A trip to remember

What a great weekend!  After we found we were moving we realized that the girls would get to have a second spring break.  We decided to take the girls to Washington D.C for a few days.  Thursday promised to be a gorgeous day so we decided to spend some time outside.  We rented bikes and made the rounds to most of the monuments.  K's time studying World War II definitely made an impact on her.  It was very obvious throughout the trip.  When we arrived at the WWII monument she spent a lot of time reading and reflecting.  I was able to get a photo of the girls afterward.

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And of course we had to see the Lincoln Memorial.

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We weren't able to get to the Iwa Jima Monument on Thursday but it was one that K really wanted to see so we made sure to get there before we left. I have to admit, it was impressive and moving.

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We also went to the Ford's Theater on Thursday.  We saw a play about the night Lincoln was assassinated and then toured the museum and theater.  What a cool experience.  The box off to the right was where Lincoln was sitting when he was shot.

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Not sure if L could handle visiting all of the Smithsonian museums we chose to go to only one.  We gave the girls the choice on which museum they wanted to visit and they chose the American History museum. We were in the museum only minutes when L spotted this doll house.  We had to drag her away so we could actually see some of the museum before it closed. :)

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K was thrilled with all of the WWII exhibits.  She was especially excited to see Ike's war uniform. 

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Of course L loved seeing Nastia Liukin's Olympic leotard and an Olympic torch.

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My mother-in-law and father-in-law took the girls to see Lion King last year so both girls loved seeing a mask from the play up close.

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We decided to visit the Spy Musuem based on recommendations about how good this museum was.  I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised.  It was a great museum with lots of hands-on activities.

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The best part of our trip was actually a complete surprise.  We weren't able to get tickets to tour the White House since we planned this trip on such short notice.  We were on our way to the White House Visitor's Center when a police officer stopped us on the sidewalk.  After asking us where we were from he reached into his coat and pulled out four tickets to a garden tour on the grounds of the White House.  Without much of a wait, we were able to get right up by the front steps of the White House.  What a great experience!

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Our last day in DC we drove out to Mount Vernon to see Washington's mansion.  What an amazing place!

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I also wanted to share a card I made a couple of weeks ago. 

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Check this out!

Creative Charms Design Team Call

Monday, April 11 – Sunday, April 17

Creative Charms is an embellishment manufacturing company and we are looking for a designers to add to our design team. We are looking for several people who are passionate and excited about sharing their ideas and creativity. The designers we are looking for are in at least one of these categories: scrapbooking, card making, and altered design.

The designers shall:
• Post twice a month to the Creative Charms blog
• Post to their own personal blog and Facebook any specials and giveaways
• Contract for at least three months with an optional 3 month extension

Compensation of $30 of Creative Charms product each month with additional monetary compensation for publication in print magazines.

To apply please email the following to midori@creativecharms.com with the subject line Design Team.
• Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• Email Address
• Blog Address
• 3 of your favorite projects
• Design team experience (past and present)
• List of projects that have been published

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Lunch with Friends

Happy Tuesday! 
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Relatively quick post today.  The girls are home for Spring Break today and we have way too much to do.  Wish it were going to be a relaxing break but it is not looking like that. It will be fun anyway. :) 
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My in-laws were here this weekend and helped us pretty much finish up the house.  Pictures are hung and I am so happy to say my bookshelves are already in the great room and fully decorated.  I will try to get some pictures soon. 
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I have a few things to share with you today.  I am behind on posting my projects for Emma's Paperie so I thought I would share two of those today.  The first is a card that I made for the spotlight on My Mind's Eye.  Oh how I adore that company!!!
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The second is based on this great color inspiration Anabelle chose for this week. 

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And here is my layout based on these great colors. My sweet friend Mary captured this picture with her iphone one day this last year. We had lunch with her and her sweet daughter and were taking a walk afterward on the Monon Trail.  The girls were having so much fun just being silly and spending time together.  Love spending time with these girls. Mary knows how to make me laugh. Luv her!

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The last thing I have to share with you are the kit and deal that Creative Charms is offering this month.

Deal of the Month – Hopping into Spring – 6.99

• Purple Gradient Gem Stickers - 72 Pieces
• Yellow Flared Flowers - 3 Pieces
• Yellow Sparkled Butterflies - 2 Pieces
• Yellow Flower Bows - 3 Pieces
• Yellow Large Sparkled Flower - 1 Pieces
• Pink & Yellow Flower Brads - 6 Pieces
• White Flower Brads - 3 Pieces
• Amber Pure Blossoms - 12 Pieces
• Yellow Gem Butterflies - 12 Pieces
• Bunnies with Flower Gem - 2 Pieces
• Purple Organza Flowers - 4 Pieces
• Purple 3D Sparkly Garden Brads - 12 Pieces
• Pink Gingham Butterflies - 3 Pieces
• 18" Purple Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
• 18" Yellow Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

Kit of the Month – Spring has Sprung – 14.99

• Orange Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
• Yellow Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
• Orange Flared Flowers - 4 Pieces
• Pink Flared Flowers - 3 Pieces
• Pink Sparkled Butterflies - 3 Pieces
• Orange Gem Butterflies with Bag - 5 Pieces
• Pink Vintage Pearl Brads - 9 Pieces
• Pink Gradient Pearl Stickers - 72 Pieces

Have a fabulous week and thanks so much for stopping by!



The boxes are gone!

Woohoo! It is a happy day!  The boxes are gone.  I owe a huge thanks to my parents for all of their hard work.  We actually have one more left in K's room and one left in my scraproom.  Both are filled with stuff that needs to be picked through and sent to Goodwill.  We haven't put many pictures or decorations up yet though.  The man that built our kitchen cabinets is going to make built in shelves for us for each side of the fireplace in this room.  So we have a lot of stuff sitting around waiting to be put up on those shelves. 
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We were able to try a new church yesterday. Anyone who knows me knows that this is one of my biggest concerns about moving to a new area.  We are looking for a church that will have a lot to offer our whole family.  It is important that there are enough kids and programs for kids to draw my girls in.  Not sure about the actual service at the church we tried yesterday.  The music was good, the atmosphere and sermon left a bit to be desired.  We will definitely give it another try though.  The main advantage of this church was what it has to offer the girls.  Besides the size, it is also close to home so there are a lot of kids that the girls will know from school.  We actually got to meet one of the little girls that L has been talking about.  Her mom was very nice too.  We will see, say a prayer for us. 
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I do have my scrapbook room in order which means that I can finally get crafty.  I worked on a layout for Creative Charms last night that I will be able to share later this week.  You can see it on the CC blog tomorrow. For now though, I have two projects to share that I created before we moved.  The first project is a card that I created using a sketch by the fabulous Sherry Wright.  You can see the sketch, as well as all the other designers' interpretations on the Emma's Paperie Blog.  Here is my card.
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The second project is an altered bench that I made using some adorable monsters by Jillibean Soup.  How can you not love these little guys?
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Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Settling in

Happy Wednesday everyone!
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We are starting to get everything unpacked. It has been a very long weekend though.  My sweet parents have been here helping us unpack and put everything away.  I am exhausted though.  The girls have acclimated pretty well to getting up an hour earlier but I haven't yet.  We are still staying up late trying to get stuff done while the kids are in bed but still need to get up with them in the morning. 
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We have met several neighbors already.  Three of them have come to say hello and one of the women has invited me to go to lunch with a group of women from the neighborhood next week.  There are plenty of kids around too.  Not all girls, like our fabulous old neighborhood but plenty to keep my girls busy I think.  :) 
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School has gotten off to a good start so far.  L's teacher has done a wonderful job of getting the kids excited for her arrival.  They even had a countdown to the day the "new girl" arrived. She has been telling us about 4 girls in particular that she gets along with well.  Academically things are going well too. Her teacher in Bloomington worked ahead so she is very comfortable.
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Due to a mix up, K did not get to start school until yesterday.  Things seemed to go very well for her also.  She is looking forward t studying the Middle Ages in Social Studies.  Her class in Bloomington was going to start that unit after Spring Break and she thought she was going to miss it, only to find out they are working on the same unit here.  There is a math test on Friday that she has to take but not for a grade. She is confident she will ace that test because she has already studied that unit.  She has met several girls already and sat with a few of them at lunch yesterday.  
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As for me, there is little hope of getting anything creative done for the next few days at least.  So I will share another layout I created before the move.  I have been wanting to scrap these pictures of K from her 5th grade program for some time.  The Jillibean papers were exactly what I was looking for. 
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Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I will be back soon. :)  Have a wonderful week!!!

On the Move

Happy Tuesday everyone! .
Lots going on around here today.  The packers are here to pack everything up.  K has her best friend over to spend the day and I am trying to stay out of the way. :)  Kind of a nice job, considering I have spent the last couple of days trying to pack everything up that we don't want to have them pack. 
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Have lots to share from the last week.  First I wanted to share the pictures of K's finished WWII project.  I have to say, I am so happy that we stayed around for WWII day.  As much work as it was she really learned so much from this assignment.  Here is Anne Frank's Secret Annex that she created.  We decided to eliminate the top floor for purposes of time.  If you have ever studied Anne, you know that she pasted posters on the wall in the room that she shared.  So of course K had to create posters for the wall.  She had me cracking up.  Things like, Jews Rule and Go Allies (yes, spelled like that).  LOL  We created three beds and a sofa out of chipboard for the rooms.  The bookcase on the first floor even moves on hinges to hide the staircase. So proud of her!

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The project was quite a bit of work but not the only part of the assignment.  She also need to create a tri-fold poster with 50 facts arranged into paragraphs with 10 pictures. 

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I have to say these 6th graders really stepped up to the occasion. The whole gym was filled with 120 projects just like this.  It was absolutely amazing.  The second half of the day consisted of the kids getting to attend lectures by WWII veterans.  There were about 10-15 different speakers for them to choose from ranging from pilots to nurses to soldiers.  I was fortunate enough to be able to escort a wonderful woman by the name of Heather who grew up right outside of London during the London Blitz.  She was so interesting to listen to and such a sweet lady. 

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We have also had our share of playdates during the last couple of days to say good-bye.  K's best friend slept over last night.  I watched the three girls from next door all day yesterday while their mom worked so the kids could play. L's best friend slept over on Friday.  I have enjoyed having them all here. I am hopeful that the girls can stay in touch with these sweet kids.

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Now in honor of St. Patty's day coming up later this week, I have some green projects to share with you.  :)  These pictures make me laugh.  We went to a place called Kentucky Down Under this summer and they had a bird cage where you could go in and feed the birds.  Due to the constant feeding, the birds were quite friendly. :) Lots of yummy Jillibean Soup on this one. 

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My second project was done for the color challenge over at Emma's Paperie.  I just love the greens used in the inspiration photo.  You can see the inspiration piece and all the other designers' projects on the Emma's Blog. 

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Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Creative Weekend

Happy Monday everyone!

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I hope you all had a great weekend. It was another busy one here but a different sort of busy.  I was thankful that we didn't have any meets or showings this weekend.  One of the reasons we are still in Bloomington is because K wanted to stay around for WWII day.  When she made this request, we had no idea that it also included A LOT of work.  Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with my kids doing projects. Actually K has learned so much through all of this, it is just that we have a bit going on right now.  So each child in her 6th grade class chose a topic and then has to make a project and poster board to display on Thursday when the veterans come to the school.  K chose Anne Frank (a pretty easy topic compared to some) and has decided to recreate the Secret Annex for her project (out of wood).  She is a bit of an over achiever sometimes.  So this is what she and DH worked on for a good part of the weekend. 

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Besides the construction, we also had to work on the poster board.  She had to collect 50 facts and then arrange them into 10 paragraphs about Anne.  We then collected pictures from on-line sources to go along with each of those paragraphs and arranged them on the poster board.  Whew, I am tired. LOL Oh, I forgot to mention that Lauren has been working on a Pioneer project and had to write a report about soap making and make soap herself.  She wrote out the report on Thursday so we just had to type it up.  That was due today. 

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So Paper Crafts had a HUGE call for a book they are working on called Go-To-Sketches 2. When I say HUGE I mean they had over 2,750 submissions.   Can you believe that??? That is insane.  I can't tell you how happy I was to get an e-mail requesting a card after reading how many people had sent in submissions.  I thought I would share my two cards that did not get picked up. 

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This first card was created based on sketch #70. 

This second card is based on sketch # 21.

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Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you have a fabulous week!!!

We have a winner!

Morning everyone!

I wanted to pop in real quick and share the winner of my give away. 

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Congratulations Lynn!!!! Please e-mail me with your address and I will get the magazine in the mail to you.

I also wanted to share a quick kid's project I did for Glue Dots this last month.  I used a paint stir stick from our local hardware store.  After painting it white I simply added foam and felt to create this cute little guy. Super easy craft to help everyone keep their sanity when you are stuck in doors. 

Make sure you stop by Creative Charms to check out the new kit and deal for this month.  Some more fabulous deals.  I will have a project later this week using this fabulous kit.

 

Oh My Lucky Charms - 111 Piece Deal of the Month

Each Deal Contains:

• 18" Green Vintage Velvet Ric Rac
• 12" Green Wide Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
• Green Flower Brads - 3 Pieces
• Green Gem Brads - 9 Pieces
• Green Pure Blossoms - 6 Pieces
• Green Large Sparkly Flower - 1 Pieces
• Green Groovy Petal Medley - 8 Pieces
• Green Braided Daisy Medley - 4 Pieces
• Green Gradient Gem Stickers - 72 Pieces
• Greeen Fuzzy Hearts - 2 Pieces
• Green Fun Flowers - 4 Pieces 

Everything Only $ 6.99

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Green with Envy - 39 Piece Kit of the Month
Each Kit Contains:

• 18" Green Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
• Light Green Vintage Jewels - 12 Pieces
• Sage Green Vintage Brads - 9 Pieces
• Green Sequined Butterflies - 2 Pieces
• Green Sparkled Flower Medley - 5 Pieces
• Green Sparkled Butterfly Medley - 4 Pieces
• Green 3D Butterfly Brads - 3 Pieces
• Green Organza Flowers - 3 Pieces 

Everything for Only $ 14.99

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous week everyone!