Odds and Ends........

What a sweet day I had yesterday! I so appreciate all the birthday wishes from all of you sweet talented woman! At school, my coworkers baked a cake, and gave me some thoughtful gifts. One of the teachers paraded her entire 4th grade into my room to sing Mickey's rendition of Happy Birthday. By the time they were done, my 5th graders had joined in! (And I had that song stuck in my head allllllll day!) Then, the secretary of our school walks in with these beauties.......
...........from my hubby! My students ooooooohhhhed and aaaaahhhhhhed over them! (Of course I did too!) I guess I'll keep him around for awhile! : ) Hubby and I are taking a Spanish class together, and it started last night. So we sat side by side, listening and learning.......together. It was kind of nice.......

Then, when I got home I had a bunch of messages on the machine from family and friends! On top of all of that I got a few sweet gifts from some of my blogger pals.....and gorgeous cards! (I will try and take pics of them and post them soon!)

Most of you know that I redid my scrap room. It wasn't that my old scrap room was bad.....just outdated and dusty. (13 years will do that to a room!) So it was time to freshen up a bit, reorganize, purge, and make my space more usable. So here it is in all its glory!
This is the view as you walk in my door.......
The Making Memories cabinets were a gift from my hubby and MIL!

This is my sewing desk that also houses my "new" TV that my mom gave to me! : )

New curtains!!!! So glad my MIL can sew! (Remember.....I can only sew on paper, people!)

This is the view if you are sitting on my couch. Don't ya love that white ribbon/punch organizer? It was pulled from a neighbor's trash pile.........gotta love anything functional AND free!

And finally, my desk. I know......I have too many stamps.....but believe it or not....I actually got rid of/sold tons of them! You can only imagine how many I must have had before the redecorating!

I ADORE this pink chandelier from my MIL. It was another birthday present to me.......I am so spoiled! : )

The room is pretty much done, but I still have a few decorative pieces to put up on some of the bare walls. My TV will eventually go on a corner shelf. It will be my work in progress, I guess.

And for my family and friends who may have forgotten what my children look like......here is a pic of my two from the zoo a few weeks ago. : )

Thanks for making my birthday so special......thanks for always taking the time to visit me. It truly brings a smile to my face and brightens my day!

Happy weekend! (Oh! I almost forgot.....I am finally going out with hubby alone.....on a date!!!! THIS SATURDAY! WOOOHOOO!)

Feeling old.....

I turned 38 today.......hard to believe how fast time has flown by. Hard to believe I am a mother to a 14 and 12 year old. Hard to believe I've lived in the same house for 17 years. Hard to believe I've been married for 16, to my high school sweetheart. All of it..........has sped by me so very fast. I sure wish life could slow down just a tiny bit....... : )

I found this picture of me in kindergarten. It made me sort of melancholy to see it. I can still remember kindergarten. The cubbies, the smell of crayons, the set up of my classroom. It seems like a lifetime ago. 1976. The 70's.......Dippity Do, pigtails, plaid ruffles, bell bottoms, the BeeGees, disco.........*sigh* What a crazy I will be when I am in my 60's or 70's huh?

I used Noel Mignon's newest kit called Core Curriculum. (It is sold out.....but don't worry cuz her Halloween kit called 31st is coming out soon and Noel is taking pre-orders. Click HERE if you'd like to reserve one! It is simply divine!!!)

Well off to work I go......(Ironic that I am heading off to school.......)

Have a wonderful Thursday! Hope all is well with you!

JustRite Makes it Personal!

I have probably said this many times before but I ADORE JustRite stamps! I love that there are so many options to personalize a card. These next couple of projects uses the Holiday Demi Phrases set. These are fabulous because some of the work is already done for you. The top portion's sentiment was already there and I just added our family name to the bottom. (Times New Roman 15 pt font). The cute Santa hat is from the Merry Little Christmas set. I colored it in with my Copics and added some white flock to it. I used my Nesties to cut the pinking circle and larger circle out. The paper is by Basic Grey. It actually has a pocket, where you see the diagonal strip of paper, that you could put a gift card or money in. (I had neither.......) : (



See my fuzzy Santa hat? : )

The second project is a little gift bag ideal for gift cards, candy, or small trinkets. Again I used the Holiday Demi phrases and just added our family name to it. The snowflake is from the Merry Little Christmas set. I stamped it with Versamark and blue embossing powder. I distressed the edges a bit and used those Nesties again!

Head on over to the JustRite blog for more inspiration and our the gals from our DT!

Lauren Meader

Sharon Harnist

Lisa Somerville

Kathy Jones

Angela Barkhouse

Debbie Olson

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Wednesday already? I could get used to this 4 day work week! : ) Have a great one!

A Whirlwind!

This weekend just flew right by! We accomplished a lot and took a bit of time to have fun in between. My scrap room is just about done. Curtains are hung, pillows are fluffed.....so I will be taking pics this week! (Before it gets messy! ) Kyle's room is painted, new desk stained and varnished, new comforter on the bed. Tomorrow we are hoping to get his desk set up with his computer and such. I don't know about your kids, but mine is a pack rat.... he saves EVERYTHING! It took us hours to go through his toys, DVD's, games, etc and figure out which ones to donate. I have to admit that I got a bit of a lump in my throat because I told him that he needed to donate some of his stuffed animals to a needy child. (He is in 7th grade you know...... ) It was like he was donating an appendage or something......he had such a hard time getting rid of a few stuffed animals. When he finally decided on several to give away.....I took them from him. As I was placing them in the bag, I couldn't help thinking that my baby is growing up. These are those first steps to adolescence...then adulthood......*sigh* What a wreck I will be on his wedding day huh?


This card was created using Crafty Secret's Creative Scraps. These are fabulous for making a fast but pretty card! I paired it up with some Jenni Bowlin papers and crepe paper. I did some sewing and distressing. The buttons are Papertrey Ink.

Hope your Tuesday is fantastic! : )