Fast & Furious

was our ride to NJ. We started late Tuesday and it seemed to go downhill from there. Returning on Saturday with a much smoother ride home.

Got some beautiful fall foliage and this photo doesn't even begin to show how gorgeous the colors really are. We ran into traffic at places it never happened before AND listened to corny joke day w/Dr. Laura. SIGH. 3.HOURS.in.traffic. with.CORNY.JOKES. for example....How come the kid couldn't go see the pirate movie??? It was rated arrrrrrrrr. SIGH. How do you catch a unique wild animal? You NIQUE up on it. How do you catch a tame animal? the tame way. GROAN. lol! and HONESTLY - it went downhill from there. We finally reached our destination and was comforted with Ginny's homemade chicken soup. YUM! and peppers and eggs! double YUM!

Gotta love a man who can wear pink when carving a turkey. Of course he had a sharp knife in his hand so um...no snickers were in evidence.

We had a lot of delicious food and enough to keep an army going for a month. Or longer. lol!

Friday, we went to Liz and Kevin's new house for a Murphy party which was totally fun. Met Lucy, their, golden retriever who is such a love and a puppy. She is all about playing! and she thinks/knows she's a lap dog. bwahahahaha! Got to see Nick, Melissa and Christopher and Chance. What a bonus! Chance and Lucy seemed to get along, when Lucy decided she liked her new favorite squeaky toy. lol!

Three (count'm) THREE mini-albums-ONE weekend!

After reading Ali's new book it occurred to me (doh) that mini-albums were a cool way to go. So having purchased a bunch of CD jackets that had no where to go but altered, started the whole scrappin soiree. I know I know it looks kinda plain for me, and it is, but isn't, because all three are almost the same, yet different, bwahahaha. BUT all lines I used were able to stand on their own and shine. Well some inking was required. This is Sassafrass lass and the colors are beautiful for a fall wedding. Love all the pockets and tuck aways, because there are some photos tucked away, because well, *I* (I know this'll be hard to believe) got carried away printing. So many cool photos to choose from. So as I find memorabilia from these weddings (because I'm soooo organized I have no clue where I put them *insert eyeroll*), I can tuck those in there as well. For those of you that know me, will see that these are collage-less, flower-less and embelishment-less - all a major first for ME. Kinda cool for these few instances, and the photos are allowed to rock.

The next line was Fancy Pants. YUM!!! It was also perfect for a November wedding. Note the similarities in design because well all the jackets were the same. SNORT. Trick question. But it kept things simple and using the same lines (well I wasn't THAT adventerous - LESS stuff was adventerous enough) LOL. I whacked everything to the measurements and stuck the paper down. Easy.

The Sharon Ann collection, another yummy line is perfect for a spring wedding. This way the kidlets can't whine that one is pretty than the other. Well there are, BUT. You ask where you can find these awesome lines - My Scrapbook Shoppe for all you locals. The rest of you are on your own. I think all the lines are there except umm Sassafrass lass. That one went FAST. Ahem.

How stinkin cute is this???

Creative Cafe - is so gonna rock. You need to gather all your basic kits, wait breathlessly by your emails or better yet haunt My Scrapbook Shoppe to SEE WHEN you can make this awesome mini album. Yours won't look like this one because while Brooke was designing YOURS, I was customizing MINE. (um....don't tell the boss). SNORT. It rocks in LUCKY - AND I purchased the fixins to make another one in SPIRIT. I now have to figure out what the theme of this one will be. The first one was customized to take on the road with me when Tom and I were going to Bimini for the holiday. However, being a scrapper that can spin on a dime (SNORT), this book will go to NJ with me when we hang with the family. I've already made notes IN IT (how cool is that) on stops I want to make to further pursue my geneology stuff. Oh and wallet size photos 2.5 x 3.5 are totally the perfect size for this mini. ooooooo and there's a another one in the making that seriously competes with the same coolness factor as this one. Bwahahahaha!

A few of us had fun last night and closed the sidewalks down for sure when we rocked the Bo Bunny tags, cards and Christmas bags kit. We were challenged BRIEFLY, your fearless leader included on um 1/8" on a ruler, measuring in general, getting the correct paper, because of course they NAMED them very similar. While all the measuring was going on, we were challenged with Terri OD'ing on sugar cookies, because she was well - hungry. And being the slave master that I am, I kept everyone on task - low blood sugar on not. bwahahahaha! We had minimal issues with paper trimmers, punches, and even got the REV involved. NO class is complete w/o the REV. Oh and then you had to get the paper going in the correct direction *insert eyeroll*. BUT despite ALL these challenges - fun was NOT only had, but every item was completed and we all went home happy and exhausted. AND hungry. and our kids went hungry. Poor babies. SNORT!

This is the prima watercolor paper of which was really really FUN to do. I totally love the way it turned out, especially with one of my all time favorite photos, taken by my friend Emily. I also want to add in a most humble and modest (snort) way that PRIMA MARKETING ADDED THIS TO THEIR GALLERIES!! WOO HOOO!!! (jumpin up and down in excitement). and UM we have MORE watercolor paper available at the shop to have fun with. umm.... just not this particular one. BUT Brooke has a rockin example in the shoppe for you to see, and wish HER LUCK, because her's was also POSTED on PRIMA AND its in the WATERCOLOR CONTEST they are having. (jumpin up and down again). This just rocks all over.

SHOOO WOP DO WOP

FINALLY!!! The surprise birthday bash for our friend Bill. IT was really tough keeping it a secret and everyone was afraid they'd blow it. But nope. HE was surprised.
Robin's rendtion of happy birthday was awesome. She just reeked Marilyn Monroe. All of Bill's lovely young grands shared a dance. I think I got them all.

The cake was made by his daughter and omg. it was adorable. WAY too cute to cut. So its at our house where the party is carrying over today. Speaking of which i need to clean.
The gang who made it all possible!!! They rocked the food, the centerpieces, all the decorations and the fun DJ. Everything was perfect. They are sooooo talented.

So these are a tad out of order. Here's the SURPRISE part.
Meeting old friends.
Seeing friends with HAIR.
Dancing the night away with your favorite partner. Love love love the music from. Ain't coordinated for the dances except the twist, the stroll and everyone's favorite YMCA! lol! Which we did them all.

and the hottest couple of the night with their bubblicious gum-grape. bwahahahahaha! I can say that because well, this is my blog. Get your own!

Happy Birthday Bill! It was a fun, great time!

SHHHH! Don't tell the boss........

Don't get me wrong. *I* volunteered. Silly me. I spent the last day and 1/2 cutting, measuring and pasting and generally screwing up a perfectly good kit. Now I can cut and paste w/the best of them, BUT, measuring???? Using a stick w/numbers, arrghhh!!!!!!

You have to work the paper JUST SO. Because you use every scrap. Seriously. You have to MEASURE everything CORRECTLY, because you don't get a do over. UNLESS you have the exact paper at the shop.

It started out innocently enough. After I read the measurements FOR THE FIRST PROJECT. A.CARD. Several times, just to make sure. I cut it, and all matching items. Then came the tricky part. I needed a heart in the same color. So I dutifully cut my heart out, having ALL the pieces ready to adhere (big word for paste) to the card. So putting everything together and getting ready for the big finale, adhering it THE CARD. Well guess just take a wild ass guess where the heart was cut from???? There were a few more scraps along the way but don't need to give the boss a total heart attack.

NOW for the best part. I have to impart this knowledge flawlessly to a class of earnest scrapbookers. *SNORT*