DESIGN YOUR LIFE

The Girls Loft - August Guest Designer!

Thank you to my dear friend Margie for asking me to be the guest designer for her awesome new kit club at The Girl's Loft! I  had so much fun creating with all of the fun items she has collected.  It has really inspired me to do more creating and I have been doing a lot more of it lately...unfortunately however, my kitchen table is a disaster!  I do have a craft room...but being up with the boys has just worked out better lately.  I hope you enjoy the projects and be sure to check out the other amazing projects from the other designers!

  

 

 

 

My South African Adventure...Part 1!!

Well I have been home for a week now and have mostly gotten caught up on sleep, work, children and life...but I am still marveling at my very fortunate experiences in South Africa. I am so very lucky to have had this opportunity and I will never forget it or the amazing people I was able to get to know and spend time with. I should have been as diligent as Tim and blogged while I was there. Check out his blog...(link from his name) you may have to go back to the archives a bit...but he has some amazing photos and his narrative and video of the adventure is incredible!  I have so many things to share about this experience...so I think I will just start with the first few days of my trip for today's post.

Day 1 and 2: April 22, 23- I left SLC at 8:30 am and flew 4.5 hours to New York, then 9 hours to Dakar, Senegal and then another 9 hours to Cape town. Total flying time: 23 hours. 

Day 3: April 24 - I was picked up at my hotel by Glenda, Aunty Val, Debbie and Kyle and off we went to the Spier Estate in Stellenbosch.  What a beautiful place....a historic town filled with history and wine vineyards.  Spier was incredible!  This was where the event and our residence for 3 nights took place.

 

Day 4 - SA Scrapbook Convention at Spier - Cape Town Girls! What a fun group of women! It was so fun to teach the two classes to them and I also was able to take Tim's class.  Fun times!  Glenda and her team put together an amazing day for these ladies and every detail of the day was just spectacular!

 

Day 5: April 26 - MY BIRTHDAY!! How amazing that I was able to spend my 35th birthday (I can't believe I am 35!) in Cape Town, South Africa. Glenda had an amazing day for Tim, Mario and I.  In the morning we headed for Table Mountain.  Like Tim said...it was like being in Heaven at the top of that mountain amidst the clouds. This first photo of the 3 of us...I stole off of Tim's Blog!

   

  

Cable car (with rotating floor) to the top of the mountain

  

Cape Town below the clouds

 

This is part of Cape Town called the Malay Quarters.  The Malay fisherman would paint their houses bright colors so that when the came home in the dark of night they could see which house was theirs. Beautiful colors....Cool!

 

These are the brightly colored bath houses on the beach where ladies would change into their bathing gear back in the day.

 

We then went shopping at the flea markets and antique shops in Kalk bay.  Lots of very interesting stuff!  We had just an hour...so not enough time for me to do much damage to my wallet...but I did buy a few things.

 

We then had the best fish and chips at the infamous Kalky's on the bay.  Fresh fish straight from the sea....sooo good.

 

Next stop - a visit to the penguins! Cute!

 

Last stop in Cape Town...the Victoria and Alfred waterfront. A great place to shop, filled with entertainment, and amazingly beautiful sights.  Table Mountain is picture in the background.

 

Back at Spier, we ended the day with an amazing dinner, entertainment and great company at Moyo.  Moyo is an African buffet with live African entertainment and a very cool atmosphere.  The place is all outdoors and there are treehouses to eat in as well as private tents for two.  So romantic huh! Of course they had to sing to me for my birthday and it was so hilarious! Oh this is where we also got our faces painted....standard for dinner.

 

 

Last but not least...here is my self-portrait, 5 months pregnant and newly 35 years old!

 

Parts 2 and 3 to come!

Miracles DO come true!

So its been a rough few years and the hard times are far from gone...but yesterday, I recieved the news I have been praying for for so long.  Those of you close to me understand what this means to me knowing what I have been through...and am still going through. I am beyond grateful and I am a very blessed woman. Miracles really do come true! 

We will welcome this little miracle in September....

 

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In other news....I leave bright and early for SOUTH AFRICA in the morning!  I am going for Making Memories to teach at the SA Scrapbook Conventions. I am so excited to go see this beautiful country and meet all of the amazing women who love creating just as much as I do.  It is going to be amazing!  I will try to post while on my travels.  I will be gone for two weeks and have the most awesome itinerary.  Can't wait! I am very nervous to leave my boys.  I will miss them so much. But I know this will be worth it. I am so fortunate! I am almost packed...just finishing things up tonight. Wish me safe and happy travels!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHA 2009

I really wish I would get more productive with this blog!  I keep saying that I will and then I fail miserably.  Anyways....I thought I would post a few pics from the show.  I took most of them with my iphone, but here a few that I stole off the MM Blog.  We had so much fun at the show.  Trade shows sure are a lot of work, but well worth all the effort!  I did some cute layouts while demo-ing our new lines during the show.  I want to post them, but I just need to add photos first. Hopefully I can get to that tomorrow.

A Valentine Kit from French General

Just wanted to share something lovely I found today from French General.  Wouldn't it be fun to have?  Love beautiful things.  It makes me happy.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot - playing in photoshop

  This is a photo collage I made in photoshop elements using some of the shots from our Christmas card photo shoot!  I really didn't spend much time putting this together...so sorry for the photo distortion!  It's my first attempt!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year!

Fun Christmas Stockings and more of the Calendar

Today on our Making Memories Blog they are featuring these cute christmas stockings that I made using our Christmas line....FaLaLa.  They were so fun to make!  I actually made four total stockings that we used for display in our Trade Show booth at Summer CHA and they have been a hit!  

 

I also wanted to post the full calendar that I created for Scrapbook Bakery for their Dec. Kit.  These little calendar cards are adorable.  They are very tiny so the black base I used for each page is only a 4.5 x 6.5 piece of black cardstock.  A very easy project.  Anyone can do this and it doesn't take much time at all.

                

 

Scrapbook Bakery Guest Designer

Check out Scrapbook Bakery today!  I am the featured guest designer for the month of December and the kit theme is "Somewhere over the rainbow".    Here is a pic of the kit:

   

I did 3 projects....a 12x12 layout, card and a 2009 mini calendar.  I have more images of the calendar on my computer at home so I will post those later...but here are a couple images of my projects. Thank you to Heather at Scrapbook Bakery for the fun opportunity!

   

Check back tomorrow....I think I will do a giveaway of some awesome MM product!

So Grateful, and Things I have done.

Yesterday was a great Thanksgiving....even if I am still feeling like there is a huge brick in my stomach from all the wonderful food!  We had dinner at my Mother's house.....and I provided the turkey and stuffing and it was fabulous!  My bro-in-law Vinny challenges anyone to make a better turkey than mine....and I have to agree! Of course I can't take all the credit....the recipe is from Martha Stewart of course.  But I do make some changes to make it my own.  Anyway....I love this time of year and I am so grateful for all my many blessings.  It's been a hard two years, but at the end of the day I am grateful for what I have been and am still going through.  The only thing I know for sure is that there is a reason and I believe part of it is to make me a better, stronger and more loving and forgiving person.  There is a quote I love that goes something like this:

"God will never give me more than I can handle, I just wish he didn't trust me so much." 

Isn't that the truth?

Here is a tag of "Things I have done" that I pulled off Lindsay's blog.

Things I have done... Just copy and paste this to your blog and bold (or highlight in a different color) the ones that you HAVE done and make sure to put your score at the end. 

1. Started your own blog 
2. Slept under the stars 
3. Played in a band 
4. Visited Hawaii 
5. Watched a meteor shower 
6. Given more than you can afford to charity 
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain 
9. Held a praying mantis 
10. Sang a solo 
11. Bungee jumped 
12. Visited Paris 
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 
15. Adopted a child 
16. Had food poisoning 
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 
18. Grown your own vegetables 
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 
20. Slept on an overnight train 
21. Had a pillow fight 
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 
24. Built a snow fort 
25. Held a lamb 
26. Gone skinny dipping 
27. Run a Marathon 
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 
29. Seen a total eclipse 
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 
31. Hit a home run 
32. Been on a cruise 
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 
35. Seen an Amish community 
36. Taught yourself a new language 
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 
39. Gone rock climbing 
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 
41. Sung karaoke 
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 
44. Visited Africa 
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 
46. Been transported in an ambulance 
47. Had your portrait painted 
48. Gone deep sea fishing 
49. Gone without food or water for 24 hours or longer 
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 
52. Kissed in the rain 
53. Played in the mud 
54. Gone to a drive-in theater 
55. Been in a movie 
56. Visited the Great Wall of China 
57. Started a business 
58. Taken a martial arts class 
59. Stayed up for 24 hours with NO sleep at all
60. Served at a soup kitchen 
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 
62. Gone whale watching 
63. Got flowers for no reason 
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 
65. Gone sky diving 
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 
67. Bounced a check 
68. Flown in a helicopter 
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 
71. Eaten Caviar 
72. Pieced a quilt 
73. Stood in Times Square 
74. Toured the Everglades 
75. Been fired from a job 
76. Changed a lightbulb 
77. Broken a bone 
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 
80. Published a book 
81. Visited the Vatican 
82. Bought a brand new car 
83. Mowed the lawn 
84. Had your picture in the newspaper 
85. Read the entire Bible 
86. Visited the White House 
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox 
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury 
91. Met someone famous 
92. Joined a book club 
93. Lost a loved one 
94. Had a baby 
95. Seen the Alamo in person 
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 
97. Been involved in a law suit 
98. Owned a cell phone 
99. Been stung by a bee

Halloween

Just trying a quick post using my iPhone typepad app. This is ethan on halloween! He was transformer bumble bee for preschool in the morning and then changed into superman later! This is his little friend Will from morningside school!