Can I Say, "Yeah, Me???"

At 4:56 PM TODAY, I received this email in my emailbox!!!

Hello! We would like to publish your submission (see attached) in the February/March 2008 issue of Paper Trends. If you would like to publish your original, previously unpublished creation with us, please place it in a ziploc bag or other durable container, box it up and send it to:

Paper Trends – Attn: Paige

Can you believe it? Paper Trends? The PREMIER Paper Crafting Magazine in the industry!!! This is so exciting for me. . . and considering the project I submitted is my first and only submission to ANY magazine I am just overwhelmed!

Can I just say, YEAH ME!!!

Just Peachy!

Life is just peachy. . . After blanching, peeling, cutting and prepping 2 cases of peaches, my feet hurt, I'm tired and I feel old -- standing for several hours didn't use to be this painful-- but life is just peachy!

Somwhere Over the Rainbow

I live in Rainbow Valley. I know that USUALLY names are given and reasons are usually hidden somewhere in history. We have lived in our home now for almost 2 years and in 2 years we have watched storms roll in and around the Valley of the Sun and have scarcely seen a drop of rain, but lots of rainbows! We have incredible views in all directions. These photos don't do justice to our views, but you can see the wide openness of our property. These shots, from Friday evening, show the meaning in the name, Rainbow Valley. This Rainbow (or shall I say -- these rainbows) appeared over my backyard with the sun still shining and not a drop of rain (which I'm completely accustomed to, although not gratefully!) However, the 3rd photo was taken and the rain was coming down! Still sunny, but raining! WOOHOO!!! Somewhere over the rainbow, dreams come true and I can I say, my dreams and then some are being lived each and every day, right here in Rainbow Valley.

Get Inside - Enjoy the View

I watch my kids in utter and total amazement. What on earth is going on inside their heads? I'd love to get inside and enjoy the view, but instead I watch from this side. Wyatt, for whatever reason, decided the dominoes I was using for Jessica's math lesson were the perfect toy. For over 9 hours he set up the dominoes and knocked them down. He moved from place to place around the house and tried them in many formations and locations. It wasn't until I shot this picture around midnight that it hit me. . . He had not put these things down for hours! He stopped to have dinner, but I could not get him to go to bed! After I took this photo he set up the entire box, here on the pedestal at the end of our family room entertainment center. He promptly knocked them all down (at 12:37 AM) and got up and went to bed. He has not touched them since. This, of course, is one of only 100 things my children have done in the past week that left me scratching my head with a huge smile on my face.

Crawling Out from Under the Piles

When I create, I also create piles. . . I move from one thing to the next so quickly that I often find (when I'm unburying) that I have 5 or 6 tape-runners out, the 20th pair of scissors I couldn't find is tucked safely under the 3rd stack of card stock to the left of my paper trimmer and the ribbon pair is under the 5th stack to the right. . . It's a lot of fun, but boy does my room look like a tornado touched down before I'm done! This weekend was for good reason! My 1st of 6 monthly card classes is this Friday and I'm finally prepped and ready! It's easy to 2nd guess myself and wonder if class members will be happy they committed to my craziness for 6 months or not! If it goes well I'm also going to swing a Christmas Card Pajama Party (first of November) and maybe a few other things I've got cooking! So here are the other 5 cards! I posted the 1st creation a couple of weeks ago, but I've been a blogger slacker so you get them all at once!





Have a great day!

Look what the TWINS dragged in

Yes, meet Copper (little orange boy) and Penny (sweet calico female).

So, I'm weak and said yes. How can you possibly say no to this?
The name thing was a big deal. . . Mikensee wanted to name the little boy Max and I just couldn't do it! A couple of our friends have sons named Max or (Maxx) and either way, it didn't work for me. I suggested Rusty and W&W loved it, but M said no. Jessica doesn't much like cats (although she is warming up to the kittens!) Mikensee thought right away that she liked Molly for the litte girl and we all thought that was cute. Anyway, M says he isn't RUST, he's orange (and you all know nothing rhymes with orange) so I suggested Ranger (Orange - O, + R) Mikensee threw a fit! (I thought I was quite clever!) The boys voted for whatever I said, so Mikensee just knew it was rigged! So, I continued. Penny is cute (copper you know) and it's too bad he isn't a girl. . . and there we were! Copper and Penny! Now, she doesn't really fit the bill, but it goes so well together! We mostly call her baby and Mikensee thinks Princess is cute, but we've already had a dog named Baby and my Mom's favorite dog was Princess (it was supposed to be Dorothy and TOTO, but that's another story!) So Copper and Penny is it! Nice of you to drop in and meet them!

Groovy Birthday Gift

So it isn't that "Groovy," I still had fun making it! We were invited to an impromptu cake party by a hubby in our church for his bride. . . It was sweet and I just couldn't go over empty handed, so I whipped this up for her! I only quickly took this quick pic as I was heading out the door, but of course the inside and back were decorated too. I made a little pocket on the inside with a bookmark so she can keep her place in whatever type of journal or to-do list the notebook becomes. Its a composition notebook covered, that's it!

Waaaah, No Wii!!!

So I decided for Christmas (remember it's only 109 days away and it was only 109' in Phoenix today), that my family would get a Wii. My friend Kari, is a self proclaimed Wii champion and based on her solicited, but appreciated recommendation, I decided that it would be a great fit for our family and a great way to wrap up Christmas Shopping pretty quickly and almost painlessly! BUT, this is what I'm finding already:



WHAT??? You've got to be kidding me!!! I checked in Costco today. Although the isles are presently stocked with gift wrap, ribbon, lights, candy, cookies, giant snowmen, and more (all just in time for the holiday season), their Wii shelf was completely empty. "No problem," said I, there is more than one way to bag Christmas! I came home, went online only to find the same pallet (although digital this time) empty! It just can't be!

WAAAAAAH, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, Don't tell me there will be NO Wii for Christmas!!!

It's Been A While

but I'm a paper crafting teacher again! I teach the kids everyday (or I try, anyway!) But it's been a while (a long while!) since I planned and presented a class for paper crafting. It seems like yesterday that the twins were born and yet it's already been 4 years! I used to teach classes and workshops all the time and then fell out of it with so little sleep and all my midnight crafting hours taken away. I still don't get enough sleep, but I feel they are finally old enough to behave for a few hours while I teach a class! I've also bribed my oldest with pay to tend to them while I teach so that should help! :) This is a card I've put together for my first scheduled class. It's a Cards, Cards, Cards class and the members of the class will actually be making 5-6 cards per month for the next 6 months. The class filled quickly and they seem to be as excited to begin and I am! As always, the card looks so much better in person, but here's a little something I put together for September! Now that I'm getting my mojo back on, watch out! The ideas are flowing faster than I can put them together!

They Smell Like Boys!

So many things to blog, so little time!

It just isn't right that a 4 year old little boy can be so cute in a tutu! It drives my husband crazy that his sons like to play dress-up and wear finger nail polish! I'm not a child psychologist (and I know this is my 2nd post with my boys dressed in girls clothes), but I tell him it's perfectly normal and that if the boys were older and it was my girls on the tale end, that the girls would play with Tonka Trucks and dig in the dirt all day! Now, I'm sure this, my husband wouldn't mind! I think it's horribly cute, perfectly normal and I love snapping all the pictures I can! Right now they still love me. They still want me to kiss and tickle them. They enjoy curling up in my lap and in my arms and I know that it will all change. So for now, I guess, I'll take the pink tutus and polished finger nails. The boys spend plenty of time each day in the dirt, playing boy things and keeping me on my toes. Besides. . . they still smell like boys, I promise!!!

You Know It's September When

Your mail box is chock full of Christmas Catalogs Begging you to shop now because:

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