Sharing a SALE

Just thought I would pass along this great sale at Cottage Arts. Check out all the fun stuff that is on sale!

Happy International Chocolate Day

Did you realize that there even was an "International Chocolate Day"?


I was searching around the web trying to find the history behind this special holiday and discovered that there are a whole bunch of chocolate related holidays.
Here is a list from Extreme Chocolate:



May 12th: National Nutty Fudge Day

• May 15th: National Chocolate Chip Day



• June 16th: Fudge Day (in fact, all of June is considered the official "candy month")

July 7th: Chocolate Day

• July 28th: National Milk Chocolate Day


• August 10th: S'mores Day



• Sept. 13th: International Chocolate Day -- that's right, a worldwide celebration



• Sept. 22nd: National White Chocolate Day



• Oct. 28th: National Chocolate Day (How is this different from chocolate day on July 7th? Beats me! Celebrate them both anyway, though).



• Nov. 7th: National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day (yes, you read that right).



• Dec. 16th: National Chocolate Covered Anything Day



• Dec. 28th: National Chocolate Day (again)



• Dec. 29th: National Chocolate Day (again)

How fun! I am all for celebrating chocolate. The curious thing is that I cannot find any information on the origins of International Chocolate Day. I am not about to worry too much about such details when a holiday about chocolate is concerned.


So enjoy your chocolate, just make sure it is an international variety!





In honor of the day, I am giving away a freebie! This will have special appeal to all of you scrapbookers out there, but it has some really fun chocolate graphics that anyone would love for their creative projects. The little chocolate thoughts never fail to make me smile!



You can download the freebie Chocolate kit here.

I know I have been quiet for about a week. I guess I just had too much on my plate to organize my thoughts into writing. I had shared that I was overwhelmed last week with Patrick's allergies. I am feeling less overwhelmed. The no dairy thing is really not fun. I keep running into things that he can not have. At first I thought it was helping with his tummy aches, but by the last half of the week, he was still having some. Some appeared to be food related because they were during or right after eating and some were after he had spent a night in bed which makes you think that they have to do with inhalent allergies. We will continue on the no dairy for one more week and I will be thoroughly cleaning his room (again).

We got a good amount of beautiful, fluffy snow last week and I got some photos of the kids outside. Rachel had not really experienced playing in the snow and she loved it. The scrapbook page here is of Abi. She, too, has always loved snow. After her broken leg incident last year she has an ice phobia, but her affection for snow has not been diminished. Credits and details about the page can be found here.

I have spent the last couple of day creating a video for our church's Upward Basketball nd Cheerleading Awards Ceremony. Sadly, after many hours of work, I was unable to burn it to a disk and share it. I was working on my old computer (because that is where all of my files are) and it just doesn't have enough memory. I threw together a pitiful slideshow of some of the photos I had in Windows Movie Maker and that is what got played at the Awards night last night. When I have time this week, I will transfer the files to the new computer and finish the video up. At least I will be able to post it on the church's website. [Sigh] Computers! Ya' love em' but you hate 'em! It was a frustrating experience. When I get it done, at least I will get to share it with you all.

My Basketball Star

As promised, her is a page featuring my other basketball player, Anna. She is doing such a great job. She signed up to play basketball for the very first time last year. She didn't know the rules of the game, could barely dribble and shoot. This year she is like a new player! She is handling the ball, passing and shooting like she has been doing it for years. We are so proud of her progress! That center photo is of her making a basket.

You can see the credits for the page and read the handwritten journaling here.

A little scrappin'

I finally managed to sneak in a little scrappin' time this morning and I did this silly page.

Journaling reads:

Yes, I confess...I am having a torrid love affair. It is so hot and steamy, so delicious that I can’t bear to give it up. The amazing thing is that Barry doesn’t even seem to mind. In fact, he has encouraged it. So who is this “Ned”? He can often be found checking out the contents of my fridge and I do feed him often. But what I love about him most is his amazing talent at baking bread. Yes, Ned is my homemade wild yeast (sourdough) bread starter. Am I crazy for giving such a thing a name? Perhaps, but I have heard that explorers in the Klondike would sleep with their starters to keep them warm. At least I haven’t gone that far...yet.

Credits for the page can be found here.

Snow Day Sunday

We have had a snow storm blow through our area which dumped a fair amound of snow followed by freezing rain followed by more snow. We made the executive decision at 7:30am this morning that taking our pack of children out in the big ol' van to go to church wasn't wise and declared today a snow day. It turned out to be the right choice because we later discovered that our overhead garage door was frozen shut anyway making it impossible to leave in the van.

Barry and our oldest went out and about plowing and blowing snow at our rental properties while I held down the fort here with the rest of the kids. It was rough ;-) So rough that I felt the need to stay in my PJs until after lunch. I can't tell you the last time that happened.

One thing we did manage to accomplish today was to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" with the kids. I couldn't believe it. My older girls told me they had NEVER seen this movie. How did they ever make it to the ripe old ages of 13 and 10 years old without being subjected to this classic during the holidays. I mean it airs all the time! I was feeling like a really bad parent who has been neglecting the cultural edification of her children. Thankfully, we were able to watch it. Elizabeth wasn't sure if she could actually sit through a black and white movie - no color - horror of horrors. Her only comment was, "Did people really act like that back then?" I fear that the deeper meaning of the movie may have been lost. [sigh] As for me, I watch the movie and wonder, "Does my life count?" George Bailey made a huge impact on many people's lives. Hmm...who do I impact? Just thinking out loud here. It is a good reminder that I am here on this earth for a higher purpose and my life is not my own.


Because I tend to get stressed around the holidays and scrapping tends to relieve stress for me and because we had a snow day today, I got a couple of scrapbook pages done. You should recognize the photo from the top page from my last blog entry. My Abi loves to taste the snow.

This second page uses photos from our big extended family get-together that took place yesterday. My father-in-law is one of 11 siblings. Most of them were there along with their children and grandchildren. There were a whole lot of little cousins running around. I have lots more photos but I did this page called StoryTime with Uncle Don showing how he did his traditional reading of "The Night before Christmas" to the kids. This was followed by the traditional singing of the Christmas Carols. The kids aren't too thrilled about it, but it is required by tradition before the opening of the presents. (It's so much fun to torment the kids, isn't it!)

Credits for the pages can be found here and here.

Another page...

Had a few minutes this afternoon and I thought I would wrap up this page I started a while back. I had mentioned to Patrick that we should get a birthday photo like this and he loved the idea and it became a big deal. Probably because SIX is SO OLD - I mean it does take two hands! I used a whole big mix of different elements for this. It took me forever to go back andfigure out where each of these pieces was from. Credits for the page can be found here.

I am totally craving a nap today, but I thought I would try and be just a little productive here at the computer. Hope you are having a great Sunday!

I should really be in bed

I should really be in bed, but I was having trouble sleeping and I can't stand to lay in bed awake. So, I decided to get up and finish this scrapbook page I started a few days ago. I just love photos like this where the subject is bathed in a warm glow from the candles. You have to say it is kinda magical. Just this past year I read somewhere that shots like this are on the must have list. Every person deserves to have their photo taken with all the lights off and just the glow of the candlelight illuminating them. It is so flattering! So here is my son last month on his 6th birthday. Credits for the layout can be found here.

I am off to bed for I know morning will come MUCH too soon!

Fast Food Firsts

I have officially corrupted my baby girl's tastebuds. We took Patrick out to lunch for his birthday last month at the Golden Arches (a.k.a. the chicken and fries place). I realized when we got there that I didn't bring anything for Rachel. No food, bib or sippy cup. So, when the going gets touch, the tough order a Happy Meal. Right? I tried to be a little healthy about it, but the only thing you could substitute for fries was apple wedges which little Rachel doesn't have enough teeth to do. We did skip the soft drink and get the juicebox instead. She had never done a straw but figured it out so fast you would have thought she was a pro. Then there was the ketchup. To say she loved the ketchup would be an extreme understatement! Since I had no bib, I just dipped the end of a fry in a bit and handed it to her. It was love at first taste! I finally decided that giving her a little cup with a little bit couldn't be that messy. I was wrong. Next thing I know, she has completely bypassed the fries and is ramming her whole little fist into the ketcup cup. You can see the results on her face in this layout.

If you are interesed, the tiny journaling for this page reads:

Even though it was Patrick’s birthday, it was a day of “firsts” for Rachel. Upon arriving at McDonald’s, I realized that I forgot to bring anything for Rachel to eat, so she got her very first Happy Meal. She had never sampled ketchup, so I dipped one of her fries in it. Well, she was all about the ketchup! I gave her her own tiny cup with a little bit in it and the next thing I know, she has bypassed the fries altogether and was eating ketchup straight with her fingers! To drink, she had her first juicebox and her first time with a straw. I was worried she wouldn’t be able to figure it out, but it was NOT a problem. She slurped down the entire thing in no time flat. She is official a fast food pro. Hopefully, she will still eat her broccoli after this!

Credits for this page can be found here.

Just another manic Monday....

How did it get to be Monday again so fast? It is a grey day here and I am having a really hard time getting my brain to focus on anything productive today which is not good because my to-do list is really long. I decided to give myself just a little time to put the finishing touches on a layout I started last week. The clothing confusion comes from the fact that we have been having some really inconsistant weather lately. You can see that my daughter, Abi, has no idea how to dress anymore with her winter coat and bare feet!

Journaling reads:
Our October weather has been inconsistent to say the least. One day it is cold and the next it is nearly 80 degrees.The kids don’t have any idea of how to dress each day. They run around barefoot in shorts when it is 46 degrees one day and like Abi here when it is 78. Check out that warm winter coat that she refused to take off and those bare feet she was running around outside with.. This weather is certainly causing clothing confusion.

Credits for the page can be found here.

Now I am going to have a go at the piles of stuff threatening to form a landslide off my desk. Have a great day!

Blue Monday

Today is "blue monday" in our house. No, I'm not saying we are all depressed. I'm talking about laundry day (although, for me, the lines get blurred between depression and laundry ;-) Because we keep getting behind on laundry in this house, several weeks ago I decided to have a laundry day once a week. We had been trying to do a load a day, but it just wasn't always happening. On the first blue monday we had TONS of laundry as well as sheets. On top of that I have been trying to go through our stored clothes. The kids need warmer stuff so it is time to pull out the hand-me-downs. Sadly, I had some stuff that had been invaded by mice andI have been spending a lot of extra time sorting and washing even the sizes that no one even currently needs.

I have a confession to make. I really hate laundry. The part I hate the most is the putting away the clean stuff so I tend to get behind in this area. This has currently invaded my bedroom and I am having difficulty getting everything put away. I have 9 overflowing laundry baskets lined up along the walls (one for each memeber of the family, one for linens/towels, and one for socks). I just can't seem to get it all put away and now it is blue Monday again. Time to do more laundry and add to the Mount Washmore in my bedroom. Ugh! I want my bedroom back! So, you know what I am going to be doing for a better part of my day. [sigh] I have a hope that one of these days I will catch up and have a laundry system that works for us. The other option is running off to a deserted island and forming our own nudist colony so there wouldn't BE any laundry. Probably, that's not a very realistic option so I guess I will just keep plugging away at it.

In other news, I was able to get some scrappin' done this weekend. I can only show you one page (because the other is done with a kit that hasn't been released yet). It is just a fun little page of my silly Abi.
Journaling reads:
Full of sweetness and full of fun, Abi, and always full of silliness. As soon as you see the camera, you begin to ham it up and the posing begins. These are some of your self-proclaimed “silly faces.” Even playing the part of the goof your are beautiful and your personality makes me smile.

Credits for the page can be found here.

Have a great Monday!

Signed Scared

So, does this scrapbook page make you scared? Yeah, they are supposed to be signing scared. Part of the sign is making a scared face, but they aren't too convinving. They're having too much fun!

We have been learning sign language in this house. I have been intrigued with sign language since I was a girl. I don't know why, I just thought it was cool. I learned the whole ASL alphabet and tried to get my friends to learn it too so that we could "talk" in this secret code, but it never happened. A year or so ago, I discovered Signing Time videos. They sounded great and had really good reviews, but I couldn't afford to buy them and my local library did not have them. Last Christmas I was struggling to come up with a wish list to pass around for my baby who was just 3 months old (because in our family we always do this for everyone). Then I had the brilliant idea to put down the Signing Time DVDs. Studies show that signing with babies is such a positive thing. Rachel got the first DVD and all the kids and I watched it. Rachel was too young to learn the signs and we were not diligent in signing them to her. But around her 1st birthday I pulled the DVD back out and we all relearned the signs and starting using them with her. Since then she has learned to recognize quite a few and has signed back to us: milk, more, sleep, and cookie. Our library now has the whole series of DVDs and we have been checking them out and learning tons as a family. It has been a fun project.

Anyway...I went into all of this to explain this fun scrapbook page. One of Patrick and Abi's favorite signs is "scared." I am sure this is because they get to make a "scared" face along with the sign. When I had the camera out on Patrick's birthday, they decided to pose silly for me and this is what I got. Details and credits for the page can be found here.

Here is a song from the Signing Time Zoo Train DVD. We got it from the library and my little ones love it.

Oh, and this one has been requested a lot by the younger set in this house.

So Long to the Zoo

Our local zoo has officially closed for the season. It always makes me sad because we really love our zoo. We made one last visit last week. We always go with my mom and dad, but this time our good friends joined us, too. Their children are about the same ages as Patrick and Abi and are good buddies. I have more photos that I want to scrap, but for now, here is one of all the kids except Elizabeth posing with the Rango the orangutan statue. I have more photos than I can count of my kids sitting here throughout the years. Of course, Elixabeth, my 13 year old, is conspicuously missing. I guess she just figures that it is no longer cool to pose with Rango. Gotta love teenagers! Credits for the LO can be found here.

1st Birthday Portrait

Happy Monday morning!
I am trying to ready myself to jump into a new week. I feel like there is so much to do and so little time. What I would really like to do is sit and scrap and forget about everything else. Maybe, if I am lucky I can squeeze in just a little time for myself. We'll see.

Just thought I would share a scrapbook page that I finished up on Saturday. It is another photo from my baby's crazy birthday photoshoot. I was thinking I really should do an outake scrapbook page of all the many bad photos taken that day. Anyway...here is one I liked. I kept the page soft to match the photo.

Journaling reads:
In a mere year’s time, you have matured from a helpless little infant to a sweet, pretty little girl.. You are on your feet and taking your very first steps. Although you say few real words, you love to babble back and forth with your family. You are starting to learn some sign language for more, milk , sleep and eat. Your eyes light up when one of your siblings interacts with you. There is no doubt how much you love them and can’t wait until you can keep up with them. What a cute little charmer you already are and we can’t wait to see the young lady you are yet to become. September 26, 2007

Credits for the layout can be found here.

My Little Birthday Fairy

It is a frazzle-day! Why am I frazzled? Well, you see that cute little fairy-girl in this scrapbook page. She is currently cutting 2 teeth and is not dealing with it well. In fact, she has been dealing with it by screaming at me in the most piercing way that a one year old can. It tends to wear on the nerves! This too shall pass. Hopefully, I will keep my sanity in the process. Adding to the chaos around here is the fact that I have a couple of energetic preschoolers who really need to go outside and run and today it has turned kinda cold. They got up and dressed like they have been lately in shorts and short sleeves. I sent them outside not paying attention to the temperture and they came right back in saying it was too cold. Shoot - I checked and it is only 46 degrees!

In other news, I did a little "scrap-therapy" to cope and relax a bit. I had so much fun turning Rachel into this birthday fairy. I took a bunch of pictures of her on her birthday in our homemade basement studio. It is laughable how many BAD photos I got. She is just not about to be troubled with sitting still long enough for a picture! This picture is one of the better ones and she isn't looking my way at all. When I went to create a layout using this, I realized that I did not have a kit that quite matched this photo. I wanted something with an aged look with just a touch of yellow. So I pieced this together from a bunch of kits by Doris Castle. Full credits can be found here.

I am off to check some math...have a great day!

Just one more pumpkin page...

Can you stand it? Although I have a couple more cute photos from the pumpkin farm, I am going to set them aside because I am itching to scrap some photos from my youngest's 1st birthday.

This layout was done for a challenge over at Cottage Arts to scrap about a "crop" - the kind that grows. I figured the pumpkin farm qualified for that. I kept the page simple and just used one of my photos to overlay on the backgound. I had many photos from in the pumpkin patch, but no real stand-outs, so I decided to cluster them together and tell the story.

Journaling reads:

Picking the Perfect pumpkinWas no easy task when faced with a huge beautiful pumpkin patch like the one Anna, Patrick and Abi faced on this day. Patrick immediately found one he loved as soon as he stepped off the wagon into the field. Anna and Abi were a different story.They perused the entire field. Anna finally settled on a bigger one.Abi picked up one cute pumpkin after another. She would pick it up by the stem and I would remind her that she learned in pumpkin school not to do that, but to instead hold the pumpkin itself with two hands. This discouraged her because the pumpkins had dirt on them and she didn’t want to get dirty. So she would discard that one and continue searching. Even Patrick had a last minute change of heart and asked if he could trade his pumpkin for another. Then the bell warning that the wagon was about to leave rang and I had to inform Abi that if she didn’t pick a pumpkin immediately, she would go home without one. She managed to choose one, but kept asking me to carry it because it had dirt on it. We returned home and cleaned the pumpkins and everyone was happy with their perfect picks.

Full credits for the page can be found here.

I can't believe that another week has flown by and it is Saturday already. How does that happen? Fortunately, we don't have a busy day planned and I am hoping that my family sleeps in and gives me some time to get some things done in peace and quiet.

New Poker Table

It was a busy weekend for us. First I should mention that my baby girl had her first birthday last Wednesday and we had her big party yesterday. Whooshh...where did that year go? I'll have more details on that later when I get her scrapbook pages done. I have lots of fun photos!

On Friday night, my hubby had group of guys from church over for a poker night. He is getting into poker. He plays Texas Holdem' with his buddies from work at least once a month. He is enjoying the strategic aspects of the game. He has even using it as a math tool to teach the girls about calculating odds and percentages. Anna is not thrilled but I think he's got Elizabeth hooked. She will even watch poker on TV with him.

Well after hosting several poker nights and knowing that he will probably be hosting more, my hubby has the bug to have a big poker table that 8 - 10 can sit at. We priced tables and ugh! There is no way that is going to happen. I suggested that we cover our kitchen table that can expand to 8 feet long, but he went on exploring different options like building a table or buying an old table and converting it. Then he tells me that HE has had this revelation that we could cover our kitchen table. I just had to laugh. And he says he listens to me ;-). So that is just what happened. He bought fabric and I sewed it up. I am no seamstress, so am pretty happy that it came out so well. You can see it in the scrapbook page above.
Journaling on the page reads:

There is a new obsession in our home with poker - Texas Holdem’ to be exact. Because of the poker nights that have taken place at our house, Barry had a strong desire to own a big poker table. After the sticker shock of pricing tables, we decided to cover our existing kitchen table. The economical solution was to use car headliner that is available at the local fabric store. Trish was commissioned to sew it up complete with darts at the corners, elastic around the edges and velcro to keep it in place on the long sides. It works great...... Let the betting begin!

Credits for the layout can be found here.

Saturday was a full day with preparations for Rachel's birthday party, a baby shower in the afternoon, and the 1st annual Wii Olympics we attended in the evening. A good friend of ours had a milestone birthday and got a Wii and invited a group of us over for a little friendly competition pitting husbands against wives. All I can say is that I am feeling the sore muscles today from beating up my hubby in boxing. I have pictures from that, too, that I really need to scrap!

Then Sunday was church. My girls and I worked in the nursery and I did my first week of leading our church's Cherub Choir. This is the little preschoolers. Ever since I found out that there was no leader for this group I have had this little niggling that this was something I should step up and do. Every morning during my quiet time, thoughts about leading this group kept flooding my mind. I argued with God that I don't need any more projects and I am busy enough, but this feeling just would not go away. So I told the children's leader I would do it. There is really no point in arguing with God. The safest place to be is in the center of God's will. The great thing is that after I shared this with a close friend she said that she had the feeling that she should be helping me. How awesome is that? I was very thankful because there were 13 wiggly 2-4 year olds. Help was definitely a blessing. Even my daughter, Anna, helped which was so wonderful. She is really great with kids that age. It went great. We sang "Jesus Loves Me" and I taught them the ASL signs for "Jesus," "loves" and "me." I can't wait to do it again next week.

Then we partied with the birthday girl here at our house with lunch , gifts and cake. Rachel, though, ended up being too pooped to party and fell asleep in her highchair with one hand still in her cake. It was too sweet and of course, I got pictures!

I am off to jump into my week. Hope yours is a great one!

2 More Scrapbook Pages

I just wanted to share a couple more pages I completed in the last couple of days. Don't stop me now, I'm on a roll. I am scrappin' like crazy and having so much fun. Perhaps I am just making up for lost time this year because I have gotten so far behind.
This top page has photos from a couple of weeks ago of my baby girl. She has been acting so big and not at all like a little baby. Credits for this can be found here.

This second one is from back in June. I don't know why, but my kids are crazy about romping around in the pouring rain. Here they are soaked to the skin. Credits for this one can be found here.

I'm off to a birthday party - have a great day!

Gratuitous Giftie: Old-Fashioned Calling Cards

I thought I would have some fun this morning and pass along another gratuitous giftie for all y'all. These little cards have an antique flavor and remind me of the little calling or visiting cards that were used during the Victorian era. One would leave one with their name imprinted on it at a home where they had visited. Instead, I think these would make great little journaling cards on your scrapbook layouts.

The cards may be downloaded here.

Enjoy!

Gratuitous Giftie

Well, it's official. I am no longer a Scrap Outside the Box designer. I'm retired. But just because I am retired from there, doesn't mean I am completely retiring from designing. It is in my blood. I don't think I can stop my creating any more than I can stop my breathing. So, I am planning on using this blog as an outlet for that creativity by sharing little gifts from time to time. I have one today that includes a September 2007 calendar in PNG form along with a coordinating digital background. Hope you enjoy it. Download it here.