Everyone has a story to tell, here's mine sprinkled with some creative projects along the way.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back again.



Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Shhh this is a secret.....

but I'm letting you all in it!!!
Coconut Scrapshop is having a reveal party to showcase our new August scrapbook kit. The kit was designed by DT member Pamela Young. Once again, packed full of goodies. And the paper is from an international manufacturer that is HOT right now!!! You won't wanna miss it!
So how do you get in on all these fun.....
Be on the Coconut scrapshop message board on July 31st, Thursday at 6 pm eastern time (that's 2pm pacific time) and join in on all the fun!!!
I'll be there so hope to see YOU there too.
*if you haven't signed up at the message board, be sure to do this now so you'll be all ready for the party when Thursday comes.

Grace

we're rolling along......

ok so I'm not going to be typing up a corny excuse as to why I'm such a bad blogger. You all are probably in the same shoes as I'm in with summer stuff, people/family visiting and life to live so I know you ALL understand me. Right? I hope so. LOL

Today is all about photo sharing....
Last friday me and some of our friends went to Mayfair park to play in the wading pool. Fun stuff! Kids had a blast of course.
Here's my dear daughter acting like a dog. What a ham!

Marcus is doing really well with posed pictures. I'm training him up well.

and Maddie, not so much! My "nice" shots of her is still on the luck side rather than skill.

Here's me getting a little creative with my photography. This shot is the long play train they had inside the playground. That's Marcus' back. I'm lovin the art of perspective photography lately.

PULLED OUT FOR PUBLICATION

And some creative share....
I'm still having fun with my Coconut Scrapshop July kit. Here's one I made with leftovers from my kit. Not liking the pic (printed it off my printer, yuck!) But was in need of some "creative" outlet so I scrapped Saturday night.

And some cards using scraps. Lately I've been really burnt out so to unwind, I create. These were all done just for me. No specific dt assignment or call in mind, just for me. Aaaahhh, feels great to do that once in a while.




have a great week,
Grace

Friday, July 25, 2008

Park day with friends

oh yesterday was a fun day for me and my kids! Got to go to our favorite park and hang out with friends. We got to see our dear friends the Anderson who was stopping over from Alaska before they headed out to Utah. Wow kids do really grow up fast. I still couldn't believe that their little Luke was talking now. Before they left he was still babbling, much like Maddie.
So I took some photos but not going to share all of them here. I have a lot of other kids in my pics and don't want to post it without their permission, so here's some that have my kids and some of the "backs" of the other kiddos....
Marcus, Maddie and David exploring. Look at Maddie trying to be one of the boys. hehehehehe.

and then the kids found this sprinkler that was going for a long time it created a puddle. A definite kid attraction there. Maddie couldn't resist. BTW, after being so soaked and Mom not bringing enough extra clothes, Maddie came home wearing a white tshirt and diaper!

and here's one I grabbed from a friend (thanks for the share Allison. *wink*) Photo edited a little. enjoying my photoshop lately. :)
I love the expression on Maddie's face captured here. Oh that's Sammy's back there.

and then after taking the Anderson's to the airport, I came home with sleeping kids. Woohooo!!! Did this during my sweet alone time...

finally organized and purged all my scraps. I'm a real paper hoarder. The picture above are the papers that I've had for more than 3 years that I'm finally parting with and throwing it in the trash.

And last on this post is some crafty share. These are projects I made for my DT assignment in SoCalScrap. The items/products used are available at the store.

Ready, Set, Bubble

The Sweet life
*sorry the "t" fell off during picture taking
PULLED OUT FOR PUBLICATION

Thank you card

TY card

Have a great weekend everyone,
Grace

Sunday, July 20, 2008

we're now back to our regular blog programming.....

ok so I know I've flaked out on updating this blog for a whole week. I'm still here, barely breathing (figuratively) and still got tons of stuff to do but I can't end the week without a little recap of why I've been so MIA.
I really can't recall any week that has been this insanely packed with activities. There were both good and bad things that happen and here's the rundown....
Monday (14)- It was my b-day. But before I could celebrate, I had to clean the house (monday is of course my cleaning day) and then took Marcus to the dentist. He's going to Kindergarten in the fall and we need to get things in order for him. I was very amazed at how calm he was at the dentist. I really though that bec. it's a new place/experience that he would freak out but he was very calm. I was so relieved! But the bad news- he has 4 cavities already! How did that happen? Needless to say, we will be returning to the dentist soon.

So after taking him to the dentist, I got a little break. Mitch took me out to lunch while Amanda watched the kids. We ate at Chili's. Had a skillet fajita and a shooter dessert. Cheesecake, mmmm, my fave!


Then that night I went to my school district's board meeting and presented my appeal on getting the permit so Marcus can go to another district I want him to go to. Unfortunately the result was not what I was hoping for. They shot me down. The vote was 3-2! So upset and heartbroken by all of it that I broke down that night, crying with anger! Yup, out of all the days of the year, I was very sad at my birthday. Oh well! We are still going to fight this. We have one more shot and that is with the County board. Please pray for us! We need all the good vibes we can get. :)

Tuesday (15) I went to the ribbon store, walmart and staples in the morning trying to get materials ready for my card workshop on friday. I was also commisioned to do an order of 100 baptism invitations which I'm still plugging away with right now. That night I had work.

Wednesday (16) Costco, Food 4 less and Library was in the agenda. Worked that night as well. And then when I got home, I had to wrap Marcus' gift and frost his cake so I didn't have to do it in the morning. Didn't go to bed till after midnight.

Thursday (17) It's Marcus' 5th bday today. Went to my inlaws house for a little swim party with a few of his friends. He had fun and got a lot of fun "boy" gifts. It was a great assortment of his fave super hero/action figure characters. He wanted me to make him a ninja turtle cake cause I did a spiderman last year. I was totally clueless on how I was going to pull it off so instead I made him a green cake and then added candies on it. He loved it! Whew! Worked this night as well.


Friday (18) Got more errands to do today. Finished prepping for my card workshop and made some bows to give to our dear friend Danica who was having a birthday party the following day. That night I did my workshop. It turned out ok. I felt I was unprepared though. Forgot a lot of stuff. That's what happens when I don't write up a packing list! grrrr!

Saturday (19) Had a princess party to attend in the morning with Maddie. Made choco chip cookies to take to the Tolman's family BBQ and spend the whole afternoon with the Tolman clan in Chino Hills. It was all good but of course tiring!

and then we come to today Sunday(20). Finally a day of rest! Literally!!! I felt like I haven't taken a breather since last Sunday. I'm glad this week is over but unfortunately there's more to come this week. Heck I'm still not done with the 100 invites. yikes and its due on Wednesday! So I better end here (not like this hasn't been long enough) and go back to working.

Have a great week,
Grace

Oh BTW alot of you asked me if I got any on my wishlist, I didn't and probably won't but it's not a bad thing. I'm getting some of it but not exactly the ones I listed. Will let you know what I will end up purchasing. *wink*
oh and to be fair with my kids, here's a pic of Maddie at the Dentist office. Can't have a post without her in it too, right?!

Monday, July 14, 2008

My wishlist

"happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to me."

Hey I'm 28 and still feeling young so for me birthdays are still fun and something that I don't mind announcing to the world. hehehehehehehehe.

But there's really no time to celebrate today cause I have lots of things to do. So for now I'm sharing my wish list. Yeah it's a wishlist so I don't expect to get any of these this year. *wink*

1. Blackberry Pearl in red.


2. IPod Nano in pink. hehehehehe


3. Silhoutte die cutting machine. Can be hooked up to your computer so you can make any font or image that is saved in your computer.


4. Fish eye lens. Oh the many fun pics I can take with this.

5. This handbag.



Ok so now that you've seen what I'm drooling over, wish me luck that I might persuade hubby to get me at least one thing in this list. *wink*

have a great day,
Grace

Saturday, July 12, 2008

card workshop

Hi everyone. Happy weekend. I'm happy bec. of a few reasons...
1. Mitch is coming home tonight after a whole week of summer scout trip. Been a single parent way too long!!!
2. Got a lot of projects done this week, more is on the list but I'm progressing and I'm so ecstatic about that.
3. I'm having my "special" day on Monday and although I'm not spending the day doing stuff for myself, the fact that I'd be getting *gifts* excites me. hehehehehehe.
I even treated myself early with these shoes I scored at payless shoe store yesterday. They were 20 bucks originally and got them for $8! So fun to get cute stuff on a bargain!



Ok so onto the main topic of my blog today.
On friday night (July 18, 6:30pm) I'm teaching a card class at my church's women's function. These are the cards I'm teaching and it has a friendship theme. It will only cost $10. If you're in the neighborhood of Cerritos that night and wanna join me and a bunch of fun ladies in a "crafty" night, let me know and I'll give you more info.



some close up of the cards


If you like what you saw but is too far from me or can't make it to the class, I'm willing to make up extra kits to sell. The kit will include the directions on how to make them, envelopes to match and everything you will need to whip them up. All you have to provide is the adhesive and scissors. The "kits" will be $15 each, extra cost for shipping and handling.

Have a happy weekend,
Grace

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

we're going to the Beast's castle......

read a conversation I had with dear Maddie just before going to bed tonight....

Maddie: let's go to the Beast's castle tomorrow Mama.
Mama: but I don't know how to get there. Do you know how?
Maddie: let's ask Mrs. Teapot!!!

LAUGH OUT LOUD!!!

yeah she gave me the laugh I needed to shrug off the tiredness I felt. Kids know when you need a little "pick me" upper!

So I promised family and friends that I'd balance this blog between scrapbook stuff and family so I will leave you with some pics of our trip to the park today.













Have a great night,
Grace

Updates, updates, updates....

just a bunch of random updates:

1. I added a new tab in my website. I have workshops scheduled for August. Please check it out.

2. Scrapwords is having an online crop this Saturday 7am-7pm (pacific time) or 10am-10pm (eastern time). Don't forget to drop by. Here's two sneek peeks of the challenges I'd be hosting. I'd be poppin in there most of the day but I will be the official hostess between 5-7pm (pacific time).





I am hosting tons of challenges this month, here's the run down. Plus all of them but one have raks with it.

Scrapwords:
4th installment of my Memory trigger challenge
"Songs from today" (with rak)

Pump up your style
Make an altered item featuring your scrapbook style

SoCalscrap:
Song challenge
Use a song to bring more emotions to your journaling. Parts/lyrics of the song should be included in the layout/journaling. (with rak)

Coconut Scrapshop:
July Product Challenge:
This month's product is the Noteworthy Delaney Circle paper from Making Memories. Make a page using this product (which is available at the CCS store), share it with us in the thread and you might win a rak from me.

Hope you will all check these out.

A family post later,
Grace

Monday, July 7, 2008

July Coconut Scrapshop kit

this month's kit was designed by the newest member of our DT- Alex. She did a fantastic job picking the items that went in the kit and I have to say, although the papers are geared to a certain theme/holiday, as you can see in my projects it can also be used for your everyday layouts/projects.

Layout #1 Family time


the kit was fully loaded with paper that I had to make a two page out them. Here I was able to use pretty much all the stuff in the kit (flowers, ric rac, button, stamp and chipboard letters)


I added some shine to my stars by adding some stickles. I also used the arrow here with the month. I thought that was fun!

Layout #2- I voted! Finally

Got to play with more pattern papers here. The hardest part for me was to decided which side of the paper to use!


I also got to play with the chipboard stars here by covering them up with paper and distressing the edges.

Layout #3- Gal pals

These papers, although geared towards a specific holiday can be so adaptable to any theme. Look here, I used it for a girl page. Love the brightness of the yellow.


blinging out the stars more here.

Project- "Lets cook" cookbook

I loved the minibook that came with the kit. Covered it up with more yummy pp and extra embellishments.





You can totally make a fun book with all the double sided papers in the kit. *the letters are from the May kit (Tim Holt'z grungeboard) I needed a smaller size to fit my die cut circle.

thank you for looking and check out the CCS site for more inspiration. Link is onto the left of this blog.

Grace

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Fourth Festivities

Hopefully you had a fantastic Independence day. My family and I had a blast (as always) Spent the day at G'ma and G'pa Tolman's home with bbq, swimming, visiting with family and a little fireworks show at the end. I'm so pooped today! Here's some pics of our day....

I'm such a "scrappy" mom that I took the kids out in the front yard and took these photos. Hey gotta get those holiday themed pages down, right?! LOL




The water looked so inviting under the heat of the sun. Here Maddie and Mitch are cooling off in the pool.


Ok so this was my first year to use my dslr during the fireworks show and I wanted to experiment to see what I can come up with. Still not good enough but I loved the fact that I now know what buttons/setting to use during this time.




Have a great weekend everyone,
Grace

BTW- new workshops under Grace-worthy designs are posted in the site. This workshops are for August. Pop in when you have time. thanks.