Beware

You've been warned.

Controversy

I try not to touch on too many controversial subjects on my blog. I have friends who have very differing opinions on a lot of things, yet we manage to remain friends. I've decided I can no longer keep quiet on this front. I may make some enemies here, but I'm prepared to defend my position...to the death*. Here goes nothing...

If you don't cook with onions, you're a wimp.

There I said it. No onions? Wuss. "I don't like onions!" Weenie. "Onions smell so bad!" Get over it!

Onions are the one thing in my pantry (actually, I keep them in my fridge veggie crisper) that I'm never without. If an onion  can possibly be used in a dish, I'ma be there with it. They can bring a tang to a dish like no other. They can even bring a little heat with the right onion. Yet, when you cook them down, they have the most mellow, sweet, and savory taste. They are very versatile and bring flavor out in almost every meat, especially meat of the beef and pork persuasion.

I bring this up, because whenever I'm chopping an onion (which let's face it, is practically every day), I always have this nagging voice in my head. I shall not name names. But an old friend of mine (we are no longer friends...I won't say it's because of onions, but it didn't help the friendship any) claimed she was the best cook in the eastern hemisphere (See?! That should tell you right there how smart SHE was). She was very prideful of this fact. Yet, she was also prideful of the fact the she didn't use onions because "they're gross!!" Did I ever throw in her face that you CAN'T BE A GOOD COOK without using onions? Nope. Never. I'm too good a person for that. Did I start bringing my onion-laden dishes to our get-togethers and relish in the praise they received? You betcha. Because onions are hella good, I'm telling you!

So be down with the onion. If you're afraid of them, I'll let it slide if you give them another try. Be adventurous. You've never heard Wolfgang Puck say "onions are icky!" That's because they're a cook's best friend. And I need a friend, because I ditched that other chick.

*of a small vegetable

New Scrappin' Goodies

I'm baaaack with some scrapping goodies for you all! I wish I could get you all to understand how much I love to digiscrap. It's so relaxing, creative, and just fun! And look at these kits! They are so gorgeous! I'm sure you'll find yourself wanting to run hand-in-hand with them through a flowery field. Wait...you won't? Well, that's just crazy talk, because that's the kind of reaction I have to them! What do you mean that makes me crazy...YOU'RE THE CRAZY ONE HERE.

Onward to the goodies!

This is the new release from eNKay Designs at The Digichick. What a cute kit!

Dear Tooth Fairy by eNKay Designs

Maylee's too young to have lost any teeth yet, of course, so I went a different direction with my LO. I've been wanting to scrap her night time routine for a while now, and this was the perfect opportunity. Plus, Daddy did a great job taking pics of her brushing her teeth. 

For that page (up there. Yep that one ^ ^), I also used one of Lacey Bittner's templates, the Cute & Quirky Templates, for this LO. Templates are WONDERFUL. I find them very helpful and I also find that they actually help my creativity and inspire me. Here's the template pack, that is awesome.

Cute & Quirky Templates by Lacey Bittner Designs

Next I have some news and some goodies. I was offered a spot of Jen Yurko's CT and accepted! I am ecstatic! Have you seen her stuff? She has the cutest doodles and she always has these cute little people in her kits. And she's awesome. So here's her newest release at Digiscrappers Brasil.

Pedal Pushers by Jen Yurko

Once again, I didn't have a pic of M on a bike or anything, so I did a photo-less LO of what to get her for Christmas, because we've been debating this at our house recently.

And last, but not least, Misty has a new release tomorrow at Sweet Shoppe. It manages to be beautiful and fun at the same time, and I love kits like that! Here's the sneak:

Check the new releases tomorrow!

Here's the page I did with this great kit:

So, go on...check out these kits! I know you've got pics that one of these kits is just perfect for! I know it!

Love to all!

Today's PSA: Read to your children!

You all know how important books and reading are to me. It's kinda my livelihood. This week, Kindle joined up with public libraries (finally) to include quite a few of their books for library patrons. This was good for the library world. But I still don't even know if I want an e-reader. There's something about paper. Having a heavy, paper book in my hands. Love it. Anyway, this isn't even what I was going to talk about.


If you want to have some quality time with your kid, and you want them to be the smartest thing since the light bulb, read to your kids! It's fun for all! (Well, there are some books that I've read to Maylee so many times, that I'd rather bite my own toenails off than read it again...but I always do.) It's interesting! It's relaxing! And if you're a mom like me, what's even better is watching your husband read to your kid. *Sigh. Few things make me happier than seeing a scene like this:

 

So anyway, if you're an adult...read a book! They're way better than TV or movies (though I still like those things, too). If you're a parent, read a book to your child! And if they don't like it, persist. Just reading books will help their vocabulary, social skills, and comprehension. It really is amazing what words will do.

Thanks for stopping by. And reading my PSA.

Some new LOs

Haven't posted in a few days (and I was doing so well, too!!), so I thought I'd pop over and show a few new LOs I've done. Yeah, I know...bore you with more of my "art." I actually don't know if I consider it art, though it is very important to me. Now, I have seen some LOs that I consider art. But mine...nah.

And just so you know, I don't scrap chronologically. A lot of scrappers do, but I came to the scrapping game when my daughter was already almost 2, so I have a lot of older pictures that I use to scrap. Oh, not to mention the the pictures I already scrapped, but scrapped when I WAS NOT good, so I like to use them over to give them the LO they deserve (not that I'm like some super-scrapper now. I still have a lot to learn and will be the first to admit it!). Anyway, enough rambling. Now on the the scrapping ramblings.

This first one is of my new...ummm....2nd cousin once removed??? It's my mom's first cousin's daughter's son. Can you figure that out for me, Val? (She's my resident genealogist). Anyway, my cousin Mandy had a gorgeous new son, Sammy. I wanna squish him!!

Noah & Co. by Lacey Bittner Designs
Page Template volume 3 by Thaty Borges
Font: CK Alayna

Maylee looks so little and smiley here. She's still little and smiley, but much bigger than THIS little and smiley.

Life is Bliss by Meghan Mullens
Template: Cluster Queen freebie

This was Christmas day last year. Maylee was being such a typical toddler. She got tons of new toys for Christmas, yet she played with the box. Huh.

What I Love About You by Daybreak Scraps
A Lot Of Papers Templates by Meghan Mullens
Font: Courier New

My sweet, sweet babies. Maylee loves her Daddy so much, and of course, he is wrapped around her finger. I love watching the two of them together. It makes my heart melt and my soul sing.

Occasionally by Polka Dot Plum Designs
Shabby Princess Project Scrap August Template
Font: Eight Fifteen

Beautiful, not 100+ degree days are here! We went to the park to celebrate! Maylee calls this the "curly slide."

My Happiness by Sugar Pie Scraps
Page Template by Thaty Borges
Font: Carrington

I love this picture. Maylee looks so sweet and it's so cute with her little boots. This, more than the baby picture above, shows me how big she's getting, I think.

Ribbon Stacks by Lacey Bittner Designs
Fresh ‘n Funky 2 Templates by Lacey Bittner Designs
Papers and elements from Sweet Stuff and Noah & Co. by Lacey Bittner Designs

Minimal Mondays

My talented kid. She loves to count and sort things. It's pretty much the only thing that can occupy her for more than 5 minutes at a time.

Thanks for stopping by. Love to all!

Hobbies, old and new. And obsessions.

   Thought I'd share with you all a couple things that are a big part of my life. Some are VERY obvious, but some you may not know about.

   Let's get the obvious out of the way. Digiscrap. I love it. Like really, really love it. It's creative, beautiful, and I've met some wonderful people through it. I'm not going to post favorite layouts or anything, you can look back through my old posts and see tons and tons of stuff I've created. I DO want to mention some of my favorite digi people, though.

Tiff at Dotted with Dots (the MOST INCREDIBLE minimalistic LOs you'll ever see. Seriously. Did you know one perfectly placed picture, with just the right elements is pure bliss?)

Deb at Starlight-Creations. (She's my bestie. My BFF. My girl. That's that.)

Favorite digi-stops... Polka Dot Plum, Sweet Shoppe, Scrapable, The Digichick, Scrap Orchard, Digishoptalk,  Me So Scrappy. Love all these places!

Mars at scrap.teach.rant. (Great scrapper and all around fab lady)

   Next obsession: contemporary a cappella music. Have you even heard of that? I'm sure you know what a cappella is (singing without instruments), but contemporary a cappella takes it a step farther. These groups are truly bands, with every instrument done with the voice only. Drums, guitars, horns....the whole nine yards. Some of you know that I'm a singer. I sang all through high school and my college years. I miss it a lot. I miss being part of that community and I love the high of singing in front of people. It was a real joy. Anyway, if you don't know anything about contemporary a cappella, I have a few examples and starting points for you. First off, check this video out. This is the group Duwende. Lemme just say they are amazing...one of the best groups out there!! This is a great example of contemporary a cappella.





Another resource I love for contemporary a cappella is a podcast I listen to every week, Mouth Off!
They talk about what's currently happening in the a cappella world and review a record every month. I wanted to mention a big thing happening in the world of a cappella. Have you seen the NBC show "The Singoff?" It's been on for two seasons right around Christmas time. This has really brought a cappella into the mainstream and we're all looking forward to a new season starting in a couple weeks! With a cappella being kind of a niche "thing," this show is especially exciting to me, because I know a lot of the people that work behind the scenes on the show! I can't wait to see their names in the credits when I watch it. And, of course, I can't wait to hear the amazing music coming out of their mouths, too! Here's a favorite clip of last year's show, just to give you a taste.




And I have another video that is my favorite, because it's so good, yet it's so hilarious, that I want to share. Since I've already showed 2 videos, I'll just link you to it. But watch it. You WILL NOT regret it. Pour Some Sugar on Me by OTR.

   Okay, next on my obsession list is crocheting. I just learned how to about 2 weeks ago and I've actually made time to practice! My friend Val had a little crochet party, with her, me, and our friend Stacey (together, Val and Stacey make the photography duo that take our awesome family pictures every year), getting together to eat good food and learn my new obsession. We had a great time, but I picked it up rather slowly LOL. I learned one stitch and brought my "project" home and practiced until I felt like I had mastered that stitch. But the problem came when I thought I was ready to try a new stitch. Val lives too far away for us to just pop buy each other's houses, so she tried to teach me by just telling me what to do...yeah, that wasn't working for my thick head. So I popped on YouTube and found a quick and easy video showing me how to do it and I picked up that stitch, too. So now I know the single and double half crochet stitches. I'm practicing those stitches until I have them down pat and then I'll learn another one. From what I hear, there are only like 6, so I'm already a third there!

   Last but not least, my Pinterest obsession. Have you heard of it? Pinterest is a place to...store your visual ideas you see online. It's the ultimate bookmarking site. Check out my boards here. You set up different "pin boards" and pin stuff you see around the internet into one place where all your thoughts can come together. I'm probably not describing it's awesomeness well enough, but I really do love it. Not only do I draw digital scrapbooking inspiration from it, I get recipes, house decorating ideas, photography ideas, craft ideas....on and on. You follow people's boards that inspire you and people in turn follow your boards. If you think you might like it, send me your e-mail address and I'd be happy to send you an invite. Come join the madness!!

New releases

Hey all. Wanted to share some new releases from my CT designers. There's some awesome stuffs!!

First up is L'Posh. She just put out an awesome fall collab with Ellie Lash. And there's an owl! I'm such a sucker for owls!

Apple Picking {Collab}

She also has a great birthday kit. It's Polkadotplum's second birthday this month! Come on over there for all kinds of birthday challenges, games, and chats!

Birthday Bash

Lacey Bittner Designs just put out this cutie cute, sweet kit.

 Sweet Stuff

Use coupon code NEW20 to save 20% through Friday!

And last, but certainly not least, eNKay Designs put out this awesome template kit. *sigh* I love templates.

Eezy Peezy 5 Templates

20% off right now!! Go! Go fast!

Yes, I know what you're thinking. And yes, I AM the luckiest girl in the world to CT for these awesome designers and get to work with these awesome digi stuffs!! It's okay to wish you were me for a little while.

Love to all! Thanks for stopping by,

Let's hear it for the boy

  So today is my husband Brandon's birthday. He'll be old. No, he's not old by any means, but he's sure feeling old lately because he's been working so hard. I thought I'd take this opportunity, on his birthday, to make you all feel nauseous. Yes, another "My oh my, I sure do love my husband" post. This hasn't been my first, nor will it be the last, I'm sure. When one has an awesome, amazing, sexy, fantastic and generally just the best husband in the world, one tends to gush every now and then.

  My husband is a hard worker, an amazing father, a real help around the house (even after working a very physical job), and a fantastic griller! I've been with him almost half my life and we've essentially grown up together, from our teens into adulthood. We now have the biggest blessing we could ever imagine, our little munchkin (whose not so little anymore...*sob*). So to my wonderful husband, my best friend, I say Cheers! 'Atta boy! Hear hear! Let's hear it for the boy! Oh, and happy birthday, honey. I love you more than words can say.

Because I don't feel right not posting some pics, I'll post some LOs I've done of my handsome man. (Of course...I can't seem to make a post without a layout or two :p)

/end gush

Love to all. Thanks for stopping by!

Me in digiscrap right now

I've done some AAM (all about me) pages lately, because of challenge prompts. I don't usually like to scrap about myself, but here's a "summer in review" in layouts.


First up, I got a haircut at the beginning of the summer. It was SO SUPER HOT and I was driving by the salon, and thought...what the heck!

Capture Life by Spinky Dink Scraps

Next, Brandon and I got dressed up for a wedding we were going to:

My Fair Lady by Penny Springman
Font: Journal
Template: Shabby Princess April Project Scrap

I've been reading this series for a while now. I'm kinda stuck right now, (not much time to read *sigh*), but the series in really awesome.

Bg paper: Some Like It Hot by Zoe Pearn
Misty Cato’s Blending Masks and Sanded Photo Masks
Font: Nueva Std

For this LO, I was supposed to scrap about the last brave thing I did. Well, I'm no superhero, but...

Chemical Reaction by Melissa Bennett
Font: Journal Bits by Darcy Baldwin

I'm sure I'm not alone in my love for Adele. But I absolutely adore her. She has an amazing voice and her lyrics are so real. <3

Template: Jenn Barrette iNSD 2011 freebie template
Bg. paper: Sunshine by Fee Jardine
Elements and papers: My Fair Lady by Penny Springmann
Gem button: All About Her by Kristin CB
Fonts: Arabic Typeset and Code Pro Light

And last but not least, my 13 "things:"

You Give Me A Reason To Smile by La Grier
Font: Firefly Castle
Template: Out of the Box by Studio Basic Designs

So yep, that's me... welcome to my crazy world!

Thanks for stopping by! Love to all,

Mommy time

  So today I had a Mommy time day planned. I get these about once a month, which I realize is absolutely nothing to complain about, because I know moms who don't get a day to themselves that often. Well, it didn't exactly turn out the way I was planning, but I was without hubby/child, so I guess it counts.

   I needed to go into work for about 1 1/2 hours. No biggie! I could knock that out without it hardly effecting my day at all! Well, that turned into me being there for 3 1/2 hours. And I still have at least an hour's work to do first thing Monday morning. Oh well. As we say around the office...job security.

   After that, I ran a few errands. Had the windows rolled down and the radio blasting. That was nice. But I had to go grocery shopping, which can ruin any wind-blown high that any woman has. Blech. Can you believe I used to love grocery shopping? It seems it's the bane of my existence nowadays.

  To finish off my time alone, I plopped my butt on the couch and watched stupid, mind-numbing TV that I had recorded. Very predictable sitcoms with pretty people and canned laughter that did just what I wanted it to. Let me relax. Made me laugh. It was pretty damn good.

  Then my babies came home and I was so glad to see them. I swear, after just being away from my daughter for 9 hours, she seemed to have grown. When their this age (3 years and a few months old) I think they truly can visibly grow in that expanse of time. They're quite amazing.

  So to wrap it up, I had a good day. Maybe not as awesome as I wanted. I did NO scrapping. I didn't do any catching up with all the online stuff I needed to do. I didn't clean anything (which is good. Hubby always tells me NOT to spend my days cleaning when I have a Mommy day). But it was still time to still my brain. Which every Mom needs now and then!

Thanks for stopping by friends! Love to all,

Dusting off the cobwebs

2 months. Well, 2 months and 3 days if you wanna get specific. Which I shouldn't...because that's just kinda pathetic!

So be warned!! I'm gonna dust off the cobwebs of this old fella and blog again (hmmm...where have you heard that before?) And if you don't like digital scrapbooking stuff and you don't like seeing what I've created, you prolly should just un-follow me. Because that is a lot of what I'll be sharing. It's my hobby and after my family, it's a real joy of mine. It's fun and relaxing and rewarding.

So since I've been gone FOREVER, I'll share a few of my favorite LOs I've done since my absence (that sounds so much nicer than "since I couldn't ever get off my butt and motivated to blog).

Sweet Little Claire by Polkadotplum Designs
Font: Spicy Sushi Roll

 Charming by Misty Cato, Sweet Shoppe Designs

 Audrey by Pixel Perfect Designs

My Fair Lady by Penny Springman
Font: Journal
Template: Shabby Princess April Project Scrap

Kickin’ It Old School by Misty Cato and Melissa Bennett, Sweet Shoppe Designs
Font: DJB Journal Bits

 You Give Me A Reason To Smile by La Grier
Font: Firefly Castle
Template: Out of the Box by Studio Basic Designs

A Fresh Start by Sugar Pie Scraps, Polkadotplum
Blending Masks by Misty Cato, Sweet Shoppe Designs
Font: Black Jack

Template: Layered Up In You 3 by La Grier
Sisterhood by Julie Billingsley
Font: Eight Fifteen

 After the Rain by Meghan Mullens
Some flowers and Word Art from All About Her by Kristen CB
Font: sfBrooke
Inspiration from this site

And something huge that's happened in our house in the last couple of weeks? My baby, my little angel, my sweet little baby girl, has gone to preschool. It's been rough so far. She cries everyday, but when I pick her up, she goes on and on about what a good time she's had and I get to hear all about her day. I'm loving it! I just can't believe how hard it is! I can't come to terms with her being this big. Here are a couple LOs I did to commemorate the event:

My Sugar Pie (retiring Sept. 2011) by Sugar Pie Scraps
Font: Nueva Std

School Days Blues by L’Posh
Template by Scrapping with Liz
Font: Minion Pro

So there we go. A little game of catch-up. Hope to see you guys around!