Revised to say that I received some disapointing news regarding some of my CT's that I will no longer be on due to the store/forum probably closing. I don't really know all the details, but accusations are made and I would rather just stay out of it all since it doesn't involve me personally!

I need to force myself off the computer and to bed here soon, due to our 6 a.m. flight in the morning. I am already feeling withdrawals from my little computer community, but I am forcing myself to leave the laptop at home and have a real vacation. Scot is bringing his so I will check my email, but that's about it. There is plenty of other stuff to do in sunny Florida!

The layout I posted last time with my mom and the kids in the background was voted layout of the week at Plain Digital Wrapper, much to my pleasant surprise! It is such a nice forum, and I'm happy to be a part of it. I am also being featured as a scrapper of the week on the blog at Brownie Scraps tomorrow. That is one of my other favorite forums, so I am feeling honored this week!

Owen had his performance at the talent show tonight, and managed to get through it despite being nervous. I think he did a good job, especially since it was his own song that he did. We weren't able to stay for the 2nd half of the program because of not wanting to keep the kids out late, but it was fun to watch and there were some really cute acts.

I have been scrapping our Georgetown day trip from last summer. I have another layout that I can't post yet until Friday.

I went out and got all my Easter shopping done today. I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time between trips to get stuff, and I would rather not wait until the last minute and everything is picked over. They had a lot of cute stuff at Target, like these frames with a little soccer ball in the corner. I also had to get some new sandals since we only have one pair that fits anyone. I got out all the short and t-shirts and the kids were trying stuff on yesterday to see what still fits. Luckily most of it still does so we are all set for the trip!

Between dentist appointments and rehearsal for the talent show, we have had to get up earlier than usual the last two mornings. I am looking forward to a normal schedule tomorrow, even though it does include work.

Our trips our coming up here soon. I am going to have to pull out the summer clothes and see what we've got, I hope! I haven't checked Florida or Tucson weather yet. I'll wait until we are closer to departure. I have the rental car and kennel booked for the Florida trip, and then Scot will be home while we are in Tucson, so no kennel needed. I don't think we'll need a rental car for Tucson, either. We will have laundry facilities in Florida, so I will try, as always to pack light, especially considering luggage charges these days! All four of us will have the biggest carry-ons allowed, so maybe we'll only have to check one bag.

I have been completing some pages, but they can't be posted yet. There are releases coming out on Wednesday and Friday this week, and I'm also hoping to get a page or two done for my new CT!

I did my usual Friday night speed scrap this week. I had to use two photos that were in a sequence. I used a kit called Urban Jungle by RebeccaPSP, and it worked well for the rustic setting of the YMCA.



I was excited to get the news yesterday that I was accepted to a CT for a local Colorado designer, Julie.it.is. She uses such great jewel and earth tones for a lot of her kits, which I find very easy to work with. I can't get into her forum yet to find out all the details, but I love all her kits that I've seen of hers.

I am really liking the two new kits I bought yesterday by LDrag Designs, and I am getting some of my photos scrapped from our trip to Humboldt last August. The circle layout was for a template challenge and if my layout is picked, I will win some free templates, which I always love! The other one was done for a speed scrap at MLAS tonight. I try to do them every Friday night if I am home.

I made this page as a template challenge at Scrappity. It gave me a chance to use a kit I had gotten as a RAK but hadn't used yet by Julie It Is.

Shadow is going for her last car ride in the morning. I will take her to the shelter vet for her final farewell. She won't even eat ground beef anymore, which used to be something she would always eat, so I think it's time. She seems comfortable, at least, but not really too alert.

I was done with the Valentine theme background, so I switched again.

I had my recorder meeting today, which was fun. It was snowing off and on, but nothing was really sticking to the roads. We are supposed to get a few more inches by the end of tomorrow.

I moved all my digital scrapping files to my external hard drive to free up some space on my laptop. I can only hope it doesn't suddenly fail, as I've heard they sometimes do, but I have the zip files for all the kits still on the laptop and backed up online, so I can get them back that way.

I participated in a speed scrap tonight, and was able to use this new kit that I won for correctly guessing the name of it. It is perfect for boy layouts! It is called Rough and Tumble by Jennifer Fox Designs. I also played BINGO at another forum, and ended up winning a free kit for getting the first bingo.

Owen had his playdate today and it went well. They jumped a lot on the trampoline, even though it was kind of cold and windy today. They played some games, got to watch t.v. while eating lunch, and then I cute out a heart box for them to decorate using the Cricut. While I was in there, I took the oppportunity to clean up the craft room and little and finally move the bedding back to storage that had been sitting in there since Christmas! I am thinking of making some journals for the kids for Valentine's Day, just cutting out something to decorate the cover. The Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge has some cute characters.

I spent some time organizing my digiscrap goodies this afternoon in preparation of moving some stuff off to my new portable 1 TB external hard drive. I deleted some stuff, and there are kits I haven't used for some time that I am not ready to get rid of yet that can be moved over. I don't want to bog down my laptop too much, and graphic files end up taking up a lot of space. I would rather move over some older digital photos to the laptop so they will be backed up with my online service. Too bad it is so much easier to organize a computer than a house. That is what I should be working! I really do need to go through and take out some toys that are not being used anymore, and get some papers filed. Once the weather warms up, I need to look at finishing my painting in the living room. I am so close, but never got it finished. I think with the implementing of the chores and having Sunday be the big cleaning day, we are doing better keeping the house in order on a daily basis, but there is still too much junk floating around, as usual. It seems to be a constant battle, and I need to remember how good it feels to get rid of stuff, and how much it stresses me out to have a bunch of clutter in the rooms that we use a lot. It doesn't bother me as much behind closed door. lol

The designers I work for received some surprising news today, and it looks like most of my CT work will be on hold for a short time. I am sad, but more sad for the designers losing their stores suddenly, without warning! They all seem to have a plan, so hopefully we will all be back to work soon. However, I do have a February guest spot on the CT for Geek Chic Scraps, so I will have plenty of time to work on layouts for her new kits. Her store is opening next week, so I can start posting the layouts then.

I did finish the last layout for the Scrapoff 2010 contest at DSA. Right now I have 16 points, so I'm pretty much in the middle. I am glad not to be at the bottom of the pack, at least, since there are a lot of talented people in the contest. It has been fun to try different things.

I have finished the two-page layout from Declan's birthday last year. It seems strange to say last year when it was only a few months ago! I used a kit called Birthday Boy by Shanmomto4 Designs and templates by Mandagirl.

I made this a few days for a template challenge at MLAS. I used a kit called Aquarium Adventures by Scrapalicious Cereal (A.K.A. Jenny Cereal) and the template was Templates by Kate.

I finished my layout for week three of the contest at DSA. It isn't due until Friday, but I had an idea and got it done today.

The kids spent a lot of time on the trampoline today. I'm glad the weather has been pretty decent. Scot took them to the stock show on Sunday while I was at my recorder meeting. I went last year, so I don't feel I missed out on anything. Not sure whal all the excitement is about, but Scot had never been so he was curious.

I finished a layout this morning for a color challenge. The challenge was to use silver, which is a favorite of mine anyway, and I had been wanting to use this kit called Midnight Resolutions by IBD Designs and Jayaprem's Hangout. The template is by Sweet Tomato Designs.

Not sure I am thrilled with the results, but it's growing on me. This if for the DSA contest, and I was challenging myself to use some of the yellow. The main colors of the kits are the red, black, and grey, but then there is a yellow added in, which is not my favorite color to work with! I had one photo to scrap that didn't really go with anything else, so it was good to use it for this. One photo makes it easier and quicker to get the page done.



Owen really wants to see the Percy Jackson movie coming out, but it's not rated yet. I have a feeling it will be PG-13, but maybe not. I'm not sure what age group the book is geared towards since I hadn't heard of it until I started seeing the previews for the movie.

It is week 2 of the layout challenge at DSA and I am having trouble figuring out my page. I had an idea right off the bat last week, but this week, not so much. I had a photo picked out, but maybe I need to scratch that and start over with something else. At any rate, I probably won't get to it until tomorrow evening since I will be at work tomorrow during the day.

For a challenge at MLAS. I had to use a specific amount of specific items. I used A Brand New Outfit by Bubblescrap Designs, except the staples. Template by No Reimer Reason.

Another page from my Christmas album.

I completed a page today for the Add-on challenge at Scrapable. We had to use 5 patterned papers, which was hard until I came up with the idea of putting a bunch of layered paper behind the coins letters, since they were see-through anyway. I used Life is Good by Valarie Ostrom Designs with a template by Red Leaf DigiScrapping.