Yummy Martha Patterns.

Hello Friday.


I wanted to share some yummy *discount* Martha that I discovered at Michael's the other day. I was so lucky to find this cute pack of three patterned notbooks for $1 !! I also got a pack of her Picnic papers for $2. They will make super cute invitations I thought, so to all of my friends (ahem ... Jeanne & Nicole) who are thinking about getting married, I'm already starting to come up with ideas for you!

I have so much going on today and this weekend but it's going to be creative, fun, and exciting! I am starting the plans for my Pageframes 6x6 Album. I'm really wanting it to come out perfect so I'm doing a lot of planning and stock-piling goodies to go in it! I also want to work more with the August Kit from A Million Memories before I get the September one. I got August late coming back from NYC but I love it so much. The patterns and colors in it are so awesome ... I think there may be a few left if you are interested, check here!

Here's the pic of the August Kit!


I'm also doing a lot to get ready for my garage sale next weekend (ahhh two weeks to be ready!) I'll be going through my scrap-stash to see if there's anything I know I won't use. I may be putting together a RAK or two!

Off to get back to work, I may post more later! Have a great weekend!

Music.

Since coming back from NYC I've been totally into music again. Music has been such a huge part of my life. My parents have always been really into music - especially my dad who has introduced me to so much great music and normally knows what's hot before I do! Plus, I trained in music for so long. I starting with grade school band (yup I'm a band geek), then vocal training, musical theatre, and dance in high school. Then I went to Columbia College of Chicago for musical theatre and then even after transferring from there to Purdue I never planned to stop being involved with music.

For so long I wasn't listening to anything at all new, which is actually kind of scary when I think about it! Since owning my own business I have retreated into my comfy playlists and old CD's, and kind of isolated myself from anything new.

So MUSIC is one of the big reasons why I am so stoked to move back to the city. I don't know how involved in music I will become again. I do know that hearing how music is growing, how all of the styles of music are constantly being revived and evolve, really makes me sing more than I have in a long time (and dance too). And anyone who has ever been close to me knows - when I'm singing I'm happy! So I'm going with the flow and won't assume anything about my life right now.

What this does mean is that I'm now on the constant lookout for NEW music!

Joe showed me this video today by Justice and I think it rocks. Justice is a French electro/house band and won the MTV Europe Best Video Award (you know when Kayne West got all upset! LOL.) Anyway, I'm a huge notebook doodler & T-Shirt fan so this video is like crazy inspiring...

Enjoy!

This the latest layout I've done and it pretty much sums up my feelings over the past few weeks. I'm all over the place! I have really no clue how I am going to get this garage sale organized (it's Sept. 1st & 2nd for any of you in the SW FL area, I'll put more info up later!), and pack the house, and do all the crazy projects & designing I've been planning! But I would have it any other way! Our life is moving in a totally new direction and we are going to have so much and adventure.

There are a TON of fun things going on at A Million Memories. So if you know me and haven't checked out my favorite online scrapping community, do it now!

I'll have more fun stuff to share later today... {HUGS}

Some Tuesday Inspiration.

I got a fun surprise in the mail this weekend! My mom and dad visited my sister in Oakland and sent Joe and I a box of some ChinaTown Goodies! We each also got a really cool T-Shirt. I love all the stuff we got, beautiful placemats and formal chopsticks, a sake set, and a calligraphy set too!

I also was surfing around my favorite new blog Apartment Therapy: New York and found this fun chair idea! Check them out and visit the blog for project instructions!



I'm off to scrap and will have more later! Happy Tuesday!

A Portrait. A Plan.

Hello Thursday.

I hadn't posted any pictures or portraits of my Joe for a really long time so I thought I'd share this hottie!



This is one of the portraits I took of him at PS1 while we were in NYC. The old school had a thousand awesome nooks and crannies to sneak into for awesome portraits. I didn't keep him from the party for too long though!

It's almost the weekend and I have so much to get done all over the house and some projects I want to get done as well. So - here is my weekend goal list (we'll see how much I do!)



Most of my work this weekend is going to be getting our yard sale ready. I want to firm up the date and be able to go get the permit Monday!

Have a great night!

Friday Night Scrap*Star Chat!

Isn't this butterfly book beautiful? This is just one of the gorgeous projects that Cheryl Mezzetti created using the *A Million Memories* August Kit. We were so lucky to have her as our Guest Designer this month!

We are also super lucky to be able to CHAT with Cheryl this Friday, August 17th at 6:00pm PST! Plus Ali & Michelle will be giving away some goodies throughout the evening!

Be sure to check out Cheryl's blog and her other creations with the AMM Monthly Kit - and we'll chit chat on Friday!!

Reuse.

This weekend I began the task of cleaning out our garage. It isn't horribly cluttered, but with the SW FLorida humidity it basically means I have to clean everything that was in there if I want to be able to sell it in a yard sale!

Besides all of the fun inspiration of seeing some "old" things in a *new* way I was really excited to see all of the fun re-usable stuff we had down there! As I was rolling up yards and yards of kraft packing paper and plastic bubble wrap I got so excited thinking about using these to pack with and then using them in art projects when we unpacked.

From the beginning I have told Joey that I want to move in the most efficient, cost-effective, and GREEN way possible ... and beginning the task got me thinking about so many new ways to reuse and recycle! I love when life breeds inspiration!

I have some fun Rivercity Rubberwork Stamps that I'm working on right now and a TON of fun projects I came up with while working in the garage yesterday, including a "Moving Out" Journal which I hope to start tonight.

Happy GREEN Monday!

*24 by 25* Challenge!

I hope I got this posted in time!

This is the fun LO/*BIG* To Do List that I did for Elsie Flannigan's BlogParty Challenge. This was a ton of fun to do today and it really got me excited about how much is happening in the next few months!

TFL!

Busy. Busy. Busy.

So I am a huge believer in "To Do" Lists. They help me focus and I tend to spend just as much time perfecting my to do list as I do getting the things on it finished so that helps me get into a creative groove! I have so many things in the "idea" phase right now that I am really looking forward to organizing my thoughts and getting some of these projects into the Creation! phase. My studio is insane right now but I am so many exciting things on the horizon that I'm bursting at the seams to get stuff done!

Right now I'm finishing up an challenge that Elsie put on her blog yesterday. 24 things I want to do by 25! Since this is such a huge transitional period for me I think that this challenge is really going to motivate me to push myself where I want to go physically, creatively, and professionally.

Oh and I have some exciting news on the horizon that involves a move and a *new* project but that's all I'm saying for right now!

*Smooches*

ADD Monday.

Yes I am having a ADD attack this fine Monday Morning. Or maybe it was all weekend...

Joe and I are home and settled again after our amazing trip up North. NYC was so incredible. I had forgotten just how alive I become in the city. So much action and inspiration!

I came home with a totally new outlook on my life and art. There are so many ideas running around in my head, so many things I want to do, but now I have to settle down and actually create!

There is a HUGE to do list I have running right now, a lot of scrapping I need to get done, and I want to totally re-vamp my blog ~ so hopefully today will be productive for me.

Michelle turned me onto this awesome blog called Print & Pattern which is totally inspiring and is a great way to check out new trends and goodies! Check it out!

These are my two favorite ladies right now ... I LOVE the style the new TLC LA Ink ads were done and I can't wait for the new show to start. And I finally got a bunch more Amy Winehouse music and am currently addicted to her!

*Bobby Jack* Goodies

I had to run to Target this afternoon to get some supplies and stuff for our big trip next week and of course I had to hit the $1 section! I found all of these super cute Bobby Jack goodies. I'm hoping I can use these tattoos on paper... there's just something I can't resist about a monkey blowing bubble-gum bubbles and eating chocolate!

*Junkitz* flower⋅ful Spotlight

Junkitz was so generous to sponsor the *A Million Memories* They sent us a TON of awesome product! These are all of the projects I did with the Junkitz "flower⋅ful" line.

The Accordian Album is a Junkitz "Accordian Envelope Bookz" by Teresa Collins.

Thanks Junkitz !!

For more information on the details or techniques used in any of these please visit my gallery at *A Million Memories*!

sneek peek time already ?!?

The fab ladies at A Million Memories have already released a sneek peak of their August Kit! I have seen these new Daisy D papers IRL and I love them so much. So Yummy! I can't wait to get the kit and see all the extra goodies in it.

Hello. Friday.

I can't believe how long it has been since I blogged last! Things have been too crazy for me lately and they aren't about to slow down yet ... YAY! Indian Rocks for the 4th of July was so much fun. Now Joe and I have about five days to get a TON of stuff done before we leave for Chicago on Wednesday morning. I am so excited for this trip I can barely contain myself. CHA, seeing my family, seeing my AMM family (!!), seeing my best friends back home, then I'm off to NYC to party with Joe's friends and check out the scene there. I have no idea what opportunties this trip will bring me and Joey but we are so optimistic and excited to see what life has in store for us next!

Work. Work. Work. though before we leave. I just finished a fun Junkitz Envelope Album and am working on the rest of the product they sent me. But after that I have some fun fun projects brewing for after CHA. Oh I am so stoked!

I took a minute out this afternoon to take a couple of photos. Wow it's so hot outside. I took like five and was sweating. Uck - I think inside with my ice tea, scrapping stuff, Fergie, and air conditioning will do just fine! I am hoping to get to the beach on Sunday to relax a bit before all the drama starts on Monday.

Well, I hope everyone has a rockin' weekend.

*Ciao*

*Around the Block* Spotlight

So I finally finished working with the two lines I was given this month from Around the Block. I really loved the "Glam Girl" line, it was so fun to work with. I think I got a pretty good Folder Album out of the "School Days" line too! TFL!

Post-Shower Portrait Session....

I was so inspired after our Elsie Scrap*Star chat last night and our A Million Memories "Understanding Exposure" group we've started that I wanted to work with the gorgeous light after our afternoon rainstorm to take some self-portraits. I think I came up with a few keepers and wanted to share! I know the one with the lavender coloring was so out of focus but I thought it was pretty anyway!

I wanted to take some of Joe and I too but the mosquitoes were SO BAD by the time he got outside that I had to run in! We seriously only have like 15-20 minutes after a storm before all the new little terrors hatch!

I'm working on the last few LO's of Around the Block and should have them up tomorrow. Plus I just got our A Million Memories July Kit and it's so full of yummy goodies! I can't wait to get to work with it and show everyone how much STUFF was packed into it!

It's been a really good week so far and I'm so excited for CHA in 3 WEEKS!

Ask ... and you shall receive!

Okay this is a sneekie peekie of the new Taylor Line for Daisy D's. There are a TON of cool papers in this line and my Product Spotlight should be coming soon in the next few days.

BUT I couldn't wait to play with one of them to complete my first ever ScrapJack Challenge. The designer ScrapJacked this time was Maria Grace Abuzman and it was one of her no photo LO's. SO FUN! I really wanted this to feel kinda mechanical ~ like something from Monty Python so I hope it worked!

Materials I used: Taylor for Daisy D's, MM Foam Monogram Stamps, Chipboard from May Kit, Misc. FP Rub-Ons, Misc. JoAnns Hinges, Hambly Rub-Ons, Stamps are from "Stamp of Excellence" and "A Stamp in the Hand", Colorbox Inks, Acrylic Paints from PLAID

Oh I almost forgot ... the "and you shall receive" was actually a computer font that I printed in mirror on the glossy side of a transparency and then "rubbed" onto the paper. IRL it looks almost like a ink blot or coffee stain where the ink pooled on the transparency.

It was so fun just scrapping for ME! I haven't done that in a long time. looked at a blank pice of paper and let whatever spill onto it - spill away! So much fun.

TFL!

Back from Coco Grove...

Well we are finally back from Miami. We had such a great time getting in some quality time with Andy (our British friend from ships). I barely took any pictures b/c the boys aren't really into them but I did manage to get Joe to take a quick shot of ME before we headed out for dinner last night. We went to this amazing new restaurant called Christabelle's Quarter which is New Orleans French Quarter style. The place was gorgeous. Everything in it was taken from mansions, castles, or squares from all over the world. So pretty. I didn't have my good camera so all my shots of the place came out horrible but go to their website and check out the beauty! Christabelle's Quarter.

So I am home now and ready to go. I am going to do a few "fun scrapping" things before I get busy on my DT work. I want to get a couple of just for me challenges done b/c I'm feeling like designing a few funky LOs. I may get busy on Suzanne's Art Journal Challenges too!

Happy Hump Day!

A Million Memories is having a *special* DT Callout...

We have a special opening on the *A Million Memories* Design Team!

You can get all the info on our *A Million Memories Blog* or on *A Million Memories.com Message Board*.

Check us out!

If you have any questions please email info@amillionmemories.com!

*Jenni Bowlin Studio*

This month one of the Manufacturer Sponsors was Jenni Bowlin Studio. I was sent the Summer Picnic Line and got a couple of really sweet LO's done! You can read more about the LO's at my *A Million Memories* Gallery!

The rest of today will be spent doing laundry and getting packed for Miami. I do hope to do some more scrapping tonight in between there. I am going to be working with my 2nd sponsor this month ... Around the Block!

I hope everyone is have a good weekend. I can't wait to get to Miami and to the pool! We are going out for Sushi tomorrow night too ..... yummmmmm!

Have a great weekend! *Smooches*