is to create a black and white or sepia toned layout. I have seen some fabulous black and white layouts with color elements in them. That counts too!

Link up below. If you're struggling, come back to this one in a couple of days and see what others have done. That's the great thing about this challenge, it's one size fits all and the rules are loose!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 5

Happy Superbowl Sunday!

I hope between tending the B-B-Q and cheering for your favorite team, you find time to complete at least one scrapbook page today!

Today's inspiration is Superbowl Sunday! You could have fun with this in SO many ways:

• Use your team's colors in your layout, whether they're playing today or not. Heck, it doesn't even have to be a football team! 
• Create a layout for your child's sports team. 
• You could even use a "Get Your Head in the Game" title and work from there

The "goal" is to have FUN and get those pages DONE! Then, link up and tweet with the #love2scrap hashtag! 

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 4

I hope you are finding this scrap booking challenge helpful! I know I gave myself a pretty firm goal of keeping with my scrapbooking this year. With so many fun ways to do it digitally, there's no excuse NOT to really! Whether you are scrapping with us digitally, or joining us old school, I'm glad you're here!

There is no prize for this challenge, other than at least 29 completed scrapbook pages. There are no hard and fast rules, either! Just have fun with it and get some pages done. I only offer guidance and inspiration along the way!

Today's inspiration is: One image with journaling. I added this one because both issues are a challenge for me personally! I like to cram way as many pictures as I can fit onto a layout. I am also not very diligent about journaling. When scrapping digitally, there is no need to be stingy and get as many pictures as you can on a page. Journaling is so important, too, no matter what your reason is for scrapping in the first place.

There you have it! Please link up your example below and tweet your post using #love2scrap!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 3

Today's inspiration for I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge happens to fall on Freebie Friday! Feel free to use these FREE Quick Pages from MyMemories. You don't even have to have the MyMemories Suite (MMS) software to use these because they are in standard .jpg format. However, if you do decide to give MMS a try, be sure and use my code: STMMMS46094  for $10 off AND $10 in free digital downloads. That would go a long way toward completing this challenge!

Here are the samples. Click on the images to download the freebie. You can get more mileage out of Quick pages by flipping them, and by adding embellishments.

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge Day 2: My Turn!

Here is what I created with the "circles and dots" prompt from today's challenge. I used MyMemories Suite.

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 2

Welcome back to the I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge! I'm so glad you came along for the ride! Today's inspiration is to create a layout with circles and/or dots! Ohhh there are so many FUN FUN FUN digital kits out there with circles and dots!

If I were do an "old school" layout today I would use my Cricut for different sizes of circles.

Remember to link up and tweet with #love2scrap! The linky will stay open for one week. Feel free to come back for inspiration!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge Day 1: My Turn!

Despite the fact my digi-scrapping machine is dying a long, slow death, I managed to be able to play along today. Let's hope I can keep up with the challenge posts AND scrapping along!

My daughter turned 3 in January. We had a Dora the Explorer themed party, which she had been inviting her friends and teachers to for MONTHS. My goal this year is to stay caught up on my scrapping. To me that means, scrapping an event within the month it occurs. I'm behind on scrapping my trip to the UK, but there aren't many pics of that so it won't take me very long.

Without further ado...here's my page for today's I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge:

All papers & elements, except for the cake and candles, were found at Free Digital Scrapbook. 

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge: Day 1

Inspiration for Day 1: Choose a family member to create a birthday party layout for. If you're feeling super duper ambitious, you can create one for each member of your household! I've created this sketch to get you started:

This is my first attempt at a scrapbook sketch in Paint! Hopefully as this challenge goes on, my sketches will get better! Remember to post your page and link up! Tweet your post with the #love2scrap!

Also it is not even required that you use this inspiration today, or ever. Just scrap something and share!

Oh! And would you please head over to Mom Rocks Mealtime? Give Jen some bloggy love (or Tweet her)...she's one who suggested I host this challenge. Not only that, but she will help you figure out what to have for dinner so you can spend more time scrapping!  Jah-Just Jennifer gave some critical editing to the project!

Valentine's Card Freebies!

Sometimes you just want to create! Sometimes you want to give a homemade gift from the heart! Sometimes, your intentions are bigger than your busy schedule allows! Am I right? MyMemories is here for you! Enjoy this free tutorial and these free Valentine's card freebies to go with it! Click on the images below to go to the download page.

Happy Valentine's Day from me and the folks at MyMemories! If you are ready to jump head first into the world of digital scrapbooking, use my code, STMMMS46094, when your order MyMemories Suite. You'll get $10 off AND $10 in digital downloads to get you off to a strong start!

I {Heart} Scrapping Challenge!

Attention, fellow scrappers! Whether you've gone digital, or doing your scrap booking the old fashioned way, I have a challenge for you! One my goals for 2012 is to keep my scrapbook up to date for this year.  As is typical for me, life has gotten in the way. I was out of the country for the first 2 weeks of the year. I came back and my desktop computer, where I do my digital scrap-booking was so "full," it can't take any more. Now that I'm home and have a bigger, better, faster, MORE computer, I am ready to hit the ground running.

Here are the details for the challenge:

• From Feb. 1-Feb. 29, complete at least 1 scrapbook page per day. 
• 2 Page spreads count as 2 pages, so if you miss a day, you're all good!
• Post your work for all to glean inspiration, using the linky tools at the bottom of each post.
• Tweet your updates using the hash-tag: #love2scrap!
• Have FUN FUN FUN and get those pages DONE!

To help you with inspiration, I will post some form of inspiration for you each day. It might be a color scheme, a layout sketch, a phrase you can incorporate into your layouts, whatever! Please share your work! We will also glean inspiration from each others pages.


Remember to tweet your updates using the hashtag #love2scrap!

Ready? Set? GO! Let the scrapping begin!

14 Days of Valentines

You've heard of the 12 Days of Christmas, right? Well, what about 14 days of Valentines for your beloved from February 1-14? It doesn't have to be anything grandios or expensive, just small tokens of your love and affection. I have encountered a few variations of this idea around the web. This is my take on it. Here are some ideas to get you started:


Day 1: Let Me Count the Ways
Start out your 14 day love-venture by letting your honey know what you're up to! Write some things you love about him/her on pink, red, and white slips of paper. Roll them up and put them in a cute little jar. Tie a ribbon around it and present it to your sweetie on the first day of February.


Day 2: You Spice Up My Life
Make a jar of homemade salsa, or just make a creative label for a store bought jar and tell your Valentine how he/she spices up your life.


Day 3: Coffee, Tea, or Me? 
For the tea drinker in your life, a cute, inexpensive tea cup, with a unique teabag and a cute card would go a long way! If your heart-throb is a coffee drinker, how about a gift card for their favorite coffee house, tucked into a coffee themed love note?

Day 4: For My Sweetie
Make some Valentine's goodies such as heart shaped cookies or candies and present it to your sweetie.

Day 5: You light up my life
Wrap a tea-light or votive in a candle holder in a piece of tissue paper and tie a ribbon around it with this sentiment.


Day 6: You Are One Hot Tamale (on a box of Hot Tamales, of course!)


Day 7:  I'm Nuts About You (on a can of his/her favorite nuts!)


Day 8:  You're the Icing on the Cake! 
Make their favorite cake/cupcake and include this little note with it! If you're feeling super crafty, you can decorate a box to put the cupcake in!


Day 9: Love Potion #9
Get a bottle of your loved one's favorite beverage. Make a cute label on your computer or with scrap-booking supplies that says "Love Potion #9." Serve it with breakfast or lunch, as appropriate.


Day 10: Just the Two Of Us
Slip tickets to a movie, concert, sporting event or other event under the morning paper, or on the bathroom mirror for your Valentine to find. You could up the anticipation factor by making a scavenger hunt out of it, leaving clues as to where to look next!

Day 11: I'm Bananas Over You
Use some monkey and heart clip art to create a card on your computer. It doesn't have to be fancy. Attach it to a small bunch of bananas and set it somewhere your love with find it.

Day 12: I Think You're RED HOT! 
Attach a label and some ribbon to a baggie with red hots!

Day 13: You Make Me All Bubbly Inside
Attach this love note to a bottle of bubble bath (to be enjoyed together, perhaps?), or a bottle of bubbly!


Day 14: You Knock My Socks Off
Give your sweetie a pair of wild, wacky socks with this cute sentiment! It doesn't hurt if it accompanies a larger gift, and/or a box of chocolates, and/or a dozen roses!

Do you plan to shower your loved one with 14 days of Valentines? If so, please comment with your ideas! 

Freebie Friday: With a Link Up!

Hello & Happy Friday, digi-scrappers and future digi-scrappers!

I've had some family drama today, so I will keep this brief. Click on the image below to download the Free Quick Pages from MyMemories. You can use the MyMemories Suite, or any digi-scrap application. Remember, if you want to purchase MyMemories Suite, use my code: STMMMS46094 for $10 off AND $10 in digital downloads!

Scrap them, blog 'em, and link'em up below!

The last time I laughed so hard, I cried.

Today's Post is brought to you by Bloggy Moms Blog Dare! Today's topic is: The Last Time I Laughed So Hard, I Cried. Well, I already posted about the last time, which was when J.Ho & I figured out we had created the same Hanukkah/Christmas gift for each other.  So, rather than rehash that story, I shall share another time!

I am actually quite famous within my family for my laughter, my ability to laugh until I cry, or on one occasion, laugh until I puked. It was our family's Christmas dinner at my aunt's house. I was probably between 7-10 years old. My brothers, cousin, and I had our very own "kids table" in a separate room from the grown ups.

I have no idea what set me off, but my brothers got me to laughing. I couldn't stop. I have a feeling it was a joke that was over my head, that I laughed at anyway, then thought it was funny I was laughing and laughed at the fact I was laughing at a joke I didn't understand. Understand? Ha! Anyway, I kept telling them to stop. Any chance I got to take a breath, I warned my youngest older brother to stop making me laugh.

By warned, I mean I forgot to mention to him that I was about to barf my dinner all over HIS dinner plate! That's because I didn't see it coming. I knew I needed to stop laughing or I'd get in trouble. I just didn't know trouble was coming in that form!

I am pretty sure my family is counting on my darling daughter, who's THREE today, to re-enact that scenario some day...just by virtue of being MINE!

That wasn't the last time I laughed so hard I cried, just the first and last time I laughed so hard I puked!

I'll Show You Mine...

Well, here it is...my cave. I share my blog-spot with my work-at-home (W@H) office, my craft room, and my guest room. Needless to say, it gets a bit crowded and CLUTTERED.  Hopefully this is a "before" picture and I can tidy up a bit and post an updated "After" shot!

 

I simply could not work without dual monitors. Blogging, surfing, social networking, yes. Working without dual monitors would be like asking me to sit on my hands and compose training materials by typing with my NOSE! When my system gets slow and needs to clunk through publishing a web based course or something, I can transition to Twitter or Blogger with the click of a couple of buttons. I don't really leave my desk all day except to fetch my coffee and lunch, then I'm back at it. 

Since I spend most of my waking hours here, I really do want to make it a more pleasant place to hang out. I have already removed the outdated calendar. I have my boss's name written on my white board because she's a relatively new boss and I kept calling her Trish instead of Tricia. Everything else on my white board is quite outdated. My bulletin board could use a little updating too. 

I really need to work on drinking water from my posh new, BPA-free blue cup! When I received it as a gift, I was really optimistic that it would help me get my 64+ ounces a day. So far, that hasn't panned out like I had planned. 

Well, there you have it! I've shown you mine...now show me yours! ;) 

The first time I saw...my daughter

Now that I have recovered (almost) from my trip to the UK, I will try to catch up on my Blog Dare posts!  I was with my sister when she had her baby. It reminded me of the first time I saw Miss M (my daughter, who's about to turn THREE!)! My sister's labor & delivery story was very similar to mine, which brought it all flooding back to me, not like I'll ever forget!

I remember being overdue. I remember going to church the Sunday after she was due and of course, in case it wasn't obvious, everyone asked where the baby was! I remember how I couldn't wait to meet her. I remember that I wasn't as terribly uncomfortable as most mommies-to-be, but I just couldn't stand the agony of not knowing WHEN she would arrive! That about drove me nuts, until...

January 18, 2009, around 4:00 p.m. I was on Facebook, chatting with my bestie, Michelle. She had recently moved a couple of hours away and it was killing us both! We were having a lovely chat, when...OUCH! What was that?! Chat, chat, chat! WHOA that HURT! Chat, chat, chat...uhh, I think we better keep track of how often this is happening...more chat, finally I had to go tell hubby it was time to get ready. I knew our little one would be here before long.

I spent some time in the tub to relax. I love the water and had read great things about laboring in the water. All through the night, I tapped on hubby's shoulder so he could document the start of my contractions. Great way to make sure neither one of us got any sleep! by 10:00 the morning of January 19, I was in so much pain I was throwing up. I had a pretty good feeling that things were going to get a lot worse, rather than better. I told hubby to get ready to take me to the hospital NOW.

Away we went. It turned out I wasn't quite "ready" for them to keep me, but since I was to be induced the next day anyway, they let me stay. Probably cuz I was such a cry baby. Contractions HURT, man!  I had been coached by my mental midwife to speak the word "epidural" every other word until they hooked me up. I did as instructed and got my epidural going lickety split. Once I knew I wasn't leaving that hospital w/out a baby, I relaxed a bit and could actually smile again!

Once they got the drugs going, I tried to rest between contractions as much as possible (yeah right). Fast forward a bit: Mom & Dad arrived. A little while later, my sister arrived too. They were just hanging out with me while I writhed in agony. Finally, it was time for the big show! I mean, really time! We went from "hopefully she'll be here before 10:00, I have an early morning appointment," (spoken by my OB) to mom telling the nurse, "I..I think I see her HEAD! (Miss M's, not mine!)" All of a sudden, the room was FULL of people. Doc was in the room next door, finishing up with another mommy and baby (the NERVE!). He arrived just in the nick of time to get me through the last few pushes.

They handed her to me...she was so warm and gooey and purpley...crying like WTF just happened!? I just held her and told her "It's OK, honey, we've both had a VERY big day!" Oddly enough, I think my sister, who is not the one with the front row seat to her nieces delivery, uttered pretty much the same thing to her son on January 5, 2012!

It was so surreal to finally hold her in my arms. I was in the deepest love imaginable and could not take my eyes off of her. That was the first time I saw...my daughter.

Cards from the Tooth Fairy

We are halfway through the new year and I am SO far behind already. Well, it's worth it! I just returned from a trip to the UK where I spent some time with my sister before she went into labor, and had a few days left over to help out, post-baby! Now I am catching up on blogging, reading, stamping, and digi-scrapping. OK, well maybe not digi-scrapping. My computer is full to the gills with who knows what. I am afraid the large files generated from digi-scrapping will crash the whole thing, so that is on hold.

I did, however get the opportunity to make a couple of cards! My BFF, J.Ho has an awesome daughter, whom I happen to ADORE. This precious gem was my flower girl, and also the person to change my heart about having a daughter of my own.  Before I met Jocalynn, painted her toenails, played the "match" game with adult and baby animals with her, and laughed out loud (literally) when her mom told me she requested "chicken ears" (better known as chicken wings to adults), I had NO desire to have a girl. The thought scared the bajeebies out of me. Anway...enough about the sappy stuff. I just can't help it. I love that girl!

Well, my lil' buddy is in her teeth losing years! I have the honor and privilege of participating in the Tooth Fairy Charade by creating cards from the tooth fairy.  I love the technique I used with the pink ribbon. I need some practice with the folding on the right side of the circle, but I think it came out OK.

Gettin' Digi With It: Christmas Tree Ornaments

Now that these ornaments have been gifted, I can finally post about them!
I used MyMemories Suite. I joined 4 circular punches, with a square in the middle (it's important to line them up correctly, or they won't match up come glue time.

I then filled the circles with one background paper and the square with another. I then copied the page 5 times for a total of 6 images. I then imported pics from throughout the year off of my friend's Facebook page to commemorate the year.

I printed the pages out on card stock and cut out the shapes. I then used a bone folder to fold at the edges of the squares. I glued the half circles together with glue stick and used a ribbon as the ornament hanger.  I played around with the arrangement first by paper-clipping the half circles together before gluing.

One of my goals this year is to do one YouTube video per month, so I will make a tutorial when I get home from the U.K., where I am currently awaiting the birth of my nephew.

Bloggy Moms Blog Dare 2012: Day 1 - My Social Media Goals for 2012

I only recently increased my blogging and tweeting. I discovered Bloggy Moms and joined the Blog Dare for 2012. Today's prompt is My Social Media Goals for 2012. Without further ado, here they are!

• Blog at least 5 days a week, even if it's only brief. 
• Get into YouTube with at least 1 video demo/tutorial per month. 
• Pimp out my blog with tools to help my readers follow me and share my content. 

I don't know what would be reasonable goals as far as Twitter followers, GFC, page views, etc. would be at this point, so I'm just going to make a concerted effort to post more often, and be an authentic member of the blogosphere and let everything grow organically. Maybe next year I will have a firmer grasp on this stuff and set concrete goals.