Picture Frenzy

Well, here I sit, uploading pictures to Costco. Leif and Eliana are sick and sleeping, so I have the house in silence to myself. And you know, as I browse Picasa and upload, I am realizing just how long it has been since I've printed pictures and just how many I have to print! I finally found where I need to start if I want to get caught up on the printing... May 2008! I've printed a few pictures in between there (Eliana's 2-year photos, Halloween, the Christmas wallets we sent out with our cards...), but not much. We are heading into Fall again, which means we will (hopefully) be taking a camping trip or two in Yellowstone, and a drive up the Beartooth Pass to see the colors change in a week or two. That means more pictures. We still need to take Eliana's 3 year pictures, too. All in all, I suppose it's good (even though it's expensive to do in one shot like this!) that I'm printing all of last year's pictures now. That way I'm caught up and I can just focus on scrapbooking them.

Speaking of scrapbooking, perhaps that's what I should be doing while this batch uploads and the house is quiet....

Two Peas in a Pod

And now for some older pictures! These were taken back when Ellie was about 8 months old and just getting to know her friend Corinne. They were like two peas in a pod and had a great time together!

I had a lot of fun layering things for the title on this one!

Wonderful

I love this picture of Eliana with my dad. It was taken while we were in TX last month and I just think it is so sweet. I used some Karen Russell Narratives rub-ons that I've been hoarding on this layout and I LOVE them! Here's a closeup...

Robert Love

Pictures from April of Eliana and my brother. She loves her Uncle Robert!

Not Making A Splash

While we were in Kansas we took Eliana to a splash park one afternoon. She was very excited about it. She ran around with other kids and had a great time. Until, that is, it was time to actually get into the splash part of the splash park. She'd have nothing to do with it. She just stood behind the bench and watched all the kids having fun without her.

I had fun with these papers, which surprised me. I actually cut things out, which is not something I usually do. but I like the splashes here and had fun. Woohoo!

20,000!

WHOA! I've passed the 20,000 visitor mark on this blog, so I think that calls for a giveaway! I have just the thing, too.... been saving it up for an occasion like this! I'd post pictures, but I'm too lazy to get out of bed and go take pictures. You'll just have to trust me on this one. =D

So... the giveaway is a cute little red and white polka dot mini lunchbox filled with goodies, like acrylic stamps, embellishments, and more! =D All you have to do is leave me a little hello in the comments on this post to be entered! My birthday is coming up next month (a big one, too... the big 3-0!), so how 'bout I celebrate by drawing a winner on September 1st? (No the 1st isn't my birthday, but waiting until the 21st just seems too long.)

Sound good?

Crafting again...

Well, my craft room isn't completely put back together, but I have been doing a smidge of crafting again. I cleared out a bunch of stuff, marked almost all of it $0.25 or $0.50 and had a garage sale. I came away with $111.75, which is not bad for stuff I wasn't going to use anyway!

While my mom was here she confirmed that I really DO need to scrapbook. Not for the sake of recording history or remembering things, but for my own sanity. I NEED to scrapbook. It is my outlet. That also means I'm trying to make it a priority, even if that means a layout or two a couple times a week. I was going for a month or more without crafting, and it was dragging me down in every area! So... I have things to show you! As usual, I pulled out a Sweet Pea Scraps kit (SPS, who, btw, are no longer!! I'm sad, but I'll be even sadder in a year when I've used up my backlog of kits since I haven't been crafting this year!) and I'll give you my creations in bits and pieces. It's easier to blog that way... ;)

This is a picture from when we were in Kansas last month. Yes, I am actually scrapbooking CURRENT pictures! It's crazy! I guess that's what happens when I go and print recent pictures.... Here's a closeup of the detail...

Another A.C.Bailey Layout...

The Littlest Cowgirl

A layout from this summer that I never shared! I love this picture of Ellie (from a couple years ago)... Used some A.C. Bailey goodies here...

Pictures? Really?

The last time I printed pictures was... 

...um...

... Ellie's 2nd birthday. That was a year ago. Oops. 

That's not good for a scrapbooker, methinks.

So.... I'm uploading and printing pictures at Costco! I'm not printing a year's worth, but I am trying to get as many uploaded as I can so I'll have new pictures to scrap! Mom and I have been working on the craft room and it's coming along nicely. I got my Mary Kay office moved out of the craft room, so now I have that table for just my machines! I'm purging a LOT of stuff, which means I'll be having a garage sale soon! Lots of good stuff, but if I don't love it or use it (or don't have a project I'm planning on using it on in the near future) it's going. So... if you live in the area, stay tuned! I'll be getting rid of some stuff at the end of this month!

Cleaning and Purging

As I'm cleaning my craft room (with my mom =D Thanks, Mom!) I'm discovering a few things....

Like this:

Goodies I bought at Kristii's Open House back in... May? April? It was the same day I made this:

*sigh* I am finding all sorts of goodies that I've purchased and not played with or started and not finished. I am also finding things that I've collected and, let's face it, will never use.

So I'm cleaning and purging. Everything needs to have a home. There are some things that need new homes in other people's homes. Like decorative scissors. Do I really need all the ones I never use? I used them once upon a time, but now I don't. So maybe I'll keep my favorite couple pairs, grab a pair or two for Ellie to play with, and get rid of the rest. Do I reallly need the Fastenater I never use? What about the QuicKutz that I had before I had my CuttleBug? I haven't used the QK in over a year. That ought to be the definition of when to get rid of things. I have stencils I haven't used in a very long time. And I'm sure there are other things I haven't even unearthed yet. So... cleaning and purging. My next question is... freecycle or garage sale? I have to do something with all the stuff I'm removing from my craft room...