The County Fair, A Blue Ribbon and Some Scrap Projects!

I created a slide show featuring the recent layouts I have completed for the Challenges at A True Friend My fave out of this bunch is the Dr. Seuss inspired layout! The current challenge is to use a quote on your layout - we were sponsered by Papermania - received gorgeous kits that were just full of fabulous pet scrapping goodies! They have even generously provided 2 kits for us to give to a couple of participants, so I hope you will pop over and check out the beautiful work by the design team and check out the layouts already linked up by readers!


The San Diego County Fair is currently running here at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. I entered a scrapbook layout in the Fair Theme catagory in the home and hobby show and received a Blue Ribbon - Yay! This year's theme is "Music Mania" and I created a layout with photos from the Toby Keith concert and included my My TK International Fan Club card on the layout!

It only took $20 and the help of my niece, her friends and my mom to win this (homage to Sheldon the Wonder Turtle - it sits next to his tank!)

And here we are, intent on winning!

Thanks for stopping by!

Life is good.....

So much to update! I am going to use this post to highlight a few of the things going on in my life right now that are keeping me busy!

I was thrilled to be asked to be the the Guest Designer for June at Citrus Tree Studio (http://www.citrustreestudio.com/) I was given the "Easy Rider" kit to work with - a palette of teal, red, white and black and including a lot of Glitz products! This kit totally called out to the collage maker in me!

I hope you will drop by Citrus Tree, a really cool group of chicks hang out there!

Here are my first creations with this fab kit:



I am happy to brag about my nephew, Trevor. At 18, he has recently graduated from the Northwest Lineman College in Meridian, Idaho and has accepted an apprenticeship position with a company just outside of Dallas, Texas. So tomorrow he is off to his new life with his girlfriend who will be attending dental school. We had a going away party yesterday for them both, gifting them with things they would need to set up their first home away from their parents. Here is a link to a video Trevor created highlighting his time at NLC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChH_E-C3akI

THE GOOD LIFE......
Lastly, thanks to some really good friends, we were able to spend the first 3 days of this week at a condo in Palm Desert - the good life! I sunned by the pool each day, Danny golfed everyday. We had some FABULOUS meals, and I even sneaked out while Danny was napping one day to peruse thrift stores and came home with the incredible treasures pictured. The scary bunny pitcher was a mere $4.00 and the cake stand with dome only $15.00 (I can't wait to fill that dome with little white pumpkin gourds at Halloween!)




Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for a major slide show of pet themed layouts that I have recently completed for A True Friend!

As God as my witness, I will never use a glue stick again!

So, I grabbed a large stack of layouts the other day so I could put them into albums. As I walked towards my scrap table, the stack tilted a bit and then........a storm of alphas and embellishments dropped onto the floor. UGH. I have used every glue stick on the market, but I have never found one that actually worked as a permanent adhesive! So I just set the stack of layouts and miscellaneous embellies to the side - I just can't face the repair work right now!

But I ain't messing around next time - - everything is going to be attached with my Helmar glues!!

P.S. I threw every glue stick in my scrap room into the trash!

Some Scrapbook Updates......

So, with too much work going on, I had been in kind of a scrappy slump. But recently I think my mojo has come back.

A new challenge is up at A True Friend (Challenge Blog for Pet Lovers!) I had a lot of fun with Challenge #41 - Grooming - My layout is about the "Peticure" tool from the informercial on TV. Yeah, I love informercials! My layout is here, I hope you will pop over and check out the others - - they are so fun!

Another recent pet layout I completed "Mad Cat" was named as "Design Team Layout of the Day" over at Treasured Scrapbooking (my online home!) today. This is always such a great boost! Especially when you are chosen by a scrapper you really admire like Pinky - check out her blog for some awesome inspiration!

And lastly, back in January, I was invited to an online crop over at Citrus Tree Studio by an online friend and really enjoyed it! So started visiting there a lot more often. I even threw my hat into the ring for their design team call. Although I didn't make the Spring/Summer Design Team - I will be one of the guest designers for this term, and I am super excited about that! They do have delicious kits, but equally important, the DT and message board are very friendly and open - - this always bodes well for good customer service - hope you get a chance to check them out.

Getting my free time back....

With the ending of the regular NFL season (which means no more football pool!) and a change in jobs, I am getting my free time back!

I have been focusing on really learning my camara (Canon Rebel Xti) and taking better pictures. Colleen's family gave me an online photo class for Christmas through Perfect Picture School of Photography (ppsop.com) on Pet Photography, and I am absolutely LOVING IT!

Colleen, mom and I met with a group of photogs from the San Diego Photo Forum website last week for a group shoot in Old Town and Presidio Park. I took along Copper to use as a model for my first class assignment - natural light.

I have also started scrapbooking again! Completed my first layout since November! That's the longest I have EVER gone. Glad to be back at it and I will be adding a slide show here with my favorite layouts.

CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) Winter is coming up in Anaheim at the end of this month - I look forward to getting all the inside scoop from my friend Tracy who will be manning the Helmar Adhesive Booth (check out their blog-the designers are fab!)

http://helmarusa.typepad.com/blog

Well, there's my quick update for now! If you are a turtle-lover, check back in the next day or so - - I just went on a shopping spree at PetSmart today (shhh! don't tell my husband!)& will be posting some pics of Sheldon the Wonder Turtle and his tank.

Love that little guy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Creations Part I

I am furiously working on Christmas gifts! All the kids in my family will be getting a softie pet from me this year. Martha Stewart featured the book "Sock and Glove" by Miyako Kanamori over the summer and I absolutely fell in love with the little dog they made on the show. The book is available on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Sock-Glove-Creating-Charming-Cast-Off/dp/1557885168) and I highly recommend it!

You don't need a lot of sewing expertise and there are 13 different projects in the book.

Here are my first set of softie dogs.


Tomorrow I will be working on a Panda Bear and cat!

Other projects I am working on (and will post instructions for) are photo transfer tiles with a crackle finish, place mats made from hand dyed fabric (much easier than it sounds!) and a holiday throw pillow with a cute felt applique!

So check back each week to see which project I am working on - - all of my projects can be created in a weekend!

The cast of characters....

So that you can all keep up (because I do refer to them all a lot), here is the run down on the animal members of my household.



Please note that at any given time, we may also be harboring furry guests for vacationing friends & family.

Elephant the Cat

Named by my niece, Kayleigh while she was going through a very “concrete” period in her young life when it came to naming things...Elephant was born grey – hence Elephant. His littermate was striped – was named Tiger. And then there was her turtle – Green Apple. I believe this concrete period coincided with the period in which she asked my sister to have her name changed to “Rainbow Fish”.

Elephant was MY cat until I started dating my now husband. Now, if Danny is around – I am invisible.

Peetie

Emotionally, very needy. He is a momma’s boy. He also has a severe “cookie” addiction.

It’s a problem.

HATES it when we dog sit!






Copper




Peetie’s littermate. She is a very sweet, lovey little girl. She only has 3 legs and she always has a look on her face like someone just yelled at her or beat her - - but that is the look she has always had – even when she had 4 legs.
She is a Daddy’s girl.
Her nickname is "CRAZY!"

Henry
My husband’s prized German Shorthair Pointer. This is definitely a man’s man dog! He hunts with my husband and basically worships the ground he walks on - - following him everywhere around the house and even waiting for him outside the bathroom door.

LOVES it when we dog sit!

Sheldon the Wonder Turtle

My 9 month old Red Ear Slider - - my newest obsession! Turtles ROCK!