i just joined a new blog... The CC Blog (constructive criticism). It's for scrapbookers that want to review and be reviewed by other scrappers, to see where they can improve. If you want to join, just go down to the first post and email the administrator. This should be fun and eye-opening!

(Although I do have to admit I'm a little nervous... but I'm ready to hear some truth about my pages and maybe make a few changes!) :)

http://the-constructive-critic.blogspot.com/

So I realized the other day that my profile pic is oh sayyyyyy... about a year old. LOL Hence today' update, with my brand spanking new hair cut. Next, things will get really wild and crazy up in here when I *gasp* change the banner! ;)

Re: the Hair.It was just getting to me. I love having long hair, but drying and straightening and then ending up pulling it up was just NOT working for me. I'm still getting the hang of this new hair-do. I like it though. I need a curling iron that heats just a tad hotter and we'll be all good.

Here's another full sized pic so you can see me in all my glory. (I'm just going to be honest here and say that like most people, I usually hate pics of myself, especially post=pregnancy, but I actually like these pics of me. Yay! They really hide the double chin well. LOL) ;)

Today I finally got my house clean, after it lay in filth for about a week and a half. We'd been out of town for quite some time, leaving the floors to gather dust (thank goodness for the invention of the Swiffer!), the sink to gather dishes (thanks to bazillions of sippy cups & a husband who likes to experiment with cooking), the hamper to gather laundry... well, you get the idea.

I even got to do a few little *extra* projects like clean out the fridge & wipe down the shelves, and reorganize my kitchen baskets that hold all of my towels. :) Those kinda things make me happy. I don't know a whole lot about Feng Shui (ok, I think I spelled that totally wrong), but I do agree with the premise that your environment can completely affect your mood... and it has. :) I feel a lot more relaxed knowing that my house is in order.

I really want to scrap, but since it's 11:30, I'm thinking it may be a little too late for me to get involved in a project... but only because I have a dental appt. tomorrow to finally get a crown put on the root canal I had a few weeks back.

So, until bedtime, I'll probably browse twopeas
and maybe read a bit more of this interesting blog about the subculture that is
scrapbooking...
the honest scrapper
(note: this is NOT to be confused with a really nasty & mean blog that had made its rounds recently. this one, although posted anonymously, has some interesting thoughts and discussion in the comments.) :)

the layout that i created this weekend. :) i hope i didn't build up too much suspense that the actual layout is a letdown! LOL it was just exactly what i was picturing, the mood i wanted to evoke. (click on the pic for a somewhat bigger view. dadGUM do i wish i had a scanner! )


i wish i'd taken pics of the process. the title and journaling were the hardest parts- not the what i wanted to have, but the how in designing them. the title was originally stamped on with the "she" foam alphabet from heidi swapp, but it didn't show up very well, so then i used stickers, but it wasn't very "strong" looking of a title. also, it kinda looked like it said "i sometimes... cherish you" (lol) because of the stamping at the bottom, so i wanted it to be connected more with the journaling (since it's the beginning of the quote by brian andreas).

the journaling i had to play with too- the fonts, what it was printed on, embellishing...

the journaling is a quote from brian andreas. i could seriously do a layout on almost all of his quotes. you can browse them at storypeople
(my favorite thing to do is to go to the search and browse through the themes.)

it reads:
"i sometimes wake in the early morning and listen to the soft breathing of my children and i think to myself, this is one thing i will never regret and i carry that quiet with me all day long."

but i'm quite pleased with the overall effect and all the layers and details. and that's what matters most. :)



product supply list:
patterned papers: bohemia line from my mind's eye
chipboard "I", diamonds, rubon letters, ghost clocks, ribbon (green/blue & kind woven at top & blue polkdotted), "cherish" stamp, fold-over tab: heidi swapp for advantus
acrylic paint: apple barrel for plaid (white)
fonts: susie's hand & mom's typewriter, downloaded from the internet
brown & white polkadotted ribbon: michael's
flower: walmart
alpha stamps: hero arts (i & you)
ink: technique tuesday (black) and tim holtz distresssing inks for ranger industries (vintage photo)
ez walnut ink tintz: fiber scraps
misc: notebook paper, staples, & brad

i remember when i was taking tennis lessons in high school, my coach would talk about the "sweet spot" on the tennis racket. (or is that spelled raquet? i can't remember which is which) anyways, it was the spot right in the dead center of the racket/raquet; when the ball hit there perfectly, it was awesome. perfect. just the way you want it to be.

i imagine that great tennis players know just how to use their rackets/raquets to their advantage, to hit that sweet spot every time. i don't know, i could be completely wrong... but if i am, it will totally ruin my analogy. lol

this weekend, i began working on a layout that i had a few ideas for. i knew i wanted to use a particular quote, and i knew which photos i wanted to use. as i was going to bed friday night, i had an image kinda blast into my head using some of the new bohemia line from my mind's eye...

so saturday morning, i began putting down the components that i wanted to use... thought i'd finished it, but when i looked at it later- blah. so back to the drawing board. moved some stuff around, and voila`! i thought i had it.

but once again, i looked at it before church this morning and it still didn't have that "sweet spot" feel for me. so tonight, played with it again, and i finally got it perfect. :) hit that sweet spot. now i keep going in there and looking at my "masterpiece." hee hee

do you get that feeling when you hit the "sweet spot" of scrapbooking (or whatever way you express yourself)?

when you are experienced enough in your craft, does it become easier to use your "tools" to get exactly the look you wanted? can you become more consistent in hitting that perfect game every time? or are you stumped just as much, having to go over and over?

there's a lot more questions that would relate to these, but that's just a beginning. ;)

oh, and i'll share the layout soon! gotta get some pics of it in the daylight.

just got back from visiting shaun's grandma and parents and the rest of the fam... it's always so fun there. i wish we could visit shaun's grandma more often. she's one cool lady.

one of the purposes we were there for was to visit shaun's aunt and uncle. steve was just diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago. i don't think that the prognosis is very good.

he is an awesome man- a wonderful husband and father. he's got these big brown eyes that are always twinkling and he's full of laughter. he's like a big teddy bear; great for big ol' hugs, with his huge grin peeking out from under his bushy mustache. always hugging and kissing on his wife. they laugh together a lot. you can tell that they are best friends. he's so sweet with my kiddos.

i brought my 35mm and took some black and white pics of steve and kathy. i can't wait to get them developed. they are so complete with each other- it shows in the pictures.

please pray for them. it's going to be a really hard journey.

***

i'm headed off to visit my grams for a few days tomorrow. figured we'd give shaun some time to himself around the house; opportunities to get some projects done around here.

i'm going to do some prep-work for my class at Scrap Etc., spend some time with the fam... grams wants to show off her new hobby lobby. who am i to resist? ;)

***

and i had to share these pics. i swear, i'm surrounded by some amazingly photogenic people. this is my little guy with his new girlfriend, auntie adrienne.

woohoo! today was a surprisingly accomplishing day:

• took a nap
  
• ate lunch with a friend
• let Em play at Chic-Fil-A for about an hour (she was diggin' the play area... usually she just runs around on the floor, but today she joined the big kids up in the hamster-cage-like tubes)
• mailed an Ebay item at the post office
• managed to get into the house just as the huge thunderstorm opened up above our heads
• put away dishes, made beds, straightened the house
• talked to Michelle
• got Atticus & Em down for nice afternoon naps
  
• EXERCISED! (woooooohoooooo!)
• uploaded the Scrap Etc. September class schedule (check it out HERE)
• emailed all the Basic Grey pre-order peeps to let them know that it's gonna be available for pick-up on Thursday (YES! *pumps fist into the air like the major dork that she is* SO excited about playing with this stuff!)
• laughed at Em's silly antics during dinner
• bathed the kiddos and thought about how they are actually going to be PLAYING together in the tub in just a few short months
• got them into bed *sighs of relief all around*
• messed around on the internet
• talked to Adrienne
• Fed Atticus (again!)
• talked to Mom
• talked to Donovan
• talked to Grams
  
• Scrapped
  
• Made some sourdough bread dough

And now... gonna feed the bebe` again, then do some final cleaning up around the house before the *insert ominous music here* dental appointment tomorrow morning. At least I get to visit with my Grams , Mom, & sis tomorrow b/c they are coming to babysit the kiddos! Yay!

Ciao, mia bellas!

HP book five is currently being filmed.

normally, during the filming of the harry potter movies, i try to avoid seeing a lot of pictures, reading spoilers, etc. i learned my lesson when i absorbed every factoid and photo during the making of "prisoner of azkaban" and it kinda spoiled it for me. no magic. so during the filming of "goblet," i avoided it and found the movie experience much more rewarding.

so anyways, in accordance to my no-previewing policy, i've been avoiding reading/seeing too much of the movie 5 news.

now, i must have you know, i am a freakish type harry potter fan, so part of my normal daily internet checking includes reading the "news" at mugglenet.com

but today, i broke my resolve, when i saw a link to a pic of Tonks on set. here it is, for all those interested. TONKS HERE

not the greatest pic, but still, makes me all excited to see these things come to life, so to speak.

also, did you know that j k rowling makes $145 a MINUTE? isn't that insane?

i think i need to write a book. LOL

....

yes, i'm afraid that once again i shared something about myself that i'll probably realize later didn't really need to be aired for public consumption.

hee hee

somehow, they always go too fast for me.

you see, as a stay at home mom, my days seem to blur together. the only thing that really breaks up my week on a regular basis are the days that shaun is home. the weekends. the days that i have another adult at home to talk to, to watch movies with, to play with the kids, to yell out to "hey- grab that kid!"

this afternoon we actually had a bit of uninterrupted quiet.

rarely does that happen. usually, once we get one kid occupied or sleeping or just plain quiet, the other one starts up. i have VOWED to not have another kid while i still have two other ones in the crying stage. it is so hard, so draining, to have two kids crying and needy and wanting to be held.granted, emerson's needs have thankfully gotten more to the stage where she just wants attention, like a book read to her or whatever, but because her speech isn't fully developed yet, she resorts to a lot of moaning, whining, and groaning if she can't communicate what she wants. or if she realizes that you are trying to ignore her for a moment.atticus, on the other hand, goes back and forth from being sweet and cooing and just hanging out on his own, to total complete meltdown mode... and all he wants is to be held. it drives us crazy. now, don't get me wrong- i love to snuggle my little man, but he does NOT need to be spoiled and held all of the time.because mommy is so often occupied with atticus, em has really become a daddy's girl. i caught them reading together in bed today. so freaking cute.
i got a little scrap - related stuff done. scrap etc. is having a humongous party this coming weekend. if you have a chance, you should stop by. tons of free stuff, prizes, make & takes... good times.

i'm about to put em to bed... and then i will take a bubble bath, maybe watch a movie with shaun, and then once the house is good and quiet- scrap. :)

i've been a bad blogger once again (coughcoughhereyagogretchencoughcough)

hee hee

and to be honest, i really don't have much of an update tonight,

except to say that i had the best time with the design team girls from scrap etc tonight.

they all came over and we just had girl time. lots of talking about scrapping and the way we do things. so much fun. i needed that, big time.

i finally got to hang out with jessica and julie- they are a couple of sweeties and i'm so glad that they are on our team. emerson LOVED julie. i think she sensed that she was a mommy of another little one close to her age.

we missed you adrienne, christine, tonya, katie, shelley, and cp! (although i had a feeling cp wouldn't make it here all the way from cali. lol)

today, before all the girls came over, i was majorly stressed. it's been a very busy couple of weeks for us. and today, the first day that we've had all day at home, em decided to have a poop accident (don't worry, i won't go into details), both kids were crying all day, i hardly got to sit down and eat, and did i mention the CRYING ALL DAY??!! ugh.

but hanging out with the girls rectified most of that. it was so nice to just hang out. :)

um, i feel like i'm repeating myself over and over, which i think is a sign of being way too tired to be blogging, so i'll sign off. i promise more updates soon. :)

i'll leave you with this. and yes, that is emerson's baby doll stroller. LOL

ever thought about the sounds that make your home unique?

the title of this post comes from an episode of "The Simpsons" in which Homer is skiing with Flanders, and Flanders is talking about his ski suit. it's so snug, it feels like he's wearing, "Nothin' at all, nothin' at all."

this is quoted many a time in the T household. :)

another thing quoted currently is to try to include any phrase in which we can insert the term "newbie" from "Scrubs."

Shaun greets Emerson every evening when he comes home from work with "What's up, pup?"

Emerson calls everything (including her little brother) a "ca?" (i.e. cat)

I tell Atticus daily that he's "too darn cute."

I call Emerson "my scunchie."

We listen to Rick & Bubba every morning, then listen to the replay in the afternoons because I don't hear all of the morning show.

At 7pm, Shaun usually turns on the station that Dave Ramsey is on.

Saturdays consist of NPR- "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me- the NPR News Quiz" & the Car Talk guys, Garrison Keillor droning in the background (have you ever noticed how freaking inane most of the jokes on that show are? still, for some reason, it's a comforting sound to me).... Fiona Richie's Irish music show...

Mostly, the music in my cd player rotates between Over the Rhine, Jump Little Children, Cake, Damien Rice, or whatever new cd I have.

Emerson's feet make the sweetest pattering sound as she runs around our hardwood floors.

Atticus coos ALL the time. I've never heard a baby coo as much as he does. I think I'm going to have a talkative little guy on my hands here.

The click click click of Atticus' baby swing.

Nighttime... Em's white noise machine, Atticus' squeaky fan, Shaun's gentle (and, ahem, sometimes NOT so gentle) snores... me dropping things in the scraproom or typing away on the computer.

I've been trying to get caught up on life, once again. Still got 2 loads of laundry to fold, need to sweep & mop the floors, and wash a few dishes, but I've got all the bills paid, the kids snuggled, and the house fairly picked up. :)

This morning has been pleasant... the kiddos are both in bed, allowing me a few moments to myself while I gather my thoughts for the day (and peruse the 2peas gallery). We are going to the thrift store today to hunt for some treasures. I'm hoping to find some sort of funky chair to add to the playroom/scraproom for reading in.

I've been a scrapping FOOL lately! As in, I've been staying up to the wee hours of the morning scrapbooking like crazy. I'm trying to gather my entries for the Scenic Route Design Team contest. I've made 6 layouts- you only need 3 to enter, but I thought I'd give myself some choices. I will post 'em once I get them scanned (probably tomorrow).

New stuff is supposed to start arriving at Scrap Etc. soon- namely, the new Bohemia line from My Mind's Eye. I simply cannot wait!

My brother and his new wife moved into an apartment nearby last Friday. They've been living in New York for a few months, and I missed Donovan terribly. I am so glad that they are here and I can start really getting to know my new SIL. She's so funky & cute... my brother and she are too adorable together.

I know this is crazy, but I'm starting to think about Christmas presents... Shaun & I talked about setting aside some money every month for the next few months so that we'll have a small stash for Christmas shopping. Once again, I'm hoping to make some gifts. Adrienne has already given me one great idea, but I can't share it here b/c I will probably be making it for my fam (who read this blog occasionally!). LOL I will share pics sometime, though.

I guess that's about it. Sorry for the boringness of this entry... but you know, I think I prefer the boring entries- I don't really need a lot of excitement in my life these days. LOL

Ah, I hear the Emerson talking in her rooom... time for diaper duty. : )