New Release Day at Scrapable

and "Fall Break" for the students! Yes, the STUDENTS, not the teachers. We will be going in for in-service training. Except that I am going to the doctor first. Why, you ask? Because I think I have spider bites on my arm: two of them. And it is ever so much easier to visit the doctor when I don't have to hire a substitute teacher.

The Mississippi State Fair is in town, and I would have liked to have gone yesterday afternoon, but no one else wanted to, so I didn't. I stayed around the house and did boring stuff like laundry and kitchen-cleaning. Not fun.

This weekend I made this page using Milly Dee's cute new release for today called Hocus Pocus.


The whole kit? Here it is!




I also did this:

with New E Designz latest kit released today! It is called Blooming with Memories and has some beautiful flowers and greenery in it, and a great color palette. See the whole kit here:

And these two cute Halloween pages were done with Scrapable's October collaboration kit called "Spookable."



Here it is, and what a bargain at only $5.00! And actually, with a $10 purchase in the store, you can get it FREE!



Now, besides being the first State Fair weekend, this past weekend also held the regional state band competitions, and the Pearl Invitational Competition, which the Ridgeland High School band won (and not for the first time)!

Here are a few pics:


And my favorite:



Thanks for looking!

First Day of School, 2011-2012

Yes, it's that time again, and I am ready. Some years I'm ready to go back, and some years I dread it. I am taking this year as a challenge to do the very best I can and to get the very best out of my students! And it is Mary Beth's Senior Year, so there will be lot's going on.

Sunday the Key Club painted signs welcoming everyone back to school . Gotta get off on the right foot, you know? My room is ready, all the papers are laid out neatly on the desk at the front, just ready to be handed out to students. All that is left to do is go dry my hair and brush my teeth and I am out the door!

Praying for a safe and successful school year for the Ridgeland High School Titan family.

Run, Run! as fast as you can!

You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!

Okay, not really. And I have no idea what made me think of that. Sigh.

It was a nice morning for running and Randy and I did the Bruin Burn 5K in Madison, MS. We both had our best times ever, which for Randy is really saying something! For me? Not so much. Still, I ran four minutes faster than that last time, so that was nice. And this time I am not having to soak my ankle in ice water, so that's even better!

We are going to Tay's Bar-B-Que for lunch, and I thought I would update before we go with digital pages. Don't worry, I won't post ALL of my recent pages, just a few.

First, two pages using kits from Scrapable's July Guest Designer, Roseytoes:
The page about digi-scrapping uses a kit called I "Heart" Scrapbooking:



And this one uses a bundle of small monochromatic kits that she calls Life's A Rainbow



This page about Gigi's Cupcakes uses a soon-to-be-released kit called Sweet Tooth by Scrapable's August Guest Designer, Blue Heart Designs. That link probably won't work until August 1.



This page uses a template and a kit from Scrapable. The template is Lacey Bittner's Cute and Quirky Templates and the kit is Paradise Found by Miss Mis Designs. LOVE the colors in this kit.



And this last page is just me playing around with a different style - I guess it is more of the fantasy style. The kit was a freebie at Digital-Crea called A le' n'Vert by Paprika. Oh the French, with all those apostrophe' marks.



Oh, I should mention that the gorgeous yellow gown Sarah is wearing was made by her friend Andres. Yes, he is in design school and he designed and MADE that sucker! It is sooooo pretty!


Okay, one last thing! Check out the SOS! sale at Scrapable - lots of great digi kits for $1.00, including plenty of new stuff! Like this:



and this:


and this:



Time to go eat! See you later!

Summer's End

Yes, it is just about over. Well, for all intents and purposes it IS over. Summer, that is. And I have loved every minute of being lazy around the house, scrapbooking the day away, having Sarah home from college, playing with the dogs all day, and enjoying Mary Beth's pictures from her many trips.

Oh, and running. Well, it's probably more accurate to call it jogging. Ann would call it "Granny shuffling" if she were being honest with me, but she is kind and calls it running, too. I ran with the Fleet Feet No Boundaries program and then ran in the Watermelon Classic 5K on the 4th of July. It was surprisingly fun, in spite of the pain. And I didn't finish last, thank you very much.


Still haven't had a chance to do the Pub Run, but I WILL!

I have paper-scrapped and participated in fun online crops at Cookin' Up Creations and Scrapbook Heaven. I was the June Design Star at Tallyscrapper. I accepted a position on the exclusive Creative Team for Scrapable.

Mary Beth traveled to Arizona for the International Key Club Convention and then went to France on an educational tour. She took 919 pictures in France! Yes, she did. Love it.


And one more - I LOVE this picture:



Sarah has been home this summer, taking classes at Holmes Community College and wishing she were marching with a drum corps. We made the DCI show in Hattiesburg, MS last night and had a great time, even though it rained during Phantom Regiment's show. And pretty much ONLY their show. Ugh.

Randy has been working hard all summer, and running like a maniac in every event he can find.
He makes me tired!

Time for me to head out to the Kiwanis Charity Golf tournament and drive a beverage cart! Fun Fun!

Scrapable Digital Reveal

Well, I forgot to put this on the Cookin Up Creations blog, so I will put it here instead. These are the pages I created using the Winter Bliss kit, generously donated to CUC by Scrapable.


The kit is a big one, lots of papers and elements, a variety of styles, and two really nice alphas. Oh, and four GREAT templates! The iPod page and the Magic of Snow page both use two of the templates. And the page about Sarah's 19th birthday dinner uses a sketch by Penny Noel, also on the creative team at Cookin Up Creations. See her blog HERE, as she has some good recipes in addition to cute pages and such!

Oh, and if any of my scrappy friends want to join me, and others, this weekend for a nice sketch crop with great prizes, visit Scrapbook Heaven for their January Sketch Crop (Link to sign-in thread HERE). If you go and play with me, we both get extra chances to win!

One last thing: today I go for a Teacher of the Year interview for a chance to be named Teacher of the Year for my school district. I am already Teacher of the Year at my high school, but my district has three high schools, 5 middle schools, and who knows how many elementary schools! We're kinda big! Anyway, wish me luck. I hate doing stuff like this.

I miss you, Chloe!

Well, I decided a while back to let the blog go. This fall was extra busy with high school football games and band contests, and then college ball games, too. And, I won't lie, there was a good bit of stress and drama. So the blog was dropped off of the list of things to do, along with all but one Facebook game, and the tanning bed and chiropractor visits were cut way back.

Anyway, tonight I am sitting here and wanting to blog. Why? Because I took my precious white chihuaha, Chloe, to the vet Thursday to be put to sleep.

This is Chloe last Christmas, when she was about 3 months old. This past Thanksgiving she was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis and spent 8 days at the veterinary school at Mississippi State University. She was our precious little baby girl and we loved her very much.

Here is a scrapbook page I did about her yesterday:



These are pictures of her in the car on the way to the hospital.

It is just amazing how our pets become family members, isn't it?

Love on your furry babies tonight; then give them a little extra love in honor of Chloe, okay?

Plenty of Sadness to Go Around

Yes, today there is lots of sadness in my heart. My dear friend Doris lost her battle with cancer Tuesday. It was long, and painful, and heart-wrenching, and I miss her. They will bury her tomorrow without me, because my daughter is moving in to college in the morning.

Yes, my oldest daughter is leaving home tomorrow. She will move into the dorms at Ole Miss. Tomorrow evening I will drive away and leave her. In Oxford. Alone. And my baby girl can't even come help us move, because she has to work.

So, my kids have most certainly grown into young ladies. It won't be long until I will be staring at an empty nest. Wow. Yes, there is plenty to be sad about this evening. And yet there is much to rejoice about: my dear friend is no longer suffering, my wonderful daughter is embarking on a great adventure, and my little girl is taking on more responsibilities as she grows up.

I'm reminding myself to be happy and enjoy life where I can. Tomorrow will be a good day!

I have some projects to share:


First. a digital page about my heart! My heart= my family. Using Fishbowl Designs' new kit called My Love, I made this page, using a picture of my dear hubby and two lovely daughters that was taken this summer. I especially love the Fishin' for Letters alphabet that looks like a bracelet.

Next three digi pages for Cookin' Up Creations' August digital sponsors, Designs by Krista and Bugaboo Stamps.

This first page shows Sarah with two of her sweet high school friends, right before graduation. The "sticker" is part of a cute stamp from Bugaboo called If Friends Were Flowers. I just put a white outline on it to make it look like a stamp.


This page is about my friend Doris, and is made with Krista's kit called Friends. I love the word art. I wish you could see it up close - it looks like stitching. I also used a free template by Amanda Heimann (blog)




This last page shows a beautiful picture that Mary Beth took of a sunset over the Gulf of Mexico...yes she took it after the oil spill. She was in Destin, which, at that time, was still clean and beautiful. And that rolled corner? I did it myself!



I also made a hybrid card using the Bugaboo Stamp and the Friends digi kit:

Can you tell that I layered two of the little girls together? It looks really cute in real life. The inside part finishes the sentiment (if friends were flowers...I'd pick you!).

Hope you enjoyed. Hope you have a good weekend. Heck, I hope I have a good weekend. Wish me luck tomorrow with the move-in.

Rest In Peace, Doris. I love you!