Alyson Hall

Renee Seguin

Crystal Livesay

Kresta Littleton

Nikki Hawkins

Kristine Moller

Dana Attlan

Sara Lively

I am trying to keep my mind off other things as I’m set to deliver a talk in front of 150 people this coming Tuesday. I think I have public speaking anxiety – I haven’t delivered a speech since 2005, and that is my wedding day! I used to do this all the time!

However, you need to look at this —

We are thrilled to share that the latest issue of Simply Sweet Magazine is finally on sale. This issue is even better than the first, and it’s packed with ideas for EVERYONE! Our theme for this issue is vacation and travel, which is a subject that I absolutely love.

Sometimes you just need to get away from it all, and everything from a multi-week trek across Europe, to a week at your favorite theme park, to a trip to your local zoo can be just the ticket! Even if you don’t travel often, most of us have vacation photos that we need to scrap, and this issue has tons of inspiration on how to do just that! Here’s a sneak peek at what’s waiting for you in the shoppe…

The exclusive free downloads included with this issue are so fun and versatile, and the kit is packed with way more stuff than we could fit into the preview too! Even better… because Simply Sweet is a new release, we’re offering it 20% off today ONLY, so head to the shoppe to pick it up NOW!

Darla hosted the challenge over at SSD and she chose to highlight Lisa Dickenson aka bluestardesigns!

I couldn’t resist NOT to play. This is one of favorite challenges!

I lifted her {out}Takes layout – I love what she did with the striped paper. I even lifted the same topic!

Here is my page:

Credits:
Top of the World by Libby Weifenbach
Bad Sewing Machine VI: Gimme A Swirlie by Traci Reed
Write More Stuff by Misty Cato and Darcy Baldwin
Layered Up in You: Scallops by Lauren Grier

Rainy season is here and that means layered clothing is in. I need to pack away the kids’ shorts and tank tops and bring out their long-sleeved shirts, pants, sweaters, caps and jackets. Especially where we live, it has been raining every afternoon everyday for the past month and a half.

Actually the kids have got it covered when it comes to clothes for the rainy season. They have different hats, around five pairs of hooded jackets and even nice coats for parties when it’s cold. It is me and the husband who needs coats. We have hooded jackets but since Christmas season we might be attending formal events where a coat would be more appropriate if I am wearing a dress and he is wearing a tie.

So off I go window shopping online. Knowing I will never find a size here, I am sure I will need to buy it online and have it shipped through my best friend. Im thinking of getting a white and black coat or jacket without a hood perfect for parties. And maybe two more hoodies, one plain and one printed. Layering clothes is fun and I learned the outer wear needs to be the most fashionable of all!!

Even if I was busy comparing term life insurance rates and health insurance rates (we are getting one after 10 million years), I still had time to scrap!

It’s my first time to highlight an amazing kit from the Penny Candy Section of the Sweet Shoppe and I had such a hard time choosing – so many yummy goodness to choose from! In the end,  I chose to highlight this amazingly GORGEOUS kit by Petal Pixies. I’m sure you have all seen it as it’s hard to miss the vibrant colors and the awesome flower doodles – PETAL PIXIES!

I just love the colors of these kit – perfect for girls (and boys – notice the blue in there?) and it just screams HAPPY to me, don’t you agree?

I actually scrapped with it TWICE That goes to show how much I love it!

Not only does invites cater to birthday parties, it can also cater to baptism parties, baby showers, Wedding Anniversary Invitations and even pregnancy and birth announcements.

A good party starts with good invitations. I would like to believe that. That is why I spent so much time asserting my wedding invites be custom made and one of a kind. It turned out to be such a hit that my invitation supplier patterned their logo after our invites. We have been married for four years already and I still see our invites being used in their ads. It’s actually a contemporary, striped, tri-fold invite. But I guess because it looked different – preppy instead of formal, modern instead of classic – it was more interesting.

It has been more than a year since I am able to watch Star, HBO, ETC and every other show in cable. Frankly, I could survive with cable as long as there is internet, however, my kids would die of boredom without TV. The first few months we were at the new house and had no cable, my eldest was throwing fits, and I had such a hard time entertaining my youngest. Thankfully, there are movies and DVDs. Our player suffered wear and tear though and a few months back, we finally decided to subscribe to cable TV. We called the cable company and had the installation scheduled. I even went to the extent of telling my eldest that I have a big surprise for him that day. Only to find out that the cable company would not be able to connect to us because our house was too far from the streets and they had to request for more lines! Talk about the biggest disappointment of the year!

So instead of giving up, we are switching and trying out satellite cable. We don’t need cable wires for it, only a satellite dish. I wish we had a dongle though so we can have access to the FTA cable – that’s Free To All. I read all about it from the web site N2News. I didn’t even know that such a thing existed!

It is currently 104 degrees and while most people will complain about the weather, I am choosing to keep my mouth shut and maintain my silence as I do not want to jinx the sunny weather. It is summer and it means trips out of state, tan lines, photos, and more sun exposure. How can I complain about too much sun when we just endured months of bitter winter and endless rain last spring? Two good friends met up in Washington D.C for the 4th of July and enjoy some fireworks and some tourist spots. My friend told me they had a great time and she would love to be with them again. It’s too bad that even if they both live in the East Coast, they are still hours from each other. One is from Boston and the other from Virginia. However, they are planning to meet again soon and this time they want to go to New York City. New York Sightseeing has always been a famous tourist attraction activity, with all the things you “need” to see in New York, one day isn’t enough! Double- decker buses are a usual sight on New York City streets carrying tourists. And CitySights NY is a recognized leader in New York City sightseeing tours!

It seems all weekends in November is booked for our family already. Since it was baby boom for most of my friends last year, naturally this year will be a year of celebrations of first year parties! And if you know my friends, they are party planners who give out the best parties! I am pretty excited about it actually, I hope we can attend all of the parties.

Party Birthday Invitations are always planned and thought of over and over again. It is the first glimpse guests see of the party so it needs to be done well.

Since I scrapbook, I am completely anal to design. I would make my own invites but printing it on paper that most cards use is expensive.

I got a great deal over at Announcements-Shoppe.com. Not only can they make my card for me, I get 10 Thank You cards and shipping for free.

If only I can have parties every year!