Tony, Tim and Tired!!!

I have had a very busy (beyond busy!) week. At work it was the end of month/end of the quarter slam. The sales reps have projects that need to be completed, paperwork that needs to be faxed in etc. Now, let me just say they have "3 monthes!" to do this....but it always ends up being completed during the LAST week of the quarter. Anyways, I was quite prepared this time. I had a large ice coffee everday and I had my 12 pack of Mountain Dew energy soda for the rest of the day. These definately were a big help. I was in the zone! I was working 6-6:30 am til 5:30 at night. It was crazy. I was tired, but I survived!! At night I was working on my DT projects for Paper Jam Studio and my circle journal that I am doing with the Studio Calico gals. Late nights, early morings and LOTS of caffeine!!!

So I made it through the week, but I also had quite a weekend planned. Saturday I headed up to Loudon, NH for Nascar weekend. Saturday was the Busch race and I am so proud to say, My man Tony Stewart was the winner. Oh yah, he ROCKS!!!

Though I was not there on Sunday for the big race. I did get to see my 2 favorite guys practice. First, here is Tony:

And Dale jr :

Although it was gray and overcast all day, it was quite warm and did not rain til later! It was a bummer for me to miss the race on Sunday. I saw that Tony (should have won and was very disappointed), but that he won instead:

This was the 1st time in many years that I missed the Sunday June\July Loudon race, but there was a good reason. I got to see HIM:

Oh yah...life is good! My friend Debbie and I took a road trip to Hyannis, MA to a store called 'Colorful Creations' to take a class with the AMAZINGLY FUN Tim Holtz . We made a really COOL Grungeboard book:

Tim was lots of FUN and very animated:

This was Debbies first class with Tim and my third. WOW! She did not know what to expect and was very pleased! Here we are:

And here is Tim being Tim. Ta-da....

It was a CRAZY week and now I rest... :-)

Cards..

These are couple of cards I made on Friday, based on sketches at Got Sketch 101. Cards are not my thing and they usually take me longer to make than a LO.

By the time I am done, I just do not want to give them away. Seems that it would not be appreciated enough.

But, since now I have a few made up and stored away, when I FINALLY do give them away, I will forget about all that and just let the person enjoy it. Do you ever feel that way???

TGIF

We had to run an emergency errand late this afternoon. I didn't really mind, because it had poured all day and we had been couped up in the house. Since Bryant was really good all day, we surprised him and brought him to this really cool park. Yes, the weather had much improved! He loved it and had a blast. He ran all around like a crazy monkey. Here are few fun pics that I took:

He can now cross the monkey bars all by himself. This is a big accomplishment. He could not do this without assistance, just a few months ago:

Just looking CUTE on the tire swing:

I have to say, I am not from Massachusetts, but do live here at the moment. I have to say today I saw two of the craziest signs. I had to take pics! The first one is this:

Very strange indeed! AND then I saw this! What???!! Only here...

Still working on LO's for 'Got Sketch 101'. I am kinda digging this 2 page LO. It has been a while since I have done a two pager. Finally got to scrap these pics from a class I took with Tim Holtz last August. I just scrapped these and I am going to be taking a class with him next week! :-)

This is the whole LO:

To see it better, here is page one:

And here is page two:

I also just recieved my new Paper Jam Studio kit for my July projects. Lots of scrappin' to do. Very busy. Very excited! TGIF!!!

You are my Sunshine

Yesterday, I got little surprise in with my normal "work" mail. The first thing I thought when I saw the yellow envelope was, 'it's not my Birthday til next month...'? Then I recognized the handwriting and then I saw the postmark. It was from Nashville and I knew it was from one of my favorite regional managers for our company. I adore this guy and would have to say that he is definately in my top 10 favorite co-workers. (Okay, maybe even the top 3.) I have a few favorites. We love to talk Nascar. I always enjoy chatting on the phone when we can or via e-mail. We LOVE our Nascar fix. Anyways, it was a 'Thank You' card for all I do (my job) for him and his group. Inside it said 'Thanks! You put a big smile in my workday'. So sweet!

He also puts a smile in my workday and this card meant a lot to me! Did I happen to mention that he is also on vacation this week and still thought to send this to me? Ladies Love Country Boys...

Studio Calico Fun!! Scrap on!!

I really am having FUN shopping my stash. I am rediscovering things that I forgot about and having a great time delving (sp?) into my kits. I have so many and really have been hoarding them them. So this weekend I pulled out a couple of my Studio Calico kits and had a grand old time! This first one is a very simple LO. I saw an article in the new CK by Ali Edwards about puting together photos that do not match and really making them work. I had these 2 pics from Easter last year. One from home and one from Grammys house. I really wanted to scrap them together, but could never make it work. After reading the article, I gave it another try. It worked! This is what I came up with:

I have had these 'teething pics for years now! I really had fun with this LO, though not a FUN subject! The colors just all blend together so well:

This one was just plain FUN! I LOVE Bryant's smile (and laugh!) :

Hope you are off to a great week! I have another project to work on for the Got Sketch 101 class. It is never ending...and I do not mind. Scrap on!!!

Happy Fathers Day!

I have a bunch of 'Dad & Me' type LO's that I have done, but I really like this oldy but, goody!

One of my favorite things are the 'screw' brads that look so real. Aren't they cool?!! Hope everyone enjoyed their Dads day. Have a good night! Go Celtics!! :-)

Just a Quickie...

I literally threw this LO together. It was based on one of the sketches over at Got Sketch 101 . It was really for a journal cover, but I wanted more out of it than that. I even got to create some more of the famous Janna flowers. LOVE these!! Plus, I have been wanting to scrap this pic of 2 of my scrappin' buddies. AND... I am still shopping my stash. I have no money and God knows I have enough stuff to open my own store!! Seriously!!! Love this Stampin' Up paper I have and since I have a boy, I had not really used it. Here, again, was my oppurtunity:

Happy Saturday.... :-)

Scrap Happenings...

I wanted to share some more fun pages that I have created through Got Sketch 101. This class is really kicking my scrappy butt! Who knew there could be so many takes on one sketch! Seriously! There are some talented ladies over there! The first one I did here is with some pics that I took of Bryant last year on Halloween. He was a Red Sox player. He was a HUGE hit in the neighborhood and that scored him a lot of extra candy. Gotta LOVE that!

The next one would be all about my obsession with Tony Stewart . Oh ya, this girl LOVES the 'Bad Boy' of Nascar (and was so excited and LUCKY!!) to see him IRL!!

I even had him sign my LO!!

I had pre-ordered this back in January or February. Anyways it just came and it is so COOL! I love Elsie and her friends whimsical style!

I love this LO! It almost looks like the cover of my circle journal. FYI, I completed the cover before this even arrived! :-)

I got to meet Elsie, a couple of years ago now. Just before she became the great business woman that she is. Loved her class. We made this. Ain't it cool! Gotta LOVE Scenic Route!! My camera died that day, so I was not able to get any pics of my own. The sweet store owner printed me some copies of hers. I made this LO with one of the pics she gave me, along with a pic of my autograghed book. Elsie was so sweet and genuine. I am so glad that I met her! :-)

I recieved a little bit of sad news today. The scrapbook store where I met Elsie, is going out of business. Not by choice, but with the price of gas and oil most people can not afford any extras and she can not afford the utility bills at the store. This is very sad indeed.

Also, today I recieved my last Scarlet Lime kit. For the same reasons above, I can not afford any extras for a while. It is a bummer indeed! The kit is BEAUTIFUL as always....

I am okay though, don't worry. Hope I didn't bum you out! Let's end on a happy note...a VERY HAPPY note...

Sweet Dreams!!

Scrappy Challenge Fun

I wanted to share some more of the fun projects that I have been working on. I am always up for a great scrappy challenge. There are so many out there to try. They really can get the old creative juices flowing. KWIM?? These are just a few that I have tried lately. The first one is the blog challenge over at Studio Calico. It was to use scaps left over from one of their kits. I used my scraps from the 'Sherwood Forrest' kit. I cut them into strips to create a 'woven ribbon' look. I also used strips to frame the photo. Love the embelishments and Heidi Swapp metalic chipboard letters too. I like a good reason to use up my scraps, 'cause I NEVER throw any of it away. It will get used! This was the perfect opportunity. Plus I have had this pic of my son for many, many, many moons (he is now 8!) This pic is so cute and was just waiting for the PERFECT LO:

This beautiful card is a little workshop over at Nancy Vandenberg's blog. She has the cutest card designs. Here is my take on her newest tutorial :

What more can I say about Got Sketch 101? This class officially starts tomorrow, but the pre-class projects have been so much FUN! Plus, I am getting to use my stash and get some much needed scrapping done. Lots of great gals over there to. Getting so inspired! LOVE that!

Oooooooo....and last but not least...I got to see the amazing (& very sexy!) Tim Mcgraw in concert last night. I have seen Tim many, many times in concert. Sigh..he is just AWESOME! I wanted to share this LO I made for a challenge at the Junkitz site last year. Some co-worker friends of mine gave this to me for my birthday a couple of years back. Imagine walking into your office and there was Tim to greet you for your birthday. SWEET!

So...check out the challenges above and if you know of a great challenge.. Please share! :-)

More Things that Make Me Smile

Bryant had a little concert at school today. I was just so happy to be there. The kids did a great job! As you can see the shirt did not stay tucked in. Oh well I tried! He still looked CUTE and he was so happy that I was there.

I wanted to share this project I am starting on. I am going to be part of a 'Circle Journal' group with some amazingly talented girls from over at Studio Calico . This is going to be a huge project and I am so Proud to be part of it. I have only completed the front cover so far, but I am so pleased with it. Looking forward to its completion months from now.

I also got some great news recently. I am continuing with my DT work at Paper Jam Studio . This is very exciting. Each member of the DT is now going to to show what they can do with the new kit each month. I LOVE everyones different takes on the same kit. All different and all fabulous. Looking forward to this new adventure. Check it out when you get a chance!

Also the beautiful Miss Nancy has a new card tutorial up on her blog. This gal is so creative! Again...LOVE her! A couple more things that really made my day are this . Love this 'Just Kathy!!' And last but not least, an e-mail from her made my day!

Just know these things, no matter how small, have all put a big smile on this girls face. A much needed smile... :-)

Got Sketch 101 Rocks!!

This FABULOUS class officially starts on June 9th, but there is a lot of buzz going on over here. Lots of pre-class activities and just getting to know people. It is very COOL!! They have had a couple of pre-class sketches out there to give us a feel for what is to come. Here are my first 2 LO attempts. I was quite pleased how quickly and easily they came together. For the first one I FINALLY scrapped Bryant's school pic to put in his school album:

For the second one I scrapped these silly pics that I took earlier this year. They make me laugh!

This class is gonna be so much FUN! You know I LOVE sketches. Whether they are my own or someone elses, they are a GREAT starting point. Plus, I can never get enough of Janna Wilson . That gal is an AMAZING talent!!!

SEX and the CITY...the Movie

I saw it!! I am so excited! I think this may be one of my first 'grown up' movies in many, many months. Not that I do not enjoy the many Disney/Pixar flics that I have seen. But, WOW! I really loved this show. I have missed it so! It was like catching up with some old friends. I love that these gals are my age. You just 'get' them. They do not try to hide their age. They look their age and they totally accept who they are. I can see so many parts of their personalities in me (some more than other-KWIM?!!)

The movie was AWESOME! I went with one of my BFF's. We laughed. We cried! We laughed some more AND we cried even more. I LOVE to be able to be so into a story (movie, book, etc) that you can just let yourself go and totally feel for what is happening in the moment.

So for finally being able to see a 'grown up' movie, I am so glad that it was this one. These gals are 'Da Bomb!!