calling Tammy, come in Tammy...

This message is for my lucky winner, Tammy.

I'm having a tough time getting in touch with you. I have tried replying to your emails, but you think they may be blocked? I also tried the Yahoo Messenger...never done it before and don't know if you got that message. So, just know I'm trying to reach you! Hang in there with me!

we have a winner...

Through a highly complex and mathematical equation, a winner was selected! Tammy Borst is the lucky winner! Congrats Tammy. She will now get to pick her favorite Simple Sweet color family for her prize!

Hope everyone had a great Scrapbooking Day, I wished my husband Happy Scrapbooking Day yesterday and he looked at me like I had actually gone off the deep end! I didn't do anything scrapping related...we sold our house finally and are under a time crunch to get stuff for the new one picked, ready, and installed. So, it was off to select, or re-select tile, look at granite slabs, lighting - just a jumble of stuff! It's all good though.

giveaway...

Okay, this is a first for me. I'm going to do a giveaway - maybe more than one! This comes from fun as well as necessity. We are moving and I have a ton of scrapping stuff that I don't want to move and would rather share! I'm selling some of my product - Simple Sweet stuff on Ebay in color coordinated kits, but I thought I would give some away here...my first RAK.

So, post your answer to this question in the comments section and I will do a random drawing - I need at least 20 comments so pass this along!

Question: What is the one, UNIQUE, scrapbooking tool you can't live without? Something more than just trimmers and journaling pens ;)

The winner will get to choose their favorite Simple Sweet kit for their prize! Here is an example in the Meadow color family:

Good Luck!

a change...

I like change. Well, I actually like little changes - ones that don't involve a lot of thinking and a lot of work. Like my hair. I change my hair style quite often and when I do, it's a little easier to do - (refer to layout below). Less hair equals less time. Oh, this layout goes so well with the new color scheme of the blog too!



So, I changed the look of my blog. Not hard to change - not as hard as I thought it would be, just pick a new template. I have been wanting to change it for awhile now, but just never did. I decided to this time because I wanted to add the MM Idol logo to my side bar and display it with pride and I needed to update the template to accomodate a picture so here it is. Someday, I want to venture into a more personalized touch. Create and add some of my own elements. Right now though, I have no idea how to do that, so this is good enough for now!

15 years ago...

today, I was married for time and eternity to my sweetheart and friend.

Yes, I used to die my hair red - at least at the time of my wedding. It has been several other colors too but we remember the red because of the wedding pictures. 15 years seems like a lot. Especially when I look at how young (and thinner) we were in this picture. Four kids later and working on our 3rd home, we're doing pretty good I think! Going out to dinner tonight...somewhere fancy!

Oh, and Chloe made the lead in her school's 6th grade play - she will be Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. What an accomplishment! We would try to help her ahead of time with her lines and, it's hard to recite and speak Shakespeare talk. I'm very proud of ya, kid.

panic...

Seriously, I had a small moment of panic yesterday. I thought I missed putting up the next challenge for MM Idol. It was weird that after 7 weeks of challenges, I didn't have one to do and it freaked me out a little! There is a little interview up at the Making Memories site...about me. I still can't believe it's over - but I'm really so excited!

I love this Easter picture of Chloe - she was so fun during the contest. She would tell all of her friends and teachers about it and remind them to vote every week. It was so neat to see how proud of me she was and how excited about it all.

And, our house is STILL for sale. This is so stressful. It's been on the market for about 5 weeks and we have shown it close to 30 times. Not even one offer yet. There are so many houses in our neighborhood for sale too so that makes it harder. I had one agent come and walk through and ask if they could leave their car in front to go look at other houses - I mean they are in walking distance. Our house is more money than the other houses too, it's bigger with more upgrades and that makes it harder to compete. Our new house will be finished in about 7 to 8 weeks and I really want this one under contract so I can focus on the new one!

this is it...

...a very special day for Isabel - her birthday! Happy 9th Birthday, Isabel! She is growing up so fast and accomplishing so much - and she is so stinkin' cute in her sassy Easter dress. Love you lots!

...and here it is:

my entry for the MM Idol contest. I was informed a little more than an hour ago that:

I WON!!!!! Thank you to everyone who voted, and encouraged me, and stood by me! Thank you to my husband Scott, who was just a nervous as I was and thank you to Chloe, my cute daughter who announced to everyone what it was and what they needed to do! I am so excited for what lies ahead - challenges and opportunities.

the FINAL challenge...

Wow. I can't believe the final MM Idol challenge is here! You can see the projects and vote HERE.

I just want to send a big THANK YOU out to all of you who have been voting and participating in this contest. It means so much to be picked from such fabulous creations to go forward each week. It feels awsome and I am amazed I am here! And, regardless of who you vote for, it is the voting that makes this contest - so thank you!!

So, if you haven't done it yet...GO VOTE!

inquiring minds want to know...

Okay. I'm a snack lover. It shows in my waistline (among other places), and it's pretty bad when I can call a few snacks a meal - and not a very good example to the kids either! So, I have a question for you; but I'll get to that in a minute.

My new friend, Wilna - you might know her as the first and most fabulous MM Idol, has asked me to help her in an awsome RAK she is doing. She needs you to answer a question - in the form of a comment on MY blog. Then, to be eligible for the RAK, she needs you to visit some other blogs and leave comments there too. Here is her blog: Wilna, so you can see what else you need to do!

So, now to the question you need to answer: "What is your all time favorite scrapping snack?" If you care to elaborate on your answer, feel free to!

The layout posted above is all about one of my son's favorite summer time snacks. It's just something you have to eat in the hot summer heat and everything about it is appealing - the intense color, the refreshing cool down in your mouth, and the blast of fruity flavor...yummm.

Welcome...to the final challenge...

Yes - I made it - top 3 of MM Idol! I'm actually a little shocked and surprised - the competition was really amazing and I was so nervous! So a huge THANK YOU to everyone who voted...even if it wasn't for me - your support of this contest is great and very much appreciated by all of us.


If you didn't know already, this was mine. Such a fun challenge with chipboard!

MM Idol Challenge #6

It is that time again...voting has opened for the next round of MM Idol - go HERE. You will notice that there are no names or recognizable family pictures associated with any of the entries. They wanted this challenge to be a truly anonymous project - for the focus to be on the technique and not the person. The technique was to do something new with chipboard.

There are several things I have loved about these challenges each week, the first is the parameters. I like limits. I truly believe - for me - that limits and boundaries cultivate creativity. I'm a little leary about this project though, espcially after seeing the other fabulous creations by the other 4 finalists. They are pretty amazing! I have also enjoyed Wilna's encouraging words on the Making Memories blog. She was the first MM Idol last year and if you have ever seen her stuff, you know why. I look forward to her weekly inspiration and have been able to learn something new every time.

So, if you haven't voted yet - get to it!

WhooooooHoooooo!!!!

Just releaved....I made the top 5 on MM Idol! Thanks so much to friends and family who have been following me on this journey and supporting me with your votes. Here was my project...

...I will get the next challenge a little later today - so you have stuck with me this far, now let's take it all the way baby!

well, did ya?

vote - I mean. There are still just under two hours to vote for the 5th challenge. It was an anonymous post this time, but anyone who knows me or my family will be able to figure out which one is mine - especially if you have the "time" to look :). I'll post the project when the voting is closed.

It is amazing some of the stuff you can find on YouTube! Here is a darling little home made video we found one day, just doing a search on our last name. It's a little dorky in a sweet way - listen to the words. Chris is not related to us (that I know of) but anyone who writes a song about Disney Princesses is okay in my book!

Let's Party...

Challenge #4 is up and it's all about a party so GO HERE to vote! Here is what I did for this challenge - an Expedition Party. The invitation and "field journal" for the scavenger hunt.

Every party needs a favor - mine doubles as a tool box that every explorer needs when going on an expedition.

What's a party without the goodies? Here, I made a pudding/"dirt desser" with the leftovers from the fossil dig!

top 15...

here I come! Thanks to everyone for all the votes - this next challenge should be so fun. It's all about a party and I'll share more details later on. I've just got to decide what to do!

Challenge #3 is open for voting...

So, on this week's challenge, we had to get back to the basics and use a limited number of things for our project. Paper, ribbons, brads, buttons, and pictures were the basic list of what we could use and the project was totally up to us. I opted to create a canvas wall hanging that I basically just adhered a layout to. The canvas was also something that could be used, and I didn't paint it or anything, just used the plain, white canvas.

Voting has begun and as always, I would love your vote! 10 people will be cut this week taking the total down to 15. So, even if I don't make it to the next round, I really love this wall hanging of my Princess JillyBean - it is now one of my favorites! Thanks for your support and go vote!

ding ding...round #2...

The challenge for this week was to create something you can do with a kid. One of my favorite crafts to do when I was a kid was shrinky dinks so Isabel and I updated our designs and materials and made some funky and graphic buttons to decorate a lampshade. It turned out darling...

...almost as cute as my helper...

So, now Round #2 has begun with the voting. This is such a fun contest and the competition is really underway. The other finalists have made some awsome projects - everything looks so fun and colorful. Check it out and place your vote: MM Idol - of course, I would love your vote if you feel so inclined!

MM Idol top 30...

Whooohooo. Thank you everyone who voted me through to the next round! I am having so much fun with this! The next task is going to be so much fun - I will post later on the details. So, as these things go...come back and vote again on the next round. It should be a very interesting round full of awsome creativity!

let the voting begin...again...

Okay - voting has started for the first round of MM Idol - again. The slate was wiped clean after all of the technical problems last week so even if your vote went through, you need to do it again.

Here is the link to the site: VOTE HERE. I'm really looking forward to this fun process and hope to go on to the next round! Go vote and have fun!

good news keeps on coming...

I am so excited and honored to have been invited to join the Junkitz design team! I have gotten to know Stacey over the past few years at various CKU events and just love her not to mention Janna and Teresa (designers) who's talent is as amazing as their personalities are fun and giving.

I really enjoy being on design teams. They give me the creative push I need and keep me current in the latest products and trends. So a big THANKS to Junkitz for giving me this oppotunity - it's gonna be great!

I also wanted to share this "oh so fun" project - a class that I created for All My Memories last week. I call it a Boutique Bag since it just looks like something you would pick up in a fun boutique somewhere. It is also totally unique because it is created by you - no two will ever be alike! This is such a fun way to dabble in doodling - and easy since you use the "stack-em" templates for the doodles!