ScrapHappy

A Week??

Has a week really gone by since I last posted? The problem was that I was on vacation and for some reason Typepad does not like to interface with my MacBook. Notice how I say "my" MacBook, not ALL MacBooks. I am sure I am the only human on the face of the earth who has this problem.

But I stray from my topic... and the topic for $500, Alex, is Vacations!

We went to Palm Desert, a short (!) 7-hour drive south. And now we are brand-new Marriott Vacation Club owners. We went down there to check it out and came back as time share owners! Ah! How did that happen??? I think it was when our darling saleswoman, Colleen, showed us that at the current rate, we'd be spending over $35,000 in hotel stays ALONE over the next decade or so. That was a little scary!

Or maybe it was when I saw there was a Starbucks IN THE LOBBY of the hotel!!

Or maybe it was in the spa...

 

Do you like my new swimsuit? That Jenny Craig diet really worked! Not only did I lose 30 lbs., I also grew 5 inches and got blond!

In any case, we fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

 

Don't you love the palm trees? But if I had paid more attention to my composition, I would have avoided having one come out of John's head. Sorry, sweetheart.

We came home on Thursday (stopping for the traditional American Thanksgiving dinner at Panda Express) and immediately began assembling these items...

 

...Because we didn't have long before we needed to go pick up this little rascal:

 

World, meet Frank. Frank, meet World. They'll love you.

 

Obviously, he's already very much a part of the family!

What else... 5 AM shopping on Black Friday. A great post-Thanksgiving dinner with friends. A basketball game (or two or three). And PACKING... because tomorrow I head to Utah to work on my Super-Secret-Project with Angie! I'll come home with interviews, prizes, and stories.

Keep up with my antics on the Simple Scrapbooks Studio Blog. I'm hosting this week! Stop by and say hi. I'd love to see you!

Do it, done it.

Put the items you've done in bold. I've italicized things I want to do. 

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables 

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon (a half, but I ran two of them so that's a marathon, right?)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (it was at an airport and it was just a snack, but I'm counting it!)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (Campfire Girls' mints and peanuts)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Psst!

More free copies of Snippets

here

here

and here!

But hurry - many of these giveaways are ending soon!

Wanna win a free copy of Snippets?

Then pop over to the chat I'm hosting on the message boards of the Simple Scrapbooks site from 1-2 Pacific time today! Anyone who chats with me is entered to win. (Yes, I'm not above bribing people to come hang with me!).

You must be a registered CKMB user to log in.

If you're looking for something to do...

Around 12 noon Pacific time on Wednesday (that's today!), take a listen to the Diva Craft Lounge internet radio show.

You just might hear someone you recognize. ;)

You asked for it... Episode 49!

Yes, indeedy - Episode 49 of the ScrapHappy Podcast is hitting the airwaves today! Let's just think of the last three months as some well-deserved time off, shall we? ;)

In this episode...

*I catch you up on all things Snippets

*We have three (count them!) product reviews, including:

-The Epson Artisan 700 All-in-One printer/scanner/copier. Retail price is $249 but Amazon price is $169 (follow the link). I am loving this thing!

-The BasicGrey rub-on tool

-The Slice from Making Memories (this will change die-cutting forever!)

*We also have info about my class from Big Picture Scrapbooking, the Snippets launch party this Thursday, the Dot newsletter, and more! (Oh, and we have new theme music, too!).

Take a listen. Tell a friend.

Blog Blitz Day Two

The Blog Blitz Begins!

Only a matter of days (18, give or take a few) until Snippets begins shipping!

And in the meantime, to keep you entertained... we've got a week full of fun and games for you to enjoy, leading up to a virtual launch party on the Simple Scrapbooks website on Thursday, 11/20!

First, all over the web, you will find links to Snippets and opportunities to win a free copy (including one here, of course!).

Next, we WILL have a podcast this week!

And... special projects and more!

First off, if you have not yet taken a look at the sneak peek and listened to the audio, please do so now! Let me know what you think. And don't forget to preorder your copy -- you won't be billed until it ships!

Maybe the Coolest Special Issue Ever?

You're busy, as I can tell from the comments on my last post. I'm busy. We're all busy! But that doesn't mean we want to skip the scrapbooking, does it?

Simple Scrapbooks has a cool cool COOL special issue out that can help you document occasions and memories when you're a bit tight on time (and when aren't you??). It's called "Quick and Easy Photo Albums." The idea is that you can use standard photo albums (of any size) and create fun, interactive, eye-catching scrapbooks that are a bit quicker than your traditional 8 1/2 x 11" or 12 x 12" albums.

 

Here are a few projects from the book:

   

I am totally loving this concept. I find it especially useful for multi-year albums where I would take the same sort of picture year after year (Christmas card photos, first day of school, etc.). It's also the perfect approach if you have tons of photos from a single event (baseball tournament, anyone??) and you want to include them all but don't necessarily want to spend two hours on a page of someone else's kid.

 

 

There are more examples on the Simple Studio blog. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Silence is not golden.

I have been properly reprimanded for my poor blogging skills lately! I am sorry. I am so busy and communicating to different groups of people in so many different ways that I forget to post here... I've been sending out The Dot... Sending communiques to the Snippets Ground Crew... doing stuff for my Big Picture Scrapbooking class (have you signed up yet??), planning a virtual launch party at the Simple Scrapbooks website for Snippets (it's next Thursday -- stay tuned!), and of course working on my Secret Project with Angie! Tons of stuff is happening, never you fear...

And if that weren't enough, there's more!

I've been:
-Substitute teaching at my kids' school (fourth graders)

-Getting ready for the arrival of this little guy next week:

 

-Dressing up like Carmen Miranda:

-Sewing "no nightmare" pillowcases for the kids

-And getting ready for a trip to Utah to work on The Secret Project. You know I'm bad with secrets, so here's a hint... it involves piles of layouts like this!

(NOTE: I tried to post five different pictures and NOT ONE will post. Maybe that's a hint that I shouldn't share yet?? Hmm....)

-And lest I forget, I hosted a birthday party for 20 four-year-olds, the back of our house is ripped open as we replace the French doors with sliding glass doors, and I'm overseeing the class auction project for my daughter's third-grade class. Somewhere in there I managed to take a shower. ;)

So it has been a tad bit busy, but all is well. What have you been up to??