Verbally Challenged

My studio…a mess. Everything that I want or need is buried. It takes me eight hundred years to complete a page because the second I put something down (like my ruler) – it’s gone. I need to address this one big time. I need to purge, I need to organize, I need to straighten – I need A LOT of time to do this! UGH I thought for a brief second about posting photos of my studio here but decided that it was way too embarrassing.

In addition to my studio, my house needs addressed. I need to simplify. I’m tired of stuff in every corner and on every surface. And MAIL…how does this get so out of control? I pay my bills as soon as they come, junk goes into the trash immediately, yet I still have stacks of stuff. I just don’t get it. Catalogs…perhaps THAT’S my problem!

So today was a crazy busy day. The highlight of the day was a birthday party for sweet little Claire. She’s a gal that Liam has known for about two years. We’re in playgroup together and we do something fun every Friday. Today she turned three and had the sweetest little tea party. Check her out here with her cake!

After the party, Liam and I spent some time outside since we saw the 70’s today. Good stuff. I love that we can spend out time outside again, getting some good exercise and that we’re far away from the television! No temptation to turn that thing on!!! Here are a few photos:

Not sure what tomorrow brings yet. Have a good one!

I was looking at my ever growing to-do list and realized one thing is missing, Easter stuff! For the past two years I’ve been able to get away with little things since Liam pretty much didn’t realize what was going on. If I remember correctly, last year his basket was filled with Wiggles figurines and things like that. I even put some candy in the basket along with apples since he loves them – he went for the fruit. We did an easter egg hunt and filled the eggs with little toys, fish crackers and cookies….we ALL had a ball! These are two of my Easter layouts from last year. Notice the style change from one year ago? Funny stuff.

So this year I’m trying to decide what to do for the dude. He really doesn’t eat candy (since his parents are lame) and I swore last year that I’d fill his basket with fruit since that truly is his addiction. I’m also trying to come up with a few practical gift items…things that will help him learn and nurture his creative spirit. ***I’m not selling my coolness as a mom right now am I?****

So here is what I’ve come up with so far:

Some new books that I purchased over the weekend including this one titled “Bubble Gum Bubble Gum” by a local author. We borrowed this one from the library a few weeks ago and read it several times a day. It definitely had to be added to our personal collection!

A big soft globe so that we can start learning our continents and what-not.

A calendar that hangs on his wall so that we can learn the days, talk about seasons and weather when we’re getting dressed in the morning (what’s another things to add on to the routine).

And then lots of play wooden food from Target for his retro kitchen that we already own. He’s been doing a lot of imaginary play in there and our plastic/paper food is getting a little stressed. Plus these pieces have Velcro and look like they are SO fun to play with!

I may throw in a few art supplies and call it an Easter. I haven’t decided yet.

So moms out there, am I missing anything super cool for the Easter basket? Do you have any cool learning tools/toys out there that you swear by? I’m trying to avoid the whole sugar overload while I can!!!

On another note, I finished a couple more layouts. Before winning Hall of Fame I was going to try out for the 3 Bugs in a Rug design team since leaving BasicGrey left me with some extra time on my hands. Now I’m nervous that I’ll be working really hard trying to get into Creating Keepsakes and maintain a quality of work that they demand. Not sure what to do now but here are two layouts using over 75% 3 Bugs in a Rug product. They’d be a cool company to design for!

That’s all for today folks. I need to get this day going….the dude is up…I hear him playing in his room singing the Wonder Pets song…have a good one!

My husband should leave me alone more often…SERIOUSLY!

So my husband had a hockey game to go to tonight – game 19 in a 20 game plan. Too bad the Penguins pretty much stink right now (don’t throw tomatoes at me…they do). But he and his brother enjoy a night out…male bonding or something…and enjoying a little hockey. Good for him!

Me on the other hand, dude duty. A little mom and son bonding time…can’t really complain here. It’s only for 1 1/2 hours until bedtime. Usually Nate takes over at night and plays with Liam while I get some work done. Anyway – tonight Liam and I did something really productive…we washed the dog. That’s right, I got fed up with 55 pounds of stank ridden Golden Retriever lovin’ and kept forgetting to call the groomer. It’s my own fault really. But in all honestly, Liam and I had a great time!

But that’s not the end of It folks! My night was productive! After the dog-washing incident, I had a huge pile of gross towels, which led me to laundry (YUCK YUCK YUCK). Liam helped me there too…he likes loading everything.

After the tot went to bed (don’t worry, we played for a while after chores) I got back to work. I did more laundry, prepped some projects for mailing (and the endless paperwork that seems to go with it), cleaned the litter boxes (another mega-yuck), brushed the newly cleaned dog, picked up the bedroom and started a project due next week. All this in two and a half hours! I LOVE being productive and once I get started there is no stopping me. So I say it again, maybe my husband should leave me alone more often…I seem to get things done!

So on another note I wanted to give a big THANKS to all of the folks leaving comments. LOVE THAT!

And finally, here is a photo of the dude enjoying life.

I figured it’s time to share this – especially since I’m allowed to talk about it now. I found out last Wednesday that I won a contest…a big contest and in fact I am a Hall of Famer.

So if you’re not part of the scrapbooking world (I know that I have some friends and family members who aren’t as into it as I am), it’s a contest sponsored each year by Creating Keepsakes Magazine. You send in ten layouts, your very best work – six of those fulfill assignments. And then you sit, and wait, and sweat until the call date comes around. If you win you get a call and act like an idiot on the phone (me included). If you don’t, you get down and out and hopefully work your but off despite not getting “the” call (that was me last year). There are only 25 winners and 50 honorable mentions. And this year there were around 960 entries, that’s a lot.

I’m not exactly sure how I feel about these contests. Sure, I’m beyond thrilled and honored to have been in the top 25. But I’m always sad for the folks who didn’t make it this year and are extremely disappointed. I’ve been there and it’s hard. What we do each day is make art – art is hard to judge. It’s so subjective.
I think that it’s so important to design for yourself first, make sure you love what you do. And then if other folks like it, it’s almost an added bonus. If not, at least you still love it. I’m trying to maintain that mentality and always make sure I do what I do for me first.

It’s just something to think about.

Care to guess what we did today?

We spent the late morning with Dora and Diego (and all of their friends). Our first show with Liam that wasn’t the Wiggles (and trust me is was VERY different from the Wiggles). Liam really seemed to enjoy it and actually sat down and followed the story. I have a feeling that I’m not giving my little dude enough credit. He actually can control himself and sit down for a period of time…go figure! We took several different snacks (aka bribe foods) and didn’t really need them. He ate grapes for a little bit and then some mini vanilla wafers. Good stuff.

So we get to the show and run smack into a line where they’re selling loads of overpriced toys. Liam didn’t see any of them or really care about what the other kids had (not sure what happened there). But what do I do? I stand in line anyway because every kid needs a keepsake (and mommy is a sucker), right? So I buy a light up Dora stick (that Liam immediately thinks is an ice cream bar and tries to eat…oh the frustration when he tastes plastic) and a little plush “boots doll” (NO child needs more plush anything). Neither one is well received. Instead, we like this:

A flag…a FREE flag that we got when ushered to our seats. Nice. Next time, I save that money!!!

So the Dora show was a hit but not nearly as much fun as a Wiggles concert. I’m hoping they come back this summer and we can see them again…for the fourth time. Yeah, that’s right, I’m a Wiggles groupie!

And during naptime…I worked on this:

I designed it for Pink Martini. When all is said that done, I’m thinking about removing the “family” (Nate thinks that it’s a bit “crafty”) and re-designing the center OR putting a mirror in there. The frame itself turned out pretty cool!!!

Have a great night!

From the O’Kress family! Did you notice? I changed my name for the day. I figured that I’d merge my married name with a little bit of my family name (O’Conner). I like it! So did you wear your green? Are you being festive? Do you even celebrate this day? Did you go on a Leprechaun hunt? I remember back in Kindergarten we used to go on Leprechaun hunts. Fun stuff. The teachers would bang on the radiators throughout the school (which was small) and we’d track the noises. Good memories.

So in honor of my Irish heritage…I wore this today:

And Liam wore his Shamrock, but he had no idea why!

And check out what came in the mail for me today!!! I had to try it on to make sure that it fit!

I LOVE IT! If you don’t get it than you must not watch Grey’s Anatomy. I do believe that I’ve mentioned my obsession with this show! I haven’t gone too far have I?

And then lastly I scrapped yesterday for an upcoming Creating Keepsakes Vacation call. This is the vacation layout that I designed using some yummy Autumn Leaves papers and rub-ons. LOVE this stuff!!!

Have a great weekend! We’re off to see Dora the Explorer tomorrow. I’m a bit nervous. Let’s hope that it keeps Liam’s attention!!!

***Edited to Add: The photos in today’s post look really bright…not sure what’s going on there. Perhaps it’s my monitor…perhaps it’s something with the program…perhaps my vision is going….

This is a totally random post today – they happen sometimes!!!

Today Liam and I went to see the movie Curious George with my girlfriend Jenny and her daughter Claire. What a cute movie with fantastic animation and a sweet little story!!! Another must see in my book (I feel like a walking movie ad sometimes). I was so darned proud of Liam! This was only his second movie ever and he sat THE ENTIRE TIME! All 87 minutes! This is huge folks. My boy doesn’t sit. He fidgets, and complains and has MAJOR ants in his pants – but not today! This is definitely one DVD that we’re purchase when it comes out. I already downloaded the album featuring Jack Johnson onto my iPod. The music is so soothing, relaxing and the perfect reminder of an awesome afternoon with my boy. Love it!

So we had another day of really great weather here. Have I mentioned that I’m ready for spring? We had doors and windows open – fresh air was filling the house! I could literally feel my mood lift throughout the day! It was also one of those days were it’s bright outside but not too sunny – you know what that means! Perfect photo light! I grabbed my camera and took some random shots.

First up, Liam in his “Liam chair” doing what he does best. He’s watching Go Diego Go with an animal of his own in hand – and he’s NOT looking at the camera! I tried folks, it didn’t work. At least he didn’t run away and hide like he’s been doing. I really need to break that one somehow!

Here is a photo of my African Grey parrot, Louie. As you can see, he was following Liam’s lead and decided not to cooperate for me either, nice.

This is a picture of a Hoya blooming in my kitchen as I type. Now this plant has finally decided to cooperate and begin blooming again! The photo makes me happy!

I just had to take this one – it’s SO Liam! And the light was coming in through the skylight nicely. His little scuffed up Doc Martins with his funky blue canvas hi-tops – boys can have cool shoes too you know! I couldn’t wait until he was able to fit into a pair of Doc Martins!!!

And finally my apron came! It fits perfectly and is way too cute! I even love how they package it with the super cute little tag!

Oh, one more thing. Check out these chalk drawings. Oh to be so talented! I saw this link posted on one of my message boards and had to share.

OK, now finally! I’m back on the scrap wagon. I hadn’t submitted anything (to page calls) for a couple of months. I just needed a break. I was still working on assignments and trade shows but just wasn’t submitting to publications. I started again last week. I designed a school page and actually had it picked up (Scrapbooks ETC). That felt good. I submitted to another publication and got an assignment. It was a good week.

I designed this page for another call – why not share here, right?

Have a great weekend!

I’m on here twice in ONE day! GO ME!

I just wanted to share some of the photos that I took today from the zoo. We had a class there called “Zoo Color” where they learned about all different kinds of colorful animals found in the zoo. They also got to touch a lizard, skunk, chinchilla and a Kinkajou. My little dude was a model student – this is HUGE for me! My boy is always the one not participating, lying down and doing whatever it is that you DON’T want him to do. But not today. I’m one proud mama. I’m blaming the change in behavior on the weather. It was AWESOME outside – no coat needed and a warm fresh breeze – heavenly! It felt good…we both needed it.

So some fun photos.

This one was taken just before we left in my living room. Natural light..sweet loving!

Here is one taken before we went into class:

The education building was featuring artwork and there were eyes everywhere. Pretty cool.

Finally, a little story starring Liam and Claire (my friend Jenny’s sweet little girl):

They look like a little old married couple having a fight! They were standing on underwater sea lion ledge and Liam was singing too loud – Claire kept “shushing” him…when he didn’t quiet down Claire struck the hands on hips pose and started giving him attitude! Too cute!!! Then they just went back to playing. There is something so incredibly cute about three year old having an “arguement.” Love it!!!

Now I need to get some work done before Yoga class tonight!

We did the zoo class with my friend Jenny and her sweet little girl Claire.

Finding love in a few unexpected places. First off…

So much love in this box:

My NEW computer since my older one needed repaired. It just wouldn’t turn on…that was my weekend crisis. It was only bad because I couldn’t access the files in my shared box. Thanks to an external hard drive, Nate’s computer and a laptop available, I was hardly technologically deprived. This computer is awesome! It has a camera built in with all types of funky settings…fun stuff! And my monitor is huge!!!! Love it!

So let’s see, I’m loving this cool Apron site. Mine has shipped and I should get it in the next few days. I think that they’re ADORABLE!!! I got the green one that reverses into the chocolate brown. CUTE STUFF!

I’m also loving that Laurie Berkner has a DVD out. If you’re not familiar, this gal has little videos on Noggin and Liam LOVES them! It’ll provide some serious viewing pleasure for Liam and happiness for me since I get to watch him sing and dance. So cute!!!

Finally, I’m loving this card the Nate (and Liam) created for my mother-in-laws birthday. Love that little voice! We have a program on our computers called Garage Band that records and plays music etc. Liam loves it and Nate has been catching some really cool stuff!

That’s all for now! Liam and I are off to a zoo class today!

If you EVER have the chance to see the musical Wicked – RUN to see it!!! Oh my gosh – words cannot express how FANTASTIC this show was! The music, the story and the AWESOME cast made for one incredible evening for my mom, my sister and I. And today – I can’t quit playing sound clips from the site and you know what, I STILL get chills listening to the music AND I’M NOT EVEN THERE!!!

This was one of those shows where you shake your head after every song because the people are so INCREDIBLE! You get tears in your eyes because you are so moved by the music and filled with joy. I want to go back again…and again…and again.

And darn it if I don’t want voice lessons so that I can be that cool!

You need to see it. You won’t regret it.