April club

The April scrap club was quite successful! Everyone seemed to particularly enjoy these projects. I think the So Chic paper was a hit. Too bad Creative Memories ran out of it so quickly.

This gift bag was easy peasy to make. However, the flower could be a bit stubborn and I think we all learned that it will stay stuck if you make the folds smaller!

Also with the So Chic paper, we made this "10 Reasons I love my mom." The design was simple because the paper just spoke for itself.

This last project was a favorite of mine. It was made using the Creative Memories puzzle maker and the limited edition Make a Wish paper. It's much more beautiful in person!

The May club is already in progress, so I will post those soon... And I mean sooner rather than later!

Oh, how I'm trying...

I love the idea of a blog, but golly, it sure is hard to keep up with! I have an alarm in Outlook that goes off every two weeks to remind me to blog. But, then I hit the snooze button… sometimes allowing it to snooze for days. And when I have finally been annoyed enough with the alarm, I delete the reminder! So, all of this is to say that I WANT to do this, and it’s important to me. It’s just not as important as earning a paycheck and spending time with family and friends. Ok, ok. Enough of those excuses!

I don’t think I’ve updated you on Sparky. He is turning into such a handsome boy! And we love him so. But the ENERGY he has is just CRAZY! He can go from being out cold to riled up in 3 seconds flat. I guess that is part of being a boxer.

My sweet Freddie is definitely going to head out to boarding school in the fall. I cannot believe his dream is becoming reality. I get a pit in my stomach when I think of him not living at home full time anymore. After all, he’s my first baby! And he’s so young… But as long as he grasps the amazing opportunities in front of him, he’ll do fine. The Kent School community will be blessed to have him.

Melissa seems excited at the thought of being a part-time only child. I think she might be surprised that she’ll likely miss her brother! We’ll see…

As for scrapping, the club project photos will be posted soon. And I mean soon! Promise. No more hitting that snooze button…maybe.

I’m off to grab a few hours of sleep. Good night!

The Club!

Jen Sheldon and I started a Scrap Club in February. We have 13 people signed up and they seemed to enjoy themselves at the first class. Here are the projects we did:

We started with a “Winter Fun” card. People had the option of doing it as a card or as an element for a scrapbook page. This project showcased the snowflake maker.

The page layout was created using the new Valentine Additions paper/sticker pack and the new sweetheart maker. I just love those pretty hearts it makes! People had the option of using letter stickers or letters cut with the Cricut.

The accordion album took more time, but I think people enjoyed. Everyone’s project came out so differently! One person did a nautical theme, while another did an Asian theme and many did a whimsical birthday theme. Jen and I loved seeing everyone’s individuality come out with this project! The Creative Memories tag maker was a focus here.

We have some great projects up our sleeve for March, along with some projects for our weekend retreat which is just around the corner. Planning the retreat is a lot of fun and is an event we both look forward to twice a year.

Back to my scrapping table to work on projects for this month!

Happy 40th Birthday, Julie!

Last night, I went to a surprise 40th birthday for the most amazing friend I know. Her husband had a gathering of friends and family at Sweet Basil in Fairfield, and while I’m not sure exactly how surprised she was, it was a wonderful and relaxing evening.

I made some favors for people to take home. I wanted to contribute in some way and at the last minute came up with this idea. These are the large chocolate bars and I made a wrapper to go around them. I think it was a hit!

Julie is one of those rare individuals that really knows how to be a true friend. She is warm and understanding, full of great ideas and knows when to play devil’s advocate and when to sympathize. We have laughed together, cried together and share our thoughts and hopes with each other. I am so blessed to have Julie in my life and my only regret is that we don’t get to see each other enough. Somehow, raising a couple of kids has kept us from seeing each other as often. But we both know that as our kids leave the nest and our hair becomes grayer, we’ll have lots of time to hang out together.

Here’s to good friends and good times. Cheers, Julie!

Snowy New Hampshire

Last weekend we went to New Hampshire for a little getaway. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t ski, but since my back has been giving me so much pain, I knew I couldn’t handle a day of skiing. Besides, somebody needed to stay home and hang out with Sparky! So, I was elected.

There was a ton of snow up there! And it was really cold so the snow was glistening and oh, so pretty. Honestly, snow just makes me giddy. I love how it blankets everything and makes it sparkle.

Sparky seems to enjoy the snow, too. My sister-in-law, Francine had given Sparky a coat for Christmas. Now, I have to say, I’m not one for dressing up animals. I actually think it’s kind of ridiculous. But, this coat is awesome! Doesn’t he look handsome? And it helped keep our sweet boxer warm.

While I was at the house dog sitting, I had planned to scrapbook. Since I have a goal of completing 365 pages this year, I needed to get cooking. So, in between walking Sparky, I scrapped 15 pages and made my January page goal. Yay! Here are some of my layouts and completed pages…

Here's the first page of our April trip to Colorado last year. Aren't those mountains just breathtaking?!

And here we are hiking at the trailhead just down the road from my parents' house. This is Melissa's favorite activity.

Aunt Nancy and Fran stopped by for an afternoon and we enjoyed visiting with them.

Here is a layout of us skiing at Breckenridge on a spectacular April day last year.

This was a layout of the day after we skied in Colorado without sunscreen and ended up with sun poisoning. Ouch!

And now it's time for me to figure out when I'll carve out some hours to meet my February goal of 28 pages. Thanks to the members of CMOS Club Achieve for keeping the enthusiasm and motivation going!

Wishing you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It has been a long time since I last updated my blog. So, in the spirit of the New Year and making resolutions, I will resolve to blog at least twice a month!

Sometimes I think life has a way of getting away from us, and that is what has been going on with me since the fall. I was put on a huge project at work that takes me away from home a lot, not to mention I am now doing the work of two people. But I am thankful for my employment and will continue to plug away.

As many of you know, we got a new puppy in October. He is a boxer and his name is Sparky. What a smart dog! We adore him and cannot believe how big he has gotten in just these few short months.

Because Sparky was contained primarily in the kitchen, I was able to get my Christmas cards done this year. The rest of the house fell apart, but my Christmas cards got done… all 145 of them!
I’ve been able to get some scrapping done, and again in the spirit of the New Year, I have resolved to reach my goal of 365 pages completed in 2009. Wish me luck! I’m in a personalized swap and used a new 12” die that was a pain in the you-know-what to use… but here it is. Enjoy!

It feels great to update my blog, and please feel free to leave me a comment if you’d like.

Happy January!

Makin' Cards with Kim

With the imminent tropical storm on the horizon, Kim F. and I decided that a great way to spend the day would be to hang out and make cards ALL DAY LONG. Literally! We started around, oh, 9:30 am and reluctantly pulled ourselves away from all the masses of supplies around 6:00 pm this evening. One word to sum it up would be FUN!

We tried various techniques...

Crystal effects and coffee filter


Wax crayon resist, water colors and shaving cream

I’m so lucky to know people who want to come over for hours on end to make cards, scrapbook, and be silly. Kim and I laughed a lot, especially about the shaving cream… and are already talking about what we can do next time. On that list are ironed wax paper and rubber cement techniques.

But even before that, it’s time to think about Christmas cards and what kind of card I’ll make. So, that’s my priority. After all, I have to make about 125 of them…

Well, I've just finished cooking a nice dinner for the family… I think I may snuggle on the couch now with whoever wants to share the big blue chair with me. My bet would be on Melissa.