Time for a new look!

This boy turned 13 back in July- and turning 13 seems like the right time to get a room makeover don't you think! Well Jake and I do. I have been searching the internet for the last few months without much luck for some teenage boy room inspiration. So, I thought I would document our makeover in progress....Share what we found, decided to use and not use...

I started out trying to get inside Jake's head and see what he really wanted and what I could live with in his room- because I DO care what it looks like!

In "interviewing" Jake about his room we came to an agreement on a few things.
1. Must Haves- There were 2 things Jake really wanted- a bigger bed (than the twin sleigh bed he has had since he was 2.5) and a flat screen TV- bigger than what he has now!

The bed was easy, we had a full size bed and mattress that was Kenny and ours from when we first got married- perfect shape and size, not perfect color- we will work on that soon and share what we come up with!
and
As for the TV- I thought this was the perfect thing to tell him to save his birthday money to buy as a present for himself! And that is what he is going to do!
2. Theme- Neither of us wanted a really themed room, but he does want to pull in elements from his 2 passions- Lacrosse and Football. Two things that I can certainly work with!
3. Color- he likes grey- YIPEE! so do I! and we agreed to just pop it with some orange, green and maybe a bit of bright light blue and yellow.

So with a little direction it is time to start shopping, digging for inspiration and putting together a plan! I'll keep you updated on our progress! This isn't a race- I just want to have the room pulled together by December... so going to take it slow and find what we both love! If you have any great ideas feel free to share them with me!

Last time...

Earlier this week I finished up my last two layouts as a member of the American Crafts Design Team. It was completely bittersweet. I will never forget the day that I received an email from Sarah C. asking me if I was interested in joining the team... HELLO! interested? At the time there was a 2 year term limit for DT members, so I did my 2 years and sadly said goodbye. Well to my surprise a year later I received another email asking if I would consider coming back... HELLO! consider? That was 4 years ago... in total, I spent 6 years with American Crafts. Every assignment came easy- how could it not with all the amazing products to work with. As it was with JBS I am not sure if I would have even made the team again this year- what a great group of designers they picked to work with. But I have decided to free up my "me time" for more ME! Hey that might mean I actually even blog a little more often- wouldn't that be a treat! Nannie- I know that will make you happy! So, here are my last 2 projects that I did for AC--- even went to the store to buy a little bit of the Amy Tangerine line.... HELLO- HELLO Thickers! *swoon*

LAX- it's a way of life

No- not the airport, but we travelled enough to probably drive to and from LAX this summer for LAX! Lacrosse. This was the first year that Jake played travel lacrosse- and unless you are wondering, we DO play lacrosse in Kentucky. If you can allow me to be a bit of a proud mom for a moment... When Jake went to tryouts back in May he only knew one person on the field, coaches, players etc. and that one person was a teammate of his who had just started playing. There were 80+ extremely talented boys vying for about 25 spots. I hate to be a pessimist, but with just 2 hours of tryouts and that many kids to be seen I really wasn't very hopeful. It was a grueling week wait until they posted the list, and we were all super excited to see his name on the list!
He learned so much this summer, practicing several times a week with the best talent in the area in his age range- top level coaches who bring years of college experience and most importantly he made some new friends and had a lot of fun! We were able to travel to Denver, Baltimore (with a side trip to DC before hand) and to Atlanta for tournaments... in Atlanta we had our best showing making it all the way to the semi-finals where we played the host team really close. With 3 minutes left to go it was a 7-7 tie... but they ended up pulling ahead and getting the win over us.
Who knows what next year holds, Jake will move up to the U15 division and will be quite possibly the youngest kid trying out for that age group- his birthday is just 12 days before the cutoff... so if he was 13 days younger he would be eligible to play U13 again! Regardless this was a great all around experience for the entire family, and Jake got a really cool uniform too!

I have a Winner!

First time I have ever used Random Generator I think ;)

Tried to think of any significance #39 has in my life--- couldn't come up with one! But will have some significance to Jen Pierce!

Jen- send me your address, email and other contact info and we will get you your new Wood Veneer Asterisks and Kraft Star Stickers!

CHA and Studio Calico!

I had a major scrapbook dream of mine come true a month or so ago when I took a "behind the scenes" role with the most amazing company- Studio Calico. Everything about SC, from the incredible owners April & Greg, to the on site staff in Kentucky, the uber talented Design Team, and most importantly all the sassy, outgoing, friendly, creative members of the SC online community is just tops in this crazy industry! The last 7 or so weeks have been a whirlwind... talk about baptism by fire- jumping in right at the start of CHA prep, but what a time to jump in with the launch of three brand new lines- Autumn Press, Memoir and Classic Calico! I am in LOVE with each and everyone of these lines! By the time you get to my blog you have probably seen all the awesome things the DT did with the new products! I am guessing you can't wait to get your hands on it! Well as I was viewing all the projects as they were coming in I realized that I had to play a little myself, and when we realized that most of the journals were either blue or yellow it was the perfect excuse for me to make something too!

So how in love with the new journals are you? OK- I will admit it, I was a little intimidated by having to bind it myself at first... I was going to take the easy way out and just use binder rings, but I really wanted to use the herringbone fabrip (one of my top 10 pieces from the release) from the Classic Calico Line... so the novice book binder in me armed with some instructions from April tackled the book binding, and was it ever EASY! Maybe even easier than binder rings ;)

So... here is my journal... just a little sketchbook to keep inspiration, sketches, ideas in!


Now for the rest of the products in my top 10 from the new release...
I consider these all MUST HAVES:

10. 6x6 paper pads- OK I know this is cheating since there are 3 - but love small scale print of patterns!
9. Teal label stickers - love the new texture- so easy to write on!
8.Houndstooth Background Stamp
7. Woodgrain journal
6. Memoir Scrap Pads- Love the pop of red with the talk bubble
5. Star & Focal Point Papers from Classic Calico (especially the B sides!
4. Autumn Press Die Cut Tags
3. FabRips from Classic Calico Collection (perfect grey herringbone)
2. Kraft Star Stickers- I have yet to meet a star I didn't love!
and drum roll please.....
1. Wood Veneer Asterisks---- I think I might need to buy a gazillion of these!

So, here is your chance to win it before you can buy it ;) I am going to give away my top 2 items- the Kraft Star Stickers and Wood Veneer Asterisks... All you have to do is leave a comment on this post between now and 10:00 pm EST tomorrow (Wed.) I will then draw a winner and post on Thursday!

Oh I have to add in that while I PROMISE we will get you your prize if you are the winner we are still waiting for some of it to arrive at the barn, so be patient with us, it may take a few days to get it on its way to you!

How many times?

are you legally allowed to post... I have been so busy I haven't had time to blog!
Because I think that I have passed the legal limit and should be prohibited from being a blogger!

Anyway---- as I sit here and start thinking about ALL I WANT to share on the blog I also see this very daunting to do list staring me right in the face- hanging right above my computer monitor. BUT, good news is, I have crossing off quite a few things over the last few weeks off that to do list and I can see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnell!

So instead of a real blog post you get a... Hey I created this layout and I don't have time to post much else so I will post it on my poor neglected blog! Hopefully I will get back and blog before it is actually Halloween!


This past Halloween- that is Jake as Pauly D- {he does NOT look good with dark hair} and my little nephew Clay - and YES those are his real abs- it is a total freak of nature type thing... my sister {Clay's mom} and I know for SURE that he did not get them from our side of the gene pool! They actually had another friend- another guy friend who was going to dress up as Snookie, but after a heartbreaking loss in the semi final football game earlier that day he just wasn't up to it... although Jake loves his sports, and football especially- he didn't love it enough to mourn the loss by giving up a chance for pillowcases full of free candy!

Craft it Forward

My friends at BHG Scrapbooks Etc. came up with a really cool idea a few months back- you might have seen it in one of the recent issues- "Craft it Forward" (CiF) where they challenge readers to "make a difference through papercrafting!" Every month they have a fun challenge to make a project for a charity. You can go to craftforward.com and learn about each of the monthly craft it forward challenges and even enter your craft it forward projects to win $500 for you and a charity of your choice! How cool is that.

With Memorial Day this past weekend and the 4th of July just around the corner it is the perfect time to say THANKS to our troops. The theme for this Craft it Forward is Patriotic Thank You Cards. The BHG gang put together a blog hop of all kinds of CiF projects to inspire you to say Thanks to our troops! Find out more about the blog hop at the BHG Scrapbooks Etc. Blog. I made this quick and easy card that will be sent off to a special someone who I want to thank for all they give to protect our country! Hopefully you will be inspired to do the same.

Supplies: Stamp- Heidi Swapp; Card Base, Colored Stamp Ink, Zing! Embossing Powder- American Crafts; Blue Patterned Paper- Making Memories; Red Patterned Paper- Jillibean Soup; Grey Patterned Paper- Little Yellow Bicycle

I am not much of a stamper and certainly not much of an embosser, but I found that embossing is pretty darn easy, so I just stamped with some ink and then tossed 3 colors of zing on the paper, tapped off the excessive and hit it real quick with my heat gun... super super easy!

There's lots more to see, so continue on in the blog hop by hopping over to ... Ranger Ink's Blog (speaking of inking and stamping!)

Have fun hopping around!

Weather Man

Eli is our little weather fanatic- he loves to watch the weather channel, and is contstantly updating us on the status of the weather- "Mom it is raining" has been uttered more times than any of us care to have heard this spring! He actually loves thunderstorms and to sit and watch the lightning and listen for the thunder!

Today is the anniversary of when we boarded the plane headed for the Ukraine- 5/22/2007 - to adopt this precious little boy. I ask him if he liked thunderstorms when he was in the doma (Ukrainian for orphanage) and he tells me he liked to sit by the window there too! I think maybe it was a little calm in his world at the time!

If you want to read about our adventure in the Ukraine you can visit the blog we kept from that time HERE. Can't believe it has already been 4 years... CA- RAZY! As I often say- I am so glad I never decided "not to adopt" because I never really decided to- my husband did- I just never decided not to! Best decision I never made!

all good things...

For the last 2 years I was apart of the amazing design team at Jillibean Soup. Jill has created such an amazing company and I admire her so much. When it came time to re-apply I made the difficult decision not to (although to be fair- with all the great talent out there and the amazing new DT she has put together who knows if I would have even been asked back!) My 2 years working with JBS was simply fun and easy--- just what scrapbooking should be! Here are my last 2 layouts done for the JBS blog!



Oh... and the saying this week around here---- Happy Derby!

An Evening at Tiffany's

I love planning events- probably why I was Rush Chair for DZ back in college... and was so excited when I was president of the Student Alumni Relations group at U of L and we bid on and won the opportunity to host the Regional Conference- a 4 day super fun event... Even in my career I have gotten to plan many week long training events for our sales team... I like to throw big parties- our Halloween party is getting bigger each year, and Jake and Eli have had some fun birthday extravaganzas! However the event I have enjoyed being involved with the most, without a doubt is the Benefit/Auction for our church/Jake's school. This year I was the parent chair of the event. Parent chair? There is actually a staff employee at the school that part of her job responsibilities is to hold this auction- oh did I fail to mention that person is my sister ;) and to be truthful, I enjoy planning events even MORE when I get to do it with Paige- we work well off each other- guess it goes back to the clubhouse planning in our pre teen years!

The event was held back in late February... this is only our second time hosting the event- we only do it every other year because it is such a big undertaking. This year we went with the theme "An Evening at Tiffany's" and we took cues from the movie for decorations, raffle ideas, music, etc. Our amazing committee started planning, collecting donations, finding food vendors, designing the decor and marketing the event all the way back in July! Our first event back in 2009 we raised approx $36,000 and we were determined to do more this year! We collected more donations than we had room (or time) for! The local community really stepped up and our donation committee totally ROCKED! In the first week of ticket sales we sold 80% of our tickets and we eventually completely sold out! We transformed an unattractive gymnasium into a venue fit for a semi-fancy event!

Here is the night in pictures!


Looking in from when you entered the room- I had a crazy idea to make chair covers for all 450 chairs! (it is WAY too expensive to rent them- we were working on a tight budget) Luckily I have a great sister in law who was able to get material at wholesale (we ended up paying less than $1 per chair- including tulle ribbon!) and cut it all to size for us- and then I was able to get a few dozen volunteers to each do a handful- made all the difference in the room!


Our table decorations were pretty predictable... but looked great!


We had recent graduates of the school (now Freshmen and Sophmores in HS) help work the event- great opportunity for them to get service hours! They dressed in black and white with Tiffany Blue bowties to help tie in with the theme. We also had over a dozen food vendors who donated food for the guests!


We had plenty of different opportunities for our guests to spend their money! The SurPRIZE section was a big hit- for $15 you got to choose a bag and in that bag was a SurPRIZE valued from $15 up to $50- all donations- things such as gift cards, movie tickets, spa certificates and more!


Very popular with the "boys" was the Golden Tee- you purchased a chance to win a golf foursome at a local premier golf course, along with a new Golf Driver and Golf Bag- and with that chance you got a corresponding bottle of Bourbon- a favorite in Kentucky :)


We had several wheel of chance items- we sold up to 60 chances per item- chances ranged from $10-$20 each... we raffled off a Kindle, iPod Touch, Camera, Xbox Package, Orthodontics Package, Wii Package and a Gift Card Package


We had hundreds of silent auction items!


See I am not exaggerating at all!


We also had a live auction- we had U of L and UK packages including very coveted basketball tickets to each team. A Disney timeshare ownership, Destin Condo, and Disney Vacation package were big hits, as well as some packages specific to the school that went for more than we could have ever imagined! You can see off in the distance the classroom pottery projects which went for obscene amounts of money! Glad I got Jake's class one at the auction in 2009 when it was much more affordable!


The guests studying their programs and placing bids on silent auction items


The night was more than I could have ever hoped for exceeding every expectation we had. I can't tell you how great it was to see everyone enjoying themselves so much while raising money for our school. Other than the room being a little hotter than we liked, and the mistake of sitting a group of older guests of the principal near the door (which we kept trying to open to help eliminate the hot problem- and they kept closing as soon as we walked away!) the night went off without a hitch... The fundraising part ended around 11:00 with the drawing of the Mystery Box Gift- a new iPad (I didn't win- bummer) and then the DJ kicked in with a playlist featuring our favorite Old School dance music. When our very sweaty and exhausted selves finally locked the doors on the evening around 3:30 am I couldn't feel my feet! But walking out the door we knew we had raised over $50,000 for the school. When everything was all totalled and accounted for we brought in just under $60,000 for the night! Not bad for a little private school in a very working/middle class neighborhood! For a moment I almost wished that we did it every year- but then I sobered up and realized how crazy I was. I will co-chair the event one more time in 2013 when Jake is in 8th grade- I am already looking forward to it!

And... still waiting to hear from my blog hop winners- please contact me, and Vicki- I hope to ship your prize out this week ;) bear with me!

Some Days...

just don't go as planned!

This is one of those days!

Nothing major, just a little pain in the *&^(@%$% here and there...

A few difficult meetings at work...

Jake's facebook page sent out a virus that ended up infecting my mom's computer...

Eli had a major meltdown because we weren't taking Brody to his soccer practice (Oh, I haven't introduced Brody yet--- sounds like a post for tomorrow)

I was a bad mom as I let Eli ride in the back of the van as we drove through the neighborhood...this was a MAJOR meltdown!

I had to threaten giving Brody away (which we won't do) to get him OUT of the back of the van!

When we got to soccer it took Kenny and I BOTH to get Eli out of the car- OK, another bad mom moment, I should have let him not go to soccer- but his friend who is new to the team- and knows NO ONE other than Eli was there and it wouldn't have been good to make him be there alone!

As a result, Jake was 35 minutes late to lacrosse practice

As a result I missed yoga class

so... I went to Staples to buy printer ink so I could finish up a layout that needed to be done tonight- but forgot my listing of cartridges I needed- this was however rescued after about 15 minutes of me kicking myself when I thought to ask if they could look it up using my Staples rewards card... :)

as a result I just don't have the energy to finish up the layout I needed to get done, so taking a "pass" when I didn't really want to take a pass!

Still have to finish packing Jake up to head to Florida for Spring Break... WITHOUT ME!!!

ETA- AND... Kenny just came up with Eli's breakfast plate in his hand... and his medicine (ADHD) still on the plate--- ummm that explains a few things!

But at least tomorrow is Friday, the UK Wildcats are playing in the Final 4 on Saturday, we are suprising Eli with tickets to the Circus on Sunday... and we will have a week off of all the running we do to get Jake to track, soccer and lacrosse practice each night... so things have to be getting better!

A look inside my {very messy} office...

If you want to see what it SHOULD look like check out the link over to the right... but THIS is what it looks like right now... actually, this isn't what it looks like right now, this is what it looked like about a week and a half ago... right now, well let's just say that it looks like this has exploded even more! I would be happy if it looked like this... but you can learn alot about me from this picture.


1. I pulled this bin out- along with a few dozen others- because I couldn't find the power cord to my slice... and I wanted to use it to create cute little labels for the candy jars and other items that I was using for a candy bar at a baby shower I was hosting... I couldn't find the power cord so instead I cut all of them by hand!

2. This is the bag where I packed up a bunch of my crafty supplies to take with me to the baby shower- has been tripped over a few dozen times since, but has not been unpacked!

3. Here are all the bottles of mist--- Studio Calico Mister Huey---- that I own... I bought these at CKC-Louisville where I spent Friday night hanging out with April, Kelly P, Nic, Lori and Greg.... we went to eat at a great restaurant--- Proof on Main, a VERY fun dinner- Bedazzled Limos, Penguins, Bison Burger and all! Need to get some pics from Kelly! And then I decided to take Eli back the next morning to meet the gang... could have spent all of those hours cleaning this mess, but would have much rather been hanging out with those gals (and guy!)

4. Proof (and not the restaurant this time) that Eli has been in my office... he ALWAYS pulls the orange ribbon out, no sooner than I get it rolled up, he has it back down... and oh... at the end of that ribbon, a basket of magazines, and guess what I found under those magazines about a week after the shower???? Yep- my Slice power cord!

5. Target- I LOVE Target... just thought I would throw that in there, I am sure that bag is from a visit where I dropped at least $100 and bought several things that I really really NEED!

6. Oh wait... here is one of those things that I really really NEED... Fish Oil tablets... I think I must have read over the past few months these are good for you???? So I saw some and bought them... the bottle hasn't moved off my desk and I haven't taken one yet!

7. Oh--- lots of new scrapping goodies, from American Crafts, Jillibean Soup and Studio Calico... can't wait to dig into these and start playing... but they still sit right there right now! What a shame!

8. OK seriously... that is just NOT RIGHT... a little embarrased... I think the dust might have been a good foot thick...that I HAVE taken care of!

9. New ink for my printer... but- now that my room has exploded even more I can't find this box anywhere... and it was RIGHT THERE... and now my printer is SO out of cyan blue I can't even print! And I really don't want to go drop another bundle of cash on another set of cartridges!

10. Oh- and a tiny bit of proof that I have gotten some work done... my projects for the April Jillibean Soup Blog--- can you see them? Under all the piles of stuff!

So if you ever think that I have everything all together and that my office is as immaculate as the one you see in the tour on the right then just remember this post!

Oh, and I need a winner from my followers don't I???? Yelling right now... "Jake- pick a number between 1 and 15" .... and the answer is 12 (ummmm his favorite number!) so who is number 12 in my followers list???? Vicki Dalton :) well in the list as I see it.... so Vicki, I will be contacting you soon to send you a little fun package of goodies!

Have a happy day!
Shannon

Is it Wednesday Already

Ooops, I missed my Tuesday announcement for the winners... better late than never right...

Drumroll please... and the winners are:

Erica and Lisa send me an email with your contact information and I will have some AC goody packs on the way to you shortly...

Hope everyone had fun on the blog hop! Overwhelmingly Thickers are your favorite AC product... good choice--- here is a layout of mine I did gosh probably almost 2 years ago... super super simple layout using LOTS of Thickers!- Plus, Eli needed equal face time on the blog since the first layout I posted was about Jake ;)

And just 'cause I like doing givewaways... and love that so many people love AC products I am going to do another giveaway :) I will choose from all my blog followers to win another AC goody pack. Will draw on Friday March 25, let's say at.... 1:00 EST.... (again, sorry but only open to continental US mailing addresses!)

Have a great day!

Shannon Z.

Photo Strips

A few weeks ago I was the guest blogger for BHG Scrapbooks Etc. As I started out my blog... "If you would have asked me last year if I would be able to resize photos and create photo strips all by myself I would have thought you were delusional.."

Now it has become one of my go to page designs, and let me tell you, if you are going to a crop printing off pictures like this ahead of time is such a great way to get a lot of scrapping done. Check out the blog post here to get details on how to do this... and TRUST me, it is easy!

Hoppity Hop!

Sounds more like a title for an Easter blog post and not a St. Patty's day one ;) but I am participating in an American Crafts Blog Hop- hence the title! Hopefully you have had some fun working your way through all the amazing creations of the super talented AC DT blogs and learned a little about some of the Design Teams favorite products. One of the things I LOVE so much about AC products is the diversity of the line- there is something for everyone! And narrowing down a favorite product is next to impossible for me... So I thought I would showcase several of my favorite products on this layout!



Supplies: Patterned Paper: Peachy Keen/No Sweat (grey dot), Peachy Keen, Easy Peasy (yellow dot used on heart), Campy Trails/Big Pine Creek (orange dot strip), Campy Trails/ Sweetwater Cabin (striped strip) Thickers: Doll/Waterfall, Borders: Campy Trails, Elements: Buttons/Campy Trails, Buttons/Peachy Keen, Remarks Sticker Book: Peachy Keen/Super Swell, Sotheby's Stickers, Other: inks, Precision Pen .03.

First, the Peachy Keen and Campy Trails lines are two of my all time favorites! And I am a sucker for grey... and the No Sweat patterned paper that I used as the base for this layout I think I am going to need a few dozen pieces of to keep me stocked up!

Another new favorite are the small tear off strips on many of the patterned papers. Both the orange dot and stripes are the edge strips from pieces of paper- what a great way to use previously throw away real estate! And if you know my style of scrapping I CONSTANTLY use very small pieces of paper!

And, well most AC fans are fans of Thickers... the Doll Thickers are the latest addition to a line of amazing letters! The texture and font are just perfect!!!!

Oh- and I can't finish a layout without some AC buttons,Sotheby's stickers and some handwrittedn journaling using the Precision Pen .03 in black!

So- now it is your turn, leave me a comment and tell me your favorite AC product, new or old and I will let each of my boys pick a winner to receive an AC goody package from me! So that means 2 lucky winners! All comments on this post prior to 10 pm EST Monday March 21, 2011 will be eligible! And check back here on Tuesday March 22 to see who the winner is! Oh- and you must live in Continental US to win...

Don't stop your hopping here... hop over to the uber talented Susan Weinroth's blog at http://www.susanweinroth.typepad.com/ to see what she has in store for you!

Here We Go Again

So, I have been absent from the blogging world for a while- I let my typepad "membership" expire and just never got around to renewing it.... and recently I have had the urge to blog here and there, so I thought I would set up a blogger account and see where it takes me. You can visit my previous blog at http://www.shannonzickel.typepad.com/ I have some work to do on the blog- not quite up to what I want it to be yet, but tomorrow am participating a blog hop so nothing like getting it up and running just in time! And I preach to Jake (my almost 13 year old--- Ouch, that hurts to type) to not procrastinate... guess I should listen to my own lectures!