Gotta get out of this Funk!

So my birthday was a few days ago, and I received some money from my parents and my mother and father-in-law. I have thinking about shaking up my scrapbooking a little lately. At first I wasn't sure what to do. I just knew I needed a change.

I was thinking of buying a Cricut because of all the hype about it. And while I think it's very cool, I can see how, for me, it could be quite costly. I am easily bored and am always wanting to learn new things and do something different. But I don't want to spend an arm and a leg. I can see how I would tie up a lot of money in cartidges I would use only once. That's sort of what I've done with stamps. I LOVE my stamps, but I'm a "use them once and I'm over it" type of person. They are just too costly (in my humble opinion) to keep this up. That's also how I am with my Big Shot. I'll use a die for a couple of cards then it just sits there and I feel guilty for ever buying it.

I thought of joining a monthly club. Since I've been buying mostly stamps and embellishments for the past 2 1/2 years (with Stampin' Up! for a year then TAC for 1 1/2 years now), I'm am desperately short on paper--patterned paper specifically. I liked the clubs but I'm a "buy what you're gonna use and only that" kinda girl so having a bunch of "extra" stuff laying around that seems like a waste--not to mention a waste of space.

So long story short. I'm getting into digital scrapbooking. I took a class at Creating Keepsakes University Kansas City (CKU) in the fall of 2005. The class was taught by the ladies at Epson, and a big focus of the class was PhotoShop Elements. I was instantly interested but wasn't sure I wanted to invest the $$$ in the software and the whole thing seemed a bit daunting.

Well, now since I'm a little older and a little braver and digital scrapbooking has evolved and not just a fad (as I had worried about earlier), I'm investing in a new venture. I purchased PhotoShop Elements 6 and a tutorial from Scrapgirls (http://www.scrapgirls.com/). It was really not that costly. PSE 6 was a little over $100 and the tutorial was only $30. So for the cost of some new stamp sets, I'm going to teach myself digital scrapbooking. I'm pretty psyched.

I'm hoping to actually be able to print my own background papers and then if I still want to physically stamp on them, I can do that too. I think I will end up being more of a hybrid scrapbooker but that is to be determined.

One of the issues that some people worry about when going digital is that they won't print their layouts and actually put them in an album. I'm not really worried about that. I'm pretty anal about that type of thing. Lately, I've been more into getting layouts completed than being creative with them, and I think that's part of why I'm in a funk.

So I'm on my way to learning something new and getting out of this funk. Yay!

Hubby Tag

I saw this on another blog and thought it would be fun. Feel free to fill it out for yourself and add it to your blog.

What's his name? Jason

How long did you date? 1 years, 9 Months

How old is he? 37

Who eats more? He usually does but he's on a diet. ick!

Who said "I love you" first? I'm sure he did. Still says it first.

Who is taller? he is. He's 5'9" I'm 5'5"

Who sings better? Jason but he never does it so I don't get to hear it often

Who is smarter? I consider us both smart in totally different ways.

Who does the laundry? We each do our own. I don't want to do his and he is NOT allowed to do mine. I love my clothes. They are not fancy but I'm picky and I don't want them to shrink.

Who does the dishes? he does

Who pays the bills? Me, I'm a control freak over the money.

Who mows the lawn? Jason, definitely.

Who fixes broken things? my dad

Who cooks dinner? Me, occasionally but mostly we order out

Who drives when you are together? Jason. He's a trooper, you know.

Who is more stubborn? I am.

Who kissed who first? I don't remember. That was such a long time ago.

Who asked who out first? He wrote me a letter. Dorky, I know.

Who proposed? Jason, of course, but I knew all about it. I picked out the diamond and all.

Who is more sensitive? me...he is so easygoing. Not much gets to him.

Who has more friends? He has friends, I have friends - we both have friends. He is a very friendly guy and everyone loves him.

Who has more siblings? Me. He has one sister, and I have one sister and one brother.

Who wears the pants in the family? I plead the fifth. I don't want to start a fight. :)

LOVE YOU J!!!

CKC St. Louis 2008

Hey! Are you signed up for classes at the Creating Keepsakes Convention April 4th and 5th??? I am. I look forward to this convention every year. It rocks! And better yet, it's in Collinsville, Illinois, just 20 minutes from my home. Can't wait!

Here's the link if you haven't checked it out before: http://www.ckscrapbookevents.com/stlouis2008/

Love Struck

One of my favorite songs right now is called Paralyzer by Finger Eleven. The chorus goes, "I'm not paralyzed, but I seem to be struck by you." It's on my myspace profile, and I've been listening to it all morning as I was updating my profile.

There is a scrapbooking line of products by Marah Johnson called "Love Struck." I originally bought this paper because I had some pictures of my husband's tattoo I wanted to scrap but it really seems to have grown on me so I also did a page of my hubby and I kissing.

These pictures are two years old but I just felt inspired to share them today. Enjoy!

P.S. Here's a link to Marah's blog if you'd like to see more of her work: http://marah_johnson.typepad.com/random/

Where would you rather be?

Today everywhere I look I see cold, snow, and ice. Here's the view from my house:

I wanted to share some layouts of where I'd rather be (below).

Cabo in 2006

Another One for the Tooth Fairy

It's really strange sometimes how life repeats itself.

My six-year-old daughter lost her fourth tooth yesterday almost exactly to the day that she lost her second tooth last year. In honor of that, here's the layout I did for that second lost tooth a year ago.

The only TAC product I used on this layout is the stickles but I don't think it would have the same "magical" feel without the sparkle.

The paper is some that I have had for years (literally--I've been saving it since she was born). The fairy is from Scrapbook Castle in Alton. The letters were made with coluzzle templates, and I bought the teeth brads from eBay.

Enjoy!

Stack of Pancakes

Life. It's the little things.

I loved being a stay-at-home mom for some of the most formative years of my daughter's life. It would be a regular week day, and she would ask for something like a stack of pancakes. I would make them without thinking, really.

Now that I am working every day, these things are "extra special" and we only have time for making pancakes on the weekends.

But I'm glad we had that time together. Now she is in school every day, and I'm glad I have a job to keep me busy. It makes me appreciate the time we do have together a little more.

And every Saturday, I'm happy to make her a stack of pancakes.

Love is in the air!

Or is it snow??? While it's cold and snowy here in Illinois, this layout warms my heart. Last year, my daughter went through a phase where she would grab your face and give you a big ole' kiss right on the lips. I captured this photo last February of my husband and her. I love how this layout turned out. All products (except ribbon) from The Angel Company.