The easiest cards around...

I had the awsome apportunity to meet a new creative friend at a Stampin' Up! party a few weeks agao. Elizabeth Jensen has this yummy (literally) company that has the cutest card kits ever! Cherries Jubilee Creations is going to be featured today on Studio 5 at 11:00 AM. Go on over and see just how fun and easy the kits are.

Here are a few cards I made as well as a quick page...

The kits come with 6 folded and pre-printed card bases and 12 double sided papers to build on those cards, play and make them your very own.

There is also a page with design and word strips as well as die cut tags, embellishments, brads and ribbon - all for the awsomely low price of $9.99! I made four cards and one scrapbook page and still have supplies to make at least one more card. So cute and so fun.

Good luck today, Elizabeth! Click for the Cherries Jubilee Creations blog.

win before you can buy...

Hi all - it's CHA time again and Making Memories has a fabulous chance to win NEW stuff - BEFORE you can even buy it! So, go to their blog for hourly chances and good luck!

Here's a page with just a little of what's to come...

This fabulous product makes me excited for Christmas - so beautiful! So - go to Making Memories blog and good luck winning!

B-Day and Cook...

Happy Birthday to Scott - my dear, sweet, hubby! The kids were so exited to give him is 'big' present... a basketball standard. The were even more excited to help him put it together - and then to help him play with it.

All this was going on while I was inside, eyeballs glued to the TV and the American Idol finale. I was torn between the two Davids - Archiletta being from Utah - where I live now, and even from Murray, where I grew up. He is incredibly talented. And then David Cook whose voice and originality is so very appealing to me - love the whole rocker image and sound. I really did want Cook to win - way back at the beginning when he did that cool version of Eleanor Rigby - I really wanted him. It's the first season that I've watched where someone I wanted actually won!

Good times. And music.

design off...

This past Saturday, I had the awsome opportunity to participate in a contest of sorts. A "design off" if you will between three other teams. I was asked to represent Making Memories and we were up against CK Media, All My Memories, and Roberts crafts. The task was to design an outdoor chair using scrapbooking supplies, paint, and anything else we could think of.

Of course, I wanted to use the new 5th Avenue papers from MM - the black and white is my absolute favorite and that little sprinkle of aqua blue and green really adds some flair. The chair turned out great - although we didn't win; but it was also a lot of fun.

Gail, Jenny, and my friend Teresa helped me out in this little task and overall we were very satisfied with our creation. You really can't go wrong when using such fabulous products - gotta love Making Memories!

two more weeks...

Here are two more weeks in my weekly journal. Week 5 found me sick in bed after just getting myself certified for Scuba. Week 6 was yesterday and I forgot to post it then.

two away...

No, this isn't a post about a close basketball score or some other sporting event where our team barely lost. Nope - actually it's my birthday today and having been reminded many times by first my husband and children and then my mom calling, I'm two away. Two small and short years away from the big four-oh.

On a happier tune, I joined the throngs of iPod owners and got my first as my birthday present. It's been a ton of fun too - I've played with it and downloaded many CD's to it all day. I don't feel bad about wasting time though, it's my birthday after all and I'm almost 40. I need a little fun.

Here's a picture - I'm listening to my newest addition to my musical repertoire; a b-side song by one of my very favorite bands...My Chemical Romance. So - happy birthday to me and have a great day.

week 3 & 4...

So, I've already been a bit lax in posting my weekly journal pages. Here are the last two. My goal this week is to make more base pages so I can quickly slap a picture down and add a few thoughts.

As you can see by these pages, it doesn't have to be fancy and complicated. The journaling is the important part. How are you doing?

i've got that...

My good friend Molly emailed me this newly diagnosed disorder. I realized I have been suffering from it for several years now...obviously a younger than average case! Anyway, I wanted to post the symptoms here to alert anyone else who happens along.

AAADD- KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden, as I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.
I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor and the flowers didn't get much.
So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
The flowers don't have enough water
There is still only 1 check in my check book
I can't find the remote
I can't find my glasses
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day,
And I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it.
But first, I'll check my e-mail...
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

week two...

Did you think I forgot already about the little album I'm making this year? Well, I haven't. I just didn't post the first page yet, because it will be an 'inspiration with joey' project on the Making Memories blog sometime this month. But - here's the 2nd week!






I'm getting excited about his project...I think it will be do-able and fun. I don't think it will be overwhelming - as long as I can keep up on the pages before hand, making a small reserve to select from each week. Using the Noteworthy Line from MM is perfect since it is so broad and non-specific. I desperately need to find more of it. Everywhere I go is sold out of the journaling pages and usually only has about half of the other papers. You'd think since I live in the scrapbooking mecca of the U.S., I could find stuff easier!


It was Oaken's birthday on Friday - he is now 6 years old. It doesn't seem like he has been with us that long. It also reminds me of how old our car is getting...we bought it a month before he was born. Maybe it's time to start looking for a new one before this one starts falling apart.


He had a pirate party where 7 of his friends came. I was grateful to have Chloe, Isabel, and her friend Noelle here to help herd the stampede of 8 little boys through the house. It was a riot to see them during the treasure hunt running between levels of our house searching for the next clue. The stairs became a bottleneck as you can see.




Here are the clues I made up...giving the boys one to start with and having each lead to another place in the house. The treasure at the end was their goody bags. It turned out so cute!

Our quest will start at the base of this place,
where the outside meets inside, in a nice shady space.

Music a plenty can be heard from this room,
to find the next clue, go where instruments loom.

Up and away to the next level of fun,
to your hosts room a clue, but only just one.

Around and around will these clues make you go,
find the place where the sliding glass meets the snow.

This next clue will make you stop in your tracks,
these are the kind that sound “clickity-clack."

Here is a place where great vehicles stay,
Get there by going the back, hidden way.

Getting warm here is the name of the game,
watch out though and don’t get too close to the flame.

This is it, the very last clue in your quest,
find the treasure at the place moms and dads rest.

organizize...

Yes, the spelling is a little off. But, when you are talking to someone in a excited and animated manner, you tend to start making up your own words. I have to make this a fun word because for me, organizing is not easy. Most areas of my life are in some degree of disorder and in all my years, I haven't yet mastered time management. Oh well - at least I'm having fun!

I'm excited for this month's focus at the Making Memories blog - which is precisely on organization and different ways we can achieve it. There will even be an 'inspiration with joey' post about it in the coming weeks. Yes, I came up with some way in which to organize a part of my life... I'm amazed myself - this is not an easy feat. Check back every day for some fabulous and helpful ideas.

I did want to share one of my favorite ways of organizing ribbons - courteous of Making Memories Embellishment Storage Jars. Not only do they make the top of my shelf such a happy looking place, they are also extremely functional. I have one right above my computer too, with lots of yummy candy in it. My mom loved how this looked so much, she has been bugging me for several months to get some ordered for her. Her birthday is Friday - can you say perfect gift?

a star is born...

Okay - new obsession for the Whittaker family, or actually really for me... Guitar Hero. Santa was extremely good to us this year and brought us our very first game system (XBox 360) - yeah, we have never had one before. Mostly because I know that I would be the one to play it for insane hours on end...but, it was time. Along with the system came Guitar Hero II and III as well as Rock Band. It's my fault really - while at Best Buy a few months before Christmas to buy Chloe's birthday present, we came across these games hooked up and ready to hook anyone who wanted to give it a go. Right away I loved it. With years of playing the violin, I could "sight-read" pretty well and even had the guys who worked at the store commenting on my jamming skills. Naturally, I knew what I would be asking Santa for. Our little ones are a little young to really get into it, but they like to pretend.

It's weird to be back into the swing of things again. The kids are back in school and various lessons are starting to pick up. Taking time off is nice. Makes me want a little more simplification. After all, not having to drive kid A to destination B makes for more guitar thrashing fun for me! We still haven't put our Christmas decorations away - I'm finishing up some assignments for the Making Memories blog as well as an album class for CKConventions. Plus, we need more boxes to put the new stuff in. New house = more need for decorations = more boxes to put the crap in.

I do have a few goals for this next year. I'm not going to say resolution because I think it has a built in failure to finish conntation about it. Goal is better - for me.

1- Daily family prayer is a big one. We are really going to focus and make this one work.

2- Continue spinning classes - hopefully Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays; although that 5:00 AM alarm seems earlier and earlier. I think our family prayer will help us all unwind and settle down to a restful and adaquate nights sleep.

3- I've been reading about these 365 - a picture a day albums. The idea is intriguing but a little too huge for me. I'm going to do a weekly album. Same idea as the picture a day, but I'll pick my favorite shot of the week and do a recap - organizing my thoughts and memories. It will be in a 9x9 format. I hope to post them every Sunday here - we'll see.

4- Other stuff. I'm sure I'll think of something else once I get my Christmas mess cleaned up and put away. There are a few things I intend to do, but don't want to spill the beans yet.

time flies...

It's true. Time flies - even if you are not having fun. But I am so, it really flies!

I thought it might be time to update - it's only been a few months! Things from the scrapping world have been very quiet. I still have my "inspiration with joey" feature on the Making Memories blog every month and I am developing a class for CKC's next year and that has been a blast. I will post more from that as it is completed. I have started developing other hobbies that I will also post about later on - as things, hopefully, progress.

It is December and 2007 is nearing an end. It seems that this year was shorter than others and I think it may have to do with our move. We've been in our new house for about six months now and the time, again, has flown by. The kids have adjusted very well t their new home, school, and friends. Our ward has been great for all of us and Scott and I have callings now. We have only had one huge snow storm so far and we realized that our snow removal equipment was still in storage. Our new friends and neighbors plowed our driveway on the sly and confirmed to us once again how truly blessed we are to live where we do. This is the photo that will be on our Christmas cards this year - I absolutely love our big, homey, fireplace (you can only see a small part) - and my darling kids!

Scott and I started taking a cycling class at 5:30 AM every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at our gym. Other than having a case of 'bike butt', it has been a pretty good experience although no matter how fast I pedal, I never really get anywhere.

inspired by color...

This month's "Joey" inspiration is up at Making Memories - I love how this page turned out and the theme of the inspiration - for more detail, go check it out here!

We just got back from Lake Powell - a four day house boating trip. We had four couples and 16 kids on a pretty good sized house boat with two ski boats for fun side trips.

Now, I grew up boating with my family - not house boating - ever, but, probably the one person who has boated the most out of everyone who went. Which was probably the reasoning behind electing me captain of the house boat (this was behind closed doors while we were loading our stuff on the house boat - I wasn't present during the decision). Yeah - me and Captain Jack Sparrow are like this... So, just a little frightening piloting, or should I say captaining, a big, honkin', house boat! Plus, when I was younger, we went to Lake Mead for our family waterski trips, not Powell. Lake Mead is

W I D E and big. Powell - oh, it's mainly just a big series of canyons, skinning canyons with walls creeping up on each side and closing down on you, and... okay, breathe. But, you know - it wasn't bad. I didn't even crash into anthing and I would do it again!

On another note - I am totally obsessed with Twilight - the Vampire book by Stephenie Meyer. Actually, I am obsessed with all three books in the series; Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Wow. I have always loved reading - and have a fondness for books about vampires, so I was naturally drawn to the theme of these books. But I wasn't expecting such an original and unique take on vampires and the lives affected around them. This is a love story that anyone can relate to about an ordinary and very shy girl - she finds herself living with her father in a place she detests, going to a small school where she is noticed by everyone, and is confronted with the most stunningly beautiful and unusual boy she has ever seen.

If you haven't read the first book at least - READ IT!!! You won't be sorry. I read all three books in a week. This was good - I didn't know about the series until there were three books so I could move onto the next and the next, but now - I have to wait a year for book four! What am I going to do? Well, this is enough for now on the Twilight books - I know I will gush much more in future posts.

a big step...

I'd like someone to explain to me how I can be the mom of a 7th grader. When did this happen? Chloe started Jr. High today - or middle school as they call it now. Way back in my day it was Jr. High.

We took her in to get a sassy new haircut on Saturday and of course, with all this new school starting stuff going on, she looks too old now. I'm trying not to be too worried. I remember Jr. High, and for me, it wasn't great. She is already off to a better start with great new friends (thanks to our awsome new ward and neighborhood - yeah move) and a much smarter than mine (back then) head on her shoulders. I don't doubt that she will do just fine. I'm just not so sure how I will do!

another one down...

Yesterday was a bitter sweet day - Oaken started Kindergarten. Another of my kids joined the school attending ranks and I have little Jilly all to myself for about 2 1/2 hours a day. I was doing great there in the front of the school - watching all of those cute little kids waiting to start another phase of their lives. Then, I realized how "little" they were - and started thinking about my little guy and, okay - I got a bit teary. But he loved it! He was even so excited to walk home with Isabel after school and even talked about what he did in school (sometimes he doesn't really ellaborate on stuff). So fun and such a change from preschool two years ago.

And, my brother got married on Saturday - very cool day. I had the honor to play music with my cousins for the ceremony. The Star Wars music I got for him was a hit - he loved it.

This is the cake with Darth Vader and Queen Amidala - he loves Star Wars!





And the romantic mood must have rubbed off on my two little ones - they just started dancing together out of the blue. I think all of the photographers snapping pictures might have had a little something to do with it though - so stinkin' cute!

broken barrier...

Wow. What a week! I realized that my first layout to be published in Creating Keepsakes just came out in the September 2007 issue - Tips and Tricks section. I have broken the CK barrier! WooHoo. Here is the layout in case you were curious...






Also, Isabel started school yesterday. It's so wierd that she starts in the middle of the week, but I guess that's year round school for ya. I'm going to have some crazy scheduling this year with Chloe starting Jr. High and Oaken starting kindergarten next week. Anyway, isn't she so dang cute in her new school outfit and those fabulous leaport print shoes?



Check out the Making Memories Blog for an inspiration challenge they asked me to do. The question was which MM lines did I find was most like me - for the answer - go here!


Just back from CHA - helping out my friends at Traditions Studio - such fun stuff to play with! They have the coolest 12x12 shadowbox frames ever - with an easle back to stand on a table or a hook to hang on a wall. I will definately be buying some of these...I know someone who puts the newest laouts she does in these all around her house. What a great way to enjoy those memories and art we make before they go into the albums! Here is an example of one - they come in black or white.

fabric inspiration...

First of all, I'm back. I think. We just moved in to our beautiful new home - been here a week. We were actually homeless for about 3 weeks having to be out of our old house for the new people to move in. We stayed with my mom and I drove the kids to school from there. But, now we are here and although it is a disaster area with boxes and stuff everywhere...we are here!

For my newest "inspiration" go to the Making Memories blog and check out what fabric inspired a fun layout! You can also post a comment on today's post for a giveaway - they are always so very generous!

the concert...

Well - the concert was fabulous! We missed the opening band, mostly because we were stuck in traffic exiting at Saltaire. A very long line of backed up traffic waiting for the parking attendants to guide us in. But, it was well worth the wait! It was also so much fun to have Chloe there too - I was suprised at how many parents brought their kids, quite a few younger than Chloe. We were, however, treated to a few close proximity make-out sessions, but all in all - it was so much fun.

I am quickly getting ready for our yard sale starting tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM. We have been feverishly cleaning out cupboards that haven't seen the light of day for about 8 years and finding all kinds of goodies ripe for the selling! I also am eager to sell off some of my scrapbooking stash - great, new, stuff - just too much of it!

the killers...

So, it's been several years since I last went to a concert. Tonight The Killers are in town and so I gave Scott some tickets for his birthday! Giving concert tickets is a great gift, because the person you gave them to kind of has to take you - at least that is the assumption here. I actually got three tickets, one more for Chloe. I told Chloe she could go with us to The Killers and I would take Isabel to the American Idol concert. Have you seen the prices for that one? $85! For the cheapest, nose bleed section. Now I figure I have to try and win some - it's hard enough paying the $35 for The Killer tickets, but $85? Anyone know of some AI contests going on?

a little inspiration...

It is amazing the places we can find inspiration. Sometimes it is something that we see for the first time, taking our breath away and imprinting itself on our minds. Most of the time, it is something we see everyday. Check out the Making Memories Blog for an example of what I am talking about. You'll find the example there is a copy - almost exactly of my inspiration, and that's okay. Sometimes just copying something gets the creative juices flowing enough to break out on the next layout.


I love unexpected inspirations and will have a monthly feature on the Making Memories blog showing some really basic and sometimes suprising examples of "when inspiration strikes".


Here is a picture of my studio in our new home.




I have had a dedicated craft room in our old house, used for painting, sewing, kid's crafting, and scrapbooking, but this space will be devoted to scrapbooking and memory keeping. And, I am going to call it my studio too - seems more official! It is smaller than the space I had but it is more central to our home. My old room was down in the basement and was on the cold side. This is the bonus room of our new house and just off of the kids' bedrooms. I'm excited to be in this space since I spend a lot of time there and to be among my kids too. I'll post more pictures as things (like the floor) are added. Plus, I need to figure out where I'm going to put this:



My MM Idol winnings! Making Memories is so incredibly generous I just don't know where I am going to put it all.