Sunday, May 3, 2009

scrap goodness

saturday was my first visit to the infamous once-a-year scrapbook expo! it was national scrapbook day, so i just HAD to get my hand on some goodies! jen and i sped out, inhaled a quick mc d's breakfast and were on our way... here are my goodies!
it looks like i did major damage, but overall, i got great deals! can you say thickers?! we bought about 10 packs each, but they were either 40% off or buy 3 get one free, so we saved a bunch!
we were very economical, so at the $1 store, we grabbed one of everything & split it. i think we have enough buttons and brads to last us until next year (or the next 5 - haha). one of the best deals we got was on adhesive lace that we later saw at papertales for $8!
the "50 cents-a-yard ribbon" shop was the most fun! i took first prize ending up with 94 yards!! we got a ton of good quality felt and patterned pieces.
this is one of the few things i paid full price for, but aren't they lovely?
check out my new tote bag ($12 at the expo, $24 at everafter, thank you very much). loving the amy butler fabric!
and last but not least, i nabbed a few urban prairie elements (basic grey) for emma's baby book *yes, i know she is 3!
it was so much fun! i can't wait to do it again next year (with lees & nette too!) ok jen, this will have to be a tradition :)

Monday, April 20, 2009

orange(?) light

if i don't blog this, i will forget...so i must. a conversation i had with my capricious daughter while driving home today:

emma: what does green mean, mama?

me: green means go; what does red mean?

emma: red means stop.

me: what does yellow mean?

emma: *yelling* it's not yellow mama, it's orange!

me: it's not orange, it's yellow.

emma: NO IT'S NOT, IT'S ORANGE!

me: ok, then what does orange mean?

emma: orange means crash.

me: um, ok sweetie, it means crash.

wanted to avoid a meltdown, you see. where does she learn these things? you gotta love the 3- year old mind...sigh.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

hoppy (belated) easter!














we had brunch at our most favorite buffet, lael's. to our surprise, they had an egg hunt for the kids! they even provided the baskets...gavin & emma had a blast!

new 'do


when you have a little girl, you know this is going to happen...
you're just not sure when.
need i say more?






the only reason she cried was because of my scream of shock. i have to admit, though, i love the new 'do.

Monday, April 13, 2009

hero

i've been so bad at blogging, and i've got to do a better job at doing this...sometimes i have to remember it doesn't have to be perfect, just as long as the memory, my thoughts, my feelings, are recorded.

i've been wanting to blog about this for a while now...

i recently attending a funeral for a friend, florence bacong choe. it was one of those events that made me stop, think, and reevaluate. not that i have a jaded view of life, but sometimes it takes moments like these to kick you into gear and be truly grateful for what we have - another day. her memorial was so moving. i never felt so much respect for the military as i did that day. she was such a testament to the united states military, to mothers, to the modern day woman. i felt incredibly privileged to be able to be there to honor her life.

isn't that odd that my dad was in the navy for half his life and i never saw him as such a...hero. maybe because i always resented the military for sending him away? maybe it's because i felt he was always safe? i always took for granted i received a free college education because he had a 10% disability, but now i realize how much it truly cost.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

what did i get myself into?

if you know me, you know that although i'm not officially diagnosed with ADHD, i have all the major symptoms. i should be asleep as it's 11:30 pm (well, technically only 10:30 since daylight savings kicked in this morning), but i made the mistake of chugging down a caramel macchiato (i tried it non-fat - yuck) at around 9 pm... needless to say, this, coupled with my pre-disposed hyperactivity, leaves me WIRED! i was in my comfy, warm bed, emma wrapped up in my arms, watching my dvr'ed shows and realized, hey, the kids are asleep, i can scrapbook!

...so as a newbie scrapbooker, i've always known in the back of my head my first couple of projects are going to be scraplifted. believe me, i've tried to do one on my own, but they (in my mind) always turned out horrible. i actually did attempt scrapbooking back in 1999 (remember that jen?). i think i was decent -- i was more of the "put the picture, add photo corners, then journal" type of scrapper. i then decided it was "too expensive" and quit altogether. so ten (yes, TEN) years later (thank you again, jen), i decide i need to organize about 5 years worth of memories...what better way to do it, right?! of course, when i decide to get into this hobby it is now a major enterprise - conventions, guest designers, blogs, magazines, clubs, forums, you name it! i think nette described it as a "cult". guess what? I'M IN A CULT!

...(adhd)...

so i start with a small goal: i will scrap a page (yes one page) from my dad's birthday dinner. easy right? it's something current, a have a few pictures, and it's easily attainable.

did i say easy? first of all, i don't even have the pictures. thank god i only shot 5 that night. i don't like the way pictures come out on my printer, so i just went ahead & ordered them from costco (it'll do and they'll be in tomorrow at 11). then i start surfing the web looking for inspiration...and now i'm ALL RILED UP - i want to add paint, buttons, rip strips, stamps, ribbon, and anything and everything cute and adorable to this ONE page. in addition, i'm so damn determined to do something "original" i'm about to give myself a heart attack. it's a little bit of a challenge, too, because i wanted to make the page a bit more masculine (for my dad) and a bunch of stuff i have is very cutesy.

i literally had to calm myself down: ok rowena, this is one page. take it easy...no need to hoard, no need to go out & buy (even) more stuff, WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE (do you fellow scrappers feel me?). i recently picked up the 'fountain square' kit from studio calico and i've had it sitting here for awhile - aha! i should just use it! so i go onto the galleries and found one i liked. i REALLY liked it. in fact, i liked it so much i STOLE it (scraplifted sounds too minor in this case). i stared at the page for so long my computer went to screensaver! i want to say i changed some things up, but except for the pictures, i really didn't. there is one aspect to the page that is different-one of the squares i used is smaller, but that's only because i don't know how to measure and i'm new to the "paper cutter" phenomenon. i'll post it here when i'm done so you can tell me how well i did -- but if you want to see it, you can probably find it on the studio calico site! why am i embarrassed? i'm new, everyone does it, right? i feel like i cheated. well, like i said, i've got about 5 years worth of pictures i can do on my 'own'! sigh...

does anyone know how to "distress" a page?

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

where do i begin?

inspiration:

jen
lees
nette
of course rick

i'm starting my blog (finally!). i am laughing as i read my only other post. just so you know, my kids are now 3 *emmy & 4 *gavin.

as you can see i don't know where to begin. at least it's something, right?

"until the really "great" stuff comes along, rowena, do the not-so-great stuff."
- the universe