Shutterfly Photo Book Arrived!!!

Wowowowo! I loveeeee it!

So...first...can we say speedy!?! I ordered on 3.26.07 and got it today...3.30.07

and normal delivery
wowo

here are some pics:

me hugging my new baby! Finally I have some layouts in print in one place. ahhhhh

lookie lookie lookie...so happpyyyy

the beauty in it's glory

the main reason I want to get them allll printed now. Chase LOVES my book. He couldn't get enoughhhh!
My aunt tried to steal it and got teary eyed. Brandon (dh) is loving it too. He says it makes it more REAL to him. Now he GETS what I do,lol. My mom is going to order 1 with ALL my layouts.

My thoughts on this from start to finish!

1) the process is super easy peasy! They give you some veryyyy easy to use templates, specs and tips. They almost OVERexplain it...not that that is a bad thing.

2) I was very nervous about my layouts. A lot of them go all the way to the edge...even "hang" off. It tells you right in the instructions...don't have things that do this. "Avoid placing critical design elements less than 1/2 inch from the edges of book pages (particularly on the edge which will be bound into the book)
So...I was careful about placing the ones with the writing away from the binding. But still I could tell by looking at their templates...I would lose a lot of critical pieces of my layouts. So...I kind of played with things and got what I needed in "the live area" as they call it. I was wondering if I would have a lot of white border...but I didn't. Granted. I didn't use the layouts that REALLY went all the way to the edge. I think to do that you would have to just deal with some white border...but I def think it is still worth it adn will do it myself.

3) I placed my order at night...so basically 3. something days later my order came

4) the color is awesome. perfect. wonderful. I felt like it was 3-d. You want to touch the pages.

5) Quality is excellent. I can't see it falling apart easily...even if you look at it a lot.

6) perfect size for me (I used 8x8)

7) they go on sale allll the time!

overall rating: 9 only because I am not sure how to deal with the layouts I have going all the way to the edge.

I will soon have a shelf full of these!

disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Shutterfly nor has my opinion been guided in any way.

me again. some updates and some pics for you!!

So...Kim started her egg hunt at SDK today. you can get all 16 pieces by hunting through the forums. For more details, check here! I loveeee these hunts....and she was pretty easy on us, lol! You only have till April 1st to get all of them~good luck


and I have been warning you I would post some pics...here ya go!

here are some from today...can't show a lot since they have other kiddos with no parental release



this is a mom helping chase count his eggs...they were supposed to have 16 each..he had like 25...he eagerly shared the extras ;)
here is our doodle pro I found the other day. Chase wrote this. I MELTED I tell you. He loves his little brother soooo much. I **** am*****so****blessed!!! I hope I can write that in 8yrs,lol

here are some tball pics:

this little cutie talking with Chase is Kristen. She is on the opposite team but is in his kindy class. she has informed her mom that she has a crush on Chase...he is so sweet and funny (heheh). And there is a girl on HIS team named Zoe...she is in our class too...she has informed me that she is marrying Chase, lol. But I loveee this pic of Chase and Kristen.this one cracks me up. It is Chase on the right...standing on base sizing up the other team member...isn't it a hoot???? He is SOOOOO not competitive, btw. He is always chatting up the other team and asking them to come over and play.
Now...this one cracks me up. The boys wanted to do some art. I told Hayden to go take off his shoes and put them away. Then come back out and we would get to it. After quite a few mins...I went into his room and found him like this. He had found a hidden binky (we have been getting these out of his routine) and a blanky...shoes off by him...and couldn't even make it on his bed. heheheheh rolling here.Ok...so daddy and my 5yr old are big old geeks. I always find them talking geology, science, national geographics, zoobooks magazine etc. I heart them so much. lol


ok...off to crawl into bed with my nyquil and trash tv. love and hugs.

hi-d-ho neighbors! How is everyone this fine friday. all is well here. just getting ready to go work at my son's school..the big easter party and egg hunt! wohooo~should be funnnnn!

so this will once again be a quickie ;)

Go check out SDK's blog for the news about the easter egg hunt starting TODAY!!!!



And....since I can't chat I have to leave a template...that is my version of a big old long post and a juicy kiss. Hope you like it....the little elements are just placed since that is where I would put a button or something.




Hugsssss. Will post some pics later.

I had a ton to talk about today....but I have a sick little guy (my 3 year old was up all night with a fever...guess he got brother's cold...but the big guy didn't really get knowcked down with it. It takes a lot to get him). So...I will just leave you with the second link for the freebie adn hope to catch ya'll up later (hint...I found some awesome deals from different stores to share with you! Some serious enabling,lol)

I do want to tell you something...I finnnalllly got to my shutterfly book order. I had to resize all my layouts...and then kind of forgot about it when we all got so sick a while back. But I did it...It was very easy...I hope I did it right. The one thing I am concerned about is that I have tons of layouts with things right at the edge...and they say that isn't the best of things. But that is most of my layouts. So we will see how it comes out. I might have some white around the pages since I didn't pull them all the way to the edge of their template. When I did that...it made a lot of my important things go away. So we will see. And I can't believe that it is already on the way. I just got an email yesterday saying it was being shipped. Talk about FAST! wowowow. So...stay tuned. I will debut it when it gets here. I am sooooo excited. So are the boys and my hubby. They really want it more that I do. My hubby said...it will really be nice to look at your layouts whenever we want...awwwwwww. He DOES appreciate my work! sniff,lol
here is the preview again....

here is the download...part one is below. you know the drill...the no's and the ok's. I would appreciate a hi or howdy or high five or hey...send me some choc chip cookies through the screen, heheh

all right! I am maddddd. what happened to my SPRING???? We had collldddddd. Then we had spring for a couple days. Then we had HOTTTTTT (ok....for me at this time it was...almost 88 for goodness sakes). Then we had PERFECT for a while (minus the days of wind). Now it is overcast, windy and cold. hurumph!

First off...Josie...the links you left me didn't work...I will try to go find your layout hon. thanks for trying to show me. I love to see your layouts using my templates or goodies!

I am so gladdddd that I am not the only one who had the dreaded catch all room! phew...I feel better. Do you all have the same garage? I so want a garage that is clear and pretty. I have personally cleaned ours all by myself THREE times. And my darling hubby keeps shoving more crap in there. He has his scuba stuff and all his low voltage work stuff in there. And he hasn't put away the xmas stuff yet. Guess I will have to get to that. It doesn't help we don't have an attic. sighhh. I want an attic. I am looking into getting something like these




cool huh????

I have been really good this year with my purging. I have gotten rid of tonssss of stuff. And in two weeks my book club is having a garage sale to raise money for the breast cancer walk we are doing and for our trip we want to take. so the rest of my stuff that I was going to ebay and stillllllllll haven't done will go there. dh will be soooo happy.

Yesterday we got up at to the ball field by 8a! What possesses them to have a game at 8a?!?!?!?! Trying to drag Chase out of his bunk bed and wake him up was comical! And Hayden was NOT amused. AT ALL. I mean really. When we have somewhere to go...they don't want to wake up...but give me a day I can sleep in...like this morning....and they both are sitting on me trying to open my eyelids (really they were) at 6a?!?!?!?!? People...pleaseeeeeeeeeeee! Then I hit Staples---Melinda gave me the heads up that their double sided paper paks of 50 were on sale for $1.98. And I picked up some garage sale tags. Boy...that store is DANGEROUS for me. I have a thing for stationery and office supplies. When I was reading my copy of Digital Scrapbooking Mag...the bit on Shannon Freeman...I started laughing so hard at the part where they say..."like many scrapbookers, Shannon had a childhood passion for stationery and office supplies..."OMG...it all makes sense. It was my calling...it has been in my blood forever! I have alawys loved it! Phew. :)

After that I hit Joanns for some foam letters...making some flags that say Go Rangers for Chase's team moms. Then I forced myself to come home. Bran headed off for his dive trip and the boys and I just hung out. Got to chat with my bud online for a bit.

Now....I have a problem. I am in my 30's and am getting acne! What the heck??? And I have tried my over the counter stuff...to no avail. It is def hormone related as it gets worse around "that" time and clears up just for a week...and starts over. So....do any of you use Proactiv? Do you like it really? Does it really work? This is just SILLY. I didn't have it as a teen for goodness sakes.

In scrapping news:here are two layouts I finished up....go here for full credits!



for the one of the boys...I used my dear friend Robin's Pals kit. She is going to stop designing for a bit wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and his having a big honking sale over at Scrapdish!

Now...some of you expressed interest in getting the spring dreams add on kit I am using as a prize. For part two...just go here and do the challenge. It is a scraplift...easy as pie....wait...I can't make good pie...ummmmmm easy as buying scrapping kits!

Now...the first part of the challenge is over...so....if you want it...here is what you can do. Go here and do ANY of these challenges. Post the link in their gallery and the thread. You will get a prize from them and a prize from me! how cool and easy is that????

And...I am starting to clean up the computer...my spree is not just in the house,l ol
and found some old prizes I have used for challenges etc. Thought I would share some here too!

This one was for a Rakscraps Element Challenge.



click here to download PART 1...and tell me...is it true...did/do you really like stationery and office supplies??? (no sharing, selling, claiming, throwing at people, using as papers in your bird cage, writing hate mail and leaving it on someone's windshield)


hugs and love

friday is here the skies are clear the boys were screaming so I can hardly hear
my day is busy goes so fast I'm dizzy and if they keep not listening I'll have a tizzy.

heheheheheheh

Ok...so...obviously I have had too little sleep, too much allergy medicine and diet coke and I am delirious. That is ok though.

So..yes...allergy season is upon on us my friends. The valley of California is blooming and growing and blowing. I look hardly recognizable...eyes all red and swollen. I was so happy earlier this month...thought I had found the wonder drug and it was over the counter (my insurance--such as it is--is stingy with their meds)!
But, alas, it's welcomed relief is eluding me of late. Such sorrow.

My back yard is a mess (more so then before) and half the house siding is laying in a pile. We finally caved and hired people (my daughter's boyfriend and his friend....what was I thinkinggggg? I am such a believer in don't hire friends unless they are true professionals in every sense of the word...I hope I don't live to regret this)to attack the house. Bran just has not had time and it is at least a year overdue! So...between the banging and the boys wanting to go "supervise"...we have been trying to stay gone.

I am so proud of myself. I attacked my "catch-all room" You know the one...it starts off as a guest room. Then you start placing things you don't really know what to do with but you just CANNOT live without in there. Then, before you know it, you can't walk in there. Your child is missing.....you hear him calling to you...from the direction of "the room". Panic sets in...should you go get a life preserver? Call the fire department? You brace yourself and wade in....pusing aside the piles of art suplies, blankets and stuffed animals. You find him...you can almost reach him...you grab your old girl scout uniform and fashion a make shift lasso out of it...after the third attempt...you catch his left ankle and you know you only have one shot...you pull and you both tumble to safety on the other side of the door. Quickly you shut the door just as you hear a crash that can only mean an avalanche of junk just happened on the other side.

So, yeah....I did it...is is spic and span and organized. PhEwwwww. that was a relief. That room is the bane of my hubby's existance. So...last night...I said...honey....now that you are in...could you please do me a favor??? Mogley (the cat) left you a present in the spare room...it is too gross....I can't get it. Pleassseeee. So he armed himself with paper towels and a bag and headed on back...and I heard him say Holy CoWWWWW! lol. teehhheee. So now I think I have at least two guilt free nights of digi scrapping awarded me,lol.

Now...I need some advice here....my oldest son just turned 5 in November. He goes to school...remember...my teacher and problems I mentioned. Well...they are having a field trip coming up. To go to a high school to see a play. The school is 45 mins away...so that is a bus trip. Then they want to go to the zoo after. When I first learned of this trip...the teacher asked me to go. I asked again if I was still going...she hemmed and hawed and said we would talk about it. Now...people...I am trying to be a cool mom. But I soooooo don't feel comfortable with them taking my child for the day...there won't be a lot of adult supervision..our teacher is kind of...nervous and scatterbrained (though highly intelligent etc). I just sooooo don't feel good about this. NOr does my hubby. Nor does a couple other parents. So...if I don't get to come...trying to think of what to do. Follow behind in my car and sit outside while they are in the play and go with them to the zoo is what I came up with. I don't want him not to go. ARggghhhh. I hate this kind of thing. I dont' want to be overprotective...but come on...he has never ever ever done anything like that without me. What would you do? What do you think? Just curious! arghhhhhhh.

Here is a little something I made as a prize for my mixed bag challenge at SDK: goes with the prize for Oriana's chat tonight (see post below)

I already concluded the first part...but if you reallly want to get it we could work something out...just leave me a comment and I will give you your task ;).

And...as a little freebie for today...I made a sticker border and a regular version of it for you. Enjoy.


Click here to download...leave me a high five

Ok...enough chattering...off to grocery shop, hit the thrift store (to buy more junk ;)) and then pick up the monkies!

hellooooo again.

what a whirlwind...literally,lol. Yesterday and the day before blew us away. Just made it back home! ;0

On Tuesday I got to watch my little grandbaby...7months old now. And boy was he in a stinker of a mood. He had shots the day before and had a fever and was just cranky. All the crying and fussing made Hayden cranky...which made Chase cranky. By 4p I was ready for a bottle of wine and a bath. Geeshhhhhh.

Then yesterday I worked in Chase's class. We worked on their journals and just had a good time together. Then the boys and I went to the play area at Burger king...ran into an old frined from preschool and his grandma...had a good time with them. Daddy took Chase to his tball game due my hugeeeee allergy attack. mercy mercy mercy...so Hayden and I stayed home and cuddled. He did awesome I heard. He came home all banged up....trying to get the ball. I was so proud. The last game he didn't try for it at all.Then I cut out a million and five little tissue paper squares for his project at school today. my back hurtssssss,lol.

Now today we are just hanging out...nothing special. Might hit Michaels...my gift card is burning a hole in my pocket!

My friend Oriana is celebrating her anniversary in digiscrapping! She is having a Chat at Digishoptalk tomorrow night....lots and lots of prizes. I gave her some template packs, two gift certificates and this mini kit to give out to some lucky winners,lol.

check out her info here


I also stalked my way on to another CT,lol. I just love Kim Jensen's creations at Scrapdish. There is something to be said about stalking...but you have to do it in just the right way so as not to get served any papers for court.;)

I also have some upcoming guest CT's which I am excited about...still open to more though, hint hint,l ol. I am in a scrapping frenzy I tell you!

I also have another template for you....suprise,lol


Have a wonderful day...will share some pics later today!

Hi and howdy!
Just a nice brisk morning here in Northern California! I am showered, lotioned, legs are shaved, perfumed, teeth brused and hair combed. kitchen and bathrooms are clean. laundry is drying and spinning. ahhhhhh. all is right in the world, lol

Last night I went to my book club. I so enjoy those women! They make me laugh and giggle They make me think. They make me come outside my zone. Just love them. We were there for almost 3.5hours. Good thing we ate a lot and it wasn't busy.

We, of course, talked about the book. Then moved on to life, sex (raising eyebrows and wiggling them), kids, marriages today and how hard they are sometimes to keep healthy and perceptions...of people different from you...of family...of love.

The book we read (Digging to America by Anne Tyler) dealt with two families...one born and raised in the U.S and one from Iran. They become friends after meeting at the airport...they were both there to pick up their adopted korean daughters. It dealt with how americans are viewed, how other cultures are viewed...family dynamics...losing a spouse etc etc. And we have a lady from Britain in our club so she talked about how it was when she came here. How they couldn't believe how much of everything there was. How strange it was to go to an all you can eat restaurant etc etc. When her young niece came to visit she asked her...why are there so many pregnant people...since so many of the people she saw were overweight she figured they were pregnant, lol. So last night we had soooo much to talk about. I was amped when I got home,lol. I am still trying to absorb it all and file it away in my brain,lol. It is so so so nice to talk to people about things other than where something is, to stop taking your brothers toy or where you want to put the swingset.

Our next book we are reading is Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez. It comes highly recommended so I am looking forward to it. Here is some info on it if you are intersted in reading with us.

I also got another page scrapped. I used a template by me and my friend Audra Little's boys will be boys kit (it was her grab bag for my digital muse and now can be found here)


I am reallllly loving to scrap again! Just love it!!!!

I was asked if I would share my stitches again. I went and made them better...saw somethings I didn't like in the first batch. So even if you have these...grab them again and replace your old ones



Ok...off to finish folding laundry, putting away and then gather my monkies. We are meeting up with one of chase's old friends from preschool. going to go to the park while the weather is still good.

hugs and have a splendid day.

Tell me it isn't Sunday already?!??!? Please tell me that,lol. Man time flies~

So much happening I tell ya.

Short recap for the family, lol.

Friday my mom and I (she stayed a few nights...totally love having her here...but miss her when she is gone...wahhhh) hit the thrift store while kiddos were in school. I had a 50% off coupon so we went nuts,lol. I got Chase a ton of clothes for summer and picked up a cool batman shirt for Hayden (the boy is obsessed,lol) and a few things for me and even a shirt for dh! Then took the boys to the book fair at school and let them pick out a couple books. My bday money is almost gone,lol!!

Saturday we went to Chase's first tball game of the year...it was so funnnnn! I love the place we play...much better than the league we did last year. The weather was Aces and the kidlets had so much fun. Chase whacked the ball and felt great. Then dh took the boys out to Grandpa's while he sprayed the orchard...Aunt becky and cousin Daniel (the boys love him...all the kids do..he needs to be a teacher) came out and kept them entertained. I did laundry and made some layouts! It was so fun to scrap!!

wanna seeeee?


full credits here

full credits here

So...what else is going on? We are getting ready to fix up our yard...very daunting task. We kind of let it go...at one time a year or so ago...my parents were going to sell their house and we were going to make ours bigger. That would mean destroying part of our yard. So...we let it go. And it didn't happen. So now we have to fix it. But we have some neat plans for it!

Tonight I have book club meeting with my girls...so fun. We are meeting at a yummy restaraunt and we will have a blast! Love those ladies. We are discussing Ann Tyler's Digging to America. I really liked it. I listened to it on CD since our library had that and it would have taken me forever to get the book. It was checked out everywhere and had tons of reserves. I think the CD was the way to go with that one. The lady did all the different accents which made it very cool.

So...here is a little something something I made for you...the template for the bubble blowing layout above
Now...go have a wonderful day...hope all is well!

hello and howdy! hope everyone is fine and dandy! all is ok here. won't bore you with the details...but my littlest monkey ended up sick and then with the worst ear infection ever...never have I gone through that with my guys. so I have been pretty busy with all that. But he is ok now...we are all healthy *knock on wood*.

Yesterday I went to Lowes and finally picked out my new bathroom mirror and accessories...so excited. that wasy my bday present from my family. woohoooo. can't wait to get that started!

other than that...not much at ALL has been happening except taking care of the monkies. How terribly boring am I today? hehehe.

so...I will just leave you with yet another template.



hugs and smiles.

I am so so so so sad right nowwww~I am just sitting here crying.

I had so much planned today. I was going to work on layouts and prizes and emails while letting the boys do some art and playdough and run around out back (with me watching of course). I have been kind of irritable lately with them. I have been kind of cranky that I am not getting enough Me time. Brandon is has been working around the clock since like the beginning of Feb. We had our vacation...but still kind of no me time, kwim. And then with the sickies and them missing school and then taking care of mom etc etc...just been feeling a little tired and cranky. When I was cleaning up from dinner last night..the boys were screaming and getting into a tiff. They kept coming to me tattling. I had had it. I raised my voice and told them to go on....and sent them to their room. Then I was sitting there on the couch takign a breather and Chase wanted to play pirates with me again. I sighed and said...not now son...and he was so sad.

So then I get up today and clean some more and get them fed...and they want to play with me and I say...let momma just check my emails...and I go to the forum at DST and see this post! OMGGGGG....how heartbreakingly sad. Made me do a reality check. How freaking lucky am I?!?!?! How wonderful are my children and htey actually WANT to play with me. Cranky mean irritable meeeee. How I take my life for granted. How much can change in an instant. If my deepest wishes and prayers are answered...my children will live long happy lives. And one day they will not want me around so much. I will have all the free time in the world then to check my email and read my books.

So...that being said. I am off today. Off to enjoy the sun with my precious boys. Off to get a frozen yogurt and eat in the park. Off to make memories instead of preserve them. Off to play pirates.

sniff

love and hugs

If I owe you an email regarding how to templates etc...I promise I will get to them tonight.

Hi all! How is it going? Happy fridayyyyyy! woohooooooo!

So....short note this morning since I want to scrap while kiddos are at school, heheheh (only 3hrs)

All is well here...I am really hoping hayden isn't getting sick, but other than that it was a smooth morning. I was laughing my hiney off though. The boys have these battery operated toothbrushes. Well, Chases went dead and daddy replaced the battery. It sounds like it is going to go through the roof...ready for take off. We got a serious case of the giggles over that one. The boys def take after momma. If I get the giggles...you might as well forget anything for about 25mins or so. I seriously cannot stop...tears, snorts..the whole shibang. Nothing better than a good belly laugh I say.

My friend Doro over at SDK is having a special sale for my readers...from now until March 11th. Use this coupon code ( 2134712cc5) and receive 20% off your order. How cool is that. She has some really pretty creations and a freebie or three ;) hidden in the shop too ;)! Here are a few of her gorgeous goodies...


Click here to go to her part of the store! If you want, please show me what you pick up...I am so nosey!!!

I also wanted to share this before we are totally into spring...forgot I had it. I made this to use and put it in a wierd folder on the old computer...found it and will use it today. Yours for the taking...same old rules....say hi, don't redistribute or claim as your own. ;)

the top snowflake holding the pics together is actually a chrome brad...so you don't have to place anything over it if you don't want to.

Click here to download chickie-poos!Have a good day and will type more later

hi all...me again. My momma is home and wonderful and happy...I am home and reasonably settled. The boys are off somewhere with Brandon. I get some me time,lol.

Guess what guess what.

My freebie is up at SDK. Every month the crew puts together a free Mega Kit...you have to go through the store. One to Two pieces are released at a time. I get to go first this month!!! woohoooo

Here is a preview...go grab it if you want it...you can tell me here if you grabbed it...I would love to know if you like it or not...kind of different for me. If you don't like it, that is ok too. We get colors assigned to us for the mega kit and then we can create from there...I decided to go outside my box a bit. when I looked at the color I thought of a pond. If you DO like it...I might make a few more things to go with it. So I need to know if I should or not.

On to just a minor venttttt,lol.

So...the other day Chase's school made me feel guilty for having Chase miss too much school (remember he missed 5 from vacation...went one...got tummy virus and missed two...then got a reallly bad cold thing and missed 3. I felt horrible...but no way could he go...he was really sick. So today Bran packed him off and sent him to school...said he felt better...was eating and slept good.( I wasn't here) The flippin teacher sent him to the nurses office after being there 1/2 hour due to green stuff in his nose. For kripes sake. We have had two kids that have had been runny and snotty for like 2months. The nurse told brandon that he didn't have to come get him since he seemed ok...she would call him if that changed. I am just so beyond irritated can I just telllllll youuuuuuu! Ok...I feel better now...thanks for listening.

Have a great day!