As The Old Addage Goes...

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Remember the cruise that I won? Well, not included in the prize package were these pesky little fees called taxes and port fees of approx $254 per person that I have to pay. Well that little unforeseen price tag for my "free" trip left me in a bit of a tight spot. As you may know from reading my blog, as of August 7th, I will no longer have a job and right now, I can't see justifying paying over $500 for a trip that I hadn't planned on taking knowing full well that the money could be better used somewhere else.

I had actually thought about forfeiting the trip, which made me feel sad because I had already told my mom that I was taking her with me. She has never ever gone on a real vacation and I know she'll love the cruise.

So what's a girl to do, I thought? I decided to talk it over with the hubster and see what his feelings about the whole issue were. You know what? He offered to pay the fees! Isn't he awesome? I'm still a little leery about going though because it's still money unexpectedly coming out of our household at a really bad time!

Another MLS Giveaway!!

My Little Shoebox is giving away a set of one of our NEW lines!!! Go to the blog and tell us what your favorite line is. Include your name and state and you may be the lucky one to get a package at the door with some new goodies!!! Entrees must be in by this Saturday, midnight!!!

On another note....we are thrilled to see how excited you are about the contest!! If you haven't posted, you have until Saturday at midnight. If you are attending CHA, be sure to come by and drop off a business card or your name and info on a piece of paper. On Thursday morning we will be giving away a ton of mini letters!!!! Booth #543.

UN.FREAKING.BELIEVABLE

I JUST WON A SCRAPBOOKING CRUISE TO BERMUDA!!! I cannot believe it! I'm so happy!


Cropping Cruise To Bermuda Winner Announced

Scrapbooking & Beyond and Paper Creations are thrilled to announce the winner of the Croptopia Getaways Cropping Cruise to Bermuda Layout Contest. There were so many wonderful submissions, our readers continue to amaze us with their talents!!


Congratulations to Tanisha Long! Tanisha and a friend will enjoy five nights aboard Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas with Croptopia Getaways and will be one of our Feature Designers in the Spring 2010 Scrapbooking & Beyond issue!

This is the layout that won! I took that picture in Jamaica 2 summers ago!

New Shimmerz Colors

Today Shimmerz is celebrating the release of our 4 newest products: Tickle Me Turquoise Shimmerz, Jilted Jade Shimmerz, Island Salsa Blingz, and Caribbean Sunset Spritz!!!
One of the things that I love about shimmerz is that I can give my projects that "WOW factor" no matter how much (or little) product I apply.

For my first layout, I added just a touch of the new jilted jade to the upper and lower left corners because they looked a little blah to me. Just a few tiny brush strokes enhanced the distressed look and satisfied my need to spice up the layout. I also added jilted jade to the green swirly sticker to give it a little shine!

close up of one of the corners

close up of the sticker

This next layout was created as a part 2 to this LO. I took the photo on the original when I was 9 months pregnant with Xander. I took the photo seen here when he was nine months old, hence the title 9 months later. (quirky, I know, but I have a thing with numbers)

I went all out and made this one shimmerlicious! First I used chipboard hearts as masks as I spritzed patterned paper with the new Caribbean Sunset Spritz. Next I painted some of the hearts with Tickle Me Turquoise Shimmerz which by the way, has become my favorite color! I also swiped a few strokes of Tickle Me Turquoise Shimmerz along the edge of the layout and completely covered the blue flower...it's really shiny in person!

I painted the row of chipboard hearts with Island Salsa Blingz. The "orangish" color actually lightened the dark red chipboard and made it a better match for the layout.

Because I love shimmerz so much, I tossed in a few existing products. I sprayed the red flower with Barn Yard spritz, and the ribbon with Baby's Breath spritz, then painted the black flower with Pixie Dust Blingz.

There are just so many different uses for Shimmerz...just pick up one (or 10) and give it a whirl, you can't mess it up!

Check out Shimmerz's blog Everyone who leaves a comment AND places an order (no minimum amount) will be entered into a drawing for $25.00 in Shimmerz products...it's good for products of your choice!!

Week 28

This week at I Heart Faces, it's all about FEET!! I don't think there's anything I like more than sweet baby feet. This pair belongs to my Xan...they were so tiny and new and kissable!

Well Ain't This About A Beeotch!?!

I walked in to my job today only to find out that our testing has been outsourced, so that means no more J-O-B for me and the other 16 people that make up my lab. Talk about coming out of left field! But don't cry for me Argentina...I'm almost embarrassed to say that I'm happy this era has finally ended; I'm happy I don't have to work here anymore...there's no creativity in my job. The work was mundane and I felt like my degree and my skills had been rendered obsolete. I've hated my job for so long, maybe...just maybe this is God's way of opening up my path to doing my own thing!

This is the very first time I've ever lost a job and not having the stability of employment does sort of kind of suck (don't get me wrong) especially since I used my savings to keep afloat when I was on maternity leave last summer and I've been playing catch up ever since. But like I said, it's all good...now I really need to get on the ball with trying to do my own thing.

I feel bad because two of my co-workers were in tears and I was actually smiling! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. This morning before our meeting, I said a quick prayer to God that I find a way to do what I'm supposed to be doing because I know there are better things out there for me! I really want to do more with scrapbooking and I really want to hone my photography skills and start my own photography company...I just don't know where to start. So if you're reading this and have any advice, just drop me a line in the comments section!

August 8th is my last day after 10 years on the job. I literally started when this lab opened. My birthday is August 3rd...what a bitter sweet way to turn 35!

I a going to miss the people that I work with, though. We're all like family...a big melting pot of different ethnicities! They made made every day so much easier to get through, I'll be sure to keep in touch with them!

My Little Shoebox New Release. DreamGirls, and Shimmerz

It's that time again!!! CHA Summer is less than 2 weeks away and scrapbook companies all over are getting ready to release their new products. I am so excited, I can barely contain myself! As you may know My Little Shoebox is releasing 6 new lines!!! You can check them out in this post.

Here are my projects using the Whoo Loves You line. This paper has the cutest little owls and birdies all over it. I especially love the big prints that make great cut-out embellishments for cards...layouts...any project, really.

I created this LO for the latest DreamGirls challenge. These papers were so perfect for this adorable photo of my Xan discovering grass at the park.

OK, so I'm really starting to get into card making...a little bit! LOL! When I created this, I thought it would be great to give to someone who just purchased a new home or for someone just returning home from college or deployment.

This is an 11" scalloped circle, there's a different one for each of the 6 new lines!

Another card for new homeowners...

A layout about me and my baby boy. I softened the colors of the photo so it matched better with the papers. I used a lot of shimmerz spritz on this one. I love that I can just pick up a bottle and very easily give my layouts that extra oomph!

journaling: There's something to be said about becoming a mother for the second time around. For me, it was a more relaxing experience. I worried less about my competency as a mom and I didn't feel rushed to want to see him get to the next stage. Instead, I just took it all in and savored each moment. Time still flew by too fast, though!

I spritzed baby's breath shimmerz spritz on white cardstock to add a blast of shine. I really love how the photo pops against it, making me love it all the more!

And since I was spritzing with baby's breath anyway, I decided to add a little shine to the grosgrain bow. The felt flower was originally cream...not for long! I just spritzed it with Bed Of Roses spritz and not only does it match the papers perfectly, it's shimmery, too!

Want to see what the rest of the MLS design team created with the new releases? Just head over to My Little Shoebox blog and take a peek!

New From Shimmerz!!!

Shimmerz Paints is so excited to announce our newest products that will be available very soon!!!

Introducing 4 New Colors! Don't they just "scream" Summer!?

Caribbean Sunset Spritz
Tickle Me Turquoise Shimmerz
Jilted Jade Shimmerz
Island Salsa Blingz

Be watching for projects from the design team that will be popping up very shortly! Thanks for being a Shimmerz Fan!!!

Suave Yourself Beautiful winner

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 18

Result: 17

Congratulations to Carma Sez!!!

carma said...
Take frequent naps - I think that qualifies as pampering!



Email me your address and you will receive some Suave product in the mail, congratulations!

Shimmery Impressions

I am a scrapbooker at heart and I've never really thought of myself as a stamper or even a card maker for that matter, but when I heard that Shimmerz was teaming up with Impression Obsession, I knew I had to give it a go! IO has so many different types of stamps that I had a hard time trying to choose, until I came across the Noah's Ark stamp set. I have a few friends that have had babies very recently or are about to deliver any day now and I thought this set would make some really adorable cards!


To create this uber cute card, I used 3 stamps from the set, sea foam shimmerz spritz, ultra marine and orange sherbert shimmerz, gold glimmer, choc-o-lot, and pixie dust blingz.

I colored the rainbow, lion's mane, and ark with markers and colored pencils before adding shimmerz and blingz. For the roof of the ark, I just painted directly on white cardstock.

I painted along the stamped waves with ultra marine shimmerz and then spritzed them with sea foam shimmerz spritz before cutting them out and adhering to the card.

"New baby" is one of the stamps from the set. I mimicked the font with my own handwriting for "may your"; I wrote and stamped on white cardstock before spritzing with sea foam spritz. The inside of the card reads "shower your life with joy and happiness".

There you have it! Now if I can get over my hesitation and get my stamp on...so can you! Go ahead and give it a try!

Strike A Pose

I'll be the first to admit, I have dabbling in a lot of different things lately. I have had a few different opportunities come at me in recent times and I am just having fun going with the flow.

This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of modeling jewelry created by the very talented Katherine Song for her catalogue. All of her pieces are beautifully handcrafted using Swarovski crystals. Check out her site, she is definitely someone you'll want to keep your eye on!

This was so much fun! Check me out looking all like a grown up! LOL!

Oh, I'm so divalicious...no autographs please!

I can almost hear the sound of my LOUD laugh! I love how she really captured my personality in this one.

As a thank you, she let me keep this beautiful necklace in the last photo! Love her!

All photos compliments of Katherine Song.

2 Toots To Share

First off, I've been invited to be a Bella Artista!! Really, really thrilled about this!

Secondly, I had a layout picked up for publication in Scrapbooks Etc. Jan 2010 issue. Doing the happy dance all over this place!!!

My Little Shoebox Plus Pagemaps

This month, we (the design team for My Little Shoebox) were given the opportunity to create this month's layouts for PageMaps. Don't you just looove pagemaps? I know I do! How does Becky come up with such great ideas every month?

To check out what our DT members came up with, go to pagemaps. Here's my take of one of this month's sketches.

journaling: you waited 1 whole year for your very first cupcake - you handled it like a pro, as if you were born to eat cupcakes! Happy 1st birthday, baby! I love you so much! Mommy supplies: cs- bazzill; pens- ranger, sharpie; paint- shimmerz paints; all other supplies- My Little Shoebox

Next up is a quick AAM LO I created using American Crafts, about a few of the kazillion mental notes that swirl around my head on a daily basis.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Shower Yourself Beautiful Giveaway

Thanks to MomSelect, I've been given the opportunity to review a few products from Suave. I jumped at the opportunity because I love this brand; Suave products are truly a staple in my household. They are very reasonably priced and you get a good quantity for the amount that you pay, which is excellent, especially in this economy.

Every morning after showering, I liberally apply cocoa butter with shea moisturizer to my skin. This is one of my favorite toiletries because it smells delicious (cocoa butter and coconut are my signature scents) , it leaves my skin feeling pampered and it really gets the job done. I put it on in the morning and I don't have to worry about my elbows looking like they've been dipped in flour by 2:00 in the afternoon.

During the winter months, I switch over to Suave Advance Therapy moisturizer. This is excellent for soothing away those winter itchies that both my son and I suffer with. I just apply it liberally and within days, my skin feels smooth again.


I was very excited to try the body wash. Suave Naturals Refreshing Body Wash Ocean Breeze reminded my of sitting on a beach in the tropics...one of my favorite places in the world. The exfoliating Apricot body wash has beads in it to help gently cleanse my skin and left it feeling silky smooth upon rinsing. I'll admit, I was a little leery about trying the new Suave Naturals Wild Cherry Blossom Indulgent Body Wash because of the flower on the front of the bottle. Floral scents just don't sit well with me, but this one turned out to be my favorite of all! It has more of a sweet, fruity aroma that I completely fell in love with. It would be awesome if this scent was offered in a body lotion as well!

Overall, I was very impressed with the fact that Suave offers great quality products at such a reasonable price, they all smell great and left me feeling pampered!

Suave would like to shower one of my lucky blog readers with a few body products (12 oz body wash and 18 oz moisturizer).

Here's how to enter:


There are several ways to enter for a chance to win this giveaway. Each method gives you an additional entry, please provide a separate post for each of your entries.

1. Post a comment here telling me what you do to pamper yourself.

2. Tweet this giveaway on twitter and link your tweet in a post here. (you can write something like Check out Tanisha's awesome Suave giveaway http://bit.ly/19ZEui) or whatever you want!

3. Follow my blog. If you are already a follower, just let me know in a separate post and you will still get an additional entry.


This giveaway will end on July 10th at 11:59 pm EDT and is open to US residents only.

But wait...there's more!!! Click on the link below to enter Suave's sweepstakes. Suave and celebrity mom Holly Robinson Peete have some great prizes for you to win each week!!! You can create a registry for a chance to instantly win your chosen prizes and also be automatically entered for a chance to win the ultimate at-home shower for you and your friends!!

https://www.showeryourselfbeautiful.com/?track=


Good luck and don't forget to shower yourself beautiful!!

Centerpiece Instructions (click to enlarge)

I wanted to add a little pizazz to my pinwheels, so I spritzed them with Baby's Breath shimmering spritz. Baby's Breath dries with a silver sheen which was perfect for coordinating with the silver ribbon and onion spray used in my centerpiece. This product is so awesome because you can literally add it to ANY project, it's that easy to use! If you haven't tried shimmerz yet, stop by the shop and pick some up but be careful, they are addictive!

Thanks for taking a peek!