The Chill is EVER winding...

Today is Brianna's first day back to school this week.  The windchill is still below zero but at this rate, she will not have a summer if "snow days" continue.  She and I have been keeping ourselves busy. 

 Although, cabin fever and the need to put my toes in the sand is a real dream.

I am getting really excited as I have a Crop for a Cure next weekend and in March I will be out of town 

 4 days for a Scrapbooking Retreat. 

 I always enjoy time away to create and giggle with other women that enjoy 

sharing their love of paper, glue, family, and memories.

It helps to have pretty paper as well.

I have a few layouts to post and then it is back in my studio for ME time.  

Alone.

(at least until 3:40 PM)

 The above layout was inspired by JUST G over at Studio Calico.

Her original layout was from 2009.  

Still a classic design and I love it.

 Above and below you will see more Christmas cards that I have kept.  I keep a special scrapbook for these types of pages.  I love great photos and appreciate friends and family that share their salutations with us through all special occasions. 

You will recognize this special family as it is the Owners of Studio Calico.

April and Greg were one of the first families we met when we moved to Bowling Green.

Their family has grown from 2 to 5 since we moved here.  I hear there is another Foster on the way.

Above, over exposed photos can work.  It is the story that counts.  At least, to me!

Stay warm and HAPPY Creating.

Share, Say, Catch Up...at a glance!

I have so much to share.  Lots of changes since the beginning of December 2010 for me.  Scratch that, really since August when I started working again full time.  Over the next week, I plan on catching up to the best of my ability and share what has been happening in glimpses.  I love Blogger's little "post options" that enable me to make several posts and they be published on different days.  So without further ado.  I will begin.

In February I went scrapping and since I have not shared any of my creative works in quite awhile, I will share some of the layouts I created that day.  There was left over snow on the ground but it did not stop about 70 of us die hard scrappers.  We were ready to get out and about.  The snow has been something this Winter for sure.  More on that in another post.  For now, I will share some of my works that include my own designs and a great love for Studio Calico Kits.  I enjoy picking up my kits and it allows me to check in on the Foster's and chat a bit with Lori.  As always, I gander in the "behind the scenes, too."  But you could not choke the "in the know" that I get to see once a month.  It is a bit of scrappy heaven for me.

So, you see?  I am still creating.  I am still painting and making cards.  It is just that my schedule has changed and so have some of my priorities and I am working on me.  More on that another time!  I promise to be more diligent in posting and everything is finally falling into place and this year is already promising to be great!

Creative Teasing

...honestly, if it were up to me; I would be showing you my whole layout. But the weather here today is wet and well, I simply cannot get a picture that is complimentary to the layout I created at 5 AM this morning. However, I do have some sneak peeks of it and I will get the layout posted as soon as I get a decent photo. But for now, I really must leave my art room and do some cleaning!

I just cannot get enough time in my scraproom without letting the house go to shambles. So, I have promised myself to get some things done today that need attention. I have procrastinated long enough.

Love is in the Air....

Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. My husband loves the number 13. He loves prime numbers as he was born on prime dates and he sees the number "13" as lucky where as most people see the number in a negative light.

I wanted to give my husband something to take with him to work on Friday the 13th that declares my love for him in a "scrappy way." Plus, it is the day before St. Valentine's Day and this is just my simple way of showing him that I love him. He is not the "rose and candy" kinda guy by any means. Home center store card and some wood and he is ready to go!

My husband is my best friend and there is no-one that I would rather laugh with and share great joy in this life as we both have chosen to follow, together...as one.

Thanks for looking and have a fantabulous FRIDAY the 13th! Go Create!

New Addiction in Creating...

Yes, I am addicted to creating ATC's (Artist Trading Cards). I created these 10 cards for a swap I am in and I changed each one just a little to make them exclusively original for the owners. I hope to be collecting these myself from artists all over this year. They are fun to create and quite frankly...it is a great way use up my stash of goodies.

I have been scrapping more simple pages this weekend for my son's book. He prefers "simple" layouts or as he would say, "manly." But of course, I had to create a few for me and here is an example of one of my recent layouts from this weekend.

Well, the Winter Break is almost over for our family and we will be back into our regular routines this coming week. I am looking forward to slowing down a bit and getting back to my daily creating and time alone.

I hope your New Year has gotten off to a great start!