This past Friday, I stopped by the Great American Scrapbook Show in Chantilly, VA (right down the road!) It was a good show and seemed pretty busy- definitely more traffic than I remember last year, although it could be that they made the aisles narrower so it just looked that way…. I was happy to see some old friends and picked up a few interesting items along the way but overall, I found myself trying to stick to only buying what I would use. I just have so much stuff already! When I am designing a project for publication, I can only use the most recent products because the project often takes 9 months until it’s published. The manufacturer doesn’t want to have to tell people that they can’t have that certain item because it is discontinued- it’s bad for business. My studio needs a good spring/summer cleaning!

Drumroll please…. I am blogging for a new company and will be posting twice a week with projects, product reviews, reports of events and tips and techniques! I would like to invite you to visit the Memory Keeping Collections site. Isn’t that fun? Please say a prayer I don’t run out of projects! You may recognize some of the Sizzix ScoreBoard Blog Hop designers as well- Candice Windham, Jen Goode, Michelle Cummings, and Lisa Rojas! I know you will want to stop by and see what everyone is up to. For pix of me and famous scrapbooking celebrities from the Scrapbook Show, please visit Memory Keeping Collections this coming Tuesday! 🙂

“When it rains, it pours”. That’s how work goes! I have been working like crazy on a bunch of new projects and hoping I can get them all done AND still have something cool for CHA. Nothing like a little pressure to get the mojo going… 🙂

Here’s where we have been relaxing at night! Of course there’s more water now 🙂 For those of you who have been following my hives situation on Facebook, (when I got in the pool, wound up with huge welts all over me two times) I am happy to report it hasn’t happened again. Actually I felt a little itchy and just got out. Someone suggested that it was a cold water allergy, which I had never heard of before. But my latest thinking is that that was what it was. So thanks for your input on that!

I cry at parades, baseball games and pretty much any event where the colors are flown or “The Star Spangled Banner” is sung. I can’t explain why. I think much of it comes from our family’s connection to the military. Those stars and stripes just get me. We just found out a couple of weeks ago that our son will be deploying to Iraq for his third time three months sooner than he thought he’d have to go. We are so proud of him but wish he could be here with his wife, daughter and us. I just got off the phone with my Coast Guard daughter who was talking with her new fiance about getting married THIS October before my son leaves so that he could be at their wedding. I think of all the sacrifices that our military is making and the hardships their families endure for our freedom and cry some more.

So, here’s my Flag Day project. I saw this ad on the cover of a trade publication I get and loved the industrial look to the stars. I thought about how I might achieve this look with everyday materials and gave it a whirl. I do like how it came out although it has a somewhat softer look to it than the original. However for the materials I used, I thought it came out pretty cool. Click here to see my version of the finished project. I’ll be talking about how I did it on Cool2Craft live web TV show today at noon EST. Last Monday, a new segment was introduced called “Too Cool”. This is a place where guest designers come on to show what inspired them and how they interpret the inspiration piece to reflect their style. If you miss it, no problem- it’s recorded 🙂

Hope you can join me. This week I will share the fun purchases and resulting projects obtained during out jaunt last weekend so make sure to stop back.

I am a guest blogger today at Lois Winston’s blog. Lois is a mystery writer who also crafts. Her lead character, Anastasia Pollack, is a magazine crafts editor. She’s a widowed, debt-ridden mother of two teenaged boys and the reluctant caretaker of both a cantankerous semi-invalid, communist mother-in-law and a five-times widowed mother convinced she descends from Russian royalty. When the magazine’s fashion editor, suspected of having had an affair with Anastasia’s husband, is found dead and glued to Anastasia’s office chair, and the murder weapon is Anastasia’s glue gun, she becomes the prime suspect. Anastasia must use both her wits and her crafts skills to find the killer before he finds her. We join the story as Anastasia and her fellow magazine editors have gotten together to blog at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. You’ll find craft projects and tips; recipes; decorating, beauty, travel, fashion, health, and budget advice; and Book Club Fridays where Anastasia will host guest authors, many of whom will be giving away copies of their books. Stop by!

I just finished a “rush” project and am very happy with how it came out. Not sure why I need a tight deadline to really get my creativity in gear but there you have it… I am curious how other people operate. I would like to say that I have everything all organized in my head and know exactly how I want to make something but most of the time, once I get started, the design just kind of comes out. Anyone else work that way?

Another weekend ahead… tomorrow we are driving off in the RV for an overnight adventure. At this time of year, it’s usually hard to get away, but we found ourselves with nothing planned this weekend so thought we should take advantage of it. The weather is not supposed to be great but we’ll be in our cozy camper listening to the rain pattering on the roof as we enjoy our traditional Scrabble game and then perhaps a DVD. There’s something about being away from home that inspires me to think in a different way. The first summer we had the RV, we camped a lot and I basically planned and wrote Matboard Magic while on the road. So who knows what will come to mind this trip! The funny thing is that I was NOT in favor of buying this RV in the first place. The way my husband got me to the dealer’s was to offer me the choice of working on taxes OR going to look at RV’s and lunch at Burger King. Well, of course you know what I chose… and as they say, the rest is history!

One of the many good things about a house on wheels (besides having our own bathroom) is when an interesting place is spotted, we just pull over. I always have a good book on hand and will read, maybe do a little work or have a nap. Same for my husband… and that bed is pretty comfy! All in all, it was a good investment. Plus it was on sale 🙂 I’ll let you know what I find.

Are you a self-taught crafter or did someone teach you? Check out the link to Fave Crafts and see my answer.

I hope you can stop by Cool2craft on Monday, June 7, where we’ll wrap up the ScoreBoards blog hop and see some of the amazing bow projects that the designers created all using the one die.

Have a great weekend!

This day always gets me choked up. I am so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy, and even sometimes take for granted. I want to thank our military, past and present, for the sacrifices they and their families have made to keep us free.

Special thanks to my son, Chris, and daughter-in-law, Dawn, currently serving in the Army. Today is their seventh anniversary- they have been together for half of that time due to deployments and training. Their daughter Trinity is finally getting to know her dad. Thanks also to my Coast Guard daughter, Jessica, and her brand new fiance, Jason, who just graduated last week from the Coast Guard Academy. We are so proud of you all!

I would also like to thank my husband Hayward for the twenty years he served in the Army. Although it was not always easy on the family, I know that it had a profound effect on myself and our kids for the better and made us grateful for all we have.

Please remember to thank all of our military in whatever way you can, especially by remembering them in your prayers.

‘Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.’

Wow, the last two weeks have just flown by! First of all, the National Stationery Show was a blast! My friend Lorine and I chatted the whole 6 hour drive to NY. We enjoyed a delicious meal at Mom and Vince’s and then caught the train down to our room at the Marriott Marquis. Lorine’s partner Cyndi had set up their Surtex booth and we were ready for the show to begin. On Sunday, I spent most of the day in the Sizzix booth, helping to demo and answer questions. The booth was packed all day. 

Monday started early with a gathering of designers.We all kind of know each other from the Art of Licensing discussion group and it was fun to put a face to some of the names I see regularly on the list. I had several meetings, then spent some more time in the Sizzix booth. From there, we attempted to broadcast on Cool2Craft, a live web TV show, but the internet was not our friend that day 🙁 Many thanks to Tiffany Windsor for putting up with this and holding her Sizzix machine up to try and show people what we were talking about! She is truly amazing. Please visit the sites of the other guests on the show on the show that day:
Tiffany Windsor
Linda Peterson
Joan Fee
Elizabeth Diamond    

We enjoyed a subway ride and walk to dinner with Brandy and Julianna from Sizzix and the waiters and food at Borolo’s were delicious. Tuesday was a blur because we had a full day at the show, packed up the booth, took a train to my mom’s to get the car and then drove all the way home that night arriving at 3 AM.

 On Thursday, we got a call from our daughter telling us that she was engaged! So last weekend we took a drive up to Baltimore to congratulate the happy couple before they set out for CA and MI to pack up and move to their two new Coast Guard assignments.

I came home from the show re-energized and ready to work up some new concepts.This past week was spent getting the final ScoreBoard blog hop done- so sad… Although it was a lot of work to organize, I learned a lot, met some new friends and will miss the fun designer chat that we shared and seeing the great designs that came out every other week.

So that’s what has been happening with me. Stay tuned for an announcement about a fun site launching on June 3! What have you been up to? Hope you can tune in to the newest coolest craft TV show Cool2Craft on Monday, May 31 at noon EST!

I’m going to try and be a better blogger, I promise! Sometimes life gets crazy though- you know how it is…