Love the Olympics...

For the last 2 weeks, we have been totally hooked on the Bejing 2008 Olympic games. Wow. Michael Phelps' 8 gold medals... Dara Torres age 41 silver medalist... women's beach volleyball gold, US gymnasts performances in the midst of controversy... US basketball at it's best (even if Coack K is the coach... had to pull for him this once)... Greensboro's Caroline Lind winning gold on the women's "8 person" rowing squad... equestrian events, table tennis, water polo, soccer, track, kayaking, wrestling, synchronized diving... too many sports watched here for me to remember and name them all - it's been amazing!

Made me want to scrap our Olympic experience. Kent & I attended the Atlanta 1996 Olympics and I finally did these layouts:

"a Gold Medal Memory" was inspired by an ad challenge over at the Big Wig Crop, put on by Big Picture Scrapbooking and Key Lime Crops. Lots of fun over there, but I haven't had time to play much.

I'll be sad to see the 2008 Olympics end, but at least I'll get more sleep!

Hello, August!

It was about 99 degrees here today (not much less) and Seth had an afternoon baseball camp! Whew, he's a trooper and loved it anyway!

Today was also our last challenge in our LOaD challenge over under the Willow tree. If you have a chance, check out some of the incredible layouts done by fellow willow ladies! Here's my last one. I was inspired to do this layout by old photos I rescued from a "bad" album of my parent's Chow Chow, Ming, who was like my dog, too. And by Colorstory #7.

And here is one I enjoyed quite a bit (the challenge was stamping, and I stamped the background and a few other things):

And I've done a little etsy shopping lately as well (insert shameless but genuine plug here). I bought these adorable little scrabble tile necklaces the other day (one as a little pick-me-up for my sis, the owl for me and the other as a gift for a friend). These are from the etsy shop Home Studio and I love them (really, I do)!

Good-bye, July...

So, was browsing blogs and while reading Jamie's, decided to post one last time in July as well. 26 more days of our summer (well, Seth's, anyway)... a few extra for Tessa. She has decided that she wants to go to a camp. Seth's been to several (Upward Soccer, Upward Basketball, Lego Robotics, and next week, a 2-day Upward Baseball camp). So, tomorrow, I think we'll sign up for a Stars/Space camp at the Natural Science Center for the middle of July. It's only afternoons from 1-3, so should be fun for her. She'd prefer an "animal care" camp, but that will have to wait until next summer.

And here's our summer in a nutshell (found this cool site today to make this, which I will use for a layout at the end of the summer): Wordle. Fun!

And, my first layout where I have actually sewn on the layout itself (not much, but a little... and I sewed the button flowers). Tribute layout to my great Aunt Madge (wrote a bunch of things on the back about her too). I used some of her buttons and a WIP kit from Nov.'07, I think. Who knows, maybe I'll pull out my old machine and try sewing on another one... or try the cool backstitching technique Tali did on her layout (by hand with embroidery floss). It's a "whole new world"...



See you in August!

July is flying by...

... actually, the whole summer seems to be flying by! So, right now I'm taking a digital class from Paula G. over at NYC Scraps (and am finding it to be quite the challenge... but I'll get it eventually and just know I'll love it). Not ready to post any of those layouts yet - maybe soon. And Tali & I are running a Layout A Day challenge over at Willow Traders and we're on Day 4 of 14. Here are my layouts done so far:

And in this one (the challenge was to distress), I used my July Cherry Cobbler kit from "Color Me Miki":

Tagged... twice...

So, the taggin' stops here, so to speak. Not really stops, but I don't think there is anyone left for me to tag (I don't know lots of bloggers except my Willow pals... and most of them have been tagged too). But here are my answers:

What was I doing Ten Years Ago?...
I was expecting our first child, Seth... but didn't know it yet... :o)

Five Things On Today's "To Do" List ...
1. take Seth to Upward basketball camp

2. bring Tessa's friend over for play date during camp
3. laundry
4. go to Super Suppers for Buy 6 Get 1 Free meal special
5. cook side dishes to go with Chicken Bruchetta Bake (see #4)

I'm addicted to:
1. coffee in the morning
2. scrapbooking and it's accompanying internet boards & blogs
3. reading

Things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy a new house (bigger... but not lots bigger)

2. gift church, family & friends

3. go to the beach

Places I have lived:

1. Burlington, North Carolina

2. Chapel Hill, North Carolina (college)

3. Greensboro, North Carolina

Good thing I love North Carolina, huh? ;o)

And while I'm posting, which I don't do often enough, a few layouts I did during the Label Tulip 1st Birthday celebration challenge:

July... already!

It is hard for me to believe how fast this summer is flying by! Know that some of it is due to the normal "busyness" we usually have the first half of the summer with VBS, camps and our annual trip to Mississippi. Here are some photos from our trip to see Grandma, a nice relaxing visit. No computer for a week! Yikes - I did well until Friday the 4th, when I suddenly missed my online board and blog buddies. That said, I read 2 novels, 2 scrapping books, lots of magazines, spent hours filling waterguns or swinging, took a walk with Seth every morning (he rode his bike), and enjoyed being at Mildred's. Keeping friends Tom & Sandy in my prayers, as he will be having surgery on July 15 to remove the tumor from his lung. And baby Caleb, as he has his surgery on July 9. Many prayers being lifted for healing, as well as gratitude for the love and support our friends are receiving during difficult times.

A favorite layout from recent days...

Wow, so being challenged in Scrapvivor and in Debbie Hodge's Page Parts class, I created this layout that I really like:

I stamped Heidi Swamp clocks on the Kraft cs, used a lot of Jenni Bowlin stuff, some old clock pins I had, a time card from a kit, and a few other things. Loved saving these cartoons and documenting these facts about S & T (facts I write down at the beginning and end of the school year, but have never scrapped like this before). Think maybe I just started a new scrapping tradition!

And, I have been "voted off" Scrapvivor (not really voted off, my points didn't add up to keep me in at the last tribal council), but I have to shout out a THANK YOU to Annette for hosting such a fun challenge! Here's a link to my Scrapvivor gallery: http://www.willowtraders.com/forums/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=user&user=3528&op=view_album&album=458

I'm happy that there is one week left in the Page Parts class, and I look forward to taking a digi class later this summer. This week is Vacation Bible School at church (dubbed Bible-cation by Tessa who can't remember the name). Love it!