New CC March Kit and DT News posted!

Okay... so today I got my mega-order from Coordinates Collections. I do mean mega! I took advantage of the Leap Year sale and caught some of the kits that they had from last fall I didn't have because I hadn't joined the community yet... I just couldn't wait to dig out everything and start playing!

For the March KOTM, I picked the one called "Around the Block." At first, I was hesitant that I could really do anything with it because the kit colors are brown, blue, and green. But, I was bound and determined to do a page tonight worth posting and viola! It's called Soakin' Silly and it is done almost entirely using the kit. {The only things not part of the kit are the white paper(CTMH), pictures(from my SIL Dee), ink(CTMH), and pens(Slickwriters)!} I adore this page. I do admit I went a little crazy with the Stickles... great product to jazz up the page! I just wanted to put my "water drops" everywhere: around the circle paper and journaling block (Dude Designs), in the chipboard flourishes and squiggles (Midnight Oil), on the really awesome vinyl thicker title (American Crafts)... The only that didn't get treated is the Lava paper (Imaginations Project) that I cut out and backed the right side picture strip with. Maybe I'll go back and add some more... :) I'm soooo hooked!

Also - today was the big announcement about the 2008 Design Team at the Scrapbook Zone...
http://ramblingsfromthezone.typepad.com/ramblings_from_the_zone/
I am super excited to work with Sandi and Stacy as their styles are VERY different from mine. I can't wait to get to know these ladies over the next year and grow together as artists... I just can't even express how excited I am... Yippee!! (As Annde would say...)

It's Monday again, isn't it?

Hey everyone... welcome to a new week.

Things around our house this week have been pretty busy and strange.

We picked up Steve's parents from the airport when they flew back from Phoenix after moving Denise. They stopped at our house and had a great dinner (patting my back!! AHAHAHA) of roast beef, potatoes, corn & green beans, bread, and finished with pink cupcakes (Annde's choice). Denise, Kira, and all the stuff safely made it to Phoenix and are in the process of unpacking in the apartment. Denise said that Kira is super excited about seeing Bob and barely leaves his side. So sweet! She definitely loves her Daddy... We were also excited to hear that Bob, with only 7 weeks left, is #2 in his class at the Academy. Great job, Bob!!

The first strange thing we had happen this weekend: Annde colored on the front of our high def TV. She's never done any coloring on anything other than paper with the exception of an incident at 1.5 yrs when she colored the window screen (she had just gotten crayons for the first time). So, this was completely out of the norm. I was really proud on how well Steve kept it together when inside I knew he was freakin' out. He managed to get the crayon off even though the surface is still slightly damaged. We've had this very expensive TV for about 6 months and for the first 5 months, nothing happened. {Heck, Annde didn't even go near it before as she was strictly warned about touching it!} Now, in one month, we had the coloring incident and the pop incident (our babysitter opened a can of pop sitting on the couch 10 feet away that exploded, coating the TV, entertainment center, wall, and all the TV equipment (DVR, DVD player, receiver, speakers)). Hopefully, this is not a trend starting...

The other strange thing I have noticed is that I haven't scrapped in over a week! ARRGGHH!! I can't believe I don't have a new page to put up for view. In fact, this weekend, I didn't take a single picture! That's so out of the norm for me. {I think it might be because I got sucked into a book, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It was a great book... a little slow to start, but very hard to put down at the end... }

In order to get things going, tonight I'll scrap something and get it up this week so that you know I am overcoming my scrapbook withdrawl! :)

March CC Book Club Selection

The pick for March is "the Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs.

As a single mom in her late 30s, Georgia has her hands full juggling the demands of running the Walker & Daughter knitting store with the challenges of raising her spunky teen daughter, Dakota. Georgia's regular customers gather once a week to work on their latest projects and chat – and occasionally clash – about love, life, and everything else. The members of the Friday Night Knitting Club are as varied as the skeins of yarn in the shop's bins. There's Peri, a pre-law student turned handbag designer; Anita, a silver-haired uptown matron; Darwin, a somewhat aloof grad student; K.C., an out-of-work editor looking for inspiration, and Lucie, a petite television producer with a few surprises up her sleeve. But soon their quiet Friday nights are shaken up: James, Georgia's ex, wants to play a larger role in Dakota's life – and possibly Georgia's as well. Cat, a former high school friend, uneasily renews her bond with Georgia. And when the unthinkable happens, all of Georgia's customers are forced to realize they've created not just a knitting club, but a sisterhood. (description taken from http://www.fridaynightknittingclub.com/ )

This book is great - its a quick reader that deals with some very relavant topics in society today: single parenthood, struggling marriages, job transitions, as well as sickness and renewing old friendships. You will easily slip into the Knitting Club, even if you know don't anything about the craft of knitting... If you want to join in the fun of the discussion on this book, jump right in at Coordinates Collections by clicking on this link... Let the fun begin! See you there! http://www.coordinatescollections.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=3900

Lots of Love heading towards Phoenix... and a Mini Album too!

Okay... so as promised, here is the mini album I did for my entry into the Design Team's selection contest for the Scrapbook Zone. I love this album. Each tab is just over 4.5" x 6.5". Each page (I shrunk them and overlayed them on the tab to show you them with the tab they belong to) are 4"x6" -> just the right size for a wallet sized picture. I had a great time doing this album and think it's a fabulous way to memorialize those wallet size pictures we all get from our loved ones.

It's been a pretty good week... very eventful. Denise and Kira made the big move this weekend - from Lansing to Phoenix (Bob's already there). I am VERY jealous of the fact that they are getting out of this dreaded snow (more on the way tomorrow... sigh! Will it ever end?). Mom and Dad P. are helping them move everything down there. I pray for good weather, fast roads, and lots of fun memories along the way. We helped them pack up the truck and watched them drive away... I don't think Annde has understood yet that we won't get to see them like we used to. It will take some getting used to not living an hour away from them.

Also this weekend was my church's Hockey Night with John Vanbiesbrouck. He's this amazing NHL (retired) hockey goalie who teaches hockey clinics (in our case 8-18 yr olds) while testifing about his relationship with God. The 65+ kids had a blast working with him and learning about his own faithwalk. It was a lot of hard work to set up but what an amazing event! Totally worth participating in...

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy your week and look for more posts later on...

Oh My! Oh My! Oh My!!

The most wonderful thing has happened!

I just got selected as a

2008 Design Team Member for the Scrapbook Zone!

I am soooooo freakin' excited! The Zone is the BEST scrapbook store in the greater Detroit area and I absolutely adore shopping there. I have always been so impressed with their design team - the pages and the projects they do are so fabulous. I have been waiting for months for their design team call and when I got it in the January newsletter, I immediately started working on my project and page. I tried not to get my hopes up because I was sure with all the really talented scrappers in this area that I wouldn't get picked. So, I didn't obsess about the date (yesterday) and when I didn't get a call, I figured I didn't get picked. {Yesterday was such a bad day at work AND I still can't find my keys!} However, this morning, I went to open my email to send my sister the Breast Cancer picture and there was a message from the Zone with a subject "You made it!" It's sad, after the rough week I'm having, that my first thought was,"This better not be a special sale notice!" So, with a deep breath, I opened the email which read...

"Congratulations Jana,
We voted and we'd like to welcome you to our Design Team for 2008!
I will get back with you soon about when your kit will be ready. Again,
we are excited to work with you over the next year

--Warm Regards, Kelley and Kevin The Scrapbook Zone "

My breath came out with a whooosshhhhh and I jumped up to do a happy dance around the room. I even woke my kid up early (it was about 6:30am) to tell her my special news and that she better be ready for mommy to take even MORE pictures of her. She just smiled and said, "Mommy, can you turn the light out? I want more sleep..." AHAHAAHAHA Then, I grabbed the phone to call my best buddy, Tracy (who's birthday is today ... "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRACY!!!") to tell her that I got picked... and then called my husband who is excited for me but bummed out because he couldn't be here tonight to do something super special to celebrate. I can't wait to tell everyone the news...

I am soooo excited!! {Can't you tell??!?!?!} I can't wait to meet the rest of the team and work with Kelley and Kevin... This year is going to be soooo exciting! If you want to check out their site, see the left side of my blog. They have a great gallery full of ideas and lots of fun chatting too.

I'm off to spread the news... :)

Do Something Bold!!

I am so proud of my sister... She has decided to participate in the Susan G Koman Breast Cancer 3-day walk in honor of our Grandmother, Gladys Vlk, who heroically survived Breast Cancer for over 30 years. This grueling 60 mile walk helps raise fund breast cancer research and community outreach programs, as well as the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund, to provide an endowment for breast cancer initiatives. She has to raise $2200 to participate so I will do all I can to help her, and anyone else I know participating, meet her goal...

She asked if I could find a picture of the two of them to use on her fundraising page but the only one I could find had been cut into an octagon shape (What was I thinking? :) )... Since I have no clue where the negative was, I decided to spruce it up a bit. I played with the 2 Peas in a Bucket's "PinkOctober" digital kit 2007 (paper by Tia Bennett, THINK PINK by Rhonna Farrer, COURAGE by Sande Krieger), O'Scraps' "O Be Thankful" digital kit (thankful frame by J Brisebois, ribbons by Khristy Schmidt and M Colosimo, glitter corner by Vicki Stegall) and a ribbon by Jenn Reed.

I challenge each one of you to find someone who will be participating in the amazing event nationwide and support them. Together, we can make a different. So, let's do something bold and stand up for our sisters!

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Hopefully, Cupid's been pretty good to you this year and you have lots of fun chocolate in your tummies! Our family was blessed this week with the birth of our own little sweetness - Elaine and Chris welcome a wonderful little boy named Andrew Ryan into the family. He's definitely a keeper! Congrats to them!!

This week has also been a busy week for me... Steve is back on the road and with that, I have to re-adjust back into the role of Supermom! Hasn't been too bad, really... I even got a couple of really cool pages and a mini-album done. This page (right) was done as part of a challenge: do a 12x12 page without pics. It was done for my sweetest friend, Tracy, who has made a huge impact in my life and continues to be such a super friend! The hidden journaling (attached to the bottom of the boat - hidden in the waves like an anchor) tells her just what an amazing woman she is. The song is Garth Brook's "Til You Come Back to Me Again" - love him and love the song! {Lost the challenge but o well!} The whole page is painted by hand by me! Who knew I could paint? AHAHAHAHA

Also, I am really excited because I got the coolest little mini album done. Ever wonder what to do with all those wallet size pictures of nieces and nephews after you take them out of your wallet? I created this cute little chipboard album in which I created a little section for each of my nieces and nephews. They have a page for each picture and I update it with fun little facts, like "Braxton is such a happy baby" or "Eme is a speed demon on her knees... " I'll post pictures of it after I get it back from the Scrapbook Zone. {I used it as part of my design team application. I would really love to make their team!}

Other than that, things are kind of slow. Looking forward to the March Madness to begin... MSU might not be playing too great right now but they always do well in tourney play. Plus, Steve surprised me with tickets to the Regionals at Ford Field. I can't wait to go watch some great basketball and cheer on MSU (if they get put in that bracket) or the underdog. Love a big upset!

Hope you guys have a great holiday. Eat lots of chocolate!!