how about some nice Summer Squash Soup from Jillibean Soup?

This has been one of the best secrets to have to keep, but since the announcement is up I can finally share.

Jillibean Soup has its first mid-season release, a mini collection called Summer Squash Soup. The colors and patterns are fresh and fun and versatile for so many things.

I was trying to load the picture here for you to see but the site is so busy right now, most likely with all of the excitement of the new release. So, you'll just have to click here to see it for yourself. Make sure to leave a comment for your chance to win.

http://jillibeansoup.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/04/its-here-summer-squash-soup-.html

I can't wait to have this collection in my hot little hands!

And, because I don't like to do many posts without a picture here's one of my new Jillibean Soup layouts:

It's so fun to mix the older and new collections- here I have some Lentil Soup mixed with green Staples and some Chicken Noodle Soup. I really like these green corrugated alphas and the little yellow alphas with the little white daisies, too. The pictures of Sarah are pretty cute, too :) 

Have a wonderful day!

Check back tomorrow for My Scrapbook Nook's blog hop for National Scrapbook Day!

Well, here it is, the new Summer Squash Soup!

Bo Bunny blog hop

Welcome to SRM's Bo Bunny blog hop! 

It's been such an honor and so  much fun to play with SRM Stickers these last few months as a member of the SRM design team and it's even more fun when we get freebies like the Cosmo Cricket last month and the Bo Bunny for this month. We've been so spoiled!!! Not that I'm complaining, of course.

Just in case you have stumbled upon my blog please head to the SRM Stickers blog for today's blog hop order. We'll have more Bo Bunny fun for you tomorrow as well so be sure to check back there for the blogs you'll get to visit and for more Bo Bunny and SRM Stickers projects. Please make sure to visit all of the blogs each day and then return to the SRM Stickers blog and leave a comment to let us know you've finished the hop for the day. A random winner will be chosen each day to win a fabulous SRM Stickers prize!!!You have until midnight Sunday night to finish the hop.

You should have arrived here from Tobi's blog. Welcome!!!!

I was so excited to get the new Bo Bunny collection, Flower Child, to play with for this blog hop. The colors are bright and cheery, perfect for summery photos and perfect for the SRM stickers that I chose to use for this layout. It's like the two were made for each other! (I have to admit, though, that I haven't met a combo I didn't like when SRM stickers were in the mix, but then again, I'm a little biased).

Here's the layout I created for this blog hop:

Bo Bunny Flower Child collection paper, chipboard and embellishment pack (buttons, gems)

Bo Bunny orange polka dot ribbon

SRM Stickers 50002 Spring

SRM Stickers 49011 Live Life-Wet N Wild

These little circle stickers made perfect little tabs above my picture of Hailey happily swinging.

Aren't the colors just perfect for this collection?

What some of you might not know is that there are also journal spots included on some of the sticker sheets. If you know me and my scrapping very well at all you know that I LOVE journal spots! The little "havin' a ball" is also an SRM sticker. No longer will I ever think that these stickers are just for cards. They are perfect for cards, layouts, altered items, the fun calendars that SRM also sells and they work on paper, fabric and more. The possibilities really are endless with these stickers. 

Your next stop in the hop will be to visit the fabulous Amy Heller! I just know that she'll have some incredible things to share with you. 

Remember, visit all of the blogs in the hop and then leave a comment at the SRM blog for your chance to win a prize. The hop will close at midnight Sunday May 2nd. 

Happy hopping!

just a quick Nook NSD teaser

Of course My Scrapbook Nook will join the scrapping party for National Scrapbook Day!

Here's a little teaser for ya:

There are some incredible prizes lined up for this hop and you won't want to miss a thing. Take some time out of your busy scrappy weekend to be inspired by our fantastic international team and for a chance to win one of the prizes.

We'll see ya this weekend! Stay tuned for more info. 

happy Tuesday

How is your week going so far?

I hope that all is well with all of you, my sweet blog readers.

I wish that I had some exciting news to share with you but right now things just seem to be crazy around me and my life is a bit of a mess, well, at least my house is. We've been painting and trying to keep up with everything and as you moms know, it's not always easy to get everything done.

Matt is taking Hailey to school and Sarah and Aimee are singing the "Hokey Pokey" while they eat their breakfast and I have a minute to sit down before the business of my day starts. Even though Matt has the day off his day is already filled with things he needs to get done. I'm glad that I married someone who is always so willing to help other people out (today he's helping to pour cement at someone's house and helping another friend load a moving truck tonight) and at times I feel guilty for selfishly wanting him to be home with us.

I was finally able to pull out my May Nook kit last night so I'll have some fun things to share with you soon but for now I'll leave you with a little card:

I hope that you don't get tired of the American Crafts Dear Lizzy collection because right now I am loving it! I also used some cute SRM stickers. Aren't they so fun? I LOVE them!!!

Have a wonderful day ♥

what have I been up to?

I haven't been a very good blogger this week, have I?

It's been quite a busy week and I haven't had any time to do much in the way of keeping up with this blog, though I wish I'd had more to share with you.

Here is something that's occupied some of my time:

What do you think? We've been looking for a color for this room- it's our office/computer room and is in the very front of the house. I love the red but it is quite a switch from the ivory that was on the walls before. I can't wait to see how it looks with all of our things back in place in the room. It's going to be fun to find some curtains to go with the red. There's some new Cosmo Cricket Early Bird fabric that would be perfect!!!

We've been busy with homework and chores and gymnastics, getting ready for GymFest (Hailey and Sarah both participated on Saturday and did such a wonderful job and both were proud to get their medals) and trying to stay on top of everything else. I've been working on Jillibean Soup stuff to meet my deadline for my May projects and will get them in under the wire this week. It's been so crazy here!!!

We are doing well...Aimee is feeling better after having a double ear infection and some respiratory issues at night. Now she has what looks to be a sty developing on her right eye...it never ends when there are kids involved. 

I hope to have more scrappy things to share with you this week as I start to play with my May kit from My Scrapbook Nook. Have a great night and thanks for stopping by!

SRM Stickers and Dear Lizzy

The new Dear Lizzy collection is one of my favorite releases from this CHA. It is so cute and so very easy to scrap. It was the perfect thing to use for this layout with pictures of tiny Aimee. I created this for SRM Stickers and since this layout was up on their blog yesterday I thought I'd go ahead and share it with you. And, with the American Crafts Dear Lizzy challenge going on right now on their blog this was perfect timing!

I used an SRM Stickers calendar page for the background, just trimmed the extra off to fit the page.

Oh, and I used some Core'dinations cardstock, generously donated by the company to our SRM team. 

Supplies: American Crafts Dear Lizzy patterned paper, Thickers, embellishments

SRM Sticker sentiments

Core'dinations cardstock

Cosmo Cricket tiny alphas

I love these cute little banners cut from some Dear Lizzy patterned paper. One of the things that I love most about the Dear Lizzy collection is that it just begs for hand cut work. I cut out the banner, the roses and the little wavy strips on the bottom of the page. All of the sticker phrases here are SRM. 

I layered the SRM "mom" sticker over a Dear Lizzy round embellishment and used

some foam adhesive to give it a bit of dimension and then added the Dear Lizzy flower. 

Here's a shot of the journaling and sweet Aimee. 

My sister-in-law, Ginger Williams took these cute pictures for us 

when Aimee was about 6 weeks old. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I hope it's a wonderful day for you!

a Jillibean Soup card share

I had a card up on the Jillibean Soup blog yesterday and thought I'd share it with you in case you missed it: 

Jillibean Soup:
Patterned Paper: Minestrone/Sliced Leek, Old World Cabbage Stew/Red Peppers.
Clear Stamps: Sentiments

Other: Orange cardstock and ink by Stampin' Up!, foam adhesive, staples.

Those cute butteflies are cut from some of the Minestrone collection- it's become one of my favorites!

Tomorrow I'll have a fun layout to share with you that I created for SRM Stickers combining one of their calendar pages and lots and lots of stickers and the new Dear Lizzy collection from American Crafts. 

May kit from My Scrapbook Nook

I've been antsy to see this whole kit together, and as always, it's a gorgeous kit.

Leah never fails to deliver a well-coordinated, beautiful kit filled with the greatest new releases.

How'd you like a look at the kit?

Here it is, full of products from Jenni Bowlin, SEI, October Afternoon, Kaiser Craft and American Crafts.

Doesn't it look like so much fun? I cannot wait for it to get here. 

If you would like to order one of your own before they're sold out click here: 

http://www.myscrapbooknook.org/club.shtml

I can pretty much guarantee that this one will go FAST!!!!

one more day to try for free Jillibean Soup

Just in case you hadn't yet seen this on the Jillibean Soup blog I wanted to make sure and share with you a fabulous Jillibean Soup giveaway going on right now.

I got some of this wonderful cardstock with my design team supplies from Jillibean Soup and it's even more cool in person than in the picture. You can win some of your very own by doing one or all of the following things. You will increase your chance of winning x3 if you do all of them!

1. leave a comment on this post on the Jillibean Soup blog

http://jillibeansoup.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/04/free-for-all-friday3-chances-to-win.html

2. leave a comment at the Cord Camera blog where Jill is guest-blogging

http://scrapbookstudio.typepad.com/cordscrapbookstudio/2010/04/guest-post-coredinations-cards-with-jillibean-soup.html

3. leave a comment on the Jillibean Soup Facebook fan page

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Jillibean-Soup/305437023993?ref=ts

The winners will be announced on Monday morning so hurry for your chance to win!

another challenge at My Scrapbook Nook

Are you ready to get scrappin'? We already have lots of challenges posted for your scrappy feasting and enjoyment. Check the forum at http://www.myscrapbooknook.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=27

I just posted another challenge which you can see here: http://www.myscrapbooknook.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27652

And here is the layout I created: 

For this page I used Pink Paislee's 365 Degrees collection. The red swirlies are hand-cut from patterned paper and the flower is made from some adhesive tape and then topped off with a cork button. The butterfly is one of the new ones from Jenni Bowlin. I found out last night that I just won some of Pink Paislee's new Starlight collection because of a comment I left on their blog. I love free scrappy stuff!

It's a cold, rainy day here. 

I hope it's warm and sunny where you are. 

Aimee is the cutest thing

I was sitting at the computer and Aimee came down the stairs and sadly said, "I sad."

I asked her why and she said,

"I bwoke my aaam" (arm)

"Where?" I asked her.

"wight hewe," she said, pointing to her elbow.

"You kiss it?"

How could I deny this sweet little girl a kiss on her "broken elbow"?

So I kissed it and she said, "I all better now."

Isn't she the cutest thing?

Some of you might remember that Aimee did, indeed, break her arm a few months ago as she fell from the rail at the bottom of my bed. Poor girl handled it with the strength of someone much older than her years. I sure love this cute little girl and if she is the last baby we're allowed to have she is the sweetest joy I could ever have imagined.

We're still hoping for a #4 but it hasn't happened yet.

Still, I can enjoy my 3. I love sweet moments kissing elbows and bumps and scratches.

And, with three crazy, active, bouncing-off-of-the-walls girls we have plenty of scrapes and bumps to kiss.

My Scrapbook Nook and Creative Scrappers

For today we have another exciting reveal- My Scrapbook Nook teamed up with Creative Scrappers for another sketch. It was so fun to play along and now to be able to see what the rest of the team created. You can see it for yourself here: http://creativescrappers.blogspot.com/2010/04/nook-reveals.html

This is the sketch that we were given to work with, I rotated it 90 degrees to accomodate my picture:

And here's my layout, much more simple than I usually do. 

This was created using the April kit from the Nook.

Oh, and in case you haven't heard the news, the May kit from My Scrapbook Nook will feature the new October Afternoon collection, "Fly A Kite." Add-ons went up yesterday and you wouldn't believe how quickly those sold! You can check the store to see what's left. 

Have a great, scrappy day!

I gotta toot

That probably sounded wierd, huh?

For those of you not in the scrapbooking world, a toot is when a scrapbooker gets something picked up for a publication.

I need to get some scrapping done so that I can have something to share with you here...

I've actually made a few things but they're for design team assignments so I can't share them yet.

But...I got a layout picked up for the Scrapbook Trends Holiday Idea Book!!!

Cool, huh?

I'll also have 4 layouts in the upcoming Memory Makers idea book that I really need to get sent off soon.

I hope you're having a great day!

Hey, good lookin', What'cha got cookin'?

How's about cookin' something up with us at the crop this weekend at My Scrapbook Nook?

http://www.myscrapbooknook.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27543&highlight=

We'll have a smorgasbord of tasty options to whet your scrapping appetite and have some yummy prizes lined up from Jenni Bowlin, SEI, October Afternoon and more!

Check the crop forum for some appetizers to get you started before the feast begins on Friday and bring a friend along for the fun, too. It's no fun to eat alone!

p.s. the first challenge is up- a little appetizer to get you started. Here's the info:
http://www.myscrapbooknook.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27556&highlight=

And here are my cards:

Come on over and join us!

2 Sketches 4 You card challenge and a Nook crop!

This week SRM Stickers is playing along with 2 Sketches 4 You in a fun card sketch challenge.

This is the sketch that we were given:



And here's my take on the sketch:

Patterned paper and journal spot: Pink Paislee, butterfly: Jenni Bowlin, ribbon: Crate Paper. Sticker sentiment: SRM Stickers. Bazzill card base. 

**I just thought you should know that 2S4U is looking for some new designers. All you have to do is play along with the sketches this week and next week and 3 designers will be chosen. More info can be found on this post:   http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com/2010/04/kazans-sketch-50-design-team-call.html

p.s. I just wanted to give you a head's up that we'll be having an online crop at My Scrapbook Nook this weekend- all of the fun will start on Friday. Check it out at www.myscrapbooknook.org

my Jillibean Soup is here!!!

I have been waiting for this day to arrive- the day I would receive my first box of Jillibean Soup stuff as a new member of the Jillibean team. Today was the day!!!

The UPS man is always welcome at our porch, especially if he's bringing scrapbooking goodies for me ♥ Matt got his feelings hurt a little when he wanted to talk and I was more excited about the UPS man driving up to our house. I think he got over it, though :)

Anyway, I opened the door and said, "my Jillibean Soup is here" and Aimee quickly replied, "Oooooh, yummy!" Yes, it was indeed yummy. The box was filled with lots and lots of the new Jillibean stuff including the new Core'dinations cardstock and new papers and stamps and ribbons and alphas and stickers galore plus some of the oldies but goodies like Soup Staples and corrugated alphas and some free adhesive courtesy of Helmar. I love you, Jillibean Soup! Thank you, Helmar!

I really am so happy with the teams I'm on right now. ♥

Thanks so much, Jill :) Now if I could just find some time to scrap this weekend.

some more Little Boy Blue

One might think that someone with a house full of girls would rather scrap with lots of pink but I have loved this "Little Boy Blue" featured in the April kit from My Scrapbook Nook.

Have I mentioned that October Afternoon's "Fly a Kite" line will be in the May Nook kit?  Yep, Leah spilled some beans on the forum the other day ♥

Here's another couple of projects for you:

EK Success retro flower punch, Jillibean Soup twill, MME papers, SRM sticker.

Have a fantastic weekend!

quick post and a quick page

QUICK UPDATE: The Color Me Daisy "Spring Fever" kit is SOLD OUT!!

How's that for quick?! It just went on sale on Monday!
********************************************************************************
Hey all you scrappers out there!

Do you sometimes spend way too much time on one page?

I have cut down on the time I spend but still it can take me a couple of hours to finish a page sometimes.

Here's a page that I created in no more than 20 minutes. Most of my pages are more involved than this one but for this "Ariel" page I kept it clean and simple.

I created this page using the April kit from My Scrapbook Nook featuring My Mind's Eye. The alpha stickers are from October Afternoon and the corrugated ones are ♥ Jillibean Soup ♥

Oh, and the flower punch is from EK Success and the pin from Maya Road. 

catching some Spring Fever

As I mentioned before, I had the fun opportunity this month to guest design for Color Me Daisy, a fabulous kit club. I loved being on the design team there, met some fabulous scrappy ladies and got to play with some of the coolests products out in the scrappy world.

Here's another look at the April kit from CMD, "Spring Fever."

Filled with papers from Basic Grey, Jillibean Soup and Pink Paislee with embellishments from Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee, Jillibean Soup, Jenni Bowlin, lots of buttons and fabric and exclusive elements like little butterflies and handstamped tags. It's such a fun kit!

Here's a look at my projects from this kit:

Thanks again, Michelle, for allowing me to guest design for this kit. 

If you'd like to buy one of your own, simply click here: 

http://www.colormedaisy.com/

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

SRM Spring Break Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome to the SRM Stickers Spring Break Blog Hop! 

To start, please visit srm-stickers.blogspot.com for today’s blog order. The hop continues all week so make sure to check the SRM blog each day to see who you'll be visiting.


One of my favorite things about being on the team at SRM Stickers is the freedom to create whatever strikes my fancy at the time as long as I incorporate SRM Stickers. At first I thought that these stickers would just be perfect for cards but as I've had the chance to play more I LOVE LOVE LOVE♥ them for layouts as well and have used quite a few on this layout: 

Here I mixed SRM Stickers with some fun papers from My Mind's Eye, Bella Blvd and Sassafras with embellishments from American Crafts and My Mind's Eye. Aren't the stickers just the perfect addition? I think so! They are so fun and so easy to use, crystal clear and ready to go on any project. 

SRM Stickers #42028 Mother's Day

#42038 Everyday Life

51006 Thinking of You

51004 Love

42021 Birthday

42032 Celebrate Life

Here are a few detail shots so that you can get a closer look at the stickers:

Simply click on the link above for each individual sticker page and also feel free to take a few minutes to browse around the store. You just might find something you ♥ LOVE♥ 

Your next stop in the hop is the blog of fabulous Jen Martakis. 


Once you are done with today's hopping don’t forget to return to SRM to leave a comment- random winners will be chosen from each day’s comments and YOU could be the lucky winner of some SRM Stickers!!! You have until the end of the week to finish up the hop! Have fun!!!


You are sure to fall in love with SRM Stickers. ♥♥♥

Happy Easter, a couple of cards and a whole bunch of pictures

Today is a special day for our family and for many others as well, a day that has great significance to us because of our faith in the risen Jesus Christ. We are grateful today for the resurrection because it means that those we love who have passed on will live again also. My only remaining grandma called me yesterday and we had a wonderful time catching up and sharing memories and it made me think about my grandparents and others who have since passed away. Special thoughts and prayers go out to my friend, Maren, whose father passed away this week from brain cancer. I know that this particular Easter will always have great significance for her family.

He Lives

I will be so happy to get to see them again someday. What a beautiful reunion that will be.

For those who do not celebrate the religious nature of Easter, may you also have a very happy and peaceful day with your family and other loved ones. It has been a nice day for us so far, listening to church services and eating way too many treats brought by the Easter bunny. Even as I type I am eating some little Starburst jelly beans ☺

While I wait for my camera and computer to upload some Easter pics I will post some new cards for you that I created using my April kit from My Scrapbook Nook featuring My Mind's Eye's "Little Boy Blue" line from this past CHA.

The kit also includes some cute felt stars from Making Memories

 and alpha stickers from October Afternoon. 

Green canvas flower from Jillibean Soup, sentiment from SRM Stickers.

Yesterday we had a little Easter egg hunt in our backyard and then dyed eggs- silly Aimee didn't want to wait for the eggs to do their thing so she kept taking her egg out of the cup and ended up with green dye halfway up her arm. 

Matt videoing me taking pictures- at least I'll be in a picture that way, right? 

 The girls with their spoils. What a beautiful day it was. 

Matt and Hailey

Sarah

Aimee

Hailey

pretty little eggs

and our pretty little girls

Happy Easter, everyone!

April challenge at SRM Stickers is up!

SRM Stickers is taking the scrapbooking world by storm and it's been so much fun to be a part of it all.

This last week we finished up our "Crafting with Cosmo" week and also finished up our March baby challenge and today the April challenge is up- all about circles! You can play along for a chance to be a guest designer for SRM. Check out the details here:
             http://srm-stickers.blogspot.com/2010/04/march-challenge-winnerapril-challenge.html

Here is the layout I created for this challenge:

I used Bo Bunny's new "Flower Child" collection for this page along with these SRM Stickers: 

39045 Outdoors, 50002 Spring, 40098 May, 

42028 Mother's Day, 42030 Outdoors

Cardstock is by Core'dinations and it was generously donated for our team as was the Bo Bunny. Thank you Core'dinations and Bo Bunny!

 The black sayings and the flower stickers are all from SRM. 

Have I mentioned (only a zillion times, right?) how fun these stickers are? They are perfect for cards but also so much fun to use on layouts and other projects. You can get some of your own here .

We just finished up dyeing eggs (Aimee got a little crazy and has blue fingers now) and had an egg hunt and now it's time for the Mama to go take a rest.

I hope you're having a great weekend!