Fiskars Project a Day

Today is the last day on the calendar of 'Project a Day' on the Fiskars craft site. Hopefully you've had a chance to take a look at all the fantastic ideas that have been shared! Of course the Design Team will continue to inspire us but it was fun to see fellow Fiskateers share their passion for different tools.
I've been so anxious to share this project on my blog! The date that my project was featured on the calendar was March 22nd. Kelsey's birthday! So, if you want to read more about it and what tools I used, you can check it out here. I'm not sure how long it will be available to view.
I shared about my love for the stamp press. This adorable, black Cloud 9 board book made it so easy to feature the stamp press. I was actually able to stamp right on it! I also stamped on white cardstock to make journaling blocks and titles. These lil' books are so much fun to work with and it can be a quick easy project that you could finish in a short amount of time. Normally I would be nervous to stamp right on the cover of a book but because the stamp press assures me of such accuracy, I had no hesitation!

I made this book for one of my very best friends in the world, Karen K. We have been great friends since we were 13 years old. She has always been there for me and I hope I can do the same for her right now. Love you my dear friend!

Fiskars Threading Water punch - All the RAGE!!

Have you heard about this new punch? If you haven't and you come across it, you just might want to pick it up!! Remember when scallop bordered paper first came out and it was so fun to play with? As soon as that paper came out I started punching holes in each curve. I loved how it almost made it look lacey.

This is a layout that I did about a year and a half ago (because I'm not at home, I don't have access to all my projects.) Although this is a chipboard shape and not paper, it gave the same 'look' that I feel in love with. I really had so much fun creating with it but in the past, we've been limited to the 'bazzill' paper on hand. Now, if you have this VERY hard to find punch, you can punch out your own scallop paper with holes punched in it already! This is such a fantastic tool. And....sigh.... you guessed it. I can't seem to find one! LOL! I still have a few options and since I just recently found out from May at the fiskateer blog that they are even harder to find than I thought, I will definitely be stepping up the search party! As matter of fact, the photo I posted here is actually May's photo of hers. I WISH I had one as Melanie commented in this post. LOL!

So, if you see one, I suggest you snatch it up quick. Surely this'll be a tool you will use over and over and over again.

Does it get any better than this?

I realize that most parents think that they have the best, most amazing kids in the world. But seriously, I really, truly do have the sweetest kiddos EVAH! I just have to share this piece of art that I can't wait to scrap and will be cherishing forever. My 6 year old daughter was sitting at the piano, erasing and sketchting, erasing and sketching, playing a few keys on the keyboard and then sketching some more. 'What are you doing?' I asked. 'Makin' up a song.' Hmmm....I nearly feel off my chair! THis girl is in Kindergarten, can barely read and has never had a piano lesson in her life! Too precious. So, I had to share. Here is her song. It may just be a famous piece of music some day!

And then there is my Kelsey. Look at this face!! I want to freeze time when I look at this photo! I took this a few days ago; the very last night that she was 3 years old. I really got choked up at that thought that she would wake up in the morning and be 4 years old! No more little tots running around is hitting me hard! Although, we had such a peaceful, and super fun road trip on our way up here. How different from when they are much younger. I'm actually looking forward to our long drive home, because on the way up we all giggled and laughed and just had fun being together.

And of course, I can't hardly blog without sharing a recent creation so here is another layout that I put together. My sweet Ashley. I just feel so blessed. My children are so sweet and fantastic. Of course, we all know that I'm documenting this now so that when these sweet girls turn 13...... well... we won't go there just yet! LOL!

Happy Easter!

I love Easter. It's such a wonderful time of year. Not only is the message of Easter all about new life but there is new life all around. The budding trees, the blooming daffodils, the Easter 'eggs', the new born babies, the beautiful butterflies; all such great reminders of what it is to have new life. I feel so blessed that I was given new life in Jesus at a young age as a child.

My favorite part of Easter this year was seeing my sweet A.J. experiencing and living out that same new life that he has found in his relationship with Jesus. It was fabulous Sunday morning service. It was rainy and gloomy outside but everyone still came in their Easter outfits and it was packed! I was on the platform playing the keyboard when during our praise and worship time, I glanced over and saw A.J. with his eyes closed as he sang his heart out. It just warmed my heart to know that this lil' 8 year old didn't just come to 'church' for his Mama and he didn't just sing the songs because he was 'supposed to.' He really genuinely was singing his heart out to Jesus because of his love for Him. I think it was the most thrilling moment of my parenting experience so far. Which of course, was a moment that also contributed to making this one of the greatest Easters so far!

It was also one of my favorite Easters because we had an Easter egg hunt WITH Dad this year. Usually, he has leave so early for Sunday morning service that he misses out on the morning fun of finding the 'eggs' that were hidden. So, this year we had a night time Easter egg hunt. I bought these glow in the dark eggs that were intended to be used at night. RIP OFF!! Sorry. I even took a photo of them before I hid them because I was going to do this great product review. Nope. Don't buy them! THe green strip TOTALLY does not glow AT all! But, it did come with flash lights and it was a fun family time despite the lack of 'glowing green' eggs!

This is also the first Easter we were able to spend with my brother and siter-in-law. Of course, that made it extra special as well. I love seeing my lil' nephew Tanner who is only 1 years old and changing month by month.

We left after Church to join Arte's parents at his brothers. It was so fun to be all together as a family. The cousins had a riot and of course all the kids stayed up WAY to late!

The next day we continued our journey and drove all the way to my best friend Karen's house. Spent then night. Stayed up WAY too late again and drove to my parents. Here we spent the first day having another enormous Easter dinner feast and were blessed with a visit from my two brothers, my sister-in-law and my niece, Jasmine. Such fun!

Phew! That's what Spring break is for right? A few extra late nights and spending time with friends and family? We're loving it.

That was my last two days in a nutshell. Hope you are having a great Spring Break as well.

Oh... AND guess what??? You'll never believe what town I'm in right now and for the next week! The same town as Andrea Wiebe! That's right! For those of you who were trying to guess what it was that we had in common, it's that we are from the same home town. Small world, eh? She was so sweet to send me a really nice RAK. Now it's time to pass on the love! I'd have to say that Pam, you were definitely the closest to answering correctly... ding, ding, ding.... we have a winner!!! When I get back home, I'll be sending a fun lil' RAK.

Happy Spring!

Good Friday!

So much to celebrate on this Good Friday! I'm so thankful for new life in so many different ways. Today we are celebrating new life because Kelsey is having her 4th Birthday!!! Is it possible? No more toddlers. So strange. Well, the girls can hardly stand the excitment. We are getting ready for a birthday party, dying eggs,Easter and a road trip that will include many stops along the way to visit different family members and friends. This week will also include finishing up my Fiskar Trainings and I have a few other things in the works that I'm so excited about and are huge on my heart. This is definetly a week like no other!!week!

I will be taking LOTSO' photos of course. Then I will be so anxious to scrap them. Until then here is an Easter layout that I put together last year and a summer one that I just put together this week.



Enjoy your Good Friday and remember to reflect on why it's so good! :)

A little bit of green.

Look what I found this morning? A day late...oh well. There's always next year! I think I had made this a while back (trying to think ahead) and then forgot about it! (Maybe you'll be getting it next year! Act surprised, okay?)
Here's something else to share that's a little green. I know... I'm a day late. It's all good! So, Kelsey and I were stamping one day and I left for HALF a second! Came back into the room and found her hands... greener than green!!!!!!!!

Regarding the question from a few posts ago on what it is that Andrea and I have in common, nobody has guess the answer that I was looking for yet. Of course we both have our unwaivering faith. That would be too easy!!! Here is a link to her blog if you need some clues and and some fabulous inspiration! http://www.andreawiebe.com/

It's pretty dark and gloomy here in the NW. Hope you are able to find a little sunshine in your day!

Fiskars Training!!

I had another Fiskars training session this weekend and four more lucky ladies have officially become Certified Fiskars Demonstrators!! If you've heard me make mention about this and are still unsure of what that really means, I'd love to answer all your questions at julieoverby@peak.org. Becoming a Fiskars Certified Demonstator does not make you any kind of sales person like in some companies. It educates you with an incredible knowledge of the tools and opens up a door of opportunity to possibly demo this tools in surrounding stores. It's an excellent program and I'm so excited to be a part of it.
The five of us had a blast and it was so fun to see Tara's face as she was given the green craft drill as the prize for coming the furthest away. If only I could have snapped the expression on her first when she opened it up!! Thank you Tara, Kris, Jodi and Jeannie for coming and having an awesome training session together.

This weekend was also the Charity crop for Marshall Dean. We were able to raise nearly $550 for his medical fund. It was a fun day full of lots of crafting. Jana did a beading class and I taught a layout class and card class. It was fun to get some fellow fiskateers and other scrapbookin' gals together and all have our creative juices flowing! There was lots of food, tons of prizes and one grand prize with a bunch of Fiskars products in a basket. What a fun day! Most of all, I know that the Dean family will be blessed by everyone's contributions. You guys ROCK!

I made these lil' snack trays that I thought would be fun. Everyone needs a little somethin' to get their mojo goin', right? They were really easy to make and turned out to be quite a hit!

On a greener note... I completely forgot about it being the 17th today!! Mostly because both my kids woke up sick and hackin' away. I thought we would end up just having a stay at home jammie day. But, by the time the cold medicine kicked in, they were both feeling well enough to go to school. So, sent them off in a hurry with their Daddy and green was not a part of their wardrobe. Ooops.

Andrea Wiebe.

Andrea is one of my favorite scrappers. I love her style, I love her passion, I love her desire to inspire people with encouraging words, I REALLY love her printing! (Andrea... you seriously need to have your printing published into a font!) There is something else I love about Andrea that is not mentioned above; it's something that we have in common. If you can guess what it is, I will send you out a RAK next week! Andrea was tagged by Lisa Pace (another one of my FAVE's) and a fellow N50 friend. Sooooo...I am volunteering to be tagged by Andrea! LOL! The following is 7 random facts about me and then I will be tagging people as well. I just am not as nice as Andrea to sit here and let you'll volunteer! LOL!

7 Random Facts:
1) I love peanut butter in my oatmeal
2) I ALWAYS have my toe nails painted
3) I am a proud FISKATEER (#725)
4) I am very picky about which cup I drink my coffee from
5) I love road trips
6) I love Jesus with all my heart
7) If I had a fourth baby and it was a boy... I'd name him Evan. LOVE that name!

Here's who I'm taggin: Janice, Rita, Kate, Patter, Nic, Lacintha, Melanie....7Random facts girls!!!!!!!!!!

You know I can't post without leaving a photo so I will leave a very small peek of something that I made recently that is very important to me. For those of you who pray... please pray for the Lord's will to happen in my life in regards to this very orange photo!! (more on that later!)

Ouch!

Well, since last Tuesday, I've had my purple foot elevated hoping that I hadn't broke it. We won't talk about what I tripped over before my body was thrust forward; all that is, except my right foot which caught the wall. I heard a loud CRACKing noise which concerened me just a wee lil' bit! I managed to get a few crafty things done before then. One of them is this page of my sweet family! And a page or two with my foot up! I hope to share more later. Waiting now to find out the results of my x-ray!!

Spring is in the air!

I LOVE flowers. I love this time of year. I love seeing little bits of yellow sticking up out of the ground. Daffodils are usually in full bloom for us here in Oregon but for some reason, mine came half way up and stopped growing. On Sunday, my sweet husband blessed me with bunches and bunches of these gorgeous flowers. Now I have spots of yellow all over my house and they truly brighten up my day!

I can't believe that Easter is just around the corner but now it is really starting to feel like it. We just got the girls Easter dresses. So fun. This year, Kelsey's dress has a little matching one for her baby doll. She is elated!

Hope you are getting some warm spots of sunshine where ever you are at today!

CKC and Fiskars Demonstrators in action!

It's always so fun to run into people and meet new people at Creating Keepsakes Convention. What a wonderful time I had with my friend Lucy! We got to go both days and really enjoyed all of it. She and Carlee were both able to work as Fiskars demonstrators so it was fun to see them apply what we had talked about in the training. They both did fantastic!

I didn't take any classes this year. I was lined up to teach 6 of the classes but then Debby ended being able to come and taught instead. So, it was two fun filled days of shopping... wahoo! This gave time to think about the class layout page that I'll be teaching at our Charity Crop on March 15th. I'll be posting more about that later. It was fun to meet the owner of Cocoa Daisy's (a fabulous online scrapbooking site) and she was so gracious to just plop a huge donation in my bag for the charity crop. I wasn't even asking for one, we just got to chatting and she noticed my bags of 20 packages of chipboard alphabets! What a sweetie!

I DO have to say that, my dear husband gave me a few minutes on the platform this morning at Church to announce this wonderful Charity Craft Crop that we are going to be having and I got up to begin my annoucnement and said...'I'm excited to let you all know that we will be having a Charity 'Crap Croft!'Do you think I went red in the face? NOPE... just kept on going. Everyone bustin' up laughing and thought that I had kept such great composure. They were amazed that I was able to just move on. BUT, those who knew me REALLY well, could totally tell that I was COMPLETELY aware of even saying that. I could not believe that I used the word crap (a word I never use) in front our entire congergation! LOL