I've gotta feeling....

WOOHOO! That tonight's gonna to be a good night!

Tonight's the night....to head on over to The Pink Ninjas challenge blog. The newest prompt is "What 2009 song are you?" As much as my 2 year old begs to watch "everybody dance?!" (that's in her own words) I must say that the song lyrics are catchy and the music is so upbeat that it possibly could be my song of the year.

What is my 2 year old referring to when she says "everybody dance?!" Well looky here....

It's one of the coolest things ever!

This particular night, I was working late and made last minute plans with a co-worker to go out. It was out of the ordinary for me to go out during the work week but I was determined to have a good night out with the girls....it turned out to be more than just a good night....it turned out to be the night I would meet my husband.

TEAM EDWARD

Okay, its no secret that I am a BIG Twilight fan. Yes, I really enjoyed reading about the teenage vampires. Yes, I can watch the movie over and over again with as much anticipation as I did the very first time I ever watched it. And yes, I plan on buying a bunch of tickets to take my daughter and her pre-teen friends to see New Moon in theaters next week. Obsessed? Maybe.

Candy Shoppe Designs is hosting a Team Edward vs. Team Jacob Challenge right now and you don't even have to be a Twilight fan to participate. In fact, no vampires or "werewolves" need to be a part in the making if you choose to get involved. Here's the project I decided to make for this challenge and it is a Stickles Storage Box because I chose to be on Team Edward. Who would I be if I didn't choose Team Edward??? LOL

So, the rules for being on Team Edward were pretty simple. You needed to use the colors red and black and also lots of bling-bling because Edward sparkles in the sunlight. Yes, real men sparkle! LOL

The sponsor for this challenge is Terri from Color Me Miki and she has donated one of her Bewitching kits that has lots of the new Pink Paislee Twilight products. So, go on over to C.S.D. and turn in your Paper Creation by 22 November for your chance to win this awesome kit!

Mission 0003

The wonderful ladies over at Mission Create have another awesome mission (or challenge) going on and here is my take.... I used all 5 concepts again which were to....
1. Use this sketch.

2. Use lyrics from the song by Kelly Clarkson "My life would suck without you!"
3. Use pink.
4. Use buttons.
5. Use transparency.

Here are close-up shots.... This layout is of my mother from back in the day (as you can clearly tell). I chose to do my layout on her opposed to my dear husband or children because my mother is my bestfriend. I seriously think that as much as we butt heads sometimes that my life would truly suck without her in it. Although we live miles apart (her in Hawaii and me in Virginia) she's always there when I need some adult conversation and she's helped me out in more ways than one. I know I can always count on her and I can't even imagine my life without her. This happens to be the very first layout I ever did of her. I'm happy I was inspired to create this because of the challenge at Mission Create. It makes me realize how much I truly appreciate her.

Do you think your NERDY?

If so, you should apply to this DT Call for Nerdy Girls. :)

http://nvsgirls.blogspot.com

What's my age again?

This is the subject for Prompt #23 over at The Pink Ninjas blog. Make sure to check out the rest of the Ninjas takes to this challenge....I promise you'll get a little laugh in. If you participate you may just win the prize that is being sponsored by Rachel from Close to my Heart.

Okay, so seriously....I'm in my late 20's (and always will be)....However, ever since I hit my mid-20's I somehow kept forgetting how old I was. For years I kept thinking I was 26 until one day someone ran the numbers and I was told otherwise. hehehe

I don't forget my birthDAY because I share the same day as my father-June 8. Yes folks, this would be the day you can all go shopping for mua. hehehe

So, here's my layout for the challenge.... I used vinyl rubons (the birdcages and the word remember) from E.A.D. Designs and they are on sale right now so go check them out!
And don't forget my birthday! hehehe

Fort Hood, Texas

We're headed there later this month....being re-stationed because my husband is in the Army....as many of you know. We just seen on the news about the U.S. Army Major who shot, killed (12) and wounded (31) fellow soldiers today. This is HUGE! It makes me get goose bumps just thinking about the whole incident. The base is supposedly on lock down. No one can come in or out. My hubby has been texting his friend who is stationed there now. Goosebumps I tell you! They are in need of blood donors and if any of you are in the area I hope you are able to help.

Despite that crazy news it also happens to be my hubby's birthday today and with all that has happened I am just thankful that he's home and safe. I went on nfl.com and custom made him a Dallas Cowboys shirt. He's been saying how much he's wanted one after he seen the commercial for them.

I also reflected upon "us" in some recent scrapbooking layouts that I did recently. I can share one with you today. It says: "....February, March, April, May....Baby I love you more & more each and everyday."

I did this for the Inspired Blueprints Sketch #35 that is going on right now. Winner gets a Gift Certificate to E.A.D. Designs. Check out the E.A.D. Designs vinyl rubon I included on the top right corner of my photo. I flanked it with a 7gypsies brad. These vinyl rubons are the coolest! If you haven't tried them, now's the time! Here's the IBP Sketch that your provided for the challenge. Inpiring eh?

Here are some close-up shots.

Supplies Used- Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: 7Gypsies, Scenic Route; Flowers: Prima Marketing Inc.; Embellishments: 7Gypsies; RubOn: E.A.D. Designs Vinyl Art; Alphas: American Crafts Thickers.Hope you all stay safe this evening. God Bless you! Keep these people in your prayers today.

E.A.D. Designs

Hey everybody!

It's November and soon we'll be moving to Texas....just a few more weeks now. I seriously can't wait....if I could, I would move tomorrow. :)

I have a few announcements to make....

1) I made it on the Design Team over at E.A.D. Designs. If you need any vinyl lettering, vinyl wall art for your home or vinyl rub-ons, E.A.D. Designs is the place to go. Vinyl can be used on many different surfaces and in many different ways. I challenge you to come up with clever ways to use this product. Go on over and check out what E.A.D. Designs has in store or make a custom order. I'd love to see what you can do with it.

To inspire you I have something I made the other day that I'd like to share. I used a sheet of the E.A.D. Designs Caged Vinyl Rub-Ons in Sky Blue. It's a non-traditional welcome sign/hanging. It says "Hi" in the top frame and "Hello" in the bottom frame. I used 4 pieces from the sheet leaving me with plenty leftover pieces to work with for future projects.

Here's a close-up shot of the top frame that says "Hi." Notice the flourish piece under the word "Hi?" Both of those pieces are included on your 13x7.5 sheet of vinyl rub-ons and there are 35 different colors to choose from. I'm using Sky Blue in my creation.

Here's the bottom frame piece that says "Hello." The flourish piece under the word "Hello" is also included on the 13x7.5 sheet of vinyl rub-ons that you get. Cool ha?
I encourage you to check them out. You'll love what you find and I bet you'll think of SO much that you can do with this stuff!

2) Halloween was a couple of nights ago and I hope you all had a haunting good time. I'm still playing with my pictures that I took from that night but I have one I can share with you all for now. My 10 year old daughter was a Geisha or China Doll and I took great pride in the make-up work I did on her. I painted her face white, put bright red lipstick on the center of her lips and made the edges white to blend in with her facial. I made blush circles on her cheeks and played out the eyeliner that slanted across the sides of her eyes. It got dark fast so it was kind of a waste but I made sure to take her out early to get some shots of her before we left to go trick-or-treating. This picture is a poor representation of what I did on her face but I loved her posture in this photo so much. :)
3) The newest challenge over at Candy Shoppe Designs right now is BIG EGO'S and you are asked to use little icons that you like or ones that describe you in your paper creations. It was SO much fun to do, you have got to try this! The due date isn't till 11/11 so you have lots of time but make sure you link them up soon so the Lollipop Girls don't forget to consider it when they start voting. The blog candy is being donated by Memorable Seasons and is this Tinkering Ink Kit.

4) Twisted Sketch Prompt #021 is up and the twist is "Alphas." Here's my take to the sketch (including the twist)....This is my younger brother riding around the North Shore in Hawaii on his Low Rider bike.

5) I am in the process of giving my blog a revamped look....also changing it over to Desperate Army Housewife too! Please continue following me there as I slowly but surely move everything over. Thanks ladies!

6) Last but not least....for all of you creative and talented scrapbookers out there here is a DT Call you might want to check out....XOXO Girls.

And that's all the news I have to share today. Please check out The Pink Ninjas blog tomorrow for the newest prompt.

To ALL My Followers....

I am changing my blog address from windingroadhousewife.blogspot.com to http://desperatearmyhousewife.blogspot.com/ soon. So please continue following me there where you will have access to all my latest blog news. Sorry if this is an inconvenience for some of you but I feel this new name suits me better. :) Thanks followers!

Costumes

Anyway you look at it....Halloween is fun. You get to dress up and be whoever you want. You get to take a little break from reality and you get rewarded for doing so....with treats. Halloween isn't just for the kiddos either. I like to look back at past Halloweens where I had the chance to dress-up in costumes. Last Halloween I was Wonder Woman. Two years before that I was a Pirate, the year before that I was a Cop and the year before that I was Eve from the Garden of Eden. I've had SO much fun over the years of getting to dress-up. I won't be dressing up this year though....this year is just for the kids. Are you dressing up? If so, what are you going to be?

Scrap it and submit it over at The Pink Ninjas blog. The #22 Prompt is Costumes. Here's what I created: This is also for Mon Scrapbook's current sketch challenge. The winner for that challenge will get a $20 gift certificate to an online scrapbooking store. Go on over and check them out for your chance to win!

Blue Moon Scrapbooking

If you aren't in tune with the GIVEAWAYS going on over at the Blue Moon Scrapbooking blog than you are in for a real treat. My best friend ;) Lisa Shaw is giving away SO many goodies and entering is easy! Go on over and check it out by clicking here.

Skin Marks

The newest challenge for you to play along to over at The Pink Ninjas is called SKIN MARKS and anything goes......

Got a tat you wanna show off? Maybe a beauty mark? or scar? Scrap it and come on over to The Pink Ninjas to show it off!

I SO wanted to scrap my name that's tattoed on my husbands arm but something ended up being wrong with my printer when my computer was acting up.....so I just scrapped the pic. of when I got my 2nd tattoo back in the day. It's a tigers face inside of the butterfly wings. Can you see it?

Mission 0002 and if you were a cartoon character....

Mission Create has another awesome challenge brewing and I managed to use all concepts given again. I used cork alphas for my title "Boo to you!" and as you can tell it is a Halloween themed page. I used the colors orange, green & purple and I stamped the owl image and cut my photo into 2 seperate wallet sized photos. Pretty clever eh? Go on over and check out the challenge. The winner this month will get a prize from Rosa over at The Paper Passion.

p.s. This layout is of my daughter Deja (the Pirate) and her friend on Halloween a couple of years ago 2007.

Also, The Pink Ninjas newest prompt is....Prompt #20-

IF YOU WERE A CARTOON CHARACTER....

This one was EASY for me! LOL

"Don't make me go all Ninja on you!"

This is my Pink Ninja layout for The Pink Ninjas Design Team. Check us rad girlies out sometime and join our fun Challenges!

Scrapbooking Supplies R Us Surprise Giveaway

Could you imagine winning this?Well, you don't need to imagine because right now Scrapbooking Supplies R Us is having a HUGE Giveaway and this photo is just some of the items that are included. So you just possibly....might....be able to win it.

Isn't it beautiful?!

Scrapbooking Supplies R Us people....go check them out now to see all the details!

This giveaway consists of the supplies needed for Irene Tan's Mini Album Tutorial next month. How exciting is that? I love Irene's work and I'm a big fan of hers.

One very lucky winner will win this amazing giveaway and will receive it in time to follow along Irene's tutorial next month. I'm crossing my fingers, arms, legs and toes for this one! LOL

The products consist mostly of the latest releases from Summer CHA and you'll have until 11 October to enter for your chance to win.

By the looks of this sneak peek, why wouldn't you want to enter?!

Mission 001

There's a NEW Challenge Blog out there that I discovered the other day called MISSION CREATE. It looks to me like they are on a mission to INSPIRE in a serious but fun way! Go on over and check them out and participate in their very first Challenge to support them will ya?! We all know that we get our layouts done because of Challenge Blogs....here's one more fun way to complete layouts!

Here's my take to their first Challenge. I used all the concepts given by the Creative Team. My title is 6 WORDS "Duty to God and my country." I used a GLITTER brad (the yellow one in-between the word "Duty"). I followed their SKETCH.... ....and I used PATTERNED PAPER FROM MORE THAN JUST 3 DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS and here's what I came up with....

I give credit where it's due and on top of getting inspired to create a layout by MISSION CREATE I was also really very inspired by an artist named Celine Navarro and I scraplifted her for this Challenge as well. She is A-ma-zing!!! I completely got my mojo back after visiting her blog. Check her out and see just what I mean. View those videos she has on there too will ya. It will surely put a smile on your face! Oh and....here's the layout I scraplifted from her.... Didn't I tell you she was bad a$$?! I told you!

Fashionably Geek!

Yes folks! FASHIONABLY GEEK is the Challenge being hosted right now over at Candy Shoppe Designs. You won't wanna miss this one! E.A.D. Designs is sponsoring a few samples of their Vinyl Rub-Ons and they are so yummy! Go on over to check out the details. NOW or SOON! The Challenge ends on October 10th so you only have a few days to fit it in. However, it is quite easy....for a geek at least. Here's my take to the Challenge titled "My Pooh!"

THINK PINK and Save the Ta-tas!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month so wherever you are, whatever your doing....go to 2nd base on yourself and feel your boobies!

Candy Shoppe Designs is hosting a THINK PINK Challenge right now and all you are required to do is create a Paper Creation (it can be a card, a layout, etc.) using pink ribbon. Past creations are acceptable too. It doesn't have to be new.

If the Lollipop Girls like your Paper Creation the best out of all the entries you WIN this Blog Candy from Precocious Paper. Due Date for entries is 19 October so you have lots of time to participate.
If you go on over to Precocious Paper and want to buy anything just mention you were referred by C.S.D. (Candy Shoppe Designs) and you'll get 10% off your purchase. Offer good till 8 October.

Here's my PINK RIBBON layout. This is Eva modeling her Matryoshka Skirt from Wild Olive Kids.

Favorite Drink

Yes, I like Pina Colada's and getting caught in the rain. I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne.

The Pink Ninja's Challenge Blog has a Prompt up for you to scrap your fav. drink and mine happens to be Frozen Pina Colada's. Whenever I go out to eat or am near a place that has them I just have to have one. No if's, and's, or butt's about it!

I'm not sure how it all started but I do admit that I act quite spoiled about it all. I'm just glad my husband doesn't mind that much. He understands that he has has cigs....and I need my Pina Colada's. LOL So, I don't complain about all the packs he buys and he doesn't complain about all the cups I buy. ;) Win-Win!

Head on over to the Pink Ninja's Challenge Blog and let us all know what your favorite drink is. Whether it's coffee, hot chocolate, soda, kool-aid, lemonade or even beer! We wanna know!

Creative Scrappers #71

I created this layout for the current Challenge over at Creative Scrappers. A sketch was provided by Karen Gerber and I was totally inspired by it!

The title reads: Marine to the bone

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee, Fancy Pants

Stickers: Basic Grey

Alphas: Basic Grey, Heidi Swapp.

Here's the Sketch.... Thanks for looking!

I have a few Announcements to stuff into this 1 post tonight....

For one.....your going to see my butt jumping through the air doing some kick a$$ ninja moves cause I.am.a.Pink Ninja now baby! I made it on the team! Woohoo! Expect to see some funky layouts from me for this. My eclectic side is all over this one! Here's my Pink Ninja photo....
Okay, stop laughing! LOL I took a lot of $#!% from my husband already because of it. I didn't think he was going to walk into the bathroom while I had our toddler daughter's too small of a tutu up up one of my legs (because it was too small to fit around me) and covering myself in my 10 year old daughter's pink make-up gook. LOL I swear, he thought I had finally lost it! I had to explain to him (after I finally stopped laughing embarrassingly at myself) that it was simply just for a photo for a New Design Team that I made it on. LOL The things I envision....and the way it slaps me in the face when I least expect it to. LOL Oh well! Check me out on The Pink Ninja's Challenge Blog here.

Other great news.....
Candy Shoppe Designs is hosting some awesome Challenges right now.....and there is SO much Blog Candy to be won.....like always!

Check out the FASHIONABLY GEEK Challenge for a chance to win an awesome Blog Candy Package from E.A.D. Designs!!!

Check out the THINK PINK Challenge for a chance to win an awesome Blog Candy Package from Precocious Paper!!!

and for trying your hand at creating your very own Patterned Paper you'll have your chance at winning another Blog Candy Package!!!

Odds of winning something from Candy Shoppe Designs are GREAT!
So go on by, become a Sweetheart (Follower) and submit your takes to the Challenges!!!

Good Luck!

Addictions

I'm addicted to Twilight. I can watch the movie over and over again .... sometimes a few times a day when I can. I never tire of it! My younger sister kept telling me that the books were even better. So, in my haste to find out I started reading again. I don't think I picked up a book to read since H.S. and I have to admit, my sister was right. The books give you so much more insight and details and it's filled with so much emotion that it makes you feel like you are a part of the story. I read and read and read till I finished Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and then just lastnight I finished reading Breaking Dawn. This was such an amazing series! I never thought of myself as having an addictive personality but I am addicted to Twilight.
I created this layout for The Pink Ninja's ADDICTIONS Challenge. The quotes on the layout read:

-I sleep with a smile because I see you in my dreams.

-Bite Me!

-Hopelessly Addicted.

-Twilight is exactly my brand of heroin.

-Edward prefers Brunettes.

-Yes, I admit I read books about teenage vampires.

and

-Forget Romeo and Juliet. I want a love story like Edward and Bella.

A little bird told me.....

I made these handmade gifts for someone recently who likes bluebirds. The first is an inexpensive Altered Clipboard that I did for the Busy Fashionista Altered Clipboard Challenge
over at Candy Shoppe Designs.I found the clipboard at Walmart for $1 and some change. The red checkered print paper is by Rusty Pickle and I had that on hand already. The yellow blue bird paper I found at Memorable Seasons on sale for $0.20. It's from the Botanical Bliss Collection by Tinkering Ink. I checked out Michael's Clearance section and found a pack of stickers for $0.99. It had a blue bird on one of them and it was dimensional (how I like my stickers). I thought what the heck....even though it may say "grow baby grow" it could work. LOL That's the sticker you see in the bottom right hand corner. I had the pom pom trim on hand already and then I attached some other trims I had on hand and a broken faux flower stem I found in my house and ta-da! A simple handmade project that costed between $3-5!!!

Next is a mini altered mailbox. I picked up the mini mailbox in the Target $1 section. I painted it blue, attached some papers, stickers and trims I had on hand, stuck that chipboard flower to the flag (I had that on hand too!) and got the birds nest at Micheal's for a couple of dollars and glued it snugly next to the flag. Another project completed between $3-5!!!

This baby I am SO proud of. I was internet surfing one day and seen a project like this and thought it was a great idea. So, the do-it-yourself person that I am decided to do do-one-herself. I had the Basic Grey papers on hand already left over from the mini mailbox item I made. I cut out a couple of heart shapes from it and stitched the edges together making sure to leave the top end open to stuff scrappy goodness into it. I also took some ric rac and glued it into the seams to create a prettier edge. I had everything on-hand already for this project so it made things easy. The tulle hanger and flowers are by Prima, the floss by Bazzill, the chipboard by American Crafts and the journaling spot by Heidi Swapp.

SUPER Sweet 16 Blog Hop Challenge

BLOG CANDY Galore is being given away over at Candy Shoppe Designs and on this 16th day of September there will be no exception.

September 16-28 is-

C.S.D.'s SUPER Sweet 16 and we have cause to celebrate BIG by doing a Blog Hop/Challenge and by giving away the "Lollipop Guild Kit" from Studio Calico to 1 LUCKY WINNER!!! Could that be YOU?!? Like I always say....You can't WIN if you don't try.

So, come on over to Candy Shoppe Designs and HOP with us Lollipop Girls.

Here's the tempting Blog Candy in case your still not budging.

The BLOG HOP will start off at Candy Shoppe Designs. You will go through the list of 10 Lollipop Girls (in order) and at each blog they will have a SIMPLE STEP for you to do on your layouts you are to enter for the Challenge at the end of the HOP. It's SO EASY and it will be really FUN! Please visit C.S.D. for the complete rules.

I'm giving SIMPLE STEP 8 which is to ADD at least 3 flowers to any one corner of your photo.

How SIMPLE is that? And it's just that easy!

It's going to be SO much fun to see everyone's different interpretations even though they were all given the same SIMPLE STEPS in the same order. Here's my take to this Challenge.

Hope to see you hopping with us!!!

Lend a Helping hand and be an Angel!

PLEASE READ!!!

We've all had tough times and know first hand that the greatest feeling is when some of the weight has been lifted off your shoulders by someone you would more than likely call an Angel. I'm asking you all to please be an Angel today and lend a helping hand to my dear friend and Sketch Designer of C.S.D., Anam Stubbington. Although you may not know Anam in person I'm sure that you will feel a great deal of satisfaction being able to help someone out in their desperate time of need. Please visit her HERE to read about the situation her and her family are going through right now and try to imagine if it were you and yours. Prayers are nice but financial help is also asked upon as well. Anam is a VERY talented individual in many different areas and she's got a lot of support from other talents as well backing her up with this situation. Please check out her blog to see the many different Auctions going on for her right now and find more ways than 1 where you can help her at this time. Cut back on a couple of things that you don't neccessarily NEED in life and instead donate the money and/or bid on an auction or except a service from Anam herself in turn for your help to make it work for you too. Her family needs this right now and they can't do it on their own. Please help!

Page Maps Sketch Contest

Here's my take to the oh-so inspiring Sketch Contest that Becky is hosting over on Page Maps right now.....
This happens to be my younger brother (in center) walking along the shore in such a picture perfect setting on the famous "North Shore" beach in Hawaii.

This is my NEW favorite layout to date. The colors scream out to me!

If you want your chance at winning the gorgeous "Cotillion" Kit being sponsored by Studio Calico then go on over to Page Maps and create a layout based on this here sketch....That "Cotillion" Kit should surely have you wanting to join in! If you do, GOOD LUCK! From what I've seen so far regarding all the entries it's going to be a tough beat but definately worth the try!

Design Team Work and Delicious Easy2Win Blog Candy

This very yummy "Postcards from Paris" Kit was donated to us over at C.S.D. by our "Special" Guest Designer and September Grand Prize Sponsor - Wendy Rago - Owner of Bad Girls Kits. It is a very easy Blog Candy to win. All you need to do is head on over to Candy Shoppe Designs and become a Sweetheart (Follower) and be an Active Member on the Blog.

I run a POINT SYSTEM and the more ACTIVE you are on the Blog, the better your chance at winning something. We at C.S.D. love giving things away and to prove it....here are a couple of other Blog Candies available to win right now ..... and we just Officially Launched a few days ago! Call us "Sweet" NOT "Crazy!"

And that's not all! There will be many MORE Blog Candy Packages being given away this month as well. So, your chances at winning are high! Be a Sweetheart and come check us out!

Would you care to try your hand at Altering a Clipboard if you were shown how? Have you Altered one or two in the past and have pictures to prove it? Well then that's all you need to do to try to win this "Busy Fashionista" Blog Candy! Easy right?!

If you've never gave it a go before, check out C.S.D.'s "Sweet Tooth" Tutorial on the reasons why you should. Stop on by Candy Shoppe Designs, become a Sweetheart (Follower) and leave a comment under THIS post with a link leading back to your Altered Clipboards -New or Old- We want to see them!

Like this Blog Candy? Would you strip for it? Check out what I mean at Candy Shoppe Designs! CLICK HERE to make your way directly to the posting.

This is a Monochromatic layout I created for my Design Team spot over at Twisted Sketches. It's of my baby girl Eva.

This is my most recent layout I created for Twisted Sketches. The "twist" was to use tape and so I took tape to Deja's photo and took the image off it. I'll be sharing a Tutorial on C.S.D. on how to do that technique as well as how to create the flowers you see here. So, become a Sweetheart (Follower) so you can see how it's done. It's really very easy, otherwise I wouldn't have tackled it myself.

This is my Juicy Couture "SMELL ME" Keepsake Box that I created with a $2 box from Walmart, a couple of papers, trims, blooms and buttons and a Juicy Couture Perfume Ad from one of my Fashion Magazines. A tutorial on how to create the flowers shown here will also be given in the near future on C.S.D.

This so happens to be my ABOUT ME layout for my Lollipop Girl Design Team spot on C.S.D. My Lollipop Girl nickname is "Cherry Lolita" and the quote on the layout reads: "I want it all and I want it smothered in chocolate and whipped cream with a cherry on top!"

And that's all from me for now. Don't forget to check out both Candy Shoppe Designs and Bad Girls Kits! You won't be dissapointed if you do!

Wanna WIN this Bad Girls Kit?!?!

Candy Shoppe Designs has Officially Launched TODAY. WOO HOO!!!

Wendy Rago from Bad Girls Kits is this months Special Guest Designer and Grand Blog Candy Sponsor. She is going to send this awesome "Postcards From Paris" Kit to 1 Lucky Winner. If you wanna chance to win it you need to check out Candy Shoppe Designs.....
So, what are you waiting for? Go check it out!!!

Custom Scrapbooking

Just wanted to share some custom scrapbooking orders I completed recently. My newest client's boyfriend is a Marine so I had to force myself into creating masculine layouts. Here's some for sharing....

JOURNEY

Life is a journey, not a destination.

ONE STEP AHEAD
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

MARINES
The Few, The Proud.

OORAH
It's a Marine thing.

ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE.

FIND YOUR PATH
Follow your Bliss

Pride, Strength, Honor.


TRUE
to the corps.

Thanks for looking!

Uptown Girl Blog Candy

Visit Candy Shoppe Designs to see how you could win this Uptown Girls Kit. The luscious colors in this kit will have you wanting to create in no time. It's so easy to win and best of all, this isn't the only prize being given away in August. There are so many prizes being given away right now and you should know....you can't win if you don't try. Stop on by and have a looksie! I'm sure that you'll really likey!

Celebrating 100 C.S.D. Sweethearts

Candy Shoppe Designs is getting more and more popular....reaching almost 100 Sweethearts (Followers) in just a little over a month....and the Paper Crafting Challenge Blog hasn't even officially launched yet!

Come taste something NEW over at C.S.D.....Participate in a challenge, or join in on a tutorial....heck....even if your just in it for the Blog Candy....there is A LOT of it going around right now....about 8 Blog Candies.....So, you have a really good chance at winning.

Come check it out....become a Sweetheart and add to the pot!

Also, come check out the NEW Awesome Challenge at Twisted Sketches and try your chance at winning yet another prize. Here were my takes to both the Challenges.

Shabby Creations Giveaway

Now's your chance to win a free background and banner or a pre-made blog design for free from Michelle at Shabby Creations. She's giving away not 1, but 2 prizes for two lucky winners. "Lucky" you are if you win one of them because I myself had the pleasure of working with Michelle on my Candy Shoppe Designs blog design and she made everything I pictured in my head a reality. The result came out even more beautiful than I ever hoped for.

So, what are you waiting for? Wouldn't you want a new looking blog design of your own with her help? I sure wouldn't mind working with her again on a new look for my personal blog. So, stop on over to her blog Shabby Creations and enter for your chance to win. Make sure you let her know I (Lynnette Davis) sent you. Good Luck!

Paper Crafting Design Teams

My DT position at If It's Groovy is soon coming to an end and a bunch of new and exciting things will be in store for me....I just know it!



A month ago from today I became a Twisted Sister at Twisted Sketches. It's an awesome challenge blog hosted by the talented sketch artist Anam. Go check out all the lovely sketches she creates and join a challenge or two!



As many of you already know I also host my very own challenge blog called Candy Shoppe Designs. It's a New and Foxy approach to other challenge blogs and I am still looking to fill my Lollipop Girl Design Team spots. You have until the last day of this month to get your applications in to me if you're interested in being a Lollipop Girl for C.S.D. You can check out the details on C.S.D.'s blog. What are you waiting for? Go check it out!

Tag! "I'm it!"

I was tagged by Vicki from Vicki's Artistic License over my Hawaiian Vacation and so I'm a little late getting to it but here's me....

~8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Seeing my kids laugh
2. Hearing "I love you!" from my husband
3. My next trip home to Hawaii
4. Checking my email/blog/eBay/etc.
5. Scrapbooking another page
6. Comments
7. The mailman's delivery
8. Getting to go out somewhere nice just so I can dress up

~8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. I flew from Hawaii to Chicago, then home to Virginia.
2. I had to listen to a baby scream almost the whole way on the 8 hour flight (from Hawaii to Chicago) while the poor babies parent kept headphones on with the music blaring (I could imagine).
3. I people watched in the airport(s). My husband and I got a lot of laughs in.
4. I tried to sleep on the plane rides....un-successful! Well, with 4 kids and a husband of course not.
5. My son got in a bike accident so I helped bandage him up.
6. I checked my email.
7. I ate Cereal and Mac & Cheese for dinner with the kids....yeah, I NEED to go grocery shopping!
8. Since Hawaii is 6 hours behind Virginia I suffered some serious jet lag (still am) and I went to sleep almost as soon as my face touched my pillow. Woke up at 7pm lastnight and haven't been back to bed since.

~8 Things I Wish I Could Do
1. Read "New Moon" since I had the chance to read the "Twilight" book while on vacation. I can't wait to get my hands on it!
2. Grow some meat around some areas of my body.
3. Have more patience for my kids sake.
4. Eat on the left side of my mouth. I had some dentistry work that I think was done incorrectly and it's irritatingly painful to chew anything on my left side.
5. Turn back time
6. Read people's minds (like Edward on Twilight).
7. Scrapbook faster
8. Get my husband around having to go back to Iraq another year.

~8 Things I Have Watched Recently
1. I watched my tough little boy cry while my husband and I tried to take care of his really bad tire burn from his bike accident.
2. I watched him get all better suddenly after announcing that we are to go shopping for his best friends birthday present the next day and that he can't go if he's still in pain.
3. My husband un-pack while I drifted off to a much needed sleep yesterday.
4. I watched a couple of crafting tutorials.
5. I watched my baby girl fight sleep....darn jet lag!
6. I watched the Twilight movie AGAIN and AGAIN. I will never get tired of that movie!
7. My husband walk....I love his manly walk.....and his butt looked SO good in them jeans!
8. My hair fall out. It never fails. I leave my ponytail in over night and I have to expect a lot of hair to come out with it the next day. My bad!

In addition I'd also like to share 8 Interesting Facts about my Hawaiian Vacation.
1. Michael Jackson's death was announced while we were at the airport in LA.
2. On the flight to Hawaii from LA I sat next to K-Ci (from K-Ci & JoJo). The duo sat away from each other and K-Ci was with his wife and Body Guard. Nope...they weren't even traveling in First Class.
3. The food was even better than I remember it.
4. I waited in an hour long line just to get a shaved ice cone from the most famous "Matsumoto's Shave Ice Store" in the historic Haleiwa Town.
5. I had my own little H.S. Reunion with some close friends instead of going to my real class reunion. I figure....I have MySpace and I didn't really need to attend.
6. I actually got IN the water at the beach. I don't even touch the merky looking water with my feet at the beaches here in Virginia. Hawaiian Waters are so beautiful and clear!
7. I promised myself there would be no sad goodbye's this visit but once I seen the tears in my little sister's eyes I broke that promise.
8. Our Vacation was originally only supposed to be from June 25-July 15 BUT our return flight got cancelled so the airlines put us up in a really nice hotel for another night with free meal vouchers and transportation.

Do you think you have what it takes to be a Lollipop Girl?

Candy Shoppe Designs is a Foxy New Paper Crafting Blog (ran by MUA). Thank you, thank you!!! heehee

I am accepting applications for my "Lollipop Girl Design Team" from now to July 31st. Visit the blog to see what it takes to become a "Lollipop Girl for C.S.D."

Come by, leave me some LOVE, and become one of my "Sweethearts" (Followers) too!

Thanks for the Support Ladies!

I received a Lovely Blog Award!

Emily gave me this Lovely Blog Award and I am just so greatful. Thank you so much!

There are just 2 Simple Rules for this Award:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I will be giving this award to:

1) Lisa from Takin' Life One Day At A Time

2) Dena from Whole Lotta Sassy

3) Marlene from My Spot Of Sunshine

4) Genie from Genie In A Blogger

5) Joanie from Full Of Bolognie!

6) Karen from Butterfly Crafts

7) Deb from If It's Groovy

8) Jenny from Scrap Happy Mama

9) Marci from What's Up At Our House

10) Liz from Welcome To The Scrappiest

11) Jocelyn from Simply Me

12) Tracie from Pink Angel

13) Debbie from Passion For Crafts

14) Wendy from Paper Therapy

15) Melissa from Creating From The Heart

The list is in no particular order!

Thank you again!

p.s. See my post below to get some free goodies from me.

Pay It Forward

I REALLY don't like chain letters. In fact, I despise them! Most of it is a bunch of bull and a lot of them are a bunch of crap. :)

This "Pay It Forward" chain is probably the one chain that I don't mind moving along or even get bothered by. It doesn't promise you any good fortune in the end or even good luck. It will insure you that you have probably put a smile on someones face or made someones day though. That's what I think counts.

Years ago I was so inspired by a movie I had seen called "Pay It Forward." So, a few days ago as I was blog hopping on some of the blogs I follow I was excited to see that my friend Marlene had a Pay It Forward/Blog Giveaway mixing two really great ideas!

I am one of the Lucky 5 she will be sending a gift to and in turn I need to send a gift to 5 more people to keep the Pay It Forward movement going.

For MY Pay It Forward/Blog Giveaway I will be asking each of you who respond to also include in your comment something you like (regarding scrapbooking of course). It can be a color scheme, a print/pattern, a handmade item, a scrapbooking collection, a character/animal, a fav. scrapbooking goodie, etc. ANY info. that will better help me make my decision on who the lucky 5 recipients will be. Please don't say "anything will be nice" because that will probably just make my decision harder. :)

I will pick 5 recipients BY Monday, June 22nd. So be sure to check back by then to see if you're one of my lucky 5. And if you are, then make sure to leave me a way to contact you. :)

Here's the Rules:
1. The gift will be a mystery of my choice created especially for each recipient. It might be a handmade creation, it might be store bought.
2. I have one year to get all 5 gifts together. Although I doubt it will take me THAT long. :)
3. If you're one of the 5 people chosen to receive a gift from me, you must make a Pay It Forward posting on your own blog soon after I announce you as one of my recipients to keep this movement going. A link back to my blog will be much appreciated too!
4. When you receive your gift from me you should make a post on your blog to show everyone what I gave you inspiring others to follow the chain and participate.

So, leave me a comment with the said information and let's keep this movement going.

My 80's Blog Hop Winner is.....

....JENNY B.
Please contact me with your mailing info. so I can get your prize out to you. Thanks for playing along Jenny! Your layout was beautiful!

Toot Toot!

Tooting my own horn because I'm the June Guest Designer over at Butterfly Crafts. I've just been debuted on their blog and am SO excited! Go on over there and check me out! Join their awesome challenges to win some yummy prizes and check out the DT's talent.

My Newest Creations

I just wanted to share some of my newest scrapbooking creations. This first one is titled: LOVING YOU IS EASY. It's of my youngest daughter Eva and I just minutes after she was born. Journaling reads: I often wondered if I would have enough love to go around for you-My 4th child. But after you were born I realized that loving you was so easy. I love this picture! The way she looked straight into my eyes at that very moment was as if she had already knew who I was.

This next layout titled CIRCUS FUN got me a future Guest Design Team spot for Moxxie. I'm SO excited! I'll keep you all informed on which month exactly that I will be featured with them when I know. The picture is one I took at the Circus a few years ago.

This fun layout titled IT'S A GIRL THING is my interpretation of sketch 001 from Twisted Sketches. The twist was to use ribbon and I used lace ribbon. The photos were taken in a photo booth and are of my friend and I about 5-6 years ago. We were being silly. The balloon captioning reads:

Lynnette: Why is it called "lipstick' if you can still move your lips?

Molly-Anne: I don't know! Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed? heeheehee.

Ah! THE SWEET LIFE! This layout was created for the If It's Groovy DT that I'm on. The theme for the month is "Candy." Go on over and try your hand at the challenge for a prize! The photo is of my mother, step-father, younger sisters and the little one is the girl my mom adopted at birth. She is the reason why I titled my layout the way I did because she was adopted from a very bad situation. I feel like by being adopted she will now get to live a "sweet life."

SWEET SERENITY is the title of my next layout I'm sharing with you all. That's what I think of when I look at this. It's as if Eva is actually watching the butterflies fly off the page. This is another layout I created for a challenge. Crossing my fingers that I win for this one too!

And last but definately not least is my layout titled MY HERO. That's what my husband is to me. He not only risks his life for his family but for his country as well. I have a great sense of worth by being able to call myself his wife and I am SO incredibly proud at his bravery!

And a quick reminder that today is the 12th. You still have 4 more days left to turn in your layouts to me for the 80's blog hop crop challenge to win my prize pack. Details below on the previous posting.

1980's BLOG HOP CROP

Welcome to the If It's Groovy's 80's Blog Hop Crop! Our blog hop starts on June 4th and ends on June 14th. That's 10 whole days of cropping fun and many chances to win some awesome prizes! Please make sure to visit the If It's Groovy blog for the 1st crop challenge by Deb and you'll be directed through all the others one by one.

If you are already going through the blog hop and have been through the first 4 girls challenges then you should be coming to me with crimped hair, neon colored ensembles, colorful scrunchy socks and be all heavy metaled out. Talk about starting off a blog hop with a bang ha?

MY challenge is for you to think of an 80's Icon, Fad or Toy (say for instance: Atari, Pac-Man, Strawberry Shortcake, Smurfs, Rubik's Cube, Chinese Jacks, Rainbow Brite, Pound Puppies, etc.) and use it for inspiration on your layout.

The winner of my challenge will be picked on June 16th at Midnight and be announced on my blog on June 17th. You must "follow my blog" and notify me within 3 days with your mailing address to claim your prize. To enter for your chance to win all you need to do is leave a comment with a link to your blog where you have your layout displayed. This is the Prize Pack for the winning contestant for my Blog Challenge.

It's a prize package worth approx. $25 for you to enjoy!

So go get scrapping and when your done come back and go to Amy's Crop Challenge to see what's in store for you next!

Here are MY takes on some of these ladies challenges:

For Deb's CRIMPING Challenge I used a strip of white corrugated paper. My layout is of my darling daughters Eva and Deja and I titled this "Heart and Soul".


Here's my two-fer for Jenny B. and Niki Ray's challenges. Jenny B's rules were to use neon colors and I used hyper orange. Niki Ray's rules were to use 2 dominating colors + something music related and I used the colors orange and teal + a strip of music sheet patterned paper. This is a picture of me when I was a youngen' in the 80's. I LOVED my Jelly sandals so much that I went to bed with them on - Hence the title "I went to bed with My Jellies on!".

For Amy's "Hair" Challenge I thought it fit to create some altered items for my Mother-In-Law who works as a hairstylist. I made a personalized banner to go above her mirror at her work station, a hair brush holder and a tip jar.

This layout is for Ange's "80's Slang" Challenge. The layout is titled "Oh My GOTH!" These are pictures of my friend's granddaughter.

This layout was made with 3 challenges in mind. My own, Debbie's "Video Games" Challenge and Jackie's "PacMan" Challenge. The layout is titled "Where's PACMAN when you need him?" I thought it fit since the paper was filled with a bunch of white pellet dots. This is me as a toddler with my broken leg playing my PacMan Game. Oh how I loved that game!!! I still play it on my cell phone today.

I used pictures of my friends granddaughter for Michelle's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper Challenge.

Woo Hoo!!!

We're going to start early tomorrow and the first stop is going to be on the If It's Groovy blog. I'll be posting my challenge with the prize you could win for completing my 80's challenge bright and early too!

Do you miss the 80's?

The 80's was a truly, truly, truly outrageous era and as wacky as it may seem it was my most favorite decade yet.
I miss the 80's!
I miss playing Pacman and Space Invaders on my Atari.
I miss the funky neon clothes and accessories I used to wear with my high top shoes.
I miss the big wave in my hair pulled off by a whole half can of Aqua Net.
I miss dancing and singing along to Debbie Gibson, Paula Abdul, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna.
I miss Michael Jackson in Thriller. Love him or hate him you can't deny that Thriller is one of the best dances to date. You just can't, I'm sorry! LOL
Gosh! There's just so much I loved about the 80's! That is why I am SO excited to announce that the DT that I'm on over at IF IT'S GROOVY is hosting it's first blog hop with an 80's theme. Come join us for lots of good fun, prizes and games will ya? It will be going on from June 4-14 and you will have 20 different blogs to go to during this time.

Celebrity Crush

For the past 11 years now I have had a rather huge undying crush over the heart throb Josh Hartnett. He has such dreamy eyes and one of the best jaw lines ever, along side my hubby of course. LOL

I think I lusted over him the most in the movie Pearl Harbor. Hawaii is my home state and I remember hearing bombs go off one day thinking "Oh no! We're being bombed again!" There was no warning to us residents ahead of time to let us know that it was just a movie re-enactment. Oh boy, did I beat myself up when I found out after the fact that he was IN HAWAII and I missed my chance of getting a glimpse of him up close.

I still crush over him today and my husband gets all disgusted at how I ooh! and awe! over his every move on screen. LOL

Anywho, Butterfly Crafts is hosting a Celebrity Crush Layout Challenge and it was no challenge for me to figure out who to do my layout on. Which celebrity do you have a crush on? Create a layout about him and enter it in for a chance to win a fabulous prize over at Butterfly Crafts.

Here's my take:

Love the look of my Blog?

Or just love shabby stuff period? Then go on over to Shabby Blogs and create your own. It's absolutely FREE!

Challenge #28: Live, Love, Laugh

The divas over on the Dreamgirls Challenge Blog had an awesome challenge this week. One that inspired me to create MY take on yet another challenge. This specific challenge our prompt was to use the quote words "Live, Love, Laugh" somewhere on our creation, include a piece of fabric at least 3x3 in size and include the colors red, turquoise, black and white. We also needed to cut up patterned paper and use that cutout as an embellishment on the layout. With all that in mind, here's what I came up with. It's titled LIVE WELL, LAUGH OFTEN, LOVE MUCH and it's of my two boys 2 summers ago on our last family vacation in Hawaii.

My take on Sketch LS107

I love creating layouts using sketches for inspiration sometimes and Let's Scrap had this sketch to share this week so I did my thing and created MY take on it.

Here's Sketch LS107: And here's MY take:
This is my youngest daughter Eva with her brown (Hawaiian) Hello Kitty.

Using Eyelets/Brads on LO's

Last month the EYELET OUTLET sponsored our challenge over at If It's Groovy. So this month our DT created LO's not only using Lissa's Sketch but eyelets/brads as well as a thank you. Please go on over and visit the Eyelet Outlet and show your appreciation for their sponsorship!

Check out IF IT'S GROOVY this month to see what the rest of the team came up with for this challenge.

Here's Lissa's Sketch:

Here's MY take on it titled More Spice Than Sugar:

If you are inspired by this sketch and create a LO also using eyelets/brads you can have your LO displayed on the IIG blog and also be entered into a prize drawing. So, let me know if you end up creating a LO using the sketch please. Thanks for looking!

Sketch 12

Liz from The Scrappiest just posted her 12th Sketch on her blog and also has some Blog Candy to give away. You should give it a looksie. You have a better chance at winning the candy by completing as many LO's as you can using the Sketch.

You know I'm all about the Blog Candy but I don't know how many LO's I'll be able to get done since I spend so much time on just one LO by itself. LOL It's worth a shot anyhow. You should see the yummy candy *twiddling fingers*.

Here's Liz's Sketch 12:

And here's my take on it (including some close-up shots). I titled it IN YOUR OWN ELEMENT:

Once again, I've killed 2 birds with one stone as this LO is another I had to finish up for a client of mine.

MANIC MONDAYS CHALLENGE #3

I know, I'm a day late. I was busy most of the day yesterday so I never got around to posting this till now. So here it goes...

This weeks challenge is staring right at you in black & white.
It's the SHADES OF GREY Challenge where you are to create your LO's using JUST shades of grey, black and white. However, you may add ONE other color to compliment the b/w tones. But, just ONE! Yes, it can be different shades of that color if you'd like. For instance, if you chose "pink" as your other color (like me) you could use hot pink, bright pink, pastel pink, etc.

The picture(s) you use in your LO's DO NOT have to be in b/w. Your picture(s) can be in ANY color regardless of what single color you choose. The only rule I have regarding your picture(s) is that it has to have "eyes". Be it a person, pet, insect, etc.

You will make up for the lack of color variety by replacing it with texture variety. So, be sure to add AT LEAST 2 different elements with different textures. This can be achieved through tearing or crumpling your papers. Or by rolling and curling the edges. Or by other means. You can also choose a mix of materials with different textures in your design; such as textured cardstock, corrugated cardboard, fabric, ribbon, buttons, and beads, etc.

Here's MY take on this challenge titled KEES. KEES. KEES. (kiss kiss kiss). My inspiration came from the AT&T commercial with Pepe Le Pew (the Warner Bros. French Skunk).


And here's a slideshow of LO's previously submitted for this challenge.

Please leave a comment with a link to your LO. Thanks for participating!

Three Word Story Game

This is called the three-word-story game. I will think of three words to start off the story, and you continue it by posting three more words (please continue off the person who answered ahead of you). I will then end the story when it sounds completed and add it to a new post with everyone who contributed as the authors.

The other day....

MANIC MONDAYS CHALLENGE #2

Time for Challenge #2 for this Manic Monday. This week's challenge is "Symbols associated with LOVE". There are many symbols that are attached with the expression of love. We're going to show a glimpse of these varied symbols on our LO's this week. Starting with the ubiquitous heart sign, to the word "LOVE". You'll need to:
-Include at least 1 heart somewhere in your LO. It does not have to be a full heart. It can be a broken heart if you want, or half a heart or even the word heart.
-Incorporate ANYTHING with "wings" into your LO. It could be an owl, a bird, a butterfly or dragonfly, an angel even. Heck, it could be chicken wings or a big mansion with an east wing and a west wing. Did you also know that Red Bull gives you wings?
-Include at least 1 flower. It could be a picture of a flower, a flower embellie or pp with flowers on it.
-You'll need to include the color brown somewhere on your LO's. It can be in the picture, in the pp or inked on the edges of stuff.
-There also needs to be some kind of frill in your LO. Whether it's ribbons, fiber, lace, etc.
-And last but not least, you'll need to have the word "LOVE" somewhere on your LO. It can be in the title or in your journaling or on some sort of embellie. LO's due next Monday.

Here's MY take.

About MY layout: The chalkboard patterned paper says I WILL NOT KISS BOYS all over it. My daughter Deja promised me she wouldn't have a boyfriend till she's 21. That's why I put angel wings on her. That's also why I created this layout....it's a little reminder of her promise to me.

Here is a slideshow of some LO's previously submitted for this challenge.

Please leave a comment with a link to your LO. Thanks!

MANIC MONDAYS CHALLENGE #1

Welcome to my very 1st Blog Challenge. Every MANIC MONDAY I will try to post a new Blog Challenge with examples of other peoples take on the challenge (including my own take) for you to have as inspiration. This way you can get your scrapping mojo back, for all of you who are in a funk.

This 1st week's Blog Challenge is to create a masculine page with product that's traditionally used on feminine pages. Start on it NOW!!!
-Choose your masculine-themed photo(s) and then gather supplies to match the color palette of your layout.
-Don't restrict yourself-find flowers, scallops, etc.
-Use those stereotypical feminine supplies in smaller quantities and more subtly than you might on a feminine page.
-Many of these embellishments come in masculine colors and materials (like brown felt) so there's no reason not to include them on your guy pages!

Here's MY take:

Here I used a dominant color of red, some stickles, bling, glitter pp, and a stacked flower. All things that one would associate with a feminine LO. Notice the stickles spelling out my title at the top and how the title is outlined with red i kan dee eyelet brads? I tried to make the look of the Target symbol by placing the eyelets in the centers of the polka dot paper since the billboard is of Target ads. I tried to carry that Target symbol into the flower as well. Notice the white center flower with the red circles?

Journaling reads: My brother was in a Fashion Show in Hawaii recently for Tony Williams album release party. I thought it would be funny to photoshop his picture and say that I have been seeing his face all over billboards here on the East Coast. I never thought he'd actually fall for it. But he did and so did our whole family and all of his friends. He's too embarrassed now to tell everyone that I just punk'd him. 2/09

For all of you who are not familiar with Tony Williams he is Kanye West's cousin and has written and produced songs with both Kanye West and Jay-Z.

Here's a slideshow of layouts previously submitted for this challenge:

Please leave a comment with a link to you LO. Thank you for sharing!

And My Easter Blog Candy WINNER is.....

Yes! Today is the day that I announce my Easter Blog Candy Winner. I gave Eva a mini Easter Egg Hunt because the Candy Giveaway didn't go exactly the way I had hoped. But hey, it gave me a few new www friends in the process. Stick around because I plan to have more Blog Candy in the near future. The name picked from the egg was.......Silvana!!! Yay Silvana!!!! Congrats girly! Please email me your mailing info. and I will get your Candy mailed off by either this Friday or Saturday. Thank you for joining in on the fun!

I've got GOOD News & BAD News

I'm going to cut straight to the BAD News. On Friday after work when Dj got home he came straight to me and gave me a hug. I just KNEW that something was the matter. He said "I've got news". That could only mean one thing in my Army wife world.

He's getting deployed. He leaves sometime in August. This time instead of going to Iraq though, he's going to Afghanistan which really isn't much better right now. It will be a 1 year term which I'm not so pleased with. Neither I, nor the kids have ever been separated from him for THAT long.

I'm already looking forward to his mid-term leave and hoping he can be with us during Christmas. I'm planning to make the best situation I can out of it. I'm more saddened that the kids will not have him around because I think I can get through it alright. I just don't want Eva to forget him. She's so young right now and he'll miss out on a lot when it comes to her.

So, that was my BAD News. Pretty BAD huh? I'm not sure if I've ever posted a picture of Dj on my blog so here's one of him & I this past December.
Now on to the GOOD News...

We celebrated Eva's 2nd Birthday yesterday (on Saturday). We've been planning it for about a month and the day finally came when I could get all those "ideas" out of my head and into reality. I basically took most of my things from my scrapbooking room to decorate our lounge area downstairs for the party. Since my scrapbooking room and Eva's Birthday had the same exact color scheme and theme (b/w zebra stripes, many different shades of pink, and Hello Kitty). It turned out beautifully!

I think you need to have the purrrrfect invitations to set the mood for every party. In my case, my daughter's party was a Hello Kitty themed party (based off the MAC Cosmetics new line of makeup with a black Hello Kitty). Here's what her invitations looked like. Please don't blow up my phone if you figure out my phone number. LOL

Here's the little decorated party area. Perhaps it would have been a lot nicer if I had taken the rug that was originally in the room out of there before I layed the zebra print one down but too late now.

I found a really cool and EASY idea for the Hello Kitty cake and went with it even though I don't bake. Yes, it was THAT easy! Dj's grandmother was the only person who actually ate and liked the licorice though. And I'm glad to say that EVERYONE liked the taste of my cupcakes & cake. While they were being served I heard Dj warning everyone "Lynnette baked the cake and cupcakes". LOL

Here are the cupcakes I made for the party. I displayed them on a 3-tier crystal cupcake stand and topped them off with plastic Hello Kitty rings. I sent Dj to the store to buy irridescent curling ribbon to create sort of a waterfall effect from this but he ended up coming back from the store with regular irridescent ribbon. Men! So, I just spread these faux crystals in pink and clear around the table. They were decorations from my scrapbooking room.What did I do with the wrong ribbon he bought? Of course I didn't let that go to waste. I simply hung it behind the tissue pom poms I hung from the ceiling. There wasn't much of it. I placed my pink curtains from my scrapbooking room up on the wall behind the gift table to create a more girly look. It took me a couple of days to make that banner you see hanging but I plan to use that in my scrapbooking room now that the party is over. Here's a close up of some of the pennants to show the detailed work.
You can't have a party without games.

Pass the yarn (played like Hot Potato)....because kitty's play with yarn AND because I couldn't seem to find any Hello Kitty games anywhere.

Pull the string Pinata instead of the vicious beating the cat with a bat idea.

And all the little kitty's went squandering for the treats within.

Eva finally got the concept down on what to do with all of those wrapped gifts. She had SO much fun openning all of her wonderful presents. She had a good year this year!
Here's Eva on the swings in our backyard during her party. The outfit was custom made to match her party and I just ironed on the Hello Kitty. She's also wearing a black and pink kitty ears headband and a tail. She was my pretty little kitty! Dj slaved over the grill.
I only got a couple pictures with me in them at the party since I was behind the camera the whole time but here's one of them. This is Dj's dad (my Father-in-law).
Yup! The party was a good one. I love party planning! It's so much fun!

Blog Party

Feeling Scrappy is having a Blog Party from April 20-26 in honor of their birthday. I joined in and ended up getting a layout done for the Sketch Challenge. I killed two birds with one stone because this was also a LO I needed to get done for a client of mine.

This was the very first time I ever added stitching to a layout and it was a pain (because I didn't even have a sewing needle) so I did a lot of licking and forcing things into small holes....oh you dirty minds!

BUT it was well worth it in the end and I got to use my scraps of patterned paper finally. I even ended up winning the prize pack for it.

So, here's Amy's sketch:
And here's my take on it:


And this is the prize pack I won. Everything looks even better IRL (in real life).

Quiz Time

I noticed that Deb from IF IT'S GROOVY took this quiz to see what cat she was. I'm a pussy cat fan (Okay, I'm just a Hello Kitty fan) but it's besides the point....I just wanted to see which kitty I was so I took the quiz. Turns out I'm a Cougar. I was hoping to be the White Tiger but the Cougar describes me pretty accurately.

You are a Cougar

You have more strength than most people. Your power gives you confidence, and you find leading others to be easy. You believe that you need to be the best, and you are very driven to excel. Most people immediately admire you, but some people feel very envious of your abilities.

What Big Cat Are You?

Scrapbooker in Training

I got these shots earlier tonight when Eva got onto my scrapbooking table and started messing with my stuff. She never gets into trouble when she flashes that smile!!! She's my little Scrapbooker in Training!

CONTEST TIME!!!

We celebrate Earth Day on Wednesday, April 22. That's 39 years of observing a great celebration. What better thing can we do for our safety and cleanliness than to take care of our beautiful planet?

CONTEST TIME!!!

Would you like to be crowned the Groovy Green Goddess? If not you, do you know someone who deserves this title? Then send them over to the If It's Groovy blog.

You have TWO, count them, TWO chances to win and be crowned the GROOVY GREEN GODDESS:

1. Send pic to groovydeb@yahoo.com of you behaving green with a story about your greenish lifestyle.

2. Send a completely GREEN (color) monochromatic layout or card (thumbs up to using repurposed green items).

A panel of judges will decide who can wear this crown and she will be crowned soon. So, show us what you've got! The winner will receive green goodness by mail and the title for one year. The winner will also be recognized on If It's Groovy http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com with her story, picture and project. Contest submissions will go through the month of May.

BLOG CANDY

I WON this Blog Candy from Joanie at FULL OF BOLOGNIE !!! Thanks Joanie!!!

Easter Blog Candy

This happens to be my very first time offering up some blog candy and I'm doing it in honor of my DT's Challenge this month which is all about frogs. Here's what you have to do to enter a chance to win this awesome blog candy.

1. Follow my blog.
2. Then, post a link to my blog on yours and leave me a comment with a link to your blog.

For an even better chance at winning visit http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com and join the challenge this month.

I like the idea of picking the winner on Easter Sunday but that would only allow a couple days for this to go on so I'm going to end it on April 20th instead. I'll be putting all of your names who have successfully completed the steps above in leftover plastic eggs from Easter and I'll have my daughter pick one randomly. If you participated in the IF IT'S GROOVY Challenge this month I will enter your name twice. Good Luck & Happy Easter!

UPDATE: I'm going to extend this Blog Candy for 1 more week. The winner will be announced next Monday on the 27th. The winner will then have 3 days to contact me with her mailing info. for me to get her package out to her.

IF IT'S GROOVY Design Team

Earlier today I was announced as a Design Team member for IF IT'S GROOVY. You can check us out here. I'm SO proud to finally be in a team filled with such fun-loving girls that have the same passion as myself! These are the 2 layouts I created for the challenges we were given. Let me know what you think!


For this first layout our challenge was to create a layout for Frog Month. I didn't even know there was such a thing. I used a picture of my husband and I and titled it: "I had to kiss a lot of FROGS to find my PRINCE".


For this 2nd layout our theme was "wet" and we had to use daimond glaze which I used over the water in the pool. We also had to follow a sketch that was given to us by the Lead Sketch Artist. I used a couple of pictures of Eva from this past Summer (2008) in the backyard in her pool and titled it: GOOD DAY SUNSHINE.

Hello Kitty Countdown

I have exactly 25 days till Eva's 2nd Birthday Party. My idea for the theme is MAC Hello Kitty. I have LOTS of ideas rolling around in my head about how I would like to decorate the party but I would love to hear all of your unique ideas as well. Beginning with invitations down to the goodie bags. If there is anyone in particular who has a cricut or sizzix and the Hello Kitty die and wouldn't mind helping me make personalized stuff for her party I would compensate. In the meantime, here's a little video of MAC HELLO KITTY for you all to enjoy.

A Dose of Religion

I realize that religion can be such a controversial topic and I found a quote by Jonathan Swift that goes “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” SO true isn't it?

Growing up I have studied many different religions. My fathers side of the family was Catholic, my mothers side Christian. Then there was a woman who was a Jehovah's Witness who came to my home weekly and read me stories. And as a teen I took teachings from Mormon missionaries. Now that I am an adult I have Christian beliefs. I do wish I lived my life more according to the bible but that isn't always the case. I do try but God isn't finished with me yet.

What are your beliefs?

21 Random Facts ABOUT ME....

1. I'm happily married.
2. I gave birth naturally 4x because I'm afraid of needles, yet I have 5 tattoos!
3. I was born and raised in Hawaii.
4. I love 80's music!
5. My lucky number is 7 and has been since I was 7 years old.
6. I was in the February issue of SEVENTEEN magazine when I was 19.
7. I refuse to cook with dishes in the sink.
8. I'm addicted to Pina Colada's!
9. I wear flip flops in Winter.
10. I need to have a napkin with every drink, snack or meal I have. Yes, even if it's JUST a drink.
11. I don't like to be tickled.
12. My favorite color is pink.
13. I wash my hands often.
14. I am very competitive, but I usually only compete with myself.
15. I don't like to shave everyday. I usually only shave twice a week.
16. I don't gain weight even if I eat tons of food everyday. Yes, hate me.
17. I've never smoked!
18. I lived near the ocean but am not a fan of seafood.
19. Sometimes I have my Jessica Simpson moments.
20. I work best under pressure so I do almost everything at the last minute.
21. And last but definitely not least, I love to scrapbook!

Can you list 21 Random Facts about yourself?