Recharging the Mojo-batteries

Phew. It has been a SUPER quick couple of weeks. Pushed my creativity really hard for a long period of time. Not really burnt out, just need a breather. I find that the only problem with doing that is that everything else in life tends to get unorganized while I am in "the zone".

So I am cleaning up for a week. Need to get everything BACK in order so I can put my nose back to the grindstone, so to speak. My master plan is to really start submitting for publishing. I will put all I have into it for a few months and then cool off again. You really need those small breaks to recharge (yeah right, what I mean by that is to take a TON of pictures that I will want to scrap asap!).

No new layouts for now. I will have a few very soon though! Just received OPAAT's new kit in the mail and can't wait to play around with that. I also have my goody box coming from ScrapStreet arriving any day! I cannot WAIT to see everything that is in there! Plus, new CHA goodies are arriving daily to Dora's and a few will have my name on them :::giggle:::.

Finally done with the scrapbook from work. Turning in the invoice tomorrow and I am sort of nervous about it. Sort of a large bill. Hope they don't cringe. On the flip side, that will pay for the new CHA goodies and kit clubs for a few months! So wish me luck LOL!

I have really been loving the blog; Wish Jar. She has so many creative ideas! If you scroll down a little on her blog, there is a list of "ideas" that she has. I LOVE them all!!! I am going to try to implement them into my family's daily life.

I am thinking about starting to design hybrid templates. Nothing major at first, maybe just some transparencies and overlays... maybe a few journaling blocks. Tell me what you think?

Ok, I am off to bed now. This week has really wore me out. Some issues at work have my spirits down (nothing major, just some people that are not doing what they are supposed to and it adds up to me doing more than I need to) and I just need to let it go. Date night tomorrow with dh so hopefully that will bring them back up again.

Good Night!

Love you all!

-B

SCRaPDANGo

I have been involved in a very cool DT contest over at SCRaPDANGo.com. Their girls over there have been just amazing to work with and I am up against some really good scrappers.







I posted weeks one and two on here already so I will show off the last two rounds.







Week Three:


For week #3 you must create a 2-page 12 x 12 layout.



Your 2-page layout must be stitched together & uploaded as 1 layout



Other requirements are:



Must use the colors red & green as the dominant colors BUT your layout CANNOT be Christmas or Holiday related.



Must use a minimum of 5 photos, one of which must be larger than a 4 x 6.



More than one can be larger than a 4 x 6, but one must be.



Must include journaling, either hidden or visible.







(insane RIGHT!?) So here was my take:







(click to take a closer look)





Bonus challenge that week included telling the DT about you in an email. I feel pretty good about my answers. I am a very open person so it wasn't stressful to answer tough questions.





Week Four:





For week #4 you must create a 1 page 12 x 12 layout with the theme: Why I scrap


Other requirements are:


Must use the following & ONLY the following on your layout:


5 different pattern papers


4 different chipboard items


3 different buttons


2 different colors of cardstock


1 5x7 photo of YOU scrapping!


Must include journaling, either hidden or visible.





And we all clarified...NOTHING more than what is listed above. No ink, no extra title stickers, NADA.





Here is my take:








Should still have a bonus round yet. Hopefully its posted today!!




I have really enjoyed all four weeks over there. The girls are very sweet and their work is really awe inspiring. Plus, their kits are HOT! Would LOVE to scrap with that Spice kit every month!





In other news:




Need to create an entire scrapbook this weekend for a Vice President that is retiring this week. Will definitely not be my style, but I still want it to be very sophisticated and look semi-professional. Our marketing guy FINALLY passed along some pictures to me on Thursday so now I have about 3-4 days to complete it. Should prove VERY interesting...


Hmm...maybe I can create some of the pages to fill the crop challenges at ScrapStreet.com!!!!





Hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend!





Love you!






-Brianne

Body Painting Festival Crop!!!

Welcome to Seeboden, Austria!

This month we are joining in the fun at the World BodyPainting Festival.
There are lots of things to do here in Seeboden...creative classes and side trips to local tourist attractions...musical performances, fashion shows, parties...and oh yeah...the bodypainting exhibits!

Check out this month's online crop at Scrapstreet.com!!!

SO SORRY!

I seriously did not mean to leave you all hanging for so long...


Weeks have passed me by since Rich came home and I went to CHA. I LOVED every minute of it (well except for the whole puking wagon thing...that I could have done without LOL!)!!!!


I will post a lot more info of what has been happening soon. EXTREMELY busy time for me so what I will leave you with are a few pictures from CHA....


Welcome to CHA - Chicago 2008



American Crafts (swoon)


Lance (owner of Rusty Pickle)


Stacey with Courtney Walsh (Chatterbox)


Me with Cindy Tobey (LOVE her stuff!!!!!)


Maya Road Goodies


The SS Girls. I LOVE them so MUCH!


So like I said, more from me later....new layouts, more pics, etc etc etc.

Love you!!!

-Brianne

HOORAY!

My husband is home for a little while! It has been SUCH a great weekend, even with me having to pick up after to males again. We have been so busy since I last posted, that it had completely slipped my mind to update! SORRY!



My birthday went well. My co-workers are so completely awesome to me! They all got together and threw a food-day in my honor, as well as a nice big gift certificate to Hobby Lobby (YAY for supporting the habit!). AND I got some AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL cards from my ScrapStreet sisters! (Thank you ladies!!!)




Dh got in late that night and we caught up. I missed him SOOOO much. SO glad to have him home, even if it is only for 45 days. Ahh, the life of a military wife. Well, that is a story for another day.




Friday, I left work a little early to hang out with my two boys. We had a nice dinner together and relaxed all evening. Started working on a few scrapping projects I wanted to get accomplished by the end of the weekend.




We had absolutely no plans for this weekend (YAY!). Saturday was perfectly wonderful. We went grocery shopping, did a little misc shopping at Wal-Mart and the PX, and then hit the swimming pool. By the end of the day, little man was tuckered out so he conked out early. MORE SCRAPPING TIME! Oh and time with dh .



Today, dh slept in (again) so Matthew and I hung out in my scrap room. He was busy playing with all of mommy's "toys" while I was laying out a few ideas for the layouts I was trying to finish for the contest over at Scrapdango. Week One was tough. With so many restrictions and rules, I didn't know how I would finish...



Enter Week Two. Well, for week one's bonus challenge, we had to draw a sketch. For Week Two's challenge, we were assigned another scrapper's sketch to base a layout on. And THEN the bonus round was to do our own sketch as well. Here is what I came up with:

Challenge:

My Assigned Sketch:



My Layout:







Bonus Round:



My Original Sketch:





My Layout:






I am pretty happy with the results.




Week 5 @ TheScrapbookSite




Week 4's Layout:









I have to admit, I LOVED this round. I LOVE telling stories with my layouts. I have been meaning to scrapbook the story of Matthew's tubes and just hadn't gotten around to it. FINALLY its done and in his book. If you would like a closer look at the journaling, you can find it here: 35 Minutes






You can vote for my layout by private messaging Kelly Shults with the name of the artist and the title of the layout. (i.e., Breeze7 with 35 Minutes)





Btw, Kelly is an AWESOME designer over at Dream Street Paper. If you have a chance, check out their blog here: Dream Street Paper





CHA

Guess where I head in a few days...









I can't wait!




Ok enough from me! I am off to bed ( you know, beauty sleep and all...).




Talk to you soon!

-B

Ponderings...

As I sit here the night before my 28th birthday, I am in awe of how truly blessed I am. I have a WONDERFUL husband who loves me without fail, a darling son who makes me smile like no one else, and all of my family and friends. I have my health, I have love, and I have peace.


God is good! Life is great!


Ok updates!


Matthew is growing like a weed. We recently went to the park and I took some shots of him playing on the playground equipment. He would stay ALL day at the park if I let him.




He is SUCH a doll, isn't he???





I am obsessed with his Eve toy. She is such a cutie! Thinking of making a banner with her....



Right now, Matthew is obsessed with Bob The Builder. LOVES watching ALL of his movies (and we have EVERY single one) and building whatever he can get his hands on. I had almost forgotten about this fort kit we had up in his closet. Thank goodness he didn't .





This is what I found him doing with it. He kept yelling for me to help him with the little fabric pieces. "They WONT STAY, Mommy!!" So I helped him and he played in there for over an hour while watching....what else...Bob the Builder.



Mojo

I seriously do not post enough pictures of my cat, Mojo. He keeps me company in the wee hours while I scrap. Normally by playing with my scraps all over the floor. He loves me unconditionally, as I him.




Round 3 @ TSS




Round three voting is open at http://www.thescrapbooksite.com/. This round was all about Doodlebug products. This round was tough for me because I don't really doodle LOL!

To vote this round, you need to pm Superflymollie with the artists board name and the title of their layout.

You can check out the layout in more detail here: First Move-E

Round Four has been posted as of tonight. Again, I can link it but not show it yet. You can view it here: 35 Minutes

Round 1 - Scrapdango

I recently found another call for a DT at Scrapdango.com. These girls are SO much fun and I thought "sure, what the heck! why not?!". Round one was WICKED (in a good way of course!).



Rules for this round were:

-Must be of girl(s) having fun
-Use orange, violet, and green. Any shades
-5 papers
-7 flowers
-2 pictures
-Journaling
-Scallops
-And the quote that is in the upper left of my layout.

To see a closer look, you can click here: Snow Much Fun

This layout was a lot of fun for me to do. My mom sent me a boatload of pictures a while back and I have just began using them.
This contest is by admin votes only so please keep your fingers crossed for me!

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OK that is all from me for tonight. I will post lots of pictures of Rich's homecoming on Friday night. MY BABY COMES HOME TOMORROW NIGHT! YAY!

Love you!

-Brianne

Ok I swear I will update this tomorrow! Lots of pictures and updates on everything.

OH, Week three voting is open at www.thescrapbooksite.com. Check it out!



-Brianne

Yet another catch up post...

Ok...here we go...by day again :)

Sunday:

We spent the day at the zoo for my work’s annual picnic. And for the first time EVER I forgot my camera! I did not realize it until we got out of the truck AT the zoo! I had packed it all up and put it on the counter, but then completely missed grabbing it.

Matthew enjoyed seeing all the animals. It was a little on the warm side so he became grumpy after a short amount of time. One of my coworkers rode up with us, along with her daughter and they were ready to go as soon as we were. It was a nice day overall but exhausting to do on a Sunday.

Monday:

Matthew has been having issues at daycare. He really misses Daddy and has been acting out. He threw a major fit on Monday and his provider actually had to call me at work to calm him down. He kept saying, over and over, that he was sad and missed daddy. After that call, I took the rest of the day off and we spent it together. Mommy and Matthew time.

Tuesday:

Week Three at TheScrapbookSite is all about doodles! Majority of the layout has to be done with Doodlebug products and the layout must contain some form of doodles. Check out my layout here: First Move-E

Week Two Voting is now open.

Link to my layout: Never Met a Stranger

To vote, pm Francine. Please make sure to include the name of the layout and the person’s board name!

Wednesday:

The house really needs to be cleaned. I feel bad for neglecting some of the things that really need attention (i.e., mopping, showers, etc etc etc). Going to try to catch up on these things this weekend during my extra day.

Also, more and more people tell me I need to be watching Smallville so I went out and rented the entire first season. Off to watch some Clark Kent .

Love you (& miss you babe!)

-Brianne (& Matthew)