Last post for a while....

Sorry I've been away for so long! Life has pretty much put my plans into a blender, pureed them, and spit them back out into my lap. I'm on a whole new track and I'm loving the fresh outlook it's brought to my life :D Things are finally starting to make sense in my life and that is so exciting!

First off, I'll be going back to teaching in the fall! I'll be teaching a fourth grade gifted class. There are no words to describe how excited I am. Since I found out, I've been planning curriculum, reading great children's literature and stocking up on the neccessities - classroom stuff, work clothes, work shoes...ya know, any reason to go shopping :P Plus, it feels great to know I'll be making my own money and no longer need to "ask" for things. Although dh is wonderful at providing Sarah and I with everything we need, it'll be great to know I can get it myself from now on and contribute to the house bills, as well.

Secondly, I will no longer be scrapping as a "job" any longer. It was a hard decision to make but I'm happy with it. I know there will be limited time to spend with my family once I start teaching. I want to be able to spend every moment with them and scrap when I want to, instead of scrapping for a deadline. I'll miss the push to create and the wonderful teammates I've had on various teams, but I know this is the best decision for us. Plus, I think I'll finally be able to enjoy scrapping again. The pressure to create awesome stuff every month was kind of getting to me. Sometimes, I want to just throw a layout together and not worry about balance and proportion and colors. So, this decision will provide me with the opportunity to get back to the "fun" of scrapping...when I have the time, that is!

Here is my last project I created with the Label Tulip Project kit, which I created!! And, it's sold out!! WOO HOO!! I also helped create the main kit this month, which also sold out. Nothing like going out with a bang! It just warms my heart to know that so many people are enjoying and scrapping with the products that I hand picked simply because I loved them so much! If you picked up either of the kits, have a blast with them!

Book Review: The Spare Wife

If you haven't joined Mothertalk, you should definitely check it out! Among other things, they do these great book blog tours where every reads the same novel and then reviews it. This month I was lucky enough to be included in the tour! I was assigned to read The Spare Wife by Alex Witchel. Here's my review::

I was immediately drawn to this book for two reasons. First, it takes place in my hometown of NYC. Secondly, I was in the mood for a dose of some interesting chick lit. On the up side, I enjoyed the way the book delved into the underbelly of Manhattan's A-listers. The gossip, the backstabbing, and the "sleep you way to the top" overtures definitely kept me reading. I did, however, find the incredible attention to detail somewhat distracting in such a purposefully superficial novel. A few times I found I needed to push myself to actually finish the book, which was disappointing. Some chapters failed to move the story forward. But once I got passed them, I found myself wanting see how the characters were scheming in the next chapter.

The heroine, Ponce, a gorgeous model turned widowed lawyer was an asset to the novel. Her scheming two-faced nature as well as her secret life were interesting and fun to read about. But my favorite character was Shawsie. She actually seemed real and relate able. I hated Babette, which the reader is supposed to, so kudos to the author for evoking the very emotion I'm sure was intended. Most of the other characters in comparison, although interesting, fell a little flat.

Overall, I enjoyed the book for just what it was. A quick departure from everyday life into a life I normally only watch on tv shows. I found myself laughing many times at the stabs to the NYC 'elite' and recommend it as a fun beach read.

Thanks Mothertalk for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour!

We played a game you couldn't win... to the utmost.

Here's the full reveal! Label Tulip main kit plus the addon :) I really wish I could have done more but my life got in the way. Best laid plans, eh? Anyway, I hosted no less than three get-togethers(including Easter) at my house, attended one all you can eat crab fest out east, a birthday lunch, a full day play date complete with picnic and parachutting rabbits, and am now looking forward to dinner and festivities in Williamsburg. An awesome week to be had by all...

Have a fabulous weekend everyone. The weather is off the charts gorg right now....I hope it is in your neck of the woods, too :D Enjoy it!

Quote of the Day: Drugstore Cowboy

Don't think so, gigolo.

I've neglected the blog. Mostly because I haven't been doing much of anything by way of scrapping. I'm living life to it's fullest. And by that I mean filling my tank twice a week to compensate for my trips out east and to Brooklyn as often as possible. As well as driving Sarah around town looking for fun things to fill our days. We're loving the library, the park, the mall (they have the cutest ride on animals - for 10 bucks a pop, grrr) and just hanging out at home.

Here are some sneak peeks for the latest Label Tulip kit...LOVED it. As usual. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
Check out the full reveal tomorrow. It's gonna be a fun time :D


Quote of the day..err...month: Happy Go Lucky

I'm not perfect, but who are we kidding, neither are you.

So, this post amounts to about all the scrapping I've done this month. I'm hoping to get my printer up and working again so I can scrap some more. The colors are coming out all wonky. I think it's the new ink and not the printer. Crossing fingers!

Yet again, I loved this kit. LOVED it. Talk about major doses of gorgeous colors, incredible variety, the cutest new embellies, rubons from BG and Hambly that I fell in love with, glitter, chipboard, and the most perfect mix of new Thickers and new BG chip alphas. Grab one while you can!! I'm sure this one is not going to last long ;)

Happy Scrappin everyone!!

Quote of the Day: Wedding Crashers

I'd rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special...

I'm baaaack! I took a little haitus from the blogging world to enjoy the last days of winter. A bunch of us headed up to Vermont to a gorgeous house up on a mountain (thanks Brianne!!) and basically had a blast. I haven't laughed so hard in forever. Between sangria induced rounds of Catch Phrase and Scattergories, scouting the outdoors for great shots, a little bit of Top Chef: Stewart's Edition (pretty much like a glorified 7-eleven), snowmobiling (I actually drove my own and friggin LOVED it) and just plain 'ol vegging out, it was just what the doctor ordered. We're planning a camping trip next. Can't wait!

I'm desperately trying to get this house ready for Easter. There's so much I want to do, so much I want to buy, and so much I want to refinish. I'm hoping to get somewhere near my "vision" before the holiday arrives. I think my problem is that I"m always buying the accessories for a room (frames, vases, candles, decor items) and not the bigger pieces that bring it all together. Which is probably good since I'm on a budget afterall. After some wainscoting in the formal and some new paint colors, I think things will feel more pulled together. I hope.

BTW, that's Kelso in the photo. Basically the coolest dog, besides my Dixie ;)

I'll be back tomorrow with my Label Tulip layouts! I LOVED this kit, yet again :D


Quote of the Day: Steel Magnolias

Don't do anything I wouldn't do! Or don't do anything I would!

The healthier side of the Hardy family is finally making its appearance into our everyday life. Sarah still has the horrid cough, but I'm hoping it'll be gone soon. Otherwise, she's a crazy monkey, running around the house and making us laugh all the time. Just this morning she tried to fit into her baby chair. When she couldn't get into it I told her she was growing (which she is usually very proud of). But this time she pouted, hands on hips and yelled, "THAT'S IT! I changed my mind. I want to be three forever!!" Gotta love her ;)

Then in a quiet moment, she snuggled up next to me and said, "Mommy, when you were gone last weekend, I found one of your shirts and I hugged it because I missed you very much." I nearly melted into tears.

And her favorite exclamation right now is: "Aye Chi-MA-MA!" Totally cracks me up. That and when she calls me "young lady!" :D

The layout above was done for the latest catalyst at Creative Therapy. I was totally honored to be the Guest Artist this week!! My catalyst was: What’s something you do every day just for yourself? (If nothing comes to mind, create the art around what the one thing would be and why you’re not doing it.)

And here's what I had to say about it::
This catalyst spoke to me immediately. Every night, before bed, I set aside some time to read a good book. It’s my way of escaping the day and clearing my head so I can fall asleep peacefully. When I thought about how to represent that feeling artistically, I knew I had to incorporate actual book pages into the design with some splashes of my favorite colors. Overall, I think it really captures how it feels for me to escape into a good book!
Those flowers were so much fun to make!! I know I'll be making a bunch more in the future. Here are the steps I used to create them::
In order to connect the theme of the layout with my embellishments, I created my own flowers out of old pages from a Reader’s Digest. First, I laid three torn book pages on the large piece of scrap paper (to protect the floor). Next, I sprayed each page with turquoise and mimosa Glimmer Mist in smooth, sweeping layers and allowed them to dry. Then I cut two 4×4 squares and one 5×5 square from the misted book pages. I took a pencil and drew a spiral starting at the edges of each square, swirling in toward the middle (the spiral does not need to be exactly perfect). Next, I cut out the spiral and discarded the remaining paper. Finally, I started rolling the paper up, starting at the outer end. Don’t roll too tightly or your flower will appear closed. Keep rolling all the way up to the inside and you’ll find that you can use the last part of the spiral as a base for the flower. Play around with the layers, loosening them up where needed. You can use a Glue Dot at the base of the flower to hold it all together.


The layout turned out to be my favorite one this year. And I have Creative Therapy to thank for that. The artists on that site truly inspired me to step outside me box and do something a little more artsy than my usual. I really enjoyed and I can see myself delving into this style more often!!

I'm heading out with the chicas for a weekend getaway and I can. not. wait. I need it more than words can say. Of course, I'll be bringing the awesome Label Tulip kit with me...you're going to love it if you love COLOR...and you know I do ;)

Quote of the Day: Mermaids