creep a little sneak peek....

raise of hands....how many of you are now singing 'California Girls'? LOL. it's cool. it's cool.


i have a whole lot of randomness for you today:

• first off...it's peek day for next month's The Story Matters kit:


• i just got my kit, so i haven't had a spare moment to create something to tease your senses yet. soon. very soon. and you'll see it right here on the blog. :) in the meantime you can catch some peeks on their blog.
• my ashlyn is turning into quite the comic. i've found myself laughing at nearly everything she says lately. and i have the funniest story to share too. but that deserves it's own post.
• Little Yellow Bicycle is having a Boo-ville Contest. first prize is $250 in Little Yellow Bicycle products! wowza! YOU should enter! get all the details here.
• spidergirl made it a whole 9 days into the school year before having to call in sick. that's a record for her, LOL. she came down with the pukes thursday night. :( she was crying because she couldn't go to school friday.
• she is also having more problems with her ears. dang it. she's now on antibiotics again, and ear drops. one of her tubes is plugged. last time this happened she had to have surgery. we're crossing fingers, toes, & eyes (LOL!) that this will clear up on it's own since she just had this set put in in March of this year.
• ashlyn has decided to run for student council. i'm quite interested to see how this is going to turn out considering her social awkwardness. so thankful that she doesn't let her limitations stop her from anything. always believing in possibility.
• spidergirl has a new best friend. his name is john.
• wishing i could shelter her from mean kids since she's also now decided that she can't wear anything at all with spiderman on it. reason being....they make fun of her because she's a girl who isn't supposed to like spiderman. *sigh* she's way too impressionable right now.
• oh, i got a new joke....it goes like this "knock, knock" who's there? "owls" owls who? "yes, yes they do." hahhahaaaa. that one's courtesy of spidergirl.
• ashlyn's new favorite phrase......"aw, i'm just pullin' your peach." (another way of saying "i'm just kidding.") thank you iCarly.
• i'm SO lucky i have kids that love going to school. in fact the other day, i went down to do something in my studio and noticed ashlyn had abandoned a Word document that was a letter to her principal. she was telling him that she wanted to be a principal when she grows up because they are so lucky they get to go to school through the summer. LOL. how cute is that!?
• we had a party here over the weekend, Buckeye game/Suzi's birthday, and had a helium tank on loan to us. oh.my.gosh. doug sucking helium and singing = hysterical!
• and, that's all i've got for today, folks. gotta save the rest of my energy for my workout tonight. for reals.

hodge podge of randomness

wow. this being without a main computer stuff really puts a kink in my blogging. hrmph. blogging is so much more pleasant (to me anyway) when sharing photos + words.

so, again, i'll resort to the random bulleted list. 'cause i like lists.

• a conversation with emma the other day went a little like this (me) "hey emma....i love you", (emma) "well, mommy, i love you much betterer." said very matter of factly. totally cute.
• ashlyn has decided she wants a guitar. hahhaa. i'm all for supporting her interests, but if you knew how clutzy & uncoordinated this child is, you'd be laughing too. hopefully i can find one thrifting until i can see if she'll really stick with it.
  
• this is day 2 of my computer tower being in the shop to remove what they think is a random virus and i haven't heard a report yet. is that good news or bad news? at $65 per hour for repair, i'm hoping the "oh it'll take less than an hour to repair and you'll have it back in 48 hours" guestimate they gave me was really the case.
• i need it back now! i've got assignments to photograph, and resize, and write instructions for..........and an etsy shop to update!
• i've been trying to make our countdown to christmas activity list of something small to do each day from dec 1 to christmas eve. i'm looking for new, fresh (to us) ideas. what traditions/activities does your family do to celebrate the holiday?
• did i mention that we moved the girls into the same bedroom? yes. we did.
  
• and, did i mention that we moved the playroom into emma's old bedroom? yes. we did.
• only problem with that is that it is about 1/2 the size as it used to be. time to purge toys! (secretly cheering!)
  
• and, did i mention that all that moving means that i can now move my studio into the old playroom? (doing amazing acrobatics! hee.)
  
• and with that move means i'll be at least tripling my space? YAY. don't be hatin' though. my studio before was about the size of two standard 1970s closets. not.big.at.all. AND i'll be sharing it with the girls since they love to scrapbook with me.
  
• and did i mention that the (new) playroom has been organized and turn upside-down at least 3 times in the last 2 weeks because i've moved furniture (which i'm not supposed to be doing) trying to get it all to fit and be functional?
• exhausting just reading it right?
  
• moving along......i have a major itch to create. i think i'm going to work on putting together a December Daily album this year. that Ali E is super inspiring. i tried to do one in 2006 AFTER the month was done and over and, well..........it still isn't done. ha. this year, i'm going to be on the ball.
  
• Spidergirl has decided that she wants a Hello Kitty birthday this year. on the guest list? all boys! this is after last year she wanted Spiderman and had primarily girls at the party. oh, that child of mine. she makes me smile. we'll see if it stays that way in the next two weeks. for the whole year all she's talked about is a snowman birthday cake.
• speaking of her birthday (dec 5.) she knows it's close. every.single.morning. "mommy, is it my birthday today?" no, my child. not today. i think we better make a paper chain countdown this weekend, LOL.
• i've got a handful of scrappy projects to share. as soon as i get that darn computer back!

tell me what you're doing this weekend.......

inspiring me

(necklace image via Anthropologie)
my computer is on the fritz and i currently don't have access to any photos or the ability to use my scanner...bummer.

so instead of ignoring this little space of mine, i've decided that i'm going to share some other little spaces on the net that are inspiring me with a little link love.

• starting with this necklace from anthropologie. it had me at hello. but at $48, i haven't committed to buying it. i keep wishing for someone to buy it for me. hee.
• i'm in love with this one too.
• but then.....i was browsing some favorite blogs earlier in the week and found this fantastic tutorial on kendra's blog showing me how to make my own! *GASP* she's BRILLIANT! if only i knew an inkling about jewelry making i may be able to pull it off. anyone local that can teach me?
• speaking of tutorials...there is a fabulous one (also doubling as a sneak peek into online classes) by Debbie Hodge on Ali E's blog.
• wanting to start my own family doodling sketchbook.
  
• a newly discovered, totally delightful craft blog

this is as random as random gets.

1. One thing I'd grab if my house were on fire : external hard drive
2. One thing I wish I could throw away : bills (& the television)
3. One thing I'll never ever throw away : homemade quilts & blankets
4. Something I lost and still miss : my mom
5. Something I've kept since childhood : love for making art
6. A food item I never run out of : tortilla chips
7. A household brand I'm very loyal to : mr clean magic erasers
8. Something I sleep with every night : bare feet
9. One thing that's on my wishlist : a gallery wrapped canvas of a favorite photo
10. Something I take with me wherever I go : c.o. bigelow spearmint lipgloss
11. Something that makes me smile when I see it : a clean house
12. Something my children fight over : lately, it seems everything....but, there's always a fight over which cartoon they will watch
13. Something I hate to clean : the oven
14. Something I show off when people visit : pictures
15. Something I hide when people visit : nothing....
16. Something I collect : smiles
17. Something I avoid at all costs : the smoking section
18. Something that reminds me of my mother : looking in the mirror or looking at emma
19. The best gift I've ever received : unconditional love

how's that for a boring post?

reality is, things are pretty boring around home lately. lots of coughing.whining.coughing. and more coughing.whining.coughing. from the little set and the big set. we've all got the crud.

i've been busy scrapbooking and making christmas cards, catching up on laundry, cleaning my studio only to mess it back up again. i keep saying i want to post about real life and not so much scrapbooking, BUT, scrapbooking IS my life, LOL. it's what i do, so it's only natural that i'll have lots to say about it.

anywho.

what else? ohhhhhhhhhh....we moved emma into ashlyn's room. all in an attempt to get them to go to bed and stay in bed every night. so far, it's worked brilliantly. we had to remove ashlyn's artdesk from the room to make room for emma's bed, but we're planning to turn emma's room into the playroom/homework/study area and turn their (massive) playroom into my studio! yahoooooooie. that would at least triple the amount of space i'm in now. here's their playroom now. and here is my current studio. and more pictures here. a whole lot crammed in that little bitty space. so i'm excited to take it over, but definitely not going to worry about painting right now. someday.

it's all a process. a long process. one that i wish would just be done already. it seems that nothing is in it's place right now because of the transition. in the process of all this moving we're also trying to do the fall clothing switcheroo and also purge out outgrown toys/books/games.

it all kinda came to a halt when we started coughing.whining.coughing. ick.

but...
....the girls got their flu shots.
...we started steriods on ashlyn's leg.
...researching morphea & chemo effects.
...weeding through emails (thank you everyone for your experiences....i'm trying to respond to them all)
...emma is over her walking pneumonia.
...ashlyn is still hacking.
...we went from needing air to needing heat in just days.
...it's FALL, my most favorite season of all.

and tonight, i'm going to do nothing..........and watch TV *gasp*, with my cup of hot tea, curled under a nice big quilt, with the windows wide open. ahhhhhhhh. bliss.

the girl who never watches TV, and just said she wanted to throw it away, is going to sit and watch TV. unbelievable. doug's trying to get me hooked on a show that we can watch together.

PS: i'll share the layout that's peeking up there tomorrow.

heart smiles...

new photos of the girls

that i get to be a contributor to the Good Grief Challenge blog & inspire people to scrapbook through their grief

teaching a class of students in Scrapbooking with Fabric! psssst......registration is still open for that class.



new kidart daily from my oldest

a dad who rearranges his schedule to fix my car whenever it breaks down

bloggers who inspire me to play with fabric to make modern quilts.....like Film in the Fridge & Kim Kesti.



a friend that sees a piece of furniture on clearance and knows it will be perfect for my studio, so she snaps a picture to send to me just to confirm. then, brings it home to me.