Quick Update

Well, I have just done a terrible job at keeping this blog updated. I haven't even had it for that long. And although I've talked to most of my local friends face to face, I know I do have a few digi-friends who'd probably like an update on me and to know why I've kind of been absent.

I went back to work last month. I'm working at a cemetery 2 1/2 days a week. And I love it! I really think I was ready for this brain stimulation after 15 years of being out of the workforce. I work the front office and take care of most of the clerical duties in the office. But I also work with families who come in and help them with any type of burial business. The easiest is when they are coming in to take of business ahead of time and there's been no death. Nice, clean & pleasant. But we do get time of death business too. Those are a little more difficult but most who come in have someone with them and I can tell they are comforting each other. I've really only had one that affected me pretty bad and it stayed with me all weekend. But I worked through it.

I'm sad that I don't have quite as much time for scrapping. But that also could just be the time of year. This is a busy season every year. And I have managed to get a few LO's scrapped. Just not as many as I'm used to. After next week I should be able to jump back in with both feet.

I've told Siobhan, the head of our worship department, that I don't want to start leading worship again right now. I'm enjoying this off-time and would like to settle a little more into my job. I'm certainly not done with worship leading, but I'm not quite ready to dive back in.

Tonight is Christmas Eve and we've let the kids open one present as is our tradition. I brought out a huge present that I've been telling them is mine this whole time. I told them they could help me open it. When they opened it and saw that it was Guitar Hero World Tour they all started screaming. It was just the reaction I was hoping for. Spencer said that if I was trying to do something better each year, I was going to have a hard time beating this one next year. I'm glad they like their present. I like it too :)

Well, it's late and the kids are finally winding down in preparation for Christmas morning. I knew I was going to have to let them stay up later and play with their new toy for a while. I love having my parents here this Christmas. They seem to make everything more special. We'll be having waffles in the morning, opening the rest of the presents and then heading to the bay area.

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year. And remember that Jesus is the Reason. Period.

Blessings!

Speed Scrap Tomorrow!!

Okay... I TOTALLY spaced on this one. But I'm hosting a Speed Scrap tomorrow at 10am pacific. I actually remembered about the Speed Scrap. Just forgot to tell anyone about it! So please come if you can. I've got a great set of instructions lined up. Check it out HERE

The Black Friday Blog Train Freebie

Welcome, all you crazy blog train travelers! You should have just come from Kari's Blog and are now arriving in Roseville, California. Today the weather is supposed to be a beautiful 65 degrees. Hard to believe it's almost December.



Today's blog train features printables from a wonderful new collab kit by the ScrapMatters design team (see below in the next post for the preview). The kit is free with a $10 purchase in the store. There are tons of sales and some GREAT new releases. Go check it out HERE.



We put up our outside Christmas lights yesterday and it was so beautiful to drive up last night and see the house all lit up. I LOVE Christmas.



A favorite tradition of mine is when we read the Christmas story from the Bible before opening gifts on Christmas Eve. We all gather in the family room and someone reads the passage from Luke 2. We read about the sweet, humble way our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came into this world. We pray and thank Him for His gift and pray blessings over the family. Then we open gifts from each other with the story of His gift fresh in our minds. It's a very special evening.



And speaking of gifts... I have a gift for you. I made bookmarks for my girls to give out to their classmates and teachers, and you are welcome to them.



Get them **HERE**

Thank you so much for stopping by. Don't forget to stop by Scrap Matters for some great Black Friday fun. Now on to Maria's blog for your next freebie. There are 33 stops total, and you won't want to miss even one!

Black Friday

This weekend at Scrap Matters is going to be huge! Starting with a sale, including a Speed Scrap and ending with the return of the Daily Download. Check out these ads...

Plus a super cool blog train happening Friday, and trust me... you do not want to miss this blog train! There are some fabulous downloads with this one. More to come...

Another Speed Scrap Hosted by ME

That's right... I liked it so much I'm going to try it again!

It's Tuesday at 9am pacific... find out more info HERE

Hope to see you there!!

Two More Speed Scraps

Two new speed scraps this week.


The first is tomorrow at 11am pacific hosted by Monique. Find out more HERE.


And another Wednesday night at 6pm pacific hosted by Andrea. Find out more HERE.


I'll be at the Tuesday daytime one but will have to miss the Wednesday night one. I'm so bummed too... love those pastel papers.





Couple fun LOs from this week...

Colors of the Rain

Birthday Dude

July 4th Parade

Well, as always, there's more. But it's time to go cook dinner for the family. I start my job on Wednesday. Looking forward to it, and at the same time a little nervous.

thanks for stopping by!

Yikes!! I've been slackin'

I guess it's not as bad as it could be, but still... I should post more often :)

Here are some recent LOs

Honor is from the Word Up challenge hosted by my friend, Christine. You can find the challenge HERE

Color Me Beautiful from the Speed Scrap last Friday

Let's Skate from the Speed Scrap on Wednesday. (See, I wouldn't get so much scrapping done if it weren't for Speed Scraps!!)

This Is Me was done for the Saturday Special challenge. We were supposed to use a sketch art filter on our pictures. I don't usually alter my pics so much so this was really different for me. You can check our the challenge HERE

And many many MORE

Thanks for looking!!

Whew!! I made it!

I made it through hosting my first Speed Scrap. And I must say... it was fun!! I was really nervous. Like, hands shaking, nervous. Silly, I know. But everything went well, and everyone seemed to have a good time. I left it pretty open with lots of options, which is the way I like speed scraps :)

Here's the LO I based it on:

Something's going on with the SM website so I'll be back to post the link for the credits.

Oh, and one more bit of great news...

I had an interview today and I got the job!! I'll be working at a cemetery :) mwah ha ha! Don't start until next month. But I really needed to start bringing in some income after 15 years of being a SAHM. As our kids get older, they are getting more expensive! It's part time and the hours work perfect with my kid's school schedule, so it really feels like the best of both worlds. Thank you Lord for this awesome provision!!

I'm Hosting a Speed Scrap!!

It's my very first one and I am so excited (and yeah, a little nervous too).


Here's the ad:

And here's what you get just for playing!

OMGoodness! It's it just gorgeous!! I love all of Britt's stuff and was so excited she made this prize for us!!

So join me, if you can. The Scrap Matters site will be down for a short while for an upgrade (we have soooo many new people) so I might not get a chance to promote it a whole lot. I don't want to scrap alone. Please come!!

Speed Scrap Results

Here are the result of my two latest Speed Scraps. It feels so good to get a LO done in such a short time.

Sweet Anticipation

This is my SIL expecting her first child with my brother. She still has a few weeks to go but is looking more and more uncomfortable each day. I'm so glad it's her and not me!!

Geeks are Hot
I totally stole the title from the kit (it's the name of the kit too!) But Alamama (hostess of the SS) wanted some emphasis on the name and I don't think I could have done that in an hour :) I think it's totally cool. Zach hasn't seen it yet. Not really sure what he'll think.

Anyway, two more LOs done! Yay! Can't wait for two more next week!

Time for a Speed Scrap

Two new speed scraps this week! Wednesday night a 6pm pacific and Thursday noon (check that one out HERE) Also a couple friends and I started a Photography blog. Today's the first day so it only has one post... by me :) Check back now and then and see how we improve!! Triple Shots

Thanks for stopping by!!

2 Speed Scraps this Week!

Gotta love these speed scraps for the chance to get a LO or two done! There's one today at 11am pacific - find the info HERE and one on Wednesday at 6pm pacific - find the info HERE. Hope to see you there!!

Coupla LOs

I haven't posted LOs in quite a while. Hopefully, those who are interested are taking a look at my Gallery at Scrap Matters. But I'll post a few recent favorites here today.






Halloween Spook from today's Speed Scrap

Bruiser from the Tuesday Template Challenge

Ready from the Analgous Color Challenge on Andrea's blog

And, well... there's tons more. So go check me out! And don't forget... there's another speed scrap this Thursday at 6pm -- check is out HERE

That's all for now. Thanks for indulging me!

Speed Scraps coming up this Week!

Yeah! I love speed scraps. It's so good to know I'll have a LO done in just a couple hours. The first is tomorrow at 9am pacific. Go HERE to see the great prize. The other will be Thursday evening at 6pm pacific. I think I should be able to do both this week. Yeah... more participation prizes for me!!

Fun Recap and New Template Freebie

What a fun weekend it has been at Scrap Matters celebrating the 1st birthday of that wonderful community of scrappers. I got a couple LOs done this weekend but will post them later. I just wanted to stop by to post a freebie template I had a chance to create last night. I came up with a pretty good LO last week during the speed scrap (yes, it does happen) and turned it into a template. Here's what it looks like:

It's called Rookie Template because I am, afterall, a rookie at this creating stuff :) You can download it HERE.

Hope you like it. If you d/l it, please leave me some love. I LOVED reading all the comments from my last!!

Blessings!

Next Stop on the Blog Train

Welcome to the Roseville, California depot. Soooooo glad you made it this far. This is one long blog train. So bravo, to you!!



I'll be posting my contribution to the brag book later but first let me tell you about a fun birthday tradition in our house. A couple years ago I did a study of the book of Deuteronomy from the Bible. If you've read that book, you know that it's not exactly an action filled, fluffy type of read. Basically, it's all about getting the Israelites' act together so they can enter the Promised Land. But one strong message repeated loud and clear throughout the whole book is to never forget what God did for your fathers. I can't even remember how many times I read that... never forget, do not forget, always remember. It was to give them hope for their future and always keep them thankful. We decided that in our house, we would remember the things God has done for us in a special way. For special dates - getting our house, dh getting his job -- we have a little celebration and we all write thank you letters to God telling Him how grateful we are for His blessings. And we also do that for our birthday celebrations. When it's someone's birthday in our house we each write a thank you letter to God, thanking Him for that person and list a few specific things we are grateful about them for. Then we read them aloud at dinner. It's a very special time of blessing for us and I know it makes the birthday girl/boy/mom/dad feel very loved.



So that's my birthday tradition... started by me... just a few short years ago. But I hope my kids like it enough to continue with it and pass it on to their kids someday.



So onto the good stuff - I'm sure you've accumulated quite a little (well, big) brag book by now. But I have a couple pages to contribute. And I know there's still some fabulous designers after me, so don't give up. Here are my pages:






You can download them HERE




And here are the links before and after me:


You came from:
30. http://www.pressedpetals.blogspot.com/ (Christine - alamama)

YOUR ARE HERE!!
31. http://www.cyndi146.blogspot.com/ (Cyndi)

Now go to:
32. http://www.wendys-craftycreations.blogspot.com/ (Wendy)

If you've missed some just head on back to the Scrap Matters Blog and take a look at the list. Remember this is an international blog train and some posts might not be up yet. They'll stay up for a long time though, so don't worry. You won't miss out.



And whatever you do, do not miss out on the humongous sale going on in the SHOP this weekend. Everything is at least 30% off until Monday the 29th. And this super fun kit is available free with a $10 purchase.









Let me tell you... it's loaded! Here's what I scrapped with it.







Sheesh... I hope I didn't forget anything. If I did, I'll be back :) Happy Scrapping! And Happy Birthday Scrap Matters!!!

Speed Scrap this Wednesday

I am so addicted to these.

That's 10am pacific for all my Roseville friends :)

New Challenge at SM

... and it's being hosted by ME!! It's my first! I was kind of nervous up until now but all of a sudden I'm really excited! Go check it out **here** and PLAY with ME!!

Grand Opening at SM

One my CT assignments is having a grand opening sale over at Scrap Matters this weekend.

Here's her ad:



Here's a couple of her new kits available this weekend:

Hoo's Ready for Fall -



Sweet September -


And one of my favorites -
Sweet Berry Days - go >HERE



Isn't she amazing?? 30% off is a great deal. Go pick up a couple kits at her STORE this week. I've loved working with her kits. Can't wait to use the 2 new ones this weekend.

Happy Friday!!

Had a wonderful weekend of birthday celebrations and welcoming my parents to their new church. They're going on staff at a church in Sac. and Sunday was their first day. My brothers and their families and us all went to support them on their first Sunday. I think they are really going to like it there. I'm so happy for them.

On Sunday, while we were all still looking fairly spiffy, I had my Dad take a pic of us in the front yard. I was able to scrap it that day and love how it turned out. I'm thinking I'll crop it to 8x10 and frame it. I've needed an updated family pic for a while.




Credits

The only problem with this pic... I can see a spaghetti sauce stain on Spencer's shirt!! That's my 14 year old for ya!


Lots going on at Scrap Matters. I'm loving my CT spot so much. There are 2 speed scraps per week now. They are such a hit!

Here's mine from today:



Credits

Lots of great stuff in the store too! We have a couple new designers and a new one coming on this weekend. I've seen some of her stuff and it's really great. Watch out for some sales. Here's just one ad.



Hope to see you around!!

I shot my first official football game last night with my new camera! It was so much fun. I'm partnered with two professionals and learned so much last year just hanging out with them. It's great to have an actual camera in my hands this year. Last night I learned a little more about shooting in shutter priority mode. I figure, if I can learn something new each week, I'll have improved quite a lot by the end of the season! Good plan!

One of my CT assignments over at Scrap Matters is a new designer called Simply Sweet Designs. My first LO in my last post was a kit by her and I absolutely LOVE it! She's trying to get her name out there and is going to be having a big sale sometime next week. I'll be sure to post it. For now you can find her kits at the Scrap Matters Store and also some great deals on her website. She's also got a great challenge going on right now. Go check her out.

Another daytime Speed Scrap is scheduled for this Tuesday at 9am. I can't wait. I think I'll have my girlfriend over and we'll do it together :)

And... I'll be hosting my first Challenge in the forum next weekend so watch out for that to.

That's all for now. I was planning to get to bed early tonight but that hardly ever seems to happen anymore. Off to slumber now!

Just a quick post to add some recent LOs! I've been a busy girl, again!!



Follow your heart...




Sweet and Sassy






Baseball is Life. This one was done for the speed scrap yesterday.

Halle Ann

Spring Choir

School Days

What did I tell ya?? When I get started, I just can't stop!!

TFL!!

Not a lot of time tonight but I wanted to get this ad posted. I'm so totally addicted to speed scraps now and I never would have thought I'd like them. Usually they're in the evening and with kids and sports and church and family dinners, I was having a hard time making them. But there is one this Thursday and it's during the day!! Noon my time, but the different time zones are on the ad. It's a blast. Come & check it out!!

So I didn't quite make it back as soon as I'd hoped :) But I have been busy scrapping. I am totally loving this new CT spot at Scrap Matters. It is so much fun. Here are some of my recent LO's -

My Name was done for the Words for Wednesday Challenge. We are supposed to scrap a LO about our name and at least one picture of us.

Home Sweet Home was done for the Saturday Special Challenge to scrap about your home.

First was done for the Tuesday Template Challenge and we were supposed to scrap about someone close to us. I scrapped about my son who is with his (then) girlfriend.

See, I told you I've been busy. Just a couple more.

Birthday Luau was just for fun. Actually, they're all fun. But I need to catch up. So I went with my creative flow today and got lots done. Also, dh was watching college football so he was happily distrated.

I started shooting for the high school football team the other night but that's for another post. TFL!!

I've been meaning to get on here and make my happy announcement that I made the Scrap Matters CT!! I am so thrilled :) It's my first time to CT but I've made a couple friends who have promised to hold my hand when I need it. It's very very exciting and I've already turned in a couple assignments! Yahoo!

I'll also be a guest CT for Matahati Designs in November. Hopefully by that time, I'll have this all figured out. I love her designs and am excited to get to work with her.

Darn! My son needs to use the computer for homework. (I hate that... it's MY computer!!) Anyway, I'll be back later tonight to post some LO's.

Speed Scrap This Wednesday

I never would have believed I'd like Speed Scraps so much, but I do!! Especially, since when I let myselft, I can work on one LO for hours and hours. But with a speed scrap, I have to make a decision, flatten my page and get it posted! I've really liked the results too. So if you're maybe a little intimidated to try a Speed Scrap, I'd say "Give it a try!!" You might really like it!

Hope to see you there!

POST #2

I followed the example of some fellow scrappers (idols) and created a template from one of my recent LOs. The template was quick to make, but it takes me forever to remember how to make the preview, zip it and get it uploaded to 4 shared. Maybe as I do it more, it will become second nature and much faster :) Anyway, enjoy this template freebie!



Download Here

I hope I did everything right!! If you have any problems, let me know.

POST #1

Got another LO done yesterday. I'm not too speedy these days. But I go in spurts. So as long as I can keep getting a couple LOs done each week, sooner or later another wave of creativity will come over me and I'll get tons done :) At least that's what I'm hoping!

This was just a flower template that I've had for quite some time and still hadn't used. Does that ever happen to you? You kind of forget what you have?? I'm super frugal so I want to use EVERYTHING I pay for.

{Spec}tacular

Aren't they cute? I'm know I'm quite partial but they are just too sweet for words for me. Halle keeps forgetting to wear her glasses to school. I'm glad it's not effecting her school work but I really want her to get into the habit of putting them on each day. (I just now looked over at her and had to remind her to put them on) Her eye test clearly showed she needs them but she seems to get along fine without them too. I think Raegan's going to help me out a little and remind in the mornings to put them on. Maybe between the two of us.

Spencer had his first football game last night. It actually was just a scrimage and against his own team so he teased that it was just another practice. But parents could come out and watch their sons play the different positions. Next week starts real games and I'll start shooting them for the website again. I'm excited! I had a lot of fun last year and learned A LOT about sports photography. Zach got his info for cross country yesterday too. He wants to play fall baseball and run cross country at the same time this year. I told him he could, as long as he keeps his grades up.

Well, my last post said how much I love routine and especially school routine. And I do. I just need to remember that as the routine starts to get more and more busy!!

Ta-ta!!

The kids are back in school!! Hallelujah!! I LOVE routine. And school routine just seems to make everything else fall into place. I even restarted my excersize routine this week and OMGosh I am so sore!! I'm having a hard time standing up from a sitting position. But I even love this :) I know it's for a good cause.

Haven't scrapped a whole lot the last few days. A girlfriend came over this morning and we scrapped the Tuesday Template together. It took me a long time to finish it but I'm pretty happy with it. It's kind of general but as they say... not every LO has to be a masterpiece :)

At the Kid Wash

This is my nephew giving my daughters a good soaking during a lull at our car wash fundraiser at church. Unfortunately, it seemed like we had more time to play than wash cars. But the kids had fun :)

That's it for now... I'm hoping to have some more time to scrap tomorrow :)

Blessings!