TYCAALAK

This weeks layouts..

2012-01-25T16:53:00.002-07:00

New layouts just listed on Etsy! :)

New listings up on ETSY

2012-01-19T10:51:00.005-07:00

Here are this weeks new listings just posted on ETSY. I will no longer be selling on ebay due to the high fees. Everything will be listing on ETSY at buy it now prices.

Please note that all of my piecings are NOT done with patterns of any sort. All the piecings are from my own drawings, hand cut and hand shaded.

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-09T13:47:00.003-07:00

After taking some time off, I have decided to come back to scrapbooking... Oh how I have missed it! :) I will no longer be listing on ebay as the fees have just gotten too high. I will now be listing on etsy only at buy it now prices! I currently have many piecings on etsy as well as all of my pattern discs and a few finished layouts.... I am so excited to be back and look forward to sharing my weekly listings and to hearing some layout and pattern ideas!

Happy Holidays from my home to yours...

2010-12-18T11:11:00.005-07:00

Sorry that I have taken such a long break from my blog. Things around our house have been a little crazy these past few weeks. Hopefully, I can get myself back to a better schedule this coming year. I will be sharing a few of my Christmas layouts this weekend, but I first wanted to share the decorations around my home.

Happy Holidays! :)

I LOVE Halloween........

2010-09-24T11:34:00.003-06:00

I don't know if it is because my birthday is the day after Halloween, but this holiday has always been a special one for me. :) I just love doing Halloween layouts and would really do them all year if I could! I love thinking of new ways to dress up my little bears and new haunted houses to build! Here are a few more that I did this week and I am guess there will be more to come! :)

The Pixie Cottage: Autism Benefit

2010-09-24T11:27:00.001-06:00

The Pixie Cottage: Autism Benefit: "We here at The Pixie Cottage are thrilled to have a little artist who volunteered her time and her art to help a worthy cause. Let me introd..."

This past weeks listings

2010-09-20T08:59:00.004-06:00

Finally able to sit down at the computer longer than 5 minutes! :) Brian was out of town all week last week, then Alexis came down with the stomach flu so my time was very limited. Here are the layouts that I was able to get done and listed last week. I just LOVE Fall and Halloween layouts! They are truly my all time favorite layouts to do...

The hunt for a job is not going so well. The opportunities are just not out there right now. I have been out of work for 10 years now and it looks like I will have to apply for a starting position, boo.... :( Maybe it is time to begin a new career.....

It has been a tough couple of months

2010-09-15T14:26:00.002-06:00

While on a mini vacation to California this July, my mother called with sad news. My Great Aunt Alice passed on the Big Island of Hawaii. She was the matriarch of our family and had lived a long life. She was 96 at her passing. My biggest regret was that I was unable to go home for the funeral, I felt like I let my mother down... :(

Also during our vacation, we found out that Brian's Aunt Shirley had taken a turn for the worst. When we got back home to Colorado, we planned a trip to visit her. It was just going to be for the weekend, spending as much time as we could with her. Brian's sister was going to be flying in from Kuwait to spend some time with her that weekend as well. Well, to our dismay and great sadness, we didn't make it home in time. We all kept our plans and the funeral was planned for that weekend. Aunt Shirley was not just an Aunt to Brian and his sister, she was like their mother, and like a Grandmother to my children. She will be greatly missed......

BABY FURNITURE PAPER PIECING CD

2010-08-31T16:06:00.005-06:00

I am so thrilled to finally be done with this disc!!!! It took me way longer than the other pattern discs due to the detail of most of these piecings.... What you will find on this disc:

How to put together one of these piecings - through pictures, list for you my favorite supplies to make these piecings, full size pictures, layout ideas, and will also share with you some of my tips and techniques.

Patterns included in this disc are:

~ Crib

~ 3 Drawer Dresser

~ Blanket

~ Changing Table

~ Stool

~ Window

~ Small Topiary

~ Large Topiary

~ Stroller/Carriage

~ Bouncy Seat

~ Sippy Cup

~ Cabinet

~ High Chair

~ Kitchen Stand

~ Hot Air Balloon

Patterns discs are available on ebay as well as etsy... :)

This past weeks listings......and more!

2010-07-15T09:53:00.005-06:00

This week has not been the best of weeks. My AOL account was hacked into and I lost all of my email contacts, all of my orders, and all of the layout ideas sent to me. I had this account for over 15 years and I really didn't think that I would have to back it up in anyway. I was SO wrong! I would look over my emails to fill my orders, but that is all gone now. Some of the names I don't even remember, so if you are reading this and I have not gotten to your order yet, please leave me a comment here. :( Thankfully, I don't take payment up front!

I will be taking off for the next two weeks! The family and I will be heading to Cali for a much needed break. We are hoping to rejuvenate ourselves at the beach and poolside. We weren't able to get the family home to Hawaii this summer like we had hoped. We felt bad for taking the beach and family away from them, so Cali was the next best thing. :) We are excited to be spending some time with one of my dearest friends Chris and her family and also meeting Julie's family - I feel like I already know them!!! We are also going to be able to take Alexis to Disneyland. (Look for some Disney layouts when I return!!!!) Talking about returning......It has finally come down to me getting a job to help with the family expenses. With a son going to college, and things slowing down horribly at ebay and etsy, I have been left with no other choice but to return to the working world.... I really can't complain. I have been able to spend the last 7 years at home with my children doing what I love. I have made some great friends, and have the best customer base ever! To tell you the truth, I am really afraid to go back to work. Things have changed quite a bit since I have been out. Thankfully, accounting remains accounting, just the programs have changed. I will most likely not be able to continue doing layouts, but will keep the Pattern CD's up, as well as continue to design stamps for The Pixie Cottage. I will keep you all informed on the job search....

Listings up for this week...

2010-07-02T09:54:00.003-06:00

I took a huge risk by doing some boy layouts this week. I am really not sure why, I guess it goes in spurts, but my sales on boy layouts don't always do so well so I tend to shy away from them. When I first started selling on ebay I did very well with them. Over the years, not so much. :) I have been trying to go through the thousands of paper in my stash and found this dinosaur paper that I just had to use again. I thought, how could I make it different from the last? Ah, my little kids as cavemen!!! I really did love the way they came out, the little girl even has bones in her ponytails. The treehouse is always a fun summer one to do, this time I tried to change it up a little. :) I have been doing layouts for over 7 years - at least 4 or 5 a week... Sometimes ideas are few and far between when you have just about done them all! :) :) Remember, suggestions are always welcomed.....

This past weeks listings......

2010-06-22T09:18:00.002-06:00

UGH! My office is just so hot! It is the room above the garage. I am sure that is part of the reason, that and the air just doesn't come blaring into this room like it does the others. Summer is one of the hardest times for me to get any work done. I am just not feeling so creative when all I can think about is how hot I am! :) I was able to get two double layouts, one one page, and a couple of piecings done despite the heat. I my only hope is that I will be able to do the same this week, we are in the 90's and at 9:25 am, I am already hot.... :)

Teachers gift

2010-06-21T09:39:00.003-06:00

Teachers gift ideas are always a little hard for me. I try to give them something a little different, yet something they can really use. This year, Alexis's teacher LOVED bears. How perfect for me, but what to do, what to do? I thought about it for awhile and came up with this note book - what better for a teacher right? :) This was one of those with the fabric binding covering the spiral and a sturdy plastic cover. It also had a piece of elastic sewn into the binding for a pen! So I cut the backing piece of paper to the correct size of the note book and added my little bear holding a pencil and a couple of school books on the side with an apple on top. I LOVED the way it turned out and her teacher was happy to receive it! :)

Did I really forget

2010-06-16T21:27:00.002-06:00

to publish last weeks layouts? Why yes I did! Yep, this is the kind of weeks I have been having! :) I guess it is because the children are out of school and keeping me way busy! :) I will put up my listings for this week tomorrow along with the teachers gift I made this year.

This weeks listing....

2010-06-06T16:43:00.003-06:00

So I found this really adorable paper stack at Hobby Lobby this week filled with Princess Papers!!!! I LOVE just about every sheet in it!!! I only used it for one of the 4 layouts I did this week. That was only because I found it on Wednesday and I was listing that day and had already finished the other 3!! So guess what I will doing this coming week? :)

Where have I been for the last two weeks!

2010-06-04T19:49:00.004-06:00

Well first off my oldest, Tyler graduated from high school on the 20th of May. My mother, sister, niece, and nephew came in from Hawaii for the graduation and stayed for a week. It started with the awards ceremony on a Wednesday night, graduation on Thursday, then his party on Friday night..... We spent the rest of their time here together, going here and there. We went out to dinner EVERY NIGHT (thank you Mom) and I seriously gained 4 pounds!!!! Work out video here I come! :)

It is really hard to have your house full of family and then to have them gone. I took the rest of the time off to get myself together. Here are a couple of the graduation photos. My son has decided to go to CU Denver for the first two years and commute. Can I just say Thank God he is not leaving. I was just not ready to let him go!!!! :) :)

I was able to get back to work this week and will be posting those layouts sometime this weekend!

This weeks listings and a new CD idea

2010-05-15T08:45:00.002-06:00

This will more than likely be the last couple of layouts for the next two weeks. My son will be graduating from high school this week and we will have family in town till next tuesday. My mother, sister, niece, and nephew will be flying in from Hawaii and Brian's mom will be coming in from Maryland. It will be both a busy and exciting week. I truly can not believe that my little boy will be graduating, time does fly by really fast.......

So these are the listings for this week. I have also listed a custom pattern cd on ebay. You will be able to pick your favorite 15 animals from my 3 animal pattern discs for one low price. I have also listed a few paper piecing sets from my shabby collection on etsy. Hope everyone has a great week and I will be posting some graduation pictures later in the week. :)

This past weeks listings......

2010-05-10T10:31:00.001-06:00

This weeks listings......

2010-05-02T10:15:00.003-06:00

I am gearing up to do a baby paper piecing CD can you tell? :) This week I had fun doing more baby layouts and especially loved the stork. :) I have a few busy weeks coming up with my son graduating high school, my mother and sister coming for a visit, as well as my mother in law. I am hoping that once things calm down, I will be able to sit and get it done. I have also been asked to come up with some Hawaiian designs for a variety of items, cards, ect. so I will also try to squeeze in some time to do those. I have also got to sit down and draw up so designs for stamps for the PIXIE COTTAGE.... Busy busy busy, but loving it!

SHABBY FURNITURE PAPER PIECING PATTERNS!!!!!!

2010-04-21T20:20:00.005-06:00

I am so excited that I have finally finished the disc and it is up and listed on both ebay and etsy!!!!! I worked long hours on this one and I am hoping that it does well..... I really did have a great time working on designing these pieces and am thrilled to be sharing them. There are so much more uses than on scrapbook layouts like cards, shadow boxes, you name it!!!!

I think I am going to work on a baby CD next! :)

This weeks listings......

2010-04-15T16:06:00.003-06:00

Another week of shabby designs! I am thinking that I might have enough designs to do a new pattern disc. Now to sit down and design the patterns! I guess that is what I get for drawing out the piecing and adding to it as I go along. I have no patterns and have to recreate them to do them again. :)

CU BOULDER

2010-04-12T09:01:00.002-06:00

We decided to take a last minute trip up to Boulder this past Friday. Well the actual trip wasn't last minute - just the overnight stay was. Tyler had an admitted student day on campus that was to begin at 7 am Saturday morning. Boulder is about an hour away from where we live so at the last minute we decided "why not pull the kids out of school and have a short hotel stay?" The kids were of course excited. We spent as much time as we could in the pool and spent the rest of the time exploring the town. The backdrop is simply gorgeous. The town itself has both good and bad spots, I think the thing I was surprised about is just how small the town is. We did also drive by the infamous "hill" at CU. A little surprising, but I have to keep in mind this is college and YES my son is old enough to be here even though I still look at him as my little boy. I totally now get why Tyler wants to go to school here, it is both a great school with an awesome program and the setting, it is just so beautiful.... I think my son might actually be moving this fall.. :( I told him that we are gonna be moving with him.....yeah, it didn't go off too well with him.. :)

This past weeks listings......

2010-04-12T08:52:00.003-06:00

Wasn't able to get last weeks listing up until today. :) It was yet another busy week in our household. I always wonder why everything just seems to be packed into the end of the school year. I did a few more coordinating listings in the shabby chic theme for the week. I am thinking after I complete a couple more orders, I will sit down and do this shabby furniture disc. I would love to hear what other patterns you would like to see on this disc. Either leave a comment here or email me! :)

This weeks listings......

2010-04-02T15:31:00.003-06:00

Having a little fun again with the shabby furniture! I am actually thinking about doing an entire patterned disc with the furniture piecings that I have come up with. Now to find the time to sit down and do it. :)

Buy It Now listings up now on ebay

2010-03-26T16:35:00.004-06:00

I had some extra time today and didn't really want to clean the house (who ever does :) ). It is yet another cold and snowy March day here in Colorado so I thought why not make up some one page layouts and do some buy it nows on ebay. :) Here is what I came up with... :)

This weeks listings......

2010-03-24T19:33:00.003-06:00

This week the ideas came a little easier. We took a trip up to Archivers and we all know a trip to the scrap store is always a good thing. :) Here are the listings that went up this week....

This past weeks listings......

2010-03-23T09:54:00.003-06:00

Sorry about getting these up late this week, these are actually last weeks listings, though they are still available on ebay with the auctions ending tomorrow.

This May and June are going to be very busy months and the planning is actually taking way longer than I wanted. Just when you think you have things together, ready to book flights, and hotels, something comes up. :) This year my oldest, Tyler, is graduating from high school. My mother, sister and mother in law, will be flying for the ceremonies at the end of May. Just a few days later, we are supposed to be in Maryland for Brian's brothers wedding. When we return, we will have about a week at home then we will be back on a plane flying to Hawaii for my Grandfather 90th birthday. It will be a two island trip so trying to squeeze all of that into 10 days is proving to be a little more planning than I thought.

I should be back tomorrow with my listings for this week.

This weeks listings......

2010-03-14T21:11:00.002-06:00

This weeks listings......

2010-03-05T16:52:00.003-07:00

This week I had Disney on my mind. :) Alexis has been begging to go. This year we will be going home and to Brian's brothers wedding, so again no Disney for her. I feel really bad for her, all her friends have gone and talk about how much fun it it. I tried to tell her " we are going to Hawaii this summer, how many of your friends can say that?" I guess in the mind of a seven year old, Disney would be so much more fun. Maybe next year..... :)

Last weeks listings....

2010-03-03T16:59:00.004-07:00

I wasn't able to get the listing up for last week to my blog. While I was posting these layouts to ebay last week, I started feeling bad - I mean - really bad..... I ended up coming down with a horrible flu bug. It normally takes a lot to render me down and out, and this did it! I am finally starting to come around and it feels good. Now, I am just hoping that I was able to confine it to only me...

This weeks listings......

2010-02-17T19:50:00.002-07:00

I was really happy to have finished four layouts this week! :) Last week, things were a little tough and all I could get up were some piecings.. This week, I came across this new stack from My Minds Eye and I just knew what I was going to do! :) I just LOVE it when the ideas flow. :)

Seriously......

2010-02-03T19:39:00.006-07:00

I didn't realize that I hadn't posted in so long until I started to attach the pictures! Wow, I only posted once in January! YIKES! :) :) When I first started this blog, I had great intentions on posting at least once a week. Looks like I am not doing such a great job. :) I have been busy designing stamps, and currently designing a swan logo for my oldest and dearest friends charity Tehyaton. Sadly, I have also been looking for a job outside the house. I truly enjoy what I am doing and have been doing for the past 7 years, but the economy has taken a huge toll on my "business". We had to close our webstore and Etsy has also slowed down to a trickle. With my son going to college this Fall it looks like I will have to bite the bullet and go to work for someone else. YIKES, just putting that in print is pretty scary. Unfortunately, there are not too many people in my area looking for an accountant - yes, I am an accountant by trade. :) Crafting has always been my way of relieving stress and taking sometime for myself. I was/am truly blessed to have been able to stay at home with the children and to be doing something that I love all these years.

This weeks listings......

2010-01-07T15:12:00.002-07:00

Sorry about the picture quality. I got a new camera with some of my Christmas money this past week and well an unfamiliar new toy and bad lighting really doesn't mix. It snowed just about all day yesterday and my office was a bit dark and gloomy - actually the entire house was! I did finally play with the editing on iphoto but I am still not happy with the quality. Oh well. :) Here are my listings for this week. I was actually surprised that I was able to get four done!

This weeks listings......

2009-12-18T10:51:00.003-07:00

This week has been a bit busy. I am sure we are all doing our best to get our Christmas shopping finished. Seems like it is a never ending task! :) I will not being doing any layouts next week and will be doing a few piecings to help with the task of finishing up this years scrapbooks! LOVED doing the ice skating layout this week! My girls are naturals on the ice and are always trying to get their Dad to take them to the rink. It is a good thing he enjoys it as well!

Parker, CO at Christmas

2009-12-16T13:07:00.003-07:00

Our little town of Parker is a great place to live. You get small town living yet you are 20 minutes from Downtown Denver. My son had a photography project for school and these are just some of the pictures that he took. Gotta say, I just love our little town....

This weeks listings......

2009-12-10T07:26:00.003-07:00

Well here are this weeks listings. I was surprised that I was actually able to get four done this week. Something about this very very cold week that just left me feeling drained and tired. We haven't gotten past the 20 degree mark in about 3 days and it has gone as low as negative 15! The children actually had a delayed start yesterday due to the cold, it was negative 30 with the wind chill at around 7 am..... The bus stop was definitely NOT the place to be.. :)

My favorite layout this week would have to be the Nutcracker Ballet. It took me over four hours to complete due the detailing of the little bears outfits. There is Clara holding her nutcracker, The Prince, The Nutcracker, The Mouse King and what Nutcracker layout would be complete without the Sugarplum fairy! :)

Hope everyone is having a great week. I am going out today to enjoy the toasty 26 degrees!

Happy Holidays - Christmas 2009

2009-12-09T17:33:00.005-07:00

Happy Holidays!!!!! I have had my Christmas decorations up since the day after Thanksgiving!!!!! I just LOVE Christmas and decorating the house. I take pictures of my home to not only show my friends but my family. We live miles and miles away from both my family and Brian's. The only way we can share some of our home is through this blog.

From our home to yours Merry Christmas!!!!

Buy It Now listings up now on ebay

2009-12-05T12:56:00.004-07:00

Just listed these two cuties on ebay as BIN's. Fell in LOVE with the snowflake embellishments when I was at the craft store yesterday and just knew that I HAD to buy them!!!!!

This weeks listings......

2009-12-03T09:05:00.002-07:00

I seriously can't believe just how fast this year has gone by! I guess that is what happens when you keep yourself super busy. :)

I had a great time doing this weeks layouts! Who wouldn't LOVE working with glitter and I used a good deal of it this week! I get a variety of questions regarding the amount of time that it takes me to do a layout. I normally work on ebays listings Monday thru Wednesday, and spend Thursdays and Fridays doing special orders. It normally takes me around 4 hours to do one layout. The Christmas Caroling and the Santa's sleigh this week took over six hours each! I sometimes, get wrapped up in making the piecings and before I realize it, hours have flown by.

Hope that everyone is getting their shopping done! :)

2009-11-26T10:35:00.001-07:00

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

This weeks listings.....

2009-11-25T19:00:00.002-07:00

Here are this weeks listings..... I actually did a person! :) I kept putting of trying it thinking that I was not going to get the eyes right, the nose, or the mouth BUT Santa has most of that hiding behind his beard! :) Couldn't make it any easier. :) I am actually really happy with the way that he turned out so you may be seeing him making a few more appearances before Christmas!

The Pixie Cottage - Charity Auction

2009-11-24T08:24:00.011-07:00

What a great collaboration of artist in this charity auction hosted by the Pixie Cottage! There are over 20 handmade cards and a beautiful hand decorated box. The auction will run for 7 days on ebay and can be found here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370295806611&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_10446wt_1167

Sorry I can't get the link to work. :( You can copy and paste this to your browser or at eBay search product number 370295806611...

100% of the proceeds will go to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation....

Sneak Peek - Tonights Listings

2009-11-18T18:59:00.002-07:00

Boy is it hard when family leaves. Last week my Mother and sister came to visit. We had a really great visit, the children just loved having family around and being spoiled by them. Caitlin had a school play last week and was so happy to have her Nana and Aunt there. She was also thrilled to receive not one but THREE bouquets of flowers! :) That was the reason I had taken off last week, to spend some time with them. I so enjoyed it and getting back to work and on track this week was a little difficult for me..... None the less, I was able to complete 4 layouts! :) Glad to be in a new season where ideas flow...... :)

Let it snow part II

2009-11-04T12:44:00.006-07:00

After all is said and done with last weeks snow, our final totals were 24 inches! Can you believe that!? Of course this IS Colorado so most of it has already melted and by the time my Mother and sister get here on Saturday there will be nothing left.... :( Here are some of the final pictures. All I can say it thank goodness for snowblowers and NOT having to shovel!!!!!

This weeks listings.

2009-11-04T12:30:00.013-07:00

Here are your sneak peeks for this week! I FINALLY did the layout that my husband has been suggesting for weeks - a Thanksgiving Mayflower layout with Pilgrim bears on the ship and Indians on the second page.. :) I have to admit, I have done over 1500 layouts for ebay over the 6 years I have been selling, at times I am just out of ideas. I sometimes sit at my desk for hours thinking. Poor guy tries to give me some ideas and if I just am not "feeling" it, it isn't going to work. This week I was "feeling" it. :) I am ALWAYS up for ideas so please feel free, at anytime, to leave them in the comments section. If I am not "feeling" it this week, I may next week, or the next week!!!!

I will be taking some time off next week. My mother and sister will be coming from Hawaii for a visit and I will spending some much needed time with them! The children are very excited to be spending time with family as well! Caitlin is super excited that they will be here for her play! Enjoy next week, I will!!!!!!

This weeks listing....

2009-10-28T21:36:00.006-06:00

The listings this week will signal the end of my Halloween layouts for this year. I must say that I have had fun dressing my little bears in various costumes and I think that this weeks listing is my all time favorite! My youngest, Alexis, is going as Sponge Bob Squarepants and so I fashioned the costume after hers! I will, however, have to add a sweat suit, jeans, and a long sleeve shirt to her costume. As you can see in my earlier post we will have tons of snow on the ground for their trick or treating this year. I am also having fun with the Disney rides. This week I did the Dumbo ride. :) Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Let it snow........

2009-10-28T17:48:00.006-06:00

Well we are in the middle of a winter storm..... What does that mean for us? 10 to 20 inches of snow! We might actually get more, we were at 10 inches by 6pm this afternoon. We are expecting another round of snow tonight through the afternoon tomorrow that should double what we already have on the ground! The children got a snow day and may have one more tomorrow. We live in Colorado so snow days are NOT a norm - snow is, days off not so much. Even the snow delays are only an hour. So that they even got a snow day was a surprise.... When I woke my daughter Cat this morning to tell her that they had a snow day she told me, "Is that a school snow day or a mom snow day?". Okay being from Hawaii, one inch should constitute a snow day and I HATE to drive in it so I give them way more snow days then the school district does. :) Here are a couple of pictures that I took today and will take more tomorrow to show how much more we got.

Can you even see Tyler's car in this picture? I took it from my office window. :)

This weeks listings

2009-10-21T20:04:00.008-06:00

I am so lucky to have gotten these layouts done this week! The kids are off on Fall break and so Brian also decided to take this week off as well... It is really nice having the whole family home but it is also hard to get things done. They did spend a good deal of time out, but I had a hard time not going with them.

I tried to do a little different layout with Disney this week. One of their most photographed rides, the tea cups! I love the way it came out but I am not sure I will be doing this one again, there are SO many little pieces to this one...

Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!!!!

The Pixie Cottage stamps

2009-10-16T14:53:00.011-06:00

A few days back, I announced that I was going to be one of the new illustrators at The Pixie Cottage. What an exciting new adventure. This morning, I got a note from Jan of Scrappy Jan Designs letting me know that she has used one of my stamps and to view her card! She did such gorgeous job! Jan really has a way of putting papers and colors together like no one I know! Here is a link to her blog:
SCRAPPY JAN DESIGNS"

Also this morning, I get an email from Michelle of The Pixie Cottage letting me know that she has announced me as one of her new illustrators and a sneak peek of some of my new designs that she will be releasing!

Here is a link to The Pixie Cottage blog:

"THE PIXIE COTTAGE"

The stamps will be available for preorder at the end of this month with stamps arriving at the end of November at Michelle's Scrapbooking and More......

MICHELLE'S SCRAPBOOKING AND MORE"

Wednesdays sneak peek

2009-10-14T15:13:00.007-06:00

This has been a very busy week but I am happy to say I was able to get up the sneak peek before listing on ebay tonight. Alexis has been home due to fall break. We all know that with a little one home, not too much gets done. :) Gotta love a little one that has got to show you her drawings as she adds something new to it. I did manage to convince her (after day two) to put them all into a binder and that we would look them over as she finished a page.

Well, here are the listings for this week.

Want to win a copy of my paper piecing CD?

2009-10-13T10:34:00.007-06:00

I am very excited to be working with Sarah of A THRIFY MOM on the this give away!!! All you need to do for a chance to win is visit her blog and leave a comment on which of my paper piecing is your favorite! :)

The winner will receive:

One complete paper piecing animal – of your choice from the animal patterns offered in this CD, and a LIMITED EDITION COMPILATION CD of my Paper Piecing Patterns volumes 1 & 2. Product value $49.99 CD + $9.99 Piecing = $59.98. In this CD you will find 22 of my very own PAPER PIECING PATTERNS – JUNGLE ANIMALS, FARM ANIMALS, DINOSAURS, MYTHICAL CREATURES, BUGS, and a PEACOCK!!!! In this CD I will teach you, step by step – with photos, how to put one these piecings together. You will find tips on every pattern page for that specific piecing. I will also show you techniques such as chalk and ink shading and when it is best to use one technique versus another. Also in this CD, you will find:~ Basic paper piecing directions~ An explanation on how to make the best use of the pattern~ A list of my favorite piecing supplies~ Tips and Tricks for paper piecing~ Full size pictures of the animals piecings for ~ ELEPHANT~ GIRAFFE ~ HORSE ~ LION ~ PIG ~ ROOSTER ~ TIGER ~ ZEBRA ~ MONKEY ~ COW ~ TREX~ BRONTOSAURUS~ STEGOSAURUS~ PTERODACTYL~ TRICERATOPS~ DRAGON~ PEGASUS~ UNICORN~ LADYBUG~ BEE~ PEACOCK~

Just click on this link for your chance to win! "A THRIFTY MOM"

Mom, this ones for you. :)

2009-10-10T21:35:00.005-06:00

Here are a couple of pictures from Tyler's Homecoming Dance. A few of his friends planned a pot luck before the dance at one of the boy's homes. They had a great time and you can tell by the smile on Tyler's face surrounded by all those pretty girls....

Sneak Peek - Tonights Listings

2009-10-07T14:21:00.005-06:00

Finally able to get my layouts here for an actual sneak peek this week before listing on ebay tonight. :)

I, once again, had a great time making up Halloween layouts. My favorite this week would have to be the witch frog. I love the colors and the little bear in his/her frog halloween costume! I also did some separate Halloween costume piecings of my favorite bear costumes. I know that I am WAY early to be doing snow layouts, but we are expecting our second snow of the season this Saturday - I live in Colorado - so I just couldn't resist doing at least one snow layout. :)

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-03T22:15:00.010-06:00

Awhile back my friend Michelle, of "The Pixie Cottage" & BTDL, put out a call to our group asking if anyone was interested in submitting designs for her new line stamp line. I was very excited... But with the trip to Vegas coming up, I ran out of time to submit a drawing. Well the last call she put out I was NOT going to miss my chance to submit my drawings. I am thrilled to say that she has chosen a few of my designs to press into stamps!!!! The first one "Over the Moon" is currently on preorder in her store with stamps due to arrive the end of October! Please head on over to "The Pixie Cottage" at MICHELLE'S SCRAPBOOKING AND MORE, to view her wonderful new line of stamps!

This weeks listings

2009-10-02T23:02:00.006-06:00

Am I ever going to be able to get back on schedule! :) I really do want to be able to give you a sneak peek BEFORE I list the layouts. Most weeks now, I am rushing to get the listing done and posted. Hopefully with the change of seasons, I will have more time indoors and more time to get things done timely, well....... all I can do is hope. :)

This weeks listings

2009-09-24T08:55:00.006-06:00

Here are my listings for this week! :) Sorry I wasn't able to get them up before yesterdays auctions ended, I am just not feeling all that well this week. I kept Alexis home all of last week so that she could get over the cold that she had and well low and behold, I caught her cold.

It has been a really crazy week with the weather. We had snow, yep snow in September, and it has been really cold and gloomy all week. Gotta love Colorado. In grand Colorado weather fashion, we will be sunny with temps up to the high 70's this weekend... Can't wait!!!!! :) :)

Sneak Peek - Tonights Listings

2009-09-16T15:06:00.004-06:00

I am seriously having way to much fun doing the Halloween layouts. I just love the colors of the new Halloween paper line by K & Company. The purples, greens and oranges are just so vibrant and the textures......they are just so cool! Well here are tonight's listings, I was also able to get a Princess Carriage done as well as a few single paper piecing.

New Member.... Welcome Tammie

2009-09-16T09:59:00.003-06:00

We at BTDL are proud to announce our newest member Tammie - My Sweet Paper Dreams. Tammie makes the most gorgeous paper bag albums!!! Check out her listings this week on ebay, she will be listing a to die for "New Moon" album. I saw a cover preview and can I just say the winner of this album is going to be one lucky girl!!!! WELCOME TAMMIE!!!!!!

Layout ending this week

2009-09-14T08:52:00.004-06:00

It is my FAVORITE time of the year FALL!!! With Fall comes all of the fun activities, hay rides, picking and carving pumpkins, and Halloween!!!! Maybe Halloween is my all time favorite holiday because my birthday is the very next day. It has always been like a double holiday to me. I especially enjoy doing Halloween layouts and just couldn't help starting them already! I LOVE creating haunted houses, bats, pumpkins, dark moons, and little costume clad bears! Here is the start of my Halloween / Fall season with more to come this week...

Tyler's Senior Pictures

2009-09-04T09:54:00.003-06:00

Haven't made the final choice for senior pictures but here is one that is in the running. Senior year is filled with so many decisions and I have to thank my dear friend Shannon for making this one an easy choice. You can view some of her other awesome pictures on my left side bar link under Brittann Photography.

This weeks listings

2009-09-04T09:47:00.006-06:00

Sorry, I didn't get the sneak peek up this week before listing this weeks layouts. Time keeps flying from me! :) Here are this weeks listings, loving the Disney layout! Oh, I have also listed some separate piecings, fishing, beach and little pumpkins. Please view these listings by clicking on the ebay banner on the left sidebar. Have a great long weekend!

Sneak Peek - Tonights Listings

2009-08-26T19:06:00.005-06:00

This has not been the best week. My little one, Alexis, had a really tough school week and that translates to a tough one for Mom too. My goal was to get up 5 listing but it turned out to be a no go. I am actually happy that I was able to get the 4 up that I finished. :)

I would also like to welcome Trish - Little Scraps of Heaven - to our BTDL Design team. What a perfect fit she has turned out to be! You can view her work by searching BTDL on ebay. :)

Well here are my listings for this week.

So sorry for the long break!

2009-08-19T16:28:00.004-06:00

So sorry for taking such a long break..... Our family has not gone on a vacation in quite a while. This summer we actually had a chance to take two of them back to back. It was so much fun, but as you can imagine coming back after such a long time off, there was so much to catch up on. The children were starting school the week after we returned and I had done nothing in preparation for the big day. Our first trip was to Amarillo Texas. Brian had to help out in the store so we all tagged along. The children were able to spend the entire time in the pool! They had a blast. Me, not so much but it was okay because I knew that my time was coming. Next we went to Las Vegas for my uh um, reunion. (Not giving the year out! :) ) It was so much fun! Our high school drill team also had a mini reunion planned for the same time. We had all recently reconnected after all these years on facebook and thought it would be the perfect time, and it was! It was AMAZING seeing these women after all these years. It seriously felt like yesterday that we were all parading around our high school campus. Why Vegas when our high school is in Hawaii? Our school was about 90% military so a location on the mainland is actually the perfect location and where better than Vegas!? That's me in the center of the gorgeous blonds. :)

Sneak Peek - Tonights Listings

2009-08-19T16:18:00.005-06:00

It feels great to finally be caught up and blogging again. :) Here is a sneak peek into what I will be listing tonight on ebay. I know that we are way to early to be listing Fall layouts, BUT have you seen the newest stack from Debbie Mumm?! Oh My Goodness!!! I just couldn't wait to use these papers. I did limit myself to just one Fall layout. Don't really know how I did that! I also found the most adorable papers from Doodlebug and just couldn't resist doing another tea pot layout. I made this one to look like a decorated cake sitting on a cake plate. :) I know that I do tons of pastel layouts, but I really do love working with pastels! :) :) I also wanted to another Disney layout and set out to find something "original". I came up with the Main Street Trolley, this is my rendition.

The Pixie Cottage has opened up a great new line of stamps. I missed the first call for designers but this time, I AM NOT GOING TO MISS IT! I sat down last night to draw out a couple of my favorite piecings. I am keeping my fingers crossed! :)

New Items on Etsy and BTDLDesigns Webstore

2009-07-08T10:32:00.007-06:00

I am very excited to be adding these piecings to my etsy store and the BTDLDesigns webstore!!!! I will be going on vacation for a couple of weeks and will add them on my return. My new items will include : Hansel and Gretal and the house made of candy, the characters from the Wizard of Oz, and more from my Mother Goose series - Patty Cake and Jack be Nimble...

Red Rocks Theater

2009-07-08T10:21:00.005-06:00

While we were on the top of Dino Ridge, we saw an incredible view of Red Rocks Theater. Since we have never been there, we took a drive over. It is just gorgeous! The rock formations are very similar to those at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. For those not familiar with Red Rocks, they have a good deal of concerts there during the summer and were actually having one there that night so we not able to take the tour of the theater. We hope to go to a concert there this summer. :)

Dino Ridge - Morrison Colorado

2009-07-08T10:08:00.005-06:00

Brian had a few days off last week so we decided to take the children to a place we had heard about a few weeks earlier - Dino Ridge in Morrison. Many years back they found some dinosaur tracks during road construction. It was only recently that they closed this road and made it a protected site and stopped the public removal of fossils. This ridge is where the clash of the Continents happened a bazillion years ago. The beauty is beyond words, and the view from the top of ridge - breath taking. I know why they call this place "Colorful Colorado". :)

Global Warming

2009-06-23T18:39:00.008-06:00

Could this be the reason for our long winter, these frequent hail storms, and tornado warnings? We have pretty much had clear weather these past few days, but today, another major hail storm decided to literally park over our town of Parker. To make things a little worse, the minute the storm started, we lost our television connection. I was pretty much freaking out, but couldn't let the children know it. Thankfully, my neighbor still had reception and I was able to check with them if we were under a tornado warning, which thankfully we were not! Here are a few of the pictures that I took and one from the TV (when it came back up) of the hail.

Yet another day with Tornado warnings

2009-06-19T09:54:00.008-06:00

This is just getting to be a little too much! Monday our eyes stayed peeled to the sky. We saw some major storms overhead and when we turned on the tv it was confirmed, tornado warnings. I walked into my bedroom and looked out the window, sure enough we could see a funnel cloud. It was in Elizabeth about 20 to 25 minutes from my house. We watched it as it touched down, what a horrible scary thing! Luckily, no one was injured and it mostly stayed in open field. Needless to say it was very hard to concentrate on scrapbooking that day, all I could think of was the Wizard of Oz. So , guess what layout I have up this week? :) Here are a few of what is listed:

Jack and the Beanstalk, Beach Woody and of course, The Wizard of Oz..... I may have to offer the characters as a set next week.

Seriously, I live in Colorado NOT Kansas

2009-06-11T16:59:00.009-06:00

This is the 5th, yes FIFTH day in a row that we have been under Tornado warnings at some point in the day. Last Sunday one touched down just ten minutes from our house. Came out of nowhere and the only reason we knew anything was going on was that Brian had gotten a call from one of his guys telling him that they were going to close the store as there was a tornado behind it....

Well it was a pretty nice day today. The kids chose to stay at home while I went out to grocery shop. My first stop was at Target. I could hear the thunder in the store and when I got out, it looked relatively dark and gloomy, but still looked far away. I made a call home and asked Tyler to turn on the local stations and see if there were any warnings out. He did and said "nope, nothing." I told him I was going to go to Safeway and would check back with them. I put the phone down on my seat, HUGE mistake, and drove to Safeway. While in line I overheard the cashier saying that there were funnel clouds spotted over Stone Gate..... STONE GATE! That is right across the road from my house! I reach for my phone, oh no, I left it in the car!!!!! Then the hail starts and the sirens.... Oh no! There is now a crowd of people watching from inside the store at what is happening outside. All of them are talking on their phones, so I go over to customer service to use the phone.. Well NO ONE ANSWERS - I called 3 times.. I am in a panic now, I don't remember anyones cell numbers, they are in my phone, in the car, which feels like a mile away..... I go back to the door and watch the river that was once the parking lot. Then suddenly, I remember Brian's cell number, (DUH I call it 20 times a day) I was so upset earlier that it wouldn't even come to mind... I call him and he is able to get in touch with the children. Of course, I don't know this at the time, I don't have my cell and have gone back to watching the river..... I just couldn't handle the uncertainty any longer, hand my cart over to the cashier and tell her that I am making a run for it. I am soaked, my shoes are soaked, my pants are soaked....soaked..... I get back to the door, load my groceries and call the children on the way home. Guess where they were? Tyler was protecting his blueberries and Cat and Alexis were watching from the picture window. Cat said that she heard the phone ring but didn't want to answer it cause it said "Safeway"... Goodness, isn't that where I said I was going?

Needless to say, the funnel cloud did not touch down, but my yard is trashed. We just spent a few hundred dollars on flowers and such and they are all damaged.. :( Oh well, at least the children were safe.

Here are some of the pictures I took of the damage. I still haven't checked my car. :(

SUMMER TIME LAYOUTS! :)

2009-06-03T19:36:00.007-06:00

Well two of my three children are already on summer break. Believe it or not, but it is my youngest Alexis that is still in school. I guess I have to be happy that at least they are no longer on track and are following a modified schedule. How do you explain that while it is so gorgeous out you have to go to school, but your brother and sister don't have to? Thankfully she will finish school on Friday and so will the craziness that is the end of the school year. Still wondering why they pack so much into the last two weeks of school.... Brian also had a business trip, yet again out of town, he has inventories next week and then finally a vacation - for him. :)

This week I worked on some cheery summer layouts. I really do appreciate a change of themes. It is so fun to switch gears and do something new.. :)

Listing for the last week of May

2009-06-01T13:19:00.003-06:00

It is hard to believe that summer is finally upon us. Seems we didn't really have much of a Spring here in Colorado this year. We had a couple of nice days, but it actually snowed more this Spring than it did this past Winter. We added a covered patio, and an outdoor fireplace last summer so we are looking forward to long warm summer days spent outdoors. Yummy BBQ's and S'mores!

Here are some of my "summer" themed layouts that I posted last Wednesday. This week, I am working on more summer water themed layouts and maybe even a BBQ layout.

Congratulations Alexis

2009-06-01T13:08:00.003-06:00

We had an early morning today. Up and out the door a little after 7 am. Today was a special day for Alexis and quite honestly we had heard tons about it all weekend. :) It was breakfast in honor of her, and several other children, being awarded the "Principals' Award". I think the best part of her day was not only the dozens of donuts that she could pick from, but that she was going to be able to chew gum all day. A special privilege give to children receiving this award for the day. The simplicities of being young. :) Here is Alexis right after she received her award and one of her standing next to best friend London. Yes, they are the same age! :) Can you tell both my husband and I are tall?! :)

Congratulations sweet princess, I am sure you will be having many more... :)

Tyler's Junior Prom Picture

2009-05-22T11:35:00.005-06:00

It sure is nice that one of my very best friends is a professional photographer! She offered to take some photos before Tyler's prom in April. She did an outstanding job and I am so thankful to have these. For some reason, there were no photo's taken at the prom. Puzzling..... She travels and does some of the most amazing wedding photos I have seen. Too bad I didn't know her when I was getting married! You can bet she will be doing Tyler's senior photos. I have her link on my left side bar, Brittan Photography, take a look at her amazing work! Thanks so much Shannon!!!!!

We also got some wonderful news regarding Tyler's ACT'S! He scored a 32!!!! He is currently looking into CU Boulder's premed program. I am sure this score is the extra push he needed. Congratulations son! :)

Debbie Mumm has done it again!

2009-05-22T11:28:00.004-06:00

I must say, I think that Debbie Mumm comes out with the most adorable papers! I got a stack called "Travel" last week at Joann's and so far have made four layouts. There are some really adorable papers for a jungle - safari theme in that stack. I am sure those will be used for some new layout ideas next week. :)

The first two are currently listed on ebay, the Mermaid and Camping layouts ended this last Wednesday.

Hope everyone has a great long Memorial Day weekend! :)

Preview of tonights listings

2009-04-15T15:58:00.007-06:00

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted last. I have been more than busy. My son is going to the prom (YIKES!), I got bronchitis, and of course Easter planning. I do want to thank everyone who purchased my 3rd CD and making it a success! I really do want to sit down and get a much more detailed CD together with some of my larger piecings on them. Unfortunately, I don't make a pattern as I am creating my piecings so I will have to start from scratch.

I started listing my Mother Goose piecings on ebay, etsy and our BTDL Webstore. I am thrilled with the response. Filling orders have been a challenge but I am always up for a challenge! :)

Here is a preview of a couple of my listings for tonight. :)

PAPER PIECING PATTERN CD VOLUME 3

2009-03-22T14:47:00.002-06:00

YIPEE!!!!! I finally finished my 3rd pattern CD..... I had recently gotten a Mac and just couldn't figure out how to put it together. Well after some long trials, it is finally done!! I have to say, I am rather proud of the piecings offered on this CD. On this CD you will find:

~ Basic paper piecing directions

~ An explanation on how to make the best use of your pattern

~ A list of my favorite piecing supplies

~ Tips and Tricks for paper piecing on each pattern page

~ Full size pictures of the animals piecings

~ David Dog

~ Caitlin Cat

~ Dotty Dolphin

~ Bella Bunny

~ Casey Chick

~ Willy Wolf

~ Florence Flamingo

~ Philimena Flamingo

~ Frances Frog

~ Lucy Lamb

~ Penny Penguin

~ Cap and bow for the Frances Frog

~ Palm tree

~ and Layout ideas

You can find these CD's on Ebay, Etsy and BTDL's Boutique. All links are on the left side bar. :)

I do have ideas for future CD's. One of which will be a Princess Pattern CD that will have a pattern for a castle, carriage, tree's and a horse or unicorn. :)

Disney's Toon Town!

2009-03-06T10:56:00.002-07:00

I have been wanting to do another Disney's layout for some time now. The thing that kept me stumped was what to offer. I have done several over the past few years and I wanted something "different". I think I came up with it!!!! I know that when I go through my Disney photos, I have tons taken in Toon Town! You know, those in the "jail", the ones where your husband or your children are picking up the weights that are cemented to the ground, and the perfect photo op in one of the Toon Town cars! Here is my rendition of this fabulous place in Disney! :)

Mother Goose

2009-03-06T10:49:00.006-07:00

Well, I have finally finished my last layout in the Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme series. I really had a great time doing these. Thank you for all the wonderful compliments! :) I do believe that my all time favorite is the Mother Goose layout currently listed. I added extra detail to the rocking chair and the stool and just loved the way it came it out. I have included the Jack and Jill layout that was posted last week so that you can see the completed set. I am going to be working on just the piecings alone to offer on both the BTDL webstore and etsy. I hope to have those done and listed by the end of the month...

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe......

2009-02-22T10:13:00.007-07:00

Here are three more listings in my Nursery Rhyme Series using those adorable papers from Debbie Mumm. I do have a few more of the papers and may be doing the remaining layouts to finish them off...

This has already turned out to be a very busy week and it is only Sunday, the week hasn't even begun! Alexis woke up with a fever of 101, Caitlin has a birthday party to go to today (don't know where I have to take her yet), and of course Brian is away on business. He had an early flight out this morning to Florida - on a Sunday mind you - and won't be back until Tuesday night. It never fails that when he leaves things always happen. :(

I just put in another HUGE prima order with Michelle's Scrapbooking. Oh boy do I love primas. I think 90% of my entire scrapbooking budget goes to primas. I will be in prima heaven in about 3 weeks! Maybe I'll post a picture when they come in! :)

Here is to hoping for a better tomorrow.......

This little piggy went to the market......

2009-02-11T14:24:00.005-07:00

Have you seen the new line of papers by Debbie Mumm? How can one not be inspired by it!? I went to Joann's this weekend and immediately knew what layouts I was going to do when I saw it! I did not get to all of them but will finish up the Nursery Rhyme series next week. I have done a Nursery Rhyme series before, I LOVE doing them, but this one actually has matching paper! How fun is that!

This week I was able to finish:

This Little Piggy

Pat a Cake

Baa Baa Black Sheep and

The Three Little Pigs (there wasn't paper in the stack themed for this layout)

Sneak Peek into Tonights Layouts

2009-01-21T16:02:00.008-07:00

It has been a long and crazy week with Brian having to leave at 4 am for inventories, his car breaking down on the interstate, and having to be sure I get all three kids up and out to school on time. That alone is NOT as easy a task as it sounds, I have one in high school, one in middle and one in elementary. They are all on different schedules and have different bus stops and pick up times. I will be happy to have this week over. Oh..... But I also got the best news this week. One of my very oldest and dearest friends will be visiting us next week! I have known Christine since middle school! She will be visiting along with her beautiful daughter Tehya for the weekend. A very short visit but I am thrilled to spend any time with her!

We have added a new member at BTDL! Her name is Stephanie and her seller ID is Steph_1999... She has the most adorable layouts and is a PERFECT fit for our group! You can see her work by searching BTDL on ebay....

Well here are my listings for this week. :) As you can see I was THRILLED to have finished my goal of 5 layouts after such a crazy week. :)

New Layout Design.....

2009-01-15T09:07:00.004-07:00

Since I started selling premade scrapbook pages on ebay, way back in 2003, I have been using the same basic layout design.

The two main reasons are:

1. I LOVE having 7 photo mats, so much more options for my customers and

2. I LOVE spending the majority of my time on the piecing.

I have been thinking about changing things up for sometime now, and just haven't had the time to really put into. Well, that is until now! I introduced my new design last week. I am pretty happy with the new design but I would love to hear from you and get your thoughts on them!

I will be doing my standard layouts as well in the future but for now I am having so much fun with something new!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

2008-12-31T09:36:00.009-07:00

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas Eve and a wonderful Christmas day! Being away from the family is very difficult this time of year. We are so thankful to have moved into such a great neighborhood and to be surrounded by great friends! Tonight we are having a party at our house with our surrounding neighbors, 6 families!!! It is going to be FUN!

I have managed to keep a couple of layouts listed during the hustle and bustle of the holidays. A task that wasn't that easy. :) I think the part that wasn't easy was actually staying out of my office.. I DREAM scrapbooking! :) Here is what I have listed this week. I did change my listing days to accommodate the holidays since they both fell on my regular listing night of Wednesdays..

I was also able to get a couple boarder, piecings and photo mat sets finished. I LOVE doing these as a way for my customers to "catch up" on their scrapbooking for the year. My original intention was to do 4 or more sets a week - haven't reached that goal so I may continue doing a couple through January.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

2008-12-18T09:05:00.007-07:00

Here is our official Christmas photo for 2008.... Not an easy task this year. Tyler just didn't want to take the picture and I swear he was making a face in every other photo. I was concentrating on the girls to make sure they were looking cute and little did I know what Tyler was doing.

So the family letter is done and waiting to be printed, I have sent the pictures to Walgreens to get printed - love how easy some things are - the family video is 2/3 done, the Christmas shopping is no where done, and I have a few things to catch up on and then I am going to take a week off. I haven't done that in a long time - thank goodness I love what I do! :) I am sure I will sneak into my office to do something, how can one really stay away from scrapping!

From my family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

I couldn't resist putting this one in.... Sorry Tyler, maybe the next time, you won't make it so hard! :)

Santa, can I please have more hours in the day? :)

2008-12-17T16:57:00.006-07:00

Yep, that is what I would ask for. :) Sometimes I just wish I could have one extra hour a day. During the holiday season I would love two! Today I spent quite awhile on the phone with the postal service. Our mailman drove right by my house and didn't pick up my scheduled pickup. I know that he looked my way and saw the size of my outgoing mail and did not want to touch it. I finally got someone to come back out, at 5:30 pm to pick them up. Guess I am tipping the mailman a little more this year. :)

Here are my listings for tonight. I really do love doing the Christmas house series. I have gone through 3 bottles of snow and two bottles of glitter in the last couple of weeks. I walk out of my office everyday with glitter on my clothing, face and hair. :)

I could not get the third one to load! I will try again in the morning.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

2008-11-29T13:02:00.015-07:00

Here it is November 29th and our house is completely decorated for Christmas. This year, Alexis was extremely excited about decorating and we figured we didn't have too many of these "excited" years left, so why not. Tyler is 16 this year, Cat is 12 and Alexis is just 6. She already has her letter written to Santa, though I am sure there will be edits along the way. The older children have decided to hold off writing their letters till they find something that they just can't seem to live without - well for the moment at least. :) Brian is a district manager for Kohl's so he had to get up at 3am yesterday and worked a 12 hour shift, visiting each of his stores, for Black Friday sales. He missed the entire decorating but Lex was thrilled to point everything out to him when he did finally get home. I really should have taken the photo's yesterday. We got a good 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground last night so the light coming in from the windows are really bright, so bare with me on the lighting. :)

BTDL'S BLACK FRIDAY SALE!

2008-11-21T10:13:00.003-07:00

Yep we are having our own black Friday sale at the BTDL Boutique. Check out some of the savings on Friday November 23. Some sales are only lasting one day, others maybe extended through the weekend. Come early for the best selections! :) You will find a link to the boutique in the top left hand corner of the side bar.

TUESDAY Trivia on BTDL's blog

2008-11-13T09:11:00.003-07:00

Just to let you all know, the Tuesday trivia is still without a winner... Up for grabs is an adorable gingerbread house piecing done by Juliespieces. Head on over there and submit your guess! :)

http://btdl.blogspot.com/

Halloween 2008

2008-11-12T16:51:00.005-07:00

The children LOVE to carve pumpkins. We missed just about every pumpkin patch this season so I picked up a couple at Walmart. Not as fun at the pumpkin search at the patch but this year it had to do. Here are the children with their creations. Our neighbor had a little pumpkin patch in her yard and gave us the little one they ended making into a football. :)

This year was the warmest Halloween we have had since we moved to Colorado in 2000. Of course, Alexis picked a very warm puppy costume to wear. It was total over kill for the weather. By the middle of the evening, the head was off and she was hot. Oh well, she made one cute little puppy! Caitlin decided at the last minute to invite her friend Kennedy over so we scrambled for a costume. Thank goodness her red witch still fit! Tyler, of course being to old, didn't want to go out. But when his friends came to our house, out came the old costumes again and he went out with a cape and mask.

Tonights listings.......

2008-11-12T16:22:00.006-07:00

Boy, this week went by way too fast! I did manage to catch up on the things that needed to be done around the house but have fallen a little behind on my orders. Sorry. :( I wanted to post a few quick peeks at my listings for tonight. I am especially happy with the little girl dress up layout. I love to do princess or dress up layouts because of Alexis. She loves to playing dress up and has tons of little princess dresses, what better inspiration than your own little princess! I tore the little bear without any pattern and she is tiny! She measures about 2 inches tall and 1 1/2 inch wide...

I also created a new gingerbread man for this Christmas. I wanted one with a little more personality then the ones that I have done in the past. It worked so well with the Heide Grace Papers.

Well I am off to finish up my photo's and auctions. Oh and check back later this week, I have some great ideas brewing in my head for some adorable Christmas cards.

Tonights challenge listings....

2008-11-03T19:10:00.002-07:00

The challenge is actually supposed to be listed on Sunday nights but I just have not been able to get much done during the weekend. This weekend was no different. It was my birthday on Saturday. :) We went shopping all day and then met up with some friends for dinner at my favorite Japanese restaurant. We then packed all 13 of us into our local Baskin Robbins. We all had a great time! The children also enjoyed this Halloween. This is the very first Halloween we have had here in Colorado where we were not freezing or under a couple of inches of snow. I'll post those pictures some time this week.....

Well here are my challenge listings. :)

A sneak peek at tomorrow nights listing, and BTDL's 8x8 challenge

2008-10-28T19:55:00.008-06:00

Well the lighting wasn't so great when I took the picture, but here is a sneak peek into one of my listings for tomorrow. Once again, my all time favorite colors to use together. The princess carriage was real challenge to put together but I am thrilled with the result. Full layout will be listed tomorrow along with 3 others and a piecing.

BTDL ® introduced its newest monthly challenge this Sunday. Of course, I was a day late in my listings but will try my very best to make the Sunday deadline every week. I LOVE participating in the challenges and am looking forward to listing every week...

The BTDL® Design Team is delighted to introduce the “Just Right” pages, perfectly proportioned pages for the increasingly popular 8x8 albums. Each Sunday night, search BTDL on eBay to find an excellent selection of 8x8 premade scrapbook pages by a variety of talented artists on our design team. Because 8x8 albums are "just right", they are easy to display, pass around to show off, or give as gifts. You’ll have a complete scrapbook faster than you can say “Happily Ever After.”

Here are my listings for the challenge...

What is YouData and InBoxDollars?

2008-10-27T10:15:00.002-06:00

While doing my many searches for coupon deals, I came across a few sites that were talking about YouData and InBoxDollars. I thought I would go ahead and try them to see if the they really were as great as everyone was saying.

YouData, is an advertising site that actually pays you surf the Internet. Pays you to surf the Internet, shoot I do that for free so why not!? They send you to various sites which fit your personal profile. You click onto the site - which many of these places I would not have found without this service - view the site or advertisement and you are paid to do this! I have been sent to some very well known brand sites that were giving away free samples. Bonus! :) They transfer your dollars every Friday afternoon to your paypal account. This is an exceptional site!

InBoxDollars is basically the same thing. There are a couple of difference, 1) they send you emails to read, and you get paid to read those, 2) you can play games on line as well and get paid to play those, 3) You get bonus dollars for purchasing items from the sites they send you to, 4) You get paid to take surveys and 5) They pay you $5.00 just for signing up. :) There payment is different, where as YouData automatically pays you every Friday, with InBoxDollars, you request your dollar amount from them.

Both great deals and I would advise you to try them! :) All links are on the left hand sidebar! :) Goodluck!

This weeks layouts, coupons and Primas!

2008-10-23T17:47:00.015-06:00

This week the children are home for Fall break. Brian also took the week off, needless to say, it has been a busy hectic week.

I am also beginning to think that I have been spending WAY too much time searching blogs to find the best deals and the best coupons. The time that I used to spend on scrapbook research has now been turned into coupon research! I must admit, it has saved me so much money and it is cute to hear the children ask "Mom do you have a coupon for "insert any random item here :)" so that they can get what ever it is. I have also hooked some of my fellow design team members on couponing. Couponing - is that even a word? It is fun to share your deal of the day with your friends.

I also got my order of Prima flowers in from Michelle's Scrapbooking this week!!!!! Okay so my love of Prima's border on obsession! Here is just some of my "back stock". I literally have shelves of flowers, I just can't stop using them on my layouts. I just love the way they bring life to even the simplest of piecings. I also find myself using them on boys layouts - why not? :)

Yes, that is 17 sleeves of Prima Sprites. My favorite all time color has to be the green. YIKES and I only got 2 in this order. Looks like I will be making another order shortly "OH Michelle!"

This week I had the best time making this fun piecing. I think I will be offering just the jeep and animal piecing next week. Maybe I will change it up and offer a choice of animals who occupy the jeep.

Another one of my layouts this week is my Pumpkin Halloween House. I know, I tend to make way to many houses during the Halloween and Christmas season, but I truly enjoy doing them. An average house can take up to 4 hours to piece. Many times I will leave the rest of layout a little simpler so the house - and of course the photo's - can shine.

I really had fun making the igloo in my "Baby it's Cold Outside" layout. I had hand drawn the igloo, cut out two pieces and used one for the ice bricks. I then chalked each brick before gluing it to the original cut out piece. I ran a line of Snow Writer down the cracks and filled it with Glamour Dust! We were expecting snow this week so I figured I would get a head start on Winter.

Well I hear the buzzer on my dinner going off. Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions for future layouts!

Sneek peek of tonights listing.

2008-10-15T16:19:00.003-06:00

Alexis is out of school this week and the older children will join her next week at home for their fall break. Needless to say, it has been a busy week. :) I just wanted to pop in and give a sneak peak into one of tonight's layouts.

Sneak peek into tomorrows Haunted House listing...

2008-10-07T14:44:00.003-06:00

I have been working on this one all day! It took me 4 1/2 hours to piece this house! I will be listing the entire layout tomorrow night on ebay. Just search seller "TYCAALAK" or BTDL....

Mommy come and look at this.....

2008-10-07T08:52:00.014-06:00

How often are we asked to do just that? Alexis is always the one to be getting into one thing or another. She was in the loft, very quite I might add, when I hear her ask me to come in and take a look at what she was doing. Of course, I have no idea what I am going to walk into, could it be some Littlest Pet Shop monkey hanging from our fake tree as the rest of the assortment play in the moss surrounding it and now all over the floor? Aspen - our Chihuahua dressed up in her dolls clothing? Well low and behold, she has lined all of her crayons in a circle around the table.... How cute is that?!

While looking for this picture I found some others to post here. :)

This is Caitlin enjoying a summer day on our newly built back porch...

We also watched this tornado form right near our house. It looks really close but we were about 10-15 minutes away from it. It was the FIRST tornado I have ever seen. I know, we should have been taking cover but we were in awe of it.

It is a worrisome time

2008-10-06T17:06:00.012-06:00

Times are tough for everyone. We see it everywhere we turn. Friends loosing their homes, their jobs. My family and I have had to cut costs in every way that we can, after all my husband is a district manager in the very volatile world of retail. I very recently, returned to clipping coupons. I just can not believe how much you are able to save! I have also found a great deal of blogs that are set up just to discuss coupons and where to combine them for the best savings. My friend Shannon started me on this quest and together we share idea's, unused coupons, and websites. Here are just a few that we have found that offer a ton of ideas to aid in our saving quest:

PRINTABLEGROCERYCOUPON

SHORTCUTS

MONEYSAVINGMOM

SUPERCOUPONGIRL

I would LOVE to hear your success stories with saving money at the register!

IT IS WEDNESDAY.............

2008-10-01T08:50:00.005-06:00

My busiest day of the week! I have two layouts to complete, photo's to take and edit, and auctions to load.... Brian is out of town - again - so that always adds a little stress into the mixture.

I have so much that I have been thinking about adding on here but I won't be able to do so today. I just wanted to pop in and tell you about our newest contest. It went out in today's BTDL® NEWS LETTER... Here it is:

We at BTDL are excited to announce another contest for our wonderful customers. We always wonder what happens to the piecings and embellishments you purchase from us on our website and thought this would be just the way to get a peek! So click on the logo to be taken to our site for all the details on the contest. We look forward to seeing your submissions: