{creative} living

My first Creative Therapy Catalyst, ScrapStreet and a sale!

My first Creative Therapy is up!  I am so excited! You can view it at Creative Therapy now!

Here is my take on the catalyst 68
Did your life turn out how you imagined?

 

You can view the full journaling on Creative Therapy! :)

As if having my first catalyst up wasn't exciting enough... my first catalyst was also one that is featured right now on ScrapStreet!  You can view the feature here... it's wonderful, several pages with lots of pictures and information about Creative Therapy, the designers and the projects!  VERY exciting indeed!

And I also wanted to let you all in on the sale that is going on at A Million Memories for the fourth of July!

TAKE 25% OFF

 OF YOUR ORDER

USE CODE 704 @ Checkout!

(Does not apply to monthly kit memberships or the June or July Kits)

 

 

With great products in the store like the new Basic Grey lines, new Prima, October Afternoon, My Little Yellow Bicycle and more... you really won't want to miss this opportunity to stock up on some new and fun product!

 

And while you're there, check out the gorgeous July kit designed by our very talented Mia Caniza!  It is beautiful and so summery!

 

Newport Beach

a little over a week ago, on the last day of our vacation to Disneyland for fathers day, we spent the morning at Newport Beach and had the best time!

It was the first time that Drew and Roslyn have seen the Pacific Ocean.  They loved it.  I could tell that Drew felt calm and peaceful and that Roslyn had a blast running in the water and playing in the sand.  It was a special end to a special trip and I am so glad that we finally took the time to do it!  I know that we will be going back for sure!

 

As always, its been a bit of a crazy transition back to daily life from vacation life... but it's been pretty good around these parts.  I've spent some time working on layouts, editing pictures, spending some fun quality time with Roslyn, going on a concert date with Drew, having coffee with friends and being generally happy.

I can't end a post without something artsy... so here you go... a beach layout!  Super fun to do!

 

 

Cosmo Cricket :)

Well, as luck would have it, one of my favorite manufacturers, Cosmo Cricket , is having a design team call and I thought that I would throw my hat in the ring and show my favorite work with their amazing product!

Cosmo Cricket was wonderful enough to sponsor the team at A Million Memories with their Early Bird collection and I was so inspired! 

 

here is another favorite of mine using their beautiful Halloween line from last year:

using their Girl Friday line...

and some projects using some of their older lines, that are still some of my favorites!

  

Creative Therapy, California , Cosmo Cricket and a SALE! :)

First off... I am so honored to share with you that I was asked to join the amazing, inspiring and oh so talented team at Creative Therapy.  I am so happy to be a part of a team with so many of my favorite artists out there... it is truly a special honor for me!

 

In about 5 and a half hours we will be heading to California!  Woohoo!  A much needed Fathers Day family vacation to where else but our favorite place?  DISNEYLAND of course!  Looking forward to spending time in the park as a family, taking in an Angel's game and meeting up with a very fabulous gal, Michelle, who owns A Million Memories!  I can't wait! :)

 

In scrappy news... Michelle is running a sale at A Million Memories right now!  Simply use code 2121 at checkout and receive 20% OFF your order!  Can't beat that!

Speaking of A Million Memories... the design team was lucky enough to be sponsored by Cosmo Cricket with their fabulous new line, Early Bird!  This line is perfect for pretty much everything and even five layouts later I am still plotting and planning ways to use up every last bit!  Here are my layouts I created... be sure to check out the A Million Memories Design Gallery for more amazing layouts by some AMAZING designers!

I hope everyone has amazing weekends and a happy Fathers Day to all those Fathers out there!

A FREE, new class... shaped layouts...

designed and taught by ME! :)

 

A Million Memories and I have worked together to bring you a new class  that will help you "shape up" your layouts, literally!

Want to learn some tips and techniques on how to create layouts similar to some of these shaped layouts that I have created?

 

 

You can!  And the best part? It's completely free!  All you need to do is go to register for the A Million Memories message board and site here.  In class, you will be guided step by step through creating 4 new shaped layouts, as well as being provided with shaped layout specific gallery links, product links and general tips, tricks and ideas that you will be able to use again!

And here are some sneaks of what we'll be doing in class... I can't wait!

   

 

a work in progress

 

I am a work in progress.
For so long I struggled with the action of standing still.
Rolling over.
Taking it all.
Being everything for everyone.
I call myself the garbage man of life.
I clean up the mess of those around me.
Focus on them so I don't have to focus on myself.
Didn't have the time to learn.
Didn't have the time to grow.
Didn't have to admit that I was painfully standing still.

but now...

I am beginning to move.
To act.
To put myself out there more.
To believe in myself.
To care for myself.
To examine myself.
To ask for help.
To say "no more!" to toxic family.
To say "no more!" to toxic 'friends'.

every day...

I am afraid of looking inward.
I am afraid to fail.
I am afraid to tell others how I feel.
I am afraid of asking for help.
I am afraid of saying "no".
I am afraid of saying "I don't want you in my life".

but also...

I am hopeful that I will learn.
I am hopeful I will succeed.
I am hopeful that others will listen.
I am hopeful when I do ask for help.
I am hopeful that my boundaries will be respected.
I am hopeful that I will grow closer to the good.

I am a work in progress.

Slowly but surely, I'm working on it.

*little bread and butterflies kiss the tulips*

Roslyn and I have taken to gardening the last few weeks.  Roslyn absolutely ADORES the Disney version of 'Alice in Wonderland' and has been so excited for us to start our own garden.  She has her own gloves, rake, and shovel, all pink of course and lots to "rain" the flowers because as she puts it "the seeds are thirsty and want some water, mama!".

We planted some pansies and snapdragons in a pot for the porch, some johnny jump-up seeds and a whole flower bed of wildflower seeds.

This weekend we noticed the sprinkling of green of new little plants growing!

We also saw that our flowers were thriving :)

 Now our johnny jump-ups on the other hand... we're still waiting for them to "jump".

And on top of all that... I have been paying much more attention to my Rosemary that I have had in our garden since we moved in.  It's been thriving with all the attention!

I can't wait each day to see what has grown and changed!

sharing layouts and general randomness

I was looking through some of my finished layouts and realized how many I have not shared here or anywhere!  So I snapped a few quick pics so I could share.

Things around here have been lovely! I've been spending lots of quality time with family and friends.  Lots of hanging out at home with Drew and Roslyn, scrapping with Teresa and Taylor and hanging out a bit with my dad too. 

I've been keeping very productive and happily scrapping away... I am currently working on some exciting things coming up for A Million Memories... lets just say that it is shaping up to be pretty awesome and I am so excited! ;)  It has been such a wonderful blessing being on this team... creating art and creating friendships.  I couldn't ask for more!

I've also been doing some streamlining around my life.  Figuring out what I am wasting my time on or not being actually involved with and focusing on what is important to me.  I am streamlining our home and focusing on having it hold the things we love as opposed to a plethora of stuff we just seem to have.  It's keeping me busy, focused and happy. Which is always a good thing!

Now without further yammering on... layouts!  Lots of Disney layouts of course! :D

I will be back soon with more layouts and randomness... if you can count on me for anything, it's randomness! ;)

I *lovelovelove* sketches!

just sharing what I was up to for National Scrapbook Day this last weekend!

These were created using some amazing sketches provided for A Million Memories by the fabulous Patti, Lucy, Mia and Stacy (Lucy, Mia and Stacy's blogs are linked to the right).

   

Do you love sketches?  What are your favorite sketch resources?

My first blog post is up at the A Million Memories blog!

You can check it out here!

If you haven't added the A Million Memories blog to your reader or bookmarks, you really should!  It is updated DAILY with loads of inspiration, techniques, challenges, and all the news about A Million Memories kits, products and sales.  Lisa does an absolutely AMAZING job with the blog and i am so excited to get to share there.

Check out my post from today and learn how to make beautiful custom pieces of jewelry with your scrapbook supplies like this!