Sunday, October 19, 2008

Let's Get Physical...Physical...

Hee Hee!
On my birthday, our Tuesday crew had a Flashdance day at dance class.
What a total hoot!
The best part was walking around the gym looking like this. People would literally stop with heavy weights over the head to look at you like you grew a second head or something! Bwahahahahah! :)

These are my girlies: Shonnery, Bessie, Marla, and Corinne!
Thanks for the GREAT time on my birthday, my friends! :)
XOXO...Stac :)







Friday, October 17, 2008

Drumroll please...

And the winner is...
Sandy said...
I'm always up for a possible goodie envelope. How nice of you. Happy, Happy birthday. I hope it is your best ever!
7:29 PM

Sandy...if you'll email me your addy, I'll get your goodies out to you! :)
clap clap clap clap
Congrats! :)
And on to tattoo pics b/c I know you've all just been dying to see, right? LOL :) I will say that it was quite the experience. Bob thinks I handled it better than he did...something about a higher pain tolerance from childbirth. Cracked me up! :) :) :) But he was the only one who cussed about the pain (totally out of character btw!). But they look great...or they will...when the swelling goes down! :)
XOXO...Stac :)








Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Birthday Blessings...

Wow!
What a day!!!

I wrote how great my friends are this morning, but after seeing everyone...I am a LUCKY and BLESSED girl with some great people around me!

* Bob wrote me the most awesome bday card ever! Truly touched my heart and made me cry. (made Shonnery and Bessie cry over lunch too).

* Flashdance Class was a BLAST!!! Pics to come soon! Suffice it to say that Shonnery and I made.an.entrance. The most fun was to run out and get a drink by your self though. Everyone working out would freeze with their weights and check out the looney toons in full-out 80's gear! LOL :)

* More girlfriend fun with lunch, birthday cards, a t-shirt made special for me, and a bajillion facebook birthday wishes! :)

So, I'm paying it forward! It's my birthday and I'm passing on some blessings!

In the form of a RAK! Post a comment...maybe about your biggest blessing or your best birthday memory or just "Happy Birthday Staci!" I'll do a drawing on Friday for a winner and send some lucky ducky a bit of scrappy goodness (US only please). Here's a quickie pic of some goodies I pulled together today...



There's some random funsies--fabric, chipboard, diecuts, rubons, stickers, tags, vintage bits and baubles, pins, stamps and more! By the time the envelope gets stuffed on Saturday, there will probably be even more goodies! ;)

XOXO...Staci :)

Eye Candy and Sugar Rushes...

I am a sugar-aholic. Truly. Need. Crave. Must Have.

I've been trying to be good so that I can drop a few before dancing next weekend. But my FANTASTIC friends brought cupcakes to practice on Sunday. I couldn't say no, now could I? So I dug into a yummy and crazy-huge cupcake...heaven! They sent the extras home with me so I've pretty much been in a sugar induced haze ever since! LOL The good news is that I get lots of stuff done with sugar on board in mass quantities! :)

I am up for the KI Memories blog challenge this week. Had some fun with stamps! Marla is proud of me I think b/c I used a mask over the pic to do the fleur de lis stamping. She's like a proud mama...that I used a mask, that I knew what it was, and that I knew what is was called! LOL :) I'm growing in my stamp lovey-ness for sure. :) Check it out...



In other fun stuffs, my step-sister is getting ready to have her first little one. I made a little card to go with her baby gift. She totally loved it, passed it around to show everyone and everything! It feels good when folks who don't "do crafts" still "get it". I'm lucky that she's one that does "get it". She already sent me a thank you note and said that she's putting the card on the front of the baby book. Now that is what's known as an honor, my friends. Made me all warm and fuzzy. Here's the card...



Last note...today is...my BIRTHDAY!!! :) I'm 33 years old today! Can't believe it b/c most days I feel like I'm maybe 23! :) Not that I want to go back...those were happy but rough years! ;) So today I'm taking stock...in myself, in my husband, in my family, in our life. I've come to a conclusion...I am a damn lucky girl. Really. I have a fabulous life, full of love, laughter, and fun! Just the way I want it! :)

To celebrate, Bob and I are going to get matching tattoos tomorrow night. Shonnery, my bestest gal-pal in the whole wide world, is totally out-of-her-mind with love for me apparently b/c she's offered to babysit my whole brood on a school night so that Bob and I can have a Tattoo Date Night. :) No doubt there will be lots of laughing and lots of pics for this one! Coming soon... :)

Off to shiggle it with my girls today! Its Flashdance day at the gym. Gotta find a headband and leg warmers real quick! ;) XOXO...Stac :)

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Yep. I'm officially a...

Big Old Dork!
LOL
:)

I'm all "look at this cute one of Tayvan" and then picked the wrong one to post.
Dork.
Yep.
At least I picked one I hadn't posted before. LOL
:)

But here's the Tayvan one I meant to post...


And you can see it on the KI Memories gallery too.

I layered a Sheer Delight onto cardstock and chopped around it for all the cool circle bits. I'm rather in.love with the verbology stamps too. :)

XOXO...Staci :)

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Random Fun & Recipes...

I love me some random-ness. Its pretty much how my brain works all the time. But there are days when you truly need a map to keep up with my jumping tangents. I've been so scatter-brained lately that I don't think even Dora would be willing to come along...singing map or no singing map. "I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the maaaaaap!"

Ahem, sorry.
Don't say I didn't warn you though.
:sheepish:

So, with some structure to keep me focused (ooh, look at the shiny stuff!)..

1. Van's party was great! Lots of food, lots of family, lots of fun! The cupcakes went over awesome! (as requested...recipes below). She ran around the whole party saying "Oh Yeah! Oh Yeah! I'm three! Oh Yeah!" and had us all Cracking.Up! Don't know where she got that little nugget of smartness, but yes, she is 3. :)

2. Sent off my column for March/April to Memory Makers. Had some mega-fun with this one too! I'm not supposed to say what the topic is yet, but let's just say that I've been playing with some cah-ute stuffs! :)

3. Working on other Top Secret Stuffs. Just cross your fingers for me and call it good. I'll share asap...from every rooftop...at the top of lungs...with jumps and dancing too if it all works out right. ;)

4. KI Memories gallery goodies are up for October! Check out this fun one I did of Ms. Van. She is really enjoying being home with me all day right now. We goof off and play, snuggle and watch tv, run errands and eat Happy Meals. Life is good. :)



6. Recipes: As requested, the recipes for the gain-a-pound-per-bite cupcakes I made for the party. :) Note: This is best done as a two-day process with the mousse on day 1 and then finishing on day 2 with the cake and frosting. It gives the mousse time to set properly.

Mousse:
* Using microwave or double boiler, melt 1 bag of milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup water, and 2 tablespoons butter. Set aside.
* In a small saucepan, whisk 2 tbl. sugar, 3 egg yolks, and 1/4 cup water. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently until it reaches 160 degrees.
* Remove mixture from heat and slowly whisk in semi-cooled chocolate mixture. Continue stirring until cool (to speed this up, you can place the pan in a bowl of ice.
* Whip 1 1/4 cups of heavy whipping cream (takes forever but is sooooo worth it). Fold whipped cream into cooled chocolate mixture, continuing to mix. Cover well and refrigerate overnight.

Cake: (day 2)
* Mix dry ingredients--2 cups sugar, 1 3/4 cups flour, 3/4 cup cocoa, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda.
* Add 2 eggs, 1 cup cold milk, 1/2 cup veggie oil, 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Mix well.
* Add 1 cup of boiling water. Mix well. (batter will be thin).
* Put in cupcake pans and bake at 350 degrees till toothpick comes out clean (usually 25-35 minutes in my oven).
* When done, remove from oven and place immediately into fridge/freezer for a few minutes to cool quickly. (timesaver! :) LOL)
* When cool, use a serrated knife to cut upside-down cone shapes from the tops of the cupcakes. Basically, the point of the cone shape should be just-shy of the bottom of the cupcake (so that your filling doesn't come out the bottom). Cut the bottom of the cone off, and fit the "lid" part back onto the cupcake. You want to cut out the cone, cut off the tip, and keep it matched to the right cupcake so that they look smoother later. (lesson learned the hard way)

Frosting:
* Melt 1 stick of butter in microwave. Add 1/2 cup cocoa (sometimes I go heavy here if I really want it to be rich!) and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Stir until mixed well.
* Add 3-4 cups of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of milk. Mix until desired consistency is reached.
* I fiddle around with the frosting a lot b/c the weather, the temperature of the butter, etc all affect it greatly. Basically, just add powdered sugar little bit at a time till you get a smooth, creamy mixture. If it gets too thick, you can add a smidgen more milk to correct. Sorry for the lack of preciseness with the frosting! LOL :) If you want to test it, let the bowl sit for 20 minutes or so. If its a good mix, the top most layer will form a very slight "crust". You can mix it up well again to spread on the cupcakes, secure in the knowledge that its perfect. You can also taste, taste, taste to check and double-check! ;)

Assembly:
* Fluff mousse to refresh. Take "lid" off one cupcake at a time and fill with mousse. Replace lid. Again, work one cupcake at a time or the lids won't fit properly.
* Frost cupcakes **generously**. These are rich, dense cupcakes so don't skimp on the frosting!! Optional: While the frosting is fresh (& slightly sticky), turn the cupcake upside into a bowl of chocolate sprinkles so that they stick, rolling and turning cupcake to cover all the frosting.
* I highly recommend serving these with ice cream or milk. They are seriously chocolate heaven! :)

ENJOY!!! :) :)
Dude, I think that's the most focus I've had in a week! But those cupcakes are worth it! You'll see... ;)

Monday, September 29, 2008

Reminded...

The kids and I have started thinking about one of my favorite holidays...Halloween!!! :) I love all the talk about costumes, my beloved skully stuff is available in every store and the whole scare factor makes me a bit giddy! LOL :)

So far, the only one that seems to have made up their minds solidly about their costume is Tayvan. She says she wants to be a "Scary Pirate...bwahaha...aaarrgh" Literally. That's what SHE said! I about fell out and hit the floor laughing!

It did remind me of a few-months-old layout that I never posted. Lilli in all her Halloween glory! All hail the Queen...



So, now for the rest of the E*crew to figure out our costumes!
What are you and yours going to be this year?
I'd love to hear some fun ideas! :)
XOXO...Stac :)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Yummmm...

Remember those Death by Chocolate cupcakes I mentioned?
Oh my...
So Woooooooo dee Hooooooooooo!!!

I have never made filled cupcakes before. That part was actually easier than I thought. The mousse was another story...took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. but was worth it! :)

Check out this chunk of heaven...





And some scrappy fun ahead...
Some yummy Glitz paper fun (I could faint over this yellow paper!!!), a transparency star bit from Little Yellow Bicycle halloween line (colored with a sharpie), and some fave Colorbok rocker bits.



Sorry Mom! She *hates* that we've taken to calling Tayvan "Kurt" (as in Cobain) when her hair is all grungy like this. But it totally fits and we are Gen X'ers afterall! :)

Have a great day!
XOXO...Stac :)

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Prep work...

Tayvan is almost 3 years old!
I can't believe that my baby is totally toddler-ific. It seems like yesterday that she was truly my baby.
Her birthday party is next weekend, so I've been diving in to the prep work.
:)

For this scrapping fiend, first up was the invitations of course!
I only had to make 10 (thank goodness for small close-knit families), but I had to do them super fast so I kept them simple.

What do y'all think?





I was so happy to play with a little bit of the Cosmo Cricket Hello Sunshine line. I fell in love, bought it, put it away...and kinda forgot about it. But when I pulled it out for the little tags, it just screamed "Yeah...you still love me!" Ssshhh, I didn't put it up yet b/c I want to play with it some more! LOL :) I think I have a date with some Sunshine Yellow tonight! :)

Next up for preparations...
cupcake lovies!

I said the other day that I'm going throuh a Suzy Homemaker phase again. Pretty hardcore one actually. I've been doing weekly menu plans, cooking dinner every night with lots of new recipes, baking all kinds of goodies every week. S.U.Z.Y. :) Check out Pioneer Woman of course, and a new fave is the Sunday Baker. :)

I think I've gone off the deep end a bit though. Yesterday, I had some freebie money to get a little sumpthin' for Staci at Target. Ended up with a super-cute skirt in one hand and a new cupcake pan in the other. Guess which one I bought. Yeah, the cupcake pan. And I'm sooo excited about it! LOL :) Looks like the deep end was...back there and I'm out in free water. LOL :)

My cupcake plans are...Death by Chocolate!
jumbo chocolate cupcakes
filled with chocolate mousse
topped with chocolate buttercream
Yummmmm!
For the actual party ones, I'll probably roll them around in choclate sprinkles too.
Never too much chocolate, right? ;)

In other scrappy news...
I am going to teach at Scrappin' Bunnies in McKinney in October!
I am so excited about this!!!
Emily is super-sweet and she does a fantastic job with this store. Everytime I see a newsletter from her with the list of new goodies, I feel like I need to *run* to get there before the goodies are gone! :)
So make a plan to shop on October 17th and come to my class in the same trip! :)

If you can't come to the class, Emily is selling the class kits too.
But really, its so much more fun in person.
Come, scrap, laugh at me, laugh with me, leave with a happy feeling in your heart and chocolate in your veins! :)

Mmmm, chocolate.
What did you say?
Why yes, I do have a one-track mind! ;)
XOXO...Stac :)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

I suck...

at blogging!
I want to soooo badly!
But somehow time just gets away from me.

My girl, Marla, told me its because I don't know a very important word in the English language...
NO!

Honestly, she's right.

But the last few weeks have been swarmed with school starting, PTA work, scrapping stuffs, PTA work, lots of work on something that I can't share yet, PTA work, dancing, becoming a Suzy Homemaker type again, and oh did I mention PTA work? LOL :)

Its truly been crazy! But its a good kind of crazy, kwim? Lots of fun, lots of great happenings, lots of love. :)

And...I've got some blog-a-licious plans in store for this joint! :) Coming soon...blog make-over magic, lots of inspirations, and some fun give-aways! :) Yeppers, free stuff...that's what everyone wants, right? ;) LOL :)

In the meantime, I want to show off my cuties on the first day of school...


and give a BIG Shout Out to the new KI Memories girlies!! I am SO HAPPY to continue on as a KI design team member. Its an amazing dream come true...again! :)

Speaking of...
Check out the KI blog for my blog challenge: Welcome Fall!

I made a super fun little tree door hanger that is so much better than the empty wreath hanger that was there before! (is that too much honesty?) LOL :)



XOXO...Stac :)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Mix It Up Baby!

This is my comfort zone.
My love of scrappin' stuff exploded onto a page.
I love to dig around in my bins, folders, spinner rack, etc and just find goodies and make 'em work together! :)

In this case, I didn't have to go far! I got some new KI Memories Sheer Delights in houndstooth that I'm IN LOVE with!!! Uhm, yes...that circle of sheer goodness is a chunk of a KI Sheer Delight! Can I tell you that chopping that baby up almost made me hyperventilate?! But I tell folks all the time that "these are your supplies, tell 'em what to do and don't be afraid to USE them!" so I gave myself a pep talk and chopped on in! LOL :) Love the end result too! :)


Also, got some awesome goodies from American Craft this week (thanks again y'all!) and there were these great vinyl thickers. Now, I've played with AC vinyl thickers before, but these are...YELLOW!!! Be still my sunshine-color-happy heart! :)

And the thing that's been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks b/c I couldn't bear to put them away and forget about them...Colorbok Lucky You. Yeah, I think I bought the whole line when Joann's had a sale and I'm feeling soooo Lucky! :) Great overlays on this one...more goodies to come on other layouts b/c I haven't put them up yet! LOL :)

So, that's the new...here's the result:



So what's piled up on your desk? I wanna know what you need to stare at and can't wait to use! :) And of course, I'd love to see what you're making with it too! :)

XOXO...Stac :)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Happy Dance...Break It Down...

I like to move it, move it...
I like to move it, move it...
She likes to...MOVE IT!

Yeah, I'm so totally doing a happy dance!!!
I've finished my first column for Memory Makers and shipped everything off!!!
Such an amazing feeling! Still sooooo surreal, but so fantastically WOOOOO dee HOOOOOO!!!!
:)
Starting on Round 2! ;)

Newsflash...doo doo doo dooooo doo doo doo dooooo
Have y'all seen this?
http://kimemories.typepad.com/
Dude, KI is having a design team call!!! Such super-duper exciting news!! Can't wait to see what the new team looks like! :)

AND
yes, a big AND
I've been holding out on y'all. Sorry but I'm in the "don't count your chickens before they hatch" camp, but now that they've hatched, I'm counting baby! :)
Check.This.Out.

I'm a cover model!!! I've had my layout with Declan on a cover already (I was that crazy-ass chick dancing around WalMart with a magazine, laughing manically!) but now it's my layout with a picture of yours truly on it too! Abso-freakin'-lutely Insane...that's what it is!

So I'm full of good news and craziness today...how about y'all?
XOXO...Staci

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Two Weekends of Girl Fun...

I'm a mom.
I'm a wife.
But sometimes, ya just gotta get out with the girls and have a little Me Time!
I'm such a lucky girl that I got to do it two weekends in a row!
(kisses to Bob for sure!)



So, a bit of backstory...
I'm dancing as a Dallas Defenders cheerleader! Its a minor league football team & we raise funds for kids charities. As part of the whole cheerleader gig, our director set up a big photo-shoot for cheerleader calendar! Say what? Yeah, a calendar...a Swimsuit Calendar! LOL :) The photo shoot was a huge, fancy-schmancy mansion in a gorgeous neighborhood! It was full-on with make-up artists, hair stylists and photo set-ups...the whole shebang! :) I did the shots in our cheerleader uniform, but not the swimsuit ones. Too many issues with the swimsuit stuff for me, so I opted out of that one happily! :) But I want to show you the pics of my bestest girlies all done up, looking hotter than hot! :)









So, there's us in all our glory. Apparently, I coined a new term o'Staci...Hotness on a Stick! Don't know why, or where it came from, but it became the catchphrase of the day. Of course, if I could show you the pics of all those hotties (& all the other chicks there) walking around in bikinis and heels, you'd understand better why the term was flowing like water up in that place! LOL :) For now, you'll just have to use your imagination b/c those pics aren't mine to share! ;)

Weekend #2:
Yesterday, Ms. Marla organized a whole day of scrapping fun for us! :) She picked me up at 8:45 and we headed out for the day to shop till we dropped!

First up, the Crafty Scrapper in Waxahatchie! I've heard so many fabulous things about this store (& they were soooo generous and great at GASC for my Jenni Bowlin class). The store...TOTALLY lived up to its reputation! So much product in a huge, charming setting! :) Helpful folks too...they were telling me about the Lisa Pace class coming soon (http://www.lisapace.com/). I got lots of goodies and we were off to a fantastic start!! Happy, happy, joy, joy! :)

Next door, there is a gorgeous home decor shop called the Dove's Nest. Marla and I ran around wishing that we'd instantly win the lottery so that we could just pack up the whole store in the van and bring it home! There were some deals to be found, but we were good and saved our budget for the scrap stuff we'd planned. But believe me, I'm saving up for some home stuff for our next trip to Waxahatchie! :)

We ran around to a few more stores...that Marla knows the name of and that escape me right now. Sorry.

Then we hit Gotta Scrap in Rockwall. Lots more yumminess to be had. Got some little Creative Cafe tickets that ended up being a whole big thing. Marla and I ended up laughing ourselves giddy over the whole thing and it has now become forever known as The Great Ticket Debaucle! Its gonna be all okay...I'm sure we'll get it straightened out and I can't wait to play with the cutie little journaling tickets! LOL :)

When we finally got home, we started cropping the night away (with Bob just shaking his head at us for the most part!) LOL :) After digging through some goodies from my spinner rack, somehow we got into the little AC chipboard animals. Why exactly are there pigs in there? What are you supposed to scrap with those? This was what we pondered as the hour approached midnight! What followed was some *really* inappropriate (& very funny) jokes about a tour to the Owen Farm (think sausage), and lots of oinks and snorting. Ultimately, I think we mixed up some sky paper, a whole AC chipboard pig family, and some Heidi Swapp ghost wings and got a little diarama going of..."When Pigs Fly". Yeah, it might be one of those things that you had to be there for, but we were rolling on the floor and had a super-hard ab workout from all the laughing! :)

So that was my 2 weekends of crazy girlie fun! And I absolutely LOVED every single moment of it! Thanks to my dance girls for the first weekend, thanks to Marla for the second weekend, and thanks to Bob for handling things on the homefront for me to disappear for a while! :)

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Desperate times...

call for desperate measures! LOL


I went away to GASC in Michigan last week.
It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL there...weather, downtown area, the hotel.
Oh My...the hotel was hard-core fancy-schmancy!
And here I come in cut-off jean capris! Oh well...they're my fave! ;)


My weekend consisted of:
teaching classes, shopping the show floor, dinners with the GASC & MM folks, shopping at a crazy-huge lss, teaching classes some more, checking out the downtown shops, hunting for diet coke, and of course...scrapping!


Actually, I didn't take any scrap supplies with me b/c I usually am too busy & tired to scrap on these weekends away. But I was feeling particularly inspired and got a bit...desperate! LOL :) I ended up searching through magazines for a picture that I could scrap! I know, I know...it sounds pitiful. But luckily I was still reading a June woman mag and it had wedding tidbits in it! I chopped a great little generic wedding-ish pic out and it totally gave me an opportunity to tell a story that I needed to put in my album, but hadn't b/c I haven't been sure how to tell the story without pics. Catch-22, see? :)


So, ultimately...here's what I came up with...




This is 98% product that I bought right there on the shopping floor at GASC! And its really more about the journaling, but of course...yummy goodies are always fun to scatter about! :)


Flash forward...I get home and get to scrappy plans for my KI projects this month. One problem...no photo paper in sight! Oopsie! ;) Again, it worked out...I scrapped some pics off the fridge that I've been meaning to get to and got a little hybrid up in here too! :)


Check it out...
http://www.kimemories.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=ideagallery.detail&loid=1556
and
http://www.kimemories.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=ideagallery.detail&loid=1554







Rest assured, my desperate times are over though. Got a big ole box o'photo paper today! Back to scrapping my pics...yes pics...without restriction! ;)

Oh, got a great story to share about my Saturday night too, but I wanna wait till I download pics so that I can show and tell both! :) Suffice it to say that the story involves 1. a mansion, 2. bunches of hottie women, 3. photographers/makeup artists/hair stylists, 4. bootie shakin' and so much more! Peeked your curiosity yet? Yeah, I figured! ;) I'll download and try to post up the details early this week! ;)



XOXO...Stac :)

ETA: Oh.My.Gosh!!! Crystal is the absolute bestest evah! :) She's the fab chickie that drove us to the hugest scrapbook store I've ever seen! Check out her blog on the MM site for the hilarious pics of the shopping trip! ;)
http://www.memorymakersmagazine.com/crystaljeffreyrieger/CommentView,guid,97ac5c12-8401-43a3-bc23-4773d5a6b418.aspx
Her family was with her and there's great pics of them too! She has super-sweet kidlets (Harper made me feel right at home...she's such a talker so we clicked right off!) and great mom/sis combo! It made me so happy when a stranger on the street thought I belonged with them, especially since I'm missing my red hair right now! They were so adorable...a family chock full o'love and fun! :)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Secret's out...

So, my secret is out!
Wooooooooo Hoooooooooo

I've been asked to be a contributing editor at Memory Makers magazine for next year!!!!
(pinch me)
I totally think I'm dreaming!
Scratch that, don't pinch me b/c I don't want to wake up!!!
(cartwheel, cartwheel, dizzy moment, cartwheel again)

My first assignment was to cover the CHA trends for the MM editor blog. So here's my contributing editor debut. (that sounds soooooo crazy!)
http://www.memorymakersmagazine.com/blog/

XOXO...Stac :)

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Thanks...

I was a semi-finalist in the Scrapbooks etc Ultimate Summer Challenge. The challenge was to use 8 pics on a layout. Being an 8.5x11 girl, I went with a index print type line-up. :)

The best part of the whole thing was...

all my family and friends really got behind me and were voting, voting, voting. It was so awesome to feel everyone's love and support and know that they were with me 110%. I might not have won that week's contest, but I definitely won with a great family and awesome friends.

Thanks again everyone!!!
:)

Here's the layout...

Lots of love...XOXO Stac :)
PS--News from CHA coming soon! Yeppers, I went last minute! Working on it now! Post coming soon! {/tease}
Hmm...I'm kinda turning into a bit of a big ol' tease aren't I? Sorry...it will all be revealed soon enough! ;)

Monday, July 14, 2008

Monster Kid...

Now, you know I'd never really call any of my kids a "monster".
At least not in writing where its saved for posterity.
(not denying that I might've muttered it under my breath during a tantrum though)


But...
I didn't...
she did! :)


To get the full effect, you'll have to imagine her switiching from her usual high-pitched sweet voice to a total monster-deep growl to delier this line. ;)

In other news, I got some GREAT GREAT GREAT news that has quite put me over the moon. Required a nice family dinner out to celebrate and everthing. I don't know if I can spill it publicly yet though...I'll let ya know. Just know that its BIG and definitely WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DEE HOOOOOOOOOOO worthy! (/tease) LOL ;)

XOXO...Stac :)

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

a Favor, Pretty Please? :)

Hey y'all!
I am dedicated to the Ultimate Summer Challenge on Scrapbooks, etc.
Totally having fun with the challenges and such!

I am a semi-finalist this week and **really** need y'all's votes..Pretty Please with Glitter on Top!

Here's the link...http://my.scrapbooksetc.com/app/voting/index.jsp?id=/templatedata/sbe/voting/data/1207926756307.xml&sid=7

You do have to register, but they don't spam you.
And you can VOTE DAILY!!
After you vote each day, you can see where I'm at in the standings.

I really appreciate all of y'all's support!
Thank you!
XOXO...Stac :)

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Quickie..

No, not *that* kind! ;)

In a well balanced diet, there is always the rush of a bit o'junk food, right? Or if you are me, there are *way too many* Chick Fil A stops in a week (uhm 2 already & its only Wednesday! eek!).

I digress...my point was (is) that sometimes ya need a quickie in your life.

Like last night.
I had a scrappin' urge, but was oh so tired.

Gave myself a midnight deadline and *started* at 10:15pm. In just under 2 hours, I'd selected pics, photoshopped them a teeny bit, printed & trimmed them, picked products to play with, done a little minor technique magic, pushed the scrappin' bits around a while, stuck everything down, took my layout photo (in the dark no less & with flash/transparency issues), photoshopped the layout pic, and posted. In under 2 hours. I think its a record for me. LOL :)

Now is it my bestest layout in the whole wide world?
No.

But sometimes fast food, I mean quickie scrappin is good for the soul. There is some sense of satisfaction to just getting it done on occassion. And its pretty cute I think? Wait, its a boy page...not cute. Its Rockin' Cool, right? ;)


XOXO...Staci

Monday, June 30, 2008

Love it when...

I get whole bunch of new goodies to play with! :)
Confession: I'm not really a scrap shopper. I'm a scrap browser. I have a *very* limited scrap budget per month so I have to really love something to pull out greenbacks for it. LOL :)

So this month, some yummies that I've been lusting for finally arrived...October Afternoon!!! Woo-de-hoooooo! :)

And I'm no longer a scrap kit virgin. Yeah, I know I was on the MFM team and *LOVED* Shari's kits, but I had never actually bought a kit before. Till I saw the Q-Tea (http://www.qteakits.blogspot.com/) June "Oh Deer" kit. Deer? You know I had to have it! :)

And last but certainly not least...remember when I was gone to GASC a couple of weeks ago? There was a booth there that had something totally unique and different going on...very cool niche stuff. What is it? Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Collection (http://www.craftysecrets.com/). I'd never heard of it but the dt stuff they had floating about pulled my tired self right in there and perked me right up! Sooo cute and cool! :) I got a couple of the little journal pads and have fallen in love! Need to get some of the little sticker goodness they have next! LOL :)

So, I actually had time to play with these yummy new goodies this weekend and this is what I came up with... ;)

XOXO...Stac :)

Friday, June 27, 2008

Layout Catch Up...

Uhm, hi there.
Hopefully, everyone is up for some layout lovin' b/c I need to do a little "housekeeping". LOL Need to post up some layouts to show "me" a bit, so here goes a layout laden post. (no cards this time! ;) Bwhaha)

Recent one from Scrapbooks, etc Ultimate Summer Challenge (weekly top 10):

Lots of Memory Makers Master ones...
July/August 08 Master Techniques:
May/June 08 Master Techniques
March/April 08 Master Techniques:
March/April 08 Master Challenge: March/April 08 Cover: February 08 Master Techniques (article cover):
January 08 Master "I Wish" layout from MMM entry:

KI Gallery:

My son tends to get pubbed more than my girls (even though they are all the most fabulous cuties ever created of course), b/c he's the one that poses for me! But wanna show off my chickadees too, so here's my girls...pretty in pink:


Wish me lucky, duckies! ;)
XOXO...Stac :)





Monday, June 23, 2008

I swear...

Its just been a card-heavy time right now. Lots of lovey dovey thanks going on. Maybe Marla is rubbing off on me more than I thought? LOL :)
Okay, so obviously, here's another thank you card! ;)


I swear I scrap layouts too! Remember, there's one that needs a good voting up at:


Other ones in progress that I can't show right now too. I swear I scrapbook still! ;) LOL :)
Family-wise, our crazy 2 weeks of swim lessons, handwriting camp, soccer, and more started. I expect to go crazy in abou 2.25 days. Watch for the fireworks! ;) Nah, actually went pretty well today, but its gonna be a long, busy couple of weeks. I promise to post up a bit though. :)
XOXO...Stac :)

Friday, June 20, 2008

Card maniac???

Nah, not really. I do cards when I need to. And only when I need to. :)
Having said that, I needed to make one this week.
Luckily, the mojo has returned so it came together quickly and cutely. :)Check out the thank you card I made for the fabulous GASC crew! :)


Lovin' the little birdie hollarin' out big love! Just makes me smile a bit. :)

If you haven't voted for me today in the Scrapbooks etc Ultimate Summer Challenge, WHY NOT?? Go do it now!! (pretty please!!)

The registration thing is easy and then you can one-click vote every day till the 25th. :)

http://my.scrapbooksetc.com/app/voting/index.jsp;jsessionid=A2CUHEZTCVTVTQFIBQNSCZQ?id=/templatedata/sbe/voting/data/1207926546230.xml&sid=8

THANKS!! :) Maybe I'll have to make my buddies all thank you cards for voting too? Hmmmm... ;)
XOXO...Stac :)