Where have I been?

I'm sure anyone that reads this blog is wondering where in the world I am? Well I am comewhere inbetween Tahlequah and Muskogee, Oklahoma! We moved and we LOVE it here! I miss all my friends terribly, but I get to go back and teach class at Just 4 Keeps once a month!
This will be a short post, but I won't be a stranger again! I just wanted to let everyone know I didn't fall off the face of the Earth! Hehe!
I'll be back soon with pictures!
LOVE APRIL

Eggshells

I've been absent from the blog for a long time. I've been so busy with moving that I haven't had much online time for myself. I haven't had time to scan my usually message boards. I haven't even had time to scrapbook. But when I do I just go along. Merrily creating whatever comes to my mind. If a magazine happens to like it, they publish it. That's it. That's great.

When I first started scrapbooking I didn't understand why in the world people made their own embellishments. Why would you do that when there are all these wonderful things you can buy? Once I started getting more comfortable with the hobby, I realized what I loved about it. It was every hobby I had ever loved rolled into one. It was photography. It was decorating a page instead of a wall. It was arts and crafts.

I have always loved arts and craft. Making things with my hands. Getting dirty. Coming up with something beautiful out of nothing. Maybe out of something you would throw away. Like eggshells. That is what I love about scrapbooking. It is the ultimate hobby for me. Everything I enjoy doing rolled into one.

When I got the closed call for creating a project using eggshells from Creating Keepsakes, I was instantly intrigued. I was instantly challenged. I love having a product and asking myself what all I can do with it. Anyone who has spent any amount of cropping time around me knows this. This is also why I love Creating Keepsakes. They aren't afraid to think differently and creativly. They understand there is more than one way to use something. Even eggshells.

I accepted the challenge thinking what a fun way to use all those eggs you have leftover from Easter! I experimented with them and came up with a few fun things. Creating Keepsakes happened to like one of them so it got published. Then last week while I was packing some people on a website got all crazy over eggshells. Who knew people could get so fired up about eggshells?

Why NOT turn trash into treasure? Why NOT offer an alternative way of creating? Granted, it may not be for everyone, but it's for someone. When I first started I would have overlooked it, but now I think what fun it would be. What FUN it would be to make my own little something. What FUN it would be to get my hands dirty making something on my own. That's what it's all about for me. FUN. I don't scrapbook for anyone else but myself. I do what pleases me. If a magazine happens to like what I have done that's all the better. But I do realize it's not for everyone and that's fine with me. But you know what? No matter how crazy people get about eggshells, I'll still be creating and I'll still be putting it out there for people to love. Or hate. It may not be for everyone, but it's for ME and by golly I have FUN doing it.

This is why I love Oklahoma.

There is a blowing snow advisory and a tornado watch at the same time in Oklahoma right now. Yesterday is was 80 degrees and today it's 35. And THAT is why I love Oklahoma! :)
I went up to Just 4 Keeps today to bug my BFF Jennifer. I get home and she IM's me that the new March Creating Keepsakes came in. WHAT!?!?! That figures! Brodey's asleep so no new mag for me until he wakes up. GOSH BRODEY! LOL I have a tip in this issue in the Tips and Tricks section. It's THE best tip for anyone that does heat embossing. I won't tell you what it is! You'll just have to get the March issue of CK! ;) Hehe!
I think the terrible two's have started. Brodey has taken to whining about everything lately. Then if he doesn't get his way, he throws himself down on the floor and fake cries. For me, whining is like nails on a chalkboard. So needless to say I'm about to lose it with him. Hopefully this will pass.
I have been realizing lately how fast Brodey's growing. All of his pants (that not a month ago were too long) are now high waters. He looks pretty ridiculous. But he's just gonna have to look that way until Spring because I'm not buying new pants this late in the season!
Well I'm off to TRY to put Brodey in bed so I can get something done. Fingers crossed....
LOVE APRIL

Well look what the wind blew in.

The wind blew in some very pretty snow yesterday. There were some huge flakes and it was all pretty and good until the temperature took a huge DIP. Then all the snow that was on the ground turned to ice. Fun. I had to take a fax to Eric's office and (of course) had to stop by J4K. I went to turn into my neighborhood and well...I didn't. My wheels locked up and I just kept sliding right passed it. LOL Pretty funny and a little scary. Poor Eric couldn't get up the driveway when he came home. He said there were a ton of people off the interstate upside down and in ditches. Once again I AM READY FOR SPRING!!! Hahaha!
Even though I'm ready for spring I can't even believe it's February already. It seems like it was just Christmas!
My Technique Tuesday class for J4K this month is a lot of fun. The stamps are really cool, too! I posted the layout above. In the class we will make the little circle accents. I love teaching the Technique Tuesday classes! I always have a good time!
Well Brodey is begging for grapes. The boy is obsessed with grapes. Better than candy I guess. ;)
LUV APRIL

Ooooklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...

My gosh it's windy today! It started out so nice at almost 60 degrees and now it's STLL windy but it's 35 degrees. I'm ready for spring!
I can't tell you how excited I am to have a normal house again! The painters just left and all they have left to do is paint my bedroom ceiling, closet, and the toilet room. My house flooded a year ago and it's just now fixed. BUT it's fixed and I'm so happy!
If you love the Pagemaps website look for me in the February one! I created a layout for them using a sketch. It was so much fun and the sketch is awesome!
All the sneak peeks for CHA are getting me excited for the new lines to make it to Just 4 Keeps! I know Jen has already started ordering! I have the best LSS ever!
Okay well I gotta go now. I know this was a quick post, but Brodey actually fell asleep by himself in the recliner and he's waking up!
Bye!
LUV APRIL

Brodey is 2!!!! Boo hoo hoo!!

My little bitty baby is 2 today! Well not until 5:08...but STILL!!! I am so sad! He has grown up so fast!
We are headed to my parent's today for a party and Eric's parents tomorrow for another party. We are going to be on sugar overload! I LOVE IT! LOL
I gotta go!!! Have a wonderful weekend!
LUV APRIL

I'M STILL ALIVE!!!!

I'm still alive! I promise!!! I feel like such a bum! It's been a month since I posted last! I've been SO BUSY!!!
I'm almost done with my Christas shopping! Last year my resolution was to buy gifts early...didn't happen! Mom and Ally came up yesterday and we went to Penn Square. What a nightmare. I waited in line at Victoria's Secret forEVER. Then the poor girl's computers were down and she had to phone in all three of my gift cards SEPERATLY. I felt bad for the workers.
I've been scrappin my little heart out! I've been doing some assignment work for Creating Keepsakes and it's kept me busy! I'll have several things in the magazine this spring. I can't wait!
Brodey cracks me up. The little boy has his quirks!
He can't stand it if he has boogies in his nose. It drives him nuts.
He says hi to his shadow. "Hi Shadow."
He blows kisses to the ladies that check us out at Wal-Mart.
He loves to put on my socks. By the time he gets them all the way up they look like thigh highs.
He knows when we drive past our neighborhood, when we pull into the shopping center were Just 4 Keeps is, and when we go almost anywhere to eat.
He knows the UPS store man by name.
He can't stand poop in his diaper and he has to stand up, be still, and hide when he does it.
I LOVE MY LITTLE MAN!!!! And this little man will be 2 on Janaury 12th. My gosh.
LUV APRIL

Quickie!

Okay! This is a quickie post!
Halloween was great! Brodey was such a big boy and went up to the door and knocked and said "Treat Treat!" He was so proud! He looked hilarious in his dragon costume! He even had a dragon growl!! LOL
I'll post more pics later. I'm getting error messages now! Geez!
I gotta run! Busy busy!
LUV APRIL

Mommy. Tooth. Hurt. Bad.

SO SAD!!!! This is what Brodey said to me yesterday after a totally sleepless night! Poor guy! He's teething his second molar and it's all swollen! When he eats he sticks the food in his cheek until it's soft and then he eats it! :( Motrin has been a big help! Hopefully it'll break through soon!
Can't wait for Halloween! I'm doing a photo shoot at Just 4 Keeps on Saturday and they are launching the new Creative Cafe! Lots of fun stuff goin' on!
Brodey has become a little chatterbox! He can pretty much say whatever he wants to. He can combine almost any word he wants into five word sentences. It's so amazing to think about how much brain effort it takes to do that! He's growing up so fast! Today we went to the mall and I bought him some warm pj's. They are so cute! They are green and have bats all over them. After I washed them tonight I was putting them on him and he raises up his legs and says "Mommy! Cool!" Well I think he's pretty cool!
I have so many scrappy projects I need to get done. I have to do Design Team stuff, class stuff, and I would love to get some layouts done for a few calls that sound fun!
If you have the November Creating Keepsakes I'm in it!!! It's my first how-to article so I'm pretty excited! The layout is called "First Days of Fall." Look for me!!! Hehe!!
Well I better go to sleep! Hopefully tonight will be a better night for my poor little man!
Goodnight!
LOVE APRIL

Rainbow BRIGHT!

Hahaha! I LOVE sending in photos to the weather stations! They just showed the photo above on the 5:00 news! This is the third time for that but it's so much fun! Rick Mitchell on channel 5 said "Wow what a great picture, April! Thanks for sending that in!" LOL
We had some pretty severe storms today! It hailed and rainy super hard! Right after it moved through, this beautiful rainbow showed up! It was a total complete DOUBLE rainbow! We were too close to it so I couldn't get the whole thing in my photo, but it turned out pretty neat anyway! I just love rainbows!
It was a pretty exciting day for me today! I picked up the new Fast and Fabulous idea book by Scrapbook Trends!!! I have two cards in it! SO excited about that!
Even more exciting is I also got the December Creating Keepsakes! I have another layout in there for Christmas! It's so special to me! The photos on the layout is our Christmas pajama photo from last year! My brother, my sister, and Brodey are all in the photo with me! SO special!!! I can't wait for my sister to see it! She will probably say she looks bad....oh sure! She never looks bad! ;)
Well I'm off to start dinner! It was pizza last night so I better cook something decent tonight! I went to Just 4 Keeps and bought all the new Basic Grey holiday stuff! Hehee!
Have a great night!
LOVE APRIL

Orr in Moore!

We went to the Orr Family Farm in Moore Friday for the second year in a row! It was more fun than last year! Brodey had a blast! He rode the horses, fed the animals, did the hayride, rode the carousel, and picked his own pumpkin! And I have 75 pictures to prove it! Haha! I edited three so far!!
Eric is telling me to go get ready. We are going to the RV show today. Hehe. Eric wants an RV so we are going to go check them out. We go to the lake almost every weekend in the summer and it would be nice to have one. So I guess I'll go get dressed. :)
LUV APRIL

Thanks Trisha

I read this on Trisha's blog and she read it on Karen Russell's blog. LOL It made me cry because I can totally relate! Thanks Trisha!

I'm invisible.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?"

I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?"

I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going ... she's going ... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just returned from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean.

My unwashed hair was pulled up in a clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this."

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

(1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
(2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
(3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
(4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof?

No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees."
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

God Bless You as you build your Cathedrals!

-Author Unknown

HOLY MOLY

Oh wow I am SO excited! I hung out at my fave scrapbook store (Just 4 Keeps) for about an hour BRODEY FREE (which rarely happens) and came home and ate dinner. Well I came over to the computer to check my e-mail and WOW!!! Simple Scrapbooks requested a layout for the March/April issue! I was jumping up and down like a fool while Eric was laughing at me! It's been a goal of mine to get into Simple Scrapbooks so you can imagine how stoked I was!!! MADE MY DAY!
I just had to share my happiness! :)
LOVE APRIL

One Page at a Time DT Search!!!!

TRUST ME!!! You want to work for this online store! The kits are awesome and the owner is SO nice! I've worked with them for almost a year now and they ROCK!
Go HERE to find out more!

The great state fair of.....OKLAHOMA!

We haven't been in years! It was so much fun! We went with Eric's mom and dad, his brothers and their girlfriends. We ate so much! I had fried Oreos, fried Snickers, cinnamon rolls, crepes, fresh lemonade, chicken on a stick, and who knows what else! This is the only photo I've edited from the fair. I have a ton more. I have some funny ones and of Brodey riding this great big slide with all of us! We also rode the big observation thing that's about 300 feet up in the air several times. Brodey loved that! I don't think he's going to be afraid of heights! ;) It was a great time!
I have to get my kits ready today because I teach a layout class tomorrow at Just 4 Keeps. I LOVE the layout so it'll be a fun class! The link is HERE!
Well I'm off to feed Brodey breakfast! Have an awesome Friday!!!
LOVE APRIL

New pic.....of ME!!!!

I hardly ever have any pics of me! We were sitting out on the front porch today watching Brodey play and Eric took a pic of me! Hehehe! It's so rare that anyone takes a pic of me that I had to take advantage! So that's why there is a random photo of me posted! Thanks Eric!!! ;)
LOVE APRIL

I gotta say...

Okay! I gotta say two thing!
First is I am so lucky to have such an awesome local scrapbook store! If I hadn't read the Edmond Outlook in August of last year, I wouldn't have the awesome friends I do, I wouldn't scrapbook as much as I do, and I wouldn't be published! I LOVE J4K!!! We had a blast this weekend at the birthday bash! I got to take pics and it was a blast!!! My knees haven't been sore from taking pictures in 5 years! Fun times!
Second, I HAVE to share THIS with you!!! You HAVE to check out that prize pack!! One Page at a Time is famous for their awesome prize packs!!! You should totally give that contest a try!
Kathy at J4K took the pic above! I had on her birthday hat and she took it with her camera! CUTE!! Hehe!
Okay I'm off to bead! My eyes are killing me! I've edited pics for the last 24 hours and they need a break!
Have a rockin' Monday!!!!
LOVE APRIL

Happy!

New scrapbook goodies makes me HAPPY!!! LOL Yes it's that easy! ;)
The new Fancy Pants goodies arrived at J4K yesterday! AWESOME!!! Crocheted flowers, decorative pins, felt, awesome paper, new stamps.....what more can a girl ask for?!?!?!
Well I can tell you!!! My One Page at a Time kit! That's what! It arrived yesterday too! CUTE Sassafrass Lass skull paper! PLUS they had acrylic skull stamps made to match and they are so dang cute! I can't wait to play with that!
I finished a couple of layouts last night with the Fancy Pants stuff! I posted them above! You can actually stamp on the felt! I used Stazon, but I'm not sure if any other ink works as well.
This is a quick post! I have to go get ready to take photos today at the Just 4 Keeps birthday bash! Come by and see me if you live in the area! They are having a sale too!
Well I'm off! Have a great weekend!
LOVE APRIL

Who IS this little boy!?!?!?!

Can you even believe how old he looks!?!?! I gave in and took him for a haircut yesterday and they chopped off most of his curls! CRY!!! He looks so much older it doesn't seem possible!
I took these today in the garage. My parents brought up some old backdrops from when I had the studio and there was a fresh roll of white paper! I HAD to play!!
I take photos this Saturday at Just 4 Keeps! It's their big birthday bash! It's gonna be fun!!
Well I gotta go! Brodey just woke up from his nap! DARN! LOL
Later!
LUV APRIL

So long summer!

Wow! Everyone is back to school! My sister, cousin, and brother-in-law's girlfriend all started college for the first time this last week! Everyone is still alive! LOL Maybe a little overwelmed, but still alive!
I am so excited! My friend, Trisha, and I are both going to have layouts published in the Scrapbook Trends Wedding Idea Book! Trisha is on the design team with me at Just 4 Keeps! I am SO excited about that!!!
I took this photo today with Brodey! I rarely get photos of us together that are not taken by myself, so I really love this one!!! (Even though it's not perfectly in focus hehehe)
Brodey and I had a great week! We went to Texas and stayed with my cousin for a few days! It was so nice to get to see them!! Brodey had such a good time playing with Will and McKennah! He loves to play with the big kids! ;)
Tomorrow I am scrapping no matter what!!! LOL Last weekend I finished one page so I am going to make up for lost time tomorrow! I am locking myself in my office and not coming out until my mother-in-law leaves tomorrow night! Hehe!
Well I'm off to bed now! I have to rest for my scrappy day tomorrow!
Sleep well!
LOVE APRIL