...dirty feet and a wide open mind.

gloomy girl.

so someone left me a comment somewhere (can't remember now, it was a few weeks ago) that my pages are kinda gloomy. or something. maybe it was sad?
eh.
it made me smile!
anyways.

here's another of that sort!
For Scrapmojo's 39th prompt, fill in the blank: "______ therapy". And toss a little paint on your page. Come play with us!

Use the word therapy? Paint? Ummm yes please. This was pretty much a no brainer for me.
I also used up my last bits from Kenner Road's June kits. I really loved these alphas. I think they were Pink Paislee? I don't know what my deal is with peeling chipboard and leaving it raw but I love it.
Love is good.

Here is the photo that I used:

This is the only window we have in this cave, my desk was put right under it after we stuffed all our belongings down here. Since then I've accepted the situation and gotten things put right, which means the bed is under it. Makes more sense, we sleep hot and have to crack it open in the middle of the night for the cold air. Yeah, we do this all winter, even in January. I know.
Anyways, took this back in August, the sun was beating down and the rose bush was overgrowing everywhere... I just really liked the view.

This makes me miss my camera.
I'll be posting a little halloween recap soon... right now I need to focus on a serious sugar detox after yesterday. Holy moly macaroni. If there was something sweet, I consumed it.
But I would also like to say that I roasted a whole chicken (with lemon and rosemary!), made cream cheese potatoes and cinnamon apples. So I did eat actual meals inbetween the piles of sugar. I bought too much peanut butter fudge and chocolate covered marshmallows at the market. Made way too many popcorn balls.
These things have to eaten you know. Can't let them go to waste. I'm sure you understand.

Toasty.

So this is my very last page for my guest design gig with Lotus Paperie this month. Another awesome sketch. This one challenged me a bit. Mostly just the circle... I'm never quite sure how to tackle large pieces on a layout, design wise. I like little bits. Obviously, lol, since I pretty much always use tiny photos, tiny paper scraps and tiny paint dots!


I used a mix of three of Kenner Road's June kits.
I seriously cannot wait until I can purchase a sewing machine for my layouts. I feel like a little stitching around that circle would just be perfect. I have a pile of layouts like that though - just waiting for a little stitching. Some day soon hopefully!

Alright - I'm going to settle in deep under the covers with Neil and watch some SyFy. (Stargate Universe and Sanctuary!! Geek out!!!)

Tomorrow is Halloween - I'm thinking fresh apple cider, roasted pumpkin seeds, popcorn balls and even more toasted marshmallows than we've had yet! Seriously, I think toasted marshmallows could bring the world together. Somebody email the president.

It's all about the food on Halloween when you can't afford to go out or dress up. Stay in! Stuff yourself! Sounds like a plan. I may paint the nails black... we'll see. I should have done that days ago I suppose.

I'll be checking back in tomorrow - goodnight!

But you already knew that...

What is my deal?? Every single day I tell myself I'm going to blog, I compose a post in my mind and I plan on doing it.
Then I don't.
Honestly, right now I'm wiped. But I'm going to blog. I'm posting this if it's the last thing I do. Today. It probably is actually.
Well, no... I still need to answer some emails. Send some. dang.
Anyways.

So if you're a scrapbooker who keeps up with all the online goodness that is The Creative Type, then you know that in the beginning of October, they announced 4 new typists. I am happy to say I'm one of them, along with Vanessa, Danielle and Cynthia. Honest to goodness fantastic gals I might add.
Dude.
It's always pretty dang cool to do these types of things.

But I'm a dweeb.. And I totally opted out on the first prompt I should have participated in. Because I like to keep my head up my bottom and ignore life's lovely little pieces. And wallow. You know all that though.

All that aside, Prompt #21 is here, and I told myself - no more being a giant boob. Time to get in this and enjoy it. So I did.
You should too really.



All about the negative space. Come play with us. Don't be a boob like me. Participate. It's good for you. Promise.

Did this just turn into a public service announcement? Gads.
Alright - email time.
Then bed time?

(p.s. - I would just like to let the world know that my husband has a ginormous water pillow. It weighs a million pounds. I was using it on my legs to help prop up my laptop since I'm using the laptop in bed but it cut off circulation to my legs. I'm just saying, if I'm smothered in my sleep unexpectedly and tragically - you all know the truth. Because seriously, if he tries to cuddle with that thing while he's asleep, it is very plausible that he could roll it on my head without knowing. just sayin'. goodnight.)

gone.

So honored to have been asked to be this month's guest at Lotus Paperie!

This weeks challenge:


This was a sketch challenge. I always think I won't enjoy sketches (I'm crazy.) BUT every single time I've had to do them I'm so happy for the direction they provide.
Check out my little intro bio as well. That was a fun one to fill out.

So this is a page I've been wanting to do for a little while... I've had the photo out and the background ready. I just wasn't sure though what I would say. I often struggle with the focus I need to pull all my words and thoughts together for my journaling. Especially when it feels so important like this.
It came to me last minute to go ahead and use a bit of the speech Neil gave at the funeral. I thought this bit was perfect:

"It never ever occurred to me that he may not be around one day.
The the guy I grew up with would suddenly be gone."

Steven was 17 in this photo and Neil 15, almost 16.

I used a Kenner Road kit from... December of last year?? Yeah, I hoarded that pretty baby for forever. I still think this page might be a bit too girly but ah well.

I feel better having gotten this page done... it was just something I needed to do, to get off my chest I guess.

Have a beautiful weekend.... I'll be attending birthday parties, staring in disbelief at my littlest niece walking around the house and trying really hard to believe that Neil will be employed soon. It is looking up so I just gotta keep chugging along.

the dashboard melted but we still had the radio.

More scraps....

Song lyrics from Wolf Parade's I'll Believe in Anything. Which is a song that sounded so strange to me at first, I don't know, off to my ears or something. Every time I hear it I think, maybe I don't like this song. But the words stick to my insides and I'm pretty sure I really do in fact like it.
This page is a mess. I redid it twice and the background and everything are just attempts to cover up the page before it. Ah well, it happens.

Just a page for Carlee. She will be visiting us again in just a couple days!!

A thank you card. It's very fall. I don't know why I made a fall themed card.
I'm terrible at making cards.
But I keep trying. My desire to make decent cards keeps forcing me to try. I have no idea why, I just want to. I struggle more without photos... that has always been true. I am always wanting to add images to everything, this was always my problem in my art classes in highschool... I loved collage and keeping my art journal (a year long project for a portfolio class) more than anything else. If the images were personal, or my own, then it was that much better.

Anyways. I'm going to keep trying.

That's all folks. happy friday.

(title - modest mouse - dashboard)

nice and light.

I once thought to myself, how sad that Neil doesn't usually buy me flowers. How selfish! Because he's always picking them from where ever he is wandering and bringing them home to me. It's either flowers, or rocks, fossils, shells, etc. (I am a rock geek. I have little bowls of them all over...)
I love it when I get those self centered, selfish thoughts and my brain slaps me on the wrist with the truth.

I'll be honest. Sometimes, when I make pages that aren't... as emotionally heavy (?) as other pages I make, I have to wonder about it. Is it a waste of time? Should I really focus my effort on that? Did I really just scrap a page about the little flowers neil plucked off a tree and there really is no other deeper meaning or huge message or whatever??
How silly.
I enjoyed making this. I enjoyed the subject.
I'll bind it in my little book and when I look at it later I'll still enjoy it.

So I'm letting that thought go. Not everything should be so heavy.

Some times... it's nice and light.

breakdown.

So... hmmm... a couple weeks ago Neil and I went for the last check of the mail at our previous apartment. It had been about a week since the last check and even though the address change had been submitted, we still wanted to just make sure. You never know.
Well, in the bundle that was mostly catalogs was a card from Kayla.
Who has a beautiful habit of sending me little notes when I most need them.
I can't express enough how insanely compassionate and selfless I believe this girl must be. I'm a total stranger to her, and yet she takes the time to send me something kind in the mail.

The card:


Along with the card was a little clear envelope with fortunes and tiny punched circles. So fun to open. And I'm not kidding... each one of those fortunes was perfect timing.
After first after opening it, I felt so grateful, but still I folded it all back up and put it aside for a couple days. And then I opened it again later and let it all sink in.
And a few nights ago, I dumped out everything in the envelope and made a page with it.
A page I love... and needed to make as well.

Thank you Kayla.

(you can view another sweet card she sent me much earlier in the summer right here.)

scrapbooking?

I actually scrapbooked.
whoa.
Doing it made the bug bite hard and now I want to more and more. So I will I think.

Scrapmojo Challenge #37 is up....



Scrap about your name, what you love about it, what you don't, what it means, etc.
Second, try something new.

I finally used these alphabet stencils I've had since 2007. Mandi does amazing things with alpha stencils so I figured it was worth a shot right?
I journaled a bit on the front, but most of it is on the back. That's my new thing, crazy, messy, let loose journaling on the back. I plan to blog about that later actually.

Be gentle with me, because I'm not sure if I love this page, I think I do, but then I think I shouldn't. Does that make sense?

But yes, more scrapping to come. More creative to come. good.

Happy September!

Fashion Forward

Did you know, that Vintage Plum's August Kit, Fashion Forward came out on the 1st?
I'm sure you did.
because like with everything else right now, I'm behind.

It's a pretty, vintage-y kit. Lots of Graphic 45 and Collage Press. And some amazing little scalloped pieces of sheet music that I adore, among the many lovely bits of this kit.


So when I was 17 I spent a lot of time in front of my webcam. In fact, some days I would take more than one shower and redo my makeup just so I could take photos of myself. I have to cringe a little looking back on it now. Yikes.


I am so in love with this photo. Neil was trying to help his uncle get his tie tied before his daughter's (neil's cousin's) wedding. He realized though that he wasn't really any good at it when he wasn't tying one on himself. A little weird doing it the other way around!


Neil and I saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince a couple weekends ago, and before the movie we saw a preview for Where the Wild Things Are. It was just insanely lovely. The colors, the music, the imagery... I'm excited to see it. It's stayed with me since then so I wanted to do a page kind of inspired by it.

It's crazy messy but oh well.
I'm not super in love with any of these, which is always hard I think when you're working with a kit and wanting to do awesome projects as a result. I was happy just to take the time to scrap anything though.

The other design team gals have amazing and pretty things posted, so check them out if you've got a moment.

And I just wanted to add this really quickly, if you're interested. I recently listed some kits for sale over at Willow Traders. My kit pile was just getting too overwhelmingly large. You may or may not have seen them posted here for a hot second, but I changed my mind and just decided to sell them over there. You have to be signed in, and they are listed in the kits for sale or trade section.

Ok, back to work! Trying to play catch up!

*don't forget about the birthday giveaway!!

July 2nd? that can't be right. can it?

I'm the guest team member over at Twisted Sketches for this week's sketch.

I don't know why but I'm diggin' the sketch thing lately!

The subject of this is based off of a conversation my therapist and I had a few weeks ago. About giving myself permission to live a good life. Allowing myself to create the life I want.

I did a bit of a blog post about it awhile back as well.

Go play. Because it's fun. And fun is good.

(AND in case you weren't already aware, there is a new prompt over at Scrapmojo which I totally and completely forgot about until about the day before. I know, I'm a bum. So, go check it out and see what the other lovely gals have done. I'll be sharing mine soon!)

She's my cherry pie... ummm. no, wait.

I don't really even like that song.
Anyways.

Vintage Plum's July Kit - Cherry Pie is here! I've called kits yummy before. But when I say this kit is yummy, this time I'm quite serious. It's just the best way to describe it!

I fell really head over heels for this kit - it was just screaming: summer, july, the 4th, Americana, good food, road trips, diners, and just classic, vintage fun.
Yeah, I got all that from this kit.
And you would too if you would stop reading this and go buy it already.

So yeah, I'd been meaning to share this photo of some blueberries but I hadn't yet. I'm not kidding you - I buy three pints of blueberries from the market each time and they are gone in 2-3 days. About a pint a day. I can't stop myself. Addiction. Delicious.
I used one of the cupcake liners as a mask and I also played around with my own distress ink for the first time. That stuff is very good stuff.

Again using the cupcake liner as a mask. I also cut it in half after it was all pretty and sprayed up to embellish with it.

We are lazy snackers. So our fridge is set up like a healthy buffet. Yum.
I love die cut papers like this. And as someone who hardly ever uses chipboard for anything, I have a new appreciation for it.

I used one of the coin envelopes that came in the kit to make a quick little gift card envelope for Neil's bday:
(ignore one of the stickers popping up, I had to hide it from him in my purse and my keys weren't very kind to it. I had a stern talk with them.)

My petunias - which despite many scares are still going strong. I'm figuring out how much attention they need in between "none" and "smothering". Next year my goal is to plant a whole balcony garden. I'm reading up on it. Check in next year...! But let's not talk about my tomato basket right now... I have no idea what is up with it. That's the other half of the cupcake liner up there as well. And I'm very much in love with this Jenni Bowlin paper. Perfect stuff.

So - this thank you card ended up with a bit of a western theme going on. I don't mind but didn't even notice until after I finished it. That's Vintage Plum's own menu paper peeking out in the background. Loved it.

Lots and lots of fun things going on at Vintage Plum right now too. Leave a comment on this VP blog post for a chance at some lovely etsy goodness. Be in the first 10 customers to buy 2 or more kits (any of them, July and all past kits included) and you'll get a cute prize pack from Midnight Oil Scrapbook Designs.
Plus - the Art Card challenge is still going strong, already a couple adorable entries in there.
There is another awesome post about ATCs, along with a free download and a giveaway.
*phew*

That may be all?? For now?
If you're not craving something sweet or at least something that smells like paper then I have failed miserably...!

Happy Wednesday.

" i always love a good "dude." :) "

That was Katie's comment moments after I posted these on flickr. It cracked me up. I'm all about sharing the funny.

(you can see these a bit larger and more detailed here.)

For this week's challenge over at Vintage Plum. If you play with us and share what you've created, you're automatically entered into a drawing for a $5 gift certificate. Very cool.

So come play. I'm in the mood for art cards of all kinds so these won't be the last for sure.

I hear fireworks popping all over town. Ahhh... the 4th. The pyro inside my husband will soon be bursting out of him I'm sure. Insanity.

The chat for Dina's new class over at Get it Scrapped just finished up. It sounds amazing. I'm so excited. I've got plans for it and the other classes I never finished up from last year. My own little summer school... more about that later.

For now, blog reading. One day I will master the art of blog reading balance. One day.

cherry pie. is so sneaky.

vintage plum july kit = yum.
and that's all I really have to say about it. until July 1st of course.

Not much to say..

No really.
I'm kinda blank today.
I'm in that busy mode. Go go go.

Something to share. I get asked a lot about what I do to get the muted look to my backgrounds on layouts. Like what I did here:

So over at the Vintage Plum blog I posted a little how to.
If you're interested.
It's not really anything new, just how I do it. A little peek into my messy head.

Alright, be back later...

Alphabet Soup

Vintage Plum's June kit, Alphabet Soup is.... well, yummy.
Like alphabets.
and soup.

Check it out.

Happy Monday.

that funny old facebook....

So awhile back, and when I say awhile, I mean AWHILE, a facebook note was passed around offering raks to the first five people to leave a comment.
It was fun, and many reposted and commented.

And then, and this is the part where I am embarrassed, I got something in the mail!
From the super duper talented Mandy.

I'm embarrassed because I got this in the mail during the crazy couple months that was me working, me going to school, me trying to get moved and trying to keep up with scrapbooking commitments along with therapy and trying to get my summer photography work situated. In otherwords, me stressing myself out and not handling time very well. I want to say I got this in March. But it very well could have been April. Yes, I'm an ass. When I got this, I opened it, loved it and then had to put it back in the packaging (to avoid a niece, cat or dog or just daily living getting ahold of it) and set it aside until I could actually enjoy it. And I kept telling myself, I gotta be sure to thank Mandy!
Like I said, I'm an ass, and so, more than two months later I am thanking her.

So Mandy, Thank You!!!!
and please forgive my rudeness.
and know that this sweet little sign has a new spot close to my front door!

There may be a couple more belated thank you posts for other people, because I'm trying to be less of an ass.
;).

Tomorrow is Friday. good deal.

Mmmmmmmm.... sneeeeaks.

I really am one of those scrapbook consumers that loves sneak peeks.
when kit clubs and other places do this, I'm so so so enticed.

Anyways.
Vintage Plum is changing things around a bit - starting with the June kit, kits will be released on the 1st.
And that is very soon.
SO, here are some yummy sneaks for the upcoming kit, Alphabet Soup (omiword that name is good stuff.):

View more good stuff right here.
I'm not sure why I like collaging my sneak pics together. That's just how I roll.
yep yep.

Happy Wednesday.

So behind on this...

I think every single day since the 10th of this month I have been saying that I need to post my layouts of the adorable May kit from Vintage Plum, Primary School Summers.
So please excuse my annoying lateness.

a very belated birthday card for a friend.

probably my favorite layout I've done in awhile. honestly, so sappy, so corny, but I always love layouts I do about Neil. can't help it.

I believe there are only a few of these kits left, so if you're interested in one, go jump on it. This kit was FULL of stuff, so many fun little bits.

I have a wicked headache this evening for some reason. Boo.
So much to work on too.
Looks like I won't be doing much more than the never ending effort of catching up on blogs. Also watching some monster quest on the history channel with Neil - right now it's all about bigfoot. Can I tell you a secret? the idea of bigfoot freaks me out a little. seriously. but I still find it fascinating so I'm watching.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Memorial Day.

...how the girl feels...

So, we are moved in. Well, mostly. You know, those odds and ends are still left.
I have a hanging basket with various plants (sage is the only one I remember! ha!) and my tomato basket as well. I've never ever had plants before, so we'll see how these do. Went to the market Saturday morning, got my plants and treated myself to a tiny gooseberry pie. Which is probably the best thing ever.
Wish I would have gotten photos of the flowers I bought for my mama in law. They were so lovely, irises with one big bright peony mixed in.

So, not much time to chat of course - but some Vintage Plum items to share:

My turn to do the weekly challenge for this week.

all about using up the most random of scraps.
When I did this layout, I literally was feeling so strange about sitting down to scrap with all the packing and moving and working and everything else happening before and after. I didn't just slap this together or anything but I did kinda just let myself go with it. I sort of believe that's probably the best way to go about using paper scraps anyways.

Check out the challenge here - if you get your layout posted in the gallery by Sunday at 8pm CST, you'll be entered into the drawing for a $5 coupon at VP!

And tomorrow night I'm hosting Creative Cafe. We'll be making some paper lanterns:

Such an easy, quick project. I really just wanted to make something fun and light like this.
Starts at 6pm CST tomorrow so come play with us!

Alright, off to get ready for work. Then errands later, gotta pick up my new mail box key, run by the library, we really need some groceries and toilet paper, yeah...

happy monday!

(title: no you girls - franz ferdinand)

party like.... a 85 year old rock star with a scifi fetish?

So before I jump into scrapmojo goodness, I have to say, even though I'm working in a couple hours I am having the BEST morning.

I took a little trip down to the farmer's market (which after I move will be seriously like a minute away from me...) bought some gorgeous delphiniums for a vase (will need to keep them out of reach of the cats, which I hadn't remembered until after I was in the car)  and on saturday morning the vendor will be bringing me a hanging basket with a mix of plants and a hanging cherry tomato plant for my new balcony. At a stand down from that one I bought some fresh spring greens, green onions and eggs.

And so my breakfast this morning was spring greens, green onions with pepper, olive oil and a little ranch dressing. Is that strange? I'm so not a typical breakfast food person. oh well. It was yummy.
And I think I spent about 8 bucks on everything. A bag of icky greens at the store costs about half of that for just half of what I got.

I love you farmer's market.

ANYWAYS!

Scrapmojo #34 - Describe what your day would be like if you could party like a rockstar. Use Cinco De Mayo as your design inspiration.

So that is my sad truth people. That a day of being lazy in bed with my husband, eating ice cream and popcorn and watching scifi totally sounds better to me than any party. I know. I know. GEEK.

BUT can I just say, how freaking excited I am that Neil and I will finally start to have our usual Friday and Saturday nights of scifi and bbc shows, home cooked dinners and a little scrapbooking (from me..) back? I'm like.... about to explode I'm so happy. I was missing our usual weekend routine. It's been about 6 months.

Ok, must get ready for work.... Happy Wednesday!

so sneaky.

My May Vintage Plum sneak peek:

Many more little peeks right here as well.

In other news, I'm officially moving next Friday, which means this week will be mostly filled with school, work and packing/moving. I'll have a couple more scrap related updates with scrapmojo goodness and the VP May kit reveal, but other than that, I'll probably still be a bit quiet.
Just give me a little time to get settled and then I'll be back with full blogging force. I'm bursting at the seams with so many things I want to share!

Something fun:

(I did something like this on another site last year and it was so cool seeing something all the way through like this, a real good kick in the butt creatively too!)

*Plum Star Search*

 

Have you always wanted to strut your stuff and show off your star potential? Are you ready to see your name in lights? Then join us at Vintage Plum for a 5 week competition filled with challenges that allow you to show the true star you really are! Prizes will be awarded weekly, but in the end only one star can truly shine. That lucky star will be awarded the Plum Star title and given a Guest Designer spot!

 

Rules to play:

 

1. Sign-ups begin April 27th and end May 9th. You must be signed up by May 9th to be eligible to play and win.  First challenge starts on May 10th.

 

2. All challenges must be completed within their designated time frames.

    

     a.  All entries must be newly created and exclusive to the contest.

     

3. International players are welcome, but if you win you must pay the difference in shipping to receive the kit and Guest Design spot.

 

To win:

LO's will be voted on on a weekly basis. You will receive 1 point for participation and 1 point for every vote you receive. Bonuses will be listed each week and worth an additional 2 points.  Each week the player with the most votes will be awarded a prize. Player with the most points at the end of the challenges will receive the Plum Star title and Guest Designer spot.

Sign up in this thread to participate.

bleep. bleep. bleep.

I want to throw a brick at something.

I don't have internet right at the moment, but in the interest of keeping peace I won't say more than that.

I'll be back over to my dad's in the morning to keep catching up on blogs and other things... I'm finally feeling like my head is above water!!

I do have something fun.... new prompt up at Scrapmojo!
Peter Pan, good times.
I would post a pic of my layout BUT it's at my home computer and I'm on the laptop at my dad's.
(NOT GETTING INTO IT. NOT. NO REALLY. NOT.)

So, go play and enjoy a little random internet time for me!

Happy Monday.

what?

So last night I said to Neil, "you know I posted that layout about you and Dustin and your secret love on my blog and all over scrapbooking land right?"

He said, "yeah..."

And I said "well, the tiny few that saw it before is nothing to the many who are seeing it now."

He said, "wait. what?"

I said, "You won't know what company I'm talking about, but Vintage Plum was featured on Sassfras Lass's blog, and the layout of you and Dustin was one of the projects used."

He said, "a company?"

I said, "yeah, a scrapbooking supply company. you're on their blog. They're fairly popular, I don't know how many people keep up with them, but I'm thinking WAY more compared to my blog."

He said, "you're joking."

And I said, "No. Your secret love affair with my brother is out."

He said, "well, then there's really no reason for you and I to continue pretending is there?"

I said, "I KNEW IT!"

(Vintage Plum is also being featured on Pink Paislee's blog as well, this was just too hilarious. well, I think so.)

(and if I were you I would check out the posts... there may be something fun in it for you.)

(just sayin'.)

inbetween your toes.

(FYI - Creative Cafe is still going strong right now, so if you'd like to join in, come on over. I believe you have from now until Monday to link up your projects to be included in the RAK for the distress stickles.)

newest prompt up over at The Art is Found.
Green grass.
and Katie Licht guesting, her work is just oh so good.

my offering:

(click it to see bigger.)
I wanted to do a series of polaroids, but the film I ordered still hasn't come in. boo. (I've got some izone film coming too, remember that stuff!! I found my old camera the other day..)
so then I decided I would be like Kara and play with a disposable camera.
Which turned into me running through the woods in a local conservation area.
Which lead me to a group of pretty twisty trees.
Which reminded me of a tree that was by an old house of mine. I used to make up stories about this tree and the fairies that came out of it. (I know, now I remember imaginary friends! of course...)
I seriously used to talk and play with these fairies. I always felt such comfort from them. I truly believe that this is when I really started feeling God in my life. I've always believed that God is in everything, even my childish imaginations and stories. He was there, they were Him and He was comforting me.

I should clarify - maybe I shouldn't have written "never would have believed in Him", because I'm sure I would have gotten there at some point. Hopefully, you all know what I mean. It probably would have taken me much longer to have such strong faith. Seriously, this sounds so... idunno, whatever, but I've never known much about religion, just a little about God. But I've always felt him, always had this overpowering sense of Him in my heart.

I had the best day today due to this prompt, and remembered something I haven't thought of in a very long time.

Ok, so go check it out. Even if all you do is go outside, look at the grass (go ahead, roll around, I won't tell anyone.) and then tell us about it. This is a very good prompt for just about anything.

Go check it out - Vintage Plum is sponsoring!

Ok, I'm off, I think... just maybe... I get to catch up on emails and blogs! whoa!

Okie Dokie Artichokie.

sidenote: I've lost my mind. I will resume the usual blogging (though, I have some new plans up my sleeve for this crazy place...) quite soon, promise. I know it's not really been awhile since I blogged or anything, but I've had a lot of things I've wanted to blog, and haven't and that makes me feel like I should post this.
and because I've lost my mind.
did I mention I've lost my mind?

TOMORROW NIGHT!
4.14!
Over at Vintage Plum!
Creative Cafe!

Ok, ok, I'll stop that.

Tomorrow night I am hosting my first Creative Cafe at Vintage Plum.
I seriously hope you'll join me in creating what I am now calling "little strings of happy."

(view larger here. crummy photo, but the details like the keys and bells are my favorite bits and kind of the whole point of my project.)

(blank on purpose as an example. planning on saving it for a RAK or gift later, will personalize then.)

More info for tomorrow Creative Cafe if you click here.
Annnnd, one random participant will win a 3 pack of distress stickles. yum.

I really hope this project translates well. I've been stressing and stressing and stressing about it, so I hope it's not totally confusing.
Let me put it this way, my only mission is to inspire you to take some string and make something fun to hang somewhere.
Not much for me to teach, I'm just hoping to inspire a little bit of something. Especially for those folks like me who haven't ventured into the world or banners and garlands!

Ok, I need sleep. I'm thinking I may gain a little sanity back that way.
Happy Monday.

Hopscotch!

The April Vintage Plum kit is just.... the yummiest thing ever.
You need one.
Pretty much now.

I loved creating with this kit, I had such an easy time with it - which was a nice relief from my use struggle with making things lately!!

A little anniversary for me - one year since I started therapy. Which I guess begs the question, "why celebrate that?". Well, because it's working, it's helping and I'm healing. I'd say it deserves recognition.

I got an email about this just today so I should note, the actual quote is: "Love is friendship set on fire" by Jeremy Taylor.

birthday card for a friend.

another little card.

This page is an example for the April Monthly challenge... all about games.
Check it out.

Lastly, this layout needs proper explanation:
So, I have about 15 million photos of my brother and Neil together. usually doing something that could easily make an innocent bystander assume some interesting things about them.

I was very deliberate when I used the phrase "guy love". Because every time these two are together, this song plays over and over in my head:

Yeah, I love Scrubs. (if you're feeling like another, this is a classic.)

I've got a couple other projects in the works as well... this kit is one of those that doesn't end. I may be quite sad when it does actually, I feel a little spoiled!