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!

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. :)

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?