What are you doing next Monday???

The calls have gone out but the fun has only begun...check this out!


Huge congrats to all those lucky girls who got the big call today!

GCD Studios

Do you remember when I came back from CHA winter and blogged about my favorite discovery of the show? It's all here. You can't even imagine my excitement when I realized they were having a Design Team call. I drolled so much over their paper when I was California and I could not wait until I was able to get some of their paper. It took me a while before I was able to get some but now all I can think about is the things I want to create with it!

The cool thing is that after they do their DT reveal, they are having a blog party!! GCD Studios has a fun, new blog that Heidi is heading up and you can check out all the excitement here!

In the mean time, I wanted to share a few of things that I have created. There's more (nearly finished) on my scrappy table that I hope to upload soon. One of the things I love about their paper is that it all has this amazing linen texture. And then there are lots of sheets that are either foiled, flocked, or have glitter. The other thing I love is that each line is it's own unique style. Something for absolutely every occasion!

Thanks for takin' a peek and I hope you are enjoying your weekend! I'm enjoying having my brothers, sister-in-law, and niece here. We even got a bit of sunshine!

Birthday Celebration!!

The last post seemed like I had a lot to say. This post will be more 'photo heavy!' LOL The first is picture is of a project that I made for my nephew. He loves these magnet stones will his families pictures in them. He plays with them at Grandma's house. Of course, his fridge at home, like ours, is not magnetic. So, I made him a board that he could spell words and play with the photos. That way he won't forget who his cousins are!!

The rest of the photos are of the birthday party we had. Tanner got his Superman outfit on and looked so adorable!! I love the photo of A.J. and Ashley talking to superman. They are asking him if he would like them to build him a house out of lincoln logs. Too cute. It doesn't happen often enough, but when we do get together with family it's such a wonderful time.

Now that my brother's are here, we are off to explore the Oregon coast.

Julies Kreative Korner (finally...an Etsy shop!!)

Wow....I can't believe how quick this week flew by! I have so much to share. I've been wanting to start my own Etsy shop and I finally did!! I still need to create a banner, figure out the link, and list some more items but I since I do have somethings already listed, I thought I'd give you the link. My shop name is called, Julie'sKreativeKorner and you can find it right here! I'm pretty excited about and will be adding many more things next week.

This past week the kiddos have been so sick with fever's and cold icky's. The last few days, I feel like I'm coming down with it. Today, my brother Jon and his family and my brother Mitch, are coming down from Canada to visit. I'm very exciting to see them! It's been a while since they've been here. With having company and not feeling well on top of it, I don't know how much I'll be able to add in the next few days.

Kelsey had her big 5th birthday. It was so much fun! Well....most of it. She was not feeling well and actually started crying when it was time for her to blow out the candles. I think she just couldn't handle all the attention. Poor thing! She did, however, recover in time to have fun opening her presents!! I was very excited to share some photos but my camera is in Arte's car and he is at work!!

Kelsey's lil' cousin Tanner, also has a birthday this week. We got to celebrate Tanner turning 3 as well. He is all into superman and I have some great shots of that as well. Sometime soon....LOL!

Have you heard of Erin Manning?? She is an amazing photographer. A few weeks back she had a live chat on the Fiskars board. It was so very insightful! At the end, she challenged us with a photo contest using some of the techniques that she covered. I was so excited to read that she did a special critique on each person who entered the contest and also to find out that I was the winner!! I've heard her book Portrait and Candid Photography, is amazing and I'm hoping to get a copy soon!!

Here are is the photo I used. I was trying to take some photos of Kelsey but she was just sick and not feeling well. I was working on lighting, angle and background. I could not get a natural look from her when I had the special board in the back. Finally when I told her, 'okay, no more pictures,' she finally relaxed and started to giggle. That's when I got the shot of her laying on my bed. Natural is always best!!

Hopefully I'll some great birthday shots and a fun project I'll be able to upload when I get my camera back. I really do use my Canon every day and it's feels so strange to be without it!

And one more piece of exciting news. Spellbinders is on QVC today!! I don't know if you might be in the market for a die cut machine but if you are, I would definetly consider this amazing deal. These 10 dies have been made exclusively for QVC and are actually included with the machine. What a bonus!!

I also wanted to give a quick update on Bryce, our youth leader. Arte and I were able to go visit him a couple of times. Since my last post about him, he has had to have another surgery and then an emergency surgery. He's recovering but he still needs prayer. They were hoping to release him today but he needs to be able to keep food down before he is released. His family has endured so much and they have such amazingly great attitudes. I know the Lord is working a miracle in their hearts. Kaylee and Bryce have become so strong through all of this and it's really neat to see. Thank you for the prayers that have gone up for them.

Have a fantastic Wednesday!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Yesterday was a fun day. I got a few pieces of happy mail. One of them was from my sweet friend, Leigh. It was totally unexpected and completely made my day. I'm usually on the other end of a homemade card so it was really neat to experience how awesome it is to get a note 'just because' in a hand crafted card. Of course, the scrappy goodies were fun to get too! (If you haven't been to Leigh's blog, you must check it out!! It is full of some very uplifting inspiration!)

I also got a Fed Ex pack with some fun Fiskars gifts for helping them out. Love those surprises as well!!

We also ordered the bunk beds yesterday. I'm not sure who is more excited for their birthday. Me, or the birthday girl who has no clue what she is getting (even though she's been asking for them for a year and a half!)

I also found out some news that I was ecstatic about! Check it out!

I absolutely love that they made their 'announcement' so cute. You can read all about it on the new Jillibean Soup blog called, Bean Talk. Love it!! I will continue to be one of their number one fans and I can't wait to find out when I will be designing for them. Here are a few peeks of the altered item I created with m JBS.

I have another sneak of a layout that I recently created. It's so hard to not be able to share projects sometimes!!

Mostly, I've been working on my scrap space. I can almost see my table and you have no idea how excited about that I am!! It's amazing that you can mess up a clean space in 10 min. flat but then it takes forever to clean up! I might even post a photo of my new way to store ribbon in the next few days. As long as you don't laugh too hard! LOL! Hey...it works great and that's what matters right?

I've been Tagged!! And a Pub!!

Relax! It's an easy one...yeah! My sweet friend Melita tagged me and the rules are to go to your sixth folder and find your sixth photo to share.

Here is Kelsey on her first day of preschool (just a few months ago.) She will be turning 5 in less than 2 weeks. I'm sure you'll be seeing a layout expressing my deep emotions about that very shortly! LOL!!

I'm also very excited to share my fun news that CARDS idea Book series picked up one of my cards that I just recently created. It was one that I was able to use this new, very popular punch from Fiskars on. It's called Apron Lace....another new fave! This card is special to me because I was able to use some of my fave. Collage Press paper on it that represents Canada and the United States together. A perfect blend don't ya think??

Oh!! And I need to tag 6 more people.....don't forget to upload your 6th photo in your 6th file! Have fun!

Juliana

Leslie

Lori

Audrey

Christine

Lucy

Some bright, cheery cards on this cold day...(brrrr!)

Hey there! Just wanted to leave you with a Little Somethin.'

It's snowing!! It's so odd to see snow here at anytime, let alone in March!! We were all sitting in Church when it started and we watched it just dump down. It was cool. Since we've come home, it's been snowing and then it would stop and the sun would come out for about 2 minutes. Then it would start snowing again. The kids were going crazy!! Of course, they had to run outside and try catching some snow on their tongues. Too much fun!

It was actually really cold, dark and rainy here the last few days. What happen to the sun?? LOL!! Glad I got out side for a bit when I had the chance! I think I have spring fever!

Here's a few cards that I managed to get some photos of when the sun briefly snuck out!! The butterfly was done using the new die cut that I received from Spellbinders. Can't wait to see which others I'll be using this year!! Most everything else that I used was Tinkering Ink.

I want you to know how much I enjoy reading your comments. It's so inspiring to me. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Knave of Hearts and Sweet Shoppe

Knave of Hearts

Sweet Shoppe

Oooooo.....look at all the Collage Press goodness!! Yum!! Have you ever seen anything like it? I haven't! I just had to post the images (next best thing to seein' them in real life!) I absolutely cannot wait to start playing with these pattern papers!! I think these will end up being my favorite lines by far. Look at those journaling tags. Too much fun!!

It's been a very busy weekend and last few days. Our days have been full of basketball, winter carnivals and bunk bed shopping!!

Ah, yes....to bunk or not to bunk. That is the question we have been throwing around for about a year. (the girls would say 2 years for sure!) Have you been in these shoes before?? Do we go with the metal white ones? Do we go with the very sturdy, very expensive wood ones that are way out of our budget right now??? (really not an option.) Or do we go with the wood ones that are maybe not built to last for hundreds of years but are more in our range? My Dad used to tell us growing up 'always go with the middle of the road.' I think this might apply to this situation??? LOL! I know we'll get it all sorted out and when we do, the girls will be so absolutely elated! Kelsey's birthday is near the end of this month so I'm hoping to have something big and white to surprise her with. It's all she wants. A bed?? Strange, but true!! I'll update when ever we figure it out.

I've subbing for seventh graders....'nuf said. I'm having a day of rest today. LOL!! Kelsey's busy painting away right now. The creative juices just never end! Maybe I'll get some crafty time in during the next few days and then I'll actually have a project to share.

Hope the son is shining in on your Wednesday!