Stop #2 of the Freebie Blog Train

Happy World Card Making Day! You've reached the beautiful Pacific Northwest at this stop. To thank you for coming, here is my gift to you:


(click image for download)

I rummaged my craft closet for a few supplies: jewels, white butterfly rub-ons, glue dots, and my trusty Xacto knife to cut out the pretty blossoms. The digital papers and blossoms are courtesy of Scrap'it Designs, her About a Girl kit.

Here are some close ups:




(back of the card)

You should have reached my blog from the ScrapMatters blog. Your next stop is at my friend Kari's blog. Tell her I sent ya!

October 4th is World Card Making Day

Yes, you read that correctly: World Card Making Day! Any chance I get to celebrate life, I'm ready with my party hat and appetite. :) And how about some freebies to go with your hors d'oeuvres?



It will start on Saturday, October 4th, at 7am Pacific Time at the ScrapMatters blog.

(For those of you that aren't craft/scrapbooking enthusiasts, I really appreciate you chugging through all the crazy art lingo I throw at you - you must really love this family to do so!)

12 weeks until Christmas? Already?

Regardless of how much I vow not to let it happen, Christmas (and its crazy commercialized frenzy) sneaks up on me. So let it be known: 12 weeks left! When I have a chance to collect my thoughts, I can be purposeful about keeping the celebration focused on the true gifts.

Simple Mom is a blog I follow regularly, and she leads the way in organizing the 12 weeks so that mayhem doesn't grip the hearts, minds, and pocketbook of your family.

This year, one of my goals is to hand make gifts. I enjoy the thought of sending my loving touch through them, and want to teach my girls the value of true gift giving. Otherwise, do you know what happens to me? I wait until the last minute until I haphazardly spend beyond my budget just to appease my gift list, and spend extra on overnight air to deliver the packages. NO MORE.

One of the handmade gifts I'm undertaking is a project my hybrid team and I are heading at ScrapMatters, called It's in the Cards:


(Click on the image to see the thread at ScrapMatters)

Hope you can join me! It's a weekly venture, so the workload is spread out. It should be tons of fun. :)

ScrapMatters Birthday Blog Train - Stop 17 of 39

(Rolling out the welcome mat) Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by my blog - you should have arrived here from Mary's blog (www.plumdumplingdesigns.blogspot.com). We are celebrating ScrapMatters' first birthday in the happiest way possible. Giving out freebies, of course!

In my family, the birthday star gets to choose a non-traditional birthday cake (usually a yummy Marie Callender's pie or other not-so-birthday-ish treat) and a restaurant for dinner. We make all our gifts, in true "hybrid" form. Hybrid scrapping, that is.

Okay, I'm giving out TWO freebies.

The first one:

(click on image to download)

The second will be revealed at noon - so come back here for more! It's a fantabulous party hat template.

See you again in a few hours or so -

Your next stop on the Birthday Blog Train is Tater's blog: www.taterscraps.blogspot.com

Have fun! Remember, there are 39 stops total, all loaded up with freebies galore. :)

::edit::

This freebie is no longer available - thanks!





sweet little Abigail not included:



(click image to download)

Make sure you bling it up! And happy, happy birthday ScrapMatters.

Another hat for me - {and a freebie}

Recently I was asked to be hybrid team leader for ScrapMatters. No brainer - of course I said yes. :) Today I got to unveil the new hybrid blog line up on the team blog - check it out. The freebie I'm offering is actually posted there, and it looks like this:



Amanda, Abigail and I participated in a kids stationery mail swap, and I made notepads with scratch, recycled paper for the pirate-loving boys:






Don't forget to stop by tomorrow to pick up all the freebies in our blog train - we're celebrating ScrapMatters' first birthday in style! Go to the ScrapMatters team blog in the morning!

5K

For the second year in a row, the girls and I participated in the nation's largest 5K for women. I hope to make this an annual event for the three of us.

::recap::

We awoke to a balmy 61 degree morning, so I was hopeful that it would be a nice, temperate day to do a 5K with my daughters. It WAS a nice day overall, but was I wrong about the weather! As soon as the bus dropped us off near the starting line, we were deluged. Rained cats and dogs. Immediately, Amanda entered foul mood mode. But who could blame her? Waiting around in pouring rain is not my idea of a fabulous time. And she was so short that all she could see were other ladies' legs and shoes. And I couldn't help her at all because I had Abigail in a Kelty backpack the whole time, all 25 pounds of her.

Here we are awaiting the start (the photos are pretty poor quality, but can't ask for much from a point and shoot in extreme humidity):

Isn't Amanda's pout just adorable?

Bird's eye view of Amanda's situation - looking at legs and shoes:


Here is Amanda shortly after the crack of the gun:


By this point, Amanda was inconsolable. She kept blurting out threats: "If this rain keeps up, I'm quitting. Right now. Quitting." But then, I had the idea of talking to her about hot cocoa; I told her to imagine holding a cup of hot cocoa in her hands, and asked her what kind of marshmallows she wanted. Instantly, she perked up. Thank goodness! She then started joking about swimming in the hot cocoa. Strangely, I felt warmer after that little conversation. Our focus turned to the beautiful scenery we were passing by, and Amanda started holding my hand again. Abigail was passed out on my back by this time. We kept getting comments about how cute their matching raincoats were. :) Wish I had one too.

Look how many women walked with us:


Happier, now that the end is in sight:




Finished in 1:07:30!


Ahh, accomplished:


This race gave us a good opportunity to talk about how all good things in life take hard work, determination and a steely resolve to achieve them. Amanda said that she was glad she didn't quit. (what a lesson!!!)

We loaded back onto the bus heading home, soaked, shivering, tired, and accomplished. We took a hot bath and had chicken noodle soup when we got home. And yes, Amanda got her hot cocoa.

A little rain won't keep these women warriors down. Fun was had in huge doses!

Trying week, but ended on a good note!

Meet my sweet little neighbor, Miss A. She just turned 3:


And of course, little Abigail belongs to me:


In the midst of a pretty murky week between illnesses and arguments, I remembered to "see" with my camera again. Makes me appreciate the little things that make the big picture so beautiful - bright colors, expectant eyes, little curls of a smile.

And what happy news from the Bay Area! More to come on that later -