wow...a whole week without blogging??

has it really been a whole week since i've blogged? sorry guys!!

spring break is over tomorrow. very sad. the kids had some sleepovers at my moms house and had lots of fun (and were very spoiled as well ). courtney even had her first sleepover thursday night at her dance teacher's house too! there was 6 of them from her saturday workshop gang that stayed over!! i feel like i didn't see much of the kids this week with all their visiting plans....

what do you think of this project??? it's an ALTERED RECORD for a class i will be teaching on april 27 at home. this is the project that i was telling you to "stay tuned" for...( bad joke, i know )

i had a crop nite last night at home so a few of you got first peeks at it...it was so much fun to make! and of course, i had to make my official statement "for the record" of why i liked Heidi Swapp's products so much!! i think i'm going to email the pic's to her again, i think she'd like to see her advertising made into a project....we'll see!

i was also inspired this week after watching a tricks technique video on Creating Keepsakes website on hand stitching on a layout...so the first picture of courtney "perfect angel" was my first attempt at that...she was only 4 in that picture...so cute!

well, only 2 MORE WEEKS until scrapaganza in stonewall....! i'm getting pretty excited now! the stock i've been ordering for the store has been rolling in here and i can't wait to put it all out and hear all the "oohhh's" and "aahhh's"...teehee. i've got to do lots of baking for the event as well. ugh. i'm a seasonal baker. maybe if i didn't also work outside the house besides all my other jobs i do, i might have more time for more domesticated things....it just never lasts more than a couple days around here with mike, so it seems like lots of work just GONE in no time!!!

well, better be off now, gotta go pick up courtney's friend who's coming over for a sleepover...yet, another one!!!

i think it's a Red Lobster night tonight.....

enjoy the rest of the weekend!!!

you asked for it...

so.

not the greatest pictures as mike took them on his cell phone...still looking for that perfect digial camera...

here i am ( sorry it took a while to post pictures of this "experience" ).

the first one is 4 days after the attack of the blonde bottle, and then i just got the pink put in the ends today...for the scrapaganza....for fun!

i guess the blonde has toned down a little, i'm still not used to it, but i have been getting some really nice compliments from people about it...wait til they see the pink!!! heeheehee!

you really have to see it in person...much brighter than it looks!!

hope you're enjoying your weekend everyone!!

feeling better now...

ok.
so it's only hair right?
mike came home from work last night, expecting the worse, and he surprisingly said he really liked it!!! ( compassion? pity? scared to tell the truth? )
at any rate...he still said he liked it this morning and that i'm just not used to it....no kidding!!
what a great husband he is!! ( or well trained by his mother )
i MIGHT post a picture of this shocking hairdo later tonight...

NOTE: he just called me now on his coffee break at work and said "good morning barbie girl" when i answered the phone...what a guy!!

well, it's 10am and i've got 3 loads of washing done ( folded and put away too ), emptied the dishwasher and did all the pots and pans from our "3 kinds of soup" supper last night since we're all getting sick around here...courtney is home again from school today as she still has a 101 temp. this flu of hers is just hanging around and won't leave.
i plan on trying to have as productive a day as possible today with the kids home....

i am working on finishing up a class project planned for april, so "stay tuned" on that one, literally!!! ( you'll see why! )

and i'd really like to clean up and reorganize my scrapbooking desk...can't seem to find it right now!!!

there's still a few spots left for the pizza party crop nite at my house this friday night....6pm - midnite...call or email if you can make it!!!
thegriffs@mts.net

have a good day all!!

AAAGGHHHH!!!!!

not a good day at the hair salon today...

i'm a grown 35 year old woman, wife, and mother of two. i had to excuse myself from my hair dresser and pop into the ladies room for a quick little "pity party" for one and just let it all out man...

i took courtney on saturday afternoon after many weeks of pestering for some "hilites" in her hair...okay, you pick your battles right? it's only hair. so after dance, off we went to the hair salon and the girl did a BEAUTIFUL job on her dainty pretty blonde hilites!!! it looks great, and i really liked the girl who did her hair. i have a hair dresser who i've been going to ALL THE TIME since i was 17 years old, but she wasn't available until next week, so i thought i'd try someone else this time. and since i was so impressed with her personality and kind, friendly way about her, i booked myself an appointment for this morning to get my hair out of the way too. you have to understand me and that i rarely treat myself to any pampering on myself as the $$$ can always be used on something more practical than a hairdo...but i needed some serious TLC for my hair.


so, here was my plan...

i wanted my usual blonde hilites put in, a nice healthy trim AND, get this, about 2 inches of PINK dyed into the bottom ends of my hair!!! ( i wanted something "fun" for the Scrapaganza coming up and then i intended to get it all cut off afterwards...) so. in went the hilites, and then the hair dresser suggested an "undertone" to lighten all my hair up throughout....and that's when things just went from good to bad. i had no idea what "undertone" was and told her that she's the one who knows what she's doing...WWWHHHHAAAAHHHH...now i know what undertone is...i look like a bloody barbie doll. BLONDE all around. the hilites are there, but i have a whole head of blonde now too.

even before she washed it all out and started to style it i was getting scared. when she started to blow dry it to get ready to add the pink in is when i saw how blonde it ALL was. and that's when she saw the horrified look on my face and said "is it too blonde for you?" i politely said " i'll be right back" and headed for the bathroom, took a good long look at the shocking hairdo staring back at me and burst into tears...i'm such a suck...

i took off the smock and prepared to leave with my hair still half dripping wet and she now saw my pathetic bloodshot eyes and tried her best to offer to fix it by adding some "mocha streaks". ya, that's just what i wanted. more streaks. and how about a big fat boot in the crotch to go with those streaks m'aam??

she aked about how much pink i wanted to put in the bottom ends so she could at least do that for me. i asked her if she really thought i'd like to leave looking like a total clown? she offered for me to come back in a few days when i was ready and she's put in the darker color hilites for me....should i take the chance?

i am sooooo disappointed. you have no idea. i was looking so forward to getting my haid done nice and throw a fun twist of pink in to be playful for the Scrapaganza and now my hair looks like Malibu barbie.

ever have one of those days when things just don't go the way you wanted?
and the icing on the cake is that courtney has had the flu since saturday night, missed her dance competition suday morning because of it, and i kept her home from school today because she's still a little weak. i had to drag her out with me to the hair dresser on top of it, so she got to see quite a show starring her mom with a 100 temperature to boot. tonight is her last manta swim lesson for spring break too and she' s also going to miss that, bummer, and now the kids are bickering with each other non stop and driving me up the wall....

i think i should just send everyone to bed and call it a day, including me and my barbie hairdo.

better, happier post to come soon...
WINK!!!

ta-daaa

here's some new design team work i've done for the Scrapyard...it will be on display at the new store hopefully over this coming weekend! the top picture is an 8 x 8 chipboard hanging project i did using Mod Podge. fun stuff. and i also did 2 winter layouts ( but for some reason the main photo of the "i believe" layout would not come up to post...blogs, sheesh. anyway, i was asked to use the Basic Grey new line of papers called "fruitcake" so here's what came to mind!!

then and now

WOW...in a word.

highland dance is a HUGE part of our family's life. i thought i'd dig out and dust off these couple pictures of ME when i myself started dancing in 1980. i was 10 years old in the very top picture! yep, that's me at my very first compeition ( which i won too, quite exciting! ) and the second picture of me is when i was about 12 years old in my "sailor's hornpipe" costume.

the pictures of courtney are the most recent ones of her dancing. they were taken in jan 2007 at her first intermediate competition. a great day. she is now into her second highland costume ( kilt ) since she started when she had just turned 4 ( about 2 weeks later ) and the other pic's are of her irish jig and sailor's hornpipe costumes which she competed in for the very first time in january!.....does the sailor's costume look an awful lot like mine??? yep. it's the same one ( except for a new hat for courtney )...after all these years ( and we won't say how many..) my girl's wearing my sailor's costume and i couldn't feel more proud. she wears it well, and dances the dance well too!!

as we have her Scottish Tea awards day this coming sunday i just felt like sharing a part of our family that is a big, big part of us. i can't believe how far she's come since she was 4 years old already...amazing these little highland dancers and what they can do and learn!!!

well, i got a couple more layouts done the last couple days...and i'm working right now on a brand new project...yes, it will be a class probably for april...pictures coming soon...

i had a fun day with tyler yesterday...after his swimming lesson in the morning, i took him to Toys R Us to do some shopping... he had received a $25 gift card for christmas and he also got $100 in money gifts for his birthday a couple weeks ago...i put half of it into his trust account and let him have $50 plus his gift card to go on a shopping spree!!! he had a blast...it was so cute watching him carefully narrow down his selections and finalize his choices. he even came home with $30 left over!!! i had my cell phone with me and took a couple pictures coming out of the store with his HUGE shopping bag and grinning from ear to ear!!! he picked himself a few new action hero's for his collection...a new spiderman and venom set, supergirl ( because superman loves her mommy ) and also a rhino villain ( from spiderman ). he also got 7 new disney "cars" metal cars too....then i took him out for lunch to Pony Coral...

thanks for a fun day tyler....

have a great weekend everyone!!

a better day

so yesterday was kinda a "woe is me day" i think. the last few days have been a sadness overload, and it caught up with me i guess. but i've taken deep breaths, had some hugs and the reality of it all is that life does go on. so, i'm having a happier day today and felt like posting one more wedding pic ( they're all just so great i had to share a few ). mike is always just what i need, any time of day. he's my strength and my hero. i don't know what i'd do without him. he has cheered me up and i am so grateful for having him in my life...got husband? if so, give him a hug!!

and back to my world of all chaos...life has indeed been going on here! i registered my tyler ( my baby..whaahhh) for kindergarten yesterday. can't believe it. i'm still shaking my head. and courtney had mini manta last night and had a really good workout. she slept well last night...and dance again tonight. she's got a special Scottish Tea this coming sunday where all the dancers have a "spot of tea and scones" and dance in a small performance for everyone and then they are all presented with their awards and medals from their dance exams they did this past november and also just a few weeks ago in february. it's a nice afternoon and courtney loves getting all those fancy awards...right from scotland!! and then another competition next weekend ( march 18 ).

classes are doing great...still lots of room at the hall crop ladies...march 16 ( 6pm - midnite $10 ) check out my newsletter for more info!! altered paint can class is on friday and i still have room for 3 or 4 more if you can make it out??

i FINALLY received my order i was waiting on since last week...lots of goodies for the Scrapaganza in stonewall...still waiting on another HUGE order with about 90% of it all Heidi Swapp eye candy!!! can't wait for that one to arrive!!

i've been working on some layouts for display at the Scrapyard in stonewall as i am part of their design team now!! check out my profile on the website at www.scrapyardcanada.com and click on Design Team...layout postings to come soon so keep checking it out! or better yet, see them for yourself in the NEW STORE opening this saturday, march 10 for their Grand Opening...313 Main St ( beside home hardware ) i am hoping to get to go there some time during the day!
i am excited as tonight i finally made myself try something new...i've been wanting to try printing on a transparency sheet ( which i've had stashed away for about a year now...wiener that i am ) and i did it tonight to use on one of my display layouts....LOVE IT!!!! sorry, no pic's yet... it's soooooooo easy and totally cool! most scrapbook stores sell it buy the sheet if they've got it otherwise it's by the case at office supply stores!
well, i guess that's all for me tonight.
sleep tight everyone!

life appreciation

this is mike and i on our wedding day in 2004. and the other picture is of my grandparents taken in 2005 at our family thanksgiving gathering.
besides my mother who i either see or talk to on the phone every day, and my two sweet beautiful children whom i love with all my heart, these three above mentioned people ( whom i also love with all my heart...yes it's very big with lots to go around! ) are the ones who have been on my mind a lot lately. perhaps the reason being that I know how much i love them, but really dont' tell them often enough. perhaps the fact that this past week has been full of sudden announcements of deaths, all of them with children left behind, or alone completely, has made me seek personal reflections of my own life and the people i love.
we all take forgranted that we will see each other tomorrow, or "talk to ya later"...and for these families who's lives have been thrown into a whirlwind of unanswered WHY? questions and futures changed forever has made me appreciate all the things i have in my life. it seems to be a topic of conversation for anybody when someone dies..."well you never really know do you, when it's gonna be your turn.." and the lives that have been stung with the bittersweet unfair sting of death lately have had this remark to it's fullest reality. untimely death is so cruelly unfair. my heart aches for cielle who lost her father suddenly last tuesday, and for jan's 19 year old nephew and father to an 8 month old on thursday, who was accidentally killed on his way to work, a paramedic going off to save lives. ironic isn't it? and for the families of brent and eve who were killed together in a car accident also on thursday, they were to be married this summer. they leave behind a 10 year old boy. we don't understand any of the WHY? questions and accept them only as unfair and that we must go on.
i feel amost guilty that we ALL do the same thing when tragedies like this happen...the personal reflections, renewed life appreciation, and the need to tell someone how much you love them. it's called taking forgranted.
we all know we do it. we can't help it. we all have busy busy schedules and lists of things we need to get done, but MY renewed life appreciation will defiately include expressing more love and appreciation to my husband for all the wonderful things he does for me, for putting me on a pedistal day after day, and for loving me as much and the same as the day we met. for being the best father to the kids and all he does for them. telling my grandparents more often that a day doesn't go by that i don't think of them in one way or another. my family is the world to me as i'm sure your family is the world to you.

tell them so.

and tell them everyday.

more project pic's

here's a few more pictures i was able to post! they are the altered journals ( which i will be teaching on march 12- $10) and also some pic's of tyler's altered paint can ( march 9 class- $15 ) feeling inspired to try something new???

please email if you need the march calendar resent to you!!!

thegriffs@mts.net

well, off to take courtney for a private dance lesson and then off to work...i am closing tonight-yuck!

happy sunday everyone!!

altered paint can class

how sweet is this?
these pic's are of courtney's altered paint can BABY CAPSULE, a class i am teaching at my house on march 9 (from 6pm-midnite...$15) on her can i have painted, added fuzzy rubons, buttons, fibers and some stickers. and lets not forget the ton of ribbons...( me being a fiber-a-holic and all ) inside it i have chosen a few of her baby keepsakes from infancy, like her hospital baby hat, a special baby blanket, her coming home outfit, her Gerber baby spoon, and a couple other special items. i have taken pictures of each item in the can and made a little accordian fold out mini album explaining why each item is so special...AAAWWWWW!!! ( wink )
i have, naturally, made a baby capsule for tyler as well ( sorry, no pic's yet ) with all the same special ingredients inside..oh, can't forget to mention i also included both of their first pairs of baby shoes...
i will be putting these heirloom capsules away for many, many, many, many, many, many, many (did i say many?) years until MY kids have their first babies...it will be a gift to be treasured!!!
at the class, you can make your capsule for many different occasions...memories from weddings, babies, baptisms, birthdays, anniversaries, special vacations, etc...you get the idea!
if you haven't received your March calendar of classes yet, please email so i can send one out to you...
AND...still lots of spots available for the SCRAPAGANZA 2 in Stonewall on april 14 ( 9am - 8pm ) homemade meals and snacks, tons of prizes, free classes and make-n-takes, goodie bags, and more....grand prize of the day was recently told to me...a CRICUT DIE CUTTING MACHINE...WOW!! come on out for a fun, fun day and play!!! please email for more info, i have registration forms available at home!! ( reg fee $50 for the day including all the extras! )
thegriffs@mts.net
have a happy, yet still snowy, day everyone!! drive safe!