And the winner is...

Obsessed Scrapbooker!!! Please PM me your address and I'll get this off right away! Congratulations! When you get a chance, I would love to see your version of the wreath! Thanks for posting!!

Since I had such a great response...I have a second set I would like to give out and that goes to Jan! LOL!! I know your address!

THANK YOU to everyone who participated and for those who posted on 2Peas (and other message boards) such kind words of encouragement....you will never know HOW MUCH it means to me! So thank you from the bottom of my heart xoxoxo!

And YES, I did meet my deadline..skin of my teeth as I started the last two projects after dinner last night! YIKES!

Here are some of my samples for the booth - if you're going, please stop by and meet these nice folks from LaserLine (booth #1705). I won't be able to make it but I will be there in spirit!!!

The "Happy Holiday" circle chipboard & zig-zag border are my designs and the swirl is a LaserLine design as well! PP-Reminisce, CS-Bazzill, Flowers-Junkitz, Brads-Making Memories and paints/stickles-Ranger Ink.

This is my all-time favorite (for now - LOL!!!) - a chipboard flip flop mini album! Had such a blast making this for the booth! The exclamation point, clip and the arrows are all my designs. There are a TON of different lines in this one so I hope I get all of them in...Flair, Heidi Swapp, American Tradition, Art Warehouse, Ranger Ink and 7 Gypsies.

Can I say thank you to Robin Beam for letting me "play" with the dabbers to use on all of my samples?! I got rid of all my paints and only use the dabbers - just LOVE THEM!!!

Now I have to go and clean up the mess that I had made for the last few days - sigh....

CHA - Winter 2007!!!

OK...breathe!

I've got a few things done for Laser Line's booth (#1705)! BUT I need to get at least 2 more projects started and they have to go out by this Wednesday!!! AHH!!

To add to the mix, we're in the process of negotiating the sale of our house! In the middle of winter in Chicago, we sold our house (well, not officially yet) and they want us out by the end of February! Didn't think we would sell our house...let alone above asking price in the off-peak season! LOL!! Who said it was a soft seller's market?! OY!

OK...enough of the vent!

I put together a Valentines wreath which I saw on either 2Peas or CK gallery and LOVED it! So I scraplifted....I used Laser Line's Plain Jane - Circles (3 lg & 3 md) and Plain Jane - Valentines sets; Cloud 9 Valentines PP; Ranger Ink Dabbers & Stickles; and Bo Bunny PP & Ribbons. I just noticed that "love" is in there....ooops! I was going to add "Be Mine" but lost the "Mine" (no, not MIND....well, that went a LONG time ago!!) so I had to adjust my plan!

OK so who wants to be RAK'd?! LOL!! I will send one set of Laser Line's Plain Jane chipboards to make this wreath. Please leave comments on what shapes you like to see in chipboard (existing or not). I will have one of my boys pick a name and announce the winner on Wednesday, Jan. 24 evening in honor of my deadline! Heehee!!!

Oh, these aren't my designs....these are existing ones that Laser Line did. I will post mine SOON!! So in the meantime, post away!

Happy Birthday to my 10 year old!!!

Sniff-Sniff! Guess he can't stay a little boy forever but I can dream, can't I? LOL!!

Happy birthday to my youngest guy!


We decided to do something different and he wanted an ice cream cake sooooooo... I went to Frozen Memories (where I work part-time)'s ice cream palor side and purchase a dozen ice cream cupcakes! Then I stacked them and put a candle on top.....a birthday cake! Everyone got to choose which flavor they wanted and I didn't have to cut anything! Now I call that a solution!

What a treat for him...a TV baseball game w/ bat remote, a Barns & Noble gift certificate from his cousins, some $$$ from the grandparents and lots of hugs & kisses from ME! Heehee!














































Happy birthday, Mr. Hiroyuki!

xoxoxo

Good-bye to Cherish!

Well, it was nice while it lasted! The store is a BEAUTIFUL store and had TONS of stuff that I LOVE!

But mangement decided to change the way they have people working hours and my schedule couldn't meet it so I had to say good-bye! We parted on good terms which is always a good thing AND I wish them so much luck and success! I'll be back...I have my eyes on some thing that I forgot to purchase today - LOL!! Plus I'm hoping to do some make'n takes with my chipboard accents that will be debuting @ CHA - Winter. So excited that Laser Line has allowed me to doodle and make them a reality! THANK YOU!! LOVE that company esp. Miss Lisa Ragan and her mom, Marcia! I'm in the process of making some samples out of their existing product line (Plain Janes) as well as my designs! COOL!!

I want to thank my GF, BethP, for introducing me to Cherish!! Although it was only for a few months, I got to spend some time with my friend and that was so important to me! Hope we can get to see each other outside of Cherish too!

As I mentioned I have some stuff debuting as well as my friends from NJScrappers! Jen Starr of Ranger Inks (DT coordinator) will be debuting papers & stuff from Zsiage and another GF but she hasn't announced so I'm not going public until she does! LOL!! Then my friend from Imagination Project, Emily Adams, formerly of Magic Scraps will be debuting her line of products as well! So good luck to everyone...it's going to be a FULL plate of everything this show! YIKES!


Here are some pictures I'd like to share the fun times @ Cherish!













But most importantly, I want to thank the scrappers that came in and took my classes or to say hello at the store or for letting me help them find that right kind of paper/embellishments/adhesive! Please continue to support our LSSes (is that correct?) and have fun doing what we love to do - SCRAPBOOK! See you in some shape or form! LOL!!

Thanks, Cherish...I'll be back!


P.S. You haven't seen the last of me! LOL! I will continue to work at Frozen Memories on Wednesdays, some Fridays or Saturdays during the daytime hours! Come visit me...love to see my friends!

Pieces Of Me...

Hey, all! Hope everyone survived the celebration! We had to work like all other new years, our church is open for the first prayers of the year. BUT the best part is hanging out with the members and sharing a meal of traditional Japanese new years dishes (as you saw in my previous post & MORE! LOL!). Will post those pictures later!

I wanted to show you all a project that I finally got done....I think it took me a good two months to get it completed!!! It's that dreaded scrapper's block! UGH!!! And I loved how it turned out! I plan to do a class on this at the end of this month @ Cherish. I used Creative Imagination's puzzle pieces to make an altered mini album and the theme is based on the many roles we as mothers, wives, sisters, brothers, kids to get through life. Mine covers places I need to be...home, work, school, sorority and play (of course, that's my fav page! LOL!!). So if you're interested, would love for you to join us @ Cherish!!

The January dates are: 27th (Sat./10am-NOON); 30th (Tue./10am-NOON). There's one February date: 3rd (Sat./10am-NOON).

Currently I'm working on an envie accordion album for Valentines @ Frozen Memories. I don't think their calendar is up yet for January but this class will be this Saturday, Jan 6th from 10am - NOON. I hope to post a picture tonight so be on the lookout for it! I believe the price is $12.00.

Thanks for always stopping by and reading my blog!

Happy New Year!!!

AH! Can't believe it's 2007! Wishing everyone a great year!

Here's a peek at the foods we enjoy during the new year's holiday - called OSECHI RYORI.

This is called KURIKINTON....basically it's mashed chestnuts (something like mashed potatoes but sweeter and yummier..is that a word?!). This is one of my favorite dishes!

This a kind of fish cake and since it's mostly white, they dye it in different colors and they make designs in the middle of the cake. When you go to slice the "loaf," you get these slices pictured here.

These are eggs rolled in layers and sliced. Hosho made these....isn't this beautiful!

We also cooked up a New York strip steak and little hamburger patties...and a few other dishes.

In Japan after days of cleaning our homes (detail cleaning), we spend time on preparing foods that can last at least a few days since in the "olden" days, all the shops were closed for about a week. But that's not fesible and they only close for a couple of days. In recent times, people spend their time on vacation mostly overseas so these kinds of food are not so popular. Actually those who still enjoy it will most likely order it as a set from department stores. Here we are able to order at Mitsuwa (Arlington Hts. IL) but I don't like to do that so we make some of the dishes and purchase pre-made stuff. This makes us feel less guilty - LOL!! But we also work on new year's day....New Years services at church. The church members make some AWESOME homemade dishes that we will enjoy tomorrow afternoon for lunch! Can't wait!

So, do you do anything for the new year as a tradition? Do share!

Again, a happy new year to you and your loved ones!