{me}anderings . . .

product pizzazz . . .

 

i have had a super productive day.  got a couple layouts finished up.  swept, mopped, and vacuumed.  kitchen's sparkling.  saw two loads of laundry to completion.  the twins came over to play with g.  all g's toys have miraculously found their way home.  there are no more christmas ornaments or lights or bags of trash on my balcony.   i even got my 20 items for $20 uploaded at twopeas.  wheee!  and now i'm blogging.  the last thing on my list.  aaaaaaah.  it feels good. 

   

my class, product pizzazz 101, starts february 9th.  if you register before this tuesday, february 3rd, at midnight, you'll be entered into a drawing for the jbs loot pictured above.  yay!  i'm also hosting a chat on thursday, febrary 5th.  my first live chat.  eeks.  it's all going to be great fun.  i hope you'll join us.  i need to give you more details about the class itself.  soon.  very soon.

 

i got this pile of american crafts fun in the mail recently.  since i haven't been overly motivated to scrap lately, i thought i'd give myself a little personal challenge.  i am officially challenging myself to use some of this cool stuff on a boy page.  i am not allowed to use a ruler or paper trimmer (except on photos and the bottom edge of the patterned paper).  i must do some funky stitching.  and i have to use some glimmer mist.  stay tuned.  it should be interesting . . .

this is not a lake . . .

 

it's not even a pond.  but it is quite possibly the biggest mud puddle i've ever seen.  we were all amazed when we came upon it on our nature walk yesterday.  happy happy joy joy!  snowbird flew!  it wasn't EXACTLY a snow day.  more like a mud day.  but we'll take anything we can get . . .

 

hey!  but lookee there.  a wee bit of ice i see on those branches.  just enough for a frozen precipitation celebration.  blake came over to join in the festivities and we had great fun.  besides the nature walk and subsequent hour long bath to ward off the chills, g got to show off his hotwheels supercity, we baked muffins and poppyseed chicken, built a fort in the laundry room complete with dinosaur foam stickers adorning the walls (i found those later), and made a trip to our local public library with a happy meal pit stop on the way home . . .

 

i knew deep down inside that their hour long bath was too good to be true.  that little voice told me they were up to mischief and i ignored it.  i mean, i peeked in on them several times and they were always innocently playing with the sea monsters, or giving each other cool hairstyles with g's shower gel and mommy's hairclips, or drinking the bathwater.  i guess there's only so much you can see reflected in the bathroom mirror.  it was only later when i was cleaning out the tub toys that i found evidence of what really happened . . .

 

it appears that g's hairline has gotten yet another update.  this time with toenail scissors.  check out the patchy baldness on his widow's peak.  heck, i didn't even know he had a widow's peak.  he's always had so much hair up there.  oh well.  it'll grow, it'll grow.

meanderings . . .

 

not much going on around here.  i've been stalking snowbird for a couple days now.  mindlessly hitting refresh on weather.com.  hoping for a little frozen precipitation in my neck of the woods.  we scored a 2 hour delay this morning.  tomorrow's still iffy.  come on white stuff.  this is a rare photo of the gman.  he's not much into his webkinz.  he's proud of my skillz though.  and i do have skillz.  after some serious training over the weekend, i finally managed to reach level 10 on smoothie moves with my handicap.  laptop without a mouse.  as i said.  i do have skillz . . .

 

g's more into drawing than computering.  that makes me happy.  last night he got out a mini-album i made for him.  the one of the fishing trip his uncle gus took him on last summer.  he'd look at the pages, then draw his rendition of the fish featured.  they all had teeth.  he's into the teeth.  even the flounder had teeth as you can see . . .

 

the teeth even come into play in his his hotwheels matchbox super city.  he's all about the nature nurture.  i love that some of the beasties are busy wreaking havoc on the city while others are cozily sitting on their nests.  funny guy.  he really wants one of his friends to come over and be impressed.  hmmm.  maybe we'll get a snowday tomorrow and i can score a playdate . . .

 

and if we are blessed with a snowday and i g can score a playdate, then maybe i can get a little scrappy action in.  that's a conditional statement.  we studied that in geometry this morning.  i study lots of things in my line of work.  my kids think i know it all.  i don't tell them any different.  i love them, but i hope i don't have to see them tomorrow.  big ramble there.   a sure sign that i need to wrap this up . . .

 

this was another little project with jenni's new stuff.  and some old stuff too.  i just couldn't seem to get enough of the crepe paper and bingo cards last week.  i saw a couple of my little projects up in the booth.  jb was a video superstar for twopeas once again this year.  you can see her performance here.  ok.  nighty night.  i'm dreaming of a white wednesday . . .

sniff . . . sniff . . . sniff . . .

 

he wanted spikey hair.  so his father went and got him spikey hair.  someone took clippers to my baby's head.  g likes it.  his dad likes it.  i want my baby back.  sniff sniff . . .

   

i needed to reminisce, so i found this layout in my archives.  i much prefer this look.  but he'll probably want to chop it off again as soon as it starts growing.  what do men and boys have against curls anyway?  sigh . . .

 

new jbs stuffs.  polka dot chipboard buttons and rhinestone buttons and more of the wonderful rubs.  here's hoping g's hair grows fast . . .

peekaboo . . .

 

just look at my little boo baby . . . isn't he adorable?  and can you believe these were taken almost 5 years ago?  sweet thing!  i've taken these pics out several times to scrapbook and never could get going on them.  guess i was waiting for the perfect piece of cheery cherry paper.  i'm in love with the cherry paper.  i'm feeling the need to use it on evvvvvvvvverything.  it makes me happy.

all the new jbs treats make me happy.  i've got a few more projects to share, but i'm too lazy to edit them tonight.  i do have a couple more product pics ready.  alphas and buttons.  two more of my favorite things made even better jenni style . . .

 

her packaging is just as charming as the product itself.  i used the button backing as photo frames . . .

 

and i have to brag on the rubs just a bit . . . truly like butta . . . i can mess up a rubon better than anyone i know, but not jenni's . . . jenni's actually work for me . . . aren't these cute?  i slipped some of her others in the pic just to give you some perspective on how tiny they are . . . perfect for subtitles on her wonderful label stickers.

eye candy . . .

jenni posted these sweet treats on her blog today along with a completely delightful layout.  i thought i'd give you a little closer view.  they're called pearl flowers and are simply delectable.  They have a gorgeous vintage sheen and come in six scrumptious flavors . . . maraschino, cream cheese, blueberry, cantaloupe, powdered sugar, and pink grapefruit . . . yum! 

you can also see another new bit of fun in the background . . . more labels . . . and you haven't seen it all yet . . . she's really outdone herself this round!

okay!  back to the creative zone!  hope to have a few scrappies to share tomorrow!

p.s.  please disregard the weird break in the above text.  typepad is testing my patience this evening.

p.s.s.  thanks to the gluestick for "delectable" . . . she has a way with words, doesn't she?

p.s.s.  the weird break finally went away.  typepad musta heard me talking smack about it.

happy winter . . .

cold weather.  ugh.  winter is not my thing.  but since i strive for a pollyanna attitude, i thought it would be a good exercise in positivity to list ten things i like about winter.  and i'm making it more challenging by excluding any reference to the holidays.  i may need your help with this.  here goes . . .

1. snowflakes are pretty.  especially the big fluffy wet ones.

2. icicles are also pretty.  especially when they're all sparkly from the early morning sunshine.

3. my kitties get extra thick extra soft fur in winter.  they are so gorgeous and cuddly right now.

4. the gman is also very warm and squishy.

5. i watched northern exposure religiously back in the day.  man was that a good show.

6. sweaters are kinda nice and hide a multitude of sins.

7. roaring fires are rather swell.

8. hot chocolate.  mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

9. coca cola polar bear commercials.  is that cheating?

10. penguins are cute.

whew.  i did it.  can you believe it?

meet the farmer's wife . . .

 

here she is!  jenni bowlin studio cha-winter release . . . the farmer's wife.  six patterned papers, 6 mini papers, 6 journaling cards, and a diecut ledger.  isn't she charming?  stay tuned . . . lots more delights to share . . .

 

and . . . i thought i'd celebrate three of my favorite "farm" blogs today . . . pioneer woman . . . my farm kitchen table . . . (building) a little house by the big woods . . . i'd kinda like to raise g on a farm, but the closest i can get right now is sending him to school out in gladeville so he can rub elbows with farmer's sons.

the weather outside is frightful . . .

. . . but snowflakes are so delightful.

i saw a few flurries in the parking lot at school today and was so charmed.  then the cold filtered into my consciousness and i made a mad dash for the building and blessed heat.  i freely admit it.  i am a hothouse flower.  born and raised in sunny florida.  my skin is thin.  very thin.  this weather makes me want to go into hibernation.  i couldn't believe i actually had to work in it today.  shudder.  thankfully, the powers that be came to their senses and called off school for tomorrow.  aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah . . . in the wee hours of the morning when the thermometer here hits zero i will be snug as a bug in a rug, cuddled up with my snugglebunny dreaming of sunny days and sandy beaches and spring break just around the corner . . . then i'll wake up to a four day weekend.  life is good. 

eta . . .

7:10: mommy, is it morning?

7:56: mommy, i see the sun.

8:18: mommy!  guess what!

8:30: mommy! i slept as long as you!

the farmer's wife . . .

 

the gman and i stopped by jenni's the other day to snap a few pics for the new blog.  g found all her old stuff fascinating and said, "that jenni sure is a collector, isn't she!"

we dropped in again today to pick up the new stuff.  lucky me, i have the cha winter release right here calling to me.  it's in a word . . . charming.  jenni's planning on giving you a peek on friday.  i just can't wait to share, but i guess i'll have to.  at least for a couple more days.  i did slip a little hint into this post though.  hee. 

and did you catch that part about the new blog?  i'm so excited!  we're starting a new jenni bowlin studio kit club blog!  it's going to be full of inspiration and fun!  stay tuned!

p.s. there are some delightful mid-month releases available at jbs today just to tide you over . . .