Baby

Came across this photo of my soon to be 8 year old in a pile on my scrapbooking desk, and had to make a quick layout with it.  I can't believe how fast the time has gone.  Seems like just yesterday that I was cuddling with her in my lap. 

10 on the Tenth--July

Well, since I seem to be pretty much vegging in front of the television today, it seems appropriate to make a post that includes my ten favorite television programs.  In no particular order, they are:

1.     Big Bang Theory.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a bit of a nerd.  I do teach math, after all.  This show never fails to crack me up.  Sheldon is my favorite character.  There's nothing better than watching someone with severe obsessive compulsive tendencies to make be feel comfortable with my milder case, lol.

2.     Gilmore Girls.  This show is on every day at 5 pm. During the school year, that's about the time that I am getting home for the day and the goofy banter of the show helps me unwind, and get ready for the evening activities at home. 

3.     Criminal Minds.   Shemar Moore.  Enough Said.

4.     House Hunters.  I love seeing all of the houses, and watching people "shop."  There is inevitably one person on each episode that drives me batty.  I was just telling my husband that it's usually the female buyer, but occasionally, it will be the husband, and rarely, the realtor.  It's usually the people who are expecting million dollar amenities in a $150,000 house.  Oh, and the ones who are buying a fancy home, and are upset about the paint color in a room or something ridiculously simple for them to fix to their liking.

5.     Iron Chef.  To heck with Klondike Bars.  What I wouldn't do to get Bobby Flay to come to my house to cook a meal.  As long as it isn't battle fish of any kind,  I'm in!

6.     Rules of Engagement.  Patrick Warburton's character reminds me of a relative.  Not naming any names, but, he does, and it makes me laugh.

7.     King of Queens.  Arthur might be the funniest dad character ever.  Loved Jerry Stiller in Seinfeld, but he's a riot in King of Queens.

8.     Mike and Molly.  Do we notice a trend here?  I do love my sit-coms.  I need to catch a few of these in re-runs, because I kept falling asleep right be for the end during the school year.

9.     The Daily Show/Steven Colbert Show.  These two kind of go together since it's rare that we watch one and not the other.  I will confess that I do not typically watch news programs.  I like sit-coms, so it only seems appropriate that I want my news in comedy form too.

10.     Harry Potter Weekends on the Family Channel.   We don't usually watch for the whole weekend, but when they do theses, we'll usually watch at least one of the movies. 

So, there you have it.  Ten shows I really love to watch.  The best part is that I decided the topic for August will be Ten shows I hate to watch thanks to my husband mentioning a few of them while I was writing this post.

Red

Week 1 in the Colour or Color class was all about using red.  This is the layout that I came up with.  My husband got me some gorgeous red roses for our anniversary this past June.  I took some photos of them, and I love how they look with the damask patterned paper.  I had purchased the mini paper rose embellishments about a zillion years ago, so I was thrilled, #1, that I remembered that I had them, #2, that I could find them, and #3, that I was using up something from my overabundant stash of supplies.  Love how the layout turned out, but I think I need to work on the photography end of things.  It's definitely not as sharp a photo as it should be ;)

Colour or Color? Pre-class Tag Assignment

The first assignment in the class that I just signed up for had us make a set of tags using a rainbow of colors, and a handful of different techniques. I took the opportunity to get a little inky with it too. There is stamping on every tag. Most of the stamps are CTMH, with the exception of the orange tag. That's a Tim Holtz set that I just couldn't say no to at Michael's the other day. It was fun to spend a couple of hours at my desk creating these tags, and I even dug into the depths of my stash and used some fibers on the yellow, fun in the sun tag.  I braided the ones through the top of the tag, and it looks a lot like a beach towel.  Can't wait to see what the rest of the class will be like!

Summer To-Do List: Making Progress

One of the things on my summer to-do list was to take a class related to scrapbooking.  I've looked at several options and decided on:

A Trio of My Favorite Cards

I was just organizing some photos of things I have created this morning, and thought I would share a few of my favorites.

Love the color combo of this birthday card.

Black and White are great colors to use for sports related cards.  A splash of the team color personalizes it perfectly.

Love the elegance paired with some shabbiness.

Studio J Layouts

I did several Studio J layouts when the service was first available, but at the time, they did not provide a jpg file so that the layouts could be shared online.  Now, with the purchase of the printed layout, you also get a jpg file to share.  They actually send you files that you can share on the internet, and files that are higher quality so that you can have them reprinted if you wish.  This month, there is a promotion running in which you can get one free jpg file without having to purchase the layout that you make.  If you want to check out Studio J, and make your own layout, you can access it at my CTMH Website . Choose Studio J in the menu on the left and scrap away :)

Ten Summer To-Do's

Today is my first official day of summer break. My students' last day was Wednesday, and I finished up the work I had to do in the classroom yesterday. Summer is generally a relaxing time when I get to spend more time with my family, and can get focused on a to-do list that has been negelected during the school year. So here are the ten things that I want to get done this summer. In no particular order:

10. Sort, Organize, and Purge Scrapbooking and Stamping Supplies...Seriously, my "collection" has taken on a life of its own, and it's time for me to get a little more control and take back some of the space that is being taken by paper and paper accessories.

9. Sell or Donate the Excess Supplies...I have lots of stamp sets that I no longer want to use. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I have some new ones that have never been used. I have a hard time turning down the free CTMH sets that are earned with an order, and many times, I don't have a use for those particular sets. I'm sure there's someone out there who would love to put them to use.

8. Read, Read, Read...Summer is my time to read the things that I want to read, not the things that I have to read. It's time to log into Paperbackswap.com and order some books to read this summer. I'm talking guilty pleasure type books. Nothing academic until at least mid-August. Summer is also when I regularly take the girls to the library to check out books to read. They get to their school library plenty during the school year, and I like to continue that pattern in the summer.

7. Break my Sugar Habit...Ugh, this will no doubt be the most difficult challenge for me. I need to lose weight and get healthier, and I know that means I need to eliminate sugar from my diet as much as possible.

6. Exercise More...No excuses for this one in the summer. More time, plenty of things I could do, and it goes hand in hand with breaking the sugar habit to get healthier and lose weight.

5. Create More...Lots of photos on my desk waiting for their home on a scrapbook page, even more on my computer, hoping to make it out of the jpg form and into a scrapbook.

4. Blog More...Yep, there it is. Gotta get this blog a moving. Creating more should help. Hard to maintain a scrapbooking blog when you don't do any scrapbook pages.

3. Take a Class...I love taking classes online. I'm talking fun, scrapbooking or photography classes, not those boring teacher certification classes. In the past, I've taken classes at Big Picture Scrapbooking, at Shimelle.com, and with Valerie Salmon. If you have any suggestions of other places to take classes, make a comment and let me know about it :)

2. Plan a family trip to Michigan's Adventure...Michigan's Adventure is an amusement park that is about an hour and half away from here. We love amusement parks, and every year, we talk about going, but so far, it hasn't happened. I think this is the year!

1. Spend Lots and Lots of Time with my Girls...They are growing up so, so fast that my head is spinning just thinking about it. I love the summer because we get to hang out together pretty much every day.

So, there you have it...ten things that I want to do this summer. Some fun, some work, but definitely relaxing, because before you know it, September will be here, and it will be back to school.  If you have any suggestions for classes to take or books to read make a comment and tell me all about it!

 To see more 10 Things posts go to Shimelle.com

Morning With Mom

I had the pleasure of spending the morning with my daughter at school last week.  It's a very cool program that they do, and unfortunately, this is the last one that I will attend, as they do not continue this in the next elementary school that she will attend.  We started off the morning with doughnut holes and juice, and then Meghan took me to her classroom where we had some activities to do.

Above is the checklist that we went through.  We had lots to do, and it was so cute the way that Meghan had to check off each of the activities as we completed them.  In her classroom, we had a drawing/writing assignment to complete, and then she took me on a tour of some of her favorite places in the classroom.

After finishing everything there was to do in her classroom, we then went on a tour of the rest of the school building.  I loved this message that Meghan's art teacher had up in her classroom.  Meghan enjoyed showing me all the great things about art class. She loves art, so I'm so glad that she has the opportunity to express herself at school.

Then, it was on to music class, where Meghan played the bells and the keyboard.  I am so very thankful that Meghan's school is so dedicated to teaching not only the core subjects, but also a love and appreciation for the arts as well.  After music, we made a quick pass through the media center (library & computer lab), and then I dropped Meghan back off at her classroom so that she could start her day.  It was a great way to start my day, and I loved spending some time with her, and getting to experience a little bit of her school routine.

My Day in Photos

Hope For Japan

The various images that I've seen coming out of Japan have been heart wrenching to say the least.  I don't even know if I'm capable of fully comprehending the devastation that has happened there, and my heart goes out to all of those who have lost homes, pets, and loved ones.  I hope that those who have survived this tragedy have the strength to persevere and reach some sense of normalcy again, even though they will likely never be the same people that they were before.

Close To My Heart has issued a new stamp set specifically for raising money to help with relief efforts in Japan. From now until April 30, purchase the exclusive, “Hope for Japan” A-size stamp set for the special price of only $5 (retail value $7.95 US / $8.75 CAN) and Close To My Heart will donate 100% of the profits to the American Red Cross’ efforts in Japan. This beautifully designed stamp set reminds us of how our hearts are hopeful for those who are in need. Here are some images of the stamp set:

This stamp set can be ordered at My CTMH Website or by contacting me through e-mail at heatherlabond@yahoo.com

World's Worst Blogger?

Great intentions.  Really. I had them when I started this blog.  I thought that I would be able to manage at least one post a week.  Perhaps more in the summer when school is out of session, but ideally one post a week.  Yet, here my poor neglected blog sits without a post in what seems like forever.  I'm busy, sure, but honestly, I spend plenty of time reading other people's blogs, browsing scrapbooking message boards, and spending all too much time on Facebook playing Bejeweled Blitz.  Time enough to make my own blog posts, for sure.

So, while doing some of that blog reading, I came upon an online class with the title Blogging for Scrapbookers at www.shimelle.com :

Seemed like the perfect thing to get me motivated and back to blogging.  So here I am again: ready, willing, and certainly able to give this blogging thing a go. Go Me!!