Thursday, September 6, 2007

Just wanted to say Hi!

Howdy Everyone.... Sorry I haven't posted lately. I have been drowning in peaches! Over one hundred pounds to be exact..... Well 60 quarts later... and I still have about 3 batches of jam to do and I will be DONE! By the end I am sick of the taste, texture and smell of peaches.... BUT come winter time we love having the taste of summer in a bottle! Now I got to get to doing some tomatoes!

Friday, August 31, 2007

Front Page News: First Place at the State Fair!


Well, It is official! My daughter McKenna won the first place blue ribbon and a $50 gift card to Craft Warehouse for the card she created during the Creative Card Making Contest at the State Fair. Her winning card is the star one to the left. McKenna, Macey and I entered the contest last year and had so much fun that we decided to enter again this year! And we were thrilled when McKenna won! The kids division was first and so Macey and McKenna sat by each other and were given a packet of materials to create from. All of the kids received the exact same materials to work with and they were given ten minutes to create their cards. After the ten minutes the judges viewed all of the entries and announced the winners and we were all thrilled and surprised when McKenna won first place. I couldn't have been prouder!

I was just as proud of Macey. First of all I loved her cute little card! It is the one to the left. She drew a picture of herself in front of the fair with a little caption that says, "Hey, Where is the State Fair?" She has a great sense of humor. But even better was to see her be genuinely thrilled for her sister. I don't think she even took one moment to register that she didn't win anything. She was too busy being proud of her sister and excited for her.




Well, after the kids division finished, it was time for the adult division. We were all given a packet of materials to work with and ten minutes also. My card is to the left. That is what I came up with in ten minutes... The hard part is that there is one pair of scissors, one paper trimmer and one tape runner for 4 people to share. That's tough when there is only ten minutes. My card is pretty simple. We only had paper, felt flowers, brads and punches to work with. I was seriously wishing I had some ribbon or twine, a paper peircer, some stamps or some rubons... But I guess the "creative" part comes in when you have limited supplies. Anyhow I won 3rd place with this card. I really loved these colors and the paper I worked with. I just may have to use my $25 gift card (3rd place prize) to go pick up some of this paper. :)


To make a great day even better, our local newspaper, The Statesman Journal decided to do a story about the card making contest and so we woke up this morning to see McKenna and Macey on the front page! There is also a nice little write up about me and McKenna winning, in which they quote McKenna as saying that I am a "scrapbooking freak." I don't know if I am going to live that one down. It was funny though. To the left is the picture from the front page of the Statesman journal and here is a link to the story: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070831/STATEFAIR/708310307

Well that is our exciting news, just thought I would share!

Monday, August 27, 2007

Two Days In A Row!

I am back to blog for the second day in a row! I have been busy all day helping kids get their rooms cleaned and organized before they go back to school next week. We have been going through clothes, tossing the ripped and stained ones, putting the "size too small" ones in a bin for donation, etc. We got alot done today! I was so proud of my kids. I also decided to take on a REAL adventure. Zach started sleeping in a big boy bed tonight. He is 22 months old which is a younger age than I have ever started any of my other kids at.... I had to stay by the door and redirect him to bed about 5 or 6 times, but soon it fell silent and he was fast asleep. So the crib is coming down tomorrow! Another milestone! Zach is my last so these milestones are bittersweet! (Mostly sweet because the crib was taken up some valuable space in my scrapbook room!)

Speaking of scrapbook rooms, as I mentioned last night, I have several projects that I am getting ready to start specifically so that I can finish organizing and decorating my scrapbook room. And because I am in that frame of mind right now, I couldn't resist ordering the new book available through Simple Scrapbooks called "The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker." I am dying to receive it! If there is one thing I love to do besides scrapbook and papercraft, it is organizing and decorating! Combine the two loves and I am a dangerous woman. Add in the fact that I absolutely love projects (the kind that involve elbow grease, patience and creativity) and you will find me in the position I find myself in now.... with a LIST of things I need to do to finish my scrapbook room. Here is my list:

  • Strip, sand and refinish dresser.
  • Strip, stain and refinish bookshelf.
  • Add wood molding to my custom made paper shelving and paint.
  • Move crib and other furniture out of my room.
  • Create tags and labels for all of my stuff.
  • Paint the scrapbook room (which is 720 sq feet.... almost as big as my first house)
  • Decorate the walls.
  • Make window treatments.
  • Order my stamper storage ink stak!!!!

Well that's it for now! But knowing myself well, I am sure that I will add more items faster than I check them off! But for me that is half the fun! Oh and by the way I have to admit that monstrous room is not all mine! Half of it is... the other half will have our futon couch, the TV plus DVD and some sort of videogame, and a pool table and fooseball table. So the goal is to have it be a place the family can go for fun. My kids have been very respectful of my supplies and tools so I don't have to have a room that is just for me.

Off to bed. :)

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Back to the Blog

Well it feels like it has been forever since I created my blog and posted for the first time, but I am back. This summer has been absolutely crazy for me. August is a crazy and expensive month for us. My son Josh and daughter McKenna were both born on August 2nd (six years apart) and my hubby, Rod's birthday is August 5th. My birthday is August 20th. Add in back to school clothes and supplies for 3 of our 4 kids and August becomes more expensive than Christmas.

In addition to all the partying and shopping, we have been using the summer to finish up some family projects. We built, primed, painted and hung shutters on all of our windows on the front of our house. We have 11 windows facing just the front of our house, so that was a big project. Now we are working on window boxes for the 2 windows just above the garage. I also am in the process of working on my scrapbooking room. I found an OLD dresser that I thought would be perfect for storing scrapbook supplies. It was $15 at an estate sale. It needs to be refinished, but it will be a great addition to my scrap room. I also have an old bookshelf that I am going to strip and re-stain and refinish for my scrap room. I tend to thrive on projects. I brought the dresser home while we were still working on the shutters... My hubby just smiled and rolled his eyes. I love that man!

Next week my kiddos start back to school. So I will be working on all of these fun projects. I am saving my pennies for a digital camera, so I will hopefully be able to start taking pictures of all of the cool projects I have going, before and after...

I am hoping to start sharing fun papercrafting tidbits too! Pictures would help...

Am I the only cavewoman who still doesn't have a digital camera?

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

What's In a Name....

First, Big Thanks to my friend and fellow blogger, Erin for getting me started. I suppose I should explain how I choose the blog name: Paper Prozac. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am an avid papercrafter. I love scrapbooking, making cards and just about anything involving stamping and paper!

IN THE BEGINNING:

My love of papercrafting started about 10 years ago. I started hoarding scrapbooking supplies when my first daughter was born. But I didn't actually start scrapbooking until my second daughter was born 3 years later. I remember visiting my friend Becky's house and seeing her iris cart full of rubber stamps, embossing powders, ink pads and such and thinking to myself, "Now that is just ridiculous!" Well...

She invited me to a D.O.T.S. party (now Close To My Heart) and I decided to order a few post bound scrapbooking albums. I ordered so much scrapbooking stuff that I earned a free stamp set. Well, the rest is history! I got those stamps in my hand and I was hooked! I have been stamping ever since... and ridiculous? Well, I am sure there are more than a few that have thought that when they see my scrapbook room! I am BEYOND ridiculous at this point!

WHY THE NAME?

I went to my first Close To My Heart party (D.O.T.S.) right after having my second daughter. I think she was about 2 months old. And like any other mother of a newborn, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I had a touch of the baby blues and felt like I did nothing all day but take care of kids and the house. When I started scrapbooking and stamping, I felt a lift to my spirits. I found something to call my own and to this day I always feel like the creative process gives me a boost. So for me it was like prozac. I always looked forward to my scrapbooking time as a time to unwind, relax, rejuvinate, and to just boost my spirits! It was and continues to be my "happy pill."

MY BLOG:

I have developed my papercrafting and scrapbooking skills over the years through the generosity of others who have shared ideas, taught classes and made me feel like I could do what they were doing. I have learned so much! I've had the chance to teach papercrafting and scrapbooking classes over the years and love doing that! So I hope to make this blog a place where I can share my ideas and pass on things I have learned from others. I am at a point in my papercrafting where I love to challenge myself by creating items for submissions to magazines and contests. I also love to just challenge myself to think outside of the box and to look at my tools and supplies in a different way. So I hope this blog can become a place where I pass on things I have learned from others and share my ideas. Specifically, I hope that my blog helps those who, like me, use papercrafting, scrapbooking and stamping as a way to lift their spirits. I hope that my blog becomes a springboard to exploring your own personal creativity. I hope that you all leave this blog feeling like YOU are creative!