Scrapbook Deals 4U - Exciting News!!!

I just won a spot on the amazing Scrapbook Deals 4U Design Team!

You don't know how thrilled I am to be part of such a great team of women! Martha, Stayce, Nicole, and Kristi are all designers there and Kathy, Cheryl, and I were fortunate enough to place high enough in a 5-week competition that allowed us to join the team!

Here's a sneak peek of Scrapbook Deals 4U's wonderful June kit, filled with such elegant and beautiful papers, perfect for any occasion:











Thank you so much, Scrapbook Deals 4U! I look so much forward to serving with you all!!!

Exciting News!!!

I am SOOOO excited!!! I was named the May Guest DT member for a VERY COOL site, ScrapWords! I love the whole concept of their site. Instead of galleries, they have blogs. Members present their artwork in their own personal blog. By doing this, they are able to elaborate on the creative thought process that went into their designs. ScrapWords emphasizes journaling, which is an important component of scrapbooking that I don't always take time on. I'm so excited to be working with the talented bunch over there...what an honor!!! I'm really going to learn a lot there.

Scenes from the 2008 World Cheerleading Competition

We all had an AMAZING experience at Worlds. We're already looking forward to going next year! I'd like to share some scenes from our trip with you:

The girls, as they arrived at the Orlando International airport.


Celebrity Hall, the place they set up at the All Star Sports resort for all cheerleaders to check in. We have NEVER seen so many cheerleaders in one spot before!!!


The resort had SUCH a cool pool...the biggest I've seen at a resort.


I just loved this shot of the large star against the beautiful Floridian weather.


The buildings were fun to look at!!!


My girlies just before we headed to Epcot the first night.


The team (most of it) posing at Epcot.


A little blurry, but the big sphere at night was so pretty to look at.


Some of the girls, as we were touring the countries at Epcot.


The team practicing at out hotel just before leaving for the competition.


Alex and her team walking up to the Milk House (at the Wide World of Sports Center), where they competed.


The most exciting stage they have ever competed on!!!


Alex playing up to the crowd!!!


The end of the routine. Alex is the one in the air.


We had an amazing team dinner that night. A picture of our personalized menus. We had our own banquet room and the food was incredible!!!


Team picture at the Magic Kingdom


By this time, I left Alex with her teammates while Samantha and I spent some quality time together.


MGM Studios. We saw an awesome car stunt show there.


Leaving our hotel the next day.


The resort may have been more economy than other Disney resorts, but we loved it!!! So much to do there and nice comfortable rooms and good food.


Samantha putting on her saddest face on the plane ride home. All she is missing is a big tear running down her cheek!!!


Alex's sad face is pretty convincing, as well!


I had such a great time with the girls!!!


Thank you for looking at my pictures! I am so happy to share my fun moments with you. What a great trip!!!

Updates...it's been a long time!!!

We're back from Worlds! We had such a good time!!! Alex's team executed a great clean performance. They came in 40th out of 57 teams in their division...which is excellent, considering the caliber of talent we were up against. We couldn't be happier! As I've said before, our gym has only been around 2 years...no other team at the Worlds is newer than our team.

Stay tuned for some scenes from Worlds, as I post some pictures tonight!!!

Speaking of pictures, I'm sorry to say that my life has gotten so crazy busy that I've decided not to continue with Picture of the Day. Yes, it saddens me and I wish that I could have continued it for the year, but at least I did it for 3 months!!! I'll still post plenty of photos from exciting events and other random occurances. :)

Exciting things have been happening!!!

Hi all,

I've been horrible about updating lately...I know. I've just been so crazy busy...not much time for anything! I am very late on posting my Week 14 pictures. I have decided to post Weeks 14 and 15 together this coming Monday, so you will see 14 pictures at that time. Stay tuned.

I wanted to share some exciting news with you all.

1. I won the $1000 Grand Prize in the 2007-2008 "Heart of Winter - Serendipity" contest by Close To My Heart!!! I created a layout, using their beautiful Serendipity kit and it was selected as the first place winner! I am over the moon about this and now have the very pleasurable task of selecting $1000 worth of CTMH goodies out of their catalog!!!

Here are some pictures of my layout:












2. Alex is going to the 2008 USASF World Cheerleading competition!!!
Alex went to VA last weekend to compete in a cheer competition, where bids to the World competition were handed out to the top two teams.

Now I didn't go and see the performances for myself, but apparently they did awesome and stuck every single stunt and tumbling pass. All of the other teams were telling them how awesome they were and were amazed at the level of difficultly of their routine. So they were all stunned when they came in 5th out of five teams!!! Very disappointed, but chalked it all up them being a new and obscure gym. Cheer can be very subjective.

Fast forward to this morning, when I get an e-mail saying that a math error had been made...Alex's team came in 2nd!!! They are now going to Worlds in 2.5 weeks!!! They are held in Orlando, FL! There will be 300+ Level 5 teams from all over the world (22 countries, I think). Now Nationals are held everywhere and really don't mean too much. But there is only ONE World Competition and it is by invitation only!

Very, very exciting and such a wonderful opportunity for my 12 year old!!! I'm so proud of her and her team.


I promise to show you Weeks 14 and 15 on Monday!!! :)

Week 13 - Picture a Day

Today is the last day of the first quarter of the year...YIKES!!! The good news is that spring is coming! That puts a smile on my face. I can't wait to take photographs of more scenic things. Taking photos of beauty in the wintertime can be challenging, for sure.

Here is what I photographed during Week 13:

March 25: Me and my little buddy, my friend's son. :)


March 26: Samantha pondering why they put the "Q" in Q-tips!!!


March 27: Hmmmm, so glad to get my hands on these babies...Prima "Say it in Crystals"!!! I have been CRAVING these!!!


March 28: What I've been reading lately.


March 29: My little skater girl, Alex. Her first time on an indoor course and, boy, did she do well!!! Is there any sport she can't do? I think not.


March 30: Samantha nursing a slightly twisted ankle. She's doing much better today. That darn soccer practice!


March 31: Some scrappy goodness came in the mail today, in the form of March's Label Tulip kit. One of their best kits EVER!!! I can't wait to play with it this weekend!


I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!! Happy April!

Techniques II class and Weekend Retreat at Express Yourself

The Techniques I class at Express Yourself went very well...I even taught a second class for those who missed the first class. I've now developed a Techniques II class that will be taught on Tuesday, April 22, from 7 to 9 pm. Here are the things that I will be teaching in this Intermediate Level installment of my technique series:



















Students will learn how to do the following techniques:

-- Using buttons to create frames, flowers and chipboard embellihments
-- More fun ways to alter chipboard
-- Ways to alter Grungeboard
-- Four different creative ways show off journaling
-- Fun ways to use eyelets
-- Some beginning doodling techniques
-- Ways to create fun edges

Students will add these technique pages to the book they created during the Techniques I class. New students will create a new book. These books will be used to take home and consult as students are becoming comfortable with these techniques.

Students are asked to bring adhesive and a Crop-a-dile, if they have one to class.

So if you're in the area and are interested, give Amy Bender a call at the above link. Thanks for looking! :)


Announcing Express Yourself's very first In-Store Weekend Retreat!!!

Dates-

~ April 4th, 5th, and 6th, 2008

Times-

~ Friday, April 4th: 6:00pm to Midnight

~ Saturday, April 5th: 8:00am to Midnight

~ Sunday, April 6th: 8:00am to 8:00pm

The Details-

~ Come and join us for a fun filled weekend of scrapping and cropping!

~ Enjoy the ability of leaving your workspace set up and ready for you to come back to each day! No packing up your supplies at night.

~ All sorts of meals, drinks, and snacks will be provided for you!

~ Fun classes and make and takes will be offered.


The Classes, etc.-
~ Chris Dodaj will be teaching an AWESOME mini-album class on Friday night from 7pm to 9pm. There will be an additional $20 fee for her class for all Retreaters.
~ Amy will be doing demos of Glimmer Mist throughout the weekend. Various techniques will be shown.
~ A presentation on Preserve-it-Frames will happen on Saturday afternoon.
~ Make and takes will be offered throughout the weekend.


The Fine Print-

~ The entire Retreat weekend fee will be $175, Chris Dodaj's class is an additional $20.

~ Fee can be pro-rated for those who can not attend the entire time.

~ The store will be locked up between the hours of midnight and 8:00am.

~ A $50.00 deposit will be required in advance to reserve your spot at the retreat.

I hope that you can come and enjoy this fabulous retreat weekend!!!

*** Please call and reserve your space today!

Reservations and deposits are necessary for Scrap and Class Events.

Week 12 - Picture of the Day

Hey, I'm on time this week...woohoo!!! So the year is nearly 1/3 over. Can you believe that? I sure can't! I hope you all had a very pleasant Easter. Our family enjoyed a quiet holiday and the weather was beautiful!

Here are my pictures from Week 12:

March 18 - A scene from the very first class I taught at my LSS, Express Yourself . It went very well. My students and I had a lot of fun. And they want to come back to my next class. :)


March 19 - The Samster (our nickname for Samantha, hehehe) sporting her Bo Bunny scrapping apron! She's so cute!


March 20 - Samantha is altering a Maya Road butterfly album with some new American Crafts papers. Here is the beginnings of one page.


March 21 - One of thirteen ATCs I made for a swap over at 2Croppin'Cousinz . My theme was to highlight doodling as a technique.


March 22 - My second home!!!


March 23 - Happy Easter! The girls sitting with their Easter baskets. I made them the name tags.


March 24 - This morning, as I looked outside, I saw the moon through the trees and thought it was soooo pretty...I just had to snap a picture of it!


I hope you all have a great week and enjoy the warmer weather. Here's hoping we start seeing some hints of Spring around here soon!!!