Hello again... it's been a long time, friend!

Wow! I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I wrote anything on this blog...

Thanks to family and friends for reminding me that I have been slacking in this. (Especially you, Dad!) A lot has changed in the last 2 months... so, I'll jabber about that and post some layouts that I've done too...

First, I have a job again. (Yippee!! I am not a stay-at-home Mom kind of girl.) I enjoy working and using my mind and my new job is going to be a lot more challenging than the old one. Don't get me wrong... Automotive engineering had it's challenges, hard work, and patience crunchers. There was long hours and difficult situations. And, in the end, I still get some sense of pride watching a car/truck I worked on drive down the road... But, this economy and the automotive industry is really struggling now - the jobs just aren't there! So, when the opportunity with the Navy came along, and it was full of challenge and future, I took it. It took a long time (well, not so long according to others) but my interrim security clearance is done... so the move is on!

In about 3 weeks, they will come in and pack us up and off to DC we will go. We've found a townhouse to lease for 2 years that is nice and in a good school system. Hopefully - keep your fingers crossed - we are the last few stages of leasing our home to a family for 2 years as well. (that will make me feel tons better!) It's going to be a big change and the last month & a half has been super stressful! Since the clearance came through, we've been scrambling to get everything done/turned off/turned on/finding new people in DC... I am really excited but also nervous. My last big move - from my parents home to school - was done in a mini-van. This one will take a 18-wheeler truck and we're talking about "pounds of allowable weight" and proper packing techniques.

As for scrapbooking... I've been doing my stuff here and there, as needed for the design teams. I lack the motivation to scrap for fun. It's hard - this was a hobby that my BFF Tracy and I shared so much that scrapbooking now reminds me off leaving her here. And, instead of being a joyful creation, I find it harder to do... I know that the joy will come back but I also know that one of the hardest - if not the absolute hardest - things for me will be to leave Michigan with her still here. We've been so close over the last 5+ years... she knows how much she means to me.

So, here are some layouts before I lose it...

This first one is for So Sketchy. I love all the product on this page! I got it from Mega Meet and I just love how it came out. (I'll update this post with product tomorrow - got to find the sheet I wrote it down on! :) Hope it isn't packed already!)

These next few are from Pink Sketches...

Also a Mega Meet page - this one uses product we got free from the Crop Party or was left over from one of the classes I took. Tracy and I did this page together so we both have a copy of it!

This page is also Pink Sketches... I love the picture of Annde! The swim lessons did work. While she can't swim fully yet, she really loves to jump off the side and doggy paddle around. Earlier this week, we went to the Waterford water park and she spent 1/2 hour just doggy paddling around in the wave pool, making little happy screeches when a wave hit her... I am glad she is more comfortable in the water! We're are going to continue lessons in DC along with maybe soccer and dance.

This one of the last field trips for school - a trip to Cranbrook museum to see the new Dinosaur exhibit. The class got to do excavations for bones as well as feel real bones and fossils. It was a lot of fun!! This was also a Pink Sketch.

Last layout for today - also a Pink Sketch. This was Annde's art show... The art stayed up for a while but had to come down for the open houses... Annde likes to look at this layout and tell me about her pictures.
That's all for now. I have more So Sketchy stuff and some other layouts to post as well. I am going to try and do a little better - maybe every other day - with this blog. But, the kidlet is up and if she sees me in here, we'll be stuck on the computer for a couple of hours playing with her Littlest Pet Shop webkins... so off I go!

Blog Hop & Cyber Crop at Apron Strings

Hey everyone!!

I am excited to announce a Blog Hop & Cyber Crop going on over at Apron Strings...

If you came here first, please click HERE to go back to the start... You need to visit each one to get all the phrases!!

As most of you know, I love to scrapbook! I've been doing this hobby for over 10 years and I love almost everything about it... the one thing I don't like? The cost! (Who does?) One way I have found to best use my money for product and still get the latest and the greatest stuff is to subscribe to kit companies online. They provide you with a great combination of product at a low price.

One such company is Apron Strings. I was blessed this year to be selected as a Sous Chef on their design team. I have loved working with the product because it challenges me to really be creative in what I do with my pages. Here are a few of my favorite layouts so far:

Apron Strings provides multiple options for your scrapbook excitement. The Smaller than a Breadbox option comes with 3 different lines of paper and matching embellishments. The Bigger than a Breadbox option has two larger kits with different paper lines and more goodies to play with. Both are amazing values for your money! And, with the Apron Strings kit club, you also get:

1. A group of scrappers to interact with that are kind and supportive!

2. Frequent challenges, contests, and crops - who doesn't love the GREAT prizes Lori and Kathy give out....

3. The latest and greatest products delivered right to your door!

4. A super online store with very competitive pricing and the new stuff we all want!

5. A free monthly newsletter, packed full of ideas, and available any time you want to read it.

6. You get a Becky Fleck PageMaps sketch each month with your kit as well as how the Sous Chef's use it as example.

7. And now you get the NEW Apron Strings Blog to make life even more fun!!

SO... On to the Fun!

If you hop over to the Apron Strings Blog, you will see challenges posted throughout the weekend. My challenge for you is the following:

A lot of the time, as scrapbookers, we like to do two page layouts. Unfortunately, they take up a lot of room on the shelf as you scrapbook more and more. So, my challenge to you is to scrapbook two events as a side-by-side 2-page layout *OR* scrapbook 2 events as 1-page layouts. Maybe you only have a few pictures for each one or even just a single picture. You can use the same paper for each layout or different paper - it's up to you. I just want to challenge you to try a one page layout, or two, instead of doing your normal 2 pagers!

Post a comment here for a chance to win a RAK from me!! Your deadline: Wednesday at midnight, Eastern Standard time. The same challenge will be posted on the Apron Strings Blog on Saturday so you will get a chance at a prize drawing from Lori and Kathy if you post at both places!!! NOTE: Lori's deadline is different! You need to have it posted by Sunday night. Lori is going to do a drawing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for more chances to win so the more challenge you do the better your odds are of winning. *The Blog Hop will start on Friday, May 15th at 9:00 am MDT, this is 11:00 am Eastern, 10:00 am Central and 8:00 am Pacific. It will end Sunday, May 17th at 6:00 pm MDT, this is 8:00 pm Eastern, 7:00 pm Central and 5:00 pm Pacific.

Also, if you are participating in the Blog Hop, here's my special phrase to collect: AutoShips start at just $16! Now hop over to Anita Mulchaey's blog for the next phrase! :)

Have Fun! I can't wait to see your creations!!

Coordinate Collections & Mega Meet

This year, Mother's Day weekend is going to rock! I started off yesterday with a full spa pedicure. It was a treat to myself and totally worth it... Last night my feet and legs were SOOOOO relaxed and my nails are a pretty red now. :)

The fun continues today... I am so excited! In about 1 1/2 hours, I head out to Mega Meet. It's a scrapbooking convention in Michigan and I always find really cool stuff. I've been saving my pennies and I can't wait to find that special item. This year, I am not working like I did last year. Nope, I am shopping! Yippee!!!

I am so excited because I am also spending the day with my buddy Stacy. I haven't seen her in a while and she's so much fun. She even talked me into taking some classes. Here's a shocker for you: other than a class at a crop - I've only taken 1 other class in my life... it was a 15 min. one on distressing paper. That's amazing to me! In over 10 years, I've only taken 1 class! Today, I am taking 3: 2 mini-books and 1 techniques class. Then, we're cropping all-night! (My BFF Tracy is joining us for that... We are going to have a BLAST!)

I am also participating in a Cyber Crop with Coordinates Collections this weekend... They are having a crop based on the Movies theme. It will be fun to see what Jennifer F comes up with... Interested in participating? Check it out here: http://coordinatescollections.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=38

Also, because I am already talking about the site, here's my guest design team stuff from April. I had a ton of fun with the product! I really loved the colors and the textures. :)

I love this page... It's hard to see but I stickled the lace paper (Basic Grey) to make it look 3-D. I also like the look of the B&W pictures with the one color. :)

This layout was about my scrapbooking confidence last year. I tried out and made several design teams. It's been a fun year so I wanted to commemorate it!

My daughter's closest friend at school is Gabriella. This was a page I did about having her over for a playdate. Can you believe it was the ONLY picture I took - and her Mom's a scrapbooker too! Shame on us!!

And, using the scraps, here's some easy and fun cards I did... I love these colors together.

Off to finish packing my stuff! Have a great day everyone!! Peace out...

Yummy goodness from Apron Strings

Today, I would like to share with you some layouts I did in April for Apron Strings. I was given the Larger than a Breadbox kit and I love what I was able to do with all that fun product... It is so much fun to work with these kits because *everything* on these pages except for ink and a little thread is made from the kit I receive... no extra do-dads out of my bag. It really pushes me to be creative with what I am given...

This first page is a camping page that I did for my BFF Tracy... I just love the colors on this layout. Can you believe I freehanded those brackets? Aren't they cool?

This page was a lot of fun. I rarely do a 2-page layout but I had so many cute pictures to use, I couldn't help it! This page took me less than 30 minutes. Very simple! My favorite detail? All the doodling on the chipboard letters and flowers...

If you've read my blog, you know about the story in this next layout about being an artist. I like the layering and doodling of this layout - it really goes with the artsy feel of the story. She did have her art show... I'll be scrapbooking that one soon!

This page was my favorite... I randomly printed 4 pictures from the last couple of months of Annde and Steve together and then asked her what she loves about her Daddy. I love all the doodling and how the page turned out: girly with boy colors. Dad and Annde liked it too!

Do you have one of those spots you go to every once in a while? For us, it's Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, MI. They have these food themed playground that Annde likes to play on. I've scrapped it once a year to show how much bigger she gets each year. It's a great way to watch the growth over the year...

Another school page... We got this sketch to work with and I was excited because it perfectly fit Snack and Share day at school. The colors are great and I love how it highlights different things throughout the class day.

As most of you know, my child is addicted to Littlest Pet Shop. On this day, she took out all her playsets (Barbie, Polly Pocket, LPS, and My Little Pony) and connected them together to play by making... Little Pet Land... That's right... there was just enough space for her 100+ little pets to each have a home. She played with it for hours without interruption. Don't you love it when a child finds that much enjoyment in an activity that doesn't require electricity? :)

Lastly, here's a couple of cards I made with the leftovers... Enjoy!

I like to leave cards blank (without a sentiment) so they can be tailored to fit when I am ready to send them...

Tomorrow, I am going to post my So Sketchy Layouts... so be on the look out. It will be later because we're going to the Zoo in the morning... yippee!! Off to buy some paint...

Have a great day!

It's been a while, eh?

Wow... I can't believe a month has gone by without a single posting for me.

April was pretty rough. I had a lot of design team work that kept me on my toes as well as the mad rush to pack up the house. So much has happened that I would be typing all night so instead I will just list it and go from there...

* Yes, the trip to DC was crazy busy. The interviews went awesome... the plane flights did not. The return one especially. I ended up missing the games on Saturday night - Dad and Steve went instead - because I sat on the runway in DC for hours while we waited for the cross winds to die down and weight to come off the plane. It was a rough flight. It took me a day to recover from the air sickness. Uggh!! Everyone else had a blast at the game - and the Spartans won!! - so I was excited for the Finals.

* My brothers came in for the games and we had a great weekend full of A LOT of laughs. There are now a lot of inside jokes, including Jeff's new nickname "Google Boy" and Jon's new nickname, which I won't mention here... :) Annde had a great time playing up to her uncles and we had a lot of fun mocking Jon's Crackphone's 3G network. Jon - did you know that our network now has a 4G? AHAHAHA We're better than you!!

* The Finals - even though MSU lost in a large beating by UNC, we still had a lot of fun. We got to see things upclose for a while and even if we lost - we were still there. So there, ESPN folk - MSU got all the way to the end! You predicted we'd be out in the first round. It was VERY cool!! Thanks for the tickets to my siblings and hubby. It was an awesome experience!!

* I did take the job with the Navy... or at least I will when my security clearance is done. Who knows how long that will take. I know it's underway... but not sure when it will be complete. I guess we'll be moving, sometime... we'll just have to have fun in MI until that happens.

* Want to buy a house? Ours is for sale! It comes with a boat... :)

I have a ton of design team stuff to post that I will do in the next couple of days. I am going to try and post at least once a day this week to catch everything up.

Well, I am off. I have a ton to do before I get Annde from school. Thank you to everyone who posted nice wishes for me while I was on hiatus. I really appreciate it. :)

It's been a while - but life has been rough for the last week...

I am unemployed.

It's hard to say that. It's hard to think about the fact that 1/8th of my state is unemployed with me with several large companies undergoing even more cuts this month. Last Thursday, my company did a massive cut and unfortunately, #17 isn't my lucky number. (That's the number of headcount cuts I've survived since I started working almost 15 yearts ago.)

At first, I was very upset. I remember what it was like for my Dad to be unemployed. I went into engineering to begin with because it was a "safe" career... now, it's the opposite. Then, something great started happening. People started calling me, outraged, when they heard. I started thinking - "Hey! It's their loss! I am a good engineer who managed to get out before the bottom fell out of the industry." I can say that I did get severance but that's about all I can say since they made me sign something to get it. I wasn't feeling great but it was okay...

... then I got a call. For an interview. The same day I got laid off. I had been applying in D.C. since Steve will never manage to get back to Michigan with the economy as it was. And, one of my resumes ended up in someone's hands who was interested... So, this last Monday, I interviewed via phone and they liked me enough to bring me for a second round this weekend! Keep your fingers crossed! This would be a wonderful job opportunity for me...

Needless to say, the speed is a little bit scary. There is so much that would go into moving to D.C. Annde is in school through the middle of May. And, we have so many close friends and family here. I would really, really miss a lot of you. But, I also have some great friends there - Tim & Robin, Katie & Warren, Terria... and Steve's made a ton of friends there over the last 5 years. These same people have already offered - if I get the job - to help us find a place to live, school/child care for Annde, doctors, dentists... just about everything. I will say that it's making me a little calm knowing that we have great friends here and there that will help us move, if this is what is meant to be.

Stay tuned for more developments....

So, this weekend, after I rush back and forth to D.C.... I am on my way to

My brothers will be here by the time I leave and I can not wait to see them or the games. I am SOOOOOO excited about MSU making the Final 4! (I am bummed that the girls lost in the Sweet Sixteen by a last minute shot) I can't believe how cool this weekend is going to be! I couldn't believe when MSU tromped Louisville (the #1 team in the whole bracket)... and that these tickets that my hubby bought were going to allow me to see my favorite team play live! I am charging my camera right now!

I need to upload a bunch of scrapbook stuff... I will do that as soon as I can. Off to finish cleaning the house before I take Annde on her first & last school field trip (she's been sick during the other 3) to Cranbrook to see the dinosaurs... :) Should be a great time!

So there! Duke isn't so dreamy now, is it? MSU continues to Dance!

MSU Basketball is dancing today - cheering loudly because both our Men and Women made it to the Sweet 16!

When #9 MSU advanced to play #1 Duke, it wasn't surprising that our girls were going to get pumped up for this game. Duke was a really good team - there was a reason they were #1 going into the tourney. But they had to come through MSU at MSU... and there was no way she was leaving our home court with a win.

The victory by the women last night against Duke is especially sweet because the Duke Coach, Joanne P McCallie defected from MSU 2 years ago for her "Dream job"... It was ugly when she left - the manner she did so was not classy at all. I guess Coach P though MSU was inferior. Guess not from the look on your face at the end of the game... She was clearly outcoached even though she had a more talented team...

It's being called one of the biggest upsets in NCAA women's tourney history and I am SOOO proud to be a Spartan fan!

Thank you, Coach Merchant, for believing that coaching at MSU can be a dream job too. Our girls clearly believe in you and your coaching skills. What a wonderful job you did last night!

All pictures taken by Mandi Wright from the Detroit Free Press.