A Kiss on the Chic

Love, Tuesday...

Before I forget.... let me announce the WINNER of last weeks RAK!

 

Robin H!!!  

 

Congrats Robin!!!  Threadsofmemory is her blog and I just checked it out and it's LOVELY!!!  

So congratulations Robin, send me your info and I will get out a nice prize to you soon!

 

I haven't had a chance to check out all the blogs that YOU ladies have!  I was SO excited to see that you have blogs and I will promise to come by and visit them very soon!  I will also be adding them on MY blog on the right hand side and I hope to see my blog on yours as well.  :)

Oh, I was on my iGoogle this morning and my Google Reader had the Making Memories Blog listed on the top and OH MY...  You HAVE to go check it out today!  They have pictures from Jill Schwartz's studio and it is AMAZING!!  I just want to go re-do my tiny scraproom now...  Hers is just beautiful!!  Go check it out if you have a minute today.

Ok, I didn't blog yesterday because I was trying to stay away from scrapbooking, but I just couldn't...

Why you ask??

Well,  I can't tell you have excited I am because I got one of these...

This is an UNBELIEVABLE machine!!  It's a Cricut Imagine!

So you can "imagine" how much fun I'm having trying to figure things out and start PLAYING!!! :)-   I think I may run over to my "beloved" Barnes & Noble (you would be laughing if you new the back story to this, but that's the ONLY book store in town!) and see if I can get this:

Did you know that there was a Cricut magazine??  I just found out not too long ago and since I have an Expression and now an Imagine, I plan to check out this magazine AND submit some designs soon!!  

So this whole thing about taking 2 days off from my scrappiness... it's probably not happening this week.  

I also want to head over to Ikea this week and see about getting a new table for my scrap room.  I've been working on a folding table for WAY too long!  I saw a GORGEOUS work table in the Ballard Design catalog but I don't want to spend that much money...  Don't you just {LOVE} that magazine though!  I have drooled over that magazine for as long as we've been married!  I also need to figure out some storage solutions and I'm hoping I can make EVERYTHING fit in ONE ROOM!  I still have too much stuff in my spare bedroom and I really want to clear that out so it can go back to being a guest room!  

Over the weekend and last Thursday we had some fun things happen in our house that I thought I'd quickly share...

First off, last Thursday Victoria took her drivers test... and PASSED!!  She was SO nervous and didn't think she was going to pass (I didn't pass my first time :) but she DID!!  I'm SO proud of her and even though I'm really NERVOUS now, I'm confident she will take her time and be a good driver!  She's got a GREAT head on her shoulders and to prove it, she told me that even though she HAS her license, she doesn't feel ready to drive by herself so she wants to keep driving with us until she feels more confident!!  Love it!

I thought I had a picture of her driving on my computer, but I think it's still on my phone.  I'll share it later this week...

And then on Friday night there was a Father/Daughter "Masquerade Ball" at Rebecca's school!  It was something for all the girls at school to be able to do but I really felt it should be a special time with just ONE girl at a time.  So I told Isabella it was going to be just Rebecca and Daddy this year and next year she could have that time.  So here's a few pictures of Lance and Rebecca before they left:

BTW, Lance's beard is coming off tomorrow!!  I can't WAIT... lol  It was something all the guys at his office did for some March Madness thing, but I didn't like it much and am ready for it to be gone!  

Poor Lance's mask it a poor quality plastic mask from Michaels and Rebecca's is hers from Venice, Italy that she picked out when she was 4 years old and we traveled the world for half a year!  Not quite matching... But the real mask we have from Venice is too girly so I had to improvise! 

Our Rebecca is growing up before our eyes!  I look at pictures from JUST last Summer and she looks SO different now...  What a beautiful girl INSIDE & OUT!  She has such a love for her Lord and a heart for others, I'm such a blessed Mama!!

Well, one last picture...  I don't know if you have noticed the little "wristlet" that she is wearing?  It's something I made in about 15 minutes before she was headed out the door!  We didn't even think to get her a corsage for the dance (we meaning I) so I quickly made this with some lace and trims and "Blingage"  from Teresa Collins

Here's a close-up:

Not too shabby for a last minute gift...

And not to leave Isabella out...  this morning SHE decided she wanted to walk from the car to the playground by HERSELF!  I usually take her to the gate and kiss her goodbye and walk back to the car.  Well today we parked the car and she told me she wanted to walk across the cross walk and down the walkway to the gate ALL BY HERSELF!  I told her she was my BABY and I wasn't ready for it...  But she just laughed and was on her way!  Of course I stayed right by the cross walk and watched her (and there's a lady at the cross walk AND it's fenced off so no cars can drive through there anyways) all the way to the playground.  But the sad thing is, she didn't even look back once to say bye or wave...  Boohoo  

Well I'm off to get some work done around the house and get some groceries today. Victoria has been working out and loosing weight and has a grocery list for me!  :)

Don't forget to stop on by my Etsy Shop!  I've got some GREAT new items in there and will be adding more soon!!  

Here's a SNEAK at a little project that will be in my Etsy Shop soon:

And I'll also be adding a few class kits in there from all the classes I've shown you lately.  This will be a VERY limited amount (like 3-5 max) so if you've seen any recent class kits of mine that you're interested in, go check those out too!

Have a GREAT Tuesday,

Laura 

A GREAT Mail Day! (and a RAK)

Guess what I got in the mail??

 

They sent it to me because...  I'm IN IT!!  

So exciting!  AND...I was SO happy to see that one of my designs is in there next to Emeline Seet!  Remember Emeline from my "A Kiss on the Chic"  Kit club?  Well she's in this issue too!  I'm feeling SO blessed to be in here with SO many of my crafty friends!  Donna Salazar is in there, Lucy Edson is in there BIG time, and I'm sure many more friends... I've only opened it up a bit.  I think it's on the news stands April 1st, but maybe it's already out??  Go check it out, this really is one of the best issues I've seen in a while and it's not because I'm in it... lol... It's VERY artsy and everything I {heart}!!

 

Remember how I'm taking my classes on the ROAD??

Well,  I want to share a SNEAK of the Wesbter's Pages Class I'll be teaching at Melrose Vintage in Arizona!  I showed you SNEAKS of the "History of Us" Notations Class that will be on Friday, April 29th at Melrose Vintage...(you can see those on a post below) Now here is the "Box of Finds" class that will be on Saturday April 30th at Melrose Vintage:

It's a Wooden Cigar Box we will be distressing and making PRETTY and a beautiful "shabby" album that I will share how to make from hand!  We will be using Donna Salazar's Distress it All and her corrugated paper!  It's a GREAT class with LOTS of techniques so I hope you can come out for these 2 classes at the end of April in Phoenix, Arizona!!!  I will give you exact details when I know more on pricing and times, but you can call Melrose Vintage to sign up NOW at (602) 636-0300!

I had a GREAT phone call yesterday!  A "blog stalker" called me!  No, I wasn't afraid... lol...  I KNOW I have LOTS of ladies who read my blog because I can see my stats!  What I  also know is a LOT of YOU ladies don't leave comments!!!  That's totally fine, but I do {HEART} hearing from you.  *hint, hint*(see below RAK)  Well, this darling lady follows my blog and we had a GREAT conversation!  I can't say what it was about, but I will tell you it was SO FUN talking to her and it may end of turning out to be something REALLY COOL!!  (stay tuned...)

One last thing... I've been CREATING like crazy since I can remember and even though that is a "GOOD THING" as Martha Stewart says, it's also a very tiring thing.  I really could just close myself off in my scrap room and do this NON-STOP, but I have a life!  lol...  So I've decided to plan my days better.  Instead of just trying to quickly get "life" stuff done so I can CREATE, I need to have more balance.  I've decided to SCHEDULE days where I CREATE and feel perfectly fine doing so and then days where I DON'T CREATE.  (that's the hard part :)  I need to have days where I don't even walk into my scrap room so I can focus on home stuff.  So I plan on making TWO days a week that I don't step into my scrap room, I don't blog about it, I don't upload anything to galleries.... etc, etc... you get the point.  I haven't decided what days will work best, but I'm thinking Tuesdays and Thursdays?  I'll let you know how this goes... 

Now about that RAK...

Like I said, I {LOVE} hearing from YOU!  I know I have hundreds of you checking out my blog every day but I know you don't leave comments.  SO...  I am going to do a RAK that will hopefully compel you to LEAVE A COMMENT!  Now I'm going to open this up to EVERYONE to leave a comment, but I'm going to be looking for comments from ladies who I haven't heard from before.  I try to respond to comments as much as I can so PLEASE SAY HI!  

I will have a GREAT RAK with NEW goodies for one lucky person on Next Tuesdays post!  So leave a comment and say HI and if YOU have a blog I would LOVE you to tell me what it is so I can go say HI to you too!  (no worries if you don't have one, still leave a comment)  I'd also LOVE to put YOUR blog on my blog!  So anyone that has a blog, please leave a comment, say HI, tell me YOUR blog address and if you want, please add MY BLOG to your blog!  We will just be linking up like crazy and sharing the love... :)

Are you game?

Have a GREAT Wednesday!

Laura

 

Love, Tuesday...

I have been a bad friend.  I haven't told you about someone who has become a friend and has helped me out TREMENDOUSLY!

Her name is Viola Mahr and she is such a dear young lady who VERY generously offered her help to me for FREE!  That doesn't happen much in these days.  But that's Viola.  She is a beautiful young lady of only 18 years old who has WAY more talent then her years.  She is SO talented, you have to check out the link above to see her blog!  She is talented in many areas as you will see if you check out her blog, but what she helped ME with is...

My BLOG!

Yes, what you see outside this box I'm typing in is HER! 

I guess she follows my blog somewhat and when I needed help a few months back with my blog and asked for help, she emailed me as said she could help!  She was SO sweet and we worked together for a couple weeks to come up with what you see now.  It was such a pleasant experience and that's because she is such a wonderful, sweet person!

So she is talented with designing blogs, banners, and computer related stuff that I have NO CLUE on, but she's also talented within the ARTSY world too!  Take a look at just a couple of her designs:

I don't go check out blogs often b/c I'm so busy, but Viola's blog just WOW's me every time I take a peek!  She is just SO TALENTED!!

Now I don't know if she's going to start offering to re-do blogs or banners or websites for people as a business, but SHE SHOULD!  If you need a re-do or a whole blog set up I would email her and see if you can work something out with her!  She is REALLY a truly beautiful person and I feel SO blessed that she came to ME and helped me when I really needed it!  Thank you Viola, you are the BEST!

Viola does have an Etsy shop and I would LOVE for you to check it out and go do some shopping or just say HI to her!  And if you leave a comment on her blog, tell her Laura sent you and that I say HI too!! :)

Her Etsy shop is called Miss Vio's Handmade You can follow the either link to find her. Or click on her name at the top of this post to see her blog!

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

 

Go say Hi to her today and have a look around at all her beautiful work!

Viola, you really are such a beautiful person and you are so kind to be so ready to help others!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Hugs,

 

Laura

Happy Monday!

 

We had a great weekend celebrating my hubbies birthday!  I can't believe it, but I actually SURPRISED him with a little family birthday party at Tommy Bahama's in Newport Beach too!  

We had a great time and glad it didn't rain because we were seated outside...

Isabella had fun seeing BOTH grandma's!  I'm glad my mom was able to get a caretaker to stay with my dad so she could get out for a few hours and come to the party!

 

My twin...  Isabella and Victoria look exactly alike so I'm glad one of the girls looks like me!

and just about as TALL as me too!

Victoria's getting her braces off in a couple weeks so probably one of the last pictures with them on!

Why don't we remember (around Christmas time) that the FREE things in life are what the kids have MORE fun playing with.... 

This ones a little blurry but just {heart} it anyways!

A FUN day, thanks for meeting us all and celebrating with us!

 

Another thing I did this weekend was PLAY in my Art Journal.  It's a pretty personal "space" for me because it's where I really LET GO.  It's not for my blog, a DT requirement, a magazine or anything but my pure enjoyment.  I'm a bit nervous about sharing this but I wanted to show you a page I made for Japan!  Over at InspireMe there are quite a few ladies who live in Japan and participate on this site.  Well, after the earthquake and tsunami they asked if anyone could make a layout or something to show that we are thinking about everyone over there.  I wanted to do something right away and decided instead of a layout I wanted to do something in my journal.  This tragedy has touched me deeply and I've been thinking about it every day since it happened.  Victoria has kids at school who are exchange students from Japan and one boy in her class was trying to reach his parents all day that 1st day.  He was in tears by the end of the day b/c he couldn't reach them and I was worried about them all weekend!  He had a happy ending, but I know so many other people in Japan have lost loved ones and it's just so heartbreaking.  Nothing any of us can do will ever replace those loved ones, but letting them know we are thinking about them and praying for them shows them that we care!  I would encourage all of you to show that you care by giving to the Red Cross and take a moment to check out this blog, Scrap In Japan and help in whatever way you can!

Here's my page for Japan:

It's in this Art Journal that I made last year... 

It's not something I share usually, but I will share one more page in it.  It's hard to describe WHY I love Italy so much, but this next page in my art journal tries to...

So there's a bit of a peak into ME.  I'm not trained in this, I've never taken a class on Art Journaling, and I don't claim to "know" what I'm doing... It's just a release for me and I can be honest with myself.  It's such a great feeling, I'd recommend it to everyone!  Maybe some day I'll make this a class project?? but I don't think I'm ready to teach something I'm not really qualified to teach...

Oh, just SO much going on this week...

I'm still finalizing the details with Wendy at Melrose Vintage, but we should be done this week and I will be able to share the details of my class at their store in Arizona!  It's for sure the weekend of April 29&30th so SAVE THE DATE if you're in the area!  Or, come on over for the weekend like I am!!  It's a GREAT store that is worth the trip in itself!  So stay tuned for the cost and more SNEAKS of the event!!  I will be teaching TWO classes.  One will be a Webster's Pages class and the other will be a Teresa Collins class!

And...

Speaking of Teresa Collins , I'm FEATURED on the Design Team blog today!!!   It's kind of weird seeing myself on there, but SO exciting as well!  I'm very honored to be on Teresa's DT and feel SO blessed to be a part of this AMAZING team!  Thanks for wanting to see my work and for following along on this wonderful journey!!  You can check it out if you like at Teresa Collins DT blog !

And last but SO not least...

See this brownie with a bite already out of it...  This VERY YUMMY brownie was made specifically for ME... by one of Victoria's best friends!  Yes, I ate EVERY little bit of it even though I probably shouldn't have.  Thanks Randy!!

Hope you enjoy your Monday!

Hugs,

 

Laura

 

 

 

Some SNEAKS...

 

Here's a couple SNEAKS of the class I'm teaching at Melrose Vintage in Arizona!  

I'm SO excited to teach this class!  It's Teresa Collins Notations Album kit and I've BLINGED it up with lots of her Blingage and Prima!!  I've also added some Clear Scraps acrylic, some chipboard and lots of techniques to share with you!  I've also decided to give everyone TWO color choices.  So there is this pink tone and then this one...

A charcoal grey choice!  I've also changed up the cover on each one so you can make your like one of these or feel free to make it your own design!  You will have a TON of embellishments from Teresa's Blingage line, Prima, Tim Holtz and more!

This is going to be such a FUN class, I hope you can come out and take the class!  I don't have all the details down yet, but I will be coming to town on April 29th and doing TWO classes!  Friday the 29th will be THIS class and then Saturday the 30th will be a Webster's Pages class!!  I don't have a SNEAK yet of the Webster's Pages class but will share early next week.  That will be with their Market line and a wood treasure box...

Have a GREAT weekend everyone and I will update the times and phone number to call for this weekend event at Melrose Vintage!!

Hugs,

Laura

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

A little TRUTH about good ol' St. Patrick...

The REAL St. Patrick ~ by Ted Olsen from Christianity Today

Meet Patrick ~

Allow me to introduce myself. You may have heard of me. My name is Patrick. But before everybody celebrates another day, I decided to come back 1,500 years to set the record straight about who I am and what I've done.

You see, people say all kinds of strange things about me. They draw these pictures of me with a green hat and a red beard, short and putting out my fists or holding a mug of beer. As if I were a leprechaun. They think I carry around three or four leaf clovers. And then there's that legend that I got rid of all the snakes in Ireland. Well, how would you like your memory to forever be associated with slithering reptiles? 

First, a few misconceptions about Patrick:

Patrick isn't really a Saint with a capital S, having never been officially canonized by Rome. And Patrick couldn't have driven the snakes out of Ireland because there were never any snakes there to begin with. He wasn't even the first evangelist to Ireland (Palladius had been sent in 431,about five years before Patrick went). Patrick isn't even Irish. He's from what's now Dumbarton, Scotland (just northwest of Glasgow).

Patrick was 16 years old in about the year 405, when he was captured in a raid and became a slave in what was still radically pagan Ireland. Far from home, he clung to the religion he had ignored as a teenager. Even though his grandfather had been a priest, and his father a town councilor, Patrick "knew not the true God." But forced to tend his master's sheep in Ireland, he spent his six years of bondage mainly in prayer. He escaped at the suggestion of a dream and returned home.

Patrick was in his mid-40s when he returned to Ireland.Palladius had not been very successful in his mission, and the returning former slave replaced him. Intimately familiar with the Irish clan system (his former master, Milchu, had been a chieftain), Patrick's strategy was to convert chiefs first, who would then convert their clans through their influence. Reportedly, Milchu was one of his earliest converts.

Though he was not solely responsible for converting the island, Patrick was quite successful. He made missionary journeys all over Ireland, and it soon became known as one of Europe's Christian centers. This, of course, was very important to fifth-century Christians, for whom Ireland was one of the "ends of the earth."

Why the Shamrock?

I got this image from http://www.vbs.blog.com

 

The shamrock is a symbol both for the Holy Trinity and St. Patrick (389-461). The shamrock is a clover plant with a yellow flower and leaflets made up of a stem with three small green leaves. The plant is very common and widely distributed throughout Ireland.

St. Patrick was a zealous missionary to the Irish, a people who upon his arrival in 432 had heard little or nothing of Jesus and his gospel. St. Patrick was an energetic traveler, a determined evangelizer, and a courageous preacher, and as he canvassed the countryside he was assailed by bitter opponents who threatened his life and undermined his message, but undeterred, he made hundreds and thousands of converts.

Whether St. Patrick was speaking to local pagans who knew nothing of the Christian faith, or to neophytes, newly-baptized disciples who were not well-grounded in the truths of the faith, he was faced with the daunting task of explaining profound mysteries such as the Trinity which are so difficult to understand.

There are several popular legends about how St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the mystery of the Trinity. According to one story, St. Patrick went to Connaught where he met two of King Laoghaire’s daughters, Ethne and Fedelm. St. Patrick had been unable to persuade the king to convert, but he convinced the king’s daughters. During their time of instruction St. Patrick used a shamrock to visualize the mystery of the Trinity, how a single plant with three leaves is analogous to the one Triune God with three separate and distinct Persons (Thurston, H. J., ed., Butler’s Lives of the Saints, Vol. 1, 615).

According to another legend, St. Patrick used a shamrock to help explain the Trinity in a sermon he preached directly to King Laoghaire.

According to a third legend, St. Patrick was traveling and happened upon a number of Irish chieftains along a meadow. The tribal leaders were curious about the Trinity and asked St. Patrick for an explanation. So he bent down, picked a shamrock, and showed it to them, and explained how the three leaves are part of the one plant, and how similarly the three Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, are part of one Supreme Being.

So, some very interesting FACTS about Maewyn Succat. YES, that's most likely his REAL name, though Patricius was his Romanicized name,  and he was later came to be familiar as Patrick!

Have a WONDERFUL day celebrating!

And... take a moment to think about the missionaries around the world spreading the Gospel and also YOUR FAITH,  and how blessed we are that so many AMAZING people before us went through SO much to share the LOVE OF GOD!

Hugs,

Laura

 

Here's a FREE vintage image from Vintage Holiday Crafts 

 

 

A Webster's Pages day...

Even though life is a bit busy and crazy with three girls, a busy husband, my scrappy business and 2 design teams, I'm feeling SO blessed right now!~

Today I'm so HAPPY to have the opportunity to play with BRAND NEW Webster's Pages products.  I just {heart} the "Country Estate" line and have been playing with it this past weekend and thought I'd share what I made!  

And by the way, ALL the BRAND NEW Webster's Pages products are shipping out to stores near you RIGHT NOW!   Yippee!

As you already know from yesterdays blog post, I'm teaching a class with this line at Paper Tales on April 14th: (you can see more on the post below)

"A Suitcase Full of Memories & an Album of Stories"

 

But I also made a couple other small things with this line that I wanted to share with you today.

My Country Estate Decorative "Cube":

This is about a 3 1/2" wooden cube I think I got at Michaels or JoAnns.  I took it home and wasn't sure what I was going to do with it but had an idea...

So I painted it black on all the edges first.  (you don't need to paint the whole thing because it's covered mostly with paper)  Then I measured one side of the cube and cute just a hair under that measurement b/c I wanted some of the black to show through.  Then I picked my papers, cut them out and adhered to the 6 sides.

Then I PLAYED!  The spool on the top is actually from Pottery Barn.  I was in PB last summer and saw a set of 3 or 4 spools on clearance.  I asked if they had anymore and they came back with about 10 boxes... and guess what?  I bought them ALL!  hehehe... (they will be on a class project some day soon :)

So I just added the spool (it's actually a spool on a pin so it went right into the wood) then added some GREAT NEW trims from WP, the new flowers, sparklers, butterfly stick pin and there ya GO!  Just a fun and easy project that anyone can make!

 

Then I had another idea for this line.  If you've been with me a while, this may look familiar.  I used the VERY LAST hanging wooden house I had left from an old project. (I usually keep one of every altered item I use to design with) Here is a mini "To Do" List that I'm going to hang in my scrap room:

 

Do you remember this wooden house?  I sprayed it with chalkboard paint the first time around and I think used My Little Shoebox papers on it.  Well this time it's a little bit more fanciful... :)

I used Country Estate papers, a journaling card, some trims and embellishments and a chalkboard tag I found a while back.

I first traced the house onto the paper and cut it out and adhered, then sanded the edges.  Then I took the journaling card with the calendar on it and cut the right side off a bit and cut around the leaves and bird.  Then I glued on the green ruffle trim on the roof top and the bottom and added some flowers,  trims, chipboard button and the beautiful cabochon.

I LOVE the flower at the top!  For some reason it reminds me of Tinker Bell! lol... (we've been watching that on TV lately)  But it's so sheer and "wingish"... is that a word?  probably not.  :)

Love the new chipboard buttons too!  So easy to use and they add just another layer of dimension to your scrapbook and altered art projects!  I don't know if you can see this, but theres an orange colored string that ties the chalk to the top of the hanger.  That trim is ON the chipboard button card and you can use it in SO many ways!

I actually tied a knot in the string but added some glue as well so the chalk wouldn't fall off.  And there's another FAST and EASY project anyone can do!  

Hope you enjoyed these projects!

Have a GREAT day,

Laura

Come back tomorrow... I'm announcing a class I'm taking on the ROAD!!! 

 

 

Love, Tuesday...

 

Had a GREAT day in San Diego today!  The sun was shining, had a nice trip to drop off a class project at Paper Tales and had time for a beautiful lunch out at the beach with Cindy!  A FABULOUS day I'd say...

If you don't know what Paper Tales is, here's a few pictures of one of my FAV stores:

It's NOT your typical scrapbook store... It's a Shabby Chic HEAVEN of all pretty things!  

So cute!  They even have the little pink oven from Melissa Frances' booth at CHA!

Here's me and Julie posing like I work there... lol  But you can see my class project on the table!

Here I am posing again below the Paper Tales Glitter sign with my class projects... It's a "Suitcase of Memories and an Album of Stories"...

And here's Cindy and I on the couch at the store.  It's such a GREAT store, if you haven't taken a trip down there, come take my class or visit the store for one of the other GREAT classes being taught there or just stay an hour and look through every nook and cranny in the store, you'll WANT to!!

Here's a picture of my class:  Suitcase of Memories & an Album of Stories:

We be making this adorable suitcase and this 6x6 mini album!  I'll show you how to design your suitcase and add some FUN elements to it on the outside AND inside!!  And the mini album has some fun chipboard AND acrylic pages and LOTS of Webster's Pages!!

The class is going to be on Saturday, April 16th from 11-2pm so sign up TODAY by calling 619-222-2510!  Hope to see you there!

Have a GREAT Tuesday,

Laura

 

Don't forget to check out my Etsy store!  I don't have the link up on the side yet...not real good at figuring that stuff out... lol

 

 

Lazy Saturday...

Well, I forgot to post the winner of the RAK yesterday... OOPS!  It seems like I'm saying oops a lot lately.  Can you tell I have a bit too much on my plate?  Lance and I were talking about this the other night.  I just don't know how to say NO.  Do you have the same problem?  I guess my mind works faster than my body because all the GREAT things I WANT to do,  don't add up to ACTUAL things that get done...  Need to work on that.   :)

So better later than never... the winner of the RAK is:

Jena Baker!!

Congratulations Jena!  Send me your address and I will send out your RAK!

I was supposed to be having a GARAGE SALE right about now, but I forgot to advertise it and we both just couldn't muster up the energy to have one this weekend anyways.  I've been a taxi cab all week with the girls after school activities and we just added another one...

TENNIS!  Rebecca went out for the Junior High Tennis Team at school and she LOVES it!  I'm SO proud of her.  If you've followed my blog for years (over 3 years now!) you  may remember Victoria and Rebecca took tennis lessons EVERY Saturday for a couple years.  But then they got tired of it and both of them wanted to quit.  I was kind of tired of it too and unfortunately in a week moment I gave in.  I SO wish I wouldn't have.  I think it's such a great sport and great form of exercise.  But alas, "it is what it is" and Victoria still doesn't want to play but Rebecca did.  So she signed up with some friends and she started practice on Wednesday.  She hasn't been on a tennis court in probably 2 years and she picked it up right away!  I was SO happy when I picked her up and she said she LOVED IT and really felt like she MISSED IT!!  Oh, and when I picked her up she was playing with the High School Team!!  Her old coach said she had a "God given" talent for tennis and yesterday this coach basically said the same thing! (thus the reason I wish she wouldn't have quit) So I'm just praying she continues to love playing it and we'll see where this goes... She's only in 6th grade so I'm glad she got back in it before High School when it gets pretty competitive.

I've also been working on my class designs this week and NEED to get done with 2 of them PRONTO...  I can't share anything yet, but I will share a birdhouse I made this week with Webster's Pages Country Estate line:

 

This is a wood birdhouse about 12" tall and I got it at my local craft store.  I painted it, crackled it with Tim Holtz  Crackle paint and then have SO much fun playing with the new line "Country Estate" by Webster's Pages 

I cut 2 of the journal cards with a scalloped scissors and then decoupaged them on for the roof.  Then I aged some of their trims and adhered that on both ledges of the birdhouse.

It's almost SPRING and I'm having SO much fun CREATING with Webster's Pages new lines!  I'll share a couple more small things I made with this line next week!

 

Have a GREAT weekend,

Laura

 

Love, Tuesday...

So many things going on!!

I'm getting about FIVE class projects designed right now and I'm SO excited about ALL OF THEM!  I will give you all the details as soon as I have them.  (Get ready for a class near you, I'm packing a suitcase and taking my classes on the road!!!)

I'm also switching things up on THIS BLOG...

Not sure if you saw last weeks post where I mentioned there were some "changes" coming.  Well, I've decided to change the way I sell my kits!  In the past with the kit club, I've done a "REVEAL" night and you had to be here on a specific day and time...  I know that's not convenient for most people and now that I'm not doing your typical "Kit Club", there's really no reason to have this anymore.

SO...

I have decided to open an Etsy shop!!

Yes, I know I've put a few things up on Etsy before, but NOW this will be my exclusive one-stop-shop for EVERYTHING "A Kiss on the Chic"!

I've been playing around with my shop and added LOTS of new items, so please come by and say HI and check out my new Etsy Shop  (Add me as a FAV if you like too :)

All the BRAND NEW Prima that I told you about last week is in there as well as the last 4 "Remembering my Childhood" project kits.  I'll be adding more projects and embellishments and even some HANDMADE goodies I've been wanting to make!  

I will STILL keep everyone UP-TO-DATE on every class kit or project that I make right here on THIS BLOG.  I don't want you to feel like this blog is going away or the kits are gone.  I just felt that Etsy was going to be a better way to sell my designs/class kits and a FUN way to be a part of such a CREATIVE website and community!!

I hope you agree and will check out my shop and the other "shops" at Etsy.

Before I get back to work...

I wanted to show you what I'm making a class project with this:

Yes, Teresa Collins NOTATIONS KIT

and this:

and LOTS and LOTS more!

I can't WAIT to teach this class and show you all a SNEAK!!

In the meantime, I want to do another RAK!!

These are always FUN to do and I {heart} all the comments too.  So, with this RAK,  just leave a comment on THIS post and tell me if you've ever bought anything on Etsy and if so, what!  And if you've NEVER heard of Etsy, that's fine too, just let me know that you went and checked it out and what you liked on there!

I'll announce a WINNER on Friday.

 

Have a GREAT Tuesday,

Laura

 

 

 

Kits are shipping TOMORROW! and you may want to add these...from PRIMA!

I'm doing something completely CRAZY...

I picked up my order from Prima yesterday and ALREADY kitted the next classes!!

So, I have a few left over items that I thought I would quickly tell you about them.

Ladies, these are BRAND NEW Prima embellishments... need I say more?

I don't have time to put them up on my blog "for sale"... so I'll show you pictures of what I have (very limited quantities) and if you are interested just send me a quick email and I can get them shipped out in your box tomorrow!  If you haven't ordered anything yet from my Kit Sale last Saturday and want some of this new Prima, send me an email and if I have anything left I can ship it out if we get it invoiced tonight...

This may be a CRAZY idea....

Here goes:

$4.00 - Brand new SIIC with lace & flowers!  Beautiful clear and cream color!! (only a couple left)

~~~~~~~

$ 4.00 - beautiful textured leaves!

~~~~

$ 5.00 12" strips with crystals, ribbon and swirls!  AMAZING!

~~~~~

$ 7.00 - A mask that was SO stunning at their CHA booth, I had to have!!! You can even mask off a shape like a heart, etc. within the mask like examples seen on their blog!  BEAUTIFUL and something DIFFERENT!!

~~~~~~~~

$ 5.00 - So beautiful... these are in my Notations class kit, but I have a few left over!

~~~~~

$ 5.00 - THESE ARE MY FAV thing at Prima this time!  UNBELIEVABLE!!!

~~~~~~~~

Ok, if you want to add this to your order, just let me know and I can get that invoiced tonight!  

 

Have a GREAT day,

 

Laura

 

P.S.  some changes are going to take place real soon....  Have some EXCITING news to share next week! :) 

Teresa Collins on CK's blog!

Hi ladies!

What a FUN surprise to see Teresa Collins on Creating Keepsakes blog today!  She is showing how to make some beautiful flowers with her papers and a cartridge from Provo Craft!!

You have to check out the GORGEOUS flowers she made:

Check out their blog at the link below:

CK blog 

She shows step-by-step instructions on these flowers so make sure you check out the link above and  leave a comment to say HI!

Have a great day,

 

Laura

 

Love, Tuesday...

A little late for a post, but wanted to write down my thoughts about today...

(I'm watching American Idol as I write this and can I just say I {LOVE} Casey!!! )

He is SO funny, crazy GOOD and I think he could WIN!!  GO CASEY!!  (I found out he lives not too far from us too)

 

So, today was spent cleaning and cleaning and organizing.  I'm still trying to get my scrap room organized and that seems to be a VERY difficult thing to do when you have WAY TOO MUCH... hehehe...  Not only do I have MY stash but I have Kit Club stuff, class stuff and now TWO designs team boxes FULL!  So I spent most of today finding space for everything in ONE room instead of taking over my guest bedroom too.  So guess what.... I have MORE scrap stuff I want to get rid of!  I think I may have to have a garage sale for JUST scrapbooking!  

So, if you haven't had a chance to check out the February Kits, there are still some GRAB BAGS for sale and I will be adding more real soon!

I'm going to try and share pictures when my tiny scraproom is done so you can all see how well organized I have to be to fit it all in!

For those of you who DID order kits, they will be sent out on Friday.  Friday is my "mail day" and I should have everything ready to go by then, even for the International ladies! So not to PLUG the kits again, but... if you wanted to get something, it would be a good idea to get it BEFORE Friday so it will go out with everything else. 

Tomorrow I am making a day trip!  Yes, my friend Cindy and I are going to PRIMA!!!  My order is ready to be picked up and I was going to take my friend Rebecca to lunch (she works at Prima, but is SWAMPED right now) so we are going to have FUN picking up all the new goodies and then going to do some shopping on the way home!  I need a day out of the house.  I rarely go out when the girls are in school b/c there is just SO much to get done, but I really NEED to get out once in a while for some FUN time.   We ALL have SO much on our plates and we could get overwhelmed with it all (I know I DO), but I feel it's important to take a little "vacation" from all THAT and just BREATHE...  I need to do that more often.  So how do all of you do on this?  Do you have any tips for us, tips to make it easier to take that time for ourselves?

Now to something sad today...

Today was a hard day for someone I LOVE SO VERY MUCH:

 

She is very overwhelmed right now with all that she has going on with school, sports, singing lessons, trying out for a play tomorrow...(sports & the play are REQUIRED, otherwise I would have said no)  and then I found out what probably got to her the most.    I won't go into detail but it was obvious that someone was very hurtful, mean, unkind and knowingly wanted to hurt her feelings.  I shed some tears today with her.  It hurts as a mom to know that your kids feel this kind of pain...  And it hurts to hear that there are girls out there that would be SO hurtful.  Where is the kindness anymore?  I could REALLY go into a speech about this but I won't.  I KNOW we all make mistakes, I know my own daughters have hurt feelings so I'm not saying my daughter is perfect.  I just feel sad.  And I just wonder if this generation is growing up with a "me, me, me" mentality that doesn't care about what they do to others?  That they actually take PLEASURE in hurting someone??

I used this "situation" as a LEARNING tool with my other 2 daughters today.  If you can "feel" how this would hurt YOU,  then you should "know" how it would NOT be right to do this to others.  My hope is that my daughters will be more sensitive and kind and share God's LOVE no matter what.

Victoria, you are such a positive role model.  You stand up for what you believe in, you have a FAITH stronger then most adults and this is not the first or last time you will be hurt.  Just KNOW that you are doing what the LORD wants you to do and the "world" may never like that.  I would rather you have the praise of the Lord then the praise of men.  Live your life with the LOVE of God in your heart and you will be blessed. xoxo

 

Matthew 5:16 " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. "

 

Hugs,

Laura