Goodbye Cre8tive Cre8tions

Andrea at Cre8tive Cre8tions has been on busy woman, and with that means not enough time to dedicate to a design team to show off her store product, including paper, stamps, and flair.  I have loved my time with her and some super talented women from all around the world.  I wish her all the success in the world and am grateful that I will be able to keep up with her adventures through Facebook and Instagram.

I thought that today I would share with you the last of my projects created for her back in June.

The other Mr. of our home, using some Pink Paislee and Silhouette cuts.

Some added Chic Tags goodies, and Silhouette cuts here.

All Cre8tive Cre8tions papers with some masking and Silhouette cuts.

Another opportunity come and gone.  I will always be grateful to Andrea and Thomas (her hubby and partner in the biz) for giving me the chance to work with their fun products and represent their business.

Thanks for stopping by friends.  I hope this weekend brings you rest, and lots of time with the ones you love most. Pin It

A Sunday Walk

It's time for another Sunday Challenge over at Chic Tags.  This week we are challenging you to use this photo as inspiration.

I decided to use it as a sketch, and combine it with a couple of photos I snapped of the girls on our walk last Sunday.  It was just a gorgeous evening that we went on a family walk through the wooded path near our home.

The sun was just beginning to set, and provided some nice lighting for these shots of the girls on their scooters. 

The colours of the Everyday Life Chic Tags were a perfect match to this collection from Lily Bee, worked out great for me.

Want to play along with us?  There's a gift certificate to the store up for grabs to one random player who joins up.  Please hop over to the blog to see what how rest of the team was inspired by this pin.

Happy Sunday friends, enjoy it!

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Chic Tags Blog Hop

Welcome to my very fist Chic Tags blog hop!  We are celebrating the arrival of all the new Christmas goodies in the shop, as well, as the addition of several Design Team members, yours truly included. If you've arrived here from Janna's blog  you are in the right place.  If you'd like to do the hop in order I would suggest heading back to the Chic Tags blog and letting our sweet Team Leader Veronica welcome you.

I will keep this short and sweet, as there are a few of us on the hop, and I don't want to hold you up.  I used several of the new tags to layer and embellish a page of my girls, and my hubby & me from last Christmas. 

25 Days Mini Tags, 25 Days Stamp Numbers, Crate Paper buttons

Delightful Paper Tags, 25 Days Mini Tags, 25 Days Journaling Cards

25 Days Jouranling Tags, 25 Days Journaling Cards, 25 Days Icons

lots of layering, and dimension on this layout

I love taking photos in front of the tree on Christmas morning, it's always a great reference point when looking back to really see how much the girls have grown and changed from year to year.  Journaling reads: "Of all the gifts given and received on Christmas morning.  None are as precious as this.  Our little family of five."

Now for Veronica's wonderful prize.  You have a chance to win one of these December Daily Kits along with some fabulous new, hot off the press Christmas themed flair buttons.

Not only do I have a set to give away, but each of the Design Team members will be giving away a set also.  That's 12 chances to win folks.  The giveaway is open to readers worldwide.  But you only have until Sunday, November 18th at 8 pm PST to leave a comment, and enter for your chance at making these babies yours.  I will sweeten the deal for you here on my blog by giving away my own little assortment of Chic Tag goodness.  All you need to do to get in on the extra grab bag is become a follower, and leave me a comment telling me you've done so.

Also because Veronica wants to bless as many readers as possible through this hop, she is offering all my readers 25% off everything in the store until the end of the hop.  Simply use code:DEC25 at check out.  This code will expire the same time as the hop Sunday, November 18th at 8 pm PST.  Run, don't walk, to take advantage of this code asap.

Thanks for popping in today.  Your next stop on the hop is my scrappy friend Jennie.  I just know she's going to have something great in store for you!

♥ S.

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I'm Not Perfect

Just in case any of you were thinking it, ha ha.

I realized the other day, that I never shared this layout I created for the Lily Bee design team call a few weeks ago.  I thought it was a fun, eye-catching, and a creative way to share a little bit of my personality and my scrappy style all at the same time.  It obviously wasn't enough to make an impression on them, but I still love it nonetheless.

Double Dutch collection

I had this quote from Pinterest in mind for the longest time to use on a layout, and it seemed to fit great with the style and design of this one.  Not to mention...it's 100% true, if I do say so myself.  It's a little difficult to read, but it says "I may not be perfect, but parts of me are pretty awesome."

Thanks for popping in today, and especially for not taking me too seriously. Pin It

A box full of Surprise

Are you a little like me when you shop for scrappy goodies?  I have a tendency to want only the newest items I can find when there are always great 'older' gems still to be had.   If you've been following along for the past week you know that the Marketing Team were all sent 'surprise packages' to work with this month from the

The sweet Tanya of Let's Capture Our Memories surprised each of us on the Marketing Team this month, by sending surprise product for us to create with.  Here is a photo of my surprise box contents.

I knew that this would be the perfect month to scrap this photo of the lovely Nicole and I that I've had sitting around for a few months now.  Seeing as they are both pieces of the same puzzle.  I titled the layout "Just By Chance" as I believe that's truly how we met.  Winnipeg is not all that big of a city.  You've heard the phrase 'six degrees of separation'?  Well in this city it's more like two.  Somehow though, it took Let's Capture These Memories to bring us together.  It has been so wonderful getting to know this girl.  She's funnier than most, sweet, and more loyal than ever to her group of girlies.  I thought it would be fitting to use Tanya's package of goodies to document this new found friendship.

I used the tag to record my jounaling

I added a little mist, a doily, and some Lilybee alphas to complete the layout.

So what about you?  Any 'oldies, but goodies' laying around your scrap room that you could be pulling out to create your next layout?  As always, I'd love to come and have a peek if I've inspired you to create.  I encourage you to come back next week to see what else I was able to create with this fabulous box of goodies.




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LCTS Reveal

Let's Capture These Sketches sketch #151 boasts patterns, blocks, and flourishes.  Here is what Kimberly created for us to play with this week.

For whatever reason, this gorgeous sketch was giving me a hard time.  I just couldn't seem  to get it to translate onto paper the way the sketch intended.  Has that ever happened to you?  I began by flipping the sketch to suit the photos that I wanted to scrap.  I think perhaps that's where my dissatisfaction came.  I was stuck on what photos I wanted to scrap, and couldn't quite make them work as well with the sketch as I would have liked.  But, still I forged ahead, and came out with a layout that to document the moment in a way that is fun, and playful, and has my fingerprints all over it. 

Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer collection

Can you see the sketch in there?  It's flipped on it's side, and mirror imaged.  I encourage you to hop over to the Let's Capture These Sketches blog to see what the rest of the DT created, there are some really great takes to be seen.

And don't  forget about the blog up happening this weekend over at Scrapping Everyday Miracles.  You have the remainder of the weekend to get it on the fun, and qualify for some great prizes.  You can see what I have up for grabs here.  Have fun, and happy hopping.  You can see my layout and rak here.

Be blessed this weekend!

♥ S.



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Lily Bee In Under Sixty

It seems the more packed my schedule gets the more I feel the need to create.  It's like I need to break out of the confines of my schedule and get creative with paper and glue.  That's exactly what happened yesterday morning when I whipped this layout together in just over half an hour before leaving the house for a meeting.

I knew I was short on time.  I knew exactly which photo I wanted to scrap. And I knew I had some scraps left of a gorgeous collection that wold match said photo perfectly.  A little snip, snip, layering, punching, and stitching, and voila a sweet layout to capture a moment from our last day of school last June.

Lily Bee Design - Head Over Heels collection

There, now it's out of my system.  Back to the grind today.  I hope this finds you all enjoying a wonderful week.

Don't forget about these on-going challenges.  I'd love if you'd come join me.
Scrapping Everyday Miracles - Challenge #20
Scrapping Everyday Miracles - Sketch Challenge
Let's Capture These Sketches - Sketch #149
Let's Get Sketchy - Challenge #29 Pin It

I'm Julie's Guest

Welcome to something NEW today.

A few weeks ago my bloggy friend, Julie asked me if I would consider guesting on her blog for a series she's doing this month called I Spy Jesus. The series will run every Wednesday for the duration of September, and by the sounds of it there are some great women contributing, I am honoured to have been asked to join them.

Julie is a woman who is full of faith, and hope, and writes with such humility.  Her love for Jesus permeates almost every post, weather she's talking about the dress she wore for her wedding, her children, and the challenges of homeschooling, or her scrapping passion.  You can read her first post in the series here, it will help you get to know her a little better.  I have no doubt you'll be touched by how she shares her heart, just as I have been.

This post was not an easy one to write as you'll discover if you pop over to Julie's blog to read it in it's entirety.  To give you a bit of a clue, however, let me just say that as much as I know there are seasons in our lives where we feel God presence more than others, it always leaves me feeling like a failure whenever I find myself in a dry season.  So being asked to share where I see Jesus working in my life, when I feel like I'm simply on the hamster wheel of life, not really making a whole lot of difference in the world around me is extremely humbling.  But God is always pursuing us, illuminating the path in which we should travel, calling us to something new, and that's what I want to share with you over at Julie's.  I hope you'll pop by and have a peek.  For further enticement here is a sneak of the layout I created for this post. 

You can see the rest of the post, including the layout on Julie's blog.

I hope you'll pop over and say hello.

Happy Tuesday friends,

♥ S.

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Let's Get Sketchy Reveal

Loved this sketch by Janessa Franco over at Let's Get Sketchy. 

It's the Challenge #28, and my first reveal as part of the DT, very exciting.

Here is my take on it.

As soon as I saw the circles, I knew I wanted to  switch them up to hexagons, just so I had a great excuse to use my 'new to me' hexagon punch.

I also wanted to add journaling, and the photos alone didn't really tell the story.  The sketch, in my eyes, however didn't really accommodate exposed journaling. To remedy the problem, I created a hidden pocket to slide the Chic Tags journal card into.  Smart right?!  I'll be showing you how to make your own pockets, easy, peasy next week.

This page is the result of a lot of mixing and matching different product/manufacturers (one of my fave things about working with sketches) from Echo Park, and Studio Calico, to Chic tags, Prima, and October Afternoon.

The rest of the DT had some really great takes on this sketch also.  Please pop over here to check them out, get more info on this month's gracious sponsor Scraptastic Kit Club (Jessica is graciously offering up a $20 gift certificate to her store), and link up your own creations.

Thanks for stopping in today friends, and a Happy Monday to each of you!

♥ S.

Don't forget you still have time to get in on the Lily Bee Design giveaway here.  Good luck! Pin It

Sunday Fun

Feels like I blinked and the weekend was half over.  There has been a whirlwind of activity at our place since Friday afternoon.  Fun stuff.

Before I get into all that though I want to share with you TWO fabulous opportunities that Lily Bee Design is hosting.  First is this.  That's right they are having a DT call.  I don't know the last time they did that, they have been known to simply invite designers on.  Can you imagine getting that email?  I am crossing my fingers that I do get a similar email as I am going to submit an appy to them.  You've heard it from me before...they are one of my favorite manufacturers to work with, and I only say that about two, out of the bunch.  I love how they stay current in the market, and continually offer quality product for us to work with.  The journal cards, stickers, those fabulous tiny alphas, and the eye catching designs of their papers are always a must on my list of scrappy purchases.  I would be thrilled to have the opportunity to work with their current team, (some of them my scrappy friends on the web).  I just know I could rock their scrappy goodness. 

Second is this.  A chance to win an entire new release collection.  Check out these fabulous new lines.

Love these luxurious earthy tones

This one is my fave, check out that hexi paper

Planning to create a layout class with this one for my LSS

Now believe you me, as much as I want to share all this exciting news, part of me is wishing I'd just keep it to myself, so I wouldn't be diminishing my own chances of winning, or being selected for their team.  I however, can not keep great news like this to myself, so go on and share/like/tweet, and apply as your little heart desires.  I can live with that.

As for the rest of this weekend...

Théa and her good dance partner in crime, spent several hours at their first rehearsal for the upcoming American Girl movie, that is being filmed her in Winnipeg.  It's all been a serious roller coaster ride, as we were called Friday at 4pm, asking to bring her in for an audition, told at 5:20 that she was perfect for the part.  Back there on Saturday evening for this dance workshop/rehearsal.  Then told at 8pm, that there may be cuts on Sunday (today).  See what I mean?  Rollercoaster.  She's a little nervous.  This mamma, is a little more.  But most of all, I'm just so proud of her for going for it.  I have a lot to learn from this wonderful 10 year old of mine.

While she was there with Daddy.  The rest of us girls celebrated this guy's belated 4th birthday, with bowling, followed by ice cream at Dairy Queen.

Recognize him?  He's the little man I scrapped about here.

He is such a character.  We had a blast bowling (I think the rest of the bowling ally could tell too, hee hee).  In between every ball thrown he'd break out into a freestyle Hip Hop routine.  Needless to say we needed more than the 60 minutes we paid for to finish 10 frames.  My heart aches with love, and pride overflowing for this little guy.

Today at noon I will be planted in front of my tv.  Wearing this.

Cheering for these guys, and the rest of the team.

It's part II of the Labour Day Classic, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are hungry for revenge.  It's gonna be pretty loud in here, feel free to come and cheer with me.

Whatever your plans are today, I hope you are happy, healthy, and spending it with the people you love most.

Thanks for popping by today!

♥ S.
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Welcome Back

Welcome to the weekend!

If you're anything like me you are feeling just a little more tired than you have been for the past two months.  The start of the new school year always seems to arrive too quickly, and feels like a whirlwind of activity, with countless forms to be filled out and returned, and a the usual school newsletters, and other pertinent information to be reviewed.

For the past few years I have been making cards to send along with the girls on the first day of school.  My hope is that a simple card will help their new teacher to feel valued and appreciated as he/she takes on a new set of students for the next 10 months of the year.

This year I created super simple "Welcome Back" cards using Lily Bee Design Double Dutch collection, and my hexagon punches. 

Rather than my usual habit of creating one-of-a-kind cards, this year, I decided to stick to the same design on all 4 cards changing it up just a bit between the two colours.  
Simple, yet cheerful.

Some of the items are from my stash, like the white trim, and office supply tags, but the rest can be found in the Let's Capture Our Memories store.  

Speaking of the store.  You may want to pop over and check out all the new Echo Park collections in there.

So Happy Together, 

Chillingsworth,  

For The Record 2 - Documented & Tailored, as well as 

Very Merry Christmas 

have all been added and are ready for purchase. 

Enjoy your Saturday friends, and happy creating!

♥ S.

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Sketch #147

Team A is up over at Let's Capture These Sketches this week, and Natalie provided us with a great sketch to work with.  I love grids, so this was right up my ally.  Here is the sketch.

Here are some close ups of my take.

Lots of yummy misting , and a little stamping (there's some white under the "ait", it's just hard to see.  Maybe someone can help me here.  I've been using Stampin' Up's white, but with less than thrilling results on patterned paper.  What should I be using to get the best result?  Paint?  Gesso?  I'd sure appreciate your tips.

Loved this sketch, and knew right away that I would want to cut up a 4x6 photo to use with it.  Darwin says it makes his head look funny, because his neck is cut, but I think the pieces are close enough together that your eye isn't fooled.

You can have a peek at the rest of the Team's layouts, and link up your own take on the sketch here.

Supplies:
Lily Bee Design: patterned paper, index card, and card stock bit
Pink Paislee: ticket
Jillibean Soup: "summer" alphas, journal spot
American Crafts: "portrait" alphas
Studio Calico: Stamp, mists
Cute Tape: glassine bag
Prima: wood button
Chic Tags: flair badge, punched tap

We're off to celebrate the last long weekend of the Summer at the lake.  One last weekend of sleeping in, beaching, and family fun time before the craziness of the Fall schedules overtakes us.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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July Sketch Challenge

It's that time of the month again.  Cara is up this month at Scrapping Everyday Miracles, and she's brought us a Pagemaps Sketch to work with.  I altered my take a little bit (as usual, so it would seem), and also had a little bit of a different take on the twist.

Here's the sketch:

Used with permission by Becky Fleck

My take on it includes photos of Théa and her sweetheart of a friend Sabrina.  These two have been dancing together at Kick It for the past 5 years, it's really hard to believe how far they've come since their days in Tiny Dancers.  They've not only become stronger, more competent dancers, but they've also become good little friends.  They encourage each other, challenge each other other, and best of all have a lot of fun learning together, and hanging out at the studio while they wait for their older sisters to finish class.  Although the photos are not the best quality, which on a side note is something I've gotten over, as I've discovered that things move rather quickly during Dance Competition time.  So much time is spent on costumes/make-up, and rehearsing that photos need to be captured in the precious moments in between all of that other stuff.  The result is often poor lighting, people in the background, and a lot of 'take what you can get' photos.  In the past I've waited for 'a better time' and discovered at the end of the season, that I really didn't get many photos of them in their costumes, and with their friends.  No more of that, I want to capture what I can, so I'll take whatever I can get.  Here are a few of just such photos.  This is the day of their Tap Small Group number.  I'm not sure where the other 2 in the dance are, but these two were with me so I pulled them off to the side to capture a few just for fun photos in the lobby of the Pantages Playhouse.  Sabrina has enough spunk to fill the building, and Théa is trying her best to play it up too.  I thought 2 Cool for School was a fitting title, given Sabrina's facial experession in the photos.  Théa really didn't get it, which just makes me laugh. 

Here is my layout

The twist this month is to use a computer generated element.  I chose to use the Dance Manitoba image as mine. 

Joining us this month will get you into the drawing for the $30 Ormolu gift certificate (which I seriously wish I had a chance at).  All you have to do is complete a layout using the sketch, incorporate the scrap twist and link it up to the SEM blog by July 31st.  You can see what the rest of the DT came up with, and have a peek at the Ormolu goodies here. 

Thanks for popping in today friends!

♥ S. Pin It

Who Knew

I went to a very small French Immersion school growing up.  So small in fact, that there were only 12 of us in my graduating class.  No, I did not go to school in a small town, it was a city school, but the first French Immersion High School in the division.  One of my closest friends at the time was a girl named Michelle.  Thoughts of her bring back such fun memories.  Going to McDonald's several times a week for lunch.  Driving around in her little red Firefly.  Our weekend shopping sprees to Grand Forks, ND.  Serving together on the student council.  Doing a 'teacher roast' at our graduation.  I have so many wonderful memories of this girl.  After graduation, we tried to stay connected, but I'm sure you know how it goes life just takes it's own twists and turns and one day you realize it's been months since you've seen or spoken to that friend who was once so close.  Well here we are twenty plus years later.  Both married.  Both with three children.  And both with girls who love to dance.  Every year when Dance Competition rolls around, I get excited at the thought of running into Michelle and her girls Madison, and Myah.  Myah, is the same age as Théa, and therefore the two of them find themselves competing against each other in group routines at both CNDC, and the Manitoba Dance Festival.  I have just as much fun cheering on Myah, as I do Théa, and I know that Michelle would say the same.  It may be brief and only twice a year, but I sure love catching up with her and her sweet family at these events.  This year I managed to get a photo of all of us in the same shot (thanks Nicole).  I used the fabulous Lily Bee Design Double Dutch Collection to document the memory.

rest your mouse over the layout to read the journaling

This was my last layout using this collection for Let's Capture Our Memories.  I'm up there today with a post, and a pinwheel tutorial.  If you missed it here on my blog, you may want to pop over there and have a peek.  Next month I have the pleasure of working with Crate Pretty Party.  I can't wait.  Love the colours in that line.  There is still plenty in the shop to be had.  Along with loads of brand new Evalishious, Smash goodies, Elle's Studio and so much more.  Lots of great mark downs up for grabs also.  Please do pop over and check it out.  She has loads to choose from and shipping to anywhere in North America is only $12.

Thanks for popping by today friends!

♥ S. Pin It

Going (Double) Dutch

My youngest daughter loves to be in front of the camera, even more so if she's with me.  One night before bed we caught a quick photo together.  I realized when I printed it out that it was a perfect match for several of the B sides of Lily Bee Design Double Dutch line.  I really wanted to focus on the photo, so I kept the design fairly centered and simple with splashes of color on the contour.  I also tried something else that has been trending in the scrappy world.  I saw it first by my friend Lilith, since then it seems everyone picked up on it.  I thought it was time to give it a go for myself.  I left the threads uncut on my stitching in a few places.  They were a little tricky to keep from looking too wild.  I ended up using a few dabs of Glossy Accents to keep them tacked down to the page.

I also tried a little stamping behind the photo with bubble wrap and paint.  The colour is very faint, but if you look hard you can make it out.  I just love those journal cards in the collection, they are so handy to use as embellishments, or actual journaling spots to record your story.

 

I covered the cardstock stickers with Glossy Accents.  I love the way it made the star curl up a bit adding dimension to the page.  Rather than use alphabets to create a title, like usual, I made use of one of the sentiment stickers from the collection.  A little dimensional foam adhesive helped it to pop up off the page a little showcasing it as my title.  Add a doily, and a little piece of Maya Road trim, and my layout is complete.  

You can still snag the Double Dutch collection for yourself in the store.  While you're there be sure to check out the brand new Kaiser Craft, and fabulous Evalicious that has just arrived, along with the new Bo Bunny, and Simple Stories collections. There is so much eye candy in there right now.  Tanya does a great job of providing such great quality product for all of us!

Product Used:

Index Cards

Croquet

Hopscotch

Lemonade

Stickers

Bag of Bits

3D Foam Squares

Trim

Glossy Accents

Doily

Mist

Stamp

I'm off to celebrate this girl of mine, it's her 9th birthday today.  How fitting to have her as my subject today.

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A little Double Dutch

Stitching on your photo and a little paper weaving are what I have to share with you over at Let's Capture Our Memories blog today using the brand new Lily Bee Design Double Dutch Collection.  It's even prettier in real life, and distressed and summery coloured.  I'd love for you to pop by and say hi to me over there.

On another note my heart melted yesterday when I saw these little guys crossing the street.  As much as adult geese can be annoying: on the road at all the wrong times, hissing at you whenever you dare cross their path, and leaving their goose poop all over the parks and golf courses, the wee ones are just so darling.

Have a great Wednesday friends!

♥ S.


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This and That

Had a request for this layout to be featured in Craft Gossip's Inspiration du jour. 

Love how something so simple can be so eye catching.  Kind of like people don't you think?  The more we try to impress those around us, the less sincerely attractive, and authentic one actually becomes.  The more we allow our true selves to guide and lead us the more people want to get to know us.  Just a thought today.

Not sure if I mentioned this before or not.  But my guest designer spot here has been extended.  

Tanya and Nicole have been so welcoming.  And even more important you all have been so encouraging.  I can't say thank you enough for the times that you've popped by here to say hello, and comment on my work.  To have you pop over to the LCOM blog to leave a little love also is just so touching.  Thank you for believing in me, and supporting me in this way.  I love that I get to share pieces of my life with all of you in this fun and creative way.  This was hand delivered to me yesterday afternoon. 

Just look at it.  Sigh, it makes me want to whip out photos of the people I love and get recording the stories and experiences behind each one.  This is Double Dutch: Lily Bee's new collection.  I can't wait to get started with it.  But, alas, wait I must.  There are more pressing things this week that require my full attention as a mother, employee, and a friend.

Today is the day that the new Design Team will be revealed at My Scrapbook Nook.  The list will likely not be posted until later this evening when I'm at Dance Class so I won't be updating this post with the results.  I really have no idea what to expect.  We've been told that there are only 4 spots open, and 23 of us vying for one.  My chances are slim, I realize, but I remain hopeful.  Speaking of the Nook they have a fun game going on right now.  It's a "lift the person above you" game, and it's open to all.  You can check out the deets and sign up here.  You may also want to check out the May kit that is shipping today.  It will be full of Echo Park goodness.  You can see some photos of it here.

More Crate Paper Goodness, love this Story Teller line

Okay, I really must go now and get going on everything around here.  I'll be mia over the next few days as my girls and I compete over the next 3 days here...

We're all pretty excited about it.  I'll fill you in on all of it as soon as I'm able.  And I'll also fill you in on another scrappy secret I'm holding in too *wink*

Have a wonderful week friends!

♥ S.

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