Ahhhh...the weekend!

Do you ever look around you and think "What happened?" That's kinda where I am today. My house is an absolute mess. I have no groceries. I can't find any of my clothes. And I'm pretty sure I've forgotten to do about five things this week...but I'm not sure what they are. This isn't good.

On the bright side, my PTA silent auction is over (and it was a success), there's a good chance my job will slow down this week (mostly because no one is working this week) and I have nothing on the agenda for today, tonight or tomorrow morning, so maybe...just maybe...I can start getting caught up again.

Speaking of catching up, here are a couple of projects I finished but never posted. This first one was for a challenge at Scrap-Friendzy. It was a "Thanksgiving Menu" challenge, so I chose items from the menu, then I found out what the corresponding scrapbooking items were that I had to use. So my challenge recipe ended up being:

• corn fritters = eyelets or brads
• Ham = 2 photos
• green bean casserole = 3 different patterned paper with some green in it
• apple cider = ink
• cranberry sauce = journaling strips

And here's the layout I did...


It's quickly become one of my "sentimental favorites" because I know that I will look back on this layout someday and smile at how cute my daughter was with her first little crush. I also like the little border I created with the eyelets. I'm finally starting to see the value of my Crop-a-Dile!

Another challenge at Scrap-Friendzy was to create a card with the scraps from your last layout, so I created this card for my coworker, Sharisse, who celebrated her birthday this week.


The papers are by Sassafras Lass and Crate Paper, and the chipboard pieces on the layout are by Cosmo Cricket.

And now, I think it's time to try and straighten up my house...at least enough to find my clothes!

Thanks for visiting!

Little Farmers

It's another rainy Monday, and even worse, I woke up at 5 a.m. -- though my alarm was set to let me sleep until 6. The dreaded cough that has hung on for the past six weeks woke me up again, so I'm calling the doctor today. No more trying to be tough and hoping that Mucinex will fix it eventually. I think six weeks of misery is enough, don't you?

How about a little pop of brightness on this dreary Monday morning? Here's a layout I did yesterday for one of the online crop challenges at Scrap-Friendzy. It was based on a sketch by Jana Eubank, and it turned out completely different than I thought it would...in a good way.


I used the Kenner Road kit from October (Sassafras Lass, Cosmo Cricket and Crate Paper), plus a few things from my Jenni Bowlin "junque box."


These chipboard letters are from the BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses line. I'm lovin' the woodgrain look these days.


I hope your week is off to a better start than mine. Thanks for stopping by!

The Holiday Countdown is on!

If you haven't checked out the "Countdown to the Holidays" crop at Scrap-Friendzy this weekend, you NEED to get over there! There are some really fun and inspiring challenges, each designed to get you ready for the holidays. Just go to the forum and look for the "Countdown Crop" section.

For my challenge, I created a set of holiday gift tags using punches.

I used a circle punch for the snowman, a square punch for the gift boxes, my beloved loopy border punch (by Martha Stewart) for the Christmas tree and the apron lace border punch (by Fiskars) for the "Frosty" tag.

All of the papers are from the Imaginisce Polar Expressions line, which I am giving away to one of my lucky commenters to my last post. Are you ready to find out who it will be?

Are you sure?

Ok...guess I should draw a name. Off to Random.org...

And it is...

Commenter #12 ... Heather Getson!

Heather, please email your address to me at robmab at yahoo dot com. I will get your prize pack out this week. Congrats!!!

Who likes free stuff? Me! Me! Me!

If you're a Facebook junkie like me (or even if you aren't), here's a super easy way to win some free goodies from Imaginisce and Glue Arts (the makers of my new favorite adhesive...the GlueGlider Pro)!

Here's what you have to do...

And because I love a little friendly competition as much as the next girl, leave me a comment below telling me that you're a Facebook fan of Imaginisce and Glue Arts, and I'll enter you into a drawing for some yummy Imaginisce goodies from the Polar Expressions line.

The deadline for my giveaway is midnight (Central time) on Saturday, November 21. I'll draw a winner on Sunday!

Let the games begin!

Feelin' the love

Wow, so many new visitors! Welcome, welcome, welcome!! I hope you'll visit often! And thanks for all the congrats. I can still hardly believe it...it's very surreal.

Last night, I decided to tackle the weekly layout sketch at Paper Popsicles. It was kinda late when I started (probably 9:30 or so), and I got about halfway done and had to go to bed. Too bad, because I was on a bit of a roll and really didn't want to leave it unfinished, but my body was telling me otherwise. So I called it a night.

I finally got back to it this afternoon and it came together really quickly. It's simple, but that's kinda the way I've been scrapping lately. I'm into the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, scrapper!) methodology!


I really love the colors in these papers. They're by Scrap Within Reach, and they're nice and thick and double-sided...all the things I love in a patterned paper! Plus, the little ticket sticker was perfect for the theme of this layout.


The only downside of this layout is that it really got me craving a Fletcher Corny Dog. It's going to be a long wait until the fair returns next September!

Have a great Saturday!

Cat's Out of the Bag

Phew! It's been a loooooong 24 hours trying to keep this news to myself, but I can finally announce that I've been selected for the Imaginisce Design Team!!!!!

I absolutely love working with Imaginisce products, so this is one of those "dream gigs" I never really expected to get. Even more amazing are the other ladies on the team, some of whom I've been following via blogs and galleries because their work has been so inspiring.

And because I feel the need to share some Imaginisce love, here's the layout I submitted for the tryout.

[photo removed for publication]

Check out the rest of the Design Team on the Imaginisce blog. And have a wonderful weekend!

Squirrely Goodness

My dogs might hate 'em, but I gotta admit: squirrels are pretty darn cute. And when I was trying to figure out what to use on my card for this week's Paper Popsicles blog sketch, a squirrel ended up being just what I needed. (Don't tell my dogs, okay?)


And since, for me, cards are like potato chips -- I can never stop at just one -- I made this one, too. No squirrels here.


Thanks for stopping by! Happy Friday!!

Yummy Deal at Scrapbook Steals!

Check out this yumminess from Pink Paislee...

It's their Creative Christmas line, but as a mom of girls, I can see TONS of possibilities for this line outside of traditional Christmas layouts. I just love the colors and patterns!

It's the deal of the day on Scrapbook Steals today...while supplies last. And it's coming to my house for the bargain price of $14.99 + shipping. Woohoo!!!

What's your story?

One of my favorite questions to ask people is: "How did you meet your spouse/significant other?" There's usually a good story there. I remember my grandmother once telling me the story of when she met my grandfather. She described him as "a Rounder" and said that, when she first laid eyes on him, she knew she never wanted to date him. They ended up being married for 49 years...best friends until the day he died.

Maybe it's the romantic in me, but I just love hearing those stories. My story is a little different, but I'm proud of it. After all, it brought me to Adam and there's no happier ending than that. So of course, I created a layout.



I also experimented a little with Shimmerz on the Pink Paislee chipboard. I first painted it in acrylic paint, then alternated coats of Fire Engine Red and Choc-o-lot Shimmerz to give it a nice rich texture.

I've been published!!

I submitted a few layouts to eZines back in September. It was my first time submitting anything for publication, so I really didn't expect much. When I got an email back from Jami Petersen of Scrapbooking.com about publishing one of my layouts, I couldn't believe it. It made the November issue, which you can see here.

Sadly, I haven't had time to submit much since then, but seeing my work highlighted gives me new motivation to get back into submission mode. Maybe I'll even try for a print publication...someday!