Our Cheer Weekend / Photo A Day Challenge - Wk 3

The girls and I just got back from the Northeast Knockout National cheer competition in Worcester, MA. It was our very first 2-day competition. Lots of fun and oh so tiring!!! The girls did well. They went up against some very fierce competition and our gym is only in its second year of operation, so we have our work cut out for us. But they did amazing. We all had a very fun time going up with our friends. Samantha competed Youth Level 2; Alex competed Youth Level 2 and Senior Level 5; their friend, Dori, competed Youth Level 2 and Senior Level 3. I want to share some photos with you.

Alex and Sam right before we got picked up by our friends on Saturday.


Mama with her girlies.


The Youth Level 2 team in their pyramid on Saturday


The girls passing some time in between performances.


My friend, Alisa (Dori's mom), and I. We graduated high school together!


Alex, Taylor, and Dori at dinner on Saturday.


Alex, Dori, and Samantha at dinner. What a great time! The food was OK, the friends were the best!


Roy, Alex, Dori, and Sam having fun in the hotel after dinner.


Ready to do it all over again on Sunday!!!


Samantha watching a replay of her performance.


A sweet mother/daughter moment


The awards ceremony.


Alex and Dori at the end of a very long two days!!!



Week 3 of the Photo a Day Challenge:

Jan. 15 - Samantha eating a quick snack before cheer.


Jan. 16 - Me posing with some scrappy mail I received that day...part of my contest winnings from the Scrappy Giraffe Kits "Scrap that Tune" contest, in which I won third place.


Jan. 17 - My entire "Scrap that Tune" winnings.


Jan. 18 - Alex getting some rest before her two-day cheer competition in Worcester, MA.


Jan. 19 - The girls and their friends having dinner at the hotel on Saturday night.


Jan. 20 - The Youth Level 2 team finishing their performance on Sunday.


Jan. 21 - Tom gettin in some rest before leaving to play his 11 pm game. Yup, 11 pm!!!


Thank you for looking!!! :)

Photo a Day Challenge

Some of my scrapping friends at The Scrapbook Site came up with the idea of taking a photo a day and then scrapping them all at the end of the month. I think their goal is to do this for the year, but I wanted to start off by committing to do this for January. Baby steps! It's been 2 weeks and I've done it, so far. I wanted to share the photos from the first 14 days. I figure that I will share every two weeks.

Jan 1 - Alex, after cheerleading practice. Yup, she even had practice on New Year's Day!


Jan 2 - Diligent Samantha doing her homework.


Jan 3 - My new slipper socks that Tom's aunt gave me. Aren't they the coolest?


Jan 4 - Amy Bender and I (and our friend, Betsy) went into NYC to celebrate her birthday.


Jan 5 - I went to a 12-hr crop at Amy's LSS, Express Yourself . Here are my friends, Jenn and Marilyn with Amy cutting it up in the background!


Jan 6 - Alex at her soccer banquet to celebrate her U12 D1 team win of the district championship. Alex is the second one from the right in the bottom row. Coach Tom, aka, Daddy is pictured here, as well.


Jan 7 - Yes, a lot of board stalking going on as I waited to find out if I made the My Scrapbook Nook design team. I was one of the 20 finalists, but it wasn't meant to be...THIS TIME!!! ;) I'll keep trying, because I love that site!


Jan 8 - I started my cheerleader mini album. Did this while I was watching the girls at cheer practice.


Jan 9 - Samantha and I had our own private crop and she got dressed up for the occassion.


Jan 10 - Alex in her middle school cheer uniform. Isn't she cute?!!


Jan 11 - My desk at work. I try to make it home.


Jan 12 - My family just relaxing at home. Alex and Tom are on their computers and Samantha is watching TV


Jan 13 - Work that I brought home because there was supposed to be a huge storm the next day and I didn't want to go in during it.


Jan 14 - The huge storm...NOT!!!


So that chronicles the first 14 days of the year. You should try this...it's really fun. I can't wait to make my page for January!

Thanks for looking!

Congratulations! / It's Cheer Season!!!

First I would like to congratulate the 11 talented women who were selected to be on the design team for My Scrapbook Nook. I was honored that I was even considered in the first place to be in the running. I'll keep trying!

Well, it's cheerleading season!!! Starting next weekend, virtually every weekend through the beginning of April will be spent going to competitions. We'll go to Worcester, MA; Hartford, CT (twice); Danbury, CT; Wildwood, NJ; New Haven, CT; Virginia Beach, VA; and Philadelphia, PA. Four of those competitions are two-day long events.

To kick off the season, I made a mini album, given to me by my friend Linda. It contains pictures from the first competition held a month ago. It was lots of fun to make.











Thanks for looking. CHEERS!!!

Nail-biting Time / Scrappy Fun in NYC

Ohhh, found out today that My Scrapbook Nook will announce their new DT on Saturday at 1 pm. They're going to pick 5 current members and 5 brand new members! I'm crossing everything possible for this, because I REALLY want it!!!

We had lots of fun in NYC this past Friday when Amy, Betsy, and I went shopping to celebrate Amy's birthday. We hit all of the great scrappy/paper/ribbon stores. Here are some scenes from our fun day:
It was very cold!!! Amy is all bundled up.

Amy B squared posing in front of "The Store Across the Street". Yup, that's what it's called!

So many goodies at M&J Trims.

Betsy admiring the goodies.

The Ink Pad...lots of treasures in that tiny store!!!

Greenwich Village was so cute! I loved it!

The Place is where we ate lunch...great food...awesome atmosphere. I'd love to go back!

Amy and Betsy at lunch.

Parson's School of Design...make it work, people!

I Made it to the Second Round!!!

Happy New Year, my Friends!

I was so excited to find out today that I made it to the second round of consideration for the design team at My Scrapbook Nook! And what an honor it is to be in such talented company!!! I'm very excited and am seriously crossing my fingers and toes for this one!!!

A LONG overdue post!!! I took 3rd place in the "Scrap That Tune" contest!

Well, after 8 weeks of incredible competition of "Scrap That Tune" over at Scrappy Giraffe Kits, I took 3rd place! I was really happy, as the competition was really fierce!!! I learned so much participating in that great contest...the challenges were incredible! I made some really good friends, too!

Here are my Week 7 and Week 8 projects:

Week 7: Song: Poprocks and Coke
Mission: Alter a clipboard and use the title
Requirements: Cardstock and rubons (ampersand and circle) only
Bonus: Distressing (used a file to get to the white core of cardstock)

Features: Drew the Coke bottle freehanded, drew and cut out title letters by hand.
Also used paint, pen, marker, colored pencil, and ink. Inked and painted edges, doodled. Made faux ribbons out of cardstock.





Week 8: Song: Wind Beneath My Wings
Mission: Entitle layout using line of lyrics that is not the title
Scrappy Mission: letter stickers, hand stitching, hidden journaling, eyelets.
Bonus: Stamping and aluminum foil
Other: Paint, brads, chipboard, gems, buttons, ribbon
Other techniques: Heat embossing, doodling, hand journaling, and painting. The aluminum foil wings were made by stamping wings, using Versamark, embossing with clear embossing powder, rubbing with Perfect Pearls, and outlining with pen. Image was then cut out with scissors.
TFL!!!





Scrappy Resolutions for 2008: There are a number of them!!!

--Keep having lots of fun with what I do
--Keep growing as a scrapper and try new things
--Land one or two design team gigs
--Get something else published
--Update the girls' school photo albums
--Work more on my heritage album
--Enter more contests
--Make an awesome European album!!!
--Update my blog more often and visit my friends' blogs more frequently!!! :)

Happy New Year everyone!!! May the coming year bring you much peace, health, and happiness! <3

Weeks 5 and 6 of Scrap That Tune / Exciting News!!!

Here are my Weeks 5 and 6 layouts for "Scrap That Tune" over at Scrappy Giraffe Kits. I can't believe that we only have two weeks left!!!

Week 5:



Song: Crazy
Mission: Scrap the title/use the sketch
Photos: Three...combo black and white/color
Extra: Buttons (handmade out of paper and floss w/inked edges
Other: Felt letters, flower, gems
Techniques: Doodling, hand-stitching, inking, homemade buttons; Popped up the center color photo by backing with chipboard.
Journaling: "Sometimes you drive me CRAZY. We like to be CRAZY. CRAZY 4 U."

Week 6:



Song: Bad Day
Mission: Title, Artist (see blow up pic), Lyrics, Sketch
Scrap Design: Monochromatic
Bonus: Pipecleaners
Other supplies: Patterned paper, transparencies, chipboard, rubons, ink, brads, eyelets, fiber (arrow)
Special techniques: Doodling, inking, handcut title, handcut custom border, black and white photo with custom colored sling


Exciting News!!! I was selected to be on the design team for Express Yourself , my favorite LSS!!! I'm very happy and look forward to creating for Amy and her store. The rest of the team is super nice and I'm happy to work with them!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, All!!! :)