It's RAFFLE Time!

It's here! Today starts the week long RAFFLE at The Scrap Review.
If you haven't already, drop by and read this post, which explains the rules of the raffle.



Show up on Monday between the hours of 9am-9pm EST to buy your tickets.
At $2 per ticket you can afford to buy a few!
I am so excited to give these amazing prizes away I can hardly stand it!



And a big shout out to Ashley Harris, The Scrap Review's senior editor. She put hours into helping me coordinate this raffle and I could not have taken on such a feat without her help.
Thanks Ashley!

2

Hear No Evil : a Tale of a Ballet Class Prude

Ella had her final day of her pre-ballet class this past Thursday.
While preforming their final number the teacher asked the girls to sing loudly.
The other class members burst into singing/screaming
and Ella ditched all ballet form to cover her ears.
And I caught it on film.

I adore this photo.

And I adore my little girl, who is sometimes too
straight-laced to savor the fun of screaming the
words to a song at the top of her lungs.

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Interview with a Toddler

Ella is 1553 days old...
Time to see what makes this girl tick.



Q. Favorite Show
A. Pinky Dinky Doo

Q. Who's your best friend?
A. I have a lot of best friends. Heidi (Sonboul), Aly and Madison (Maynrich), Sister Coulter, Arial (from church) and Olivia (Fennimore).

Q. Favorite Food
A. Pasta

Q. What makes you happy?
A. Unicorns and horsies.

Q. Favorite Color
A. Pink

Q. When you grow up what do you want to do?
A. Build with Daddy. When I get big he will let me use his tools.

Q. Favorite Toy
A. Play-Doh

Q. What's something that makes you laugh?
A. Funny jokes.

Q. What makes you cry?
A. Getting hurt.

Q. Favorite Dessert?
A. Ice Cream and Sprinkled Donuts

Q. What does Daddy do at his job?
A. He works on his computer. He gets dessert from the ladies that are from work.


*To see Ella's previous answers click here.
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2

This & That Thursday

The sleep apnea machine and I are finally ironing out our differences.
It's just hard to get used to sleeping with a plastic mask on your face.
But I do feel much more rested and it improves every night.

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The Scrap Review raffle is just days away.
It's gunna be pretty fantastic.
Over a thousand dollars worth of prizes.
Yep...I said over a thousand!
For more info click here.

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Something pretty darn cool is happening in Scrapbook land.
With the closing of Simple Scrapbooks magazine,
many of the creative forces behind that
publication have come together to keep the
philosophy of Simple Scrapbooking alive.
And I get to be a part of it.
YAY!
More on this topic early next week.

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Ella is developing a huge fascination for the human body lately.
We got her this book.
I highly recommend it.
On a side note, she made this drawing yesterday of a happy bee,
a little bird (view from above) and a bee-hive.
Wicked cute.



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One of my blog readers, Tracy, generously gave me a gift card to Amazon.com.
I am reminded of when I was little and every year I made a wish book for Christmas by cutting pictures of toys out of the Sears catalog and gluing them onto paper bags stapled together to form a book.

My amazon wishlist is like a virtual paper bag wish-book.
I'm not gunna lie....it's pretty fun.
Thanks Tracy!
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5

I am WHOLE again.....

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Just months ago, the future of "Project Runway" was in doubt - but now, show mentor Tim Gunn says the fashion competition is back and better than ever. "After five seasons, the show needed a booster shot," Tim told the June 5 issue of Entertainment Weekly.

The show has moved from Bravo to Lifetime and the sixth season will debut on August 20. The channel change wasn't the only move - it's also changed locations from New York to LA, a change that Tim said fits the show well. Future seasons will rotate between the two cities.

"Los Angeles is indisputably the home of the red carpet," he said. "It's the home of film and television costume, and it has a celebrity dimension that New York doesn't have. Watching the first elimination this season, I thought, Wow, we should be here."

And Hollywood glamour will play a role on the show, with judge and designer Michael Kors adding that LA style will affect "Runway's" contestants' designs. "LA can be the most laid-back and the most glamorous," Michael said, adding that challenges would include fashion for the red carpet and the beach. "It's the land of bikinis and gowns."

The Southern California location also lent itself to the presence of Hollywood celebs, including Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria Parker, and Lindsay Lohan, who will serve as guest judges throughout the season.

And Tim added that fans should expect the unexpected with the new season - and in the show's future. "We have a challenge, the outcome of which will have the blogs going crazy!" Tim said. "I'm surprised I didn't need CPR when it all came down the runway, because I'm still in such a state of shock about it."

Emilie Ahern said, "People...this is HUGE. There was a little bit of my soul missing in recent months and now, finally, I am whole again."

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If I were skinny....

I would wear the
swiss dot fontana dress
($59 from j.crew)
with big, red hoop earrings and this bracelet.

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Presser Foot Project : Shirt Dress

I am a member of Presser Foot. It is a blog which invites sewers from everywhere to unite on common projects. Anyone can join the club and sew along with us. If you get stuck on a pattern you can just ask the group for help and since everyone is working on the same project it is really helpful.

This month's project was making a dress from a man's button down shirt. It was SO FUN!

My husband has had this shirt for years, but never wears it because the fit is weird. This made it perfect for the Shirt Dress. Because the print was so masculine I paired it with a femmy aqua polka dot fabric. This project probably took me 1&1/2 hours total and I promptly went to Goodwill on Saturday and purchased 2 more dress shirts for $3.00 each. Dana, a Guest Blogger this month came up with this genius idea/pattern. For full instructions click here.

I LOVE the outcome of this sewing project. I'm giving you two photo options....


Shirt Dress: Happy

and Shirt Dress: Cranky

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We heard the news yesterday....

our favorite soldier coming home.
for real this time.
(we hope.)
he should be back on american soil in june.
and then we get a visit from him and louise.
we are so proud of his service
but we are giddy with excitement that he is retuning home.
it's a great memorial day surprise.

.happy memorial day!..

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Last Week in Photos

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Sunday Sound-Bites

Check out The Mostar Diving Club.
Especially love the song "Honey Tree"

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Have a listen to Lisa Hannigan.
I like "Ocean and a Rock"

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Next up. Camera Obscura singing Books Written for Girls.

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0

Weeping in Wal*Mart

On Friday night I popped into Wal*Mart with Ella to grab some 1/4" sewing elastic. Matt was waiting in the car with Evangeline. I only got the elastic, but I didn't emerge from Wal*Mart for 30 minutes.

The reason?
A Wal*Mart craft department meltdown.

As I was grabbing my elastic a woman approached me, crying her eyes out, and asked for help. I said I would help her. She held up a sewing pattern and said, "Do you sew?" I had noticed her heavy Spanish accent and it turned out she was trying to sew a skirt for herself but could not read the pattern to decipher how much fabric she needed. Her reading comprehension in English was not so good and she has never sewn before.

I showed her how to read the back of the pattern and figure out how much fabric you needed to cut, based on the pieces you planned to sew and the size. I showed her how the graph worked three or four times before she got what I was saying. I waited with her while the Wal*Mart employee cut her fabric. I assured her that one time I had entered a JoAnn's and asked an old lady what interfacing was and that we all learn from each other.

She then needed the notions to go along with it and I helped her choose her elastic and hooks and eyes. I showed her how to read the pattern and what the different instructions meant. When we parted ways she grabbed my hand and tearfully thanked me.

This experience moved me. It is a great blessing to find yourself in a time and place where you can so easily help someone in need, even if that need is just an explanation of a sewing pattern. I went into Wal*Mart just to grab something, but came away feeling as though I had calmed some one's heart. And that just feels good.

These little moments fill my heart up with the connection of mankind and remind me how simple it is to cheer another. I got in the car and said a little silent prayer to thank Heavenly Father for opportunities to make a difference in some one's life...no matter how small. After all, in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.
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FIXED BLOG FEED

Hey Bloggies!

It almost stripped me of my sanity, but I got a new blog feed so it is now working again. But you MUST change the blog address on your feed (ie google reader) to this...

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/em-il-ie

That's twice in one week that html code has made my life hell.
Oh, html code, you are a cruel mistress.

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A Blank

"Do you ever run out of things to blog about?" they ask.
"Never." I reply.

I have this conversation often.
But truly, as I sit tonight, with the house completely quiet except for the spin cycle of the whites in the washing machine, I am blank.
So, if you don't mind....a little bunch of incoherent ramblings about my life this week.


Sunday
- Stake Conference this week at Church. That means two hours of wrestling with the kids in a meeting instead of just one. We came out alive, but just barely.
- Watched Doubt with Matt after the kids were asleep. Still thinking about it. Great movie. Rent it people, seriously.


Monday
- Work work work.
- Getting a lot of stuff together and writing a lot of emails for a special event coming up on The Scrap Review.
- Me and the girls stayed in pajamas all day.
- Should I clear a spot on the shelf for my Mother of the Year award?




Tuesday
- Organized recipes.
- Dreamed up ways of finding the money to subscribe monthly to Studio Calico.
- Scored a free meal for the entire family from Taco Bell (our order took more than 15 minutes).
- Felt sad that The Biggest Loser has finished for this season.


Wednesday
- Errands. Errands.
- Managed to mail 12 different packages to winners from various Scrap Review contests and just random packages for friends.
- I smile every time I think about certain friends getting the unexpected packages and feeling loved.
- Visited with our friends, the Fennimore's. Came home and remodeled Jennette's blog for her.
- Felt sad that America's Next Top Model has finished for this season.


Thursday
- Located two missing library books in our Master Bedroom closet.
- Forced Ella to miss Ballet class because she won't stop yelling at Eva.
- Fought a battle with html code and lost.
- Took apart, cleaned and oiled my sewing machine. It's so clean and beautiful!
- Started sewing a cute shirt-dress for Ella.
- Felt sad that The Office has finished for this season. (do you see a theme here?)


Friday (as of 1:20 am)
- Wrote this post at 1:18 AM
- Felt exhausted.
- Drank Pepto Bismol straight from the bottle.
- Switched the whites from the washer to the drier.
- Headed to bed.


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8

PROOF: Her Mommy Scrapbooks

Ella looked at her foot yesterday and asked me in a horrified tone what was on the bottom of her foot. I glanced up and was shocked. Black splotches were all over the skin.

(gasp!)

A nasty flesh-eating virus?

Black-foots disease?

Upon closer examination I realized it was scrapbooking rub-ons. They had slipped off of my craft table and landed upside down on the floor, only to be stepped on by Ella and transferred to her now decorated feet.

After learning what it really was, Ella was delighted. She spent the rest of the morning gingerly walking on her heel as to not disturb the floral vines ringing her little pink toes.

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P.S. For all of you who are worried because my RSS feed is no longer working...I am working on it. The "techies" say it should be fixed within 3 days.

6

Organizing Recipes & Laughing at Cakes

Organizing my recipes.
I have a system.
Once a month I plan all of our
family's meals for the upcoming month.
Every two weeks we try a new recipe from
a compiled new recipe file or cookbook.

If it turns out to be bad I throw the recipe away.
(this is where MANY a Rachel Ray recipe has ended up. I finally
gave up on her. Sure, she's perky and upbeat, but her cooking sucks.)

If a recipe needs a little tweaking (which it often does)
I make notes on it and try it again until it's perfect.
When it's perfect, it gets typed into a Word document
and saved on my computer under the category in which it falls.
Then it is printed on a 4x6" card and added to the recipe binder.


I realized that recently the recipe binder has been neglected.
Recipes get put into the computer, but never get printed and added to the binder.
Yesterday, during any moment of spare time I had,
I could be observed updating the recipe files, computer files and binder.

And I feel that thrill of excitement that organizing always gives me.
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And speaking of cooking and baking. Do you already know about Cake Wrecks?
If you don't you are missing out! Get ready to join the cool kids at the cafeteria
table because I'm gunna tell you about it.


It a hilarious blog showcasing professional baker's funny cakes or
unintentional mistakes while decorating cakes. You MUST check it out! http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/
This week's post about Dora the Explorer cakes is hilarious! And this
post is for all of you Twilight fans out there.
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8

Do you believe in Magic?

Saturday was completely magical.

Every year they have Free State days here in Delaware where a number of state owned parks, museums and attractions are free. We chose to go to Winterthur, an attraction we knew nothing about, but it's free right? It turned out to be a estate with a mansion and acres of gardens. We took the tram ride through acres of glorious woods, winding paths and groves of flowering azalea trees.

But then the real magic started.

We got off of the tram at the Enchanted Woods. A special area made just for kids. First up was the Fairy Ring. A ring of wooden mushrooms that kids could climb on or dance in the middle of. About 2 minutes into the romp, the mushrooms started creating mist in the middle of the ring. Enchanted indeed.




Next stop was the Bird's Nest. A 10ft wide nest made of real branches and twigs. Inside were painted eggs for the children to sit on. Here's Ella with her friend, Olivia, who also showed up for free museum day. Yay!


Up next, the Faerie Cottage. Complete with tiny doors and iron clad windows. Mini dining room table and chairs and enchanting vines and flowers. Here's Evangeline climbing in the dwarf's entrance.




Outside was a water pump, maypole and stream with a cobblestone bridge.







We stopped by the Acorn Tea Room which was adorable.




Dusk was falling so we missed the Story Stones, Serpentine's Path and the Green Man's Lair, but we returned home a very happy family indeed. We will be visiting again soon and encourage anyone in this area to make a stop at the most enchanted place. Disneyland's got nothing on Winterthur Gardens.

14

encyclopedia of me - A

• ABBA - I adore the Swedish band ABBA. Maybe because I was born in the 70's. Maybe because my Mom loved them. Maybe because on road trips my entire family would listen to ABBA Gold and sing in the car at the top of their lungs. Does it matter why? I am completely devoted. When I was 19 I got a job in an unholy sewing factory. It was the most mindless, degrading job of my life. We were allowed to listen to a walk-man as we sewed and I took along the ABBA Gold album. I listened to it quietly for hours, drowning out the whir of hundreds of sewing machines and industrial tools. Then one day, a year after quitting that job, I was driving somewhere with my Mom and listening to ABBA and realized that I knew every word to every song on the entire album. It must have been sinking into my brain while I sewed endless golf bags for rich executives. My mom mentioned how jealous she was. It has since become a crowning achievement of my life and I am proud to admit it.



• Academy Awards Fashion - The Academy Awards is like my Superbowl. I adore every minute of it. Not of the ceremony or the awards itself, just the fashion. I take mental notes of every detail, every earring, every designer, every winner and every disaster. Then I talk about it with my friends, blog about it and think about it much more than is probably right. I obsess over this most fashionable night on television. It's my favorite night of the year.



• Accordion - When I was 19 I traveled to Paris, France. One day, while riding the Metro I heard some buskers playing the accordion and singing. That strain of music and those ground out notes struck a real cord with me. And I began to love the accordion. I purchased one shortly after and taught myself to play. I know some (and by some I mean most) people find it grating and annoying, but while I don't love polka music, I find the notes of an accordion soothing and beautiful. I hope to one day get a truly nice concertina (a sort of smaller and more manageable version of an accordion) and become more proficient at playing. It is the instrument I love the most.

• Africa - I went to Africa when I was 24 on a humanitarian mission for my church. It was 11 of the hardest days of my life. There was joy in helping others who could not help themselves, but also despair at the sheer volume of human beings we could not help. It was a life-changing experience in so many ways. It made me more grateful for the freedoms of America, more thankful for my faith and more assured of the triumph of the human spirit.



• America's Next Top Model - I really love this show. Not only do I watch it every week during it's season, but any time it appears in marathon form on any channel I watch it all over again. I love the fashion, the photo shoots, the cat-fights and the eliminations. Sure, no one who wins actually becomes a model, but that does not deplete my viewing enjoyment. It's also pretty enjoyable making fun of how completely ego-centric and narcissistic Trya Banks has become. What's not to love?

• Almonds - Almonds have always been my favorite nut. I especially love raw almonds. I could eat them all day. I have find memories of the holidays at my Nanny's house. She would always have a large bowl of mixed nuts and metal nut crackers for everyone. We would sit around and talk and sing while we cracked nuts and ate them. I always dug through the walnuts and Brazil nuts to find the raw almonds. Every time I eat them now I am reminded of those fond memories.

(you can read more of my encyclopedia here.)

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3

The best things in life a FREE, but....

I am completely NOT what I would call a "keeping up with the joneses" person.
Nor do I spend excessive amounts of time wishing for things I cannot have.
I am happy with what we have and actually feel overly-blessed in that regard.

However, on days like today, I want things.
What kinds of things?
Well, I'll tell ya...




A Serger




. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A year membership
(wait, make that a lifetime membership)
to Studio Calico

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Yudu silk screen printer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
An iPod.
Yes, I am the only living person in America (and maybe the World) without an iPod.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What THINGS are you longing for?

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22

I do NOT approve

I have graced the cover of fashion magazines far fewer times than Paris Hilton or Misha Barton, so I am clearly not qualified to give them fashion advice, but honestly...I just cannot approve of this recent fashion trend of the bejeweled headband worn across the forehead with your hair parted down the middle and plastered against your scalp.

I call it the "John McEnroe" because this is nothing more than a glorified tennis sweatband from the 70's.

I to the C to the K.
Here are some public offenders...











THIS is the way to wear a sparkly headband and add a touch of bling to your hair without looking like a fool.

Work it, LC...Work it.
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12