April Fools!

April is finally here!  March is such a strange month, one day 75 and sunny and the next 40 and cold.  For some reason, turning the calendar to April makes the fact that spring is finally here a realty. Well, that is unless you wake up to snow falling.  I don't know if it's Mother Nature's way of playing an April Fool's joke on us, but I personally don't find it very funny!  Here's a look at what my ride to work looked like this morning:

This spring is going to be a busy one. I've added the role of coach to my resume, coaching the WWSO Majors team, the Dragons (GO DRAGONS!).  So far, it's been a fun experience and my goal is not only help the girls improve their softball skills, but also give them lessons in teamwork, sportsmanship and respect that they can take with them well past their softball playing years. I'll check back with updates as the season progresses.

I'm working on a BIG project due the end of June for one of my favorite people, Lia's 1st grade teacher. This woman has been the epitome of patience and kindness and has played a huge role in Lia's success this year.  So with a lot of work, the project floating around in my mind will come to life very soon.  Updates to come!

Stay warm today...stay dry and GO PHILLIES!!!

Ahhh...back to creating..

For those of you who don't know, we recently moved and downsized from a relatively large house to a smaller and cozier townhouse.  The transition went better than I expected; however I didn't realize how much I would miss my scrap room.  Having to cart my entire portfolio of supplies from the basement storage room to the dining room is no small task, but this weekend I decided to take on the challenge.  It's been way too long since I've done anything creative and I felt like I needed to re-connect with that part of myself.

With not making resolutions this year, and being inspired by the words and ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I decided that this year would be a the time to start "paying it forward".  As embarrassed as I am to admit, I don't feel as though I make enough time to really and truly do nice things for others. Sure, I care about people and wish them well but I really felt the need to reach out to someone and do something nice, for absolutely no reason at all.  A good friend of mine from Middle and High School posted a picture of her beautiful baby on Facebook recently. When I saw the picture of this beautiful little girl, I was INSPIRED!  And then the light bulb...why not make one layout a month, for a random friend, and send it off in the mail or deliver in person in hopes of making that friend smile and in turn they pay that kindness and thoughtfulness forward to someone else.  I hope my idea is a success and that I help to make 12 people over the next year smile :o)

Here's the first of twelve...

I layered the ribbon with Thickers letters here. I also threaded some alphabet beads on wire and added a few extra beds to the end to add the baby's name.  I affixed them with some glue dots.  A snowflake sticker and viola! 

I'm fond of the layering technique. I love how everything builds and tells a story when stacked upon each other.  This is by far my favorite design and you will see it a lot with the layouts I complete. The Basic Grey line was perfect for this layout, keeping it soft and girly and adding a touch of whimsy to it. The Jenni Bowlin Calendar cards are one of my must haves and I have to stop myself from using them on every page I do!  And what can I say about Prima....every page deserves a little bling...

So my lucky friend from the past, I hope you LOVE it as much as I do!!!

Winter...

I finally have a free moment to sit down and write.  In my last post, I talked about how I longed for summer again, because the summer of 2010 seemed to go faster than any other summer on record.  This past week or two has made that feeling come to life again.  I find as I get older I have less and less patience for the cold weather. I get colder more often, add more layers, more blankets and stay indoors more.  When I was young, I remember staying outside FOR HOURS when it snowed, no matter how cold.  Buidling men of snow, snowball fights with friends and sledding down pretty steep hills.  I'm happy to now watch my girls live these experiences, although neither of them are as thrilled with the outside as I was as a kid. Of course, they are the generation of Wii, iCarly and Nintendo DS...but getting them outside on a snowy day isn't that hard. 

We've had a few snowfalls so far this winter and are gearing up for a potential big one this coming week.  I'm secretly hoping for a multple "footer"...I could use the day off from work to re-charge with a cup of tea and good book.  Or to get lost in my scrapping for a day, it's been way too long since I've let my creative juices flow.  I hope they can have some fun again, jumping for joy when they hear those magic numbers on KYW....we'll see....

I'm off to drink a nice cup of hot tea, under my nice warm blanket, watch a good movie and curl in bed later with a good book....

Getting back to crafting...

This summer was such a crazy summer for our family with one of my daughters active in sports through August (which is unusual for her).  We really didn't get a break, not even to head to the pool!  It feels like the summer just flew by and with a friend of mine posting on facebook today the fact that BJ's has their Christmas Tree display up? Well, that just made me HAVE to post a picture of this layout I made at an all day crop a few weekends ago.  I was lucky enough to spend some QT with a few of my girlies and it was definitely the break I needed, although I left exhausted after scrapping for 10 straight hours.  In any event, I'm quite proud of this layout and thought I'd share:

I am totally in love with glimmer mist, which I used here to create a sun in the corner. I also used it to shimmer the grungeboard (which I love, it's so versatile!). It's so funny, as summer winds down I find myself longing for fall....until I see this picture, then I long for those summer days all over again!