A Kiss on the Chic

Updating the website...

Hey ladies!

I wanted to quick post to let you know that I'm working away and not forgetting about you guys!  I'm working on updating the website right now with my class schedule for May and updating the other areas as well.

I didn't get a chance to post the recipes from last weeks class yet and I will try to do that tomorrow.  I'm still having a hard time getting over this flu and I think it went into my chest today so my voice is very low.  I'm going to drink my green tea and go to bed early to see if that will help it.

I did get a chance to finish the garden class I was working on and I'm soooo super duper excited to show it to you!! Are you ready???  O.K. this is something I saw at CHA and fell in love with!  Yvette can attest to my desire to have it right then and there!  Anyways, it's a lovely Wood flower garden that I put paper and embellishments on.  Now it comes bare bones and you have to put it together and add everything on it.  It does come with instructions and a picture of the companies paper and embellishments on it but I had other ideas in mind.  Especially since I also fell in love with Pink Paislee and knew the two would look fabulous together.  O.k.... I'm nervous...I love it and I hope you do to...

This will be a class at It's About Time on May 22nd at 6pm.  I've used the Pink Paislee line of paper and added some REAL VINTAGE lace and a button on the silver frame that are probably at least 80 years old!   I love the "shabby vintage" look and I hope you guys do too!  You can call IAT at 304-3422 to sign up today! 

Thanks again for all your kind thoughts while my family has been sick.  All the girls are doing much better so it's just mommy that needs to get better now!

Have a great evening everyone!

Laura 

Here's a little fun for your Saturday night...

I was wanting to do a fun project with the Clear Scraps 12x12 acrylic sheets for a couple weeks now.  But then I saw this contest for Graphic 45 I new I had my idea complete!  I just submitted it to the website:  www.amillionmemories.com for their contest as well as the altered birdhouse I did a couple Sundays ago.  I don't even know much about this website at all.  It was just on a website that I look at to submit work and I saw this post about the contest.  Anyways, I've used another picture from my Uncle Morries wedding (thanks Mo for all the great photo ops that day...) but I can't resist because they all turned out so great!

Oh, I almost forgot that I wanted to give a "shout-out" to someone I don't even know but saw her altered Maya Road album on www.twopeasinabucket.com at the same time my shadowbox was up on the Top 10 list.  Anyways, my eyes when "bug-eyed" when I saw this BEAUTIFUL red flower on the altered can that holds the album and I found out it was a paper flower she found at the Dollar Tree!!!  I didn't even know what that was??? But I quickly did a google search and found one in Murrieta.  Of course the next day I went there and was holding out all hope that I would find them even though I had no idea how long ago this was that she got these.  So, I'm looking in the floral area of the store and see some really cute red flowers (the ones I just used on the Live, Love, Laugh wall hanging) but I didn't think they were the ones that she had used.  Then I decided to quickly look around the store and lo and behold.... I FOUND THEM!!!  They were in the gift wrap section and I bought them all!!!  I think I have 25 or more??  So you will be seeing these a lot!  I don't know if I want to use them on a class project or if I want to hoard them all!!! (sorry :-) So whoever you are, Katie996, a big thank you for telling people where you got them.  And, you are one talented lady!!!  I'd love to sit and chat with you because our styles are very similar and we'd probably have a ball together!

Well, have a great night everyone.  I will try to finish the other project I started.  This happens to me a lot.  I see something that spurs an idea and off I go...

Laura

I can't believe I haven't posted since Wednesday???

Wow... time flies when your sick too!  I managed to do my class Thursday night and then Friday it went downhill from there.  I had all the kids in school all day that day but I couldn't push myself to do much.  I wanted soooo bad to take a nap but there's just too much to do!  And, I got the new Pink Paislee line and I had to play a little.  I'm making a class project right now that I can't wait to show you!  It's another altered art class with the PP line and some of my real vintage stash!!!  (shhh...don't tell my mom)

Today was a run-around-the-town-for-the-kids day.  I had something going on since 9am this morning until 3pm this afternoon!  It's crazy!!!!  And there still not home... They wanted to go over to a friends house that has horses so they could ride a while.  It happens to be a family that has a daughter Victoria's age and Rebecca's age so that works out nice.  So right now it's just me and Isabella and hopefully she'll go to sleep early and I can play a little in my scrapbook room(even though I should be cleaning it...).

I did have a chance to make something last night that I wanted to share with you.  The pictures didn't turn out so great and I did "scraplift" the idea from one of the owners at It's About Time. Thanks Lisa, I got this idea from your colorful wall hanging!  I used three pages from the Clear Scraps scalloped album and just punched some more holes at the bottom to string them all together.  Then I used some of the scrap pieces of the Pink Paislee paper I'm doing the altered art project with and voila:

Oh, I also used some Glitz "frosting" and some Magic Mesh.  Remember Magic Mesh from a few years ago??  Well, it's back and it's fun to play with again!

I'm going to send this to Janet and Jackie at Clear Scraps so it might be up on their gallery soon with more detailed pictures as well.  I think I'll add it to my twopeas gallery too.

I'm trying to finish the altered art project tonight so I can take pictures of it and then post them.  I think you're going to like it!  It will be a fun class, I guarantee it! (I sound like a car commercial :)-

Then once I'm done with the altered art project, I can't wait to work on my butterfly album!  I'm using the new Maya Road butterfly and the new My Mind Eye paper!  I can't wait to play with that.  That will be a class at the end of the month.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  Enjoy the sunshine if you're in So. Cal!  I was talking to my DT members and some of them have SNOW today!  Ouch.... I told them it was 96 degrees here and they said they weren't listening to me!!!  (Ha-ha Cathy!) 

Laura 

Just a quick update...

Thanks for the support from everyone!  Isabella is doing better today but poor Rebecca is still not feeling well.  She actually went to school today because she was a narrator at her special chapel today.  Her class did the play "Boxes and balls" by Max Lucado and she was feeling pretty good so she went to school.  But after school she started feeling sick again and has been "upchucking" ever since. (sorry, probably too much info???) 

I've been trying to get the class all ready for tomorrow night but don't feel so great myself.  I'll be fine for the class though so no worries people!  I have the kits all done, the goody bags all done and I just have to make the food in the morning and paint 6 more shadowboxes in the morning too.  No problem... 

For those of you coming tomorrow night please remember to come a half hour early!  I'm having appetizers and treats and I can show you all the new stuff coming in the store!  I'll also have your goody bags ready for you and I'll tell you about a special contest I'm doing!  So arrive about 6pm and the fun will start!!!

Thanks again for caring about my family.  You can pray for Rebecca, she's the one dealing with it the most right now. 

Take care and talk to you soon!

Laura

We've got the flu!!!

Yuck!  I thought flu season was over???  I took the Rebecca and Isabella in to the doctor this morning and the Dr. said they have the flu!  I knew something was up but I figured they just caught a little bug at school.  The Dr. said this flu strain was really going around out here and there wasn't much she could do about it.  They just need to be drinking lots of fluids and staying away from dairy products.  They're actually both doing a lot better today and will probably be fine by tomorrow but now I think I've been hit with it and don't feel so good.  It's one of those things that you try really hard to stay healthy so you can take care of your kids but then your body can only take so much... I will be fine by Thursday though!!!  NO way am I missing my shadowbox class that I've wanted to do for months and months!  I've been painting those things for days and I STILL have lots to go!  They take like 5 stinking coats of paint each!!!

So I promised some pictures and I don't want to disappoint...

The first is the birdhouse that I forgot to put the feet on.  Well, this is it with them on and I love it!

I think it really finishes it, don't you?

Then the project I was working on this weekend was a Clear Scraps album with their "funky" heart.  I did it for Victoria and her best friend and I used the Love, Elsie line that's really colorful.  I bought this stuff last summer when I was in Michigan having a full week of scrapbooking with my new sister! (miss you Dawn!) and I finally got around to using it.  I think it turned out fun and "funky".  Not my normal style but it was kinda fun to go a little edgy...

Then I told you about my littlest ones painting yesterday and inspiring me.  Well, I forgot to take a picture of what inspired me but it was basically a typical picture from a little girl that had grass, flowers, clouds and sun!  So this was my first take on it:

Then I remembered I had some left over Sassafras and wanted to play around with that and this is what I came up with...

I don't know which one I like better???  I guess i just think both are fun...  It was right in the middle of painting all those shadowboxes and I was getting bored with it!  I'm in my scrap room painting while I look around at all the fun stuff I could be working on and I had to stop and play a little...

Well, I'm off to bed early again.  I will try to focus on finishing the shadowboxes tomorrow.  Good night.

Laura

Getting ready for class this week...

Sorry I haven't posted since last week.  I've been all over San Diego looking for those darn shadowboxes since my local craft store didn't have any left!!!  I special ordered them and they still aren't in so finally I felt the need to go hunt them down!  I have 16 now but need a few more.

My two little ones have been sick too so I've been busy with them and trying not to get sick myself.  (hasn't worked real well...)  I'm going to bed early in hopes of my not catching it full-on.  I need to get them to the doctor in the morning and see what's going on so I'm not posting much tonight...

I do have some fun stuff to show you that I worked on over the weekend!  I will post it tomorrow some time if all goes well.  I did a Clear Scraps album over the weekend that's one of their "funky" hearts and I used pictures of my oldest daughter and her best friend with the fun Love, Elsie line!  I think it turned out pretty cute.  It's totally not my normal style but it was actually fun to let myself "go" a little and just really free style it! 

I also fixed the birdhouse and will post pictures of that.  And then, today I let the girls paint since they were home from school and I was painting all day (and so not done yet...).  They had so much fun and they are truly little artists.  I will post pictures of their "designs" tomorrow too!  In fact, one was so inspiring to me that I totally got side-tracked and made not one, but two canvases from the inspirational painting that my daughter did!  Wow, that was so cool...

Well, off to bed to try to feel a little better and be ready for the day ahead...

Laura

P.S.  I forgot to tell you that I posted some pictures on www.twopeasinabucket.com member gallery and my shadowbox is on the Top 10 list!  I was soooo excited to see it there so go check it out and VOTE for it!! That way it can stay in the TOP 10!!  It's under "member gallery" at the top and then go to the right of the page where it says "Top 10 by votes".  Vote for me please....(I feel like a presidential candidate :)-

Thanks ladies...

We had such a fun time tonight at my house!  I love having you guys over and it was great to see some of you that I haven't seen in a while!  Those who weren't able to come, we miss you and hopefully we'll see you at the next one!  I thought I'd post a couple pictures of the class....

I'll let you know when the next home class is so you can join in on the fun!  I don't think I'll be teaching a home class in May because I'll be out of town (Vegas w/hubby) around the middle of the month and I think I'm teach 3 times at It's About Time in May!(wow, that's alot???)  For Mother's Day I'm teaching the "Domestic Goddess" class:

Then for the National Scrapbook Weekend, May 2, at IAT I'm teaching the "Life is Beautiful" wall hanging:

Then I'm teaching the Theresa Collins "Bella" line with a Cosmo Cricket "Abby" Album (I'm working on this tomorrow and will post this weekend hopefully!) on the 22nd of May.  Oh my goodness, I'm teaching 4 times at IAT in MAY!!!???  Wow, I'm going to be busy in May!  The last Thursday in May I'm teaching a wood flower garden altered art thingy... I have those coming in the mail to me soon and can't wait to play with that!

In June I want to teach my birdhouse but don't know where:

Oh, and I have "feet" for the birdhouse that I forgot to put on so I'll try to fix that tomorrow and put new pictures up of that. 

Then I'm also teaching a "Dad class at IAT on June 12th, right before Fathers Day and that's going to be a special canvas class!  I'm excited about doing this as a class.  I love to play around with canvas and different mediums so this will be a great Father's Day gift for sure! 

And lastly in June I have a class on the 26th at IAT that will be a 4th of July themed project.  I want to make a picture tree for that!  More to come soon...

So, this gets you up to spead on my schedule through June.  Check back for exact dates and prices in my class schedule area of the blog and website!

Goodnight everyone!

Laura

P.S.  I'm still working on the "kit club" and I'm really excited about the theme ladies!  Let me know if you want to sign up.  I'm really trying to aim for May as the starting month!!! I'm going to start out small so the first month I might just do a couple dozen kits to see how it goes.  Let me know if you're interested and I can have a better idea of how many to go with.

Class tomorrow night...

Hi everyone!

It's been an emotional day today for me for some reason.  I don't even know any specific reason why I am emotional... Do you ever have those days where you cry for no apparent reason??  My husband just came in and asked me what was wrong and I couldn't even tell him what was the matter...  I feel such raw emotions. It's probably a 100 little things that added up and "spilled" over today.  I also think it's because I was watching a little of the "Idol gives back" tonight with one of my girls and it just got to me.  I feel so blessed to have a wonderful family, a wonderful home and wonderful life!  In fact I did a scrapbook layout today about how blessed I am and I'm using it for the bonus layout for tomorrows class.  Then I watch how there is soooo much poverty in OUR country and so much sadness in the world I guess I don't know what to feel.  Is it fair for me to be so happy when other people are suffering?  How do I show I care?  How do you show joy to people that have such sorrow?   All I know is that when I'm sad I cry.  I'm a crier.  But when I'm sad I also know that what helps me is to pray.  I know that I can always find comfort in the Lord and in His "peace that passes all understanding" Philippians 4:7.  What can I do for those who are hurting....I guess just Pray for them, show I care and try to bring a little joy to them however I can.

I wanted to post some pictures of the class tomorrow night at my home.  I'm doing two 12x12 layouts.  The first one if the new MMY party girl line:

And this one is the bonus layout I came up with today and I used the Scenic Route line:

Have a good night everyone.  I'm going to go watch a movie with my awesome hubby and I'll be back to my happy self in the morning, I promise!

Laura

Think it's working now!

Thanks to everyone who tried to post a comment on my blog while I was trying to see what was going on..  I think it's back to working.  Please post again or email me if you had any problems or had it bounced back to you.  I had Lance look at it last night but everything seems to be working now.  We changed the email address that Typepad is hooked up to to my [email protected] so hopefully things will run smoothly now.

I've been working on an album I've wanted to do for a long time and finally finished it about midnight last night!  Then I finally went to bed after that, got nice and comfy in bed and my dear hubby comes upstairs, plops down on the bed and starts telling me about his day!  Hello, I'm tired!!!  (He's a night owl...) So I'm trying to be nice, "I'm really tired, I might not hear all your saying... I'm half asleep already..." and he's telling me how he's been thinking tonight that he feels bad when he tells the kids, "He's busy... I'll do it later."  He came to the realization that he's ALWAYS going to be busy and that since that's the case he needs to remind himself that when the kids or I ask him to help with something or have a question he needs to take the time right then.  (Ya, I picked a good one :) So now,  I'm feeling bad that I told him I didn't really want to talk right now...Now I'm totally awake and in the conversation.  He's a great Dad and tells the girls everyday how much he loves them and is so proud of them but he is a busy guy and we don't spend as much time together as a family as we should.  We do need to try to have more dinners together, it's just so hard with all the kids activities and with me teaching more and busy designing.  Life is busy like, but we don't have much time with our kids before they are grown and out of the house so we do need to stop and take the time when they need us now.

So about that album I finished!  I fell in LOVE with the line of Christmas papers by Brenda Walton last December and wanted to do something with them.  At the time I was making the Clear Scraps Christmas house with the Basic Grey "Figgy Pudding" line but when I saw the fun colors of the Brenda Walton line I new I'd have to do it with those at some time.  Well, I was pushed to do it now because I saw that Scrapbook Trends was having a call for their Holiday 2008 idea book and the deadline was today!  (nothing like a last minute girl...) So I took pictures of it last night around midnight and submitted it this morning.  Wish me luck!! Here are a few pictures of it:

"Tis The Season":

Well,  I need to go and organize my scrapbook room!  It's such a disaster, you have NO IDEA!  Truth be told...the last two projects I've been working on had to be done OUTSIDE the scrapbook room because there wasn't any space available!!!  I'd take pictures of it but I'm too embarresed!  I have my wonderful cleaning lady over today and I asked her if she could organize our bedroom closet for me since I haven't gotten to it in months!  It's been one of those things that just drains on me every time I think about it and she did such a wonderful job in less than two hours!  I was dreading that job for months!  Thanks Christy!  Now can you do my garage???

I'm still trying to work on the "Kit Club" for May... It's harder to start then I thought so I'm still working out the details...

Let me know if you have any ideas for a theme for the blog again!  That was so much fun and I'd love to do another place but I'd love to hear your ideas too! 

Take care,

Laura

Can you do me a favor???

I'm having problems with my typepad account and the email that's tied to it.  I've had a few people tell me they can't post a comment on my blog or send me an email.  If anyone has a minute to try posting a comment on here I would appreciate it!  Let me know if you did by emailing me at: [email protected] or [email protected].  Thanks so much!  I will try to get this figured out tonight when my hubby comes home.  He's the computer whiz, not me...

Laura

"Our Nest"...

Hi again...

Just had to post some pictures of this project I just finished!  It was just one of those Sunday afternoon projects that you've wanted to do for a while but never get the time.  Usually I don't like to "work" on Sunday so after church and some down time with the family I like to "play".  Well, this lasted more than a couple hours but I just got done, took some quick photos and thought I'd post it before I go to bed.  I found this wood birdhouse at a local craft store and it just caught my eye.  I new it had potential even though it wasn't originally meant for "scrapbooking".  I'm so into altering things lately and so I used the brand new "Graphic 45" line of papers and it turned out soooo cute!  I've been using the photo's from my Uncles wedding left and right but who cares!  I actually cut up a couple different photos and collaged them together with pop dots to make some of the photos stand out farther then the others.  Anyways, here's some photos...

I'm going to call it, "OUR NEST..."

These are soooo my favorite colors together.  In fact this was supposed to be the colors of my kitchen until we changed our minds the day before the granite guy was going to install our counter-tops.  Maybe the next house...

Goodnight everyone!  You probably won't even see this until tomorrow but I'm the only one up this late and had to share with someone!  (I don't think hubby would like it if I woke him up right now just to show him this...)

Laura 

Au revoir Paris...

This has been a fun week!  I loved sharing some Paris memories with you, some of my favorite things about Paris and having my first contest!!!  This is the start of something ladies!  I can't just end it here... I'm going to think up the next theme soon!  Let me know what your thoughts of the prize are too!  I loved the shadowbox frame and new it was just the thing to make a Paris collage in!  Like I said to Heather, just because you've never been somewhere doesn't mean you can't scrapbook about it!

Before I forget, I wanted to post a few things that I forgot about during the week.  I gave you a great recipe from Ina Garten and I wanted to know if anyone had tried it out yet??  It's from her book titled Barefoot in Paris and it's a wonderful book!  I think I got it as Costco so go check it out!

The other thing that I wanted to let everyone know is that I finally got the recipe for my favorite dessert!!!  I couldn't believe it when I was checking my emails last week and I had one from Ken at Emerils restaurant in Vegas, Delmonico's Steakhouse!!! I mean I was jumping up and down...this is monumental ladies!!!  My favorite dessert and now I can have it whenever I want!!!  Oh, wait....maybe that's not such a good thing???  If I "grow"  in the next couple months you will know why!!! hee-hee...

O.K.  last Paris story and them I'll move on...  As you know we traveled for half a year straight.  Well, we were getting kinda maingy and we all needed hair cuts.  We were in Paris and didn't really know where to go but Lance had been out doing some stuff and came across "Toni and Guy".  I guess he went inside to check it out and liked what he saw so he made us all appointments for the following day.  I'd never heard of them before be I think he had so I was cool with it. (He dated a hair stylist before me...oh, well)  Anyways, we go to the salon around 2pm and they great us in French, which we don't know so they found someone who could speak English.  She talked to us a little bit and then all four of us were introduced to our own hair stylist!  We each go back at the same time and before they start on me I make sure Rebecca's o.k. and I tell her stylist to just trim her hair.  She had a bob at the time and I said just to take it up an inch or so.  Victoria had longer hair but wanted a change so the stylist suggested a straight cut about shoulder level.  I said fine and she asked about getting a "couple" blond highlights and I figured just a couple for a little fun would be o.k.  Lance wanted just a trim and I wanted just a trim.  Well, I guess Toni and Guy is on the cutting edge of hair styling and we were quite surprised with the results! Here are some before and after pictures:

Rebecca's before - notice daddy's hair in the background...

And after!!

Can you believe it!  She had these sideswept bangs that looked great but lasted about a minute before she got them out of her face!

Victoria's before.  Well sort of...she was getting tired of Daddy's camera constantly "on" for 5 months by then!

Victoria's After...

Our Victoria emersed in the French way of life... hee-hee

Daddy and Rebecca posing at dinner after our haircuts...

He had such a trendy, cool hairstyle!  We've tried to have people re-create this but it's never happened. 

My new do...

They cut so much of my hair out I was affraid I wasn't going to have much left.  But, I did learn a trick from them that day that I still use to this day!  For those of us who aren't blessed with full, thick hair try this tip for fuller looking hair:  When you're done blowing your hair dry, flip you head upside down and take a can of aresol hair spray and spray your hair as your blowing the hairdryer through your hair.  Flip back up.  (if you want to scare your kids, leave your hair as is and tell them your ready to take them to school now and watch the horror in their eyes!!!  I live for this stuff!)  Now take a brush and lightly brush your hair back into your style.  It will be much more "fluffy" and give your hair a fuller/thicker appereance!

Here we are outside of the salon.  Notice it's dark outside... We were there for a very, very long time but it was a fun day of pampering!   

It was such a once-in-a-lifetime experience with our kids and one that none of us will ever forget!   The whole trip was a wonderful experience and a time for just our little family to be together.  We really were so blessed to have this chance to travel with our girls.  It makes me a little sad that we didn't have Isabella at the time but maybe someday we can do a mini version with her too! 

I hope all of you enjoyed my Paris theme.  I'd love to hear what theme you'd like next... Post a comment with any ideas!

Enjoy your Sunday evening and I'll chat again soon!

Laura

And the winner is...

  O.k...before I spill the beans I want to say thank-you to all of you who participated!  It was fun to re-live the days in Paris!  I can't wait to go back next summer!!!  And just with my hubby this time!  I can't believe we are almost to our 20th wedding anniversary. (I was a baby when we got married :)-

Well, here is the winning entry..."I too, like another one of your readers, have never been to Paris. I do have one fond memory when I see pictures of the Eiffel Tower....my amazing husband. I know it sounds crazy, but my wedding ring resembles the tower itself. I have always loved the looks of the Eiffel Tower so when my husband proposed 2 years ago, the ring reminded me of it. Everywhere I go people tell me this.." Congratulations to Heather England!

And here is a picture of the beautiful wedding ring:

Now doesn't that look like she's got a very romantic husband!??  I love your ring Heather and your story and someday you will definately have to go to Paris, but that is not the prize!! (sorry)  The prize is something I came up with that I think you will like.  I made up one with pictures of my daughter in it so you could see an example of what it could look like.  You will be getting everything you see, except for her pictures!  This can be for any of your photos but I figured since my theme for the whole week was Paris, I'd make the sample with Paris photos.  I think it would be adorable if you put a picture of your ring, the Eiffel Tower and the two of you!  Just because you've never been somewhere doesn't mean you can scrapbook about it!  Hope you like it:

Here is a side view of the shadowbox:

So Heather, email my your address and I'll send everything out to you soon!  Thanks again to everyone!  This has been so much fun I think I'm going to do this again!  Maybe I'll have a monthly contest if everyone wants to!

I'm working on a big project tonight so I'm going to post my final story about Paris tomorrow.  I will leave you with a couple pictures from Paris that I changed to sepia tone for the contest project:

This one is in front of Notre Dame

My goofy attempt at looking like I fit in as I eat at a Parisian cafe:

Au revoir!

Laura

 

Last chance to enter Contest!!!

Just a quick reminder that I'm going to announce the winner tonight!  You still have some time to get your entry in!  Remember, it's not necessary to have been to Paris, I just want to hear what inspires you when you think of Paris.  Is it the Eiffel Tower, the croissants, the beautiful architecture, or the Louvre???  Share what you think about when you dream about Paris!!  I'll give you until 6pm tonight to enter your post here on the blog and then I'll announce the winner later tonight! 

I'm working on the prize right now and it's going to be a really special prize! I'm making one to show you that I'm going to give my oldest daughter Victoria for her Birthday!  (She's at CYT practice for Robin Hood right now, so she doesn't know what I'm doing...)

I'll also post one last story about our fun trip to Paris tonight...

Good luck!!!

  Laura

I'm off to get my car fixed...

I need to hurry because I'm getting my car washed before I get it fixed. (I know, I'm weird!)  The hubcap part of one of the wheels fell off a while back and I had to order another one and they've had it at the dealership for a while and they sent me a final notice that I have to come it to get it or they'll send it back!  So I want the car to look nice and shiny before I get it put back on.  And, my carwash it next to a nail salon so I'm going to treat myself to a pedicure while I wait for my car to get washed!  Yeah me...(I don't do this very often so I'm excited!!)

Thanks to the ladies who came to my class last night!  We had a fun time and I'll say it again but I LOVE to see how every does their albums deferently.  I'm a big "one-of-a-kind" girl so when I do my kits their not always exactly like the sample.  I tell everyone this ahead of time in my class "blurb" but it's mostly because all how most of the product comes in packages of multiple things.  I'd have to buy 50 packages or more just to get each kit exactly the same.  But I'm so impressed with how all of you make it your own!  It's so fun for me to see that creativity!  I always forget to take my camera and I want to take pictures of your albums!  I will try to remember next time!

I need to get moving but I wanted to make sure everyone is posting their comment for the Paris CONTEST!! I'm announcing the winner tomorrow night on here so get your post in before it's done! 

My Louvre story...

Before I get into my story I want to let you know that I got the package "AS I WAS LEAVING FOR THE CLASS!!!"  Can you believe how nerve racking that was!!  I looked at my door-front about a dozen times today!  I was so happy!!!  All is forgiven and the class was great!  I had more people sign up to do boy albums than girl ones so that's why I was freaking out about the clear swirls!  I want to say a big thank you to Lisa by the way.  She's one of the owners of It's About Time and she is such a great lady and fun to talk to!!  I think we could talk all day and still have more to talk about!

So onto my Louvre story quickly because it's 11:30pm and I'm getting tired.

Most of you know that we traveled for half a year with our girls which makes it a little hard because there were things that us adults wanted to do but they weren't so excited about.  So we tried to make it fun for them and fun for us.  One of the ideas I had heard was from a great book about a family that took a year off and traveled with their kids.  The book is called "One Year Off: Leaving It All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children by David Elliot Cohen.  Even if you never plan to do this, read the book, it's a fun read!  Anyways, I'm pretty sure I got this idea from them...  When you go to a museum with your kids, go first to the bookstore/gift shop.  Let the kids pick out postcards or bookmarks of several paintings or sculptures that are AT THE MUSEUM(a must). Then, you make the whole museum a huge "look and find" / treasure hunt!!!  Is that cool or what???  They ate it up and were into it like I'd never seen before!  We even added a little bonus to the person who found all theirs first. (they both got to actually...)So here are some pictures of the girls with so much excitement when they found their "treasure"!

Notice the Beret hat!!

That was really a fun day for all of us and one I won't forget.  It's a great tip if you ever go to any museum with kids.

My other story is about my dorky husband.  We were still at the Louvre in an area where they had some of Michelangelo's sculptures when we went around a corner and there was an empty wall space/indent where whatever sculpture was supposed to be there wasn't.  Well, Lance decided that we should all get UP INTO this area and POSE like we were the sculpture!   (Mommy wasn't liking this idea!)  So he's got the kids up there and he's taking pictures of them, then he wants me to get up there and I don't want to but I do.  Then he gets up there and wants me to take a picture!  All the while I'm worried we're going to get kicked out of the LOUVRE!! 

 

David, he is not! But I love him still!  Well, we didn't get kicked out but we did get a few ugly stares!  I will say that it was one of the memorable days in Paris though and it's fun to relive a little with you guys!

Here's one last photo from the Louvre.  And if you're ever in Paris but don't think you'd go to the Louvre because you're not into art.  Well, go anyways because it's like walking into a History book and it really opens up the world to you in ways you can't imagine!

Go onto their website and check it out! http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en.  I was amazed how large this place is and how beautiful the grounds are.

So keep posting your comments for the CONTEST!  You only have two more days!  I want to hear from all of you what your favorite thing about Paris is. Even if you've never been, what is the thing you think of when you think of Paris, France!

Goodnight everyone!  Chat with you tomorrow. 

Laura   

Getting ready for my class - ugh!

I'm not happy... I ordered some Prima swirls on ebay way over a week ago for my class tonight and I still haven't received them!!!  My class is tonight and I hope them show up!  I emailed the lady last night to ask for tracking number and all she said was she wasn't shipping from 4/9 - 4/14... hello, she should have sent them a long time before that right??  I've been all over town looking for these and no-one seems to have them.  I even called Prima since they're local and asked if they had some at the warehouse and I could drive there and get them.  Nope, over-sold them...  (although she did talk to me about being a PrimaDonna teacher, which sounds cool...)  So, mailman, pleeeaaaassseeee come today with a package!!!!!

The other bummer thing today was my ebay listing was shut down???  I got an email saying they shut down my listing because it violated there rules??? What the heck??  So I check and see that the reason is because I listed my blog and website on my listing?? I didn't know that was "illegal"??  Oh well, it's not like I have tons of time to sell my stuff on eBay anyways.  I was thinking about trying Etsy anyways.  Does anyone know if you can't "plug" your blog on Etsy???

Well, I have to pick up the girls from school and get ready for the class but I wanted to post really quickly.  I have some pictures I'll post after the class tonight from our trip to Paris.  Cindy, these pictures and stories are for you!  We went to the Louvre with the girls and we actually played a game with them there!  We also have a very silly daddy and I have some pictures of us doing some crazy stuff at the Louvre of all places!  Check back tonight!

Keep those posts coming too for the contest!  I might give you a sneak peek on what the winner gets even!  Remember, I want to hear your "love of anything Paris" stories!!

Laura

Tired...but happy

I was up until 1am last night getting some work done and even after I was in bed my mind wouldn't shut off!  Don't you hate that when that happens??  Then I feel like I've gotta go potty again, so I get up, go potty, try to go back to bed and my mind is still thinking of all I have to do, what I want to do and new ideas for projects, etc. etc... and then I feel like I might have to go potty AGAIN!  What is the deal with that?? (sorry, probably too much information...) Blame my lack of couthness on the lack of sleep.

I'm working on getting everything done for the book today.  I need to have every "step-out" written, supplies of each step-out in a seperate bag, a bio, headshot and supply list sent off today!  I want this to be an awesome book so I'm trying really hard to have my instructions be very consise and to the point but you know how I talk, so it's hard.  And how do you come up with a two-line bio about yourself?? Can't someone else right it??  I feel so weird talking about how "lovely" I am???  It's just not right...

But on to brighter subjects, like Paris!  This week was supposed to be all about my love for Paris.  I did want to share some websites I've found that have lovely things relating to Paris so I'll share them with you now!  I didn't have a chance to go through my own mementos from there but maybe later in the week I'll try to. 

So this first website is so beautiful, I dont' really know much about this company but how can you resist the beautiful things they have??  http://www.laylagrayce.com/V_french_market.aspx.  Check out their whole site, everything is so pretty!  This next one is more of the Paris souvenier shop.  It has some really cute stuff though!  I bought the heart w/wings necklace and the Paris tags! http://www.kristengrace.com/souvenirs.html. 

O.k., my last website is soooo cool!  Some of you know that I'd like to move to Colorado.  Well, when I was looking at websites for Paris stuff I stumbled on this website...I can't believe this is in the SAME town I was looking at in Colorado to move!!! Oh My Goodness!  (I just figured this out guys...) This is a "Paris" themed flee market!!!  I am SO going there!!!  Sorry Lance, we need to make that trip to Colorado this summer after all!  O.k. are you ready.... check this site out!http://www.aparisstreetmarket.com/index.html  How awesome is this and how fun would it be to go with a group of girls!!! Wait Lance, you can't come... Mel, we need to get a group of girls to go!!! Pick one of the dates and I'm there!  The girls from Junk Beautiful are going to be there signing their new book on May 3!  http://www.junkmarketstyle.com/index.php?pageID=13  Life is so full of wonderful things!

Well, I do have work to do so I will leave you with a few pictures from our Paris "fling" a few years ago.  The day we arrived and were met my the guy who we were renting from I noticed the rain wasn't actually rain.  He said no, it's rain but by the time we were shown our apartment and he was talking to us inside and showing us around, I looked out the window and it WAS SNOW!  He couldn't believe it because it hadn't snowed in like 10 years!  Well, after we were done with him I told Lance, "lets get in a taxi and go to the Eiffel Tower now!"  So we drove straight there and by the time we got there it was this bad!  We were in the middle of a major snow storm!  I have such great memories from this day!  We were giggling, we had so much fun!  (We're from So. Cal people!)  This first picture is so cute with Victoria's tongue sticking out, I had to show it.  You can see the snow of the signs and the ground on the other pictures.  We weren't able to go up the tower that day b/c they had to close it down due to the snow!  We ended up going to the Eiffel Tower three days in a row and finally on the third day we were able to go up inside.   

Last thing before I get some real work done!  I want to have a CONTEST this week!!!  I want everyone to post a comment on the blog and tell me what's your favorite thing about Paris.  You don't ever have to have been there to love the Paris!  It might be a favorite French movie, French food or your favorite Paris inspired item!  I want to hear them all!  I'm going to give away something special to 1 lucky winner on Saturday!  So let me hear all your stories!

Take care everyone!

Laura

 

Class this Thursday!

Hello again!  (or should I say Bonjour or will that bug you by now...)

I wanted to remind everyone about the class this Thursday at It's About Time.  I'm doing the baby album class and it can be for a boy or girl.  Just call the store at 304-3422 and let them know if you want to sign up.  I also have pictures of my homeclass up in the schedule area so check that out too!

For those of you who are reading this blog from outside So. Cal, you can get my class kits through my website or just post a comment on my blog with your email address and I can send one to you.  I'm trying to get a section on my website where I post all the kits I have available from past classes.  I will try to do that today so you can check it out shortly.  And, if you purchase more than 1 class kit, I am going to be giving a discount.  Check it out at www.akissonthechic.com. These kits will come with a full color instructions sheet with the supplies.

I'm working on the Kit club as well as a newsletter so things are definately busy around the McCollough household!  I want the kit club to be so cute you're not going to want to miss out so I've been searching for very unique things!  I feel like I'm running out of time for this to be ready for May, but we'll see. 

Wow, I just realized I have to pick up the girls from school!!!  Where does the time fly??  I will leave you with a few of my favorite Paris things...

This is a vintage poster of Grace Kelly in a silhouette of Taittinger Champagne from France.  We bought this poster and it's going in our living room, I just haven't had time to have it framed!

Isn't it cool?  I love the look of vintage posters and there are some really great ones out there! 

I also wanted to show you guys some of the websites that I love that have "Paris" inspired goodies.  I'll have to post those later tonight since I have 2 minutes until Victoria gets out of school!  Oh, speaking of Victoria... she tried out for Robin Hood through CYT and she got a part!  She's been talking about acting for years and she finally tried out and now she is soooo excited she can't think of much else!

Gotta run...

Laura

Bonsoir...

Well, I didn't get a chance to give you more of my Paris finds today.  I needed to finish a layout for an upcoming class and update my class schedule on my blog.  Now you can check out the latest class schedule though!  I've updated it and you can email me and let me know what classes you want to take.  For those of you who aren't close by but would love a kit of any of my classes please let me know, I usually have a few extras.  In fact, I'm going to try and get orgazined with all my past classes and put them up on my webstie under the shopping button.  That way, I can let everyone know what class kits I have left and you can email me if you want one.  Pretty soon, I will be using that section of my website for the "kit club" so I'll have to put the past kits up on Etsy or bring them into It's About Time. So, my title for the post is "Bonsoir" which means Good evening, and I wanted to leave you with one of my favorite "comfort foods" from France. It's called a "Croque Monsiur".  I enjoyed this for dinner while in Paris as often as I could!  This is a very popular dish in France. It's a staple in most cafes and I've heard Ina Garten on the Food Network say "if you go into a cafe and they don't have a croque monsieur don't eat there, it should be a staple in every good French cafe". It's basically their version of a ham and cheese sanwich.  It does have ham and cheese, but it goes way beyond the American version since they top it with a melted cheese sauce, and then add more cheese on top of that! (Dawn, you would love this girlfriend!) How the french stay so thin is a mystery to me. They have way too many tempting delicacies.  Maybe it's all of the walking they do.  Or I've also heard they only take a few bits of everything on their plate. I am glad I don't live in France because I'm not a big fan of taking a few bites of anything, let alone something as tasty as a Croque Monsieur!  Here's a picture and the following recipe: Croque Monsieur

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups hot milk 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Pinch nutmeg 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups) 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan 16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed Dijon mustard 8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside. To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted. Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot and eat the whole thing would ya! Copy rights: Ina Garten, Barefoot in Paris Au revoir!

Bonjour!

Good morning everyone!  Just a quick Hi before I take the girls to school.  I was up and at 'em early this morning and I thought I would post a "Paris" things I love...

This is a Hanging Clock I found through Ballard Design!  LOVE IT!!

Chat with you later...gotta take the kids to school...

Laura

I'm in a Paris Mood!

I wasn't liking the banner I had so I changed it again!  I liked the girl kissing the guy but the whole thing wasn't working for me... and If you know me, then you know I LOVE Paris and what better thing to look at then the Eiffel Tower!  "Paris in the Springtime"... Lovely!

So to go with my "Paris Mood", I'm going to give you a "tour" through Paris this week.  I'll post my favorite things to do there, places to shop that there, pictures of me in Paris, my favorite French recipes and well... you get the idea!

To start things off, I'd like to share on of my favorite photos:

I'm going to go through my mementos from our trip and see what I can show you guys!  Have a great evening everyone!

Laura

Here's what I'm working on...

Happy Sunday everyone!

I've been working on a few projects and I can't wait to share them with you!  "It's About Time" in Murrieta asked me to do a "mini-class" for National Scrapbook Weekend and I wanted to do something you could hang up on your wall instead of a layout.  So I came up with this wall hanging:

"Life...is beautiful!"

The picture came out horribly and it looks much better in real life!  So this will be a class at their store on May 2, during the daytime.  They will be having all kinds of fun events the whole weekend so I'll be in there bugging you guys a lot!

The other projects I'm working on are for Clear Scraps.  I've finished a few albums and will give you a sneak peek... I'm going to be submitting a couple of them to magazines so I can't post it anywhere on-line... Here's my favorite...

"Whoo Do You Love??"

I love this guy!  I put pictures in it from my Uncles wedding last weekend.  I can't show much more because I'm submitting it but you'll hopefully be seeing more of it soon!

I also mentioned that Glitz Design bought my "Domestic Goddess" album so I was going to create another one for the class I was teaching on it.  Here's the finished album and you can sign up for that at It's About Time now.  I think it's going to be on May 8, right before Mother's Day.  This would be a great gift ladies!  I'm also going to change the title for those who would like "Domestic Diva" instead.

"Domestic Diva":

I'm working hard on the "kit club" details and would love to have that up and going by May!~  I've found some really great companies that have the CUTEST stuff!  Many of these I don't even think most of you have heard of so I'm excited to introduce you to them.   I will be making a project that will go along with the kit but also showing examples of other things you can do with the kits.  I want to have an area on my website that will also showcase YOU!  I'd love to see what you guys have made with the kits and this is something I'm trying to work out as well.  I would like to start an interest list so anyone that would be interested in the monthly kits, please email me or post a comment on my blog.  I'm going to start small so I don't overwhelm myself!

Oh, the Clear Scraps book is coming out soon!  I've just finished giving Design Originals all that they need and I think it will go into printing very soon!  I'm soooo excited and can't wait to see the finished book!  I'll let you know where you can get it as soon as I have all the details!

I hear Isabella getting into trouble so I better go....

Laura

Well, the new is...

Glitz Design bought one of my designs!  I'm so excited I just had to tell everyone!!!  Janet and Jackie from Clear Scraps saw my post with the "Domestic Goddess" album and asked me if they could show the girls at Glitz.  Of course I said "YES" and they liked it so much they asked me if they could buy the design so they could teach it themselves!! It is such an honor when people say nice things about your work so when it's coming from a company that you like so much too, it's pure joy!  I think they are traveling around promoting their product line and they plan to teach this "Domestic Goddess" album as one of their classes!

So here's the deal... I just talked with Laura from Glitz Design today and she wanted to let me know that they are going to be giving away a "Domestic Goddess" album kit FOR FREE on their blog to promote the new class!  Everyone interested can go to their website at: http://www.glitzitnow.com/ or their blog at: http://glitzitnow.blogspot.com/ to sign up to enter the contest!!!  Here's a picture of the album one last time on my blog:

Go check out Glitz Design!  They have such a cute product line and their "frosting" is the best!  Also check out Clear Scraps, that's the company that sells the acrylic house I used for this design!  They have a huge selection of acrylic shapes and albums!  Their website is:  www.clearscraps.com.

On to other things...

If you've noticed, I've changed my blog around a little.  I felt it was time to "re-decorate the house."  If any of you know me, I do this at my house too!  I can't keep things the same for very long.  I usually change the decor in my home with the seasons and it's flowing over into my online "homes" as well!  My website is also going to get a make-over soon!  Most of you know that my husband's business designs websites, www.prosites.com, and even though it's mostly for the medical industry they make custom websites as well!  The website I have right now was made in a few hours with their unique web engine design tool.  I needed something quick before CHA in February so that's what we came up with as fast as we can.  We still have plans to make a very stylish website for "A Kiss On The Chic" and I'm starting to find really cute images for it.  So anyways, the image at the top of my blog is one I found yesterday that I thought symbolized my name and I thought I'd try it out here.  I also changed the name of my blog to my business name so that they would flow together better.  I've noticed when checking out other blogs, people don't have their name as the blog title.  That's why I decided to change to blog and take my name off and put "A Kiss On The Chic" instead.  Hope you like it.  I value any input from you guys.  I'm just learning this whole "blog" thing so any help is much appreciated!

I'm still working on some projects that I can't wait to finish and take pictures of!  I left you hanging last week with hopes of pictures but I don't have any yet...  I had lots of family plans this past weekend and into Monday so I didn't get things done.  My Unlce Morrie got married on Saturday in Palm Springs and my littlest was one of the flower girls!  She looked so beautiful and we had a great time so I thought I'd post a few pictures of us from the wedding to hold you over until I get my projects done!

I'm working hard this week to get some projects done so I will let you see some things very soon!  I've learned my lesson not to give an exact date now.  I hate looking on my blog and seeing where I've said "I'll let you know tomorrow" and then tomorrow goes by and there's nothing there!  So from now on, no promises unless I know that I can deliver on them!  I appologize for that. 

Oh, one more thing!  I am working on getting something new going for my website and blog and I will tell you what that is.....  I'm starting a "kit a month" club!!!!  I'm really excited and can't wait to get the details worked out.  I won't start this month but I will try really hard to have it up for May!  I have to say this wouldn't be possible without all of you!  I love all you guys and appreciate all the  people who support my love of scrapbooking!

Chat with soon!

Laura