Exciting News & a Sneak Peek!

Lots of fun and exciting things have been going on lately.  I meant to post this last month but it was when Blogger was having issues and then I forgot!  Anyway, I was chosen in the Top Ten over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog for the April Challenges.  You may remember my project HERE.  I was then chosen as the Top Chick and asked to be a Guest Designer for the month of June - it's going to be fun!  New challenges are posted every Monday - I hope you'll join us!

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More fun announcements coming up soon - for now here is a sneak peek at something I was working on and I will share next month - any guesses what it is?

Thanks for visiting!

Bee Crafty!

Remember one time when I posted all those crafty things I was making and said I didn't know what to do with it all - I thought maybe I'd finally post something in my Etsy shop that I started years ago, but I'm still a little chicken and feel a little intimidated posting there, so for now I'm working on listing them on my new blog so check it out at

http://www.jenabeecrafts.blogspot.com/

Be sure to check back regularly as I will add new things every day!  I'd love to hear some feedback and suggestions!

I'm a REBEL now!

Santa came early this year and I ended up getting a new camera since I've had problems with my previous camera.  I've had so much fun starting to play with it - can't wait to really get to know how to use it!  Here are some pics of the crazy kids as I've been getting used to it...so glad they're willing to smile!

Isn't he just adorable...

I took this one from across the house - love the clarity of my subject!

...can I take a picture?

PLEASE, Mommy!

And just to compare, I took the following picture from the same place, same lighting, etc.  Here it is with my OLD camera:

and the NEW camera:

Much better!  Thanks for visiting - and just to warn you, now that I have a working camera again, I'm back to taking LOTS of pictures ;-)

What I've Been Up To...

Sitting in front of the fire listening to Christmas music and making some of these...

and these...

and trying to decide what to do with all of these fleece hats...

and flower hair clips that I just can't seem to stop making...

I'm thinking I should finally start putting items in my Etsy Shop that I started a couple years ago - what do you think?  Any thoughts, advice, or suggestions?

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What else we've been up to lately...

...spending lots of time lately at the pool - having fun getting our money's worth out of our year membership ;-) and trying to get used to the settings on our digital water camera

...enjoying the beautiful winter weather - I LOVE listening to Christmas Music when it's snowing outside.  Now that I'm the Ward Music Chairman AND the Ward Choir Director, music is taking on a whole new meaning, it's going to be fun!  BTW - I just love the look on Trysten's face here...

...watching my kids grow up way too fast

...visiting with Santa and Mrs. Claus when the National Christmas Tree came through town on Sunday - I think it's so cool that the tree is from Wyoming this year, especially from my neck of the woods!  Kaylee and Brianna were the only ones who would go near Santa, even with a candy cane bribe - oh, well!

...spending time with my kids at preschool - they have so much fun there, it's such a fun program!

...and trying to keep the darn mice from destroying our stuff - here's what they did to the firewall in our truck last week - grrr, we might just break down and get a cat or two and hope the coyotes leave them alone ;-)

Well, there's a brief update of what we've been up to - thanks for visiting!

May the Force be with me...

I need the Force or some sort of miracle since I FINALLY decided to get started on Halloween costumes yesterday - YIKES!  Ever since we moved this summer I have debated whether to make the kids' costumes like I usually do or just buy them.  I was leaning more towards buying them since I don't have a craft room yet, and since my sewing machine was now 1 hour away, but I just couldn't get myself to spend that much money on a costume!  David finally talked me into getting a new sewing machine as an early Christmas present earlier this month - it is awesome, I'm so glad I finally broke down and let him get it for me - no more borrowing my old one back from my SIL ;-P  My other dilema with making costumes, there is no fabric store here, and my shopping options are really limited so it's going to be hard to find what I need for the costumes!  Luckily I found some of our moving boxes with my fabric and craft supplies and was able to whip up this quick hat for Trysten out of some fleece scraps - SO glad I had the right color!  Tell me, are the ears too big or just right?  I just got Trysten's robe done (which means his is completely done unless I change the ears) and now I'm starting on Brailee's costume (she needs it tomorrow for Preschool) so wish me luck - I'll share them all when/if I get them done.

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Thanks for visiting!

Bye-bye birdies!

For those who were actually looking forward to my flashback last week - sorry I just totally spaced it! I had been super busy with a major project deadline (which I will share later, I promise - right now it's top secret) and Friday completely got away from me! This is the last week of school for the girls, so maybe I'll post a new flashback this week - if I get a chance!

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Do you remember last year and our feathered friends? You can check them out here - here - and here. Well, the birds came back again this year - luckily (for us) they didn't build their nest on our porch light like they did last year. Instead they built it on our privacy 'wall' on our deck - which was probably a bad idea (for them - you'll see why later). We were anxious to see them leave so we could finish our deck and painting our house (as you can tell by our pictures below, it needs major work!), but we didn't want to see them gone so soon!

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April 22nd - as they are building the nest

May 2nd - we see eggs!

May 13th - we see another nest in the tree in our front yard. Unfortunately they are a lot higher up and hard to watch. This is a bad pic because the only way I could take a picture was through the window.

May 20th - we first notice baby birds!

We had fun watching them for a couple of days. As we worked outside on Saturday we would see them being fed - and sometimes when we would walk out onto our deck when the momma bird was gone, the babies would poke their heads up. Sadly, Sunday after church, we came home to find a sad scene. We're not exactly sure what happened, but there are no more birdies and we found lots of carnage at the scene. We suspect a cat was able to climb up there and get to them - this is why we think the wall was a poor choice. We're sad that we won't get to watch these ones grow up like we did last year, but I guess now we can move on with our house work - as long as the weather will cooperate!

Today...

...marks my 5 year Anniversary as a CTMH Consultant! I signed up just for the discount (before I had EVER seen or played with the products) but after I got my Consultant Kit just a few days later, and had my Jump Start Gathering a few days after that, I was HOOKED! I am continually blown away by the amazing products that CTMH produces, and I have learned so much and really played with my creativity over the last 5 years. I haven't had a chance to attend any Corp events yet, like Convention or Album Retreat or anything, but I have made lots of friends through CTMH - hopefully one day I'll get to go and meet all of the fabulous people that I have met online. I have won a few artwork contests, which is fun, and have something *in the works* that you'll have to stay tuned for. It's been an exciting adventure - thanks for letting me share!

Clearly The Best!

Tomorrow is the last day for the You Tube viewing contest, so I'm just bumping this to the top to help my CTMH Sisters out! I also found a new one today - it's at the bottom.

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Close To My Heart is having a video contest - Consultants have been challenged to create short, informative videos posted on YouTube that demonstrate why Close To My Heart stamps are “Clearly the Best.” I am not participating in this contest myself, I just had to share some of the fabulous videos that have been created and shared so far. The entrant whose video garners the most YouTube views will win $500 cash, so be sure to watch your favorite over and over!

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If anyone would like me to link their video here, just leave me a comment and let me know - these are the ones I have viewed so far, but I would love to see them all!

Tresa Black

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp424x13WIc

Teri Baxter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWcadf8h68g

Melanie Harmsma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6VgLmhwsVc

Elissa Stong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81sYVsE09wc

Rachel Schumann

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2wyfLm7iNM

Clerissa Lewis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap3cv7rzDLs

Helen Onulak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlRuPsvhZLU

Ruth De La Cruz-Nava

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDxfmJDREwk

Michelle Nist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrdOTVe9mTw

Amanda DesJardins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEhxF4U5-iM

Brae Montgomery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfcVC4tOh-4

Christine David

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X593ZdFVkKQ

Kristina Baldwin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qMuJKN7Udg

Aaron Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSQmJFBwrV8

Mandy Leahy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDHQfvrvLPM

Melissa Laverty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXW0CGRas3o

Tarah Faulkner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXxxkZa2iIQ

Check it out!

So check out the AWESOME prize that I won from the 12 Days of Holiday Giving - a Xyron Creatopia!!! I am SO excited! My dear hubby surprised me with a Cricut Expressions on Christmas morning but when I found out I won the Creatopia later that day, he first tried to get me to keep both of them, but was very understanding (once I explained the cost of cartridges for BOTH) and let me return the Cricut. So I can't wait for my new goodie to arrive so I can play!

Also - check out this awesome Basic Grey give-away over at Get Sketchy - don't forget to tell them that I sent you!

I will be back later to post some Christmas fun - have a great week!

Sweet!

Check it out - I was a winner over at Practical Scrappers for this week's challenge!

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Oh, and I didn't forget, I've just been super busy, but I will be posting my blog candy winner soon - thanks to everyone who entered, I enjoyed reading about your holiday traditions!

Wordless Wednesday

Grrr - bandwidth issues!

As you may be able to tell, I am having problems with my photobucket account. I received the following message in my inbox and then when I checked my blog, all my pictures were like this!

"You have exceeded the 10 GB monthly bandwidth limit on your freePhotobucket account. As such, your image and video links have been temporarily disabled. Your images and videos have not been deleted but will be reactivated on the 21st of the month, when your bandwidth usage resets to zero. If you'd like to re-activate your links right away, you can upgrade to a Photobucket Pro account"

I've never had this problem before and I always use a lot of photos - can someone help explain this to me, I don't get it ;-P Maybe I shouldn't use photobucket after all!

My Life According to Elton

I saw this on my friend Camie's blog and decided to play along!

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My Life According to...

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)"

Pick your Artist:

Elton John

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Describe yourself:

Island Girl - yeah, right - but it's better then the other song I was thinking ;-P

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How do you feel:

Blessed

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Describe where you currently live:

Honky Chateau

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If you could go anywhere, where would you go:

Holiday Inn

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Your favorite form of transportation:

Rocket Man

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Your best friend:

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

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You and your best friend are:

The Captain and the Kid

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What's the weather like:

One Day at a Time

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Favorite time of day:

Indian Sunset

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If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:

Circle of Life

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What is life to you:

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

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Your relationship:

Can You Feel the Love Tonight

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Your fear:

And the House Fell Down

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What is the best advice you have to give:

We All Fall In Love Sometimes

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Thought for the Day:

Believe

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How I would like to die:

Madman Across the Water

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My soul's present condition:

I'm Still Standing

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My motto:

I Must Have Lost it on the Wind

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Try it! It's fun!

What's in the box, dear?

...says my dear hubby Monday night.

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"Oh, just new toys for me and the girls" I reply.

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What is it you may ask - it's my new Cuttlebug!!! I have been wanting one for FOREVER but I was somehow able to resist the urge. Then a couple weeks ago I saw a really great bundle on HSN so I called my SIL Sandy ( I can blame everything on her, she is an enabler ;-P ) to let her know about the specials they were having. She already has a Cuttlebug but I thought she might like the new embossing folders. Anyway she kept asking if I was going to get it or not and I hadn't quite decided yet and after a while she finally informed me that she had planned on getting me one for my birthday. So I finally broke down and ordered the bundle and she ordered me the new folders for my birthday instead. So now I am a proud Cuttlebug owner! The girls and I finally opened it up yesterday and started playing with it. The girls already have a CuttleKids and I originally thought about getting rid of theirs since I was getting the real deal but now I've decided that we'll keep both, which will be easier with 4 girls playing ;-)

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Hopefully the new toy will inspire some new creations - I've been missing scrapping! I've made lots of cards lately, but I started (and nearly finished) two pages mid-June and haven't touched them since - I need to get my mojo back!

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So, now I'd love to hear your thoughts - what are your favorite dies or embossing folders to use with the Cuttlebug?

Fair Results 2009

The girls and I entered some stuff again in the county fair this year - here it all is...

The girls were in the Kidz Stuff category and all participants get a ribbon for participating, but here is how my stuff did:

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My flip-up pages featuring Ghostbuster from 1985-2007 got a first and then a Champion ribbon and a $25 gift certificate from Ben Franklin crafts - good to know that Ghostbuster is still helping me win big! Here are the pages closed...

And they open up to this...

This page of Kaylee and Brianna won 1st place

This page of Brailee won something but I'm not sure what ;-P When I went down to the fairgrounds to look at the exhibits, I thought I remember seeing a Third place ribbon on it. I was out of town when they released all entries so I had a friend pick them up for me and there was no ribbon when I got it back, but the entry tag says "R" under Placing so maybe it got Red for Second? All of my First place entries have "B" there which I assume means Blue for First.

Here are the cards that I entered:

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I took this card from this workshop and turned it into a baby announcement using the Sweet Baby stamp set. I also added the words 'little one' from the Random Thoughts stamp set under Hello. Here it is before...

...and after. This card won First place.

This card was created for this workshop - it also won First.

This card won First as well.

I also entered the next two cards but I don't remember how they did - when I told my friend what projects to pick up for me I totally forgot about these ones so I didn't get them back ;-P I think the invitation got Second but I don't remember the owl.

Update - I went down to the fair grounds today and picked up these two cards - they both won First!

I also entered two of these ornaments in the Recycled paper sculpture contest - they won First. If you remember from when I posted them in December, they are made from old Christmas cards.

This was my first year entering photographs - here is what I entered. Only half of what I entered actually placed - I was really surprised with how some of them did - one of my absolute favorites didn't even place, and one I just threw in to get it in the category ended up winning Second. I look forward to entering more next year!

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This one of Trysten got Second in the colored portraits category.

This one got Second in the Patriotic themed category

This one got First in the candid black and white category.

This one got first in the any other b&w photo category.

The following pictures didn't place but I still love them ;-P

Thanks for looking!