YEAH!!!

So after a week of on and off playing around I was FINALLY able to update the look of the blog!! SO excited to have finally figured it out!

So I am almost done with organizing the new scrap space! I just need to solve the problem of no electric on that side of the room! And I want to get an Ottlite to have next to my desk-I don't mind the overhead lighting, but when hubby is watching TV he is not going to want the overhead lights on. So those pictures will be coming soon! After some searching I am excited to see that the Ottlites have become more fashionable and updated their look! I think this is the one I want to get!

OK I promised I would post some eye candy for you so here it is. :)

These first two are made with Echo Park paper lines. Yes I still have baby pictures that I have to scrap yet! I was SO excited to see that the colors of the Little Boy line worked PERFECTLY with the colors of my pictures and the sailboats were perfect!

For this layout I used the Echo Park lines Sweet Summertime and Playground. Love how it all just went together perfectly! I pop dotted the beautiful sunshine, flowers, arrow and sun and clouds. And to make my letters pop I used my favorite Inkessentials white pen and made faux stitching around my letters.

This is from our trip to Lego land a couple summers ago. This Imaginisce line is SO much fun and I just had to use some of it for this picture with the Lego clown! I had lots of fun cutting out elements from the paper to pop dot and use as embellies! I even used DoodleBug rub-ons on the journaling card to add the year they fit perfectly! Though I just noticed that I didn't write the journaling! OOPS!

Well I am coming down with a cold so I need to go find some Kleenex, my blankie and the couch! and I should grab that layout and a journaling pen!

TFL!

Valerie

New Year New Posts!!!

Stand back and duck as I blow the dust off this blog! Ok now that the dust and cobwebs seem to be gone onto it! 2011 was CRAZY! SOOO much happened and it seemed life was BEYOND crazy!! 2012 is going to be a productive reorganized year! We moved in August and bought our first house we are still not fully settled and I am working on my new scrap space! I think this weekend we will get some shelves and get it finished! : ) Then I will post some pics of the new set-up! With the new set up I plan on being in my space everyday and creating away! I plan to get back on track with my teaching at Michael's and I am going to get back on some design teams! I REALLY enjoyed being on design teams and miss it! I also plan to do several posts a week. I am saying all of this out loud and putting my plans in writting so I can hold myself accountable! I am also thinking about/throwing around some ideas with additional scrappy plans I have so stayed tuned for that!

Well since the holidays have come and gone SO fast its time to scrap them! ; ) And I found this ADORABLE album at Archiver's and just HAD to have it! LOL!! After some thinking I decided I am going to use this as an album to put the boys picture with Santa at Macy's in every year. I thought it would be cool to have all the years together in one place!

Well I need to go deal with the laundry calling for me! : (

Till Next time!

TFL!

Valerie

!!!!!!!!!

I am SOOO excited to share the news that a childhood favorite of mine Santa's Village will be reopening this FRIDAY!!!! It is now going to be called Santa's Village AZoosment park but it will be in the same spot and will have a few things brought there from my other childhood fav Kiddie Land!!!! SO excited to be able to share this with my boys this summer!

If you'd like a chance to win a family pass enter here!! I found this cool site Toddling Around Chicago that reviews all kinds of places around the chicago area that are family friendly! She also has a Twitter and Facebook page!

I CAN'T wait to go to Santa's Village with the boys and hopefully ride the fire truck ride!!! : ) I'm sure they'll be some pictures of it soon! ; )

SDU classes for November!

Want to make personal low cost holiday gifts? Learn to scrapbook and you can frame pages for gifts, make customized 2011 calendars, and many other personalized gifts!

Learn to scrapbook today or learn some new techniques and theories to improve your skills! Scrapbook classes also make GREAT holiday gifts!

My November class scedule is:

Hoffman Estates Michaels Wednesday 6:30-8:30 p.m.

2600 N. Sutton Rd. NEW Kids class Sunday 3:30-5:30 p.m.

847-645-9634

Schaumburg Michaels Friday 6:30-8:30 p.m.

1420 E. Golf Rd.

847-517-2622

Algonquin Michaels Sunday 11:30 a.m.-1:30 a.m.

742 S. Randall Rd.

847-854-6912

EK Success Scrapbook Design University Classes at Michaels

I am SO excited to share my class schedule for August! I will be offering classes on two different days Friday nights and Sunday afternoons! The classes will be held at the Michaels store in Algonquin and the address for the store is 742 S. Randall Rd. and the store phone number is 847-854-6912. Just give the store a call and let them know you want to sign up for the class and they can take care of the registration for you. The class will be 2 hours long and will be a 4 week course. The course regularly costs $45.00, but there is an introductory rate of 40% OFF which makes the classes only $27.00! You will also receive a 10% discount for any supplies you buy during the 4 week course!

The dates for the Friday class are August 13, 20, September 3 and 10th. Please note there will be no class on Friday August 27 as that is Michael's FREE crop night so I hope to see you at the crop that night! Friday classes will be 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

The dates for Sunday classes will be August 8, 15, 22 and 29th. Sunday classes will be

What are SDU classes you ask? Each week we will cover an area of scrapbooking and help you learn and/or improve your skills in this area. Week 1 will be Scrapbook Basics-you will learn how to organize yourself and how to get started as well as cover how to use several different tools. Week 2 will be Building Blocks of Design- you will learn about color theory and the building blocks of a great scrapbook page, and at the end of this class we will create our first page! Week 3 will be Power of the Pen- you will learn how to create effective titles, various ways to journal, tips to improve your handwriting and we will use various Zig pens! We will also complete another layout in class. Week 4 will be The Final Touch-learn to create dimension on your page, how to use and care for various punches, and how to enhance your layouts through the use of contrast, variety, rhythm and movement. We will apply those things to create our final page and class will conclude with "graduation" and students will receive a certificate!

If you have any questions please feel free to leave me a comment here on my blog or email me at allmyscrappin (at) rocketmail (dot) com I look forward to sharing this fun, exciting and informative class with you and anyone you think would enjoy this class too! If you are not close to this Michaels location check your nearest Michaels store for a class near you!

TFL!

Valerie

What a day!

Yesterday was one of those weird days! You know the kind that has good and not so good moments, then just turns pretty good, and then... Well it was an up and down day with the way the boys were behaving yesterday then they just were good as gold and we were having a nice day. So good that while they napped I FINALLY was able to get into the dungeon and get a LO done! I am SOOO proud of myself because every month I say I am going to do the My Mind's Eye sketch and I never get to it or get it finished and uploaded in time! So this month I did it right away and I am happy with how quick it came together and the end result! This month the challenge was to use the sketch the word HOPE and it must be at least 80% MME products! Easy enough I have my precious stash of MME that is calling my name!

For this LO I used the So Sophie and Quite Contrary lines. And that bracket of to the side of the photo-its cut from the bottom of the piece of paper! The So Sophie line has these cute brackets that show the paper that is on the opposite side on the paper. They just beg to be used! Everything is MME except the Thickers-I really want to find the MME version of Thickers they look AWESOME!

So after dinner we finally were able to get outside (the heat and humidity is near 100 here!) and the boys were playing kick ball in the backyard and the ball was kicked under an arborvitae tree and Joseph went to get it, well there must be a yellow jacket hive in there because he started screaming that he got stung by a bee! He said he picked up the ball and the bee was on his finger! My poor baby! : ( Given how allergic everyone in my family is to bee stings I was worried! But thankfully he is doing just fine today! What a way to end our day!

Well off to do the fun household chores of cleaning bathrooms, doing dishes and folding laundry! Someday just maybe I can have a maid! LOL!!!

TFL!

Valerie

Color Combo

Sorry I am a couple days late here-where has this week gone?! But here is the color combo for the week for Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo Blog.

I used the SUPER FUN new Imaginisce Birthday Paper to create this card using the color combo of:

And don't forget you don't have to use these exact Stampin' Up colors or products just use the same shades like I did! And if you are in need of some Stampin' Up supplies make sure to check out the fab deals and place your order with Samantha!

Its my FAVORITE time of the year in the scrapbooking world!! That's right CHA!!! And what's even MORE EXCITING??? Its coming right here to my hometown area!!! And the sneaky peeks are popping up ALL over the place and I am SOOO excited with what I am seeing! Have you seen the Bella Blvd peeks??? Check it out right here!

Well the natives are restless so that is my cue to find something for them to do!

TFL!

Valerie