Yesterday I went to a sale at Good JUJU (a fun, funky antique store that is open once a month) and while I was there I picked up this cute chalkboard sign for my son’s room.  Now this isn’t the only thing I bought for his room lately.  There is a lady down at Good JuJu who has been making items just for me in this fun blue paint.  This is the 3rd item I have bought from her in the past 3 months.  I have purchased a dresser, a small nightstand, and now this chalkboard.  All of the items are finished in this distressed blue color and it is starting to look very “pottery barnish” in his room I must say.  I laughed at her yesterday because I wasn’t even planning on buying anything and then when I saw this chalkboard I just couldn’t resist.  I even told her there was no way I was coming back next month and she said “that’s good because I am almost out of that blue paint.”  We had a good laugh but seriously she did me a huge favor.  For less than $150 I have outfitted my son’s entire room.  Now I just need to paint his walls a dark khaki color and we will be almost all done.

So…..I hope everyone has a happy 4th of July.  We watched fireworks last night and will be headed to a friends house tonight for BBQ and lots of neighborhood fun.  Enjoy your holiday.

Hi all!

I wanted to share a quick layout I finished this week. This is CRAZY even for me but I really wanted to try and create a birthday layout using the Jenni Bowlin chipboard banner shapes.  Since I always struggle with birthday themed layouts I wanted to just do a quick layout with my son as the focus.  It was his 6th birthday and that is why you see so many 6’s on here.  And can I tell you how much I LOVE the hambly frames in yellow!  Total delish.

Anyway…we had a “scurvy pirate” theme and I thought he looked hilarious in this mustache.  I just happened to catch him giving me a big “argghhhh” in this shot as he was getting dressed for the party.

So….anyway here is the latest!

I promise I will be back next week with pics of our house all painted and pretty; I am just waiting for my husband to finish removing the tree stump in our front yard because right now it is an eyesore.

Hi all!
I am feeling so guilty today. Guilty I haven’t paid any attention to my personal blog. Guilty I purchased 3 cards over the past weekend instead of hand making my own. Guilty that I am here surfing the net instead of working; and guilty that I want to skip work all together and go buy flowers for the front patio now that my house is all done being painted!

I hope everyone had a marvelous Mother’s Day! I got to sleep late and then my husband made me a delicious brunch! My son got me the cutest handmade paper flower in a pot that he made at school and it is just adorable; it is now sitting proudly on my desk. It was the perfect day.

I will be back later this week with before and after pics of my house! We finally got it painted and our new concrete porch looks like it has always been here. I think the only thing left to do to this house now is a renovation of the backyard and an overhaul of our master bathroom. Once those things are done we will have changed and updated everything from when we originally bought it. Crazy HUH?

Ok…now I need to stop feeling guilty and get back to work

I get a ton of emails.  I mean A TON.  But I never get tired of the emails that pop into my “inbox” when a project or layout I designed is requested by a magazine!  This afternoon I got an email from Scrapbook Trends and they want to add one of my layouts to their September issue.  YEE HAW!

I have been so busy with Pink Paislee that I haven’t had a lot of time to submit projects to magazines this year, but over the past few weeks I made a real effort to send in some things and it paid off! Thank you Paige

Yes another layout! Two projects in a week from me is pretty rare these days huh?  When I printed off my snow pics last week I also printed 2 smaller sizes so I could create another layout about Connor having fun in the snow.  I rarely do winter layouts so I wanted to take advantage of it…

I love the way this turned out; hand cutting that BasicGrey paper took me about an hour on the couch but it was time well spent..LOL! I also love the way our fabric flowers (paislee petals) look on this page.

Hope you enjoy!

I will not be blogging for a bit after today.  I am headed to a store event in Texas this weekend and Jill and I have decided to drive.  Needless to say it isn’t exactly a quick trip!  The good news is I plan on taking lots of pics along the way so I can share those when I get back.

We have lived in our house almost 8 years now and we are finally getting a new porch.  Our house was built with a wood porch which is completely unheard of.  Every other house in our neighborhood has a concrete porch so we have never been able to figure out how our house ended up with wood planks.

So….skip to today.  The concrete truck is here and they are pouring in the concrete as I type!  Once it is all dry and finished I will get out the planters and decorate my new porch.

Next up…new paint colors for the whole house.

Hey everyone…..here is my latest layout.  It almost seems funny to be scrappin snow pics now that it is getting warmer but we got a huge pile of snow last February and I had a few cute pics of Connor playing outside that I wanted to put together in a layout.

I actually used up items in my stash for this one so that felt good!!  I don’t think there was a “newly purchased” item anywhere on here; not that any of that matters but honestly it is nice to be able to pull out older papers and embellishments to create a new project.

In other photos to share…I found this one in my camera and thought I would post a pic here on my blog.  This was taken this past winter right before dark.  I love trees and always have; something about this photo really inspires me.  I was actually sitting in my car when I took this photo and that is why it looks like I am under the tree..LOL!  Anyway….love the blue sky on this!

Chat later!

Most of the people who know me through scrapbooking know that I am addicted to alphabets.  In fact, I have so many packs of alphabets that I needed wall storage to arrange them in a way that would allow me to see them while I scrap.  I have a major problem with “can’t see it, won’t use it.”  Also…..I am very bad at adding handwriting to my layouts so I use alphas in all sizes and shapes to create titles and journaling bits.  I also have mini alpha stamps stored on the bottom shelf of the Making Memories wall organizer and chipboard alphabets in the small jars sitting on the wall shelf.  There are letters EVERYWHERE.

Now here is another secret….this isn’t all of them!  I still have an entire basket full of odd packaged letters, chipboard letters, etc.  The ones hanging here are mostly stickers and rub-on letters.  The funny thing is…once I added the Pink Paislee stickers to the wall this past weekend I realized why our stickers are so popular.  The COLORS!  I mean look at the variety we offer.  I just love seeing all those fun and bright color options!

Anyway….I thought it was time that I shared a few pics of my “alpha wall of shame.”

I plan on redoing the paint color soon and once all that is done I will show off the remainder of the scrap studio!

Chow for now

Is this crazy or what?  How do you store your alphas?

For about a year now our son (who is an only child) has been asking us for a puppy and up until about 2 months ago I was always quick to say “no way!”

But recently…I have been getting the itch myself and have slowly and very quietly started looking for a breed of dog that might be the perfect fit for us.  Or more honest a perfect fit for Connor because I think he needs a buddy around the house.  We want a small dog. We want a dog that doesn’t shed. We want a dog that doesn’t “eat us out of the house at home” and we want a dog that isn’t hyperactive or too aggressive.   It seemed like a lot to ask for and then I stumbled upon a breeder here in our hometown who breeds a mix of poodle, maltese, yorkie and long hair chihauhau’s.  Similar to a Maltipoo her dogs stay under 10 lbs and they don’t shed.  Great for families with allergies and calm families like ours. I mean seriously just look at this face:

So…today we went to look at the dogs. They were actually already sold and reserved but we fell in love!  They were playful but lovable and very calm (even for 8 month old puppies.) Connor actually started crying when we couldn’t take one home even though we explained to him in advance that we would have to wait until the next liter is available!

Seriously we might be losing our minds but I think we are ready to add to our family!  Waiting will probably be the hardest part now.

Seriously! How in the world does a month go by before I get back to this blog?  Ya know…..ever since I joined Facebook it seems like I use that to catch up with friends old and new.  I wonder if anyone reads blogs anymore     It just seems like everyone reads all the status updates from their friends on Facebook each day and then they move on.

So what is going on in my life?  Lots…..here are a few tidbits:

1.) my son is learning to read.  I mean really READ.  I hardly even have to help him right now.  He is sounding through all the words really well!  I am so proud of him!  He is a little math whiz too!

2.) my husband is going to turn 44 in a few days (the 15th) and we are both talking alot about the future and just how old we are starting to feel…LOL!

3.) my 20 year high school reunion is this year and I will be helping organize and brainstorm ideas with a bunch of other girls.  Anyone have any fun ideas??

4.) my motto that “change is good” is still true!  We are taking our business in a new direction and it is scary and exciting at the same time.

5.) I am just waiting for the weather to get a little warmer so I can start walking / jogging.  It is finally time to lose the weight I have added over the past 3-4 years.  I am hoping 3-4 months is all I need to get rid of it.  Wish me luck!

Well I think that is enough sharing for the night.  I hate blogging without photos so here is a quick one of me goofing around with Connor! ( he loves taking photos with the MAC photobooth)

Talk to everyone soon!