Get published....May SNR calls

Wanna get published?
We're looking for things to fit these themes for the month of May.

By Style

Faithbooking

Father’s Day

Flip It – Boy and Girl Pages

Funny Family Photos

Punctuation

Wedding

Go here to get the scoop on the latest calls for Scrapbook News and Review.

Sanity in the midst of crazy

Scrapbook News and Review just started this new thing - featuring one staffer as "staffer of the week" and this is my week!! I'm not trying to toot my own horn here....what I'd love to do is let you know - those of you who also follow my personal blog (My life....so far) - that with all the crazy going on in my life in the last few months, a few things have kept me sane:

1. Jesus Christ - oh my....of course, in general, I'd be lost without him but in particular this last 1/2-year I would have gone off the deep end without the sanity of having a Rock.

2. My good friends - Maria, Bev, Lynette, Lynn - you have no idea how much being able to talk to you has saved me. Thanks for letting me talk and cry and talk some more... and for praying for me.

3. A few good "jobs" like my DT Coordinator Job at Clear Scraps and a brand new Staffer opportunity at Scrapbook News and Review. It's funny how when you feel like the least in life - someone like CS and SNR step up and make you feel like you have something to offer and help you change your perspective. Susan & Jim - your faith in me has me working hard to be my very best. SNR Admin...all of you...I'm going to just say that you could not have come into my life at a more appropriate time. For the timing of all this to be coincidence is unlikely at best. I think I'll refer you back up to reason #1.

Trick or Treating in April

This is the haul of candy (and other stuff) that my kids came home with today when we all tagged along with MIL & FIL at their bi-annual hardware store convention. So many of the booths want them to sell their stuff in their little convenience store and so in order to ingratiate themselves to MIL & FIL, they're super nice to their grandkids (who just happen to be ultra-cute and ultra-polite). So they dip into their stashes in their booths and fill our cart up with goodies. Some years they've ended up with flashlights and screwdrivers, pins and stickers, gum and candy. This year the majority was candy as you can see. There are 3 t-shirts in there and a first-aid kit (apparently that's the whole of my share of the haul). It's almost a better haul that the parade in August. Fortunately, the way we allow candy in this house, this should probably last until the parade in August :)

I'm learning to paint with watercolours!

I'm spending my Christmas money this year on art supplies because I'm curious about all the mixed media stuff out there and I wanna try!! So, today I'm taking a class on watercolour paint techniques. My first question for Kate, from Scrapbook News and Review is which of these brushes are my best bet. I figure....it probably doesn't make that much difference since this is my first time but I might as well start right if I happen to already have the right brush in my arsenal. If not....I might need to spend a little more of that Christmas money LOL. I'll be back tomorrow to show you a few of my first attempts! Wish me luck.

I have discovered ATCs

ATCs (or Artist Trading Cards) are small pieces of art meant to be traded or given away - not sold. They usually have some meaning to the creator, but sometimes are just purely art for the sake of art. They are always the same size (2 1/2" x 3 1/2"). I have made a few in the past with different acrylic techniques shown on them for the Clear Scraps booth (you can see mine at CHA next time you're there) But until recently I hadn't really tried one for my own purposes....and now I'm hooked.

These are my first 2:

2010: This is my year
It's going to be a year of change for me if I have anything to say about it - I'm in a great place, got a good Bible study groove going, loving the places that's taking me and I'm excited about where God's leading me.

Time after time
Aside from making me want to sing Cyndi Lauper....this ATC evokes deep emotion in me. There's some stuff in my life that is not fun, and it feels like time after time I'm back at the same dead end and yet at the same time, I'm reminded that God is faithful, time after time.

These ATCs are both part of an ATC feature at Scrapbook News and Review - go check them out!! This magazine is online (no trees were harmed - yay!) and Chock full of goodness!!

OJ and a backyard makeover

I squeezed the last of the oranges this morning (in anticipation of grocery night tonight) and made myself a glass of OJ before school....it was TO DIE FOR yummy....and I start to get the reasoning behind OJ being $4/glass in most restarants...at least the good OJ, we're not talking Tang or anything here people.

My BIL & SIL are in the running for a $20,000 backyard makeover with a radio station in Edmonton....can you vote for them? They've just purchased a house recently but a lot of their criteria for purchasing the house was room for 4 boys and a layout condusive to a mother-in-law with disabilities and health issues. Therefore, a finished and functional backyard wasn't high on their list of priorities. Please help them out by voting here by clicking on PHOTO #2 (the broken back steps, story about 4 boys and MIL).

Radio station contest - backyard makeover

Thanks friends!
Cathy

Good Friday

Traditionally we haven't gone to church on Good Friday....we have often had family gatherings this evening, or spend it with our family because it's a rare "nothing-up" night for our family. Tonight though, a friend of ours is involved in a Living Last Supper play at their church and I think we might go check it out. This photo is from dress rehearsal.

First I have to decide...on this rainy-at-home day if I really want to get out of my PJs :)

Playing catch-up

I haven't posted any of my own work on here in so long...I'm not even sure where to start, but I think I'll start being more proactive in that arena.

I haven't scrapped a lot of layouts recently - I've been more inclined to do cards and play with some new art-forms I'm discovering but I really miss the layouts. Here are a few I did awhile ago...maybe just posting them here will get me back in the mood :) These 3 were published in the January issue of Scrapbook News and Review.

An Early Morning Cup of Coffee
This is a page in my album "I love how you love me" that I started about my DH.
Journaling reads: "This morning you brought me coffee in bed as I was reading and procrastination getting up and ready for church. You seem to know when it would be the very best treat."

Don't wanna miss a thing
I love this photo of my youngest son. I helped chaperone a field trip he took in Kindergarten and I think this was his first time on a school bus. He was fascinated with everything about the bus and about the ride there with this elevated view. He must have spent the whole trip staring out the window. I dug through my stash and found some great cross-stitch fabric that matched his tuque....love the texture it adds!

Family Photos
This layout was created when I was on the Rose Moka DT. Their paper is so beautiful with all the distressing around the edges that I almost didn't want to put anything on it LOL. Plus, I'm a sucker for good ledger paper!! A friend of mine cut the snowflake and swirl out of Clear Scraps acrylic for me on her Sizzix machine so I blinged them up a little with paint and stickles. The photo itself is taken by my friend Maria's dad....he was so nice, spending an hour in the park on this cold November day taking our family pictures.
Mental note: dogs aren't usually willing participants in family photos.

I haven't posted any of my own work on here in so long...I'm not even sure where to start, but I think I'll start being more proactive in that arena.

I'm sure there's even a way I could keep track if I'd only just try LOL.