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The Floors Are Finished!

The Floors Are Finished!

The Floors Are Finished!

:)

I have the biggest perma-grin ever. This is something Bob & I have wanted since we bought this house...8 years ago! Now, they're finally here and I looooooooove them so very much. It's actually quite obscene! I totally laid down on the nasty floor, but did manage to refrain from kissing them. A girl's gotta have her limits, right? ;)

I've got most of the big furniture pieces back in the house, just a cabinet or two still hanging out in the garage. Along with *lots* of decorative bits and baubles that need to find new homes. {{Happy Dance!}} Re-decorating makes me happy, especially when its my stuff...it just needs a little mixin' and stirrin' to be fresh again! :)

So, here's some furniture'd but not knick-knack'd pics...

Living Room:

One of the first orders of business in here is new couch cuties...aka pillows. I bought a couple today at World Market, but the jury (ie Bob) is out for the evening, so the tags are still peek-a-booing on them. I love how the fancy silk & pleating on the big puff one looks with the handmade granny crochet throw! Contrasty goodness, baby! :) What do y'all think? Are they keepers?

You can barely see into my scraproom in the first living room pics, so here's a better view. This is a major desk overhaul for me. My old desk was mounted to the wall and super-long. I wanted to move out into the room more & love the new footprint in here. But I need to reorganize and figure out new storage solutions. Another trip into town (IKEA & Container Store) is in order! But here it is for now...

For the kids, they're not so sure about the new floors. It has changed their play habits a bit...no more scooters/skateboards in the house, no more tackling & wrestling, etc. In super quick order, I need to find a rug to live in the middle of the room for some cushion--for tushies at play and the echo-y sound! LOL :) But the overall effect is soooo cool I think! :)

My first option is a total novelty rug that just makes me laugh b/c it's so perfect for a kid's room. Not sure yet b/c I just started looking but doesn't this just say "Kid Friendly!"...

For all of you scrappy folks, who really couldn't care less about my paint and floor re-do...Thanks for sticking with me! :) I recently discovered how to do blog stats and was surprised that I'm not actually talking to myself! LOL :) But no fear, I'm totally still a scrappy girl...just sidetracked! :)

I did manage to finish up a layout that I started before I destroyed my scraproom though. Here's my cutie pie Tayvan... :)

I've been scrapping some in the mess too. Can't keep a good girl down! LOL :) But it's not quite show-able stuffs yet. I finished up my DT app for American Crafts and had a lot of fun with the projects! I hope they love them too! ((Fingers Crossed!))

Whew! What a whirlwind couple of weeks of mess, re-doing, scrappy fun, crazy kids, summer camps, and more! :) Can't wait to see what next week holds! :)

XOXO...Stac :)

Mid-Way there...

We're getting close! :)

The paint is all done and I'm peeking out the window as I type for the floor guys to arrive.

By the end of the day, I'll have new walls and new floors! WOO HOOOOOOO! :)

As promised, I took some midway pics to show the progress.

Check it out...

This is the toy room side of the house (peeking from my red kitchen--yes, that is a bright green picnic table doubling as my new kitchen table). The turquoise wall is my accent pop...times 3! Since my downstairs is a big square design, I have the two outside walls painted turquoise (bookends) and then the middle wall (foyer to kitchen hall) also painted turquoise. The bulk of the rest of the house is the yellow color. The yellow ended up a bit brighter than intended...its a little more *YELLOW* than yellow. LOL But we're hoping that once we have the dark floors in and all the furniture and decor (esp on the walls), it'll all tie together nicely. In my head it does, so we'll see. :) Oh, and that couch is one of my infamous craigslist finds--total vintage citron green crushed velvet mid century looooong sofa. *LOVE* :)

On the other side of the downstairs square, we have the living room and dining room-turned-scrap room set-up. The same turquoise bookend on the outside wall, bright yellow walls, and my beloved red couches. The yellow/red combo in my scraproom is a bit overkill to me. Sigh. I joked about it being a bit McDonald's before we did it, but Bob walked in goes "I'm Lovin' It...do do do do dooooo" LOL I love that he can laugh at my misfortune and make me laugh at it too. :) It's going to need some help...big help. But never fear, I've already got second draft plans...just gotta find the fabric bits to re-do a bit. :) I did get a new scrappy desk to do some re-arranging though, so I'm super stoked about that.

Once floors go in, I'll be bringing all my furniture back in from the garage and out of the kitchen (can you say "eating out?") and getting it all set back up. I. Can't. Wait! :)

One other quick pic to share...for laughs.

Note to self...wallpaper is used for a reason. Do not Mod Podge stuff to the walls. Why and how do I know this you might ask? Well, once upon a time, I decided to "faux leather" the walls of my l;aundry room. It looked great for years...loved it and it fit with the house. :) But in my massive re-do, I decided that it needed to come down. So we started peeling bits of paper off...as we passed by, with every load of laundry, whenever we have a minute. But its taking forever and now it looks like a brown/white cow exploded in there. LOL Well, at least this is Texas cattle country. ;)

Isn't that a riot? :) Never fear, I've got plans for in there too...after I get the paper off! Bad news is, its damaged the sheetrock a little bit, so my plans are limited. I think I'm actually just going to do a similar treatment again...using book pages and wallpaper paste this time! I learned my lesson--wallpaper paste exists for a reason! :)

I've been doing some scrappy stuffs lately, but can't post quite yet. Working on a couple of mag calls and even gulp...a design team app! I'm so excited...back to the days of "will they like me?" LOL It's exciting and hope-filled and fun! So cross your fingers for me, 'kay? :) Layouts coming soon to a screen near you though! ;)

XOXO...Stac :)

Disappearing Act...

AKA Where in the world I've been since this weekend...

LOL :)

Well, first a fave pic from our annual 4th of July trip to my dad's (aka Poppy)...

It was whirlwind evening of fun by all -- from swimming, hot dogs, fireworks, face painting, and the above photo'd hay ride in Poppy's tractor. :) The kids will remember this forever! Truly awesome night. Of course, I crashed on the way home, only to wake up every 2.1 seconds to say "Are you okay to drive?" to Bob. Apparently, that's annoying. ;) But we made it home safely so I guess it worked. :)

After that, we spent days...days...hours upon hours...

emptying out our house!

WHY? you might ask. :)

Because the painters came today!!!

WOO HOO! This is sooooo freakin' exciting to me. You have to understand my obsession with paint. We actually have paint rules that I'm only allowed to repaint to a room every 5ish years. Otherwise, I'd be painting and repainting every room all.the.time. Well, to be totally honest, Bob would be painting and repainting. ;) LOL

But it's the running joke that if Bob is on vacation...what are you painting? LOL :) This time, I decided I *needed* the whole downstairs painted. Bob pretty much said "yeah, nooooo" so I had to figure something out. Like...Painters! The bestest folks evah!

But with their impending arrival this morning, we had to empty everything and scoot furniture into the middle of the rooms and clean and and and... :) Want proof positive? Check it out...

This is my living room and a peek into my scrap room sans furniture arrangement. The turquoise is our last paint adventure and plays into the new design. The taupe that peeking out in my room is what's leaving...all to be covered by yellow. Lots and lots of yellow. :)

Up next...

This is the kids toy room. You can peekaboo the new yellow color in the back corner of the room. Look how sunny and bright it is! Happy Dance!! :)

The kids were total troopers today b/c we were stuck in an upstairs bedroom alllllll day long, but a new movie this afternoon and a dinner out reward seemed to do the trick. I hope it works again next week b/c...

the floor guys are coming on Tuesday! :) WOO HOOOOOO!

All that nasty, filthy, stained, old taupe carpet is leaving too. Soon to be replaced with yummy dark wood laminate. YEAH!!! :)

No worries...I know Photo Rule 101...

Pics required of everything! :)

I'll get semi-after pics of the yellow/turquoise/red combo that's happening downstairs now when we get some better light (too late today and supposed to storm tomorrow).

And then I'll be showcasing my new homestead after the floors go in and I get to redecorate. I can't wait to pull everything from the garage back into the house and find everything new homes! :)

Woo Hoo! If there's one thing full of crafty goodness that can pull me away from scrapbooking, it's home decor!!!! And now I have a whole downstairs to do! :) Oh, and its totally scrap-related b/c I get to rearrange and decorate my scrap space a bit too! ;) And then scrap the pics and make some new wall doodads and on and on. :)

Off to read my new DIY Makeover mag! :)

XOXO...Stac :)

Double Up...

posting today! LOL :)

I realized that I hadn't done shown some updated posting on my blog of my Memory Makers' column projects. So, update I am...

Memory Makers March / April -- What We're Lovin' trend "forest friends and woodgrain"
Loved the super cute Sassafras critters, especially the mix with the dark Collage Press paper. :)
And the October Afternoon is always one of those fall-in-love faves that you can't find forever...so when I found it, I was soooo excited! :) Love the deer guys! :)





Memory Makers May / June -- What We're Lovin' trend "vintage"
Go Staci, go Staci...I was sooooo excited that I got to do some hybrid work for this one! :) Rhonna's goodies are the coolest to work with, so I was glad that her Urban Junque line was perfect! :)
And who does vintage like Jenni Bowlin? Uhm, nobody! She's the bomb-diggity of vintage, so lots of JB goodies on the 2nd one. :)





Memory Makers July / August -- What We're Lovin' trend feature article "peace" & " kraft + color pop"
I can't begin to describe how over-joyed excited I was to have the opportunity to do a full-length feature article! This was my first time to make assignments for other designers, which was fun b/c I had to figure out trends AT CHA, get the products from the manufacturers, track down the designers at the show (hard!!!), and they had less than a week to get projects in for approval! WHEW! :) But it was *fun!* :)
I got to pick which trends I wanted to do, of course. So I played with the "peace" one with lots of American Crafts goodies. Then I jumped into the "kraft + color pop" trend with the awesome Fancy Pants and Hambly goodies. :) Total LOVE! :)

I've got one more column coming out in the Sept/Oct issue. It's a near/dear to my heart b/c it's a bit dark and twisty with a side of sarcastic funny like me! LOL :) Any guesses on the trend? (Marla, you can't guess b/c you saw the projects!)

Back soon with more goodies! :)

Happy almost-4th!

XOXO...Stac :)

Something New & Something Old...

all at once! LOL :)

I got a little chance to play last night! Love love love when you get a little burst of magic and it not only works, but works fast. You see, I'm a totally slow scrapper. But last night, Bob claimed the tv & the computer (so no shows or music) & he was doing laundry too! WOO HOO! So I got a super quickie project done...under 30 minutes! :)

I'm cleaning out my "random bits & baubles" bins b/c they're overfull, so I used this big alien monster dude. He started life as a hangtag on Declan's shorts. :)

As for the something old, this one's a little harder. Some folks know, but most don't, that I was working on a book project a while back. It was still very early-stage, but I'd spent countless hours doing write-ups, projects, planning, etc. Unfortunately, it was in final approval stage when the economy tanked and I was one of the unlucky cuts. The whole she-bang is still living in the work-in-progress binder that I was using, just kinda ignored.

One day, I will write a book. It's still a huge goal for me and a dream that I want to achieve. In the meantime, I'm going to start slowly posting some of the layouts that I created for my first book project. Here's the first one that I can let go of...it was a stamping focused example...

As for the e*crew, we're chillin' out today...totally veggin'. Tomorrow, I'm shiggling in the am & then we head to Poppy's house for our 4th of July Extravaganza! :) He lives in the country, so we can do whatever we want for the most part. Usually, that involves hand-feeding the koi fishies in his pond, swimming for hours, cooking hot dogs & smores on the firepit, and lots and lots of fireworks! :) Should be a blast...literally! LOL ;)

Happy (early) 4th to everyone! Stare deeply into a sparkler and ponder your life...it's a 4th of July tradition! :)

XOXO...Stac :)

DUDE!!!

Really!!! Yes, I'm screaming b/c...

DUDE! Check this out...

My layout is Layout of the Day on 2Peas! How cool is that? I'm a little super-uber-overexcited about this but I can't help it...that ROCKS! :)

Here's the full shot of the layout...

Lots of Cosmo Cricket lovin', my new beloved Tim Holtz stamp, some hot Creative Imagination rhinestone brads, and always present Thickers. :)

Oh, paper trick must-do: Cosmo Cricket has great distressed edges, but since I'm an 8.5x11 girl, I have to chop a couple of those pretties off. :( So I sliced them down, patched them back onto my background and covered the seam with a pretty ribbon border frame. Functional and decorative! :)

Also, the orange frame thing in the title started life as a sticker tag. After a little exacto knife surgery, the insides are saved for another layout and the outside orange frame found life on this layout over some grey cardstock. Double bonus! :)

Off to cartwheel or eat chocolate or both! :)

XOXO...Staci :)

I'm baaaack! :)

Whew! Another super-fun week of teaching, scrapping, shopping, big dinners, and airports. LOL :) The recap:

* Left out Thursday for GASC - Chantilly VA.

* Got set up early enough to hit a local Zumba class near the hotel. (yes, I am obsessive...why do you ask?) ;)

* Taught all day Friday -- Hambly Mixed Up mini album, Pink Paislee Fascinating Frame Up project, Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday Galore mini album, and American Crafts Crafty Girl album. All went really well. Lots of love to the VA girls who came to play and scrap and have fun with me! :)

* Snuck into the back of Crystal's 7gypsies Mini Album Madness class. Such an awesome project, but I figured out that I'm a totally sucky student. I'd be doing my own thing & hear this niggling "make sure you..." and realize that I was totally zoned. I'd look up and be 2 pages ahead so I'd just go back to working. Later, I'd hear again "make sure you..." and look up to realize that now I was 3 pages behind. LOL Oh well, it was worth it b/c my album is totally cute & based on Crystal's design but has "me" in it too--lots of handcut scallops and hearts, marker lines, etc. :)

ETA: Dude, look what I found on Crystal's blog!!! (her pic...that I was too focused to even realize she was taking! LOL)

* Taught Saturday morning -- Pebbles' Summer Scrappin' Fun layouts, KI Memories sketch class, and Sassafras Lass Wonderfully Whimsical layout. All went really well again. (whew!) I got to meet Michelle Vocke, who is the awesome VA local writer gal that did several write-ups on GASC (including special love on my classes!).

* Shopped all afternoon on Saturday and found some serious goodies!!!! Marla is proud of me b/c I bought stamps! I know...shocker! I actually bought 2 new Tim Holtz stamps that I've already inked to death (soon to post projects!). Lots of Teresa Collins goodies, AC flair buttons, repeat October Afternoon paper & diecuts to go with, Making Memories buttons, Cosmo Cricket stickers and more. Suffice it to say, my room is bombed! But I'm going for the "scrap with it" style of cleaning up, rather than actually, you know...cleaning. ;)

* On Sunday, I was the lucky bird with a late flight, so I'm went to Zumba again. Probably made a fool out of myself b/c I'm all-out-getting-down and the other ladies...not so much. Make no mistake, they were into it, but I'm a little...uhm, yeah...just a little more shigglin' going on in Staci's world! ;) But I'll never see them again & I'm sure I was their entertainment from Texas..."remember the time that crazy blue-hair girl came and was all low, low, low...." ;)

* Lovely reunion dinner with the kiddos and Bob on Sunday night.

* Monday morning -- dr visit. UGH! Poor Lilli has had allergies bad lately, but while I was gone, she got progressively worse. So I took her to the doc with what I'm sure was a sinus infection & double ear infections. Nurse Mom was right on. Plus, she was having so much trouble breathing, that she was wheezing...basically having a minor but constant asthma attack. B/c she doesn't have a history of asthma, we're doing the inhaler + antibiotics for now, but hopefully she'll wean off the inhaler in a couple of weeks. (fingers crossed) Speaking of fingers, while sitting there with Lilli, I noticed that Tayvan's suck-blister on her thumb was looking gross and infected. Showed it to the dr who kinda freaked a bit. Yeah, likely staph infection abscess. (yuck yuck yuck) Doc took care of it while I held Tayvan down (but Van was a total brave champ and barely cried). It's totally gauze-wrapped up now...so maybe this will be the hard-core jump-start to No.More.Thumb.Sucking! Well, I'm optimistic! ;)

* Today...rest, relax, chill...finally. :) Back to the grind tomorrow! :)

* Can't have a postie without pretties though, so here's some fun...

Memory Makers July/August 2009 feature article "7 Trends to Try"

These are my layouts for trend -- "peace symbols" & "kraft + color pop"

Back soon with more new goodies!

XOXO...Stac :)

Double Bonus Day...

Rushing out the door to shiggle, but promised a posting to a lil someone special... :)

So, lucky you, it's a double bonus day o'projects!

First up, a super fun layout I made last night with a mix of Cosmo Cricket and Sassafras lovin'. These flowers are the easiest-peasiest thing in the world, but so cute! :)

Then, as promised to several folks....drumroll please....

my Pink Paislee Fascinating Frame Up class goodies...

And I know everyone wants close-ups of these babies, so never fear...b/c they are here!

In the class, we make the big one with the house. But it's totally do-able for folks to make the other two at home. I made them strictly with the class kit products, except the hoops. So you can have your own little family of framed layouts! Soooo fun and easy, but with a big wow on the cheap! Best of both worlds! :)

And I'm off...

XOXO...Stac :)

Let's Rock...

We're total rock stars in our family.

Well, in our own minds at least! LOL :)

But don't tell Declan that.

Please.

He is certain that he's a rock star or will be one.

He is the coolest lil punk you'll ever meet.

Totally into rock music, skateboarding, doing tricks on his bike, skulls, and great clothes!

Love that guy!

Here he is...at his best... ;)

Lots of fun goodies from my stash--some Jillibean Soup, Cosmo Cricket, Doodlebug, & Reminisce. The patch is one that Declan earned at a skateboard thing last summer...saved it for the perfect layout and this one felt right. I can't remember the manufacturer on the skull paper that I chopped to bits...I'll keep searching or if anyone can clue me in, I'd appreciate it! :)

Gearing up for GASC-Chantilly VA! Just a couple more days till I'll be chillin' on the plane, heading to a weekend of super fun teaching & shopping!

Oh, and in a fit of total OCD, I've researched Zumba classes in VA that are within the 3 mile radius the hotel shuttle will take me. Hopefully, the few gyms/classes that I've scoped out will let me in & the classes will be as bootie poppin' as Dara's classes are! :)

XOXO...Stac :)

My fave way to scrap...

is when new goodies never even get put away.

They're just so inspiring that you gotta use them right away! :)

That's what I love about this layout from last night. The mess of goodies in my room in a little overwhelming right now, but I'd rather scrap than clean! LOL Hey, its double-bonus...it is cleaned up a bit & I got a layout done! ;)

This is me & my bestie girl, Shonnery! :) We were out for a Girl's Night Out, dancin' our azz off! :) A random country song came on (Friends in Low Places) and we didn't miss a beat...straight from bootie poppin' to 2-steppin'! :)

There's lots more stories from that night, including my knight in shining armour...Tom (Shonnery's husband). He literally picked me up and moved me when a guy got a little too close and I didn't realize it (oblivious!) and then almost got into it with another guy who was coming on too strong for Tom's taste too. Again...Staci = oblivious and didn't even know that the almost-fight was about me until 2 days later. My friends have taken to saying that I "require supervision" b/c I'm not so aware of my surroundings, especially when there's music/dancing involved. It'd be funny...except its true! Okay, I'll admit it...maybe that makes it more funny! ;) LOL

Off to gymnastics! Lilli moved to Level 3 (YEAHHHHH!!!!) and Dec is trying out Boys Gymnastics (wtg!). Back with more goodies soon...

XOXO...Stac :)

Literal Sarcasm.

bwahahahah. I can't help but laugh already as I remember the story behind these layouts. Lilli, god love her, is the most literal child on the face of the planet. She's frequently been told this (by us, teachers, friends, etc). You can "joke" with her, but chances are...she's not going to get it. ;) As re-enacted yet again by her comments this past weekend...

And with that story, it also reminded me that I hadn't quite documented the full breadth & depth of her lack of sarcasm-decipering. And with our family of Sarcasm King & Queens (aka me, Bob, my mom), that's not so good for Little Lilli. ;) So here's the ode to that...

Man, I love that girl! The best part is that I know she'll figure it out one day and joke along with the rest of us. And then it'll be the best story of "remember when Lilli said..." LOL :)

Scrappy wise, these are made up of my box of Studio Calico lovelies that I got! I did have to handcut some extra cork butterflies from a spare cork tag to match the one that was already in the Chatterbox set of diecuts. :) And those starburst Collage Press diecuts are a TDF fave! Wish I could get a whole sheet of those babies! ;)

Off to do homework and hit the pool!

XOXO...Stac :)

Happy Kids Make Me...

A Happy Mamma! :)

It seems so rare these days, but every once in awhile, my kids actually seem to like each other. I totally lucked into these shots! Lilli was reading to the little ones from their favorite Snake Dicitonary book (yes, really) and I was walking down the stairs with my camera. Total Lucky Moment! I was able to snap off several shots before Tayvan caught me & they started cheesin' for the camera. :) LOVE LOVE LOVE these candid shots...all pajama'd up, fingers in their mouths as always, snuggly in blankets...so them! :)

And of course, the pics were perfect for this little grouping of birdies I found in my new box of KI goodies. They're from various bits of the Friendship line. Awwww, Friends! I hope, with all my heart, that these kiddos are friends...forever. :) The birds were beggin' for a tree, so I went to my fave Tia Bennett digi one.

Been spray paint playing a lot lately. After lots and lots of trial/error, I finally found a way that works for me. I am spraying onto transparencies (or chopped up page protectors in this case) from way up high. You get little splotches of paint without warping the paper. And best of the best, if I get too heavy-handed with the spray paint & its a bit too much, I can just save the transparencies for another project & haven't wasted my $$paper$$. ;) It might not be the best option, but its working for me for now! :)

Got lots done today too...birthday party-check, porch rockers-check, vintage formica table-check but too small so need a change of plans with him, lots of little jobs around the house accomplished today too (thanks Bob!).

Off to figure out dinner & then some late-night scrappin' after the kids crash tonight. :)

XOXO...Staci :)

Squeezin' some JUICY SUMMER!

I love mail days that come with big boxes of goodies! So ready to play! I have boxes o' stuff sitting ready for me to dig in...some stuff I bought at GASC, some stuff I "got" at GASC, some Studio Calico stuff delivered while I was at GASC, and then...da da da daaaaa.....a Big Box of KI Memories goodies! :)

The day I got the KI goodies, Shannon so very sweetly reminded us that we could use our new Juicy Summer stuff for this week's Focus On... blog post. YES! Girl, I love a deadline and a direction, so I got to work on some fun stuffs with the new Juicy Summer line. Couldn't help but throw some hybrid KI into the mix (Clark paper altered a teeny bit & the frame set), but mostly, it's all Juicy Summer papers & bits.

My GASC friends will know of my not-so-secret love for the pleated flower. Why yes, I am a Paper Pleating Princess! ;) So, of course, there's a papery flower friend on this one.

Here's pics...

Tonight, I'm hoping/planning to play with some Friendship line stuffs. And then oh-so-happily dig into my Studio Calico kit! :) I promise to post pics of more goodies as soon as possible this weekend!!!

Oh, and fingers crossed for me on the homefront! I am making some mega-major progress on my Summer Home Improvement to-do list. Bought rockers for the front porch, found a craigslist deal on a new kitchen table, picked out my new yellow paint yesterday. Next up, getting chairs put together (ahem, Bob!!!) and getting quotes for paint. I think I'm going to hit the floor outlet store to hunt some deals too! :) House pics soon too! ;)

XOXO...Staci :)

Lucy...I'm Home....

Back. Home. Now.
It's been a crazy-fun, super-busy, wacked-up weekend of scrappy goodness! I gonna say that GASC Arlington was a 110% success! :)

I had 4 days of classes...morning till night, literally all day. Mostly all great reviews. I warn folks about my hyperactivity and that they'll love it or hate it. LOL I think most folks love it, or at least can handle it in small doses. Bwahahahah! :) Poor Marla, she has to live with it for the whole week of crazy Staci! :)

Got some awesome deals too! Can't wait to scrap with the yummy Heidi Swapp goodies I got (love me some mirror butterflies!), Basic Grey chipboard alphas that I've been lusting for, and more. My biggest splurges were a surprise to all...stamps! I'm apparently fully infected with the stamp obsession. Got some **super love** Sassafras ones that you'll be sick of seeing b/c I'm so in love that I think they're my new fave & I haven't even used them yet! And shocker of shocks, I actually spent $19 of my own hard-to-let-it-go cash on one set of stamps from Technique Tuesday. But in my defense, they're Ali Edwards & there was a cute sample showing them so I was totally sucker punched into buying them! ;) I think they're by far the most expensive stamp I've ever bought...maybe even the most expensive scrappy thing I've ever bought! LOL :) I'm not sure that's a good line for me to have crossed b/c now I'll probably do it again & not give it a second thought! ;) (nah, I'm still too cheap for words!) :)

Let's see...what else? Found a fave booth at "Glue" with lots of flair button pins that I stocked up on. Also got some new charms for my junk necklace & a super cute wooden rolodex thing that I'm dying to play with...spray paint, here I come! :)

All in all, I need to clean up my desk space (ugh!), get all this scrappy inspiration to good use, and create, create, create! I also figured out that I need to get my teachy self out to some stores too! LOL I had no less than a bajillion people ask me 1. what store I teach at or 2. if I'd come to their store. The answers are 1. no where right now, and 2. heck yeah baby! Need to print my business cards again and mail those babies out! ;) (excuse me for a moment while I add that to my to-do list!) :)

Oh yeah, gotta get back to school work too...no Sarah, I haven't forgotten that I'm smack in the middle of my PTA spirit gear drive! ;) It's totally on my to-do list too! What's a mom, if not a multi-tasker extrodinaire?! :)

Those of you that took my classes...sooooo great to see your bright & smiling faces! I love to laugh with ya, or let ya laugh at me...it's all good as long as your laughing, smiling, and having scrappy fun! :) I'll have pics up of some of the projects soon...as soon as I find my camera again. It's buried in my suitcase of purchases! LOL :) And if you took pics in my classes...of me, of you, of us, of projects...please oh please email them to me!!! I'd love to see them! And if you don't mind, I'll even post them here for other folks to love too. :)

Well, as I'm back to Mom Mode today, I'm off to start the rounds of swimming lessons & tutoring sessions. Back super soon though with project pics, new scrappy fun, and more crazy Staci ramblings. Deal? :)
XOXO...Stac :)

Crazy Busy...

with Boxes e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. LOL

I'm swamped with getting all the goodies ready for GASC in a couple of weeks.

But I'm doing pretty well on getting it all done. My prep checklist is getting more and more things checked off! WOO HOO! :)

Trying to finish out the school year goodies too. Still running the spirit gear sale for another week, but we made it through the carnival with flying colors. The kids had a BLAST at the carnival...bouncy houses, petting zoo, cotton candy...fun! :) And we are getting more comfortable with Lilli being...(gulp) a big girl. We let her run around at the carnival with friends (we could see the whole thing), whereas last year she had to stay right with us. I've been letting her & Declan walk to school sometimes too. Bob was home one morning to see my routine of watching them walk to the corner till they're completely out of sight. Then I run upstairs to watch out the upstairs window b/c there's 2 little peekaboo spots that I can see them. I still want to check that they're being nice & staying together, following the rules ya know! LOL Yeah, Bob was laughing at me hardcore! ;)

In KI news, I just got word that I have goodies on their way! WOO HOO...sooooo can't wait to play! :) I did have lots of fun with the May projects!! The first project was for my blog challenge to "get out of the box". I know that's totally cliche, but I wanted to encourage folks to play a little bit and try that product, that technique, that design...whatever has been floating around that sounds like a fun thing to try for a layout! :)

Here's that one...

For the second one, I played with more of the new digital papers! Gotta say again and again...love, love, love! Just an easy contrast boost and then printed in b&w.

Here's this one...

Also, been doing a huge gallery update at 2Peas with my Memory Makers goodies from the Masters column and book. I'm starting to upload my Contributing Editor goodies tomorrow. Check it out... 2Peas Gallery.

Well, back to the grindstone. More kits to pack, more instruction sheets to write, more scrapping to do! :) XOXO...Stac :)

Chocolate Induced Posting...

It's Easter Sunday.

We've egg hunted, eaten copious amounts of chocolate, run the sugar high off and now we're crashing.

The eggs are on the stove, boiling in preparation for dying. "Are they ready yet?" is a constant mantra at the moment.

So, what better time for a quick update? LOL :)

(total aside: I wish I could show y'all some of what I've been working on most lately!!! I just finished up a Memory Makers column that is soooooo *me* that I'm dying for it to come out! And I'm decorating the heck out of my kidlets school for Spring Carnival. I was on a ladder for 2 hours yesterday painting butcher paper to turn out front office into a bank! But no pics allowed. (pouting Staci) Trust me though...it's Cool!)

On the topic of things I can share, I wanted to share some KI lovin' first!

Has everyone seen this>>> KI Memories goes digi! :)

I'm getting ready to download it all! Happy Happy Joy Joy = Me!

Had some KI gallery fun for March too that I want to share...

This one is from the Focus On...Daydream line. Love the softie colors...so different for me, so I had to funkify it up! LOL The background is a page protector, chopped in half (so its only one thickness) and then crumpled to bits and painty perfection.

This one is for a blog challenge to "scrap a noise or conversation". More painty fun of course and still lovin' the grey right now.

How about another GASC sneak peek too?

In keeping with the KI love, how about a sneak of the KI Memories class "Get Scrap Inspired"...all about maximizing your sketch love! :) These 2 classes are just about full, so hurry. There's one at 8am on Friday (before the shopping opens, you can be learning!) and one at 4pm on Saturday (get ready to crop with lots o'sketches!) :)

Check it out...

Back soon with more!

XOXO...Staci