…nothing! 

Well, not exactly nothing, this week I cleaned my house, I spent some time working out, i actually steam cleaned my carpet.  But probably the most productive thing i’ve done this week, was the hours I spent, snuggling on the couch with my baby!

Sometimes you just have to take a week off!  Only taking a week “off” isn’t exactly what it’s been, considering being a mommy doesn’t exactly go on hold just cuz I feel like taking some time off.  This week it was nice to just play mom for a while.

I MAY have a few alpha’s repackaged and in the store tonight… but no guarantees. I’ve got other plans that get first place on the to do list.  There is always next week for new products, and I’m sure I’ll be back with a bang!  But for now, I’ve got to go put my time in at the elementary school book fair.

Happy Friday everyone, come back next Friday for your regularly scheduled Friday Fix!

…Tennyson is on the loose!

Last after the boys were in bed, I was doing the dishes, when a little monkey came running down the hall and giving me a huge grin!  We put him back to bed (but not before I took a few pictures – I know I know, probably not exactly sending the right message… I’m a good mom, but that doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes try to mix teachable moments with photo moments…).  What do you know, with in 15 minutes he escaped again, only this time he took his diaper off first… yeah. Naked toddler streaking through my house, not exactly a safe situation.

This is trouble I tell you,Tennyson is not exactly the kind of kid I would trust to stay in his bed for an entire night.  Not only is there the potential that he will not stay in bed, or in his room, there is also about a 97.6% chance that when he is up, he will get into more than one thing… I’m having flashbacks. (only really, I never would have imagined it could happen, but Tennyson is like 10 times nuttier…)

Let the shenanigans begin… our little Tennyson is free.

So, this weekend I put just about nothing on my big to-do list.  Life has been busy, it’s been good, and well partially bad to be honest… It’s just that I have had this feeling of things looming, waiting, needing to be done. Although I’m chipping away at them, still there is this sense of guilt underneath for all the things I should be doing, for what is going left undone…  It is quite tiring and this weekend I knew I just needed a break!

So, yes, no to do’s, instead I just spent lots of time lounging around, ignoring the “to do” list, and refreshing my soul with a little scrap therapy! 

I thought I’d show off the pages finished (minus one with a the kit hasn’t been released yet):

you can click on all of these if you want to see them in the gallery – and can I just take a moment to mention HOW LITTLE and adorable my little reecey looks there!

That last page is using my newest kit isn’t it a perfect fit??? The first two kits are from Micheline Martin, who was kind enough to add me to her creative team this month.  I have been looking for that extra push to keep scrapping even when it is so easy to get sucked into designing all the time.  I’m sure all my readers have gotten the picture that I LOVE to design.  But I also love to scrap, and I’ve loved scrapping even longer than I’ve  loved designing. Micheline’s team was the perfect way to get me scrapping more regularly, plus I’ve been a HUGE fan of her work all the way from back when she used to be at the sweet shoppe with us!

You know, while we’re at it here are a few more pages i haven’t posted on the ol’ blog:

You’ll notice I didn’t exactly finish zillions of pages, but there are enough up there that I feel like I’ve been doing a decent job of preserving some memories.

Well I’d better get moving before I miss out on the last few hours of my precious morning quiet time!

It’s my turn this week to post some of the amazing layouts that I’ve found in the SSD Gallery using my designs!  Head on over to the Sweet Shoppe Blog and if you would like to see some incredible Shawna-goodie inspiration!

Sigh, today I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy.  Its a nice quiet Saturday at home with the boys, and sometimes it just hits me: wow, these are some wonderful kids!

I’m also feeling all warm and fuzzy about my job.  Designing has become like a pretty regular part time job for me, and I just am feeling so grateful for it!  How many people can say they are earning a living doing something they truly love and feel completely inspired doing it?  Not to mention, that I get to go to “work” in my jammies, and really at what ever hour of the day that the mood strikes me.  I can have a low key work week when life gets crazy, or a really uber productive week when I feel so inclined.  What a gift this job is to me.

You know what else is a gift, is the amazing customers I have.  Not only do you all support me and my work, but man, everyone is so stinking nice!  Plus I am always just moved by the fact that I get to play a role in preserving those memories.  It really warms my heart to see my product on those pages you are all scrapping with love…

Yeah, I’m a little on the sappy side today!  Some times I just look around me and I think, wow, what a wonderful life.  Many of you who have followed my blog for a while know, that I have certainly seen some real struggles, and there are times I’ve had to fight pretty hard to hold on to this life I have.  But wow, is it worth it.  I have such an amazing life to fight for.  Deep, peaceful sigh… Life is good.

Ok, so that was more lovey-dovey than anyone could possibly want to read, actually I’m also feeling warm and fuzzy about my cereal with fresh strawberries too, but i’ll go ahead and spare you the paragraph about that! I must be having a hormonal swing or something.

First up this week, I played part in a fun challenge we had with our fellow designers at Sweet Shoppe Designs.  We were partnered up and each of us did a sort of remix of one of each other’s kits. I was partnered with Libby Weifenbach and I decided to remix this kit of hers:

I’ve been wanting to make a kit like this for a while now, so I used Libby’s theme, and I used the same scheme, only a lighter version of it. Her papers/elements helped to as inspiration for my own version of them.  Here is how my Twisty-Kit turned out:

Fun isn’t it?  I love how you can see the resemblance in it and yet they both definitely have their own feel.  I’m really excited to get out some dirty kids pictures today and scrap with this!  Remember to check it out in the shoppe today if you wanna save 20%!

Just for kicks too, check out what libby did:

She chose my kit “You Don’t Know Me” and came up with “Desmond and Molly Jones“, a bright and fun loving kit that was all her own!

In addition the the new kit, I also had the opportunity to work with Fontographer Darcy Baldwin on a really fun set of fonts that I’ve been dying to make!  Check these out!

Each font is available individually, or you can get the full Coffee Shoppe Set and save!

AND as a special promotion for a limited time, you can get this bonus font for FREE with the purchase of the full kit!

Aren’t they awesome???!

Well there you have it!  All my goodies for this week!  Now its time to pick some winners!  No screen shots today, but I cross my heart that Random.org picked numbers 16 and 7 in that order!  So Lizzy257 you are the big winner of this weeks new kit! & Lydia you can email me for your free set of the Coffee Shoppe Klatch fonts!

Please send me an email so I can get you your prizes (you can find my contact info in the side bar over there, just click that little envelope). 

That’s all I have (which is PLENTY whew, what a post!) Now, it is time for me to pour another cup of coffee and see how many pages I can get scrapped today! Happy Saturday everyone, I hope your day feels as sweet and snuggy as my own