Simply Scrappin' DT project...

I had a mishap with the Jenni Bowlin yellow butterfly rubon...but sometimes a mishap turns into an opportunity...so did you ever decorate a homecoming float with THOUSANDS of pieces of tissue paper?  Unfortunately, I did...and after coming across a butterfly shaped chipboard piece... I KNEW the tissue paper technique (technique used loosely) just might work!

If you are unfamiliar with the "technique"...cut squares or rectangles of tissue paper...stick a pencil in the center of the tissue and wrap the tissue around said pencil...dab the tissue covered eraser onto a glue stick and stick the tissue onto your chipboard...repeat a zillion times!

Oh, and the blue stuff on the sun...crepe paper...$1 a roll...pleat it...squish it...crumple it...LOVE IT!

Almost forgot, I found the "base" (AKA an old red hot plate holder) at Bayou Town Flea Market in Breaux Bridge for $1 - my lucky number!!!

Moral of this project... you just never know where you might find your next embellishment :)

Are you old enough... or young enough....

to know who these guys are???  When I saw them at the Scrappin with the Chicks hotel, I recognized them, but wasn't sure from where...until it hit me..."MTV haz beens"!!!!  Now what amazed me is that these two guys (from the very beginning of Real World and Road Rules...so they are my age)... still get paid to travel around to frat parties, beach parties and various and sundry other places based on their "stardom"....I'm almost cracking myself writing this up...How do these guys do it??  More power to them...If they get paid to let young girls rub on them and frat guys still think they are cool enough to do a keg stand, then why shouldn't they exploit that market... it is America :)

One of my boys...

Parker is almost two....If you have met Ashley, you will understand why I am just scrapbooking Parker's 9 month pictures...OMGosh he is SO CUTE!!!

pretend that the two pages are together...on my posting screen this wording is BELOW the pages...alas...tech whiz...I am not....I digress...  You should see Parker at 2 years old - ohhhhh, don't get me started on those sweet kisses and little legs....

Scrappin' news....

I visited the lss on the Westbank of New Orleans called Scrappin' Friendzee - it is cramped - but filled with TONS of new merchandise.  If you are in the area definitely stop in and check it out.  They are fully stocked with Copic pens, sprayers, etc...lots of Tattered Angels, Webster's Pages, Tim Holtz, and a large variety of stamps.  Pretty cool place.  Even though the shopping area is packed to the gills, the cropping area is enormous.  Give it a try...

This weekend Scrapbook and Co. held a marathon scrap event.  I only made it for a few hours (a very few hours), but I did finish up a couple of layouts that have been "in the works" for quite a while...

Here's one of my favorites...  Melanie from Kit-A-Licious cut the title for me (she is the Gypsy/Cricut QUEEN!) and when Wendy looked at the picture - she said "Cocktails" - so thanks ladies for the great title!!

The flower came straight from the room service menu - you never know when you will use the stuff you cram into your purse from a trip :)

Have a great week - make sure it includes plenty of laughs!

Shark attacks for Father's Day

You just can't take the Ironman to Outback or TJ Ribs or other man/meat restaurants for Father's Day.

We ventured downtown to one of his favorite restaurants - Lucy's...

The girls drank their first official Shark Attacks - a little different from the last Shark Attack I had, but they loved it!

Lucy's is a great place for kids on the weekend - hoola hoops and fun music - just be cautioned if you want their Shirley Temples to come Shark Bite style - you have to ask and pay a little extra - but it is worth the surprise on their faces!!!

Simply Scrappin' Design Team Goodies...

I was recently addded to the Simply Scrappin' DT - SWEET!!!  Elizabeth sent me a box filled with Jenni Bowlin's new products.  I finished a layout, and I am in the middle of a project, but I had a little mishap with the awesome yellow butterfly rubon - so I'm trying to hunt one down locally.

Here's my very first SS DT layout...

I have loved Jenni's flag stickers from the moment I saw them in the catalog.  In order to make them stand out a little more, I back each pennant with the same shaped paper, cut larger circles as mats for the letters and used crepe paper to make a fringe topper.  I love these primary colors.  It seems like I have been using only pastels and muted color schemes lately - so this was a blast.

Stay tuned for my DT project - it includes a vintage hot plate... just need that dang butterfly...

good friends...

I am so lucky to have so many fantastic friends...Friendships are so precious...They need to be nurtured and protected, but when they are tended like a garden, they flourish and they provide a vital part of our emotional support system.  If we are lucky, we collect friends throughout our life.  I have Natalie from grammar school,  Krissy from  high school, Jen from college, Rachel, LeeAnne and Gina from my KPMG career, Andy, the wife of Shane's best friend, these are just the highlights, and then there are my scrapbooking friends.

Through scrapbooking, I have met incredible women.  I have travelled to far away places and learned wonderfully creative things.  These women in particular share my love of family and creativity.  Scrapbookers want to record the stories of their lives - their family, their children, the celebrations, the sorrows, the milestones and the day to day... 

I'll always look back and laugh at that day 8 years ago when Shane was travelling so much and I was lonely, and he said, "Just get a hobby!"  Thank goodness for that advice!  I haven't skipped a beat since!

Here are two recent layouts using the Girl's Loft kits...Also, check out the four tier silver stand that I found in Denham Springs for $20!!!  It took some serious elbow grease, but it is beautiful now!

Hope your weekend is filled with laughs!

another great summer day...

even though I did squeeze some work in...the girls skipped camp to hang out with our Natchez cousins and Baw Baw and then we had a picnic dinner in the front yard when I got home... here are the highlights...

and waiting for Daddy....

I'm loving summer!  and laughing all the way!

these faces...

are the most precious things to me...and if I wait too long...they might stop asking me to play with them...asking me to skip work to spend the day with them...and then what will I have...only regrets

so today we played, we laughed, one of us fell and and recovered, one of us went into the pool unexpectedly, no one fought, no one argued for mom's attention...because they had it...all of it...and it was a completely relaxing, enjoyable day...a perfect day...

play day...

On the roller coaster of life, I feel like I am always missing the little precious moments with my girls.  So today we are having a play day.  No office for me...the girls can't quite grasp that concept...Avery asked, "So it's a work day, but you don't care, and you want to play with us instead?"...So simple and so true...Guess that pretty well sums it up...

Hope you get to play today too!  Laughing required!

good reads...

I am a sucker for books.  They are my impulse purchases...  I was actually shortcutting through Barnes and Nobles when I saw this book....screech....back up....one look and I was a goner.  Regretsy.  Normally Ashley eats lunch at her desk while perusing etsy.  We buy quite a bit from etsy.  I love handmade one of a kind gifts....but sometimes...you just ask WHY?  Apparently, me and Ash aren't the only ones because there is a book AND website dedicated to "Regretsy"... and I love this..."where DIY meets WTF???"

If you read the book (and maybe the website), you'll find out that while April Winchell was actually harping on etsy "artists" (using the term loosely), these same "artists" started complaining that Ms Winchell was NOT linking back to the horrid item.  So she did...and the items started selling....Crappy, crass, disgusting items started selling...amazing...here is the listing description for just one of the Regretsy items:

"Bertha, the pregnant sock monkey carries her "baby" in her "womb", and the baby can be "delivered" naturally with its "cord" and "placenta".  The cord can be "cut" by unsnapping it from the baby's "belly"."
(Not only is this "disturbing", but how many air quotes are allowed in one description?)

Moving along....Debby Schuh wrote about this new magazine Flea Market Style on her blog a few months ago...during that same Barnes and Noble shortcut, I looked for it.  I even had Miss Help Desk look it up for me.  She was so helpful and said, "So you like to go to flea markets?  I guess that's cool, but we don't have that magazine anymore". 

I figured I had to wait until the next issue, but to my surprise last week there it was in Walmart.  Apparently, the first edition sold so well, they reprinted!  Stop it...There are plenty flea market junkies around and we NEED OUR FIX!!!!  I'm not only drooling over every page, but following every web link.

And at the same time I was ordering some self help book on Boundaries suggested by my doctor, I added "Just Let Me Lie Down" to my cart.  Hysterical!!!  The book is a dictionary of sorts for working mothers.  One of my favorite "words" is: CORPORATE SEEPAGE defined as "The disturbing habit you sometimes fall into when the words you use at work spill over into your personal life.  The other night I said to my husband, "I'm going to power through dinner so I can get to that meeting."  He said that if I uttered the phrase "power through" one more time, he was going to "close the loop" on our marriage." 

Just a hint of the gems of wisdom inside...

And in some ways, it's helping me realize things about the next chapter in my life...added bonus!

If nothing else, check out the links - you might find something you like!

Just in case you were wondering, also on my nightstand is "Selling the Invisible", "Younger Next Year" and "Never Answer Email in the Morning".  Geesh...I am single handedly keeping the self-help aisle in business!

the shed....

I don't watch TV.  If it was up to me, we wouldn't own a TV...

On our way to Moss Point this weekend Shane sees a sign for "The Shed" and says, "Hey, I think that's "Guy's Shed"...I figure he has a friend named Guy who owns an unfortunately named restaurant....Remember...I don't watch TV...

He says, "No, Guy, Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives...with the white spiky hair"...the white spiky hair part set off the lightbulb...so I call my friend Angel's husband Jim, who like Shane is a Guy fan...

Jim confirms that The Shed is Guy's Shed and we HAVE to go.  I don't eat much red meat, but I LOVE baby back ribs...And these were awesome!  It is a shed with an enormous outdoor seating area filled with picnic tables and school cafeteria chairs - luckily we snagged a table INSIDE the shed...If you are near Ocean Springs, MS you should plan a stop at The Shed.

 and thanks to Avery, there is no mistaking that the Bellangers have been to the Shed...

super excited about debby schuh!!!

Friday morning I am heading to the fabulous scrapbook store By Design in Houston to take a class from my idol Debby Schuh....shown here....

         to take the awesome class shown here...

she just finished designing a new set of classes and I REALLY NEED to take these:

She's going to be in Denham Springs in October,
but she's teaching different classes.  Oh well, I'll probably have to suffer through those - hehe!

When I get back, I'm teaching a class at Scrapbook and Co.  The layout is bright and summery and we'll be using crepe paper, Glimmer Mist (because I am addicted!), embroidery needle and thread - scary, but I actually did a little sewing (using the term loosely).  I don't even have a picture of the layout - how sad...  But check it out on the Scrapbook and Co. blog.  Scroll down to May 18 for all the details.  Hope to see you there!

Our getaway to Moss Point, Mississippi

My aunt and uncle have this beautiful house in Moss Point and if we are REALLY good, they let us use it :)

The view from the back porch is amazing.  If you look closely, you'll see Shane and the girls on the dock probably checking the crab traps - the girls check the traps just about every 10 minutes...for the ENTIRE weekend...Shane was able to forget about work and completely relax...Glad for him...Me on the other hand...Well, have you met me???  But I do love it...

Then Avery treated us all to diving lessons... Warning... She doesn't know how to swim, so I wouldn't try to learn diving from these pictures...

On our way back home, we stopped in Ocean Springs and had a very formal and sophisticated lunch with Ronald, Molly and Shelby.  They are spending the week with Grandma and Grandpa...

We got home last night just in time for swimming lessons.  The girls LOVED it.  Shane took them, and when they got home Avery was too excited to show me her "Ballerina kicks" and Morgan showed me how she had a "Tea Party" under the water... Will bring camera to the next lesson...  till then...  be sure to laugh out loud!