Outside the Box Scrapbooking Sneak Peek

OK, so can I tell you how excited I am about my upcoming scrapbook layouts class? It is going to be SO.MUCH.FUN!

If you are tired of using the same ol' products over and over again, or if your pages are starting to look the same, or if your creativity is running at an all time low, then this is the class for you!

Join me as we walk through three (3) adorable 12x12 page layouts where you will use some of the most traditional scrapbooking supplies in non-traditional ways. Paper, chipboard, punches, brads, ribbon, bling, you name it!

Our layouts will surely get you excited about digging out your old supplies as soon as you get home.

Date: Thursday, March 4th

Time: 6:30 PM
Cost: $18.00

Don't delay!
Call Eclectica today at (901) 377-0730 and reserve your spot!

Dino ♥ Love

Although technically Monty T-Rex was a Christmas gift for Isabella from her grandparents, there appears to be a non-spoken agreement that Sam is in fact Monty's best buddy. Sam loves this dinosaur and plays with it constantly. Not a day goes by that we don't hear the sound of both Sam and Monty roaring at each other and walking/stomping all over the house.
Oh yeah, and the sound of Sam smothering Monty with hugs and kisses.

Tales of a Bargain Shopper

I don't know if you know this about me, but I am not a big shopper. Spending endless hours at the mall, surrounded by avid shoppers going in and out of stores, does not qualify as a good time in my book. At. All! I happen to consider that scenario more torture than anything else.

For me a pleasant shopping experience consists of a few clicks on my keyboard and voila, my purchases will arrive at my house in a few days. And if for whatever reason I have to go out, then I'll go into a few select stores, the ones I always go to, find what I need, and call it a day.

OK, so it's confession time: Hi. My name is Liz, and I'm the queen of bargain shopping.

I'm very proud of the fact that I can find really good bargains. Now don't get me wrong, I won't buy something just because it's a bargain. I have to need it or really, really want it to commit to actually purchasing.

Like for example, when I walked into Children's Place a few weeks ago and came across this:

Size 6 pink fleece lined jeans @ $3.99
Size 6 blue fleece lined jeans @ $3.99
Size 6 pink corduroy pants @ $3.99
Size 6 blue lounging pants @ $3.99
Size M blue Rugby sweater @ $3.99

...now this is definitely a deal I didn't walk away from. I purchased all of this for Isabella to wear next winter for $19.95 plus tax. Fantabulous, I tell ya!

And just in case you were wondering which stores I actually do shop:
Children's Place ~ they have great sales and a lot of coupons
Gymboree ~ I take full advantage of sales, coupons and GymBucks
Target ~ seriously, need I say more?
Marshall's & TJ Maxx ~ a little slice of Heaven to me
Macy's ~ they have the BEST clearance racks

Can someone please hand me a paper bag?

Isabella had picture day at school today.
Not only did they take class pictures, but they also took 4K graduation pictures.
Yes, that's right ~ cap and gown graduation from Preschool pictures.
Next stop ~ Kindergarten.
I'm a mess!
You can find me hyperventilating and whimpering, lying in the fetal position while rocking back and forth on the floor of our master closet.

Isn't she beautiful?
She picked out her outfit.
She was SO proud.
She's so big!

Can someone please hand me a paper bag?

For Today - February 22

Inspired by The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Outside my window... it's late so it's very cold, dark and quiet.

I am thinking... about all the tasks on my To-Do list; create two pages for display at Eclectica, three layouts for a class next week, four layouts for a class the following week, make Sam's birthday party invitations, clean and organize the house and get serious about my decluttering goals for this year.

I am thankful for... the fact that other than church, there is absolutely nothing on the calendar for this coming weekend and we are more than happy to keep it that way. It seems we've been GO GO GO around here lately and we most certainly welcome a much needed break.

From the kitchen...delicious spaghetti and meatballs (thanks, Christie!) followed by decadent frosted homemade brownies (made at home from a box of course, hence the homemade reference).

I am wearing... a lilac shirt, jeans and socks, and for some reason I am really cold right now.

I am creating... scrapbook pages of my most favorite subjects in the world ~ my children.

I am going... to what I hope will be a fantastic parenting class at church on Wednesday. Our associate pastor, Eli Morris, will be the speaker and I totally adore him. I am really looking forward to it.

I am reading... Queen Takes King by Gigi Levangie Graze, and it's just okay, so it feels like it's taken me forever to get through it. I'm thinking a trip to the library is in order. I am oh so ready to dive into a REALLY good book. Any suggestions?

I am hoping... that everything is OK with our dog Copper. We're not exactly sure what the problem is, but he was whining when he came in from going potty. It could have been something Mick did (our other dog, who is much bigger and more rambunctious than Copper). He has been with us for so long, he is definitely a beloved part of our family and we are all very worried.

I am hearing... absolutely nothing and relishing every second of it.

Around the house... all is quiet. The kids are sleeping and Scott is on his computer. Very peaceful, actually!

One of my favorite things... watching Isabella "grow" right before my very eyes every single day (she is so amazing), and Sam's awesome lip-smacking kisses (he is such a lover).

A few plans for the rest of the week... a lot of cleaning, a lot of laundry, a lot of creating, and if the weather is nice this weekend, a whole lot of playing outside.

A picture to share....

My beautiful princess about to indulge in a ginormous cupcake
courtesy of my dear friend Pam Boone.

Girls Night Out ~ Go Girl Art

I am truly blessed to have a group of really good girlfriends,... the best kind of girlfriends. The kind that are ALWAYS there for you. In good times and in bad. The kind that take really good care of you when you feel tired or sick or just plain overwhelmed. The kind that finish your sentences because more often than not you are so in sync. The kind that make you laugh to the point of tears. The kind that cry with you during the hard/sad times. The kind that you can be 100% yourself with knowing that you are loved and accepted and never judged. The kind that you feel totally at peace leaving your kids with because you know the type of Mommies they are.

These girls are those girlfriends to me:

Laura, Susan, Valerie, and Cora

We make it a point of getting together at least once every single month for a Girls Night. No husbands. No children. Just the girls. We usually take turns picking a restaurant and sit and eat and drink and talk for hours. Recently, Susan suggested we give a new concept called "Go Girl Paint" a try. Following is how it is described on their website:

Take a fun night out with friends, add a little wine…or a lot, throw in some music, paints and canvases and you just may end up with a masterpiece !! 2 ½ hours of step by step art instruction. You come with an open mind and an appetite. At the end of the evening, you have had a great time AND you go home with an original masterpiece that will be the envy of your friends! You may even get to know that inner artist that is in all of us!

We looked through the website and found a painting we all agreed on called Sunset at His House. So we signed up and had our first Go Girl Paint experience last night. Well, all of us except for Valerie who was home sick with a nasty stomach virus. We missed you, Girl!

Okay, so we brought in a pizza, some beverages, and some cupcakes and we were ready to go. Lisa, the artist and creator of this concept, provides all the supplies you need to make your masterpiece.

Now, there's something you must know about me. I consider myself to be a pretty crafty person. I can scrapbook. I can make invitations, cards, and other paper crafts. I can paint/spray paint the heck out of a piece of furniture. I can do some basic sewing. I can make some jewelry. I can even cross stitch. But the one thing I cannot do is paint. Placing me in front of a blank canvas, paint and some paint brushes will undoubtedly yield a very stressed out and anxious Liz. So having said this, yes I was a bit antsy about our painting party, but I was also very excited about doing it with the girls.

Lisa was phenomenal. She was super patient and helped us out tremendously. And by us I'm referring to the 25+ women who were in that room with us. I can honestly tell you we had a blast. We laughed at ourselves and at each other the entire time we were there.

We made so much fun of Laura and the fact that most of her painting was actually done by the instructor. We gave her the nickname Kielbasa, after she was repeatedly referring to herself as Picasso and ended up so tongue-twisted that what eventually came out was something along the lines of Kielbasa.

Laura concentrating on her painting. Pft! As if,... we all know Lisa did hers!

So as you can imagine, I'm about to post a picture of my creation, but let me first remind you that I am a BEGINNER and that, my dear friends, is the reason why my painting looks like a 5 year-old painted it.

Without further ado,.... here is my creation:

And a close-up:

Lisa said it's folk art so it's not supposed to be perfect. Personally, I think that's a great line to feed a bunch of women who have no idea what they're doing. But being that she said it, I think I might just use it going forward.

And finally, here we all are with our creations:

HA! Such a proud group of girls,..

So, is it the prettiest piece of art I have EVER seen? Nope, it sure isn't! But I conquered my fear of the blank canvas, paint and paint brushes and I made something with it all by myself. And the best part is that we had a great time together. So much so in fact, that we're looking into booking another Go Girl Paint session in the next few months. Now that should be interesting!

Saying Good-Bye...

... is hard to do.

My grandmother passed away on Monday, February 1, 2010. Although we really miss her, we're happy that she was able to enjoy a long and happy life and is now resting in the arms of our Savior.

We love you, Abu!

A scary parenting moment

As many of you may already know, Sam had a horrible stomach virus which left him so dehydrated he had to be hospitalized. After a few days of non-stop diarrhea, I scheduled an appointment to see his pediatrician on Tuesday afternoon. In between the time I called to make the appointment and the time the appointment actually took place, he vomited three times. Ugh!

So we made it to his pediatrician's office and Sam vomited two more times during his examination. His pediatrician wasn't 100% certain what the problem was, but he thought Sam was definitely dehydrated and recommended that I take him to the ER immediately so that he could be tested and hydrated.

As soon as we arrived to the ER he was examined and it was determined that he was indeed dehydrated. His electrolytes levels were WAY lower than normal, so he was immediately hooked up to an IV. Can I just say, that was NOT a pleasant experience! But I held him and kissed him and talked to him and prayed and somehow managed to keep it together during the entire procedure. Shortly after this, we were informed that they wanted to admit him and keep him overnight to ensure that he was properly hydrated. Yeah, SCARY!

Side Note: I hate that I don't have any good pictures of the first gown they gave him when we arrived at the ER. It was peach and very short. But it looked super masculine when he wore it with his camouflage Crocs. HA! Priceless!

Luckily, my mom had picked Isabella up earlier in the day so she kept her overnight. Scott and I spent the night in the hospital. Scott on the sleeper sofa. Me on the twin size hospital bed with my baby boy. Sam had the most explosive diarrhea. We had to change his gown and the bed sheets twice during the night. My poor boy was miserably uncomfortable.

Fortunately, he was a new boy on Wednesday and unfortunately, he was a new boy on Wednesday. He wanted nothing to do with his IV. He did not want to watch TV. Or sit/lay on the bed. He wanted to walk around. All. The. Time! He was a juice drinking machine, and he finally felt well enough to enjoy some yummy snacks ~ Cheerios, crackers, and Jello.So, what does an almost 2 year-old do to pass time in a very boring hospital room? Well, applying ChapStick, and a lot of it, is one way to go:
But this is also as good a time as any to catch up on calls::And then there's this,... can someone please tell me why, in the pediatrics wing, the Nurse Call button has to be the biggest and brightest button on the bed?
Seriously! Wanna know how many times he pressed the big red button and therefore called the very busy nurse? Well, I can't give you an exact number because I lost count after the 9th time. I was MORTIFIED!

One of the nurses actually unhooked his IV for a while so that he could get around a little more easily, and he took FULL advantage of that time.All I can think of when I look at this picture is Jack Nicholson in the movie Something's Gotta Give.

Anyway, while we were in the hospital, Sam's peeps sent him this, which is not only beautiful, but also deeelicious:

Which made him oh so very happy:

Wednesday afternoon we got the great news that Sam's labs came back normal and he was well enough to go home. He's on a strict diet for the next couple of days, but I think we're all glad to be home and to be sleeping in our own beds. It's all about the little things, I tell ya!

We are so grateful for all your calls and prayers ~ we are so blessed to have such unbelievable people in our lives.

February SNL Layouts

During last month's SNL class I asked the ladies what types of layouts they'd like to create in February's SNL class, and the top two requested themes were Park and Zoo layouts.

Well,... I asked, they answered, I listened!

So Park and Zoo layouts it was, and a little something extra I added for good measure.

Day at the Park single page LO:

I love, love, love the clouds paper. They did too!

Fun at the Zoo double page spread:

They loved these pages. That's always good.

Together ~ A more generic single page LO:

Hector and I had the opportunity of spending TONS of

quality time during his last visit and I wanted to make
sure to document it.

Well, there you have it. I finally used the Silhouette machine Scott got me for Christmas and I must confess ~ I am HOOKED! Ooh, the possibilities are endless,...

I'm already hard at work planning the pages for my two March classes: Outside the Box Scrapbooking and SNL. I've got some really fun stuff planned.☺ Let's hope it all turns out.

OPAM ~ January 2010

Yes, I realize my title says January 2010 OPAM.
And yes, I realize we are already well into February.
"Life" has happened around here in the last few weeks, which has kept me pretty busy.
But I really want to share with you Isabella's completed headboard project.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been browsing craigslist for a few different pieces of furniture. During one of my searches, I found a wicker headboard which I thought would be perfect in Isabella's room. She went with me to see it and instantly approved. SOLD!

The first thing we did after picking up the headboard was go to Hobby Lobby to pick up the spray paint. Isabella asked if she could pick the color all by herself. I took a deep breath, said yes and then held my breath until she made her final selection. I'm not going to lie ~ I was scared. That could have gone very, very badly. But after seeing what she picked, a color called Raspberry, I think she had it right on.

So we cleaned and spray painted the headboard and after a few days in the garage (phew, those were some strong fumes), we finally took it upstairs to her room.
It looks awesome! It definitely adds a great punch of color to a very purple room. And even though initially I had planned on hot gluing some Gerbera Daisies to the headboard, after much consideration my mom and I decided against it. I am however going to use the flowers on some fun art to be placed right above her bed. So stay tuned!

And I will leave you with a picture of my three crazies having a big ol' time!

Snow Day!

I think it's safe to say that the entire city of Memphis woke up to the biggest surprise this morning.

Snow! The good kind! And a whole lot of it!

After looking up local school closings online, I crawled into bed with Isabella and cuddled with her for a while. That was so nice! When she finally woke up, I immediately had her look out her bedroom window. She was ecstatic to see such a beautiful winter wonderland scene. So we all got dressed, ate some breakfast and ran outside to enjoy the snow.

We ran around and made footprints:
Our little snow princess:

We made snow angels:

Well, Isabella made snow angels.
Sam thought he would just lie down on the snow.

With his sippy cup,...
Then our neighbor came over and we had a snowball fight:
And Sam was in heaven!

It's crazy to think that this is our third "Snow Day" since the beginning of the year. In Memphis! But I'm not complaining. As long as they're all this fun, I say bring it on snow!

February SNL Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek of one of the fun layouts we'll be making this coming Saturday for our latest Saturday Night Layouts class:


Remember, we'll be creating eight (8) 12 x 12 page layouts to help you document your favorite park visit, zoo adventure, birthday and family memories.

Join us:

Saturday Night Layouts
Saturday, February 6
4:00 - 8:00 PM
$29.00

Call Eclectica today at (901) 377-0730 and reserve your spot!