As promised...I'm BAA-AAACK!

As promised, I am back!

Things have been extremely busy around here and it just seems like the longer you go without blogging, the easier it is to postpone it for another day.

But 2010 is upon us and I want to start it right!

I didn't want to post photos of my December Daily until the outside was finished but I'll show you anyway :)

I used a Prima canvas album and glimmer misted with Peppermint Stick & then Marshmallow on top of that. I plan on putting some green ribbon over the album's edges and possibly stitching "December 2009" on the front...

Here's a peek at some of the inside pages:

I got a lot of my embellishments off of etsy.com

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ormolu

http://www.etsy.com/shop/elles

http://www.etsy.com/shop/livingroomfloor

We have been doing lots of holiday baking

I made over 10 dozen Italian cookies with the help of my 2 sous chefs:

(Notice Miss Mia's new haircut? She got a cute little bob!)

Yum Yum!

Here the kids are on Christmas Eve, so excited for Santa to come!
We tracked Santa all night thanks to the NORAD Santa Tracker

It was utter madness once Santa reached the USA, the kids went bonkers!!

And then the magic of Christmas morning

Koby was so thrilled to get the Guinness World Book of Records!

(he didn't get his 2 front teeth though)

Mia with her Littlest Pet Shop animal

And Roman rocking out!
Santa brought Rock Band!!

We had a White Christmas

Here's the proof!!

We still have several inches of snow on the ground, with a forecast of more to come!

I haven't taken the kids out to play in it yet but hope to soon

I'm sorry I was away for so long and have missed all of my friends

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your loved ones

Can you believe 2009 is coming to a close?

It was a tough year for many and I am looking forward to 2010

I am thankful for my health and for the good health of my children and husband

Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve!!

This is just freaking RIDICULOUS!

Who deserts their blog for a MONTH!?!
What kind of blogger does that?!?

Especially at the holidays?

With three kids and a new business?

Seriously?

I have sincerely missed all of my friends and reading your blogs

Sometime within the next 24 hours I promise to give you an update on me, my life and even post a few pics of my December Daily!

I guess this is somewhat of a tease of a post, just wanted to let my readers know that I am still alive.

I will be back soon!!

A day of blessings.

Hello friends!

First and foremost I must apologize for my absence.

I never realized just how much time my new business would consume and I have a totally

new outlook on life!

Hats off to all the working moms out there (AND single moms!)

I don't know how you do it.

I feel like I am doing it all, but none of it well :(

This really bothers me as I strive for excellence in all arenas of my life

I know once the store has been open longer we will get in a better routine, in the meantime I am just thankful that God has blessed us with

a flourishing business in these tough times.

It's amazing how busy we have been and how our community

has welcomed us with open arms.

There are other furniture stores in town but we are trying to create a niche and be totally different from them. So far it's definitely working!

I haven't scrapped or done anything creative in weeks and it really is taking a toll on me.

I long to create, I've even been dreaming about it at night!!

Once I get these 42 loads of laundry done I just may have a few spare minutes...

We'll see.

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?

Mine was perfect.

My mom made the turkey this year so that was a big relief

I was just in charge of sweet potatoes, hash brown casserole, cranberry sauce and my famous caramel apple pie...

Gobble Gobble!

My kids...I tell you
Someone needs to teach them that it's not polite to dance until dinner is over.

Here are my sisters and mom and I

After dinner was over I turned on my favorite iTunes playlist and we all danced berserk around the house! I would post some pics of myself dancing but those were all promptly deleted.

Champagne will make you do some crazy things!
Here is Mia and Aunt "Boo" though..

Once we were all tired from dancing we sat down and played several games as a family

We just got Pictionary Man, what a fun game!!

The box said ages 14 & up but once it got to the kids turns we just made a list of easier prompts for them to draw and had them draw one from a hat

I have so many things to Thank God for this year, some simple and some not so simple

In no particular order here goes...

my amazing supportive husband, running water, a cozy bed to sleep in, healthy and beautiful children, the talent God has given me, my 2 sweet dogs, the privilege of living in the United States, my fabulous camera, my safe vehicle, Scooter's coffee, my washer and dryer AND dishwasher!, good music to listen to, good books to read, the new Target that just opened by my house!, safe schools for my children, the amazing teachers at our Montessori school, my friends- in real life AND online friends, oh, and paper and scissors :)

May you have a blessed day and take a moment to count your blessings.

Survived the Grand Opening, soooo busy!

This whole last week has been a blur

So sorry I haven't had time to update!

Our store opened on Saturday

We had a fantastic turnout!

We were there working Friday night until 4 AM so you can imagine the amount of caffeine that was needed to get us going...

Today was our ribbon cutting ceremony with the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce

We had a pleasant surprise, Bryan Pratt, our Missouri State Representative

came and had a Resolution in honor of our store!

What an honor. Here we are cutting the ribbon...

Mike & I

This is such an exciting feat for us, Mike truly has put his blood, sweat and tears into this

(well, not so much tears...) :)

The store is going to be a success, I can just feel it!

Koby, Mia and Roman...

bless their little hearts,

wanted to play in the leaves last week.

We have one tree that has leaves and this is the extent of it! LOL

Oh, almost forgot to tell you!
I was featured on the ClearScraps blog for my Noel album!

Talk about exciting!

Hopefully this is just the beginning of more exposure for my work

It truly is my passion and dream.

I have missed all of my blog friends so

and promise to update you again when I have a spare moment.

(Maybe once the kids are in college?)

((I know, funny, right?))

Have a great Wednesday!

Jingle Jingle Jingle! And a new exciting venture for me...

Hi everyone!
Happy Tuesday!

I know I have briefly mentioned our new store but it's really happening, this weekend is the grand opening!

Our sign is up, I love how it turned out!

Take a look at our website, it's the temporary site, our permanent site will have tons of unique features like a custom room builder etc. It should be live in a week or so

In the meantime here's our site:

http://www.quality4less.com/

Become a fan on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Blue-Springs-Furniture-Gallery/201787249815?ref=search&sid=1003763416.411901949..1

And follow us on Twitter!:

http://twitter.com/bsfurniture

Now, the BIG reveal of my Christmas mini album!
I used a Clear Scraps Mixables album for this and the lovely papers are Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co.

This was SO much fun to do, I really am enjoying alcohol inks!

The glitter used is Pink Paislee Pixee Stix in Cream Soda & Chocolate

I also used the PP press ons & Expressions glitter alphabets in Berry

I will be teaching this class at The Scrapbook Workshoppe on Friday, December 4th @ 6:30 PM

The cost is $48 and I know this will fill up fast!

Call 816-228-4944 to get your name on the list

Here's a layout I made yesterday of Roman with his pumpkin guts LOL

I used the fun "Boo to You" line from My Mind's Eye

My lovely friend, Lisa T. Howard awarded me with this:

Here's the rule: I need to pass this award on to five people, post on their blog to let them know I left this award, and then I need to answer a list of questions in ONE word

(Umm, I think I'm going to break the rules on that one!)

Here goes!:

1. Where is your cell phone?

in front of me

2. Your hair?

in a ponytail

3. Your mother?

strong

4. Your father?

stubborn

5. Your favorite food?

seafood

6. Your dream last night?

Lady Gaga was in it? LOL

7. Your favorite drink?

frozen drink

8. Your dream/goal?

total security in all aspects of life

9. What room are you in?

kitchen

10. Your hobby?

scrapbooking (duh.)

11. Your fear?

losing someone close to me

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?

Maui

13. Where were you last night?

home with crazy kids

14. Something that you aren't?

a size 4

15. Muffins?

blueberry

16. Wish list item?

to have a great grand opening this weekend!

17. Where did you grow up?

Independence, MO

18. Last thing you did?

talked to my hubby

19. What are you wearing?

jeans & striped boatneck tee

20. Your TV?

TiVo is my boyfriend

21. Your Pets?

2 poodles: 1 is 6 lbs & 1 is 70 lbs!

22. Friends?

so blessed to have them

23. Your life?

very busy

24. Your mood?

content

25. Missing Someone?

my sister

26. Vehicle?

Tahoe

27. Something your not wearing?

jewelry

28. Your favorite store?

Nordstrom

29. Your favorite color?

robin's egg blue

30. When was the last time you laughed?

this morning

31. Last time you cried?

last week?

32. Your best friend?

Mike

33. One place that I go to over and over?

The Scrapbook Workshoppe

34. Facebook?

every few days

35. Favorite place to eat?

Ruth's Chris

I am passing this award onto:

1.Kim

2.Rebecca

3.Greta

4.Andrea

5.Becky

Still haven't got my December Daily started but I will, I promise!! :D

Have a wonderful day

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Caramel Apple time!

Our favorite apples are HoneyCrisp apples.

They are seasonal and when they are available we eat them like crazy!

I have been promising the kids that we would make some caramel apples with them

Talk about delicious!

the finished product:

patiently waiting for them to cool

Watching Koby eat his caramel apple with no front teeth was quite entertaining, I must say :)

I have been scrapping lately

(No, really?)

Here's a fun layout I made with Roman on his 4th birthday

I just can't use this Monstrosity paper enough, it is SO dang cute!

I also used several Jenni Bowlin things, LOVE her!

Here's a baseball layout with Mr Koby

The little baseball player in the left corner is glimmer misted

(I used my Cosmo Cricket negative chipboard as a mask)

Here's a quick Halloween layout I did using Inspired Blueprints Sketch #32

I just love their sketches!

I typically try to create my layouts on my own but it is SO nice to work off a sketch, make a cute layout and be done with it!

The papers I used are My Mind's Eye

Another quick layout on Coredinations cardstock with a little Pink Paislee, Basic Grey & Cosmo Cricket.

I love the way this next layout turned out, and it only took me about 30 minutes!

The bingo card is Tattered Angels and of course I used Glimmer Mist on it

I used a Pink Paislee Pixie Stix glitter for the word SPOOKY and then heated it with my heat gun to take the super shiny glitter look off it (it looks more distressed now)

The background paper is Basic Grey, don't you love those spider webs?

The cute little ghostie stickers are Making Memories, I picked them up at Archiver's for 99 cents! And that was full price! How can you go wrong with that?

I am working on completing a Christmas album with the new Pink Paislee

"Mistletoe & Co" papers, you guys are going to love it!

I'm working with alcohol inks with it and the effect is amazing

I promise to post pics once it's finished!

Another fun project I am starting is a December Daily album (a la Ali Edwards!)

My friend, Tina and I are going to do this together and I am SO excited!

What a wonderful way to document your Christmas traditions over the years!

Ah, so many projects, so little time!

As I like to say, I am "Tortured by Art" LOL

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Take time to appreciate the little things, they really are the BIG things.

We survived Halloween!

How was your Halloween weekend?

Busy?

Was the weather good or nasty?

We expected rain but ended up havng a perfect night

for Trick or Treating.

Typically we visit the pumpkin patch a few weeks before Halloween

but this year we waited until the last minute

We were still able to find some good pumpkins,

(and they were super cheap to boot!)
I even let the kids gut their own pumpkins.
It was quite entertaining...

Mike carved our baseball team logo into one:

Mia wanted a spider

Here are the kids in their costumes,

ready to go get some candy!

Here they are with some old witch:

All in all it was a very fun night, and I was thrilled that

there was no school the next morning.

New rule:

Halloween should be on a Saturday night from now on!




I have been scrapping a little bit

Here's a layout I did with the new Nutmeg line from Cosmo Cricket

The leaves are Prima, I altered their shapes by cutting them

They were white to begin with so I used glimmer mist to color them

Here's a fun layout I did about my blog!

A fast but sweet one that I used Basic Grey's Indian Summer on:

And lastly one with Roman

(in all his naked glory)

I used the Fancy Pants Rough & Tough papers

for this plus several Cosmo Cricket rub ons

Thanks for stopping by

Your comments bring a huge smile to my face!