Storing your Cricut Cartridges

I have been blessed with finding a great group of gals who share my love of scrapbooking. Through Meetup.com, I discovered the Scrap-a-doodles in Keller, Texas. Now it's a good 30-45min drive for me to attend their functions, but worth every mile! I have learned so much from them and I want to share one of those things here on my blog.

Tonya discovered a way to organize her cartridges on the 2Peas website, did it and then shared it with the rest of us. So, I did it too! Let me show you Tonya's picutures:







Isn't that awesome?! Tomorrow, I will show you mine all organized! Tonya has inspired me! Thanks Tonya!

The Pioneer Woman

I have discovered the most enjoyable blog/website I have ever read. It's called the Pioneer Woman... her name is Ree and she lives up in Tulsa, Oklahoma on a ranch. Her stories of ranch life are just hilarious... she has a true gift for writing. And she cooks!! The recipes she posts are wonderful! Here... go take a peek at her... but be careful, you could get stuck on her website for hours if you don't watch out! http://thepioneerwoman.com/category/pioneer_woman/about_pioneer_woman

THINK PINK & Little girl's bday parties...

Yesterday was awesome! I got to help one of my best friends, Angela, with her THINK PINK crop. We did it at the Transport Workers Union Hall over in Southlake and it was a perfect spot! We all got 8' tables to work on!



Angela and her mom, Linda gave away some really cute door prizes and had goodies (of course everything was pink!) on everyone's table.



Today was all about Janice's daughter Riley. She had her birthday out at her uncle's ranch with horseback riding and swimming. So, we all just sat around and talked and watched the kids play. It was such a fun day! I got to catch up with old friends and really relax. Here's a picture of Riley, Samantha and Calli (Angela's daughter):



What a CUTE cake!

The DRESS...

These pictures are from Prom in 2007. I'm so happy that I had not gotten around to cropping them, because I needed the new Storybook Cricut Cartridge to make it look just right. The right side layout was inspired from a template challenge with the Scrap-a-doodles... it was fun! I've never done this before and really enjoyed it. I also used the Home Accents cartridge for the flowers and butterflies. The two cartridges really compliment each other. Tell me what you think!

Back-To-School Retreat

What a great week this has been! It's early on Friday morning and I am preparing for the weekend... making my lists... checking them twice (lol!). But I as I look back at my week, I realize how blessed I am!!

My Back-To-School Retreat last weekend at the Southfork Hotel was a huge success! It was so much fun! I have developed so many friendships through my business. Several of those friends were present at this past retreat. They make my work FUN! I can't wait until my next retreat in October! The Teacher Tissue Box class was fun and I had 5 students. Everyone's turned out great!




The thing that I am most blessed with in my business is the support of my family! The fact that I can do this with them! My mom... she is always there for me... with me, and I appreciate her so much. Samantha... she worked her tail off this past weekend and unloaded the trailer practically all by herself! I had to reaarrange the room setup and was busy directing that and she just jumped right in and got the trailer unloaded so we could get setup in time. THANKS SAM! She worked on her SAVE THE DATES all weekend and they are turning out great! She was cricuting like a fiend! At one point, she had both machines going and her announcements are so stinking cute!



And lastly, my husband, Glenn! He is a SCRUBBY (Scrapbookers Hubby) extradinaire! He worked all day at the hospital on Sunday and came straight to the hotel at 10pm to help load up the trailer. I am so blessed with him and I love him so much! Who cares if he and Sam get distracted while doing it, I love that they help with a cheerful heart and find a way to have fun while doing it! I'm so grateful they were there!

The BIGGEST LOSER is.....

.... my husband! Glenn! We finished the first 12 weeks of our WLC (weight loss class) tonight! Glenn and I both won... and lost at the same time!! LOL! Glenn lost 22lbs and 19.5 inches, which gave him an 11.13% total body weight loss!! I lost 23lbs and 21.5 inches, but it only gave me an 8.36% weight loss. So, Glenn got $220 for first place, our friend Demas got $130 for second place and my friend Cheri got $88 for third place and I got $57 for losing the most inches! What a great evening!



Had a great day too! I met Angela over at Amy Click's in Roanoke for a Scrap-a-doodle daycrop. We worked on the projects for this weekend's Think Pink Crop and had a good time. I really enjoy cropping with the 'doodle' ladies! We talked and laughed about a wide variety of topics... from gun control (sorry Angie!! LOL) to American Idol. It's a bit of a drive for me, but totally worth every mile. I have learned more from these ladies than I have from any other scrapbook group/meetup that I am involved with. Angie is such a whiz with the computer, Tonya has convinced me to finally organize my cricut cartridges and Amy's house!!! All I can say is "wow!"... she has such great taste in decor, just being there is inspiring. Katybean is another favorite doodle of mine. She did a photo frame today of a concert she went to... I think it was Bon Jovi... and she used the words to a song on the frame... loved it! Wish I had taken a picture of it!

Well... I am off to bed now. Sorry I've neglected my blog lately... it's been a busy week, as usual! LOL!

Goodnight!

FUNDRAISER SATURDAY

SATURDAY:
6am - Woke up, showered & got ready for the day.
7am - Made breakfast with hubby, cleaned the kitchen.
8am - Marianne & Deeann came by to use the big cricut. Deeann has cut some of the coolest stuff out for her new classroom (she's a teacher in Coppell).





That's her class rules on the right side. She did everything there on the wall with the cricut... cool, huh? She used the 12x24 mat and papers. I worked on some class projects for upcoming retreats.

10am - Packed a lunch for Sam, she was working a double that at the pool. We signed up for a photo shoot with this photographers group for Sunday. Matt had to be at the library for the FOL (friends of the Library) fundraiser. He was representing the Little Elm Teen Leadership committee with Olivia. And I heated up some leftover Meatball Minestrone Soup for lunch for everyone... yum!

11am - Loaded up mine & Liz's (my mom) scrapbook stuff for an afternoon crop at Mindi's house (SASSY Scrappers) in Dallas.

12noon - Drove to the library first to support Matt at his fundraiser. We bought cold water bottles (i donated them and then bought one...?) and a grape slush for Liz.




1pm - On to our next stop... my neice Sara works at Chili's and they were doing a carwash for St. Judes that day. She too, had used my cricut to make the car wash signs... she did a great job! So, we dropped off our donation for a car wash, took some pictures and jumped back into the van to hit the road again!





2pm - After making a quick stop at Costco to get gas and pick up two chocolate cakes and some oatmeal cookies... we finally arrived at Mindi's to scrapbook. One cake and the cookies were for Mindi's and the other cake was for the poker party later that night. It was really nice finally meeting most of the SASSY Scrapper ladies. They are going to be a fun group to crop with. But, can you believe it(?), I didn't take one picture at the crop! The time went by way too fast, because I made a couple of tags and organized my album and then I was packing up to head onto my next activity. DATE NIGHT!

6pm - Got home and freshened up... made some berry sangrias (yum) and off Glenn and I were to our good friends Jon & Angela's house in North Richland Hills. They had invited us to a HOLD'EM FOR HEALTHY HOOTERS fundraiser (see... I told you it was a Fundraiser Day!) We played Texas Holdem and the entry fees were donated to the Susan G. Komen Walk for a Cure. Angela and her mom, Linda are going to be walking as a team.




It was so much fun! We got to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a long time (hi Janice & Les!) and meet some new ones... and of course, we always enjoy the time we get to spend with Jon & Angela!



We didn't get home until 2:30am and we were exhausted. I didn't even look at my computer... I just went straight to bed!

Birthday Lunch

Wow... where did the time go?! Okay... I know its so cliche, but its so true! He has grown up so quickly! He's so different from Patch & Sam, definitely unique in personality and style. I love that he is passionate about the theater and I am proud that he serves on the Little Elm Teen Advisory Board... he even spoke at the Little Elm Town Council meeting this past Thursday night as a representative of the town's teens in favor of the new library proposal. He's active like that... .

So, today for his birthday... Matt helped a friend of mine out and babysat her 10yo daughter, 5yo son and 2yo son. It was the first time he had babysat a child in a diaper. You should have seen the look on Matt's face when my friend calmly told him that if there was a runny diaper situation, he should just place the child in the shower. I had to put Matt out of his misery and assure him that should that happen I was only a phone call away and would come to the rescue! LOL! Otherwise, he did a great job!



While Matt was babysitting, Memaw and I ran errands... the post office to send a package to my darling nephew, Jake... the dry cleaners with Glenn's clothes... the party store to buy some birthday balloons and to fill up with gas (only $3.38 per gallon! Yea!). Then we picked up Noah, then Matt and went to Chili's for birthday lunch. The lunch was good, company was great... service sucked! I was sooo disappointed. But that's a story for another time. Memaw ordered sprite to drink and the waiter brought her water... which was funny because she took a sip and told the waiter to take it back that the 'sprite' was really (we mean really) flat!!! We all had a chuckle out of that... including the not-so-good waiter. LOL!

My little sister is having another boy! Yea!! So, the 'McCraw' side of the family is having a babyshower at my Aunt Mary's house in Memphis, Tennessee. Check out the new pictures of Tracy, Jake and Julian!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Cris Proposed to Samantha

We all went to Fort Benning, Georgia for Cris's Army graduation. It was a very special weekend... but not just because of his graduation... he had other plans on his mind! The pictures are all a little dark, but hey!... we were in a dark theater and people were getting mad at me because of the flash! I took my life in my hands that day!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Creative Cottage - Day TWO & THREE

New friends (Ellen & Charlotte) & old ones (Mom, Marianne & Myriam)...

I was so tired after getting home from the cottage last night. The first night we stayed until 11pm and scrapbooked, but last night we all left promptly at 10pm. The hours for the Creative Cottage is 9am til 10pm for the weekdays if you aren't an overnight guest. We stayed late on Monday because it was raining cats & dogs and we waited for the rain to lessen before leaving. It's a great place to crop and spend time with old (and new!) friends. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for only $35... what a bargain!



Yesterday I played around with the cricut alot. Getting to know the new Graphically Speaking cartridge some more (which is now my FAVORITE!). I finished a layout with another 12x12 photo on it. It's titled "TOP TEN FAVORITE MEMORIES"...



I was pleased with my final result. But I have to say though... the SKULL STYLE page that I did for Matt on Monday is still by far my favorite.
What do you think?

Today is the last day at the cottage and I don't even get to spend the whole day there! Samantha and I leave this evening for Fort Benning, Georgia with Nalani to go see Cris (Sam's boyfriend) graduate from Army Basic Training. It's gonna be a long drive. And Sara is flying in today and I will be picking her up from the airport right after I leave the cottage. It's gonna be a busy day!

Creative Cottage - Day ONE

What a great day! My mom (Liz), Marianne, Myriam, Cheri and I all scrapbooked at the Creative Cottage in McKinney, Texas. It was great! A friend that we made there in July happened to be there with her friend, Charlotte. And Donna from the SHOT Meetup group showed up too... totally unplanned, but way cool!


I worked on cutting alot of cricut diecuts with the new cartridge, Graphically Speaking. It is such an awesome cartridge... if you don't have it yet, you definitely need to put it on your list! I made lunch for our group... simple sandwiches and wraps with baked chips. We kept to our low calorie diets today! Myriam provided dinner... it was so yummy... Lime Chicken with rosemary potatoes and a Strawberry Spinach salad! Very healthy! Thanks Myriam!


After dinner, I played with the INDIE ART cartridge and used a 12x12 black & white photo of my youngest son, Matt. I love how it turned out!

Summer Gone By...

Wow... I have been so neglectful of my blog! It has been two whole months since I posted anything... how did that happen?! The summer has just flown by and now school is starting in two weeks!

Good news is... I have gotten alot of scrapbooking done over the past couple of months. I won't post all of them, but here are a few of my favorite layouts that I have recently done.