create!

This art journal has grown! There are 100's of folks on this caravan! The kindest and most complimentary folks ever!
This past weeks itinerary had color and this quote as some of the prompts to help us create! I am wanting to try and do new things with this. This was a real different one for me. To take a quote and "act" it out with elements, and style of font and alpha. I enjoyed it. I also loved the quote!
The writing on the side is to help me when I cut out the layout and put in my book! I upload to the caravan gallery, and it needs (in my mind) to have that explanation!

Okay, this next layout is due to the hit to my gut that came when I heard my Pastor and dear family would be leaving our home church in New Mexico and take over a church in Yuma, Arizona. I was sad, mad, and fighting accepting it! Whole lotta tears...and prayers, because accepting it HAD to happen! lol, it was gonna happen if I accepted or not, and all I was going to do was bring grief and pain to my own life...The word prompt was ACCEPT. ugh
So, as I accepted it, and my prayers became clean and clear as the vision for the lost here in Yuba City, for the lost right here! I took the next weeks word of MEND. I really felt I needed to have in my book the mending power of Jesus Christ. The whole reason we are here! It was a fun layout to do! Blending elements was a good learn also!

Twump!

Archery? This is so not me! The local home school group I belong to sent out a reminder for FREE archery classes. My keen eye picked up on FREE rather quick. I was very wary, very, very wary. I figured there were strings. I was wrong! I was very wrong. Fantastic!
Years and years ago, my hubby, Tony had done archery with what is called a compound bow. This is olympic style bows. Tony even got in on the fun.


First Shawn explain safety and the know hows of archery. The kids were glued to his words. This blew me away. The really listened. I think they were just as blown away mom was letting them use weapons!
The rules are lean and they mean business. Whistles are to be listened to and heeded!! How nice to have someone else work with listening skills!! ha ha
Eric of course excelled. He is such an athlete. He is left handed but wanted to do this right handed. I have no idea why, but he did excellent.

Abby was so serious...her little belly hitting against the bow! tee hee...she actually won a prize for most hits. They spin a color wheel for where they should aim...yellow, red, blue, black or white! This is not just for bulls-eyes! Anna was a bit hard to get a picture of, her being left handed and against the wall. She had the most obscure hit, the lights! ha ha...she was a bit frustrated, but got into the spirit of it.
Gabriel LOVED it! His elbow was raw, til Dad pulled his leather protector thingee (I'm sure it has nifty keen-o name) up his arm. His grouping of the arrows was fantastic. Tony told me that was a good thing. I smiled and enjoyed how much they were enjoying it!
We got home about 5:30ish...it is an hour and half class. Waiting for the kids to play was one of the neighborhood kids. The were so excited to tell him about their archery class, with bows and real arrows!
Content mom!

interupt this blog for a chance to win

As some of you know we are trudging, okay trudge is not the right word...because it is fun. Rosetta Stone for Spanish. I want to learn sign language and Punjabi. Spanish is first! Buuut...that being typed, I am trying to win products from Rosetta Stone, so I am posting this ad:


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Hurry, registration for the trip ends February 15, 2010.

For your chance to win a Rosetta Stone language product, please visit Heart of the Matter. Entries are being accepted until February 1st.

I don't mind...go enter...if I don't win, I would love someone I know win! :)

Wanna Get Free Kits-that are AWESOME?

Netta, the owner of Creative Victorian Designs and a woman I am proud to call my friend is having a call. This is a huge thing. Netta's designs are top notched. She has a high standard for excellence. I have been on her team for over 30 kits! Yep 30 kits! I started with her March 2009, and she is a machine!
If you think you have what it takes, email her admin@creativevictorian.com and tell her you saw her ad here on my blog. She will send you a kit to "try out" with and then decide.

This is not your everyday designer. Go to her store, see the work she has, remarkable! Never CT'd before, but love scrapping...give it a whirl. Scared still, come on, I am on her team, it'll be fun!

My art journey picks up passengers.

Tangie Baxter's Art Journal Journey is amazing. Every week a new itinery, with so many inspirations that it is remarkable...then the talent in the caravan oozes into the forums to learn from some amazing artist. So all that is way cool, but then Tangie just for fun throws more things in just because she wants too..I mean this thing is a living thing that grows and grows...so way cool.
The latest is Junque Journal...envision your junk drawer and box of things that you don't want but if you had a real fun place to put it, you would put them in a junque journal. We are making one for each of us.
We bought our composition books today and spent an hour picking out fun clippies at Staples. An hour!

Glueing our papers in...where ever we want. This is such a great project as there is no wrong way or right way...just a fun way.
Annabo has drama oozing even when we do crafts...ha ha She had just torn her paper and she sounded just like Tangie from her video...oh well, it just adds character!
This is a huge statement...we had been doing the papers and laughing about things as we made the journals, and the Doritos's did not get eaten. Doritos are the favorite snack...but she forgot they were even there!

Christine and her kids over at Coffee, Tea and Me had a nifty pencil trick she showed on Wednesday last week. She said she would come back the next day and show us how it was done? A week later, no answer...lol...so we tried it today...complete failure. This trick looks so easy and then your hands get in the way!

The answer to the puzzle was FINALLY shown by Christine sloooooooooow motion...and Anna and I both got it...hilarious. I think her J and my Gman are so much the same...
Eric well, he is my teen and just makes me smile!

Then Anna watched Abby do it, but not on film so a sequel was asked for...

Okay Mom the recipe for cake balls:
1 cake mix
1 frosting tub
1 package of bark(we prefer chocolate)

Cook cake mix in 13x9 as directed.
Cool 45 minutes

pop out of pan into bowl and crumble

Then add the frosting to the crumbled cake....it is gooey and yummy now! We used a butter cake this time with German Chocolate Coconut Pecan Frosting...and oh man they are marvelous!

Next, spoon drop onto wax paper...it helps to have 4 kids or Grandchildren over to do this part!

After they make all the drops, they roll them to make smooth balls. Roll in palm of hand. I like to put them in fridge now for at least a few hours...we all get to eat one or two naked cake balls at this time! ha ha
At this time, I forgot to keep taking pics, so you just melt the bark..I do it in the microwave and use a fork so the chocolate drips off back into the small bowl. I do 1/3 of chocolate at a time. It works for me! One of the ladies who turned me onto it has a Red Velvet one Here you can view how she did it!

JUMP!

An apartment with a pool or a house with a yard for a trampoline? This is one of the big questions we posed to kids before moving to California. Gabriel, Abby and Anna wanted a pool, Eric was firm for a yard and trampoline. We had a trampoline in New Mexico. It swallowed our little tiny yard. They would go on it..but not much. It was a smaller one.
A few months after arriving in Cali, we made the big purchase for a HUGE trampoline! It was the smartest purchase. Yeah, we have had a trip to emergency room for a sprained ankle.
I have 4 kids that play and play hard. Emergency trips are part of the bargain.
I took a few pics for you to enjoy...I laughed so hard after we uploaded the pics!
Here's Gman, who was all alone, just jumping and playing with the ball! I had video's him earlier beating the snot out of the same ball!

Abby has really been enjoying the trampoline...she gets some air! She does this slam on her back and a crunch sit up that pulls her back up. She does it over and over and over...til my tummy hurts!
The horizontal just cracks me up!

Eric is just cool. He gets so high, that I admit I get nervous. I love him here upside down!oh, and Anna does jump, but since she is so much lighter than everyone, she is the one that gets bounced out of control...so she likes hula hoop! Gotta love those new shoes...the girl loves her shoes...we went to get church shoes and she got some heels and these..she will try EVERY shoe on in the store and oh she knows what she likes.
We had so much rain the last few days, but it comes with a wicked wind that once that rain stops it dries fast! They rush to get on to play the numerous games they have invented!
Glad Eric stuck to his guns, this was the better deal!

Storm is Coming!

... A VERY WET AND WINDY WEEK AHEAD FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA...

A VERY STRONG JET STREAM IS MAKING ITS WAY ACROSS THE PACIFIC AND WILL RESULT IN WET AND WINDY WEATHER ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. PERIODS OF SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR INTO THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK.

WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BE HEAVY AT TIMES THIS TONIGHT AND MONDAY WITH THIS FIRST SYSTEM. THIS STORM WILL BRING SIGNIFICANT RAIN TO THE VALLEY AND HEAVY SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS. MODERATE TO STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING AND ON MONDAY.

The front page of the paper warned us to get it all cleaned and ready. This is new to us, and apparently the January (2008) the storm took out the electricity for a few days and was a mess. This is supposed to be of the same caliber.

Eric was up on the roof cleaning out the gutters...see that smile? This kid loves to work and be on the roof is a big thing!

He would throw the gunk...which is compost really and stinks off onto the ground and then run a hose to clean them all out. Our gutters are so clean! The water will rush right out and down the street!
The younger brother; Gabriel still is on the ground, and had a super attitude as he went around and scooped up the gunk Eric was tossing to ground. G-man was rather proud that he figured out to put the dust pan onto the garbage bin.


Even Tony got into cleaning it all up! The bushes needed to be cut back also. He is up there in his good clothers...*sigh*
Meanwhile, the girls were cleaning their room. Anna is under the bed and the treasures they found!
I went for a walk! lol,

Raining in California!

My office is official rearranged! and it is just so comfy now and makes scrapping more assessable! I have been kinda hanging out over at Scrap Book Graphics due to the Art Journal Caravan. There are some fun challenges.
This first one is for Tangie Baxter's CT's, a fresh start:
I am up to two and 1/2 miles now in one hour walking. The funny thing is I like it! I found this site that tells you how far away a place is, so I think that I am just 2.5 miles closer to these places each time I walk. My strange little brain working over time! For those who know me, nothing unusual!
Okay, this is so beyond me...and what I will do for $2 to Tangie's store! It was to make a room or decorate a home for fairies! I could only see dandelions and baby fairies. I love learning new ways to use the digi supplies I have. It is helping to get me out of the cluster and photo layout!
Tuesday evening I love the chat over at Scrap Book Graphics...and it is fun! I won $10 for Lorie Davison's store! Each week the hostess Kate (the list maker) took our thoughts for a layout...and this is all we were aloud to use:
It is a fun time. I enjoyed scrapping today, just for fun. Not one CT "gotta" layout...just fun and I actually guffawed a few times while scrapping.
So, no school tomorrow, but I have to be responsible and get the school work together!

Oh yes we can! We are oozing back into homeschool this week. I painted the other part of the kitchenette yesterday. (where my puter and fridge reside)
Today, we did just Math. Eric tucked into his corner with headphones finishing the last few lessons in pre-algebra Teaching Textbooks! The youngest 3 and me began our Math-U-See adventure. I can only say, "wow!" They got it. I have spent 3 months trying to explain area. Did I say explain. I hounded, drew pictures, screamed and yelled and area was a word, a concept out of their reach.
One day with Math-U-See and Gabriel says, oh that is area! ONE DAY!! Dear sweet Anna took a bit longer, she had to grasp the stacking and she has to have order with colors...I showed her to use different colors for the numbers and you could visible see her relax. It clicked. Abby smiled the whole time, as we whipped thru all of chapter one in one day!

well that's a flattering look!

We got the kids these huge jawbreakers for Christmas. I mean huge! They change colors as you like them! The middle has a fizzy substance. I remember these as a kid. Lick forever. Hammer once! Yep in a plastic bag and hit with hammer! Abby got a piece small enough to fit in her mouth, but still large. Notice the lovely white sugar powder all around her mouth? ha ha ha
Just finished painting the walls in my computer/fridge room. ha ha it is supposed to be the dining room, but since our dining room is where our living room is supposed to be..ya get the picture?
It is so nice and clean!
My honey is in Arizona for some butt kicking preaching and in the most beautiful hotel in the city! On top of the valley! lol He so needs to be spoiled and hear some good preaching!

January FREE Template!

No strings, you can just go and get it, but wouldn't it be fun to play along?

CLick here for Download LInk png and psd

I am honored to be a part of the Challenge Team over at Creative Victorian Designs. I love making templates for folks to play with. I would love to see what you do with the template, join us in the challenge and get this free gift just for playing along:There are more fun challenges too, stay and play!

the caravan continues

I lay in bed thinking what did I do, I'm not an artist, I'm a digi scrapper. As a preteen, pre jr high kid, art class seemed so bohemian and artistic and rich pumpernickel bread. I was white wonder bread. I took typing!That didn't stop me from glancing in that room of mysteries!
The first stop in the caravan is ONE word! I had done the previous pages first and was in aargh mode about the journaling. I did NOT want to sound whinny. I liked typing. lol But I have always wanted to have some artistic talent. I just didn't have an outlet. That combined with peer pressure and ridiculous notions about myself I didn't persue art.
My word ACCESS~as I now have access to art.
Well-I'm on an art journal journey! This is how it is gonna look in my book! I like the flaps. Because I can do a full page on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet sideways or rip the flap off and just have single page.
I attached the page with double stick tape to the garden pages that came in the journal!
See how it opens to show more to the story.The original paper shows here, so you can see, I am covering this up~kinda cool to me, cause I am growing and yeah maybe it is weird and funky to think it..but that's okay I can be weird and funky.The journal is now attached and folds up nicely. When opened flat you get the whole story to the key hole and the shadow to my unruly hair! ha ha