So much going on...

so be prepared for random spurts of information.

The end of the month means it's kit time at Scrapbook Generation. The store is pure madness at the end of the month while we are designing, writing directions, cutting and packaging the seven different kit clubs we have.

• Remember Me
• Remember Them
• Boy Crazy
• Girl Crazy
• Scrapbook Generation page kit club
• Allison Davis page kit club
• Card kit club

Another one of my responsibilities at the store is to create page kits for our "kit wall", a whole wall devoted to page kits. There are 15-20 different kits on this wall at all times with a wide variety of themes and topics.

(I am amazed at the fact that in all the time that I've been doing so many kits, I just got my first paper cut today.)

I've also been getting my class projects ready for the Scrap-a-palooza mega crop in June. The first one was such a success that we couldn't resist doing another one!

We just wrapped up two weekends of retreats in Branson. This time we had a Polynesian Paradise theme and I instantly fell in love with the mini coconut cream pies. Somehow I was talked into wearing a grass skirt for a photo op but I very quickly declined the invitation to wear a coconut bra.

Drew had his first soccer practice!


It was hilarious. I have much sympathy for the coach. Nothing like trying to control and teach a group of three and four-year-olds the concept of soccer.

Jackson gave me his first toothy grin today. I don't think that one tooth can really classify as "toothy" but you catch my drift. We were starting to worry a little since he's almost 11 months and we had yet to see anything that resembled a tooth. On that subject I can't believe that it's time to plan his first birthday. Where did the last year go!

Be sure to pick up the May issue of Creating Keepsakes. You'll get to see Drew's published debut in my article. We had so much fun working on all of the layouts together. He was so excited to see it all in a magazine or mazginie, as he calls it.

I have officially signed on to teach at CKC Tulsa and Kansas City again. I had also been asked to teach at Louisville and Mesa but had schedule conflicts. Bummer. Would have been fun to do those!

:)

Soup and Hearts.

Drew: Mom, I love you oodles and bunches!

Me: I love you oodles and bunches too!

Drew: Oodles are soup...

Me: You mean noodles are soup?

Drew: No! Oodles are soup and bunches are hearts.

Me: So we are saying I love you soup and hearts?

Drew: Nooooo! It's I love you oodles and bunches. Mom, you're silly.

Yeah, I'm the silly one...

Where did my memory go?

If I want to remember something I HAVE to write it down. This never really used to be a problem until the last few years. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or that I have two kids, I really don't know. I do know that I have to write a daily "to do" list and if I don't I end up standing in the kitchen trying to remember what in the world I was planning on doing next. The same goes for scrapbooking ideas. I'll get what I think is a great idea, one that I couldn't possibly forget. Then the time comes to go work on something and that idea is long gone.

To help me remember those things, I made these little mini journals to carry with me.


They took only about 30 minutes to make! Each one also has a little pocket on the inside cover for memorabilia that I might want to keep.


So now I don't have an excuse if I forget something! :)

Little Helper

When we were searching for our first home almost four years ago we agreed that a privacy fence was a must. Then we found this house and although it didn't have a fence we agreed that it was perfect for us.

"We'll put in a fence after we move in.", we said.

We are just now putting in that fence, years later.

Drew has gotten a kick out of being Daddy's little helper during the fence building and of course, jumps at any opportunity to play in the dirt. I got a kick out of being outside and getting lots of pictures. My favorite being the picture of Drew when he discovered that I was taking pictures without his knowledge.


I don't know what makes me laugh harder, the look on his face or his crazy, wind-blown hair. Silly boy.

Have a great weekend! :)

a new me...

It may have taken a lot of time but FINALLY, my new paper organization is done!

First I'll explain how I like to oraganize. It can best be described as organized chaos. I did a good job of making the room appear to be in order but it was far from it. On the surface it looked fine because everything is in little tubs or baskets, but take a closer look in those things and... whoa! Messy, messy. When I wanted to find something I always knew exactly where it was but I had to dig to find it.

I wanted a system that worked best for me and how I scrapbook and I wanted to cut back the time I spent preparing to scrapbook.

In my room, I have a corner with twelve drawers that hold 12 x 12 stuff. My ideal situation would be to have all my paper vertical but my shelves won't allow for that. I ended up getting plastic stackable drawers instead. Here's an idea of how everything in those drawers were "organized" before:

1. - A messy mix of 12 x 12 stickers, die cut sheets, and speciality papers.
2. - same as #1
3. - same as #1 and #2
4. - patterned paper, in no particular order or organization.
5. - same as #4
6. - same as #4
7. - same as #4
8. - same as #4
9. – same as #4
10. - red, orange and yellow cardstock
11. - green, blue, purple and pink cardstock
12. - brown, black and neutral cardstock

Here's a look at my new system:



1. - Fancy Pants (papers, transparencies, die cut sheets)
Since I am on the Fancy Pants design team I've got a ton of their stuff. Before all it was tossed in with everything else and I would have to dig through it all to find one sheet of paper.

2. - 12 x 12 Die cut sheets, 12 X 12 sticker sheets and transparencies
Before these were all mixed in the messy top three drawers that I hardly ever ventured into. I have a feeling I'll be using that stuff a lot more now!

3. - Flocked cardstock, glitter cardstock, die cut patterned paper, and die cut cardstock

4. - My Mind's Eye #1
This is by far one of my absolute favorite manufacturers. I am addicted to their paper and super cute embellishments. Addicted enough that I have to have two drawers to hold all the paper!

5.- My Mind's Eye #2

6. - Patterned paper (misc) #1
The next drawers are for all of my "generic" papers. The ones that are pretty but don't have a specific theme to them.

7. - Patterned paper (misc) #2

8. - Patterned paper (theme)
For specific themes like Christmas, 4th of July, birthday, etc.

9. - Patterned paper (boy)
For papers that have a very specific boy theme to them. Like dinosaurs, robots, or papers that say boy on them.

10. - Kit supplies
Each month I come up with the designs for two different kit clubs at SG and each month I frantically dig through piles of paper trying to find the ones that I'm suppose to use for the next month. No more of that now!

11. - Class supplies
I also teach at least four classes a month and tend to do the same as I do with kits. I pick out the papers, take them home and put them where I think I'll easily find them. Somehow it never works out that way!

12. - Page kits
Not only do I design page kits but I also belong to two different kit clubs from SG (Remember Me and Remember Them). I have yet to put together one page out of both those clubs. Maybe I would have done it sooner if I knew where they were!

I moved all of my cardstock into a vertical paper holder that sits beside all the drawers. I ended up cutting my cardstock stash way, way down. When I first started scrapbooking I thought it would be a good idea to have every single color of cardstock, just in case. Now I know that it's going to be a rare occasion for me to use pink or purple. I also know that most likely I'm going to use white or french vanilla for my background.

I also cut my patterned paper way back. Before I just bought what I thought was pretty and told myself, "I'll use it on something." Now I've figured out exactly what my style is, what colors I like, what prints I like, etc. I ended up cutting my patterned paper stash in half.

Next up, ribbon. This might take awhile! :)

The First Cut

I can't say I was all that surprised to see Jackson born with a full head of hair. I, myself, am always remembered by the little old ladies in my hometown as the girl that was born with more hair than most two-year-olds have. My dad used to tell me that all the nurses at the hospital loved me because they could play with my hair and my mom told me that she had to cut my bangs when I was only a few months old. Jackson definitely got the hair gene from me!



I was hoping that we could resist the first haircut until after he was a year old but frankly, I was getting a little tired of hearing, "Oh, what a cute little girl!" The front was starting to get into his eyes and the back was taking on the shape of a mullet. It was time.

I, of course, instantly regretted it because he looked so different afterwards. I missed his long, shaggy hair...mullet and all! Bye, bye to the baby look.

Drew's first scrapbook page.

This was such a fun way for the both of us to spend some time together.

I helped him only with the things that he can't do. He came up with the title and journaling all on his own but I had to put them on the page for him. I also pre-cut strips of paper for him to use since I don't think he's quite ready for the paper trimmer.

I admit that I would catch myself cringing when he would put something in an odd place and I had to stop myself from suggesting "better" places. I managed to zip my lip and let him do the work, although I was chanting silently in my head "relax!" Once I did we had a great time and he created a page that we are both proud of!

Greasy pizza and Guitar Hero do the trick.

On Saturday, my three favorite boys took me out to eat at Old Chicago where we enjoyed some greasy pizza, a clown and balloon animals. Drew wasn't a big fan of the clown and at one point crawled under the table and only peeked his head out to say, "I'm afraid of clowns." Me too, sweetie. Nothing scarier than a clown, (as Carrie Bradshaw said on an episode of Sex in the City.) Finally, Drew realized that in order to get a balloon animal he would have to face his fear and chat it up with the guy in funny shoes and a big blue wig. Drew seemed to like him a lot better after he worked his balloon magic and whipped up a four foot balloon hat. I spent the rest of the evening trying to keep that hat from hitting the woman in the booth behind us.

After that we headed over to Stacey and Jeremy's for a birthday party and of course, some Guitar Hero playin'. Stacey and I are determined to master Hot For Teacher and you would think after several Guitar Hero Saturdays, we would have done it by now. Maybe next time. As Stacey said, "It's our Everest."

On Sunday, I sat down on the living room floor time finish up what seems to be a never ending pile of work. Drew saw the scrapbooking stuff and immediately ran over.

Drew: "Whatcha doin' Mom?"

Me: "Scrapbooking"

Drew: "You mean making layouts?"

Me: "Yeah."

Drew: "You know, I like to make layouts too. Maybe I can make layouts too and we can share."

Of course he had to throw the sharing bit in there since we've been trying to teach him about sharing. How could I tell him no? The layout below is what I made. I'll show his creation later this week. He says that he's still not done with it.


These are my new favorite pictures of Jackson and my new favorite scrapbooking papers, Summer Soiree from Fancy Pants. Love the bright colors! It's worked out perfectly since everything I've been working on for Creating Keepsakes lately has been for the summer months. I've used these papers on several layouts.

It's nice to be back to blogging and I'll have lots to share from here on out! Not only will I be getting back to scrapbooking, and by scrapbooking I mean pages that I can actually show on here, but I'll also post my organization as I go along with the super huge task of re-doing my room. :)

Happy Monday! :)