Chatty Cathy

Or in my case "Chatty Katie." My teenager can talk my ear off, and know what? I love it. (Ok, maybe not so much when it's 10 p.m. and I've been up since 5 a.m.) But really I do love that she likes to talk to me. We talk about boys, and school, her mad, creative genius ideas that strike at the oddest times, her frustrations, and just whatever she has on her mind. I feel very blessed to have such an amazing girl. I'm not saying our relationship is perfect. And she and I would both be the first to admit that. LOL! But whose relationship is? Still, I find her to be the most amazing young woman that I know. I actually LOVE spending time with her (I hope that she feels a least a little of the same.) For this layout, which I created for 2Peas, I wanted to emphasize the thoughts and conversations she has so I cut out the word bubbles from the Bo Bunny patterned paper and attached them to cardstock both with regular adhesive and adhesive foam squares. The result is a page full of conversation, which is exactly what I was going for. You can find the supplies to create this layout here:
On My Mind
Do any of you watch "Army Wives?" I catch it on occasion, but I happened to catch the most gut-wrenching episode this weekend. It gives a small glimpse into the agony of losing a loved one. To say that it opened old wounds would be an understatement, but I couldn't look away. April is a tough month for us around here. Joey's birthday is on the 14th (he would have been 17 years old), and his passing date is on the 28th. I never know how I'm going to be feeling. Sometimes I am fine and we celebrate his birthday with joy. And other years I can hardly function and ache in a way I can't quite describe. I hope it's a good year, but after losing my brother just a few short months ago I'm not sure. All those feelings are much closer to the surface. And there's really no way around it. On another difficult note, I've stepped down from my position at Little Yellow Bicycle. I LOVED working with LYB. Renee Foss was my Design Team lead and is one of the best bosses around. She kept things organized, kept us motivated, and just treated us beautifully. Love her! In addition, the product designers Sharon and Lori are two of the kindest people in the word (not to mention talented). It's like leaving family, and it about killed me to do it. But I'm always striving to maintain balance, and I had to let something go. I'm going to miss working with them all so much! Keep watching as they have such beautiful new products on the way. They never cease to amaze me.

This weekend, we celebrated Little Man's 8th birthday with a party of 12 boys. Yep. You read that right: 12 boys. And since the weather is still a bit chilly around these parts, it meant a lot of indoor time. They were all really good. My little dude, however, had a meltdown the last five minutes of his party. I don't know why we do this to ourselves. It's just much too overwhelming to one little person. Next year he will get to spend the day with his cousin and that's it. He does much better with his friends in one-on-one situations.


I'm hoping this weekend we can relax and recover by listening to Conference, a spiritual session of meetings hosted by our church. I need some spiritual recovery!
American Crafts Layout

Sometimes when I open my boxes from American Crafts it's hard to contain my excitement. It's true! When I opened this last box to discover lines like "Hello, Sunshine," "Peachy Keen" and "Campy Trails," I squealed with delight. All of them appealed to me and I couldn't wait to start designing with them!


Today I have a layout to share with you using the "Peachy Keen" line. This fresh approach to a typography line has a vintage vibe with both masculine and feminine details. There are so many fun embellishments to choose from including resin rose brads, to thermography patterned paper, to vintage image clear stamps, to soft ribbon. I chose the softer, more muted colors to create this layout about my daughter. (How did I end up with a teenager?)




You can find all the products to create this layout here at 2Peas. (You should really take a peek at the products in this line. AMAZING!!)
WOW Tutorial

Be sure to check out today's "Work It Out Wednesday" tutorial on the new Create blog. I'll show you how to use one digital kit to create three projects. Here's one of the projects:




You can find the rest of the blog post here.
Two New 2Peas Projects


First, join me for the latest installment of the "Stretch Your Sketch" class here at 2Peas. This class involves a 12X12" layout. You can download a printable pdf, watch a helpful video, and be inspired by guest designers' takes on the sketch. I hope to see your projects posted in the challenge gallery!

Secondly, I have a new 2Peas gallery share for you. This is a funky, fresh winter page. I wanted to use the American Crafts ribbon button embellishments as snowflakes and the color scheme evolved from there. I changed the photos to black and white so they wouldn't be a distraction from the strong colors. You can find the supplies for this layout here.



And now I'm off to clean my out of control office. How does it get so messy? ;)
American Crafts Blog Hop WINNER!!




And the winner of this prize:

Is . . .


Please contact me at js_gallacher@hotmail.com to claim your prize. If after 7 days I have not heard from the winner, then I will select a new winner. Good luck!!

I am Blessed

I am thankful every day for the blessings and opportunities that have come my way. One of those amazing opportunities is working for http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/. I love the women and men I've been able to work with. I feel energized and happy whenever I'm on the site. I feel like I belong to a vast group of creative men and women from all over the world who are kind and encouraging. I'm inspired every day by them!

This video touched my heart. Happy Birthday, Two Peas!!



Welcome to the next hop in our American Crafts blog hop (the hop officially starts at 9 a.m. PST)! I'm sure you've already seen all kinds of beautiful inspiration. You might have just arrived from Jen Jockisch's blog. Isn't she amazing? I love her work!

I thought I'd share a "Peachy Keen" layout with you today. I love, love, love this line. It's a fabulous mix of graphic type and delicate flowers with a vintage baby blue, light yellow, brown, and burgundy color scheme. Throw in some gray and it's just gorgeous.

To create this layout I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock, cut it into a circle and mounted the pink typewriter on top. (I've been hoarding this sticker for a bit now because I love it so much!). I added some additional chipboard and brad embellishments. Little details keep the page simple and straightforward.

To celebrate today's blog hop, I'm giving away three fun products from the "Cheer" line to ONE lucky winner. This prize includes the Cheer Clubhouse Glitter Shapes, the "Pin the Tail" remarks stickers, and the Cheer Accents Puffy Stickers:

To win, simply leave a comment on my blog by March 21st at midnight MST . I will announce the winner on March 22nd. Be prepared to give your contact information by March 25th or I will select a new winner.

To continue on with the hop, simply visit Jenny Chesnick's amazing blog! Enjoy the inspiration and good luck!
Elizabeth Park Projects

I just love this line from Little Yellow Bicycle. It's full of bright, happy spring colors and designs. And so many choices: epoxy, canvas, chipboard, doily, crepe paper. The list goes on and on.


First I created a layout using this line. I thought a photo of my little niece taking a walk in her stroller was perfectly appropriate for a Spring page.



Then I created two cards with leftover items from Elizabeth Park, which were still on my desk. This is a quick and simply way to create cards for loved ones. Just use what's already on your desk!

You can find the complete line here. Be sure to check out all the lovely embellishments and patterned papers! You can purchase the line here at 2Peas.
Over the River

We finally got to visit Brett's parents this weekend. It seems like it's been forever, but with our crazy schedule we don't get to visit family as often as we'd like. So it was so good to see them. Plus my mother-in-law is an AMAZING cook and always puts out a delicious spread. I really love visiting them. The kids enjoyed themselves as well.




Oh, did you want to see how much dirt we put in our garden this weekend? I told you we got a load. We can't spread it out until we have the frame around the garden. But wow. That's quite a pile of dirt!

I have one share today. A 2Peas Gallery project. I am experimenting with lots of new color combinations. Something about the lovely combinations I'm seeing in products these days is completely inspiring me! This documents our long wait for the Disneyland transit bus we waited for every morning of our trip. Sometimes it felt like eternity to the kids. You can find additional photos and the complete supply list here at 2Peas.


Today I plan on working on my "How To" scrapbook article. This article is on buttons--one of my most favorite embellishments. I'm also looking ahead to the next Cricut magazine and some blog posts for our Northridge Publishing Create blog.

Heavy Heart

I watched with horror yesterday all the destruction in Japan, and my heart is full of grief for those who lost their lives or for those who are missing loved ones. We've had so many world tragedies. It breaks my heart. So much sadness. My thoughts and prayers are with them!

I was quite frightened for a while as my sister was boarding a ferry for Alaska. I'm dying to hear that she arrived safely. Scary to see how the tsunami affected parts of the west coast. She doesn't have cell service until she hits land, but I'm really hoping that all is well and I can't relax until I know she arrived safely, which will be tomorrow. Can you imagine a 36 hour ferry ride? The logistics of living on an island in Alaska must be so challenging. (It doesn't help that I miss her and her kids like CRAZY!)


Around these parts, we're trying to beckon spring. We've had the most glorious 50 and 60 degree weather. We're so ready for spring that we ordered a large load of dirt to put into our garden. This will be our second garden attempt, and we realized about halfway through the season last year that we needed a more level garden. Water that quickly flows out of the rows does NOT help your garden grow. So much to learn, but I'm already craving onions, peppers, squash and corn. Plus I'd LOVE to grow some pumpkins this year! Do you have a garden? What's your g0 to veggie?


I have one share with you this morning. It's my latest 2Peas layout, which is a challenge layout. Simply use the colors in the layout to create your own version. Then upload it to the correct challenge, and you will be entered for a chance to win a 2Peas Gift Certificate. I'd love to have you play along!


2Peas Project

Just wanted to share my latest 2Peas Gallery Project. Since this seems to be the season of sickness I wanted to create a layout about my son's aversion to taking medicine. Neither of my boys were too bad about it. In fact, Joey was amazing at taking medicine, getting shots, having blood drawn. Far better at it than I would have wished for one little boy. Now my daughter, Kate, was a stinker! We'd have to hold her, force her mouth open, hope she didn't spit it back out, and guess how much she actually swallowed. Oh, it was awful. To this day, she still hates taking medicine.


You can see the products for creating this page and additional photos here at 2Peas:


Today I am working on the latest Cricut magazine. Some fun tutorials in this issue! I'm also planning a baby shower for my sister-in-law. Can't wait for that! So many fun decorative ideas with scrapbooking products, etc. Then I am volunteering at the school. I love being able to do that. I haven't always been in the position to go, but the kids give me hugs and high fives and it's a great way to see what Jimmy's been up to. I feel much more dialed in the years I could volunteer in the classroom.

What's your schedule like today?

New Tutorial and Other Stuff


Funny how life can get so very crazy. And it certainly has been around here. My poor little blog has been quite neglected because of it. And although I've had plenty going on, I didn't feel that I had much to say. Strange, right?


My sister has been in town visiting. Why do people you love have to live so far away? She lives in Alaska and that is no where near where I live. We said good-bye last night as she makes the drive back to her home this morning. I REALLY hate good-byes. I can't tell you how much it breaks my heart to hug and kiss her and her kids and know that I won't see them for at least a year or more. I tried to bribe her children to come and live with me; and although Aspen considered it, she didn't take me up on the offer. Too bad. I would love to have another little girl to spoil. :)


Work is busy, busy, busy. Recently I took the position of Creative Editor for Cricut Magazine. Be sure to check out the current issue here. This magazine just keeps getting better and better and is full of beautiful ideas and great tutorials. (Fun note: I got to create the cover for this issue.)

That on top of other fun business opportunities has kept me quite busy. I love it, however. I love seeing beautiful work by other designers. I love learning cool tips and techniques. I feel very blessed to do something that I love so much.

I've also been working on some of my own tutorials, like this one found on today's Create blog post. I love digital scrapbooking, but I also love traditional methods so today I combined the two to create this layout:It's been a full time in our lives, but with Spring just around the corner I'm hoping for picnics at the park, vacations to a warmer climate, and maybe some planting in the flower and vegetable garden. Life just keeps going, and I love it when it's full of good things. What good things are in your life right now?

Stamp a Sentiment Tutorial

Just wanted to share a tutorial I have on the Create Blog today on stamping a sentiment onto a tag. I really love stamping (as you well know), and I wanted to show how stamps can actually take the place of journaling. You can find additional instructions, photos, and the complete supply list for making this layout here.


On another note, I wanted to encourage you to continue submitting to our magazines. You can find all of our calls here. We look through EVERY submission and are always looking for fresh faces to publish. Just think: it might be YOU!!
I Live in My Car


Some days it's true. I feel like I live in my car. I drop the youngest off at school and then it's hours of errands. Of course that's my fault because I try to squeeze in as many errands in one day as possible so I don't have to go back out again any time soon. Most of the time it works, but somedays it just gives me a big ol' headache.



I have one share with you today. I used some more of the "Campy Trails" line from American Crafts to create this layout about my niece. She is such a fun scrapbooking subject and feeds my baby wants. (I just need more time with her. Hint, hint, sis!)



I love that AC is now making patterns on the back of some of their papers. I often like the more subtle tone on tone patterns because I can work them into an otherwise busy page and still get a lovely result.


I posted this layout at 2Peas and all the supplies for making this layout can be found here.




Now I'm off to find some medicine for my headache.
In Like a Lamb
It's supposed to reach 50+ degrees today. Yesterday I took a walk with just a jacket. I need some pleasant weather to fight the colds we've been having at our house. I've been out of commission the entire weekend with a fever and body aches and exhaustion. I'm feeling much better today and hoping that means I am on the mend.

I wanted to share two projects with you today. The first is a 2Peas Garden Girl project using the new American Crafts "Campy Trails" line, which frankly rocks my world. Seriously loving their latest releases as the colors, patterns and embellishments are right up my alley. You can find additional photos and the complete supply list here at 2Peas:

The second project I wanted to share is a Silhouette page using some of their downloadable shapes. Love the ease of this machine and that I can buy one shape at a time for $.99. Awesome! You can read more about this page on their blog here.

And finally, I had to post a picture of the fun activities proceeding these awful colds (which may, in fact, have helped contribute to them in the first place). LOL!

And now I am off to rouse the little man to see if he is well enough for school today!
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