Zoo Crew

Wow this past week has gone by fast!

Kailee started preschool this week. Hard to believe my baby is growing up so fast! She has been asking every day about since the kids started school if she got to go, too. When she found out she was finally going to get to go on Tues. she was so excited. Thankfully my mom was able to bring us. It was kind of like an open house this week. She got to see the room, meet the teacher and the other kids in her class, and do some of the activities she would do on a normal day. She will only be going one day a week this year because I found out that I wouldn't be teaching preschool myself until it was too late to get her signed up for the other preschools in town. I had planned on taking her with me. This works out though because she will be able to ride the bus home with the kids after school now, too.

I'm back this week with another fun new release! This was such a fun kit to create. I have so many zoo pictures to scrap, but it seems that never enough kits. So my solution... make my own. My parents give my family an annual pass to our local zoo every year for Christmas. We make pretty good use of it, too. My kids love going to the zoo and seeing all the animals. Whenever we go on vacation we check to see if there are is a zoo in the area to see. We have seen some really nice zoos over the years. This kit grew into an entire collection! Check it out! Don't forget it's 20% off through Sunday.









If you just have to have everything, grab the bundle and SAVE!



Check out all the awesome layouts my CT and the SM CT created with this collection.













Until next time...Happy Scrapping!

Butterfly Garden

The last few weekends Paul and the kids, along with help from both our families, have been working on cleaning up our acreage a bit. They started by taking down an old chicken coop that we had up by our house. We have been talking about doing it for quite some time now, but just never really got to it. While they were taking the walls down, the one just fell over from them pushing on it, so it was definitely time for it to go. The other building that they took down we hadn't planned on taking it down. We were going to use it to house the rabbits, but when they got it cleaned out Paul decided that it wasn't in good enough shape for that. The floor was very warped and we were worried that if we tried to move it closer to the barn the floor would fall out. So that meant it was coming down too. We also had three old and not very nice looking trees down in our pasture that got cut down finally. The yard looks so different and much more open now. They also worked on cleaning out our barn, so we can eventually move our bunnies out there. (I forgot to mention we are now up to FOUR bunnies-2 males and 2 females.) We have gotten a few cages from my brother's farm and picked the kids' grandparents up a few other ones at an auction a few weeks ago. Now we just need to get everything set up out there for them.

School has been in full swing now for the last three weeks and I think we have settled into our routine pretty good for right now. Michaella started junior high volleyball practice last week and had her first game yesterday. They won 1 out of 3 games, but the two they lost were pretty close. Next week she has two games. With me not being able to drive it has been a bit of a challenge to figure out how she was going to get home, but between my family and her being able to walk to a friend's house until Paul gets home we have been managing to figure it out. Thankfully my family lives fairly close and is willing to help us out. I have to say that not being able to drive has been one of the biggest challenges of having me being laid up. I have had to rely on everyone else to get the kids and I where ever we need to go. I'm hoping it's not too much longer before I have the go ahead to drive again.

Kailee is getting so excited. She gets to start preschool this Tuesday! She has been asking just about everyday since the kids started if she gets to go that day too. She is only going to be going one day a week this year because I wasn't able to get her signed up in time to go to the other preschool programs in time. I had planned on taking her with me, but since they are doing that program this year that plan didn't work and it was too late to get her signed up for one in town here. It's hard to believe she is old enough to start school already! My baby is growing up.

Ok, enough with the sappy and on to the fun! :) I have a new release at ScrapMatters this week. Some of you might recognize it as my part of last August's blog train. I've revamped it a bit and added some additional embellishments. Butterfly Garden was inspired by late summer days with the bright colored flowers and all the butterflies fluttering around, especially the Monarch butterfly.



Here are a couple layouts using Butterfly Garden by my CT and the SM CT.




Don't forget that ScrapMatters is still taking applications for their Designer Call if you have gotten you application in yet!

Until next time...Happy Scrapping!

Playing Catch-up

It seems this summer I just can't catch much of a break (a bit of foreshadowing here.). :P As I mentioned last time I posted I was going to be spending that week getting ready for my little sister's wedding. That Wednesday as soon as I got off work I went to my grandparents' house to work on the cupcakes and cake for her wedding. Thankfully we had a lot of help. Not only were my mom, grandma and sister there, but we also had my sister's future mother-in-law, our Bolivian sister, her sister and mom helping. It still took me until about midnight to get everything done. We made 23 1/2 dozen cupcakes! :O Half of them were white velvet with a vanilla buttercream decorated with ivory pearls. The other half were chocolate fudge with a cheesecake mousse filling topped with a vanilla buttercream and sprinkled with purple disco dust. I heard there were rave reviews on them! :) After showing a few of them how to do the frosting swirl on top it was time for me to start working on the cake. I had a lot of first working on this cake. It was my first time working with cake dummies, doing a square cake, painting with luster dust and using an impression mat. Check it out... (the feathers on and under it are from my brother's peacock, too!) 

Photo courtesy of Sara Dawn Photography. 

Thursday night was her rehearsal. We thought all the hiccups were behind us finally since the next day was the wedding. Little did we know I was about to have the biggest one of the entire event that night. :( We had had troubles getting her invites done since I was without my computer for so long. The pastor they originally had planned on doing the ceremony wrote down the wrong date and was on vacation. I ran out of ink while printing the front of the programs and was going to have to finish printing them that night when I got home (hadn't had time to pick up ink anywhere before that). The guys' outfits didn't show up until Wed afternoon and quite a few of them were the wrong size and they didn't know if they could get the right ones there in time. Plus just a few other little things here and there. Rehearsal went great and everyone was looking forward to the next day. After having the rehearsal dinner, I helped get some of the decorations up in the church and then we decided we better get home so the kids could get to bed and not be so tired for the next day. Paul and the older two had headed out already and I was finishing up a couple last minute things. I was carrying Kailee out to the car because she was starting to get tired. There was a set of steps that we had to go down to get to the car parked out on the street. Unfortunately the motion light outside the church didn't turn on and while I was going down them I thought I was on the last step but I wasn't. I went down, but managed to keep Kailee from getting hurt. I on the other hand was not quite as lucky. :( As soon as I hit the ground I knew I was hurt bad. I called for Paul telling that I had broke my leg. He sent Michaella into the church to tell them to call for an ambulance. I was in so much pain. I was still sitting there holding my leg off the ground because my foot was hanging at a ninety degree angle from my leg. The local rescue squad came but unfortunately they couldn't give me anything for the pain. I had to wait for the ambulance to come and transport me to the closest hospital. Once there they gave me pain killers that knocked me out because they had to put my ankle back into place since it was dislocated and set my leg because it was broke in 4 places. From there I was transported to one of the large hospitals in our area where I had surgery the next afternoon to put in a couple plates and screws. This also meant that I was unable to go to my sister's wedding. :( I was just coming out of the anesthesia shortly before the wedding started. They had set up a computer in the back of the church and my dad had run a laptop to the hospital so I could watch it over Skype. I remember talking to my sister and my kids and then the music before the wedding started, but after that I don't remember seeing any of it. I got out of the hospital that Sunday.

Paul hadn't used his week of vacation yet this year so he took that first week off so he could stay home and help me get around a bit. That first week was pretty rough. I'm still not able to put any weight on my foot for at least another three weeks and the pain comes and goes yet. I have felt like doing absolutely nothing the last three weeks, which is probably good since I really can't do a whole lot yet either.

I have had a couple new releases since I last posted that I haven't had a chance to show you. First up is this fun collab I did with Jady Day Studio and Down This Road Designs. I was so excited to get a chance to work with these fabulous ladies! Love the way this kit turned out! You can find it under the Twice as Nice Collab category at ScrapMatters.


Image is link to the store.

Here are some of the great layouts the SM CT made with Fair Days.


Next up is this alpha that was part of the Mixed Matters grab bags that were released last week. This week it is now available in my store.


Image is link to the store.

Here is a layout by Melinda using this alpha with my Pretty as a Peacock kit.



ScrapMatters is having a Designer Call! This is the first time in over four years that this has happened. So if you have ever wanted to sell at ScrapMatters make sure to hurry and get your applications in. Image is linked to the blog with more details.



Until next time...Happy Scrapping!

ScrapMatters Birthday Blog Train

Welcome to the ScrapMatters Birthday Blog Train. ScrapMatters is turning 5 and it's time to celebrate! We have brought back some of the designers that have been at ScrapMatters in the past to have this rockin' reunion for you all month long. To kick things off we are having a store wide sale! Don't forget to stop by my Facebook fan page where you will find an All Access Pass with some extra savings, too!



BTW, you can get this awesome kit FREE with a $15 purchase.



And here's a little freebie from me with it.



Click on image to get download.

You probably came from Designs by CRK's blog and will now be headed to Crossbone Cuts' blog. Don't worry though if you loose your way, just head back over to the ScrapMatters blog to find the complete list.

Thanks for stopping by!

I finally have my laptop back!!! Actually I've had it for a couple weeks now but life has been pretty busy around here, so I haven't had much time to work on it. :P I have a lot to tell you about today, too.

My husband and I were lucky enough to go to the Indy Corn 250 race at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA on June 23. I'm not normally a race fan, but that was so much fun! My best friend in high school liked racing, so I would go with her some Friday nights to the local Stock and Sprint car races. This was so much better. We went through Paul's work. We got to sit in the Firestone hospitality tent (the first tent in the Hospitality Village), which was great because it kept us dry during one of the rain storms. Unfortunately we were not quite back from the bathroom before the second one started, so we ended up drenched. They had food and drinks for us throughout the day, too. We were also given a seat cushion, rain gear in a nice little zippered bag, hats, program, can cooler and a lanyard thing for our drink tickets and name tags (which as we were sitting there waiting for the rain to end I was trying to figure out how to change the black Firestone logo into a Mickey Mouse head. lol. The pouch is red, so I decided it would be neat to use the next time we make it to Disney. ;) ). We also had passes to go down to the pits and walk through there. That was really neat to get so close to the cars. One of the drivers (the one that won that night even!) was able to make it out to the Firestone tent and give a little talk. The main race started only about 1/2 hour late, but they pushed the Indy Lites to afterward instead of before. We didn't get to see the race though because everyone wanted to fight through the crowd and get back to the hotel instead of waiting. We had a great time though and if we had the opportunity to do it again we decided we definitely would.



The winner and one of his teammates! :)

Our big event for the month of July was our county fair, which was last weekend. This was the kids' first time showing any animals and they both did a great job. Hunter did a model rocket (blue) and showed his rabbit (blue). Michaella brought a photograph (blue), cookies (blue) and showed her rabbit (blue) and a cow/calf pair from my in-laws (blue). The exciting part of fair though was when Michaella won Grand Champion for Junior Showmanship with her rabbit.



Next up is my little sister's wedding next Friday. Then my kids have a week off yet before they head back to school. Even Kailee gets to go to school this year, and she is so excited! (I on the other hand am sad that she is getting to be that old already. :( ) Michaella will be playing Jr. High Volleyball this year so that will keep the schedule hopping through about October.

Now on to my scrapping news for this week! First up is my new release for this week. This is another mini kit that goes with my A Year in Pictures series. It's perfect for all the summer celebrations. Don't forget to grab it this weekend during the 40% off sale!



Check out what my CT and the SM CT did with it.


(Gayle)


(Melinda)


(Krista)


(Li)


(Li)

If you aren't busy tonight make sure to stop by ScrapMatters and join the chat. There will be prizes, freebie and a whole lot of fun!



Have you heard?! ScrapMatters is turning 5 and we are kicking off the party this weekend with a sale! Don't forget to stop by my Facebook fan page where you will find an All Access Pass with some extra savings!



Also there will be lots of fun things going on in the forums and chat room all weekend. Here is a schedule of all the events.



The fun doesn't stop there! We are going to be celebrating all month long! We have some great designers that have come back to join us for the month of August to help us celebrate, too, and we have lots of fun things planned with them as well. :)

Well that's all I have for today, but stop back tomorrow to catch the ScrapMatters blog train.

Until next time...Happy Scrappin!

Some fun things on the way!

Here's a little tease of what is to come in August! :) 

Pretty as a Peacock

Yep I'm still here and with a new release! As for the lack of updates...I have been having trouble getting signed into my blog on my husband's laptop. Why am I using his laptop instead of my own?  Well let me tell you...warning though this could get a little long. lol :)

The last couple of months have been one thing after another with my laptop and unfortunately it's still not over. It all started back in April... I was busy designing a new kit when my screen went dark. It was late at night so I decided to just shut it down and deal with it the next day. Plus I was hoping that would be all that it needed to clear up the problem. Unfortunately it was not that easy of a fix. :( When I got home from school the next day and started up the laptop the screen was fine for a little bit but then quickly darkened again. So I hooked it up to my desktop monitor so I could try to see if I could "google" a solution for it. I found several ideas to try but none of them worked. It stayed lit for the rest of the night until I was ready to call it a night.

The next day when it still wouldn't stay lit I decided to bite the bullet and bring it in to the computer repair place in town here. This was on a Thursday. I finally got a call from them on Friday afternoon telling me my screen was shot and it would need a new one, which would be about $100 and he would only charge me for the screen since it would only take like 5 minutes to install it. He also said he would call me if it was going to be more than that. He also said it would take about 3-5 days for it to ship. So I said to go ahead and order it because well let's be honest here...I'm completely lost without it! Besides without my laptop I didn't know how I would be able to get anything done for iNSD, which was only 3 weeks away! A digi-designers worst possible time to be without their design stuff. :P

I was patient and waited until the following Friday to see if the screen had come in yet. The high schooler that I got on the phone thought he hadn't even looked at it yet. (This is where the warning bells should have been going off...) The next Tues I again called to see if it had come in yet. Nope still not in. :( Checked again on Thur...same answer. Friday I finally went into the store and told him I needed to have the laptop back so I could hook it up to my desktop monitor to get the church's power point slides done, since it was my turn to do them. I only have PowerPoint 2010 on my laptop along with Dropbox. I got my laptop home and hooked up to my monitor again. I knew the battery was almost dead when I had dropped it off 2 weeks ago, so I connected the power cord and did somethings around the house while I waited for it to charge. By the time I got back to the laptop it was early evening. When I pushed the power button, there was nothing! It would not start! :o It was too late to take it back in and we were not going to be around on Saturday when they were open. So I had to convince my husband to use his laptop to try and get the slides done. Good thing you can download things from the Dropbox site and that later versions of PowerPoint are compatible with the newer versions.

On Monday I brought the laptop back in and told him that it now would also not start. He didn't seem to concerned about it and miraculously the new screen had just shown up that day. So I left it with him to put the new screen in and said I would be back to pick it up when I came in with Hunter for Tae Kwon Do. When I got back to pick it up and pay for it I got nasty surprise #1...The screen was $149.99! So much for calling it was going to be more than $100. At this point though I was so desperate to get back to designing for iNSD I just paid for it and didn't put up a fight. So after Tae Kwon Do practice and dinner, I was back to happily designing my kit for release that Friday. I knew there was no way I'd get my grab bag done that I had wanted to do, but at least I'd have something I figured.

Everything was going good on Tuesday, too. That is until later that night...suddenly my screen started jumping all over the place. I decided to shut it down for the night and give it a bit of a rest and hope a restart the next day would solve it. (That tends to be my hopeful solution when something goes wrong with my laptop...most of the time it has a positive outcome. lol. ) Again that didn't seem to solve the screen problem, so I called the computer repair place to tell him what was going on, but he wasn't there. So I left a message for him to call me back. Wed afternoon came and went without a phone call. As did all day Thursday. Friday afternoon I finally decided to try again to call. Once again...he wasn't there. So left another message for him to call me back. Again Friday afternoon came and went without a phone call. So did Saturday.

I took my laptop with me of Monday, so I could stop in with it after school. Thankfully he was FINALLY there when I stopped on Monday. When I told him that the screen had went out again after only 24 hours of using it, he said it was probably my video card that had a short in it and it blew out the new screen. If it was that then the laptop was basically shot because the video card is on the motherboard. It was either that or it could just be a lose wire. He said he would take a look at it, so I went back out the car to grab it. When I got back in the store, he was gone again! I decided I didn't feel like waiting for who knows how long  for him to look at it again and just took it back home. Hooked it back up to the desktop monitor and decided to just use it that way until I had a chance to take it somewhere else for a second opinion.

I managed to be able to use it that way long enough to get through the rest of school before the monitor stopped registering that it was hooked up to the laptop. So then it was back to using my husband's very slow laptop with the distorted screen from where he dropped a CB on the lid when his truck came to a sudden stop. Not very conducive to digital scrapbook designing...which is why the new releases have been in short supply the last couple months. It took only lasted a couple weeks hooked up to the desktop monitor before the monitor quit recognizing it.

In the meantime, I sent my laptop to the guy my parents use to fix their computer. My dad forgot to tell him the problem that I was needing fixed was the screen, so he cleaned up the hard drive and got rid of some nasty things on it (viruses, malware, etc.-didn't know those were on there so that was great to get them off). I had it back within about 48 hours I was so excited because I thought it had been fixed...only to find out when I turned it on, no such luck. :p So my dad gave me the guy's number to call and explain the problem and see if he had any idea of what to do. He asked if the other repair guy had replaced the converter when he did the screen because he said he never replaces a screen without also replacing that since it would also go out soon. I said I didn't think that he had. So my dad took it back to him again. It took about a week for the converter to arrive, but when he went to put it in I received nasty surprise #2! Apparently he thinks that the other guy never actually replaced the screen in my laptop!!! He said it still looks like the original screen and when he replaced the converter it still didn't work. Plus half the screws were missing! So he ordered a new screen for it again. That was about two weeks ago and we still haven't heard if it is fixed yet. I'm getting so tired of being without it! :( Not only that but I am starting to get a very stressed out bride on my hands...forgot to mention earlier that not only do I have all MY stuff on my laptop, but I also have my sister's wedding invitations on there! She wanted to have them sent out last week already.

So there you have it. My extremely long saga of my laptop troubles. Hoping they will finally get resolved once and for all this week and I can get things back to "normal". I have so many things that I want to get designed and a laptop that is not fast enough to keep up with me. lol.

Now on to this week's new releases! I have my Pretty as a Peacock kit and alphas for you this week. They were inspired by the colors of a peacock's tail feathers. I just love how beautiful and majestic they look when they have their tail feathers fanned out. Our local zoo has several male peacocks roaming free and it's always a treat to come upon one in it's full fanfare. These are also the colors of my little sister's wedding this summer, so I'm sure it will be getting put to a lot of use to scrap her pictures afterward. I had previously designed this for the DSA Designer Apprentice contest this past August, but I have added a few things to it for release at ScrapMatters.



I'm also releasing the three alphas that I did to go with it.



Here is a page that Dawn scrapped using both the kit and alphas. I just love how classy it looks.



Well that is all I have for you this week. Here's to hoping it won't be too long before I'm here with another fun release. :)

Until next time...Happy Scrapping!