My life...just not on the road I expected (but it's still dang good).

CHA samples in the mail yesterday!

That wonderful UPS guy dropped off some more CHA Winter samples for me yesterday...mini-lunch bags with transparent windows (which turned out really nice and sturdy) and some new ribbon that I am crazy about.  Just wanted to share.

Lots of questions about when & where you can get all this stuff - Creative Imaginations does a staggered release of their products so that stores receive new product on a regular basis between shows, rather than flooding them with a huge shipment (that they may not have space for) all at once.  I actually think it is a great idea, so that we scrapbookers can go into our LSS and find new product on a regular basis, but....it means that mine won't be available until April (sorry).  I've also got a Beach Collection that will be shipping in May. 

As for where to get the product, I would be checking with your LSS.  Hopefully they will get a chance to see the line at CHA or in the CI catalog.  I'm sure there will be some online sources carrying it as well - just do a search sometime around April.  If I hear of any sources, I'll of course let ya know (seems like you all usually know more about that end of it than I do though)!

Had a much more productive day yesterday (actually made a bit of progress & am optimistic about today).  Thanks everyone for the emails and comments though - just good knowing that someone else can relate. 

You know how it is some days. 

I don't know how it is possible that I could sit in front of the computer yesterday from 6:30 am to 5:00 pm and get absolutely nothing accomplished...but I did.  Stressing me out a bit - lots of artwork to do (for Creative Imaginations) and an unknown number of days to finish it up in (23 days until Annie is due - but that is considering she cooperates with my busy schedule).

I think it all caught up with me yesterday.  Too many non-productive hours in front of the computer, not enough sleep, Coley & Courtney tattling on each other all day, nasty heartburn, 14 million loads of laundry, grape jelly spread all over the kitchen (but nobody knows who could have possibly done it), my back killing me, fast-food for lunch (which certainly could account for the heartburn), Coley and his 5 second attention span...

It was after Josh got home - (I was folding yet another load of laundry) that the melt-down occurred.  I had just asked Coley not to curl up the edges of the rug for like the 9th time in 30 minutes and Josh just happened to ask the most innocent of questions (did I send off the mail that needed to get sent off - which I hadn't because I loaded up all the kids and drove all the way to the post office to of course find it closed since it was a holiday and I'm not smart enough to think of that in advance - so "no" I didn't send the mail).  Started crying.  Went and sat in the bathroom so that no one would know I was crying.  Started crying even harder.  Started feeling guilty because I have absolutely no good reason to cry.  Feeling guilty about how selfish I was to be crying when my life is so good made me cry harder.  Finally quit crying - went back to folding laundry - Josh asked me what was wrong - I had no good answer because technically nothing was wrong with me - so I start crying again.

Thankfully, Josh intervened and told me to get out of the house for awhile (I am definitely one of those people who need time by themselves - and a family of 5 (soon to be 6) isn't very conducive to "alone time").  Finally agreed and decided to go to the movies (I LOVE going to the movies by myself).  Went and saw "Tristan and Isolde" with a bucket of popcorn, a box of Milk duds and a big, fat Coke (yes, I hate to admit that I have been feeding Annie soda).

Amazing what junk food and a sappy love story can cure.  Came home 2 hours later feeling like a brand new woman.  Slept good.  Feeling good this morning (ready to sit in front of this computer for the next 10 hours)!

Make it a good one!

CHA Winter Preview

  Sooooooooooooo excited to show you all some of my CHA Winter stuff (the show is in a couple of weeks).  Lots of new things coming out (patterned paper, albums, chipboard, decals, epoxy, foam stamps, mini lunch bags, twill, swatchbook impress-ons, 12x12 cardstock stickers and of course... transparencies), would take me forever to post it all, but this will give you a good feel for the line.  Gives me butterflies in my stomach just posting this stuff!

The Impress-Ons come in a big swatchbook with like 28 pages or something.  So cool.

If you look closely at the cardstock stickers, you'll see little circles on them - they are paper reinforcers (you know, like the ones you put on notebook paper so that the hole doesn't tear).  They are my favorite new thing, can't get enough of them.

Will try to get some more stuff posted here in the next few weeks.  Have a fabulous day.

Dinner for two...

With all the craziness & business in our lives - I keep telling Ross that if he ever needs some time with just he and I together - just the two of us - like it was for so many years, that all he has to do is say the word.  He's taken me up on it here and there - sometimes he just wants to go for a drive to talk (some of the best conversations we've ever had have been in the car), or to grab a smoothie (he gets strawberry & I get peach) and head out on the road listening to our favorite music as loud as the stereo will go (I get this picture in my head of he and I singing along at the top of our lungs with "Total Eclipse of the Heart"), sometimes he wants to drive to our very favorite restaurant, Belle Union so that we can have dinner and mud pie for dessert (the layout is from one of our trips to Belle - not one of my favorite layouts - but they can't all be favorites, right?).  I love those times with him.

Last night, he just wanted to head to Denny's...he gets the Grand Slam Breakfast, I get Moons Over My Hammy (minus the ham) and two big, fat milkshakes.  Probably took a little over an hour out of our night...but it's just the cure for he & I to feel reconnected.

I Love talking to him.  I love listening to him and feeling so good about the man that he is slowly becoming.  Seems like we have been able to talk like this since he was really, really little, which seems so weird because trying to have a conversation with Coley is like trying to have a conversation with...well...a 5 year old (he's jumping all over the place - always distracted - makes me feel guilty that Coley and I can't share the same good conversations that Ross and I have always been able to).  I feel lucky though, that it is something that Ross & I have always been able to share.

We talked about how quickly this last year has gone by.  We talked about how Annie is going to be here before we know it.  We talked about how much closer he feels to Josh than he had imagined he could.  We talked about school and ex-girlfriends and drugs (he's learning a lot about drugs in health class right now and has lots of questions).  We talked about the lessons that can be learned just from watching other people (good & bad).  We talked about integrity.  We talked about how good our milkshakes were.

I don't consider myself a perfect mom...I've got a looooooooong way to go and most of the lessons I've learned about parenting, I've learned from Ross.  I'm impatient...I've been known to fly off the handle too easily...and I struggle with keeping the balance between work and family in check.  But he and I have grown up together in some ways - we've gone through some huge life changes together.  He's been my biggest fan and my biggest worry.  I have a bond with him that could never be replaced.

Don't get me wrong, he's 13 and he drives me crazy half the time.  Leaves his stinky, nasty socks everywhere, his room is always a mess, his electric guitar is always too loud, he's forgetful and sometimes pouty.  But I can see through all of that.  I feel so confident about who he is and who he is becoming.  He will be an amazing man, an amazing husband (he is so respectful of woman) and an amazing father.  He'll be a man with depth and a man of his word.  He'll be funny and spontaneous and quick to apologize.  He knows his weaknesses and will certainly struggle with those through the years - but don't we all.

So glad for a little bit of time together. Love you Ross.

I'm tagging...

For some reason it won't let me edit my post to add who I am tagging, so here they are...

Karen Burniston (but I like to call her K1) Loni Stevens Joanna Bolick and Maria Grace (she's my current scrapbook idol).

Tagged...

Tagged by Robyn Werlich (this was a fun one, thanks Robyn)!

4 Jobs You Have Had in Your Life:
1. Flippin Burgers at Burger King (and many comparable jobs during High School)
2. Nanny and other odd Summer jobs during college - sewed hair scrunchies (remember those?) for 3 months straight and sold them to everyone I knew.
3. Dental Hygienist (past 10+ years - still working part-time)
4. Creative Imaginations took a long time to get to a job that I love (most days)

4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:
Nothing to Lose, The Ref (pretty foul language in both of those - don't say I didn't warn ya), Grease, Shawshank Redemtion (I'm crazy about Tim Robbins - he played in Nothing to Lose also).

4 Places You Have Lived:
I'm a Pacific Northwest gal; Klamath Falls, OR.  Columbia City, OR. (outskirts of Portland), Eugene, OR.  Seattle, WA.

4 TV Shows You Love to Watch:
Sex in the City, Dateline, Survivor, the Bachelor

4 Places You Have Been on Vacation:
Cancun (two times - does that count as two?), Italy, Brazil.

4 websites you visit daily:
Two Peas in A Bucket ...crazy, but that is it.

4 of your favorite foods:
Chocolate chip cookie dough and a big glass of milk, anything with spinach in it, a big bowl of diced fruit with brown sugar sprinkled on top, pesto pizza (until I'm sick at my stomach).

4 places you would rather be right now:
Me & Josh at the beach (no kiddos).  On my way to Seattle in visit my Sister and friends.  At a scrapbook store.  In the bathtub with a new CK magazine. 

4 Bloggers You are Tagging:

This is my kitchen table...

This is my kitchen table...now hijacked for making class kits assembly line style.  The living room floor looks the same.  Our bedroom; the same.  Josh got a good laugh at it when he came home last night.  We ate dinner on the couch.

This little house is less than 1400sq. feet with 3 bedrooms and we've got 5 people (and a dog) living it - and a new baby on the way. 

We've gotten creative with the use of our space.  We built an extra bedroom in the garage for Ross (which is actually perfect because he can play his guitar louder out there and also has an escape from all the little kids), my scrapbook room is in the walk-in closet in our bedroom.  My clothes (that are supposed to be in the walk in closet) are in the hall closet.  Coley thankfully has 2 closets in his room, so Josh's clothes are in one of those.  We put an extra rod in the closet in Courtney's room for Annie's stuff and although we've got Annie's crib in Courtney's room, we set up a playpen/bassinet in our room (which is where she'll end up being for at least the first few months).  Couldn't fit another thing in this house if we tried.

I've got scrapbooking stuff in every drawer, trunk, nook & cranny in this place, but we'll have to get rid of one of the kids before I get rid of any of that.

Nothing like being cozy.

Transparent Playing Cards

The UPS guy just showed up with 4 HUGE boxes of some of my new product that just shipped (I still get butterflies in my stomach every time I get to see my new products).  My favorite thing in the box?... transparent playing cards.

They come on individual 12x12 transparent sheets, in both numbers and alphabets (so I think you have to get 4 transparencies to get the whole set).  Then you just cut them out or do whatever you want to with them.  Super excited about these.

Just click on it here to see a bigger image of the transparency.

The layout is of Coley a couple of birthdays ago which is in the Totally Transparent book by Creative Imaginations.  I used Narratives patterned paper, white transparencies, negative strips and one of the playing cards on this.

Other stuff that is shipping; metal clips and tabs with words embossed on them, mini file folders with transparent windows, transparent library pockets, ribbon and 8x8 linen albums (the kind that you slip a layout into the protective sleeve on the cover to customize the front of your album - just like these only smaller). 

Now I have to find a place in my 6x12 scrapbook room (which is really just the walk-in closet in my bedroom that is already packed to the ceiling) to store all of it.

Hope you're all having a great day!

One more thing...

I swear, I'm going to work after this, but I had to post some of these photos from bowling yesterday (they crack me up).  I was (of course) the high scoring bowler of the day with a whopping (are you ready for this???) 127 points (we all stink at bowling - infact, that 127 points was due partially to the fact that we had bumpers up).

Here's all of us with our respective bowling names (you should be able to click on the image to see a bigger size);

1.  Courtney Lee & her cute lil' bum.

2.  The "Rossinator" (more like the "king of bumper bowling")

3.  Coley Wholey the maniac bowler (who swears that he can beat ANYONE)

4. J" Dog (no, we don't really call him "J" dog)

5.  Valentine (ok, that's Josh's nickname for me) - thinking that if I turn my body far enough to the left, that the ball will follow suit.

I'm still cracking up.

Just thinking about the fact that the little advent calendar that I made for Annie the other day is serving a dual purpose...it's also the number of days that I have left to finish up my artwork for Creative Imaginations - already working on stuff for CHA Summer  (super excited about the release).  Going to be a busy 32 days for me (give or take a few).

Hoping to get some of my CHA Winter stuff up for you all to peek at here in the next few weeks before the show - lots & lots of color (feels wild for me since up to this point most of my line has been based on B&W imagery).  Can't wait for it to release!!!

Ok, off to work for me - gotta keep my nose to the grindstone today. And here's to me meeting my deadline before little Annie makes her big appearance in the world!