Frazzled

I have been going non-stop since I woke up this morning. I'm just sitting and taking a break before I begin the next part of the day. Today at school was the kids' Beach Day treat. That means a fire truck comes to the playground and sprays all the kids and cools them down.
This sounded so perfect because yesterday was

Today, when Bio-Comp left for school it was

This is so typical of our weather this time of year. Don't misunderstand me, I LOVE the rain. But it did make running errands a bit entertaining, much like my hair is now from all the humidity.

Now, as promised yesterday, here are the four sides to my photo cube:












Stamps: CTMH Beary Best
Papers: CTMH Back Country Reflections Kit
Inks: Brillance Graphite Black

I may be up working on some teacher gifts tonight...but then again, maybe I won't. At any rate, I'll be leaving tomorrow and will be thinking of you all while I'm lounging at the pool!

Have a great holiday weekend!

Windmills Of My Mind

So my family and I are leaving this Friday for a little reunion in the mountains. Since it has now reached the 100's here, I'm even more anxious to get to the cooler climate. We go to the same place, the same time every year. Do you think I'm ready to leave in two days time?

No.

I should have spent part of the day checking off lists, making more lists, doing laundry, and baking.
My mind as been all week.

So what did I do today?

I sat down at Photoshop and spent the day trying to figure out a new watermark for my pictures, naturally. By the time Engineer came home, I was ready to pull my hair out. I have told him many times how I wish computer programmers would put in some way of letting you know how to fix all your errors. A window that pops up and tells you why you can't do something and how to fix it would be a lot more helpful than the one that pops up and says "computer illiterate" over and over! Maybe that's just my computer...I'll have to ask Engineer about that.

So....on to the project.

I made this photo cube after seeing it done on Jody Morrow's blog last year. The idea stuck but I never did anything until I saw the new idea book and this stamp set.


Stamps: CTMH Beary Best
Papers: CTMH Back Country Reflections Kit
Inks: Brillance Graphite Black

As soon as I saw these bears, I had to have this set. Even though we only see bears in the zoo here, I love the way they look. And they are fun to color, too! This cube is a perfect way to showcase the four bears in the set and I'd love to show you each of them...but my bed is calling. Stay tuned for pictures of all four sides!

Note To Myself: School Is Almost Over!

It is offically the last week of school!! I woke up the boys this morning telling them, "It's your last Monday of school!" I thought they'd be more excited, but maybe it was because they stayed up too late last night.

Friday is the last day of school. It is also a half day and this makes no sense to me. Why make the kids go for 3 hours? And Loquacious will graduate Kindergarten the night before, but he still needs to go the next day.

I'll just deal with it.

I started thinking a couple of months ago about projects to make for our upcoming RS craft day. It's called Super Saturday and I used to think it was because it was an all day event that let the ladies of the ward come together and make cute stuff and get away from the kids be with other grown ups. You know, "How Super is that!" But now that I'm one of the coordinaters, I'm finding that "Super" to actually mean "Super-anxious-I-don't-know-what-to-do". In coming up with projects for these ladies to choose from, I thought about some super easy memo boards I had seen on some messages boards. And I killed three birds by making it one of my display items and raffle prizes at my open house.



Papers: CTMH Bella Reflections Kit
Cricut: Storybook Cartridge

It is simply a picture frame, an 11x14 in this case, with a scrapbook layout under the glass instead of a picture. The pen is a dry erase marker.

After I created the first one and got it down, I quickly made another one, then realized these colors don't go with anything in my house! But I think I have thought of a home for it...so Ashley, do you have room in your kitchen for this?

Master Crafter

One of the reasons I love being a part of the Close To My Heart family is all the great products available to us as crafters. Another reason is the support it gives all of it's consultants. We are provided with a Training Academy in which we can take classes to learn techniques, about new products, business practices and leadership training. And I am happy to toot my own horn and say that I have earned my Masters Degree in CTMH!

Toot!

Ok, now that my humility has returned, I'll show you another project I made for my open house.

With the end of school upon us, I sense the dreaded, "Mom, I'm bored!" mantra coming in full force. So with that in mind, I took CTMH's My Creations Cube and paired it with the new Tinkerin' papers. And while you can fasten each of the corners to create a cube, I opted to leave the top panel unfastened to make a box. I used the coordinating My Stickease stickers to decorate it along with some pictures of my boys. I created a fastener with a Bigger Brad, Photo Hanger and some stretchy cord I had in a drawer.



Stamps: CTMH Argyle Backgrounds
Inks: CTMH Twilight
Papers: CTMH Tinkerin' Reflections Kit

The purpose of this box is to get the boys to fill it with slips of paper that have fun things to do written on them. I may have to slip in some chores as well, you know, provide character building activities. I will have to have final approval of the things that get put in there. I can just see it, "But Mom, it says we have to go to Disneyland!"

Although, I am entirely for that one myself.

Grin...Oh, Yes...And Bear It

Good evening everyone!

I have returned to the living after the busy weekend. That feeling of serendipity I was having on Friday left sometime Saturday, was replaced with joy on Sunday, and followed by reality on Monday. Yes, Monday was my birthday.

I am $29.95 + s/h, if you were wondering.

Thank you to my friends that stopped by to give me birthday wishes! It was very much exactly what I was needing...after taking two children to the doctor's that day.

The boys took me out to dinner at our favorite Greek restaurant, My Big Fat Greek Restaurant. Then we stopped by Cold Stone on the way home and I got to pick out an ice cream cake, chocolate of course.

So let me share with you one of the projects I worked on for the "Catalog Camp-out". It is a single page layout that I have put in a frame. Now I just need a place to put it.

Stamps: CTMH Rustic Alphabet, Tiny Typewriter Alphabet

Inks: CTMH Brown Bag, Barn Red

Papers: CTMH Back Country Reflections Kit

This is one of the new paper packets in the new Summer Idea Book and I have to confess this is my favorite. I love the plaids and the rustic country trees on some of the sheets. It will be perfect for all the pictures Engineer took on their camp out this past weekend. You did remember to take pictures, right Honey?

Serendipity

This weekend is the start of something wonderful.

I was born on Mother's Day thirty-something, something years ago. And that means every once in a while my birthday falls on or near that most desirous holiday. This year is no exception. And today I got a serendipitous gift...

You see, I have been working my little fingers to the bone making display items for my open house tomorrow. I started weeks ago when I first got my big box of summer items from the new Idea Book. And that's when I planned the date. So imagine my delight when I learned it coincided with a Father/Son camp out. I mean, what would be more perfect. I asked Engineer if he planned to take the boys. He commented that he hadn't planned to because that was my "Scrapbook weekend". I looked at him as though he was crazy and asked him why he thought I would want him to stick around the house for that. He rethought the situation and quickly started planning a camping trip with the boys.

So now I have been in my house, alone, in the peace and quiet for 5 hours now. No TV, no Wii, no crying, no fighting. My stuff is all set up for tomorrow, the snacks will be made in the morning, with no little fingers trying to snatch some away. It is the best Mother's Day/Birthday gift I could ask for right now. Is it awful that time from my boys (all 4) is a great Mother's Day gift?

Ask me tomorrow after I've had a good night's sleep in a bed to myself.