busy living life

sometimes i just don't feel like blogging, so i don't :) i have been fine, just busy living life.

i've been scrapping, writing, and editing senior pictures. i think that all of those things are almost done. next, is cleaning up the yard before the big snows come. right now, it's lovely colorful fall in colorado, so very beautiful.

the music teacher at ethan's middle school asked me to accompany two of her choirs for a couple of pieces, i've been heading to the school twice a day every day last week to go through the songs with each class. it's chopped up my day, but i love accompanying. when i was in high school, my choir teacher was a saint and let me accompany my girls' choir. he was so patient with me. one of our concerts, the air conditioning or heat turned on and my sheet music went flying. i did a fairly good job of maintaining the playing, but it freaked me out. i tape all my music to the back of the piano now :) the song was, "what a wonderful world." i'll always tie that memory to that song :) anyway, for one of the songs, ethan's going to play the cello as well. it's been so much fun practicing with him. he's very talented at that instrument, it's a treat.

he and i have also been riding our bikes to school nearly every morning. the buses were cut drastically this year and so we decided instead of sitting in the car, in a very long line, we'd ride our bikes as much as we could. it's been a blast. i was going to do a layout about it for the napa valley studio calico november kit, but it hasn't happened yet. i have the PERFECT paper though (GET THE SC PATTERNED PAPER ADD ON this month. actually, get TWO, i didn't and really really really wish i had). :)

annie's been super busy with school, studying AP US history every night for a couple of hours at least. but she's loving it, school wasn't too challenging last year, so she's actually kind of enjoying the challenge again. she love chemistry, she's got a fabulous teacher who has lit the fire under her desire to learn. she's found a great periodic table app for the i-touch that she's been showing off to everyone that will look. she's enjoying being 16, not driving yet (no time!), but the dating sure has been fun. since she's really not supposed to steady date, we've tried to give her opportunities to spend time with her boyfriend, but with us as a family. not ideal in her view, but we're enjoying it :)

kelly's doing OK. he's growing a lot with his job and his calling at church as our bishop. it's been a hard year and a half for him, but the qualities he's gaining are making him a better man (if that's possible!), and he's getting closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus. he keeps going, and that's all i can ask of him right now.

with all this going on, i still managed to get some sneaks ready for you. enjoy :)

this one makes me happy. it turned out exactly like i'd hoped. it uses some paper and the alpha stamps from the main (LOVE), and the chipboard alpha, ribbon, paper, and corregated shapes from the santa cruz add on. i so loved that chipboard alpha, i need to get another package soon.

this one is a mix of the main and santa cruz as well. i misted the corregated star with mr. huey's warm calico. it will be on sale in the shop mid november, but you can get it now from various online retailers and your LSS (if it's not at your LSS, beg them to carry it.) i am in awe and love with mr. huey. it is the most amazing product. i played with it alot this month :)

and this would be why :) i'll be doing a tutorial on this layout. i made my own envelope for some hidden journaling. this page makes me so happy. it's about a dear friend, and is fitting on so many levels. i love it when that happens. it looks like i used the lunch tray mist on this, but i didn't ;) everything on this layout can be found in the main.

this is a card. i'll just tell you :) i used all santa cruz on this, the grid stamp is amazing. i'm so grateful that april listens to the members when designing stamps. this was a request and it makes me so happy!

i pulled a nik harper for this one. the letters kind of got lost on the photo so i sanded them. i've sanded in my earlier years, but for some reason i stopped a few years ago. i adore the look. i should do it more. another note on this particular layout, i had this great idea to gesso the surface of the paper, then stamp the grid stamp for some texture. only problem? it's really hard to write on :) didn't think about that until i was all done. so i did a little test run through the printer (it's hidden behind the picture), and voila! it worked. i love it when my ideas work, it happens occasionally, but there have been some epic failures in the past. :D

there you have it. i'll put together a suggested shopping list for you early next week. i need to go to bed now :)

thanks for stopping by, i'm sorry i haven't been too good this month at updating.