Thursday, April 29, 2010

Oh what fun....iNSD is May 1st....

Non-scrapbook friends....iNSD is (inter)National Scrapbooking Day! Really? Oh, yeah. Crazy sales, chats, freebies, store sales....oh, I'm so overwhelmed already and it doesn't start until May 1st! I'm spending the day with my flesh and blood Scrap Cellar Girls, who else?

The awesome Kristin Rutten at Log Your Memory teamed up with Simple Scrapper to create a iNSD planner! No, really, it's that big!!! AND it's free! If you weren't there for the chat, you can grab the planner here.


How ridiculously cute is this kit?
Available in the iNSD grab bag available 5/1 from Pixie Perfect Designs, exclusively at Scrapable!!!
(And that's not all....there are lots more goodies in this grab bag, but what good is a grab bag without a few surprises?!)

A recent weekly challege at LYM got me to answer the question you may have asked yourself (or really are wondering why I'm blogging all my scrapbook pages) - Why do you scrapbook? Well.....


There's a little digi page with photos of my recent paper scrapbooking in the Scrap Cellar.

Like I've said before....it's a gentle madness, this hobby. Ah.

Have a terrific day!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Whatcha Watchin'?


I had to show you this!!! Love GLEE (except last night's episode left me cold - wasn't their best....discuss), LOVE this kit from simply.scraps and Madame Wing!

Whatcha Watchin'? at Elemental Scraps
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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Wake Up!


I love waking up to see this little face in my face....just not before 7, Matt!!!!

Monday, April 26, 2010

The Colorful Days

When the kids were young (that sounds funny, since they are still young)....in November of 2004 (Matt was 3 and Ana was 8), we had a series of "color" days, where we ate food of one specific color. Now, yes, I know that you shouldn't eat only one color food....no nutritional bashing, ok. I just wanted to do something fun with the kiddos - and at that time, I was still hoping to be an elementary school teacher, so I had a "teacherly" thing still going on. After the success of the first day - the Green Day - I invited my niece and nephew to join us on these days. I look back on these and get a kick at how the all just let me do what I wanted and they cheerfully went along with it. Most times, they still go along with my program, and I'm dreading the day they say, "Mom/Auntie Cindi/Didi, that's just weird!" Oh, and naturally, I scrapped the events, too (pages to follow in a later post since you're already going to mad at how many pictures are here!).

Here's Green Day...starring Shrek, broccoli with dinner, and mint ice cream in a green cone.
And Yellow Day...scrambled eggs, mac-n-cheese, and egg nog.

And Red Day...starring Elmo and Clifford and spaghetti, red jello, apples, and red cream soda.

And Black and White Day....starring Mickey Mouse and.....mmmm....black cows!!!!


No....Ana didn't drink the Diet Coke!
Thanks for the memories, kiddos, and thank you for visiting.....I'll post the scrapbook pages in another post!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Jen C Designs - New Releases

Hi to my digi friends (and of course, my non-digi friends!) -

Jen C Designs has two cute baby kits for sale this Monday at Digi Scrapbook Mania-
Most of my kids' baby pictures were from BD - Before Digital, and I never really scrapbooked their baby pictures, but these kits were too cute to resist. As a member of Jen C's creative team, I got a chance to play with these kits, and I'm pleased with how they came out:

"Precious Princess" Ana
"Sweet Boy" Matt

Yummy kids!!!!

I'll be blogging again soon with details and pictures of Matthew the Playwright (with a special shout out to the West Coast Erickson/Clark/Davis Family)....stay tuned!!!

Friday, April 23, 2010

What a busy weekend! I spent Saturday with the ScrapCellar girls getting some much needed inspiration and girl time. Those girls really inspire me - I feel like my kids do when they are having a good time....I'm also inclined to whine "Do I have to go home?" when it's over! I made a very special book for my daughter - can't post it, since it's a surprise for her 8th grade graduation.

I spent Sunday afternoon with my mom and dad and my kids beautifying my yard - didn't have my camera handy - I think my mom would have yelled at me if I had stopped working to get it! Every thing looks super good again and I don't cringe to go outside anymore.

This weekend also was LOADED with wonderful things on the digital scrapbook front....I was selected to be on 3 creative teams (CTs)! For my non-scrapbook readers, here's what happened. I was inspired by the work of these three designers and applied to work with them, creating layouts of their designs to promote and support their work. I'm absolutely thrilled! I posted some layouts (LOs) of Coffee Time previously. Here's a few others from Pixie Perfect Designs and Simply Scraps.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Leanne left a treat!!!

Now, isn't that a special little sweet treat! My friend Leanne stopped by and awarded this lovely award to me! It was given to her by Leslie aka scrapwordsmom, who received it herself.

I need to award it to 5 blogging friends, however, my blogging friends have already gotten it.....need some new blogging ladies!!!

I also have to share 10 things that make me happy....here they are:

1. Ana and Matt getting along
2. When Matt comes home and sits right down and does his homework!
3. A clean sink
4. The way my dog sleeps with his head on a pillow
5. Starbucks iced carmel macchiatos with extra carmel!
6. Bookstores
7. Glee!
8. Diet coke
9. Finishing a project
10.My mom....

Wow, that list makes me sound fascinating! You still here? How about a game of I SPY...teenager style:

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Weekend Catch-Up

What a busy weekend! I spent Saturday with the ScrapCellar girls getting some much needed inspiration and girl time. Those women really inspire me - I feel like my kids do when they are having a good time and don't want to leave a friend's house....I'm also inclined to whine "Do I have to go home?" when it's over! I made a very special book for my daughter - can't post it, since it's a surprise for her 8th grade graduation. Holy cow....when did she get so old!

I spent Sunday afternoon with my mom and dad and my kids beautifying my yard - didn't have my camera handy - I think my mom would have yelled at me if I had stopped working to get it! Everything looks super good again and I don't cringe to go outside anymore.


This weekend also was LOADED with wonderful things on the digital scrapbook front....I was selected to be on 3 creative teams (CTs) - when it rains, it pours! For my non-scrapbook friends, here's what happened. I was inspired by the work of these three designers and applied to work with them, creating layouts of their designs to promote and support their work. I'm absolutely thrilled! I posted some layouts (LOs) of Coffee Time previously. Here's one from Pixie Perfect Designs ......
Spa Day by Pixie Perfect Designs

The colors in this kit are so restful and very spa-like....turquoise, green, white, lavender, brown....I love it!


And from simply.scraps.....oh, you'll have to wait until I can post it!

Have a wonderful week! See you soon!






Friday, April 16, 2010

Coffee Time!

I got the chance to play with a new kit from Digital Scrapbooking Central - and get this, it's a coffee theme! Love it! I'm looking forward to having some coffee with my girlfriends in the Scrapbook Cellar tomorrow - it's been WAY too long!


Here's what I made:

Journaling:
One family vacation, my parents, who always planned vacations down to the very last detail, decided to wing it. No reservations, only a destination. We’d find a hotel to stay at as soon as we made it to Mitchell, South Dakota. Well, it turns out the Mitchell Corn Festival was that same week. No where to stay and miles to go to find a hotel room, we had to come up with a plan. We were tired, but my dad thought we’d be able to make it to the next town with a room (the town name is long forgotten). Well, just a short time into the search, Dad got tired. We needed to stop so we could get some rest before starting out again. We ended up in the parking lot of the Happy Chef restaurant. (These are were in the days before I took pictures of everything.)
Dad and I sat in the restaurant, drinking coffee, while my sister and mother slept for a bit in the car. We referred to our car as the “Dodge Dynasty” Hotel.

The trip, with all its spontaneous moments and a special time having coffee with my dad, is one of my favorite memories.
 
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A few New Layouts

Haven't felt so good in the past few days - allergy season kicks my butt...well, really my head, but that's not the saying, is it? Looking forward to some paper scrapping with the girls in the Scrapbook Cellar this weekend. Here's a few digital:



Now, it's off to bed for me and my stuffy head!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Feelin' Groovy!

I hope you're having as good a Friday as I am!

I woke up (a little late today) to find a special message in my email (yes, I check my email before I hit the shower, and no, it's not Internet Candy) - one of my digital layouts was selected to be published in the Log Your Memory Yearbook to be published next January. This was the second of my layouts that was selected to be published, so I'm beyond excited!

Remeber this one?

Then, I got a welcomed text from my ex-husband with some good news. Thanks, Aaron.

Then, I visited the Log Your Memory website and found out that another one of my layouts was selected as the layout of the week!

Really good stuff! The FOCUS is working for me....this new obsession, or let's just call it a Gentle Madness I've developed for digital scrapbooking is so much fun.....if only my dear friend, Leanne, would share her secret with me, my day would be complete!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

I'm going to bring it down a little....something deeper....

Kind of an odd thing happened today. I got an email from Linked In advising I connect with someone I may know. Well, that someone was my dear friend who passed away last year. Imagine the mixed feelings upon seeing this invitation. Evidently, he had an account with them at one time, and I can't imagine removing him from these sites was a priority for his family. I think of this friend every day. Not a day goes by that I don't think of something that would amuse him - today was no different - on the way to work, I was thinking of a joke and wondering who else would really get it and he came to mind. I got to work, and then I got the email. Funny, how the Internet plays a part in reminding us that we'll never be forgotten.

I wondered, does this feeling of missing someone ever go away? My answer was no, and I wouldn't want it to, because as long as I still think of my friend, he'll always be with me. 

I have another friend who passed away last year, who Facebook frequently beckons me to "reconnect" with, and I usually laugh a little when I see it and think "if only".

Have you had this experience yet, of seeing someone who is no longer with us, on the Internet?

Saturday, April 3, 2010

My Hi-Yas

Matt tested for his yellow belt today, so I thought I'd share some Hi-Ya photos from the day and a couple from earlier this year. This session, they are in the same class, but after today, Matt moves up to the yellow belt class and Ana has gotten her 3 yellow stripes - next up is her yellow belt. Grandma and Grandpa were there to watch, along with Mom, Dad, and Stepmom. We couldn't be prouder. Ana is strong, Matt is focused and they both are really into karate.

Matt's first session - check out the menacing pose.
Ana is on her way to becoming the "Ninja Nun" - our little joke that's going to keep her safe in the coming teenage years.



Patiently (nervously?) waiting for this test
Matt proudly wears his new yellow belt!

Celebrating with their dad

We did LOTS of stuff today, but I'll share more later. Nana - hope these pictures make you feel like you are there .... there are LOTS more!!!

Friday, April 2, 2010

April 2010 – The Plainfield Ericksons go Internet Candy free

This morning, I signed out of Facebook for the month, bidding my "friends" happiness, health and safety. I won't be checking in on anyone via Facebook this month. The kids and I are taking an Internet Candy break, cutting back on the junk we spend our time on and planning to live in the real world, with real world experiences this month (no more tending to fake farms, building fake houses, cooking fake food, or laughing at other peoples misfortunes on failblog.com).

We are going to pick up a copy of How to Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith, as our guidebook this month, and are following along with the Big Picture Scrapbooking class, Everyday Adventures, that starts April 15. Here is our contract:

For the month of April, we will restrict our internet usage to educational, informational, and goal oriented usage.

1. No social networking sites may be accessed during this time. The following will also be blacked out: YouTube, any humor site (ie. Lolcats, cheezburger, Engrish, failblog, etc).
2. Blogs may be updated, provided there is no web surfing.
3. E-mail may be checked. Links may not be followed if they conflict with this agreement.
4. The internet may be used for school projects/assignments, to look up information or answers to questions we have, find addresses/maps, phone numbers, and order food or review menus (ie. Thursday’s Papa John’s).
5. There will be no access to the computer in the mornings before school and no DS. You may watch TV provided that the dog goes out, the cats are fed, and the animals have water. All humans should be prepared to leave at 7:35am, teeth brushed, hair brushed, all notes, permission slips, assignment note books signed prior to leaving the house. This will continue beyond April, if Mom deems it necessary.
6. How-to usage is allowed.
7. Recipe searches are allowed.
8. You may use the internet to support a goal or personal growth endeavor. The following are examples: mom’s scrapbooking goals, cat training, sewing instruction, or learning a new hobby.
9. There will be no complaining about this. The objective is to be present together as a family and not rely on the internet for socialization and amusement.
a. As a family, on Sunday evening, we will watch a movie together.
b. As a family, we will spend Monday nights doing something family oriented together. This may be playing cards or another game, taking a walk, painting or doing art, play Wii, visit with friends or something else we all agree to.
c. As a family, when Tuesdays are by Mom’s, we may watch American Idol together or read, or visit with family.
d. Wednesdays will be a free choice day. After homework and chores, you may choose your own activity, as long as it is not Internet Candy. If Mom tells you we have somewhere to go, we need to go.
e. Thursdays are by Dad when he is in town. If Thursdays are by mom, it is pizza night and a family game time (Wii or Playstation included) or time to read, draw, play outside, or clean a room.
f. Fridays, Mom will let you know what the plan is, which may be from any of the above.
g. Saturdays are karate, TV catch up on DVR, and whatever else is planned. The rest of the day is free choice, depending on where you are and provided you do not use Internet Candy.
10. The final word on whether or not the Internet is being used properly will be with MOM and Mom only.
11. During this time, DS usage will be allowed as long as it doesn’t interfere with family activities. In addition, if there are arguments regarding games or DS usage, Mom reserves the right to pull the plug on DS game play on any day other than Wednesday free choice, Friday or Saturday.

By signing this you agree to follow the family rules set forth to the very best of your ability and agree to be pleasant to each other during this month.

This is not a punishment, but rather a renewal of our family commitments. We will survive.