August Kits - coming sometime on the 1st. . .

I have been trying most of the night to get the site ready for the new month. I ran into an error as I was working and have been unable to get a hold of my programmer, so the site will not go up at midnight (or during the night). It will be sometime tomorrow, but I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, here is a little preview of some of the journaling cards I had made exclusively for this kit!!! I am in love with them. You will get 18 of them total - all perfectly coordinated to the paper (pink and orange)!

Yard Sale

**Updated - if you are local and would like directions just send a note through the contact link at the site. Ruth is hooking you up! And. . .for those of you not local, in the spirit of my friend Donna Downey, I will be giving away a box or two on the blog next week!**

Do you ever just get to the point where you can't take the clutter anymore? Even though my attic is shut off, in the dark, away from everything else, I KNOW that you can't walk in there. It makes me sick to my stomach every time I open the door. Add to that the fact that I have been working on and off for over a month cleaning out my studio (and doing a little redecorating)! I didn't have the heart to even take the stuff upstairs. I just piled it in the guest bedroom contemplating what to do with it. So, in a final act of desperation, I placed an ad today for a sale Friday and Saturday. If you are local, I have tons of organizers and containers that I couldn't find room for in my office plus LOADS of supplies (rubber stamps, idea books, never opened embellishments, etc.). I was in one of those moods toward the end and started throwing everything in the box!

And speaking of my newly cleaned, re-organized studio, here are some photos. Notice I fixed my Welcome sign!

I got the cool scale on the center desk, the window over the door and the window along the back wall from Scarlet Scales in Franklin. Finally took the time to get them integrated. I will try to take some more close ups soon. . .

Back from CHA

I'm back from Chicago - home to a quiet house. My in-laws took the kids to Ohio to visit great-grandma and play on Uncle Joe's farm for the weekend. They are having so much fun that they don't want to come home. IN FACT. . . my mother-in-law called to tell me they were leaving tomorrow, then called me back 15 minutes later to say that they threw a fit (Christian cried) and talked them into staying an extra day.

Seriously, does this mean I'm a bad mother? I am getting a serious complex. They don't even want to talk to me (either of us)! I think I'm going to have to plan a Toys R Us trip just to win them back on Wednesday. Christian rode on a huge, air-conditioned John Deere yesterday - I just can't compete with that. He used to think the entertainment system in the new Pilot was cool. Nana comes in on Wednesday night for 10 days so my name will officially be mud for a while longer. . .

CHA was fun! So many cool new products. I think my two favorite paper lines were Scenic Route (no secret) and Fancy Pants - very cool stuff! Loved the Heidi Swapp and 7gypsies booths - but that is no secret either. Heidi has some new journaling spots - seriously one of my favorite products! And. . .my girl Teresa Collins had some very cool things with Junkitz, one very unique item in particular that I picked up for the September kit. Awesome new stamps from Fontwerks (will be picking up one for the Sept. kit as well) and from Autumn Leaves. Nunn Design also had some great new trinkets - very classic stuff that I use over and over again. I am even having a custom item made for the September kit with her - so excited about this! Still trying to get settled and finish orders.

And for those of you in the Nashville area, there is a local annual event in September that I will be teaching at, The Simply Southern Scrapbook Convention. The link is www.simplysouthernscrapbook.com. It is being held September 7th - 9th in Franklin, TN. There are still openings for the class if you are interested.

Have a great night!

A little preview. . .

What if I told you I had been keeping alot of secrets?

Most of you by now have seen many of the new product releases for CHA (so many really, really cool products coming out)! But you know what the worst part about seeing these great products is. . .? - THE WAIT! It seems like it takes forever to get everything in your hands to play with. I used to tell my local girls (who were always jealous that I was going to show) that it really was a very frustrating thing - to see so many cool products but then have to wait weeks to use them (kind of a buzz kill, you know)? I have, however, noticed that in the past year or so, manufacturers are getting much better at this (a plus), but I decided that you deserved better than having to wait a month or more after show. So I did something sneaky . . .

How does August 10th sound for getting your hands on some new Scenic Route paper (you can see this at the site - I will leave the actual ones I choose a secret for now) and some new "Bling" from Heidi Swapp (I believe you will have only seen this if you work at an LSS who would share it with you). I loved this product so much, I ordered not 1, but 2 skews!! And. . . I am having a product made personally (keeping my fingers crossed it is ready in time) for this kit that I am SUPER excited about. Very simple and classic - perfect for your own interpretation (which is how I like it)! I will post pictures of things just before the 1st.

And, for those of you who have been asking about more chipboard shapes, at least for now, these will be available in the August Project Kit again (the small scalloped frames, hearts, and both sizes of flowers).

So that is my little sneak peak for now! We have spent the day at the water park with the neighbors and I am beat (I think the kids are both sacked out on the couch right now themselves)! Have a great night!

Yo Ho, Mateys, Yo ho. . .

I'm running out today and buying 10 do-rags for this kid. He needs to wear one everyday (and humor me with a photo).

Noah had his last swim meet today. Jared was not able to go to the first two, so I had him take Noah this morning (so I could sleep in a little). I got a phone call within 10 minutes of his arrival to please come and relive him. Jared doesn't do well with masses of people and chaos (if you do swim team, then you know what I mean) so I was off to the pool, unshowered and hungry!

I was able to catch Noah's first heat just as I got there. He took off down the pool and was digging harder than I had ever seen him (still last, but not by much -big accomplishment)! The kid does not have a competitive bone in his body so swim team has been interesting. He loves to swim, but he goes at his on pace and gets there when he gets there. Anyway, I went to help him out of the pool and he immediately said to his daddy behind me, "So, do I get the scooter"?

Ah-ha!!

So now I know what the rush was all about! Funny how a little motivation pushed him towards that finish line. Interesting predicament he is in however: On one hand he gets a new scooter, on the other hand we now know what he is capable of (and will hold him to it).

So I'm off to Target for scooter shopping - and an slushee, some milk, two swords (because you always need more of those in your house) and maybe a little something for me. . .

And the July Gallery is up! And Kelli Crowe is my awesome guest designer. And, the Project Kit Instructions will take a minute to load (so beware)!

Pirates 2 and Inspiration

So I bought my tickets a couple days ago. I am a HUGE Pirates of the Caribbean fan. It was always my favorite ride at Disneyworld and to see it come to life in a movie was awesome! Noah LOVES it too! He was so wanting to go with us tonight, but I told him we had to see it first (and he will NOT be seeing it on the big screen- a little too intense). Very cool - worth the $8 just for the make-up and special effects. I won't give too much away, but be prepared for the fact that there is going to be a Pirates 3!

Sorry I have been so absent here. Summer keeps us so busy. I have been so involved with the site (behind the scenes stuff) that I barely have time otherwise. I am really hoping to get some things cleaned up at the site for next month (visually). Many things are bothering me but I haven't been able to focus on the "aesthetics" if you know what I mean! All in time I suppose!

The Monthly Inspiration Gallery will go live on the 12th this month and moving forward. My goal was always to have this up when you receive your kits and the 12th should satisfy that. Having it as the 10th in the past just kills me as we are so busy getting the kits out the door. This will take off the pressure a little.

Here is a quick hint for the guest designer this month: I met up with her this weekend in Atlanta and the boys took a ride on her zip line! Any ideas???

Both of the July kits are still available for sale!!

I guess something happened when I pulled billing today, but the kits were showing up as sold out for most of the day. I still have plenty of both left and I just corrected it at the site. You will notice that they are both available to add to your cart now!

More later (sorry so short)!