Little Scraps of My Life

2011-02-14T06:00:00.003-05:00

Hello and welcome to my blog!

Hope you are having a great time hopping along with us! By now you should have recieved some great inspiration from our Scraptacular store blog, Lisa's blog, Sketch Artist Liz's blog, Julie's blog, Ilene's blog, Liese's blog, and Tiffany's blog! If you just stumbled on my blog without visiting them, please click on the links to their blogs to check out some awesome projects using Scraptacular's February kit!

I have to say that this kit is by far one of my favorites! It was so easy to work with that the ideas just kept flowing. But just in cas I got stuck, I had our February Sketch from Liz to refer back to. This is the layout I created using the sketch below it:

But I didn't stop there. This kit was full of bright colors that were perfect for a pic I had been struggling to scrap:

This summer my sister and I took my daughter to her first concert- Lilith Fair! We had a blast and one crowd-goer was nice enough to snap this picture of the three of us:

I had lots of fun creating this one! I couldn't wait to use the giant heart doilies:

Last but not least is a layout featuring my sweet niece Becky. I had to take this picture of her following in her aunt's paparrazzi footsteps!

I hope I've inspired you to create some pretty layouts! We still have some kits available on the store so if you'd like to create your own layouts with it, please head over to Scraptacular to get your's.

Now it's time to head over to Amy's blog! Thanks for stopping by!

~Beth

Gettin My Crafty On!

2009-09-20T15:27:00.003-04:00

Whew! I have been so busy getting ready for our annual ScrapPink event that I haven't had much time to scrap! Luckily, there was a crop at the store yesterday so I had an excuse to just sit and relax with some great ladies.

Here are a few of the layouts I got done. I have been dying to rip into all the new goodies we got in at Scraptacular this week. Not one, but SEVEN boxes of new stuff from MLS, Fancy Pants, Maya Road and GCD Studios. It's taking me f-o-r-e-v-e-r to upload all of it to the website and all I really wanna do is play with it!!! So I did!

This is one I did about little me! All the way back in 1982! I fringed the green pp to make it look like grass...

This paper isn't necessarily winter-y but the colors were perfect for some ice skating shots!

I made this one using the Fancy Pants Dancing Girl line! I love this line because it's so hard to find good purple paper and this line's got some.

Well, I guess it's back to uploading images to the website for me! Have a scrappy week!

Happy Sunday!

2009-09-13T13:02:00.002-04:00

I just love Sundays! The weekends here lately have been crazy busy but today I get to just relax for the most part. We've got the twins b-day party later today but I should be able to find time to scrap.

Speaking of scrapping:

I was vendoring yesterday but had some time to work on some layouts. I am really happy with the way they turned out. The top one is of the "photo shoot" Bridgette and I had last weekend. To see more pics from that go to Scraptacular Scrapbok Store Blog.

The bottom layout is of Bridgette and her daddy when she was just a wee one. That seems like yesterady but was really 7 years ago!

Thanks for stopping by!

Some More Back to School!

2009-09-07T20:14:00.004-04:00

I LOVE the Scraptacular Teacher's Pet kit! I just keep making more layout's using it:

I'm having so much fun playing! It even inspired me to pull out some photos from last year that I've been putting off scrapping.

Hopping Along...

2009-09-05T10:57:00.003-04:00

I am participating in a Blog Hop again this weekend on Willow Traders! Thanks for stopping over!

I just wanna say that I absolutely LOVE how this layout turned out! It was one of those that started without a real plan, I just knew I wanted to use this pic with this paper. I was so excited when this Pink Paislee stuff came in, I just HAD to use it!

The picture is of my little cutie eating sushi. That is by far her favorite treat! We tried a new restaurant when we went to Rehoboth, DE for vacay this year called the Cutlured Pearl. It was gorgeous and according to Bridgette they had the best sushi ever.

In other big news today...Scraptacular announced their new Design Team!!! It was a super hard choice for me because we got so many wonderful apps but I promised a decision by today and I stuck to it. Check out the Scraptacular blog to see who made it!

Still Scrappin' the Beach

2009-08-24T20:08:00.002-04:00

Another weekend at the Hideaway! I had so much fun as usual but I didn't really get a whole lot done. I did accomplish something with seven layouts complete and a started mini album. I can'r share everything I did because some were for Scraptacular's September kit but here are a few I did manage to finish and can share:

I think this was my fave from the weekend:

But i also really liked this one:

Thanks for looking! Be sure to check out the Scraptacular blog tomorrow for some sneak's of September's kit!

Gettin' Scrappy!

2009-08-15T20:16:00.003-04:00

I had the pleasure of scrapping last night with a great group of ladies at Scraptacular! I had a blast. After being sick for the last week (ok, I guess I still sort of am since I have no voice!) it was nice to have some girly time. AND, I got to work on some layouts which is always nice:

I am STILL not done with beach pics:

I was so happy to scrap this pic for several reasons. (1) I love all of the new baby stuff that is out there but I never get to use it because, alas, no babies in my house and (2) it is like one of the best pics of me ever taken. Plus the little girl is sooo cute too!

I am participating in the Blog Hop over at Willow Traders this weekend! Never done one before but I am getting some awesome inspo from some talented ladies!!! Here's the link if you want to join in: http://www.willowtraders.com/forums/index.php?act=idx!

Giveaway on Scraptacular's Blog!!!

2009-08-13T10:55:00.002-04:00

Stop over at Scraptacular's blog http://www.scraptacularscrapbookstore.blogspot.com/ to enter to win a prize! All you have to do is leave a comment to our Summer post about your summer layouts and you will be entered to win.

Our summer is starting to wrap up here. Bridgette is away at her Nan's house for most of next week so that will make the summer seem even shorter. I am not sure what I'm gonna do with myself without her but I hope to get a lot of scrapping done!

Never A Dull Moment...

2009-08-09T20:28:00.002-04:00

I washed Bridgette's sheets on Friday and then when I tried to put clean ones on, this is what happened:

He just laid there! Absolutely refused to get up. I am not sure how that could be comfortable but apparently he thought so!

ScrapPink!

2009-08-05T21:45:00.002-04:00

I am super excited about our upcoming ScrapPink event! This is the third year we have particpated and I really think we're going to outdo ourselves this year. The event will be held on Saturday, September 26th at Reformation Lutheran Church in Exeter from 9am-9pm. The donations for raffles and goody bags just keep rolling in. This week I received goody bag stuff from Pink Paislee, American Crafts and Three Bugs... and that's just this week!

This cause is really close to my heart because my grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer 7 years ago. She ended up getting a double mastectomy as well as some lymph nodes removed. She fought a tough battle for the last 7 years but finally succumbed to cancer earlier this year. I would really like to make this year a sell out so I will have lots of money to present to the Susan G Komen Foundation!

The great news is do far it has been a huge success. I made the announcement about 2 weeks ago and we only have 13 spots left! That is so awesome and very much beyond my expectations.

I have been busy creating as well! After printing out like 50 pictures from our vacation I have begun the task of scrapping them:

(This one is actually from July 4th!)

Have a great week! I'll be back soon with some pics of Bridgette's birthday party!

August Sneak...

2009-07-28T17:22:00.003-04:00

Here's a little sneak peek of the August kit at Scraptacular. It will be available July 31st!

Back From the Beach...

2009-07-27T22:15:00.008-04:00

***Warning! Picture Overload!****

We just got back from the beach this weekend and we really had a great time! It was so nice to get away just the three of us and enjoy our fave vacation spot, Dewey Beach, DE. I know I went crazy with the pics, but believe me, these are just the highlights:

Kite flying is a tradition with us. Every year we bring the kite and go out onto the beach to ride the wind! This year was a little overcast but still fun.

Playing with the camera:

Ice Cream Castle, the best ice cream in OC!

Our sundae was huge!!

Butterfly chairs in front of the Kite Loft:

MMM...the Cultured Pearl! We had fantastic sushi and pasta...I highly reccommend it! Rehoboth, DE:

Love the atmosphere!

This plate of sushi was gone in 10 seconds flat! I have never seen her eat so fast!

The Haunted House wasn't open but we did get to ride the carousel!

Frisbee!

We finally found sunglasses she liked! My little twin.

What a fabulous vacation although too short! We did really miss the comforts of home and our silly doggy but we can't wait to go back again next year.

Summer Soiree Online Crop!!!

2009-07-16T12:53:00.002-04:00

Just popping in to let you all know Scraptacular will be hosting an online crop this weekend July 17th-19th. That's starting tomorrow morning!!! Sign up at the forum http://www.itsscraptacular.com/main/?page_id=204/ if you haven't already so you can get your hands on some cool prizes. The grand prize is a pack of goodies from My Mind's Eye and October Afternoon worht over $50! There will be plenty of challenges, games and make n takes. You won't want to miss it!

And we have another contest going on from now until Monday July 20th. Place this banner on your blog and you will be entered to win a great prize:

Hope to see you there! We had a great time at our last one and this one is going to be even better!

July Kit!

2009-07-03T16:10:00.005-04:00

The wait is over for Scraptacular's July kit! This one is packed with lots of October Afternoon and Jenni Bowlin and has been flying off the shelves. If you want one, let me know asap:

Here's a layout I did using the kit and a piece of corrugated cardboard:

For this layouts I used Fancy Pants Summer Soiree:

Using Sassafrass Lass Bungle Jungle:

More Summer Soiree:

Sassafrass Anthem:

As you can see I have been a very busy bee! I was lucky enough to get a weekend away at the Hamburg Hideaway, a retreat house here in PA. We had a great weekend drinking, scrapping laughing and eating. I am already planning my next weekend there!

New Layouts and a Sneak!

2009-06-23T18:53:00.002-04:00

I am very excited for Scraptacular's July kit! It is gorgeous and perfect for yummy summer photos. I have already made three layouts with it and have a ton more ideas. Here's a little sneak of what's to come on July 1st:

And this:

I had the chance to do some major scrapping this weekend with some of my scrappy buddies! We had a lot of fun laughing, eating and scrapping. Here are the results of my productive weekend:

Yes, that one above is me as a little girl. I have started throwing in some of my childhood pics to scrap. I love doing them because it is such a trip down memory lane.

I am sooo excited because this weekend is another scrappy weekend! I will be spending all weekend at the Hamburg Hideaway, a scrappy retreat house here in PA. I get to scrap all weekend! Wooohoo!

Chillaxin'

2009-06-21T22:17:00.002-04:00

This is pretty much what I did all day today:

We had a nice relaxing Father's Day here. Hubby went to the Hershey Auto Museum with his papa and brother so Bridgette and I did exactly what this silly dog did all day. Read a little, watched some tv, played some pokemon (Bridge, not me) and took a nap.

I hope your Dad's day was just as fun!

Girls Day

2009-06-14T15:58:00.003-04:00

My husband and brother-in-law went hiking today so Bridgette and I decided to have a girls day! We did each other's make-up:

And had tea using our "special girly" tea set:

Sometimes life gets so busy that I forget to slow down and just enjoy the little moments. I have to remind myself that life is not a race. Today I took the time to hang out with my "little girl" and enjoy her silly company. It was so nice to spend some one on one time together!

Pinwheels Part 2!

2009-06-09T19:10:00.002-04:00

As promised, here is the layout I made using the pinwheels. I made three. One was 4", one was 3" and one was 2". I used all Crate paper supplies:

Thanks for looking!

Pinwheels Tutorial

2009-06-08T20:58:00.010-04:00

Pinwheels are really growing in popularity and they make a really cute accent for spring and summer pages. Here's a little tutorial on how to make these fun embellishments.

To get started, you will need some paper, a trimmer or ruler and craft knife, a brad and some glue dots.

First, you are going to cut a square out of double sided patterned paper since you will see both sides. I made mine 4x4 since I needed a big accent.

Then you need to make a dot right in the middle of the square. I'm not sure if you can see it, but there is a dot there!

After you have made your mark, place your square on the diagonal on your paper trimmer (or use your craft knife and ruler).Trim down the diagonal, stopping when you are about 1/4" from the dot. You don't want to cut any further or you will cut it in half!

Do this with all for diagonals and your square should now look like this:

Now you are gonna fold the corners in to the dot and adhere them with glue dots like so: (I don't crease my fold, however, because I like the fold to be a little rounded.)

Do this with all four corners:

Now your pinwheel is almost done.

I added a brad in the center to finish it off, however, you could use a rhinestone, button, flower or any other tiny accent. The goal is to hide the adhesive and polish it up.Here is my finished one! Voila!

I will post a layout I did using pinwheels tomorrow. See you then!

Layouts!

2009-06-04T13:37:00.004-04:00

Here's a few new ones like I promised:

I never scrap about my life apart from my family so I made this one about my two bestest friends from High School:

These two are from the May Layouts Class at Scraptacular. I believe there is still one kit available:

Looks like things around my house are starting to slow down, finally! We've got a Girl Scout picnic tonight despite the rain, my secret sister reveal on Sunday and the school is officially out on Wednesday. I am anxiously awaiting being able to sleep in!!!

Stay tuned later this week for a fun little tutorial!

Dancing the Night Away..

2009-05-31T15:25:00.002-04:00

Well, it's that time of year again! Time to show off all the hard work Bridgette and I put into our dance all year long. This year Bridgette and I were both in two numbers--hers were for ballet and tap and mine were both tap. This is our favorite part of the year. She just loves being onstage and showing off her moves to the crowd. Here are a few pics from our night:

These were before the recital at our house:

We definitely rocked it! We both were much improved from the year before. I really felt more confident and not so stiff. Now we have a three month break then right back to it in the fall!

Giveaway over at the Scraptacular Message Board!!!

2009-05-29T10:32:00.004-04:00

We are hosting another giveaway over at the message board! This time you have a chance to win a prize pack of October Afternoon goodies. All you have to do is go over to the message board to get this blinkie:

Then, place the blinkie somewhere on your blog, another message board you belong to, etc and link up to it on the message board so we know you did it. On June 12th we will draw a winner for the prize pack so get your blinkie before then!

Why are we doing this you ask? Well, we are just about ready to launch our new website! It will still have the online shopping convenience the other one had but with lots more information, an improved Monthly Kits section and (drumroll) a new user-friendly gallery! That's right, you'll be able to post your own pics to an album you've uploaded plus you'll get to see what everyone else is working on in their Gallery! And, if you've purchased our monthly kit, you can check out the Kit Gallery to get ideas on how to use it.

So pop on over to the message board to get your blinkie for a chance to win!

May Layout Class

2009-05-26T09:59:00.002-04:00

Thought I would post some little sneaks of this month's layout class. The class is tomorrow, May 27th from 6-8pm at the store. Students will make 2 two-page layouts and 2 one-page layouts. The class is almost full, there is room for about two more people so let me know if you're interested!

Here's one of the layouts:

And here's the other one:

Stay tuned next week for our June kit reveal! I think you are really going to like it because there is not one but TWO kits available! There is a girly kit and a boy kit and both are packed full of cute and fun papers and embellishments.

And check back later this week for some new layouts!

Tea and Brownies

2009-05-24T15:29:00.002-04:00

Bridgette has a really great Brownie leader this year and she comes up with the best little trips. This time we had a Mother's Tea at the Heritage Tea Room in Oley, PA. It was very pretty inside and the decor was very Victorian. We were served Summer Apple Tea and hot chocolate to start off, followed by several different types of scones. Then it was on to tomato soup and mini sandwiches. The girls got a special treat at the end of the meal which was a creamsicle flavored cake. Yum!

Bridgette and her buddy Elizabeth:

The elegant setup:

Our table of classy ladies:

Using the pinkie:

It was a really beautiful way to spend a sunday afternoon. Can't wait to do it again!

Flower Cones

2009-05-20T21:02:00.005-04:00

I made these two flower cones to hang in my living room and dining room:

I made the cones with Black Tie patterned paper from Daisy Bucket. I cut the white border out of Bazzill cardstock with my Fiskars Apron Lace punch and sprayed the Scenic Route chipboard butterflies with Red Velvet Glimmer Mist. I added silk flowers to finish them off and Voila! A perfect accent to my wall decor.

Surprise!!!

2009-05-18T16:40:00.007-04:00

I threw a surprise party for my hubby this past Sunday and he was really surprised! Here's what he looke like when he walked in:

Bridgette yelling SURPRISE!

My friends:

Scott and his mom. Don't they look alike?

My BIL and my FIL. Don't they really look alike too? You can tell who each son takes after!

My MIL, her boyfriend Larry and my SIL Chris:

My Mom and B:

My silly dog spying on my friend Adrienne:

The cake!

He blew the candles out too fast! So I made him pose for this one. LOL!

All of us afterwards:

I had really hard time keeping this from him. He's my best friend and my sounding board for everything so there were so many times I just wanted to blurt it out and ask him what he thought. And, silly me used invitations that were too large for the postage on them so they all came back in my mailbox stamped with "Additional Postage Required". Of course, Scott saw them first but luckily that didn't tip him off! And Bridgette and I managed to keep our mouths shut and I really think he was surprised.

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-12T20:25:00.004-04:00

I hope all you moms had a great day! We definitely did here. Bridgette and Scott planted flowers for me at the back porch then left to give me some alone time with my scrap supplies. I worked on some layouts then finished up my mom's card and present (I knitted a cell phone cozy for her!). When Scott and B got home, we presented Grammy with her present and posed for a pic:

Here's me and B with some of my flowers:

These are going to have gorgeous purple flowers soon!

Watching the bugs:

Every few minutes Bridgette would say, "Oh my gosh! A huge ____(insert name of disgusting bug)!

I love this one!

Scott always makes the goofiest faces:

It was a very beautiful day to plant flowers and celebrate your mom! I am so grateful for the best mom in the whole world and the best kid on the planet.

Bubble Rocket

2009-04-21T10:07:00.003-04:00

The Easter bunny brought Bridgette a very awesome Bubble Rocket for Easter this year:

The idea is that you fill the pan under the rocket with Bubble stuff (yes, that is the technical term) and when you stamp on the squishy pad (again, technical term) the rocket flies into the air and leaves a trail of bubbles in it's wake. Well, that's not exactly how it happens but then again, does anything really work like it's supposed too?

Anyway, we had fun trying to make it work and did manage to get some bubbles out of it:

The main problem was that the rocket just didn't want to fly very high. But it was fun trying and well worth the money the Bunny paid for it!

Easter Day

2009-04-13T16:06:00.005-04:00

Easter came on a really nice day this year, luckily, and this little bunny got to hunt eggs at two different places:

All the above were from her hunt at grandmas.

The pretty Tulips I picked up at redners:

This is the Webkins Owl Bridgette got. She named him Chirascuro. In case you don't know, like most of my family, chiarascuro is an Italian art term that means light and dark. What 8 year old knows that?

The golden egg:

The message in the golden egg:

Hunting eggs at home:

The Easter Bunny hid this egg behind the tire but the wind decided to move it:

B was a little dissapointed that we did not go see the big Bunny himself this year. Not sure why, since we haven't gone to see him the past two years either. I think she may be trying to convince herself he is real...

Today she told me I should tell the Bunny she really liked the golden egg idea (there was a message in there to help her find her basket). I told her that I had his secret telephone number and I would let him know. She replied, "Well, if he has a telephone, he must be real." LOL! I love her reasoning!

A Few More From the Dyeing...

2009-04-12T22:10:00.003-04:00

Sorry, I forgot to add these two to the post below!

Easter Eggs

2009-04-12T21:57:00.003-04:00

We finally dyed Easter Eggs last night (nothing like waiting until the last minute!). We had a lot of messy fun and everyone wanted to get in on the action:

Doesn't Bridgette look smashing with a monocle?

I love this look on my face:

Notice the beautiful flowers on the table? I think they added a nice touch, especially since I got them at Redners for $3.99!

Sneaky-sneak

2009-03-31T12:23:00.004-04:00

Here's a little sneak of my make-n-take for this weekend:

We will be making a Home Wall Decoration. Participants will need to be approved members of the message board and they will need to gather these supplies:

-8x10 frame in desired color

-people chipboard (you can get this at Scraptacular)
-home themed paper and/or embellishments (I am using Pink Paislee chipboard but there is also a whole line of paper made by Three Bugs in a Rug that would work. Both can be purchased from Scraptacular.)
-Large and small letter stickers ( I am using Thickers and the small letter stickers that come in the Pink Paislee sticker books.)

It's a nice sunny day here in PA and I can't wait to get out and enjoy the weather! I think maybe I'll try to teach B to ride a bike today.

Have a great one!

Online Crop This Weekend!

2009-03-30T10:27:00.002-04:00

I am sooo psyched for Scraptacular's online crop this weekend. There are going to be so many prizes given away, so many fun games, and so many challenges to get you scrapping! We will also be doing some make-n-takes that are too cute. And don't forget the grand prize for the weekend: $50 in Fancy Pants goodies! I can't wait to see everbody's scrappy projects.

If you're not already signed up for the Message board, hurry over so you can join in the fun starting on Friday April 3rd!

Yesterday I got my hands on Photoshop cs2 and i am absolutely loving it! I went to a website that has lots of free actions at http://atncentral.com/download.htm and downloaded so many cool ones like Aly's Vintage, Burnt Edges, Whiten and lots more. For those of you who don't know what actions are, they are a series of edits that you perform on a picture but instead of doing them all individually, they are all in one action so you only have to press one button. Makes my life so much easier!

Here's a picture I took of Bridgette yesterday before she got ready for her dance pictures. She said she was taking a cutie nap. I used the Burnt Edges and the Color Pop actions to tweak it a bit:

I did the same thing with this one:

I'll be back tomorrow with a little sneak of my make-n-take for the crop. Hint: to see it and some others now go to www.scraptacular.proboards.com ,login and look under online crops.

Have a great day!

And The Winner Is....

2009-03-28T10:40:00.002-04:00

This is a little late since I promised to announce the winner yesterday, but....Lori you are the winner. Please email me so we can arrange a pickup! Or just stop by the store next week ;)

Thanks everybody for playing along and signing up for the message board. We are going to have a great time at the crop next weekend so if you haven't signed up hurry over and do that now! The crop will start on Friday morning (check back here later in the week for the exact time) and run until Sunday night. We have got so many challenges and games and even some make-n-takes! You really aren't going to want to miss it.

Last Chance for the Giveaway!

2009-03-25T16:27:00.003-04:00

Ok, I am going to announce the big winner here on Friday March 27th so if you haven't signed up for the message board and commented on the post below do it now! One winner will be chosen at random to receive a prize pack of Pink Paislee products {say that five times fast!}.

Here's a few layouts I worked on recently:

This one was for a challenge on the message board:

And these were of mine and B's camping trip with the girl scouts:

This one was of the Fossil Pit in Williamsport that Nan took her to:

Thanks for looking and don't forget to get your entry in for the drawing!

Blog Giveaway!!!

2009-03-15T20:36:00.004-04:00

I am very excited to announce Scraptacular has a new message board! Head over to http://www.scraptacular.proboards.com/ to check it out. We have giveaways and contests every week this month giving you two chances per week to win prizes. Even more exciting, we will be having an online crop April 3-5th to celebrate the new board. There will be plenty of chances to win prizes during the crop including a chance to win our grand prize of $50 in new goodies from Fancy Pants! Here is a layout I made this weekend using some the new paper included in the grand prize:

In honor of the new message board I am having a Blog Giveaway! All you have to do is sign up for the message board and then leave me a comment that you signed up here on the blog. One lucky winner of the Blog Giveaway will win a prize pack of Pink Paislee goodies!

Hope to see you all on the message board...we are having a lot of fun!

2009-03-08T19:01:00.002-04:00

There has been so much new stuff coming in to the store! I of course just had to play around with some of it so that's what I did Friday night at the crop. Here's some of the layouts I finished:

Thanks for looking!

Girl Scout Camping

2009-03-02T14:34:00.004-05:00

Bridgette and I went camping this weekend at Camp Laughing Waters in Gilbertsville. Despite getting no sleep and having a lot of 'downtime' it was a great weekend of bonding for the two of us. B. made lots of crafts, played flashlight tag, sang lots of songs and made lots of new friends!

Here's a few pics:

A group shot of everybody who went in our troop.

Bridgette took this one of the mom's acting silly. She only got about half of us!

The girls!

Outside our cabin (yes, it was heated!)

Me on my bunk taken by B.

Making crafts

Playing some sort of switch partners game.

Making more crafts.

Playing card games in a neighbors bunk.

As much as I loved spending time with Bridgette, I don't know if I will do it again. I think I'll stick to enjoying nature through the windo of my nice warm house!

New Layouts

2009-02-26T16:19:00.003-05:00

I went away with the girls this weekend to the Hamburg Hideaway, a scrapper's retreat house. We had a lot of fun and I got some layouts done:

Enjoy!

First Orchestra Concert

2009-02-25T09:14:00.003-05:00

This year Bridgette is taking violin lessons in school. So far she really seems to like it. Last week the district held a spring orchestra concert and the elementary students got to play. It was too dark in the auditorium to take any pictures of her actually playing on stage but I did get these afterward:

We were so proud of her! She did a great job!

Favorite books of 2008

2009-01-08T08:00:00.007-05:00

Just thought I'd share some of my favorite books of 2008. I read a lot (about 2 books a week) so people are always asking me what I'm reading. Here's some ideas if your looking for some good books:

The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger- long but worth it

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen- LOVED this book. I highly recommend it!

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - I also liked A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author
The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon

Unaccustomed Earth, Interpreter of Maladies, and The Namesake all by Jhumpa Lahiri- All three of these books are worth reading. She is a fantastic author!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Skeletons at the Feast & Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian- both are great books by the author of Midwives ( which is a great book as well)

Loving Frank byNancy Horan- fictionalized version of the true story of Frank Lloyd Wright's mistress.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller

Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage- The Doctor's Wife is also a good one by this author.

Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin

Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens

Happy reading!

Layouts using the January Kit

2009-01-07T20:56:00.002-05:00

Here's a few layouts using this month's kit from Scraptacular:

Thanks for stopping by!

New January Kit

2009-01-07T13:09:00.003-05:00

January's kit is here at Scraptacular and I can't believe how fast they are going! This month's kit features Fancy Pant's Arctic Chill line and embellies from Maya Road, Ki Memories, Making Memories, Sakura and more. Here is a close up:

And here is the whole kit:

Head over to the website to snag this kit before it's gone. And check back later today for some layouts I did using this amazing kit!

A Christmas Tradition

2008-12-30T11:37:00.002-05:00

Every year Bridgette and I make homemade cookie on Christmas Eve to give to Santa and our family. It started out as just patterned cookies we covered with icing but is slowly evolving every year into other kinds. This year we made Peanut Butter Blossoms, shapes, Smore Bars, Brownie cookies with cream cheese icing and Soft Ginger cookies. We had a lot of fun as we always do!

Here's Santas scrumptious set-up:

Icing the cookies is the best part!

Bridgette's favorite job was unwrapping the kisses for the PB Blossoms. I wonder how many made it into her mouth?

Christmas at Grandmas and Grammy's

2008-12-29T13:20:00.004-05:00

One of our many stops this christmas was at Grandmas. This little guy stole the show:

He was dancing to elmo and just generally acting cute as a bug!

Love this one!

Then we went Uncle Carl's and when we got back it was off to eat and open presents at grammy's:

I have a few more pictures of our annual tradition of cookie making on Christmas eve that I will post tomorrow!

Christmas at Home

2008-12-28T19:43:00.003-05:00

A little birdy told me it was time to update my blog so here are a few pictures of Christmas morning:

Bridgette was so excited to get a D-Rex

Bridgette got me a cute little bracelet from the school store.

Love this face!

We were all over the place this year between grandmas, Uncle Carls and my mom's so I have lots of pics! I'll be back with more tomorrow...

Happy 92nd Birthday...

2008-12-08T13:20:00.003-05:00

Here's a picture of my blowing out the candles on my 92nd...er....29th birthday cake last Tues. That's right, I am on the cusp of leaving my twenties behind!

I think I am ok with it. I still have one more year to get completely comfortable with being "in my thirties". I think what's really making me feel alright about the whole thing is that there is a bright side....Scott will always be older than me. Maybe it's just 6 months but it's all I've got and I'm hanging on to it for dear life!

A Little Sneak...

2008-11-26T08:50:00.003-05:00

Here's a little sneak peek of December's Kit of the Month at Scraptacular:

This month is full of some awesome goodies like a clear stamp, bling, glitter pen, glitter die cut and so much more! There are also the most adorable papers from Daisy Bucket. If you want to see the whole thing, hop on over to the Scraptacular website on December 3rd!

The Mojo's Flowing...

2008-11-23T16:39:00.004-05:00

I vendored at another crop this weekend (third one in a row!) and had a great time. I was very busy but managed to find time to get some more layouts done:

This one is me as a little girl. I LOVED my Wonder Woman Underoos!

Little Bridgette

This is a very cool looking owl we saw at Hershey Park this year

Little Bridgette and Grammy:

All these paper and accents are at the store so if you like what you see, go over to the website and pick some of it up!

I will try to post tomorrow with a sneak peek of December's new kit.

New Classes at Scraptacular!

2008-11-10T14:12:00.003-05:00

I got a lot of scrapping done this weekend while I was vendoring at the High Point Scrap Retreat! I have several classes coming up at the store that I am so excited about and I (finally!) managed to get the samples done while I was away. Here's a sneak peek of the Fall Layouts class on December4th from 6-8:

I've also got a clear card class coming up next week on November 19th from 6-8pm. We are making 8 cards for different occasions using clear acetate for the cards:

I am really loving these clear cards!! I think that I may do these for my Christmas cards this year...

Also, if you will be in the Reading/Exeter area this weekend, my mom is organizing a crop at our church to benefit the youth group's upcoming trip. It is from 9-9 and cost $35 which includes lunch, dinner, snacks, goody bag and a chance to win some fabulous prizes!!! It is going to be a great time so please consider joining us.

Spooky Fun

2008-11-03T15:04:00.003-05:00

Halloween runs a close second to Christmas as the favorite holiday in the Bussler house. We love dressing up and getting spooky! Here are a few pictures of Bridgette dressed up on Halloween:

She was dressed as Charmander, a fire breathing Pokemon. Her costume was made at the last minute by her talented Grammy when we couldn't find anything else! Thanks Grammy! Daddy painted her face with orange and black face paint so the costume would be more authentic.

And here are a few from her class Halloween party. I volunteered as a homeroom helper and got to walk in the parade with them. They are all such great kids!

We played Halloween Bingo made by yours truly, as well as a really cute Halloween joke game which you know was right up B's alley!

So Not a Girly Girl

2008-10-20T16:08:00.009-04:00

We just got these way cool acrylic albums in at the store and when I saw this one I knew what I had to do. Bridgette's not really a tomboy but she is definitley not a girly-girl and I wanted to capture that in a mini album:

A few tips for those of you who haven't tried acrylic albums yet...

Use background stamps with Stazon Ink to make a fun background that will show through both sides:

Cover the acrylic with paper on the underside. Cover up the adhesive by putting something on top of it. Here I placed buttons and stickers over my adhesive. I also used a little Diamond Glaze so you wouldn't see it:

Use paint to jazz up your album. I dry-brushed the edges of each acrylic page and used my paint brush to make dots all around the first page. The best part? You can see them on the other sied too:

I used more Stazon Ink to stamp the butterflies and swirls:

Always remeber when working with acrylic that you have to think ahead to what both sides of the piece are going to look like. To check out more of these albums, go to http://www.itsscraptacular.com/ and click on acrylic albums!

It's Official!

2008-10-16T09:19:00.002-04:00

Well, it's official! You can now shop the scraptacular store online! I have been working very hard at getting all the products and images loaded up to the website. It's not completely finished but I do have a substantial amount on there. All the new stuff from Fancy Pants, My Minds Eye Halloween, the new Daisy Bucket, Three Bugs Autumn collection and so much more! Click on the link below to visit the store:

While your there, keep in mind we are having a special to celebrate the new online store. Any purchase over $25 gets FREE SHIPPING! Woo hoo! Also, if you have any suggestions on how I can improve the online store, please email me beth@itsscraptacular.com. I would love all the feedback I can get.

Corn Maze

2008-10-13T14:56:00.004-04:00

We were really in the fall spirit this weekend so we decided to go to a local corn maze. Bridgette and Scott ran through the apple orchard, we got some fresh apple cider and navigated our way through the maze! I got some good pictures too but this one is my favorite:

Happy Fall!

Pickin' Pumpkins

2008-10-11T20:32:00.004-04:00

Tonight we picked our pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch. It was a little dark so the pics aren't as good but it does give them kind of a Halloween-y feel.

This one Bridgette is demonstrating how she wants a tiny pumpkin:

We had fun and there were a lot to choose from. They had a special going that you could have all the pumpkins one person could carry for $20. So we piled Scott's arms high with pumpkins and manage to get away with four!

Soccer

2008-10-09T10:11:00.003-04:00

I have to give Bridgette a lot of credit. She's got part of my genes and, while not as dominate as Scott's, they are present. And I think, unfortunately, she has gotten my athletic ability. Which doesn't exist. But like I said, I have to give her credit. She trys really hard and really does enjoy soccer and want to play. When she first started playing soccer last year, Scott and I tried to make her understand that as long as she does her best, we will be proud. Last year, her best was pretty much picking grass nd running away from the ball. This year, she has figured out that as long as she runs with the ball it looks like she's working hard. But that's ok, I am proud of her anyway. And as long as she keeps asking to play, we'll keep putting her on a team.

This is what she looks like most of the time during the games (also, take note of her co-hort Lauren standing next to her. They are so much alike in personality is is scary):

But she does do this a lot to:

As a side note, Bridgette's team is so far kicking butt! They have won every game they played except one where they tied. Go Eagles!

Hershey Park

2008-10-07T19:15:00.003-04:00

Last Sunday we went to the Cartech Picnic at Hershey Park. We had a blast spending time with Aunt Julie and Uncle Rand, the twins, G-Ma and Grammy, Pop Pop and Aunt Sarah!

They now have a "Kiss" Factory when you walk into Chocolate World. Bridgette got to try it out. Here she is by one of the machines.

Of course the Bussler family never gets to go to amusement parks on sunny, rain-free days and this trip was no exception. It was pouring when Scott took this pcture of us and I had just sat in a huge puddle!

Despite the rainy conditions, we really had a great time riding the rides and spending time together. Bridgette was even tall enough to ride some of the roller coasters and even *drumroll please!* the SUPER DUPER LOOPER! She loved it!

Silly Pictures

2008-09-28T19:32:00.004-04:00

I found this cute website http://www.photofunia.com/ on another blog and decided to try it with some of my photos:

Doesn't Bridgette look so cute in the picture with the cats? And I'm pretty sure my little puppy Haru totally belongs on the one hundred dollar bill! There are so many other backgrounds that you can plug your photos into. I had a lot of fun experimenting!

ScrapPink Pics

2008-09-25T10:13:00.004-04:00

ScrapPink was a HUGE success! I had a great time and I think everybody else did too. I forgot my camera (bad scrapper!) but one of my attendees graciously gave me her photos. Here's a few pics from the day:

There's Dana and Tiffany working hard:

I am looking up to avoid double-chin syndrome. Perhaps it was too much?:

My photographer for the day and her daughter:

Playing with my new Cricut Expression:

I have to say I was more than pleased with the way things turned out! with the exception of the cooling system it went off without a hitch. Thanks everybody who attended and I can't wait to see you all in November.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-09-24T07:57:00.004-04:00

Well, I can't believe it but eight years ago yesterday I married the best guy in the whole world. He made me laugh the first time I met him and he keeps cracking me up to this day.

I don't have any pics scanned into the computer from that day so you'll have to make due with this one from the beach this year. (You really don't want to see my medusa hair anyway!) I think it's fitting because B took it!

Scott was sick and had to work all day so we didn't do much except go out to dinner. But we had fun and it was nice to spend some alone time together.

I love you sweetie and I can't wait for eight more!

ScrapPink!

2008-09-14T14:16:00.003-04:00

In case you've been wondering what is consuming my time lately, I'm gonna tell you: ScrapPink!

I had a lot of fun planning it this year but now that it is getting down to the last week, I am sort of stressing. for those of you that don't know, ScrapPink is an annual crop/ event sponsored by Scrapbooks, Etc magazine. Part of the proceeds are donated to the Susan g Komen Foundation and Scrap stores all over the country participate. This year has totally exceeded my expectations! I have filled the goodie bags to the brim with donated products, I have lots of really cool raffle prizes donated by various manufacturers AND I have just about doubled the attendance from last year! Yippeeee! I think we will have a great amount of money to donate to this very worthy cause. And that makes me so happy as this cause is very close to my heart. My grandmother has been fighting cancer for about 5 years. It started in her breasts and then moved to her lungs and kidneys. She is a very strong lady and continues to amaze me with her ability to fight! So, if any of you reading are going to be around the Exeter/ Reading area this weekend, we would love to have you attend! It is going to be a really fun time and i'd like to get as big of a donation as we can to send in! And a special thanks to those already signed up. You guys are the best!

Well, back to planning!

Some new layouts

2008-09-07T14:25:00.003-04:00

I have been a very busy bee in the scrapping department lately. One of my favorite manufacturers, Pink Paislee, just came out with some new stuff and I have been using it like crazy.

Back to School

2008-09-07T14:08:00.003-04:00

Better late than never! Here are a few pics of B on her first day of third grade!

She never wants to give me a good smile anymore:

B and daddy (aka the mailman) before he left for work:

Getting on the bus:

So far B really seems to like third grade. Her teacher seems really nice and B likes her. Scott and I are going in tomorrow to meet with the "gifted" teacher, the guidance counselor and the principal to get B into the gifted program. She was tested over the summer and recommended for the program. She was also recommended for an ADD test so we are going to talk about that too.

Soccer started a few weeks ago so we have been pretty crazy with that and the whole back to school thing. Her first game is Saturday and she is super excited! I am really impressed with the way she is playing this year. She seems to really be paying attention and trying hard to improve. Of course, she still gets knocked around constantly since she is the littlest girl on the team but she always gets right back up.

2008-08-14T18:04:00.002-04:00

So, Dana tagged me with this award and quiz. I am not 100% sure what this is for but I did it anyway:

A. Attached or Single: Married to my best friend for almost 8 yrs...wow..it seems like forever!
B. Best Friend?: Well, I just said my husband but I also have my girls that I have known forever (like 20 yrs) Crystal and Kate. They are like sisters!
C. Cake or Pie? Totally pie. You can't work at Fegely's for 6 yrs and not love pie. Bluberry crumb is totally awesome!
D. Day of choice? Hmmm...probably Sunday because I usually don't HAVe to do anything that day. But any day I can scrap is a good day!
E. Essential Item? My camera. I couldn't live without it! But cell phone runs a close second.
F. Favorite color? Purple. It makes me happy.
G.Gummy Bears or Worms? Definitely bears. Who wants to eat worms?
H. Hometown? Exeter, Pa
I. Favorite Indulgence? Right now its Mint chocolate chip milkshakes from WAWA. They taste so good with cheezits!
J. January or July? Duh! July is warm!
K. Kids? The best little girl in the world, Bridgette!
L. Life isn't complete without? Bridgette, Scott, Haru and Looby.
M. Marriage date? September 23rd, 2000
N. Number of siblings? 1-Sarah. She is 6yrs younger. (yeah, I know it didn't ask that but I though you'd like to know!)
O. Oranges or Apples? Apples!
P. Phobias? I am slightly claustrophobic. I am also very afraid of computer viruses!
Q. Quote? Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. Scott Adams.
R. Reasons to smile? There are too many to name. I am very lucky!
S. Season of choice? Spring. I love to see the flowers popping up.
T. Tag seven people: Jackie, Taryn, Jen, Andi...those are the only people I know with blogs...
U. Unknown fact about me? Umm...everybody makes fun of me because I love the smell of grungeboard. What's grungeboard you ask? It's a scrapbook supply that smells like new shoes...mmmm...
V. Vegetable? I love cauliflower!
W. Worst habit? I twist my hair so much that I have a short spot on one side of my head. I get my hair layered so you don't notice but I know its there. No one can make me stop...its in my genes.
X. Xray or ultrasound: The only time I have had xrays were for bad things. But ultrasounds? They were always for a good thing...my little B.
Y. Your favorite food? Chinese
Z. Zodiac sign? Sagitarius but I am nothing like it!

If I tagged you on T. you get the award and need to answwer the quiz. That means you too Jackie!!!

Birthday!

2008-08-07T15:48:00.003-04:00

Sunday we had a family party for Bridgette at my mom's house. Bridgette got lots of cool things, including a few new Wii games, clothes, Littlest Pets and lots more!

It was a Pokemon theme (because you know she OBSESSED with them!):
Being silly in the pool:

Of course, what birthday is complete with out another party (see below)!

More Birthday

2008-08-07T15:36:00.005-04:00

Bridgette had two great parties this weekend. First was her friend birthday. We decided to have it Gasser's Golf and the kids all had a great time playing mini golf:

Notice how she is at least a head shorter than the shortest child. She's such a peanut!

This is her "crush" Cameron getting frustrated over a not-so-good hit. He was like Tiger Woods the whole time and even stayed under par for the first half of the game!
Bridgette got so many Webkins! It's a good thing we got her started on them this past week. She wasn't really interested in them until we bought the Husky one at the shore. Now she is hooked! The whole time we were playing golf I had to remind her it was her turn because she was to busy chatting about them with her friend Madeline.

We also had a family party on Saturday (see above post).

Bridgette's Birthday

2008-08-06T17:39:00.004-04:00

The day after we came back from the beach was Bridgette's birthday! My parents got her this way cool Barbie jeep and she loved it. She had a little trouble getting the hang of it but after a lot of stopping and going, she was driving like a champ:

Thanks Grammy and PopPop!

Back from the beach!

2008-08-06T10:34:00.006-04:00

We're back from the beach! We had a great time and took over 400 photos! Yes, that is a little excessive but I just love beach pics! Here are the highlights:

Bridgette took this one:

Flying kites:

Sandy face:

Scott felt left oout so he had to write a message at the bottom:
Chatting with grammy:
We really had a great time. Despite a few snags (there always are!) it was very relaxing and fun for all of us. Our hotel was nice but next year we are splurging and going with a closer one. The 4 block walk to the beach was too much!

I'll be back with more soon!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-05T19:08:00.004-04:00

We had a nice day spending time with family. We went to Aunt Janie and Uncle Bill's annual fourth of July picnic. Luckily it only drizzled a bit and most of the time it was sunny. Bridgette had the most fun of all. She got to ride a kids tractor:

Get nice and dirty (it took about five minutes into the picnic for her shoes to look like this):

Eat LOTS of peanuts and crack walnuts:

Feed the horses:

And just generally enjoy nature:

Hopefully tonight we will get to enjoy some fireworks!

By the Pool

2008-06-24T20:28:00.004-04:00

We,ve been staying cool by hanging out in Grammy and Pop-pop's pool. Here's some pics:

Doing flips:

I think this is "the Sopranos" look. Silvio would be proud:
That's all for now. More later!

My crazy weekend!

2008-06-02T14:01:00.004-04:00

What a crazy and wonderful weekend! So much happened... Here are the highlights not in chronological order:

Scott's brother Carl got married this weekend to a wonderful girl named Chris. Scott was best man and Bridgette was the flower girl. She did a wonderful job and looked sooo pretty!

Here she is fooling around with Daddy:

The cake was too cute:

The flower girl princess:
See, I am working on my creative shots:

Scott's dad, Scott, Carl and B:
Spreading the love...I mean flowers:
All of us (Chris, Carl, B, Scott, and big B):

The wedding really was beautiful and we had a great time!

Saturday night was the big recital! Bridgette and I did very well. Here are a few pics:

Bridgette didn't want to smile right because the "sun was in her eyes" even though she was facing away from the sun in the shade.
My dad took a lot more pics so I will post them when I get them.

Last but not least, my friends and I went to the Cozy Crop House this weekend too. We had a really great time! I didn't get much accomplished in the way of scrapping because I was in and out all weekend doing all of the above things and because I was sick as a dog. But we laughed a lot, ate a lot and fit some scrapping in between. Of course, I realized today that I took no pictures, but you can imagine for yourself all of the fun we had!

Whew, I need to relax...

Memorial Day trip to the Zoo!

2008-05-28T21:26:00.004-04:00

Despite the threat of crowds, we decided to venture out to the Philly Zoo on Memorial Day. Scott had to pick his mom up at the airport anyway, so we invited Scott's brother and his fiance to come with us. We had a great time and got some awesome pics:

This is how the Coca-Cola bear relaxes:

This one's for you mom:
This bird never goes anywhere with out his toy:

Snuggling:

Watching the wild dog take a nap:

I love this guy!

This kangaroo was just chillin'

As you can see we saw a lot of animals and the weather held up nicely. We can't wait to go back!

Tagged!

2008-05-21T18:14:00.003-04:00

I've been tagged by Dana!

So here's my list of 4's:

4 Jobs I have had in my life:
1. Waitress
2. Scrapbook Store Owner
3. Retail Store Manager (you know the one!)
4. Bank Teller (FYI- I absolutely stank at that one)

4 Movies I’ve Watched More Than Once:
1. Elizabeth
2. Dazed and Confused
3. Clue
4. Care Bears

4 Places I’ve Lived:
1. Exeter, Pa (Rabbit Lane)
2. Exeter, Pa (Mimosa Lane)
3. Exeter, Pa (Apple Drive) See a pattern?
4. East Stroudsburg, Pa

4 TV Show I Watch/Watched
1. Lost
2. ER
3. The Riches
4. Party of Five (ohhh! I am getting nostalgic!)

4 Places I have Been:
1. OC, Maryland
2. Disney World
3. Williamsburg, Virgina
4. New York
(I lead a sheltered life!)

4 People who email me regularly :
1. Colleen
2. Jen
3. Jackie
4. Scrapbook Manufacturers (Do they count? I have no life!)

4 of my favorite foods:
1. Tuna Casserole
2. Soup (any kind. I love it!)
3. Cold Stone Ice Cream (soooo expensive...but so scrumptious!)
4. Mile High Salsa Pie

4 Places I Would Like to Visit:
1. England
2. Jamaica
3. Germany
4. California

4 Things I am Looking Forward to in the Coming Year:
1. Spending time with my family
2. Going on a cruise (Please God!)
3. Getting a new camera (again with the hope!)
4. Scrapping

4 Friends who I’m Tagging:
(I sadly do not know anyone else who blogs besides you guys so I am tagging back)
1. Dana
2. Michelle
3. Gess
4. Jackie (Ha! I DO know someone else!)

Dorney Park

2008-05-19T14:51:00.002-04:00

Well, most of you probably already know this but my family doesn't have the greatest luck. In anything. Cars, contests, furniture, appliances, electrical equipment, you name it it's broken. So anyway, I should have expected it to rain when we had the chance to get cheap tickets to Dorney Park from the Girl Scouts. And. It. Rained. Excuse me, it didn't just rain, it poured buckets of cold water from the heavens. But we plugged along anyway. And as sometimes happens, we were rewarded for our (stupidity) perserverance. Two hours into our day at Dorney, the torrential downpours changed to a drizzle and then miraculously the sun came out! We were completely soaked to the skin but we ended up staying another four hours and we really had a great time. I even used a hot air hand dryer to dry my heiney while Scott and Bridgette drove the antique cars!

So needless to say, I was not about to bring my camera into the park when it was pouring. Thus, we have no pictures of our fun day except these three from the parking lot as we were leaving.

Bridgette was a little bummed that she couldn't ride the really big roller coasters because you had to be 48 in and she was only 44 . That girl has no fear! I was 14 before I would even think about riding a roller coaster. But I ended up taking her on the "kiddie" version of a roller coaster called the Dragon and boy was it scary! I totally was surprised when it whipped us around and down this little hill. It was so fast. Yeah, I told you I'm kind of a wuss!

Mother's Day

2008-05-15T17:12:00.004-04:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year!

On Saturday me, Scott and Bridgette went to a few flower shops and got some flowers to plant. Scott always plants flowers for me for Mother's Day every year because I love flowers but I hate to plant them. So, I wanted brown-eyed susans but apparently they are hard to find. So we searched around and found these pretty purple flowers:

These lillies were a special treat. When Scott and I first met nine years ago, he worked for a Country Club in Kutztown. One day (this was back when he was trying to woo me.) he asked me to come to his dorm room and when I did, the whole room was filled with these Stargazer Lillies. The room smelled wonderful and it was gorgeous. It was one of the nicest things he ever did for me. Of course, I was 19 and didn't know anything about flowers so it took me several years to find out what kind they were. And when I did, I found out they are pretty expensive. But this year Scott decided to treat me! I am one lucky gal!

I also got to spend the whole day scrapping while Scott took B and his mom and his brother on a hike!

I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day too!

The Playground

2008-05-11T11:30:00.004-04:00

After the art show we played on the playground a little. Scott "spotted" Bridgette and my dad took these pictures...

I can't believe how grown up she looks sometimes. Time goes so fast.

Lorane Art Show

2008-05-10T16:42:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I posted but that is a good thing because the store has been busy!

The Lorane Art Show was this past Thursday and Bridgette had three pieces of beautiful art work displayed:

She was very excited to show off her creations Vanna-style!

Happy Birthday Puppy!

2008-03-14T08:10:00.003-04:00

Sunday was Haru's birthday and he had a great day! He got a nice new meaty bone and ripped apart his sleepy blanket (which I think was his favorite part of the day).

Wii also got a Wii! I'll post more on that later!

The Poky Little Puppy

2008-02-15T16:51:00.006-05:00

Valentines Day was nice this year. Pretty quiet, but we all got some treats.

Here is the story of our Valentines Day as narrated by our poky puppy Haru:

This is daddy opening a box of chocolate fortune cookies. He also got Peanut Butter Hearts but who cares because he won't share them with me anyway!

This is Bridgette opening her first present. I was very interested to see what she got.

Ooooh! I love Littlest Pet Shop toys! They are so little I can crunch them in my mouth and no one notices!

Yum! A chocolate toad with gummi bugs inside! I will be sure to snatch this when no one is looking. Yeah, I know chocolate is bad for dogs but you only live once!

I'm not sure what this is...Maybe if I can just stick my nose in here...

Ok...I'll try this side...

Awesome! More Littlest Pets! And one looks like me!

Ok. Fun's over. I'm out!

The Hunt is On...

2008-02-12T18:36:00.000-05:00

My new obsession? Finding a Wii. I got a chance to do some bowling at my friends' apartment this past weekend and it was awesome! I came home and told the rest of the house how much I loved it and now we have decided to actively search for one. I can only imagine how awesome Super Smash Brothers will be when we are all jumping around the living room pretending to be Kirby or Mario or Jigglypuff! However, they are still ridiculously hard to get. So, I signed up for itracker which is a website that is supposed to email you if any wiis come into stores near you. Not sure how effective this is but its worth a try. Lots of people have told me I am just gonna have to call Walmart everyday until they tell me they have some in. So I will keep trying...

Yippeee!

2008-02-07T10:36:00.001-05:00

So I think the settings of my blog have been keeping me from updating...seriously. I have been trying out different colors, templates and images but none of them are making me happy. They are actually making me feel uninspired. So, I decided to change to plain white. I like it! But the biggest change of all is ***Ta da*** I made myself a title logo!

Now, you're thinking, what was the kick in the pants that finally got me to change it? Well, I also designed a new logo for the stores website so it was sort of a knock off of that. Here is the stores new logo:If you would like to see it in all its glory on the website, go to www.itsscraptacular.com.

I know this doesn't sound like much but it took me hours to perfect and a lot of frustration.

Hope you like both of my new logos!

Like a broken record...

2008-01-22T20:14:00.000-05:00

First of all, I can not begin to express how many times I have said, (using my best mom-like voice) "Please do not sit on the counter."

Bridgette: "Why?"

Me (using frustrated mom tone): "Because you could fall and get hurt."

Bridgette: "OK." (hopping down)

Never the less, this is what I find tonight when I go in the bathroom:

She's not even using the sink!!!! She's playing a game!!! Look at her face. She knows!!! So despite the multitude of warnings, the spoken consequences she's still doing it.

I give up...

I just have to laugh and grab my camera.

Some More...

2008-01-12T14:48:00.001-05:00

Here's some more layouts for the challenge:

No winner yet but I did get an awesome email about the layout above! The person who sent it said some very flattering things. Thanks for the encouragment Willow!

Thanks for the positive feedback I've been getting. It means so much!

Challenge!

2008-01-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

Big Picture Scrapbooking is having a challenge this month to create a layout a day. I decided to accept since this will help me to achieve my goal of 200 layouts this year. So far I have pretty much stayed on track and only had to catch myself up once. Here are the seven layouts I have created so far:

I forgot to mention they are giving out a prize every day so that has also kept my momentum going. I am pretty proud of myself!

31 Days of December Mini Album

2008-01-04T09:21:00.001-05:00

I got the idea for this mini album from a message board that I belong to and she got the idea from a blog. I thought it was so cute that I scraplifted the idea and made it my own. If you would like to see the original go to:

http://melodeelangworthy.typepad.com/photos/2006_2007_internet_class_/img_5420jpg_a.html

I had a lot of fun with this although some days I forgot to take pictures. I really think it helped my work on my photography skills.

Hope you like it!

Resolutions

2008-01-03T13:45:00.000-05:00

This year there are some things I would like to accomplish and I am going to work hard to achieve them. So putting them here is the first start and maybe will help me accomplish them.

1. Work on becoming more financially secure. Save, Save, Save!

2. Play with Bridgette more. We need to have a little more fun in our lives.

3. Scrap 200 layouts this year. I think that is a lot but I just read about someone who plans to do more that 1200!!! Good luck, I say!

4. Take a fun vacation. This is kind of dependant on #1 because if I can't save, there will be no vacation...but I would really like to be able to go away for more than 3 days like last year. I don't care where, just take me away!

5. Volunteer somehow. I'm not sure what I will do because my time is so limited but there are plenty of options out there to make a difference.

6. Host at least two fundraiser crops.

7. Train Haru not to jump on people. This is my biggest pet peeve about other dogs and now that I have one, he does it too! I can not have this. We will have to go back to doggy school.

8. Make a concerted effort to let the people in my life know how much they mean to me. Whether it be telling them or letting them know in other ways, I want everyone to know I love them.

9. Be nicer to Scott. This is a tough one. It's not that I am mean I just tend to take everything out on him. And I know we all do this but even if I can catch myself once in a while and stop, that will make a difference. Now if I could just get him to stop taking me for granted...

10. Exercise!!! Yes, I already do but apparently not enough because my gut is not going anywhere. Maybe I can re-evaluate what I am doing and try to eat a few less kit kats.

New Year's

2008-01-02T21:01:00.000-05:00

We didn't do much for New Year's this year but we had fun anyway. We stayed home and played some games, had a little wine (just me and Scott---milk for B) and watched the ball drop. Here are the highlights:

We made it to midnight but just barely.

Bridgette is finally old enought to play Scrabble and we really got into it.

AHHHH!!! I can't even believe I posted that! Oh well, now you know what I look like at 11 at night!

This was New Year's Day. Poor Looby is usually safe from my torment but Scott pointed out that I didn't have any christmas pics of her in my Christmas mini album so I cornered her in the scrap room and made her look silly.

Bridgette got a bed tent for Christmas and the dog loves to curl up in there.

Pictionary Jr. We let B do all of the drawing while Scott and I guessed. She did a fabulous job!

Christmas---Again!!!

2007-12-31T13:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Christmas all over again when we had Nan, Grandpa Gary, Uncle Carl and Chris over to open presents and have dinner. You'll see below that Bridgette made out like a bandit once again!

More Pokemon!

Scott looks like he already hit the pub...

The most popular present of the year- Digital Picture Frames!

Santa Plates...

I made Nan a mini album of the things B loves about her...

All the loot...

More UB Funkeys. For the unenlightened:

UB Funkeys are little plastic dolls that fit into a large plastic receiver doll that hooks up to your computer. After they are hooked up, you can play all sorts of games and build different worlds with them. Very cool! (According to Bridgette)

We had a good time with everybody and were very thankful to spend the day with them since we don't get to see them as much as we like.

Baking Cookies

2007-12-29T20:45:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve:

Baking cookies is a major holiday tradition for me.

When I was little I used to help my grandma make sugar cookies and we always had a good time. My favorite part? Sneaking pieces of the cookie dough.

Now that I am older I make my own cookies. Bridgette has helped me since she was about three but this year she was really old enough to do most of it by herself. I made the dough but she cut out most of the cookies. It took almost all day (11am-6pm) but we had fun and she ended up saving me a lot of time.

This is the snowman she made out of the dough!

I am not sure if you can tell but she has flour all around her mouth from sneaking some of the dough.

Decorating took a lot of time but they turned out great!

After it was all said and done I was exhausted but we had some nice, fresh cookies to give out on Christmas.

Christmas Morning

2007-12-29T20:22:00.000-05:00

Finally some christmas pictures...

Spent the morning dividing our time between

our house, grandma's and grammies..

Bridgette got my mom this mug at the school store.
I'm still not sure what this is....

Pokemon ruled this christmas:

Pokemon DVD game

Pokemon dolls
Pokemon card game

Haru's gift from B
B and Aunt Cyndi at Grandmas
This whole box was filled with stuffed Pokemon

UB Funkeys were the most requested gift at our house

No Christmas would be complete without PJ's and underwear
Spiderman boxed set.

We had a good time!
Can you tell?

Gingerbread Tree

2007-12-27T21:30:00.001-05:00

I am a little behind on posting so it will take me a little while to catch up but here are some pictures from before christmas. These were actually taken last Saturday, the 22nd. Bridgette got a gingerbread tree kit from her girl scout leader.

These are a little out of order but notice the sneaky dog...he wanted that tree so bad and thought a little snuggle would give it to him. Silly boy!
The finished product!

Love the face!

These two are the cutest!

Gifts

2007-12-21T17:56:00.000-05:00

I made these boxes with a kit I got at the Crop with Heart way back in September.

I was very excited to make them and, as you can see, they turned out pretty cute.

Can't wait to see how my family likes them!

Santa Kitty

2007-12-20T18:09:00.000-05:00

Ok...I'll admit it. I am a sucker for funny animal pictures. My sister told me about the website I got this picture from and while a lot of the captions on the pictures are really stupid, some of them are hilarious. Here is one for the season:

My Dad...

2007-12-19T20:39:00.001-05:00

is crazy.

This is where I got my love of photography.

However, I am not crazy...just over-zealous.

I do not dart across busy highways to get pictures of ice, no matter how beautiful.

I do not stand in the way of oncoming traffic in the movie theater parking lot while people in their cars laugh and swerve to avoid me.
I did not chase down Santa Claus on a fire truck just to get that 20th picture.
I am much more level-headed when it comes to my picture-taking.
Then again, I didn't get these gorgeous shots. Maybe I should take a lesson from my dad and get a little crazy sometimes...

No School

2007-12-18T20:01:00.000-05:00

Bridgette had an unexpected day off yesterday due to the ice and wind. A lot of families in our area lost power so the district decided to close. We took advantage of the time off to spend some QT together. First, we lazed around on the couch watching TV and playing Littlest Pet Shop. Then, Bridgette wanted to go to McDonalds so we headed over there for some lunch. When we got home we wrapped the presents she got at the Santa Shop at school. I actually did most of the wrapping but she was in charge of the tape and filling out the tags.

It was nice haning out together with nothing to do. I can't wait for the next snow day!

You want a What?!?!

2007-12-17T15:46:00.000-05:00

We finally got to see Santa this weekend! Bridgette was very excited and had lots of things to tell him....a furrberry...some DS games...a Rescue Pet...........and a brother or sister! We weren't too surprised, she also wrote a letter to Santa at school and the first thing she asked for was a brother or sister. Now, this is not going to happen any time soon, if at all, and it definitely won't be for Christmas. So last night Scott and I talked to her about it. Seems she doesn't want a BABY brother or sister, she wants one about her age or slightly older! Again, not going to happen. So we explained that if she ever got a brother or sister it would have to start as a baby and then grow up. To this she replied,"But doesn't Santa have any kids he takes care of that he can give us???" Sorry, honey. But Scott did tell her she could have all the orphans she wants when she grows up.

Ice

2007-12-13T14:28:00.000-05:00

...slowly covering every surface of our yard but still no snow. Bridgette had an early dismissal today and when I went to the bus stop to get her I took some pics of the ice:

Christmasy!

Can't figure out why we still have one group of flower buds but they have been hanging on since the weather turned cold...

It was nice to be stuck inside today. I actually made a nice dent in my Christmas card making, WOO HOO! Can't wait to finish them and send them out...

Now to make some brownies for the crop tomorrow and maybe actually work on the Christmas presents...

Christmas Spirit

2007-12-10T15:00:00.001-05:00

It truly amazes me how I can learn so much from my daughter. Even though she is only 7, she always helps me to remember to take the time to enjoy life. I am always in such a hurry...life stresses me out more than it should...I don't laugh nearly as much as I should...I take my happiness for granted. These things, she never does. She's always laughing, singing, enjoying this journey. She takes her time (sometimes too much time! Ahhh!), doesn't let stress overwhelm her, and always appreciates the things she recieves. Why am I thinking of this now? Well, I have been trying hard to get into the Christmas spirit but it seems like every time I think about it all I can think is "Can I afford to get these things? Will I have time to make this? Bake that? Decorate this?" It has really put a damper on time I should be enjoying. However, Bridgette is totally in the Christmas spirit. She sings songs of Christmas, watches Christmas movies, writes Christmas stories. But the best part is for a few days now she sings a line from "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" everyday before she gets on the bus. I say, "Ok, gimme a kiss!" And before she does, she says "Somebody waits for you, kiss her once for me!" It may sound silly, and it is, but its things like that that make me appreciate life. And appreciate this little sweetheart I am so lucky to have!

Tinsel Town

2007-12-09T18:59:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was Tinsel Town at school. I had to work so Grammy and Pop Pop took Bridgette. As you can see from the pictures, they had a great time. Bridgette got to do lots of fun things like stuff a kitty from Noah's Ark, make gingerbread houses and sit on Santa's lap. She even got to shop for presents for the family, which I think is a great thing to do.

The tree is up!

2007-12-07T19:01:00.000-05:00

We finally got the tree up on Wednesday night and it looks great. We had a good time decorating and listening to Christmas music. It was so nice to spend time together as a family. I even got some good pics which is an added bonus. Here are the highlights. Notice the silly faces and Bridgette using "the force" to get the angel on the tree. Can you tell Scott and Bridgette had a little trouble getting the angel up? He had to steady himself on the ceiling so he wouldn't fall over and Bridgette looks like she's gonna take off. Such silliness!

Little Scraps of My Life

Gettin My Crafty On!

Happy Sunday!

Some More Back to School!

Hopping Along...

Still Scrappin' the Beach

Gettin' Scrappy!

Giveaway on Scraptacular's Blog!!!

Never A Dull Moment...

ScrapPink!

August Sneak...

Back From the Beach...

Summer Soiree Online Crop!!!

July Kit!

New Layouts and a Sneak!

Chillaxin'

Girls Day

Pinwheels Part 2!

Pinwheels Tutorial

Layouts!

Dancing the Night Away..

Giveaway over at the Scraptacular Message Board!!!

May Layout Class

Tea and Brownies

Flower Cones

Surprise!!!

Happy Mothers Day!

Bubble Rocket

Easter Day

A Few More From the Dyeing...

Easter Eggs

Sneaky-sneak

Online Crop This Weekend!

And The Winner Is....

Last Chance for the Giveaway!

Blog Giveaway!!!

Girl Scout Camping

New Layouts

First Orchestra Concert

Favorite books of 2008

Layouts using the January Kit

New January Kit

A Christmas Tradition

Christmas at Grandmas and Grammy's

Christmas at Home

Happy 92nd Birthday...

A Little Sneak...

The Mojo's Flowing...

New Classes at Scraptacular!

Spooky Fun

So Not a Girly Girl

It's Official!

Corn Maze

Pickin' Pumpkins

Soccer

Hershey Park

Silly Pictures

ScrapPink Pics

Happy Anniversary!

ScrapPink!

Some *new* layouts

Back to School

Birthday!

More Birthday

Bridgette's Birthday

Back from the beach!

Happy 4th of July!

By the Pool

My crazy weekend!

Memorial Day trip to the Zoo!

Tagged!

Dorney Park

Mother's Day

The Playground

Lorane Art Show

Happy Birthday Puppy!

The Poky Little Puppy

The Hunt is On...

Yippeee!

Like a broken record...

Some new layouts