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!